Roadrunner Monthly News

Western Hills Families,

We are excited about the wonderful things happening at Western Hills! Thank you for partnering with us as we work together to create a positive, supportive, and successful school experience for every student.

Our theme this year is:

🧱 “It Starts With Us — Let’s Build It Together!”

Just like building with LEGO, every piece matters. Our students, teachers, staff, families, and community are all important pieces of the Western Hills family. When we work together, communicate, and support our students, we can build something amazing!

As we move through the school year, let's remember:

Every interaction is a building block.

Every encouraging word matters.

Every lesson matters.

Every student matters.

Every family matters.

💙 Together, we are building Western Hills—one student, one family, one classroom, and one day at a time!

Your involvement in your child's education is one of the most important building blocks of their success.

Please continue to:

• Ask your child about their school day.
• Read together and encourage learning at home.
• Review homework and important school information.
• Communicate with your child's teacher when questions or concerns arise.
• Celebrate your child's effort and progress.

When families and schools work together, students thrive!

🤝 PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES

📅 September 15 | ⏰ 1:00–6:00 PM

Our Parent-Teacher Conferences are an important opportunity for families and teachers to connect and work together to support student success.

During conferences, teachers will share information about your child's:

• ⭐ Strengths and successes
• 📚 Academic progress
• 📈 Areas for growth
• 📝 Classroom work and learning
• 🎯 Goals and next steps

We encourage all families to participate. Your partnership makes a difference!

👵 GRANDPARENTS DAY CELEBRATION

📅 September 16 | 🏃 During Your Child’s PE Time

We are excited to welcome grandparents and special family members to Western Hills!

Grandparents will have the opportunity to join their student during PE for a fun and memorable experience together.

We look forward to celebrating the special relationship between our students and their grandparents!

We can't wait to see you! 💙

Thank you for trusting us with your children and for being an important part of our school community. We are excited about the year ahead and all that we will accomplish together.

It starts with us.
Let’s build it together! 🧱💙

With appreciation,

Don Belknap

Principal

Please email the following to our attendance clerk:

• Doctor's notes, dentist's notes, appointment slips, passport appointment paperwork, funeral announcements
• We will no longer take phone calls for verified absences.
• Email: westernhills_notes@episd.org

LEGO Lab classes have begun! In LEGO Lab, students are becoming engineers, programmers, and problem-solvers through hands-on LEGO Education Essential lessons! Students are learning how to program motors, control the light matrix, and create sequences of commands that make their LEGO models move, light up, and respond in different ways. Each lesson includes a challenge related to science that encourages students to design, build, test, and improve their programs. Along the way, students are strengthening important STEM skills such as creativity, teamwork, perseverance, critical thinking, and problem-solving—all while learning through play and exploration!

In science class, primary students continue to explore properties of materials. Students have investigated textures, colors, shapes, Students also classified objects by size and weight.

Our upper grade students have been investigating mixtures and solutions through hands-on lab activities. A mixture is a combination of two or more substances in which no new kind of matter is formed. All ingredients keep their original properties. Think of chicken noodle soup—all the ingredients are combined, but no new substances are formed.

In contrast, if you took eggs, flour, a little oil, baking soda, and some spices, combined them, and baked them, the ingredients would become a new substance: a cake! A cake is not a mixture because it is a new substance.

Solutions are special mixtures. In a solution, also known as a homogeneous mixture, the ingredients are evenly distributed, and one ingredient is dissolved into another. When the substance, called a solute, has been dissolved into the other substance, called a solvent, more effort is required to separate the solution. Adding salt to water is such an example. As salt dissolves in water, the grains of salt separate into individual molecules that are too small to be seen and spread evenly through the solvent. In order to separate the salt from the water, the solution would need to be heated, and the water would have to evaporate. After the water is evaporated, the salt grains are left behind.

Parents,

For your child to ride the bus, the school MUST have a blue transportation form turned into the office. Please make sure your child's teacher is aware how they will be going home every day.

SPED Parents and Parents with riders 2nd Grade and lower:

Please ensure you have someone at the stop for when your student is dropped off. If you are not there, they bring the students back to the school.

Whether a parent, family member, educator, or community member, your PTA membership will impact the lives of millions of Texas children. Thank you for joining us in ensuring every child has a representative voice.https://www.joinpta.org/

Don Belknap, Principal - drbelkna@episd.org

Danielle Coppinger, Asst. Principal - drcoppin@episd.org

Raquel Hernandez, counselor - rherna11@episd.org

Janet Chaparro, counselor- jmchapar@episd.org

Pam Newby, nurse - panewby@episd.org

Lisa Guzman, secretary - ljguzman@episd.org

Heather Dunscomb, PEIMS clerk - hdunscom@episd.org

Students will have the opportunity to participate in sustainability projects relevant to our desert region through hands-on environmental learning experiences.

To deliver exceptional education, empowering students to reach their potential.