Westridge Wildcat Newsletter

Hello Westridge Community,

Our students are learning and growing so much every day! As report cards come out today, I encourage you to use the document to celebrate all the growth your children are making and to reflect on their goals for the school year. Another important measure of progress is how your child feels about school. Please ask them what's going well, what they're most proud of, and what is most challenging for them. I'm interested in their feedback, please feel free share their thoughts with me or, better yet, have them reach out to me!

While you are reviewing your child's report card, please take a moment to check their attendance totals, located in the top right corner. Each minute of the school day provides an opportunity for learning, and it’s noticeable when students miss time. Frequent absences and tardiness affect your child’s learning opportunities. Often, the number of days students are absent or tardy accumulates without parents realizing how many days have been missed. Westridge is committed to students’ academic achievement, health, and social and emotional well-being. It is so important for students to be at school, each and every day. And, we love having them here! Thank you for your support.

You will be able to view your child's report card this afternoon (Friday, February 10th) at 4 pm. Report cards are accessed through ParentVUE. If you are having trouble logging in, use the “Forgot Password” link. For more information, including how to interpret the grading scale, please see the Standards-Based District Report Card section under District Information below.

Have a great weekend!

Laura Weaver

Our Heritage Celebration was a fun and informative event! Thank you to our Culture of Belonging Committee and to all the participants for a fantastic event!

New or Updated Information:

Save the Dates!

Important Reminders

Westridge Spelling Bee

Report Card information

OBOB Wrap Up!

Thank you Mr. Kieser!

Chipotle Fundraiser

Continuing Reminders:

STEM Night

Westridge Spirit Wear

Pants Needed!

Yearbook Contributions- Deadline approaching

Lost and Found

Tardy Reminder

School Newspaper Contribution

Registration for 2022-2023 School Year

Pacer Jr. Dance Clinic

Opt Out Form: State Assessments

Reporting Tardies and Absences

Statewide Assessment Notice

SCHOOL CALENDAR:

LOSD SCHOOL CALENDAR 22-23

2/10: Report Cards viewable in ParentVue 4:00

2/16: PTSO Meeting: Board proposed changes to Westridge PTSO Bylaws and discussing elections for next year's Board. 7-8PM (Zoom Link)

2/20: No School - Presidents' Day

2/20: DEADLINE: To submit candid photos for the yearbook to YearbookWestridge@gmail.com

2/23: STEM Night 5:30-7:00 pm - More details coming soon!

2/28: Restaurant Night: Chipotle 4-8pm Details below!

3/16: 1st Grade Music Concert in the gym 5:30

4/20: 3rd Grade Music Concert in the gym 5:30

5/18: 5th Grade Musical 6:30

5/19: 5th grade musical assembly - Time TBD

PTSO Event's Page Calendar can be found here for more info on Parents Nights out and Meet Ups!

It's that time of year where it's helpful to remind our families of several policies in place to keep our students safe and behaviors in line with school expectations.

• Please do not drop students off at school prior to 8:00am. We do not have supervision prior to 8:00am.
• Please do not allow students to play on the playground/field after school without adult supervision.
• Toys, pokemon or sports trading cards do not come to school unless it is a special day in class and teachers have given permission. They are not allowed at recess, or before school.
• Students may not use their phones or watches to text or call home during the school day. Students may use the office phone to call home, if needed.
• There are several RESERVED parking spots in our parking lot. Please do not park in these - even if "just for a minute."

Congratulations to 5th grader River Davidson, our Westridge Spelling Bee Champion! After 8 rounds of group competition, River and Jordan Fry, our runner up went on to battle for 6 additional rounds! River's winning word was configuration- relative arrangement of parts.

River will move on to represent Westridge at the Regional Spelling Bee Qualifier.

Congrats to all our Westridge Spelling Bee participants.

River Davidson

Jordan Fry

Elvia Sandino-Taylor

Evelyn Mann

Teddy Glidden

Scott Anzalone

Gordon Perry

Brendan Whitaker

Toby Marriott

Shriya Sharma

Evy Babb

Dana Kaplan

Ben Weinstein

John Johnston

Elliot Schultz

The Lake Oswego School District uses a standards-based report card for students in elementary schools. This report card measures a child’s progress toward proficiency or mastery of the priority standards in Reading, Writing, Language, Speaking, and Math.

This approach provides the means for communicating a child’s learning in more specific terms. Standards-based reporting articulates clear end-of-year grade-level standards for each subject. Using the scale below, teachers will communicate where a child resides on a learning continuum by indicating the student’s progress toward mastery of each identified grade-level standard.

The standards-based reporting scale:

4: The student works consistently at an in-depth and complex level within or beyond the end-of-year standard*

3: The student meets the grade-level expectation of the standard

2: The student nearly meets the end-of-year standard

1: The student demonstrates limited proficiency on the end-of-year standard

Important notes about the scale:

● Reporting is based on the end-of-year grade-level expectation. Therefore, proficiency would not be expected in the middle of the school year.

● A “2” represents the expected target for the majority of the school year as this indicates the child is progressing with the standard as expected. A “3” will be given when the student completely meets the grade-level standard.

