Northwood News
Home of the Shining Stars
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students' behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. When implemented with fidelity, PBIS improves social-emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable, and safe learning environments where everyone thrives. To create a positive school environment where every student has an opportunity to learn, build positive connections, and develop a sense of community within the building, Northwood incorporates PBIS into everyday learning. We aim to provide our students with opportunities to feel safe, supported, and connected throughout the building. Supporting students' social and emotional well-being continues to be a priority this school year, as we increase engagement and motivation through our PBIS incentives. PBIS aims to enhance students' social and academic behaviors, thereby reducing disruptions that hinder instruction.
Our focus this year will continue to reinforce PBIS building-wide expectations (Northwood Code, voice levels and speed levels, cafeteria and bathroom expectations), prosocial behavior incentives (wrist bands), and introduce building-wide community building incentives (shining star announcements, classroom rewards, and spirit weeks). The classroom with the most tickets in each grade level will earn a reward at the end of the month. We will continue our Student of the Month initiative, where we will recognize students who consistently follow the Northwood Code throughout the month, students who show positive or improved attendance to promote the District-Wide Attendance Policy, and students who have shown improved academic performance.
Building Community at Northwood!
We are excited to announce that every classroom will participate in community-building meetings this school year! Community building meetings are an engaging way to start each day, help build a strong sense of community, and help set children up for social and academic success. Each day, students and teachers will gather together for five to ten minutes and interact with one another to focus on a specific social skill. Each week, we will focus on a new social skill and reinforce the skill throughout the week.
Goals of Community Building Meetings:
- Set the tone for respectful and engaged learning in a climate of trust.
- Build a positive community by fulfilling students’ need to belong, feel significant, and have fun.
- Model and practice social-emotional skills.
- Learn and practice critical social skills in real-time.
Skills:
Sept. 15th - Sept.19th: Introducing Yourself
Sept. 22nd - Sept. 26th: Listening
Sept. 29th - Oct. 3rd: Following Directions
Oct. 6th - Oct. 10th: Asking for Help
Oct. 13th - Oct. 17th: Kindness and Appropriate Ways of Speaking to Each Other
Oct. 20th - Oct. 24th: Setting a Goal
Oct. 27th - Oct. 31st: How to Make Friends and be a Good Friend
All school breakfasts and lunches are free for the 2025-2026 school year!
Sign up to add money your child's My School Bucks account for snacks or additional lunch items through Parent Portal or here -- https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/getmain?requestAction=home
Parent Portal
One of the best ways to keep track of school work, schedules, assignments, grades, attendance, lunch money, etc., is the Parent Portal. Each parent may have one account, attaching multiple children/students. You must know your child's PowerSchool Access ID and Password to create an account. Please call your child's school to retrieve this information. For more information on how to access this account for your children, please visit this link -- https://www.wscschools.org/parentportal
Attention -- All Parent Volunteers!
To safely promote family engagement, we ask any parent/guardian interested in volunteering in our buildings to complete the "Parent Volunteer Orientation." Volunteers include, but are not limited to, classroom helpers, classroom readers, PTA volunteers, etc.
Any adult entering the building during the school day must view the entire slideshow and complete the Annual Acknowledgement Form. Upon completing the slideshow, you will find the Acknowledgment Form by clicking the icon specific to your building.
To get started, please follow this link to the webpage: https://www.wscschools.org/Page/23819.
West Seneca Central Schools Mission
"We are an educational community that encourages kindness, inspires confidence, and instills the belief that together we can achieve anything."