Dear Parents/Guardians,

The 2026–27 school year is off to a wonderful start! It has been so exciting to see our hallways filled with smiling faces, new friendships, and the energy that comes with a new school year. Our students are settling into their routines, learning classroom expectations, and building the skills they need to have a successful year.

September is an exciting month at Western Primary. As students become more comfortable with their routines and expectations, we begin to see their confidence grow and learning really take off. We are proud of the effort our students are already putting into their learning, and we are grateful for the support you provide at home.

A Few Important September Highlights:

📊 Benchmark Testing Begins

As we begin the school year, our students will participate in benchmark assessments in reading and math. In the past, we have used NWEA in the Primary building, but starting this year, we are switching to two new assessment platforms. These assessments help us understand what each child knows, identify areas where they may need additional support, and monitor their growth throughout the year.

DIBELS Reading Assessment
DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of short, research-based assessments that help us measure important early reading skills. Depending on the student's grade level, DIBELS looks at skills such as phonemic awareness, letter-sound knowledge, decoding, oral reading fluency, and comprehension. These assessments give teachers valuable information about each child's reading development and help us determine how to best support their continued growth.

i-Ready Math Benchmark
Students will also complete an i-Ready Math Diagnostic. This assessment adapts to each student's responses and helps identify the math skills they have already mastered as well as the skills they are ready to learn next. Teachers use this information to help guide instruction and provide students with the support and challenge they need.

Please Charge iPads Daily
Because students will be completing their i-Ready assessments on their school iPads, please make sure your child's iPad comes to school fully charged every day. A charged device helps ensure students are ready to learn and complete assessments without interruptions.

Assessment Reports Coming Home
Following benchmark testing, assessment reports with your child's scores will be sent home so you can see how your child is progressing. We believe families are important partners in understanding student growth, and we look forward to sharing this information with you.

📚 Reading Rockstars Sign-Up
We are excited to continue our Reading Rockstars program this year! We are looking for family and community members who would like to volunteer their time to read with and encourage our students. If you enjoy reading and would love to help inspire a love of books in our students, we would love to have you join us. More information and sign-up details are included below.

🤝 Helping Hands Volunteers

We are excited to welcome our Helping Hands Volunteers back this year! Helping Hands is a wonderful opportunity for family and community members to support our teachers by taking care of the behind-the-scenes tasks that help classrooms run smoothly.

Our Helping Hands Volunteers cut, sort, staple, organize materials, and complete a variety of classroom prep tasks that save our teachers valuable time and make their day a little easier. These small tasks make a BIG difference!

Helping Hands meets on the first Friday of each month beginning at 9:00 a.m in the conference room. There is no sign-up or long-term commitment. Simply come when you are available and ready to help!

When you arrive, please bring your ID and sign in at the front office. We are so grateful for every Helping Hand and the time you give to support our teachers and students!

📸 School Picture Day
School Picture Day is Tuesday, September 15. Ordering information is included below, so please be sure to review the details.

As always, we value our partnership with families. Your encouragement, communication, and support make a tremendous difference in your child's experience at school. Thank you for trusting us with your children and for working alongside us to help them learn, grow, and thrive.

Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions, concerns, or ideas. We are always happy to partner with you and want to make sure every child feels safe, supported, and excited to come to school each day.

Blessings,

Mrs. Melissa DeWeese

Western Primary Principal

Picture Day is Tuesday September 15th. Click the link to order! Code is !!!!!!!

Order School Pictures Online

September 4th- Helping Hands Club - Parent Volunteers
September 7th - Labor Day, No School
September 15th - WPS Picture Day
October 2nd - Helping Hands Club - Parent Volunteers
October 2nd - First Friday - Wear Your Class T-Shirt
Oct 19th - 23rd - Fall Break
October 27th - Picture Retake Day

From Mrs. Leap...

WPS Families,

If you are in need of extra food assistance, we offer a weekly buddy bag for your student(s) to bring home. Buddy Bags are sent home every Friday and contain non-perishable food items to help supplement your meals. Each child in your family can receive their own bag of food to take home.

Please click this link to sign up for buddy bag assistance for the 2026-2027 school year. If you don't need this service now, but find you need it later in the school year, please contact Mrs. Leap to sign up. If you sign up for this service and find you no longer need the assistance, you may opt out at any time.

Book Taco

Kindergarten will log their reading on paper sent home by their teacher. First and second grade students will use the Book Taco app.

From Mrs. Morgan...

