Rockbrook Reminder

Dear Rockbrook Families and Friends,

We hope you had a great week. It was fun to finish the week with the kick off of our Fall Family Fundraiser. Be sure to check out information below for more details about this annual effort to support our School, our Community Club, and the opportunities and experiences for our kids!

Sincerely,
Dr. Higginbotham, Principal

We’re on a mission to get every Rockbrook family signed up and active in Membership Toolkit, and we’re making it a little more fun with a class incentive!

If your class reaches 90% or higher enrollment in Membership Toolkit, your entire class will win a PIZZA PARTY!

Membership Toolkit is how we keep families connected to everything happening at Rockbrook, including school events, volunteer opportunities, important updates, and Community Club activities. The more families who are enrolled, the more connected our Rockbrook community can be!

90% = PIZZA!

We’d LOVE to see which classes can hit that 90% mark first.

Let’s get those numbers up and EARN SOME PIZZA!

One of the ways we work to connect families at Rockbrook is through our Dining Out for Education opportunities. Local businesses like Don & Millie's, Chipotle, Canes, LaCasa, and Godfathers are all partners with our school and Community Club. Typically once or twice a month, one of these partners features a "Dining Out" night. These are a chance for families to get together outside of school, enjoy a meal, maybe with friends, and help support the school as well. Typically, a percentage of your purchase is then donated back to our school to help support the many opportunities and activities our Rockbrook Community Club provides.

Our next Rockbrook Dining Out Night will be at Godfathers Pizza in Aksarben Village. Dine, Carry Out, or Delivery, be sure to mention it's for the Rockbrook Slice of the Pie. App order instructions are also listed below.

It's a Three-Peat! With 100% in both Mrs. Lewis's Class and Miss William's class, wearing Rockbrook or Westside Spirit Wear, the 1st graders swept the day!

Remember to wear your Rockbrook & Westside gear on the last student day of each week! Check out our article about football season starting and additional options on Spirit Days!

Need more gear, shop here: Back-to-School Spirit Store

On Friday September 4th we will be celebrating the start of College Football! Come to school decked out in your favorite team colors! GO BIG RED! (This is an additional option to our spirit wear. For our class counts, Rockbrook, Westside, and favorite college team all count).

9/2 - Godfather's Slice of the Pie - 5:00pm-9:00pm

9/7 - LABOR DAY - NO SCHOOL

9/8 - TEACHER WORK DAY - NO SCHOOL

9/11 - Patriot's Day - Wear your red, white and blue!

9/16 - Dine Out For Education - Don & Millie's 108th & Center 4:00pm-9:00pm

9/16 - WHS Homecoming Parade/Pep Rally 5:00pm-8:00pm

9/18 - Homecoming Football Game at WHS 7:00pm

Please be sure to check your inbox for information regarding Returning Student Verification. All students that were enrolled in Westside for 2025-2026 need to have a parent complete this. This process approves students for many important things like...

• Field Trips (students are not able to attend until approval is received)
• Inclusion or Opt Out of photos in things like newsletters, website, yearbook, etc.
• Updates on any medical needs

Parents of returning students will find their Returning Student Verification in Powerschool.

As our construction wraps up, we want to again support safe crossing of students before and after school. Safety Patrol at Rockbrook includes students in 5th and 6th grade. Please see the linked newsletter for how to signup for a week-long volunteer spot. Families may signup as many times as they like and students who participate will receive an incentive for each week worked.

From Rockbrook spirit days to Friday-night football games, we’ve got your family covered! The Back-to-School Spirit Store features:

• NEW Westside gear from monogram&co, including apparel, hats, and hair bows

• Rockbrook apparel for both kids and adults

• Bulldog yard signs, water bottles, stickers, magnets, and Rocky the Bulldog stuffies

Every purchase supports Rockbrook students, staff, and programs. Shop the Back-to-School Spirit Store today!

We welcome parents and special guests to join their child for lunch at school! To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience, all visitors must check in at the front office upon arrival. Guests and students will sit together at our designated Guest Table*, reserved just for them- no additional students will join during the visit.

To help us prepare, we kindly ask that parents notify the classroom teacher and/or the front office ahead of time if they plan to join their child for lunch. Thank you for partnering with us to make these moments meaningful and secure!

* In alignment with our district visitor practices, we are no longer seating lunch guests with the classrooms. All lunch guests must sit at the designated Guest Table.

