Lights, Learning, Wonder!

Dear Westwood Families,

At school, we’ve been talking with learners about the Learning Pit. We use the Learning Pit as a way to help students understand that challenges are a natural and important part of learning. When students try something new or difficult, they might feel confused or frustrated. That's being “in the pit.” But with effort, support, and persistence, they climb out of the pit and come out stronger, more confident learners. It’s all about building resilience, problem-solving skills, and a growth mindset! We have added a graph we use to teach about the Learning Pit. Make sure to ask your learner about it at home!

Wishing you a week filled with curiosity, joy, and a sense of wonder!

Mrs. Kimberly Crumby, Principal

Mrs. Martha Tompkins, Assistant Principal/Parent Facilitator

Upcoming Dates:

October 1st~Fall Pictures

October 10th~Howling for Fall Festival

October 13th-15th~Student Led Conferences

October 16th~3 hrs. Student Led Conferences, 3hrs. Professional Development

October 17th~Professional Development Day-No school-Flex Day

Hello from Mrs. Santillo! I am happy to announce that Westwood is bringing back our after school club/tutoring program-PACK 2.0. This is a federal grant program that allows us to provide clubs and tutoring to students after school. We sent home 118 invites to students who were identified as possibly needing extra help. If your student received an invite please turn it in as soon as possible as we are putting the first 100 students in a spot. Other students after the 100 will be put on a waiting list. If your student did not get an invite and you are interested we can also place them on the waiting list if you reach out and let me know.

This month I will begin my monthly counseling lessons in each class and the focus will be on what a school counselor does (I'm a helper) and the PACK and what it means to be part of our school pack. Each letter in our PACK stands for one of our PACK promises and will mainly be the focus of lessons throughout the year. P-persevere A-accept responsibility, C-calm myself, C-care for others, and K-keep it safe! If you have any questions about the school counseling program please reach out to me at vsantillo@sdale.org or 479-750-8871.

Respectfully,

Veronica “Nikki” Santillo

School Counselor

Our office is open from 7:20 am to 4:00 pm. We open the doors to our building at 7:20 am and school starts right at 7:45 am. Dismissal is at 3:10 pm every day except Wednesday when we have early dismissal at 1:50 pm.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

Car Riders:

• If you have students in grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade, your students will need to be dropped off and picked up in the front of the building.

• If you have students in grades 3rd-5th your students will need to be dropped off and picked up on the east side of the building.

• If you have children in K-2 and 3-5, they will use the front car rider line.

• For the safety of all students, please have their car tag hanging on the rear view mirror.

• Teachers and support staff will be available to help students find their way to their classroom the first few days of school.

• We are going back to the way things used to be for walkers and bike riders only. Please read carefully.

  • Students who are walkers or bike riders will be dismissed on the far side of the fence on McRay Ave.

  • We ask that parents do not congregate inside the fence for our students' safety.

  • We will continue to have a cross guard at the corner of McRay Ave. and Carlton St.

  • We ask that students and their families refrain from crossing in front of the building on McRay Ave.

  • Please do not cross McRay in the middle of the street. Make sure to use the crosswalk.

  Your safety is our number one priority. We will communicate with you as soon as these procedures change based on construction updates. Thank you for your patience as we navigate all the new information coming our way.

  
  

We appreciate your patience as we work through all of these items on the first days of school. Our students' safety is our number one priority. We cannot do it without your help!

PHONE CALLS: We also send out phone calls through an automated system; you will receive these calls if your phone number is correct in Registration Gateway. If your number changes, you can update the information in Registration Gateway, or call the office to update.

SOCIAL MEDIA/WEBSITE: The weekly parent update and other announcements/stories are also posted on our school's Facebook page and website. We are working on activating our school's Instagram account also- we'll let you know when that's up and running.

PAPER NOTES: We also send out paper notes at times; most of these will be sent in folders that come home every Tuesday. Every now and then, we need to send information on other days, so it's a great practice to check the backpacks each afternoon/evening.

We don't want you to miss any information, so we put things out in lots of ways!

Mrs. Martha Tompkins, Assistant Principal/Parent Facilitator, mtompkins@sdale.org

Email: westwoodinfo@sdale.org
Website: https://westwood.sdale.org/
Location: 1850 McRay Avenue, Springdale, AR, USA
Phone: 479-750-8871
Facebook: Westwood Elementary