Westwood Updates

~Translation available in many different languages by clicking "Translate Newsletter" at the top.~

~Traducción disponible en muchos idiomas diferentes haciendo clic en "Translate Newsletter" en la parte superior.~

“Coffee with the Principal”

7:25-8:25am in our Library (Parents Only)

Thursday, October 22, 2026

Dear All Westwood Parents, you’re invited to come to school in the morning, drive your student this day, park in the parking lot, & walk in with them between 7:10-7:20am. Then at 7:25am, if you’re interested in just chatting with our principal, Ryan Hart, asking questions - both big & small, & finding out about our social/emotional learning at school. You can come to our library & have coffee with him (we’ll also have bananas, granola bars, & donuts if you’re interested). It will be a completely informal & relaxed way for you to just chat & discuss things with the principal. We will have a translator present for Spanish speaking parents if needed. We look forward to seeing you there if you are interested & available! If you plan on coming, please RSVP by Friday, October 16, by filling out this form that was sent through email & Class Dojo so we know how many supplies to get.

Please call our main office at 815-337-8173 with any questions or concerns. Communication with the classroom teachers is important to us. If you have any questions or want to know who to contact for certain concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at 815-206-7740 (direct office line) or 815-345-1253 (cell).

-Dr. Ryan Hart, Principal, Westwood Elementary School

DID YOU KNOW?

• Missing 10% of the school year, or 2 days a month (18 total), over the course of a school year can make it harder to learn to read? It also makes it harder for math since you miss prerequisite math skills & strategies for the next lessons.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
• Research has also shown that being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences & tardiness can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
• A child is identified as chronically absent if they miss two or may days a month, which equates to 10% or more of the school year.
• Last school year 17% of our Westwood students were identified as chronically absent, which is very similar to the other schools in Woodstock. State-wide there were 28% of all Illinois students identified as chronically absent. These are much higher numbers than before the pandemic.
• However, the average number of days a student was absent for our whole school was 5, because most of our students only miss 1-5 days each year.
• So please help teach your child good habits by helping them get to school every day. It will help you so much as they get older & more importantly, it will help them learn good habits of dependability when they're an adult.

What is chronic absenteeism?

• Chronic absenteeism means missing too much school (10% or more) for any reason, excused or unexcused.

What can we do as parents?

• Set up & stick to regular bedtimes & routines.
• Schedule medical & dental appointments after school when possible.
• Avoid taking vacations when school is in session.
• Send students to school every day unless they are truly sick.
• Have back up plans for getting kids to school if something comes up (i.e. - carpools or childcare arrangements with neighbors or family friends).

Attendance Works video:

https://vimeo.com/240840053

Please review the attendance policy highlights below. Please know that the entire Westwood staff is committed to supporting our students and families; so, if your family is faced with a barrier that negatively impacts their attendance, please contact us immediately. We want to work with you to address these challenges, so students can continue to grow academically, socially, & emotionally. In partnering with our families, we hope to minimize unnecessary school absences.

Elementary Attendance Policy Highlights

Reporting Absences – A phone call from a parent or guardian by 7:20am on the day of the absence is required on our attendance line, 815-337-8622. A signed note before the absence from a parent/guardian is acceptable. If no communication occurs, we will call during the morning of the absence.

Tardies – It is expected that students be to class on time, which is 7:20am. Students are considered tardy if they are late.

Attendance Letters of Notification – The following “Letters of Notification” are intended to inform parents of attendance concerns. The Attendance Secretary & Principal will review student attendance rates monthly & issue letters to parents accordingly.

Attendance Notification Letter 1 – Notification that student has reached 5% absenteeism and is on track to reach 10% absenteeism for the course of the year.

Attendance Notification Letter 2 – The student has now reached 10% absenteeism. A doctor's note will likely be required at this point. A meeting (in-person or over the phone) with the Principal or Attendance Secretary will also likely take place.

Attendance Notification Letter 3 – A doctor's note will be required to excuse absences now. A meeting (in-person or over the phone) with the Principal or Attendance Secretary will also be required. If attendance continues to be a problem after this, a referral to the Truancy Office at the Regional Office of Education could be made, and the ROE Truancy Interventionist will contact the family.

We truly want to make a difference in your student’s education and help to fulfill their hopes and dreams. However, this is challenging if your student is not here at school every day. We hope to work collaboratively with all families to ensure our students come to Westwood and have the success that we all wish for them.

Please see this letter from Ryan Hart, our principal, regarding birthday celebrations in school.

As you’ve probably found in your experience as a parent, asking "how was school today?" might not get you very far. Instead, ask questions like these for a better picture of your child's day. You'll also be coaching them towards being an optimistic person, choosing a positive attitude, & these kinds of questions will sometimes lead to you being able to talk them through how they can learn to solve problems if/when they come up. Specific questions about their day make it easier for them to share:

• "What's the coolest thing that happened today?"

• "What was your favorite thing about today?" & after they answer, "What was your least favorite thing about today?"

• "Pretend you're the teacher. How would you describe the day?" (This may give you a good laugh too!)

• "What made you laugh?" or "Did anything funny happen today at school?"

• "What was the most creative thing you did?"