● Details of what is expected at mastery level can be found on the report card or on the list of assessed grade-level standards.

● A “1” may prompt additional communication from the classroom teacher so parents will better understand their child’s learning journey.

*It is rare that a child will receive a “4” especially at the end of the first semester. A “4” score may prompt additional communication from the classroom teacher to discuss ways he/she is meeting the child’s unique learning needs.

Behavior Learning Targets are approached differently than end-of-year standards. Report cards will be available in ParentVUE on Friday, February 10. For more information about your child’s progress, please contact the classroom teacher.

Congratulations to all of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students who competed in the Oregon Battle of the Books (OBOB) this year! It was wonderful to welcome everyone to Westridge last Saturday for our first OBOB tournament day since Covid.

After a hard-fought battle, Book Masters (Brian, Sarah, Grace, and Reid) defeated The Bookaneers (Henry, Gordon, August, and Brendan) in a tie-breaker to claim the school championship. They will be representing Westridge at Regionals in March. Good luck Book Masters!

This year we had a record-number of 3rd grade teams. In the final battle, The Chapters (Dean, Felix, Camille, and Boden) prevailed against the Poppyseed Puppy Paperbacks (Lyla, Selah, Reagan, and Eloise). We are looking forward to seeing what all of the 3rd graders do next year!

Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who helped on Saturday and during the recess battles the last two weeks. Special thank you to our Westridge OBOB leaders Rebecca Weinstein, Lauren Calbreath, and Jenn Schultz- especially Rebecca who was running this for the first time!

This week is National School Counseling Week. Westridge is very fortunate to have Gary Kieser as our school counselor. Mr. Kieser, wears many hats. Among them, he is our Social Emotional Learning teacher, leads small groups, is a loyal confidante to students, and is a problem solver. Thank you Mr. Kieser!

You may not know Mr. Kieser, but your children sure do!

Click here to shop for Westridge Spirit Wear!

Due to the weather, the field gets a little muddy this time of year! We are looking for gently used elastic waistband pants in all sizes. (SM-XL) so that kids can change if they slip or have an accident while at school. Donations can be dropped off at the front office.

Thank you so much!

Please check the Lost and Found that is inside the school near the gym. Thank you!

Online registration and more information can be found here

Note: If your child is currently enrolled in a LOSD school, you do not need to re-enroll for next year. Your child will automatically move up to the next grade in our computer system. The only exception to this is if your child is enrolled in the Pre-K program - then you DO need to enroll your child in Kindergarten. Please give us a call if you have any questions!

Black History Month, is an annual observance paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.

American Heart Month is a time to focus on cardiovascular health.

National School Counseling Week, February 6-10, celebrates the unique contribution of school counselors in our school systems.

National School Resource Officer Appreciation Day, February 15, recognizes the partnership with our SROs and the relationships they build with the students and staff in helping keep schools and communities safe.

Presidents' Day National Holiday

Each school year, Oregon students take assessments to meet federal requirements. The purpose of these assessments is to provide data that schools can use to ensure that every child is on track and achieving learning goals.

State law requires us to inform you that a form is available from the State Department of Education that allows you to opt your child out of the math and English Language Arts assessments for the current school year. Should you wish to opt out your child, fill out the form and submit it to the main office at your child’s school. Please note the submission deadlines listed on the form. Meeting the deadline will help the school with planning and preparation. If you wish your child not to participate in the science assessment for grades 5, 8, and 11, submit this request in writing to the principal of your child's school.

If you have questions or want more information about state assessments, please contact your child’s principal or teacher(s).

Click here for opt-out form for Math and English Language Arts.

Parents-guardians who have concerns about a student’s well-being are encouraged to reach out to their principal, and to maintain strong lines of communication and partnership between students, families, staff, and other resources.

SafeOregon is also an effective way to report a tip regarding safety threats or potential acts of violence to our students or schools.

https://www.safeoregon.com/

(Students should also be aware that intentionally providing a false report is a serious offense.)

Stay connected to the district and your school(s) and receive urgent notifications by subscribing to the Lake Oswego Schools App.

For the safety of children, volunteers are required to have an approved background check when volunteering in schools. Please click here: Volunteer Application for LOSD to start the online application and background check process.

Please contact the office any time your student will be absent or be late for school. Anytime your child arrives at school after 8:20am, they will need to report to the office to get a tardy slip and report their lunch choices. When reporting absences, please email both Andrea and Jodi.

Office phone number and voicemail: 503-534-2371

Attendance Secretary: Andrea Murphy (murphya@loswego.k12.or.us)

Principal's Secretary: Jodi Steward (stewardj@loswego.k12.or.us)

Shop Spirit Wear

Donate Now!

Find us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram @westridge.ptso

Email: westridgeptso@gmail.com

Yearbook Photos: yearbookwestridge@gmail.com

All members of our community are committed to providing a safe and inclusive learning environment that cultivates empathy, creates challenging opportunities, and fosters lifelong learning.

Email: weaverl@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/wr
Location: 3400 Royce Way, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: 503-534-2371