Monday
May 28
NO SCHOOL
Memorial Day
Thursday
May 31
Kindergarten Classes to the Beach
Monday
June 11
New 2nd grade teacher meets with 1st grade parents 5pm
Thursday
June 7
3rd to SCT
Kindergarten Classes to Camp Long
Friday
June 8
Field Day
Spirit/Pizza Day
Wednesday
June 13
1st to the Zoo
Graduation and Spirit Awards Grades 1-5
6:30pm
Thursday
June 14
Last Day of School
PS, PK and K
Dismiss at 11:45
Meet at Lincoln Park Shelter 3
Grades 1-5
Dismiss at Noon
No Childcare!
May 24, 2007
End of Year Events
From Jo Ann - ERB Results
Summer Tutoring
Science is Flourishing in Pre-K
Pizza Days and Volunteer Needed
Teacher Appreciation Thanks
End of the Year Events
Field Day 2007 – Friday, June 8th
The outdoor fun and games begin with an all-school pizza party at 12:00pm and end with the 5th grade donut-eating contest at 2:30pm. We have game and team leader volunteer opportunities so please look for the sign-up sheet on the WPO board inside the front door and come out and play!
Graduation/Awards Night for 1st-5th Grade Families
Westside School’s annual Graduation and Awards Night for 1st through 5th grades is Wednesday, June 13th at 6:30 p.m. In addition to graduating our 5th graders, each 1st-4th grader will receive a special “Spirit Award”. The awards will be followed by a year-in-review slide show, put together by 3rd grade teacher, David Bergler, and refreshments. It is a special night and we hope you can come.
Lincoln Park Picnic for PS, PK and Kindergarten Families
The preschool, pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children will be dismissed at 11:45am on the last day of school, Thursday, June 14. They and their families are invited to bring a sack lunch and meet at Shelter #3 on the beach at Lincoln Park. This is not a field trip as school officially closes at noon. So, children must be transported and supervised by a parent or another adult. Please let your child’s teacher know if they are being accompanied by someone other than his/her parent.
Yearbooks
Yearbooks will be distributed to all students on Wednesday, June 13, before dismissal. A donation of $10 per yearbook is appreciated.
Last Day of School-Early Dismisal
The last day of school is Thursday, June 14. School Closes at Noon-No Aftercare Provided.
From Jo Ann
ERB Results
Congratulations to all our students who took this year’s Education Record Bureau’s CTP IV standardized test! You will be receiving your child’s test results next week.
Westside School uses this standardized test as a diagnostic tool to monitor our curriculum. The teachers use this information to plan for improvement in curriculum materials, teaching methods, and staff development. The school is committed to using this longitudinal test data to develop a plan with the faculty to assess our curriculum effectiveness over time.
We also use the test to monitor student progress. However, for an elementary child, parents and teachers should understand the test is just a snapshot of the child’s progress on a given day. They are learning how to take a standardized test!
Unlike classroom assessment, this test is compared, or normed, to a peer group. Half will do better and half will do worse. This is unlike the WASL which is criterion–referenced and designed to rate a student’s performance as compared with some predetermined standard – everyone can do well or poorly.
In third to fifth grades, the data is represented as a percentile rank and a stanine (1-9). These compare the student’s performance with the performance of a norm group. The first and second grades are not normed, because the children are still learning how to take a standardized test. However, first and second grade parents receive a narrative summary of how their children performed on each sub-test.
Here is a chart which shows the percentage of where our third – fourth grade students placed for the main test sections. (I did include our four fifth graders because the class is too small to be represented in percentages.) Above average represents 7 – 9 stanines, average represents 4-6 stanines, and below average represents 1 – 3 stanines. (Click on the graph below to see a larger image.)
Don’t hesitate to call your teacher or me if you have any questions.
Summer Tutoring
Westside School is happy to continue our tutoring program during the summer.
Please contact the office if you are interested in using this service.
Thanks!
Science is Flourishing in
Pre-Kindergarten
By Claudia Ross-Weston
We are constantly striving to make science relevant and concrete for young children at Westside School. Most recently we have been experiencing the influences of light and shadow in our pre-kindergarten class. In the morning, we drew around our shadows on the black top and then went to observe the changes at noon. With guidance the children began the inquiry process. How did the shadows change? What do you think caused this change? Will our shadows be different in a couple more hours? What will they look like then? Where is the light source for these shadows?
After all of the ideas were collected and discussed we went inside and did a new experiment using a party hat and a flash light. We experimented with moving the light source and moving the hat around. We discovered that the angle of the light determined the length of the shadow. The children were able to make the connections between the sun as a light source and the flashlight. They were able to manipulate the flashlight to lengthen and shorten the shadow. The students understanding of the relationship between the position of the sun in the sky and their shadows outside became much clearer. These discoveries are relevant and exciting in pre-kindergarten.
Pizza Days
Pizza days are coming to an end! Just a reminder, no pizza will be served on June 1, but every student will be served pizza on field day, June 8th.
Looking for Pizza Day Volunteers
The WPO is looking for a 2007-2008 pizza chair/co-chair. You would be responsible for managing pizza distribution one to two Fridays a month. Time required is about 8-10 hours in September, and about one hour, from 11:30am-12:30pm, on pizza Fridays. Spreadsheet computer skills are needed for tracking payment and pizza slices for each student, with the majority of spreadsheet work at the beginning of year. For a complete job description, please contact Tracy at tlleber@comcast.net. Thanks!
Teacher Appreciation Week “Thanks”
Thanks to EVERYONE that helped make Teacher Week another smashing success, especially our amazing Room Parents!
Room Parents
Shelli Park, Megan Simmons, Emily Baker, Cindy Burke, Janet Beeby, Krista Wasserman, Jennifer Cruz, Kate Petrich, Cathy Howe, Sue Winter, Karri DeJong, Mikel O’Brien, Jan Ellis, Hilda Burton, Carol Loughlin, Hallidie Haid, Melissa Dayka
Other help included: Flower arranging, lunch pick-up/set-up/clean-up and preparing dishes:
Theresa Schaefer, Tracy Sundberg, Pam Snider, Janet Somero, Gwen Mathewson, Susan Coskey, Bear Silverstein & Bridgett Chandler, Ellen Chestnut, Christine Smith, Mary Harrelson, Heidi Suarez
Kindergarten Lemonade
Thanks to Peggy King, Darren & Lisa Medina, Christina James & Lori Freer for hosting our Lemonade to welcome our 2007/08 Kindergarten families.