Westford School

Each month, I'll share stories from our classrooms, celebrate our Rock Star students and staff, and highlight the ways our community is growing together. You’ll also find tips for supporting learning at home and a link to our school podcast, where we dive deeper into this month’s theme. Together, we are building a school culture where every child feels seen, valued, and inspired to learn.

Hear stories from our classrooms, SEL highlights, and math & literacy tips to try at home.

In October we put a spot light on what it means to be responsible and two shout out rock stars who demonstrate a growth mindset. Our community defined Responsibility as taking ownership of our choices, our learning, and how we care for one another. We defined growth mindset as being willing to do hard things in order to grow a skill.

Videos:

Austin’s Butterfly – a powerful story showing how feedback and persistence help work improve over time.

Mistakes by Dr. Jo Boaler (YouCubed) – explains how mistakes grow new brain connections.

Takeaways:

Praise effort and perseverance, not perfection. Ask, “What strategy did you try?” or “What did you learn from that mistake?”

This month, students learned about Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Diwali. This learning supported the regional school calendar and the EWSD inclusion calendar. These holidays days recognize and honor the diverse cultures, histories, and faiths that make up our Essex Westford community.

We take time in school to learn about holidays rather than celebrate them by exploring their meaning, history, and significance for those who observe them. This helps all of us grow in understanding and appreciation of one another.

Video:

I Am Native a Read Aloud (YouTube) -celebration of Indigenous identity and heritage through one child’s voice, inviting all students to learn about belonging, history, and pride.

Binny’s Diwali a Read Aloud (YouTube) – a joyful story of sharing traditions with classmates.

Takeaway

Talk together about the holidays and traditions that are meaningful in your own family and how learning about others’ helps build empathy, inclusion, and respect.

Thank you for joining us for family conferences last week. We look forward to welcoming families in for the Harvest Celebration during lunch on Thursday, November 6th. To help us plan, RSVP using this form.