Lunch Costs

We have a computerized meal program in operation in our district that allows parents to maintain an account for their child’s meal charges. Each student has their own account. When students go through the food line, the price of the breakfast, lunch, or any extra items such as extra pizza or extra milk is subtracted from their account. Students on free lunch may keep money in their account to pay for extra food items which are not included in the free lunch program.

Elementary School Meal Pricing:

Student Breakfast=$2.40

Student Lunch=$3.30

If you think you may qualify or are interested in applying for Free or Reduced Price meal benefits, you can fill out an Application for Free/Reduced Meal Benefits. Please remember that this status is always kept private and that there is no way for other students to have access to this information. Please find our application instructions and online link here.

My School Bucks

To deposit money into your child’s account you may bring a check or cash to the office, or you may go to MySchoolBucks.com. We send an email to any student whose account has become overdrawn. Please check your email, spam folder and MySchoolBucks account for your child's lunch balance. We need to have negative balances at zero or positive balances. This balance carries over to the next year. Start 2023-2024 year off right for your child's lunch account.

Running Late

Please let the office know if you are running late or have a morning appointment for your child. If your child plans on eating lunch from the cafeteria that day, PLEASE call and or email your child's lunch choice before 9 am.

Joining Your Child for Lunch

If you are joining your child for lunch, and want to eat lunch from the cafeteria, then you must call before 9 am to order your lunch choice. Adult lunch must be paid at the office.

We cannot deduct your lunch from your child’s account as our computer will not let us charge the adult price on a student account.

If you are coming and bringing a lunch, then there is NO need to call ahead, just let us know when you check-in. Guests are asked to only bring food for their own child when visiting.

Pizza Hut

Students (3rd Grade and up only) may purchase extra slices from their lunch accounts when Pizza Hut is on the menu if they have a positive balance in their account. Extra slices cost $2.00. Parents, make sure you let your child know whether or not you want them to have an extra slice. Extra slices are not included with free or reduced lunch accounts. You need to make sure your child has the $2.00 for the extra slice.

Monthly Newsletters & Weekly Updates

Rockbrook, along with all Westside Elementary Schools, distributes a monthly newsletter, The Rockbrook Express, emailed the first Friday of each month and posted on the school website. We also send a shorter weekly reminder email each Friday to help keep families in the know. Students will still bring home flyers advertising school-related activities, along with a printed monthly school lunch menu. Please make sure we have your most current email address.

Two Parent Households

What if you only see your child a couple of times a week? You can still be involved in your child's education.

• Inform the office of your current phone number, address, and email.
• Inform the teacher you would like to receive progress reports (this may be electronic), conferences signups, and notices about school activities.
• Attend Parent-Teacher Conferences to show your child that both parents are behind him/her - acting as a team.
• Provide your child with a special folder to save school papers for you. That way, you'll see your child's finished work and teacher comments.

Text Messages from the School

Our school uses two systems for sending text messages to families. Both the school and district use the Finalsite Messenger platform to send out one-way text messages to inform families of time sensitive updates. These might include weather updates, changes in times and schedules, or to make families aware of timely information that impacts the school.

We also use the School Status platform to allow teachers and administrators to engage in two-way text messages with families. When you first receive a message from school status it will ask you to save a "contact card." This is optional but ensures messages don't get blocked of flagged as spam. Each user has a unique contact card, so you will receive a message like this from each teacher that uses the platform.

Families are always welcome to opt out of these systems, but we encourage you to keep them active as timely and important ways for us to communicate with you.

Fall Reservations for the Rockbrook Elementary field and gym are now being accepted. To be fair to everyone who may want times, all advance reservations requests must be received by August 6th. Individual coaches should send an email with their first and second choice to: fox.jennifer@westside66.net. Outside available times, 4-5p, 5-6p or 6-7p. Inside available times: 6-7:30 or 7:30-9. Any duplicate requests will be selected via drawing. After August 7th, any additional reservations will be first come, first serve, AFTER the initial reservation schedule has been established and communicated.

Join Westside Unified for the 25th annual Step up for Down Syndrome Walk. The event will take place on Sunday, September 27, 2026, from 2:30 pm to 5:00 PM at the Baxter Arena parking lot, located at 2425 south 67th street. The flyer includes the Westside Unified and 25th anniversary logos, as well as a QR code that can be scanned to register for this team. Use the link https://p2p.onecause.com/stepup2026/team/westside-unified?participant=jill-foster-5 to register.