Westside Middle School

Friday, Jan 16th - No School - Staff Development Day

Monday, Jan 19th - No School - MLK Day

Friday, Feb 13th - No School - Staff Work Day

Monday, Feb 16th - No School - Staff Development Day

Wednesday, March 18 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Thursday, March 19 - No School - Parent Teacher Conferences

Friday, March 20th - No School

Friday, April 3 - Early Dismissal at 1:45

April 6-10 - No School. - Spring Break

Monday, April 27th - No School - Staff Development Day

Students will be receiving their December MAP Test Results in their Language Arts or Reading Class. Please make sure you ask them for the information. We had so many students improve in both Math and Reading and qualified for our celebration this past week or this week. We are working hard to continue this trend of improvement for NSCAS in April.

Applications for membership to NJHS for the 26-27 school year will be emailed to eligible students and their parents on Friday, Jan 23rd. Students who have a gpa of 3.8 or higher will be eligible to apply. Application requirements include an essay, service hour documentation and participation in extracurricular activities. Completed applications will be due on Thursday, Feb 12th.

**If you are a current 8th grader and you were inducted last year as a 7th grader, you do NOT need to reapply.

Sponsors: Lisa Phillips, Liz Sherrill, Minnie Hansen, and Danika Rug

Dear Westside Families and Community:

Today, I am writing to ask you for your help and continued partnership.

In our district, we believe that all students deserve an environment where they feel safe, respected, and ready to learn. As we enter 2026 and the second half of this school year, we want to further partner with families and caregivers to reignite our high expectations for student behavior. Working together helps us create and maintain the positive, learning-focused environment that helps every student achieve the levels of academic and behavioral excellence we strive for in everything we do.

While our educators are dedicated to teaching and modeling positive behavior, we cannot do this work alone. To ensure our schools remain places of excellence for all learners, we are asking for your active support in the following ways:

Reinforce High Expectations: Talk with your child(ren) about the importance of following school rules and respecting staff and peers. Help them understand they are part of the “Westside Team” and that their actions should not disrupt the learning of others in their classrooms.

Active Accountability & Partnership: We ask that you partner with us in supporting your children and holding them accountable to learn from their choices at school. When home and school speak with one voice, students feel more secure and understand the boundaries of acceptable behavior.

Open Communication: If challenges arise, please work together with school staff toward solutions. A collaborative approach can help ensure that discipline is a learning opportunity and a path toward growth rather than just a consequence.

Support: Please support our school administrators as they make difficult decisions, including temporary removal or suspension, when repeated and significant disruptions interfere with a positive learning environment for others.

Embrace the “13% to 87% Rule”: There are 8,760 hours in a calendar year. A typical school year is around 1,140 hours. That means that Westside Community Schools has your child(ren) for 13% of the hours in a year. We will do our absolute best to guide your child(ren), support them, challenge them, and help them in every way we can. The remaining 87%, they will always rely on you as their primary support system and role model. Let’s work together to help each child be the best they can be.

When our hard-working and dedicated teachers and staff can focus 100% of their energy on instruction, reinforcing appropriate behaviors, and sustaining a positive classroom climate, as opposed to managing classroom behaviors, there is no limit to what we can accomplish academically.

We want to acknowledge and thank the many Westside families who consistently reinforce our expectations and partner with us to ensure a very high percentage of our students come to school each day ready to learn, treat others with respect, and contribute positively to their school communities. This message is a reminder and recommitment for all of us as we gear up for what is going to be a sensational 2026.

There’s no better place to be than Westside!

Jr.ITS is a program which allows students to become more involved in theatre. Meetings are held on Wednesdays once a month from 3pm-4pm, and we will theatre games, warm-ups, scene work, improvisation, and more! Meetings will also include important information, including how to continue theatre in high school and how to be inducted into the ITS Program. If you are not sure if theatre is the place for you, these meetings are a perfect place to start, and if you simply want to have fun join us! The first meeting will take place Wednesday January 14th, 2026 in the WMS auditorium from 3pm-4pm. All are welcome!

Join the coolest team in town and take the plunge for inclusion on Saturday, February 14, 2026, at Lake Zorinsky! Every icy splash will directly support Westside Unified and our amazing student-athletes through Special Olympics.

Event details

Date: Saturday, February 14, 2026 , 9:30am sign in, 11:00am Plunge
Location: Lake Zorinsky, Omaha
Benefiting: Westside Unified and Special Olympics programming for students with and without intellectual disabilities.

Why plunge

When you register to plunge, you are helping provide year-round sports, leadership, and inclusive activities for Westside Unified athletes and students, giving them opportunities to compete, connect, and shine. Polar Plunge events are major fundraisers for Special Olympics, turning a few seconds of cold into a lasting impact on athletes’ health, confidence, and community.

How to get involved

Sign up to plunge as an individual with Westside Unified - bring a friend too! We would love to have a representative from EVERY Westside School!
Set a fundraising goal and ask others to donate in support of your chilly challenge; every dollar raised stays local to support Unified programming.
Not a fan of cold water? You can still register, fundraise, and cheer on our plungers from the shore! We will have a warm tent, hot cocoa and donuts, and all of our friends!

Call to action

Gather your warmest Warrior costume, your bravest friends, and your biggest heart, and commit today to plunging for Westside Unified! Look for the registration link and fundraising details from Westside Unified communications and help make this the biggest, coldest, most inclusive Polar Plunge yet.

Westside Unified Events

January 16th- Come cheer on WMS/WHS Unified Basketball @ WHS between the Varsity Basketball Games. We will be playing Papillion LaVista South

January 31st- Unified Basketball PreK-12 Monthly Event @ Paddock Road

February 5th- Come cheer on WMS/WHS Unified Basketball @ Bellevue East 5:30pm

February 14th- Polar Plunge @ Lake Zorinsky 11:00am

February 21st- Come cheer on WMS/WHS Unified Basketball @ Elkhorn South 4:45pm

March 26th- Unified Talent Show @ WHS

State competitions for our Unified Teams

State Unified Cheer on February 19th in Grand Island. The team hopes to compete well and bring home the gold after finishing runner up last season.
State Unified Speech end of March in Kearney

Strong connections between families and schools significantly contribute to student success. PowerSchool offers an effective way for parents to stay informed and monitor their child's progress.

The following resources are available to help parents access PowerSchool and navigate the system efficiently.

Parent Resources for PowerSchool

Each Team will use a homework tracker. Parents are encouraged to use this to see what is being assigned in the Core Classes (Math, Science, Social St., Language Arts). You will find links to each team's homework tracker on the WMS Website (Select For Families and then select homework tracker). You will need to know what team your student is on. Click on the homework tacker button below.

Homework Tracker