Westchester News



Westchester News 2020Sunday, February 2nd Super Bowl Monday, February 3rd PTA Meeting 7:00 pm Tuesday, February 4thElection Day- School Closed Thursday, February 6th Report Cards go HomeSaturday, February 8th PTA Pancake Breakfast at Applebee’s 8:00 am Monday, February 17th Presidents Day- School OpenThursday, February 20st PTA BINGO NightPrincipal’s MessageDistribution of Report CardsReport Cards will be distributed on Thursday February 6, 2020. As always, if you desire a conference with your child’s teacher, please contact the school at 410.887.1088 or your child’s teacher via email.We appreciate our PTAThank you to PTA for holding the most successful Fall Book Fair yet! We are able to provide $2500.00 to purchase Spanish Language Library books in order to build the Spanish Language book section of our School Library. Congratulations to Mrs. Julie MentonOur 2019-2020 BCPS Teacher of the Year CandidateWe would like to thank Mrs. Menton (Kindergarten) for her outstanding leadership and fantastic teaching as she creates a truly wonderful learning environment each and every day for our youngest learners. We are proud to have her represent Westchester Elementary at the County Teacher of the Year Ceremony held in April at Carver High School. Great job Mrs. Menton!!!It’s almost time for the 2019-2020 BCPS Stakeholder Survey!Last year, BCPS heard from thousands of parents, community members, and staff.? While we’re happy to hear from so many of you, we’re still missing some voices.Your voice matters!? Your feedback has helped guide school improvement, staff training, office safety, and reorganization planning. The survey is an easy way to help us improve further.It takes about five minutes on a phone, tablet, or computer.The survey is now available in 16 languages for students, parents, and community members.There are different (but related) questions for school-based staff, parents, students, community members, and central office staff. If you are both a BCPS parent and staff member, or if you have children in more than one County school, you are encouraged to take the survey more than once to reflect your different experiences in those different roles or schools.Please take the survey online from January 27th to March 1st, at , and encourage others to share their voices. Thank You!Happy New Year Westchester Families!It is wonderful to be back with your children as we begin 2020.I wanted to share a number of new and important changes that have been announced regarding our school calendar as I know people do like to plan ahead.1. Changes to February School Calendar - School will be closed on Tuesday, February 4th for the special 7th congressional district election to fill the remainder of the term created by the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings. This closure will shift the last day of classes for students from Friday, June 19th to Monday, June 22nd. In addition, pending State Board of Education approval, school will be open on President's Day, Monday, February 17th to make up for the recent emergency closure of school on December 16th, 2019.2. Adjustments to School Calendar in case of Snow Days - BCPS has allotted 5 emergency closure make-up days this year. Determining the last day of school for students may be somewhat fluid this year depending on upcoming weather events. We have used our first Emergency Closure #1 which will be made up with President's Day being open. Our next Emergency Closure #2 would make April 13th (Easter Monday) a regular school day. The last day of school is now scheduled for Wednesday, June 17th. For Emergency Closure #3 - last day would be June 18th. For Emergency Closure #4 - last day would be June19th. For Emergency Closure # 5 - last day would be Monday, June 22nd. If we have more than 5 closure days, then there may be further adjustments to the school calendar. Let us hope for a dry winter!3. Sending Home Information on Wednesdays - Beginning in February, our School Newsletter will be sent home with only the youngest child in each family. We will send home only one copy per family. The newsletter will also be available via our school website which is: 4. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact either Mrs. Crabb or myself at 410-887-1089. Thank you!Message to Parents Westchester Winter MAPDuring the first weeks of February, Westchester will be conducting our Winter MAP testing in the subjects of Math and Reading.? MAP is a computer adaptive tested that students in kindergarten take once a year, students in first and second grade take three times a year and students in third through fifth take two times per year.? This assessment measures student growth over time as well as academic knowledge, skills and abilities as compared to grade level standards.? MAP testing sessions do not have a time limit and typically last and average of 40 minutes with approximately 40 to 50 questions.? Question types vary but can include multimedia presentation, multiple choice, drag-and-drop, fill in the blank and various others.At Westchester, we feel it is important for students to set both short term and long-term goals.? Every student, in grades 1-5, has an