This school year is off to a great start! We are continuing to work with students on cafeteria, hallway, and restroom procedures. During the first weeks of school kindergarten and first grade students need frequent reminders when walking or standing in a line. They need to be reminded to not touch others or items hanging on the wall. They also need reminders to remain seated in the lunchroom and raise their hand and ask for permission to get up. Many students require assistance opening items in their lunch brought from home, and packing up and cleaning up after themselves. Another challenge can be the volume they use when talking. Tasks such as these are executive functioning skills. Executive functioning skills are skills people use everyday to learn, work, and manage daily life. The seven main executive functioning skills are:

Planning, organizing, and time management, working memory, flexible thinking, task initiation, attention/focus, perseverance, and self-reflection. Of these seven there are three main areas: working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. These develop along with the child at different ages and stages of development. Some ways that parents can partner with the school are to:

*Practice eating school lunch at home, make sure your student can open and close all the items packed in their lunch box.

**Have students clean up after themselves after eating, put their items away and in the trash.

***Students should be able to remain seated during the meal for approximately 20 minutes.

****Practice wait time when your student needs to tell you something (that is not urgent) ie- taking turns talking at the table and not yelling over or interrupting others.

*****When walking in a store, restaurant, etc. have your student keep their hands down and not reach out and touch or grab items from racks or shelves.

In the coming newsletters there will be developmental milestones for home and school.

This Month's Focus: The "First Steps" Rule for Independence

Now that our young Panthers are fully settled into their school routines, teachers are focusing heavily on task initiation and perseverance which just means starting a task right away and sticking with it, even if it feels a little hard at first. At school, this looks like opening a folder, grabbing a pencil, and trying the first problem without waiting for a teacher to stand over them.

This month, you can build this exact confidence at home with The 3-Second Start.

When it’s time for a home routine (like putting away shoes, getting coats on, or cleaning up toys), try these two steps:

The 3-Second Count: Give the direction once, count down "3, 2, 1..." out loud, and challenge your child to take their very first step before you hit zero.

Encourage the Effort, Not Just the Success: If they get stuck or frustrated, instead of stepping in to do it for them, try saying: "This is a great workout for your brain! What is the very next little step you can do by yourself?"

Teaching them how to push through that initial "I can't do it" moment at home builds the incredible grit they need to become independent learners in the classroom!

Sign up as a Reading Rockstar Volunteer

Volunteers are paired with one or two students who need extra one-on-one reading time. Volunteers commit to 30 minutes once a week for the school year. We work around your schedule and the day and time that works best for you.

Car Rider Information

In efforts to keep our drop off and pick up procedures moving smoothly we ask that you remain attentive to traffic movement to prevent large gaps in the line.

If you are NOT currently using PikMyKid to announce your student for pick up, we ask that you install the app on your smartphone and use this method to announce your student(s) for pick up. If you have previously installed the app and your app is not working, please uninstall and reinstall the PikMyKid app. Directions are attached to guide you in this process. When you pull up to the dispatcher in the lot south of the building, app users will only need to provide the first and last name of the student(s) you are picking up. If you are not using the app to announce the student(s) you are picking up, please show the car tag(s) previously provided to you with their unique pick up number displayed.

Please refrain from using your cell phone while in line. Your full attention is needed to keep staff and students safe. Thank you so much for your cooperation, we currently have over 200 students being picked up daily. By following a few simple procedures we can help provide a safe efficient drop off and pickup for our young Panthers.

Pik My Kid Parent App Guide

Click below for the latest breakfast and lunch menus!

Attendance, Absences, and Tardiness

Regular attendance is one of the most important building blocks for your child's academic success! To help us keep all our young Panthers safe and accounted for, please keep these essential handbook procedures in mind:

Reporting an Absence: If your child is going to be absent from school, a parent or guardian must call Mrs. Harper in the front office at 765-883-5528 by 9:00 AM on the day of the absence.
Written Documentation: When your child returns to school after a doctor or dentist visit, please send the doctor's excuse to school with them.
Tardy Policy: School begins promptly at 8:50 AM. If your child arrives after this time, they are considered tardy. A parent must accompany the student into the front office to sign them in before they can head to class.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our attendance records accurate and ensuring our Panthers are here and ready to learn every single day!

Follow us on social media!

@westernprimaryschool

@western_primary

Western Primary School

Email: mdeweese@western.k12.in.us
Website: wps.western.k12.in.us
Location: 2671 South 600 West, Russiaville, IN, USA
Phone: 765-883-5528

Western Primary School News

September 2026