• "How were you kind or helpful today? How was someone kind or helpful to you?"

• "I was thinking about you today! Want to know what I was thinking?"

• "Seeing you again makes me so happy." (Our kids deserve our delight. When we show our kids we delight in their presence, they feel loved, safe, & known.)

• "Who did you play with today?" (Asking them who they play with will allow you to enter into their world. Showing interest in their friends helps them discuss friendships with you & can help lay the foundation for their willingness to talk & share with you later on as they get older.)

• "Did you make any mistakes today?" (And tell them you did too. Allowing your child to reflect on their mistakes & failures with your love & support helps them see that making mistakes will help them learn & it builds resilience in them. Resilience can help them handle disappointments & frustrations later on in life in healthy ways.)

• "What do you need right now? I'm here for you, like quiet time or a chat." (After school meltdowns are common in kids. Kids often save all their tears for when they feel safe to unload them, we can help by allowing space for their big feelings. Adults have big feelings sometimes, so it's only natural that kids have them too sometimes.)

Can you believe it's already conference time? If you haven't already, please sign up for parent teacher conferences at your earliest convenience by clicking this link. Also, please feel free to sign up for conferences over the phone with us by calling 815-337-8173 anytime from 7:00am-3:30pm, Monday-Friday.

If you would like to buy the Chromebook Protection Plan you can click on this link for the flyer below so you can see the details of how this works:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zy84eXrT9qBHjFyB_PmdHGX1t9d4xcJm/view?usp=sharing

A reminder for Westwood families:

Our Kindness Closet is available whenever school is in session and will also be open during in-person parent-teacher conferences on Wednesday, October 7 (4 pm - 8:30 pm), and Thursday, October 8 (9 am - 8:30 pm). We have new and gently used children’s coats, boots, hats, gloves, shoes, and clothing, as well as paper products, household cleaning, and laundry supplies, personal care items, and diapers and wipes. All of these items are free for anyone who needs them.

If your family does not need anything from the Kindness Closet at this time, please consider donating instead. We especially appreciate laundry detergent, household cleaners, diapers and wipes, paper towels, snow pants, and cash donations to help restock our shelves. (We do not have space for more clothing donations right now.) If you wish to share with other families, please bring your donations to the school office or send them to school with your child. There was a flyer that was sent home with your child about a week ago. Thank you! -Westwood SEL Committee

Thursday, October 2 at 2:00.

Our pollinator garden needs some refreshing, and our friends from Small Waters Education are providing new prairie smoke plants that need to be dug in.

Prairie smoke is one of the first plants to flower in the spring, providing a critical food source for bees emerging from their winter hibernation. With its wispy seed heads that suggest drifting smoke, it is a beautiful addition to any native plant garden.

Come help us install the new plants and learn about pollinators and native plant gardening!

Let me start by saying any and all spirit wear your child already has is still good & cool for your children to wear & most students will still be wearing that! However, new Westwood Spirit Wear is here!! Shop the online store through R&S Screen Printing.

https://randsonline.com/product-category/westwood-elementary/

Available Items Include:
Beanies, Sweatshirts
Hoodies, Sweatpants
Long Sleeve Shirts, and T-Shirts

*Youth & adult sizes available
*Some items can be customized with a name for an additional cost.

When your order is ready you can pick up at:
R&S Screen Printing
739 McHenry Ave (Route 120), Woodstock (the half circle building by Marian)
Or have it shipped for an additional fee.

**Orders take about a week to fill & you will get an email when it is available to be picked up.

Food Services Information -

• Free & Reduced Lunch Information (Spanish) - These will be updated soon!
• Online Application Link (Parent Application Guide - Spanish - The application link is updated, but the guides will be coming soon!)
• Please call us if you have questions or need help signing up for free or reduced lunch at 815-337-8173. We are here to help!

Lunch Payment Website - Menus

Transportation Information -

District 200 School Calendar - Spanish

Transportation Information -

Dine'N'Share - Chipotle Night on Tuesday, October 13 from 4:00-8:00pm. 3 Brothers Night on November 12 from 4:00-9:00pm.

Harlem Wizards - Friday, November 6 at 7:00pm. See poster below!

Come Check out the PTO - We're just like you. We're parents, teachers, business people... you name it. And the one thing we all have in common is our dedication to the students at Westwood. And the more involvement we have, the bigger impact we can all make. We're still looking for people to lead several committees & other volunteers for activities such as Yearbook, Fun Fair, & much more. Our next meeting is Monday, October 5, at 6:00pm in the Westwood library (the one after that is Monday, November 2)! See you there!

Boxtops - These are going digital & it’s easier than ever! Eventually, there will be no need to cut out the actual Box Tops logos, instead you can just scan your receipt! Companies that participate in this will be phasing-out their printed box tops that have to be cut out, so keep looking for those to cut out over the next several months & in the meantime, please consider downloading the "Box Tops" app. Check out this 1 minute video to find out more!

PTO Co-President: Lisa Kurth

PTO Co-President: Unfilled, so if you want to get more involved, we'd love to have you!

PTO Secretary: Jessica Hanlin

PTO Treasurer: Jacquie Shanklin