individualized growth target that considers their current academic standing as well as projected proficiency.? All students at Westchester work hard and we want to ensure that all success and achievement is celebrated.? While MAP is only one assessment, we want to celebrate and encourage students to do their best so students will be able to earn STARS.? Students at every grade level will have the opportunity to earn STARS on their testing days.? STARS can be earned for reviewing work, taking their time or utilizing scrap paper to name a few examples.? At the end of MAP, students will have the opportunity to redeem their STARS for rewards.??Current Testing Dates (subject to change with weather related events)Kindergarten – February 3rd?and 5th1st?Grade-February 6th?and 7th2nd?Grade- February 3rd?and 5th?(Morrissey only 1/30 and 2/5)3rd?Grade- February 10th?and 11th?4th?Grade – February 13th?and 14th?5th?Grade February 6th?and 7thIf you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email Amanda Crabb at?acrabb@Nurse MessageNO CANDY FOR VALENTINE'S.??Sin dulces para San Valentin.?To promote healthy bodies and minds we will only serve healthy foods that align with BCPS policy.? Please check Pinterest for fun alternatives to candy!? We have loved seeing the creative ideas that have come in over the past few years.?We appreciate parent/family support in maintaining a positive climate in the classroom and ask that parents coordinate directly with the homeroom teacher before bringing any food in for the class for any reason. Unhealthy food will be returned to parents and not accepted in the office according to BCPS policy.? Please see attached for a listing of healthy options.?? A Message from the Office Kindergarten Registration will take place in early March. To be eligible for Kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year a child must be 5 years old by September 1, 2020. Dismissal ChangesThis is a gentle reminder that students should have the same dismissal plan each day. We understand that life requires changes so please follow the steps below if your child will need to change their normal dismissal plan. Send in a note indicating the normal plan, the change and reason. Your child should give the note to his/her teacher. Changes to the bus must be approved to ensure that there are enough seats on the bus. If you are concerned that the note will not find its way to the teacher, please email office staff (jbaldwin3@ and lfoster3@) and your child’s teacher. If a change needs to be made after the school day has started, call the office at 410.887.1088 or email the office only (jbaldwin3@ and lfoster3@), we will make sure the message is given to the teacher before dismissal. Please indicate in the email the student’s teacher. Inclement Weather In case of inclement weather, please listen to local radio or television stations for information about delayed openings or closings. We rely on the media to get this type of information as well. Please do not call the school to find out if we are closed because it may tie up the lines for other calls. Be certain that your child knows where to go in case of an early closing due to bad weather. Information may also be obtained from the Baltimore County Public Schools’ website at . The status of the system is located immediately above the title bar. It is also possible to receive an email at home or work that will let you know if schools are going to close early due to inclement weather. Go to then choose the state of MD, go to Baltimore County Public Schools under the “Category: Public Schools” section, and sign up there. We hope this will help you to stay connected to what is happening. Counselor’s CornerRacheal Kolstrom & Kelsey Mayfieldrkolstrom@ kmayfield@-132715188341000410-887-1088Pennies for Patientsright1016000Westchester will be participating in the Pennies for Patients Campaign again this year starting on Monday, March 2nd. The organization is a fun and rewarding way for students to work hard and contribute to a great cause!Each child will receive a donation box and each classroom will have a large donation box that students can add their donations to. The classroom donations will be collected at the end of each week and the campaign will finish on Friday, March 20th.-58420479488500left475170500Quarter 3 Virtues:With the start of quarter 3, we have added two more virtues to the list: Honesty & CooperationAsk your child: How can you show these virtues?0633349000National School Counseling Week: February 3rd – 7thNational School Counseling Week 2020 (#NSCW2020) is Feb. 3–7, 2020.?The week highlights the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems and the tremendous impact they can have in helping students. Follow #NSCW2020 on social media.0806640500National Kindness Week: February 16th – 23rd Join our week-long celebration of kindness! Help turn the world kind by celebrating Random Act of Kindness Day (Feb 17th) and RAK Week (16th-23rd) It’s our chance to have fun being a little extra kind!Where to find InformationSchool Website:PTA Website: School Status Information Line - 443-809-5555 ................
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