What's Happening at Western
Some thoughts for the starting school year
9/5/25
Dear Western families,
Our first week of parent drop-off went very, very well! The flow of traffic was excellent, and I appreciate the police department being there to help direct traffic. Please, please make a right turn out of the parking lot if you can. It holds up the traffic if you try to go straight or make a left. Please do not drop off your child anywhere on the street, as I have seen some parents doing this over the past few days. You can pull across the street in the lot and have them cross at the crosswalk. We are not marking students tardy this week, because it seems that most cars arriving at or after 8:15am are parents bringing their child because of bus issues. Once buses are running well and we see if many students are showing up late without an acceptable excuse, I will share my thoughts on the importance of being on time to school.
Dismissal time still needs some work! Here are some directions we need you to follow:
Do not pull up in front of the school as that is where the buses line up. You can pick your child up in the lot near the gym/fields or across the street.
Do not park anywhere on the street to wait for your child. There are cars lining up between the street and the front circle, which is not allowed.
If you are picking up your child after school, consider coming 10-15 minutes after dismissal to avoid the bulk of traffic. You will be able to pull right up to grab your child and not sit in ANY traffic. Your child can wait for you, considering you have probably spent the equivalent of months over the years waiting for them for all their activities!
Late buses start on Monday. I am a little scared to see how those are work out. We only have 3 late bus routes, which should make it easier for them. It looks like the routes posted have not been updated with the new 4:15pm end time for after-school activities. If your child is staying, we will be outside with the routes to help them find their correct bus. The late route stops don’t change too much from year to year, so you can take a look to see which bus your child might take.
As I said in the email I sent out yesterday, we will be holding sports tryouts on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of next week. Soccer and field hockey will use all three days, while volleyball tryouts will only be on Tuesday and Thursday. There will be no late buses on Friday, so your child will need to walk/ride home, or be picked up by someone.
Many of you are excited that this is the first weekend of NFL football, along with week two of college football. You all know that Penn State is my college team and they have to win it all this year! As for the NFL, I have been a die-hard Giants fan, which has been extremely painful over the last 10 or so years. However, I still remember the years of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson and Phil Simms, and I know we can get back to that level of football. I will not give up on them! However, I have started to also root for the NY Jets, because New York really needs a good season for at least one team!
Enjoy your weekend. Good luck to your college and football teams this season, except for Ohio State and anyone the Giants play.
Sincerely,
Suzanne
Suzanne Coyne
Principal
suzanne_coyne@greenwich.k12.ct.us
PS: PLEASE keep reading, because A LOT of important information is included below.
Grading Percentages and Categories across ALL classes:
60%: Mastery (e.g., tests, quizzes, labs, essays, projects)
30%: Progress (e.g., homework and class assignments graded for accuracy, essay drafts,
reflections, IXL practice, note processing, etc)
10%: Responsibility (e.g., on-time work, preparedness, effort, collaboration)
Late Assignments:
As we know middle school students sometimes do not manage their time as wisely as they should and are still learning important executive functioning skills. Therefore, “progress” assignments graded for accuracy can be made up within 5 days for full credit. Teachers have the choice to add responsibility grade reflecting the lateness of the assignment.
Mastery Reteaching and Reassessment:
Since our students are still learning how best to prepare for upcoming assessments and we want to make sure they understand the content, opportunities for reassessment or test corrections with reflections/explanations are available to any student who earns below 80% on an assessment. The maximum score on any retake will be 80% (not an average of both scores). This only applies to unit tests, not quizzes, as quiz content is reassessed on the end-of-unit test.
Aspen Codes:
In order to make sure students and parents know which assignments have been handed in and which still need to be completed, the school uses the same codes in Aspen for ALL classes. Below is a description of each code you will see and what each means:
GIP (Grading In Progress): Your child has handed in the assignment but it hasn’t been graded.
NHI (Not Handed In): Your child did not hand in the assignment by the due date and it will count as a ‘0’ until it is completed and handed in.
AB (Absent): You child was absent when it was assigned and it will count as a ‘0’ until it is made up.
EX (Excused): The teacher is no longer expecting the assignment and it is not calculated into the grade.
0 (Zero): An assignment that has not been turned in and cannot be turned in for late credit.
Below are the Homework Hubs for each grade-level team and World Language teachers. Please ask your child what color team they are on, so you know which one to check. The homework hubs include homework assignments, teacher contact information and the afternoon extra help days and times for your team. Students are also required to write their homework in their planners and given time in class to do this. You have 2 places you can check to see if your child has done all their homework, so they have no excuse for not knowing what their homework is! The links will remain in my weekly SMORES.
Here is the Club Catalog so far for this year. More clubs are still being developed and some may begin later in the year. We will add new clubs as we get the flyers and I will include them in future SMORES if there are more to see. Best of all, they are FREE!
We are excited to announce that registration is now open for our 2025-2026 the Filling in the Blanks Weekend Meal Bag program! Filling in the Blanks started at Western last year to support our families by providing nutritious weekend meal bags.
You can use the QR Code in the flyer, or the link below to register. Be sure to indicate the location where your child will attend this 2025-2026 School year so it will be delivered directly to school. Please make sure you update your child's: school, grade, and any contact information that has changed (address or phone number). When filling out the form please make sure you select the 2025-2026 Weekend Meal Bag. If you have any questions or do not see your Child's School listed in the dropdown menu on the form, please call Filling in the Blanks at 203-750-0019.
Registration Link: Filling in the Blanks | Connecticut
Please complete the applications below if you qualify for Free and Reduced lunch. Even if you qualified last year you will need to apply again this year. Below are links to the eligibility guidelines and forms that need to be completed. Please have your child return the forms to the main office as soon as possible. We also have copies in the main office. If you have any questions, please call our main office at (203) 531-5700.
2025-26 Current Eligibility Guidelines
Here is a parent/guardian video on How to Fill Out the Application for Free and Reduced-price Meals or Free Milk (CSDE) to help parents and guardians complete the free and reduced-price application form.
