PDWMS PRIDE Jan '26

Greetings Panthers Families!

Welcome Back and Happy New Year! Can you believe it is already 2026? I hope you all had a wonderful time enjoying family and loved ones over the winter holiday break.

I cannot believe we have completed an entire semester and am eager with anticipation for what 2026 has in store for our Panthers scholars. Let's flash back a moment to the successes we experienced in 2025.

Our scholars had a tremendous first semester. Our iReady Middle of the Year data reports showed that our scholars are growing in both Reading and Math and we are focused on continuing that growth throughout the remainder of the school year. We have improved in Reading by 5%with students reading at or above grade level as evidenced by the MOY diagnostic and decreased the number of students performing 2 or more years below grade level by 7%. In Math we saw a 11% increase in students scoring on or above grade level and a decrease of 12% in our scholars performing 2 or more years below in Mathematics. Your support at home is critical in continuing the growth of our scholars.

As the 2025 CCRPI metrics have been publicized on the Georgia DOE website, I am happy to share our growth with our school community. In the area of Content Mastery (ELA, Math, Social Studies and Science) Paul D. West improved from 43.5% in 2024 to 47.6% in 2025.

In the are of Readiness (Lexile Levels, Beyond the Core, and Attendance) Paul D. West improved from 71% in 2024 to 72% in 2025.

While we did not see an increase in the area of Progress (measuring student growth in ELA, Math, Social Studies and Science as compared to academically similar students), Paul D. West maintained Closing the Gaps (subgroup performance - Economically Disadvantaged, African American/Black, English Language Learners and Students with Disabilities) at 100% in 2025.

While we are not where we would ultimately like to be, we are on our way. Please join me in celebrating the work our staff has done and the effort our students put forth to excel in the classroom. We will continue to work diligently to see greater gains in the 2026 school year and we appreciate your continued partnership.

Thank you to those who came out to our Winter Performing Arts Showcase. Our scholars really put on a wonderful show. Thank you to our FIne Arts department for making it possible. I am filled with anticipation as we await the Spring Showcase.

Please remember we are a uniform school and expect all scholars to wear uniforms daily. Our school uniform consists of khaki or black pants and white polos (6th graders), black polos (7th graders) and red polos (8th graders). Students who do not arrive to school in uniform will be required to call home for a change of school appropriate clothes. Crocs are also required to be worn in sports mode. Thank you for your support.

As you are aware, the weather is changing and respiratory illnesses are on the rise. If your scholar is sick please do NOT send him/her to school. If the clinic calls you to pick up a sick child you must do so within 30-minutes of the call. This request is out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our scholars and staff. If your scholar has a fever, is vomiting or has diarrhea he/ she will need to be kept home for at least 24-hours after the last symptoms.

I am excited to see all of our scholars and look forward to an EXTRAORDINARY spring semester.

In Partnership,

Principal Wilson, Proud Panther

Fall semester report cards will be available in Infinite Campus on January 17, 2026. If you do not have an Infinite Campus Parent Portal Account please create one to access all of your student's attendance and grade information.

As you may already know, Fulton County Schools has selected schools who are below 95% of their allotted enrollment to become COSA schools. COSA stands for Change of Student Assignment. This is open to the families in our system who would like to elect to attend another school outside of their assigned zone. Families are able to select their top three choices and will be entered into a lottery to determine acceptance. The deadline to submit your COSA application is due January 9, 2026. A detailed email about this process has been shared with all families from our district's communications department. The link below will also provide more information for families considering COSA. Paul D. West is a 2026-2027 COSA school.

The game against Sandtown will be rescheduled for a later date. Stay tuned!

January

5 - Teacher Workday NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

6- First Day of Spring Semester

19 - MLK Jr Holiday SCHOOL CLOSED

20 - SGC Meeting at 5PM

21 - Katie Gregory Community Meeting at Hapeville ES @ 5:30PM

February

16 - Teacher Workday NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

17 - Professional Devlopment Day NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

17- SGC Meeting

19 - Katie Gregory Community Meeting at Ridgeview MS @ 9:30AM