West Hempstead Weekly Update
This week, WHe had the chance to visit classrooms at Cornwell Avenue School, and WHe left energized by what WHe saw. Across grades 1 through 3, there was a clear and consistent focus on foundational skills in both literacy and mathematics.
In literacy, students were deep in Fundations. In one classroom, students gathered on the carpet as their teacher explained why “duck” ends in ck: even though c and k both say /k/, we use ck right after a short vowel. In another, students broke apart words like “bashful” into base word and suffix, building an understanding of how language is put together. In a third, students worked through sound-alike word pairs and applied suffix rules they had been practicing. Each lesson was explicit, structured, and built on what students already knew.
In math, students were focused on problem solving. They were working through real-world scenarios about fish, sharks, cans, and pennies, showing their work, writing equations, and explaining their thinking. It was a great reminder that mathematical understanding comes from making sense of problems, not just computing answers.
What ties this work together is the idea of stacking learning. When students build skills step by step and experience success along the way, they develop a positive self-concept and a real sense of competence. That confidence fuels motivation, which leads to more effort, more success, and continued growth. It is a positive feedback loop, and our teachers at Cornwell are building it, one lesson at a time.
Thank you to the Cornwell staff for the intention you bring to your classrooms every day. And yes, there were some pretty fantastic hats in the room, too. It was a fun reminder that learning at Cornwell is joyful as well as rigorous.
Whether they’re designing a new phone holder, dreaming up a new school, making the case for kindness over bullying, or working through a challenging math problem, our students at the Secondary School are putting their best foot forward.
During recent visits, WHe saw students in 3D design software building and refining a phone holder, teammates measuring, sketching, and sharing roles as they designed a school room from scratch, and Algebra students settling in with their calculators and problem sets. In the library, WHe also saw a display of student-created anti-bullying posters, full of heart. They reminded us that “bullying is a choice, kindness is a better one,” that we should “unite for what’s right,” and that you can’t build happiness on someone else’s pain.
What stood out to me across all of these spaces was the effort. Students were designing, collaborating, problem-solving, and thinking about the kind of community they want to be a part of. That’s the work of learning, and it’s happening every day at the Secondary School.
Thank you to our teachers, staff, and families for supporting our students. I’m RamProud of what they are doing.
Dear West Hempstead Community,
Every child in West Hempstead has a right to read, and every child in West Hempstead can learn to read. This month's Golden Fleece is proof of that belief in motion: a district reading together, one classroom at a time.
At Chestnut Street, our youngest Rams are building the foundation, letters, sounds, and the confidence to try. At Cornwell, that foundation becomes fluency and habit, as teachers ask students not just whether they liked a book but what they noticed in it. At George Washington, readers are learning to look closely, tracing a character's turning point or a small quirky detail back to the choices an author made. And at the Secondary School, literacy becomes voice: the persuasive argument, the critical read of an image or a video, the tools students need to participate in their communities as engaged citizens.
Woven through every grade band is the same message from our PPS, ENL, and literacy teams: growth comes from small, consistent habits, not from a page count. A shared notebook, a reread favorite, a family conversation in whatever language feels most natural at home, all of it builds the same oral and written foundation. As Ms. Reilly reminds us, a single new word, noticed and used, expands a child's whole world.
RamFam, this is who WHe are: a district that refuses to let any student's potential go unrealized because of a skill WHe know how to teach. I hope you'll join us for Literacy Night on October 22 at 6:30 pm at the Secondary School, and that you'll find at least one small routine in these pages to try at home this month. Let's keep rising together, one reader at a time.
The Power of 15 Minutes
Just 15 minutes of reading together each day can transform your child's entire educational journey. Research shows that children who are read to for just 15 minutes daily are exposed to over 1 million words per year, compared to only 282,000 words for children who aren't read to regularly.
For more, see the PDF below or visit: https://www.whufsd.com/page/district-literacy
About Us
Email: drehman@whufsd.com
Website: www.whufsd.com
Location: 252 Chestnut Street, West Hempstead, NY,
Phone: 516-390-3000
