Westbrook Eagle News
April 2016
Westbrook Elementary School
5110 Allan Terrace
Bethesda, Maryland 20816
301-320-6506
Principal Jennifer Lane
Email address
[email protected]
School Web Site
http://montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
schools/westbrookes/
KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION: TWO DAYS!!
A FEW SLOTS are still available for Kindergarten Orientation
THIS Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 Students must be 5
years old by September 1, 2016 to attend kindergarten in MCPS. Parents should contact Mrs. Janet McCool, Attendance Secretary, in
our main office. Mrs. McCool can share information about the Orientation Process and will provide an appointment time for your child’s
session. Parents may still register their child for Kindergarten even
if they missed the orientation dates.
PARENTS OF OUR CURRENT KINDERGARTEN STUDENTS: An
important reminder that classes will not meet on these two days
so that the teachers can meet the new students. Your child’s teacher has already requested that you plan ahead to make arrangements
for child care on these days, as kindergarten students will not attend classes on these days.
Pre-school Education Program at Westbrook—PEP
We are continuing to accept applications for students who will
be 3 or 4 years old by September 1, 2016 to participate as
“neighborhood peers” with our PEP PILOT students. In 20162017 we will have space in our afternoon half day program.
Neighborhood Peers may attend two days a week, Wednesday/
Friday or Tuesday/Thursday. Based on enrollment and interest
we may be able to offer a four day Tuesday-Friday half day
program for neighborhood peers. Contact Lynne Karp, our PEP
Parent Educator, for more details.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
 Field Days at Westbrook
 Thursday, June 2nd Kindergarten through 2nd grade 9:3011 am
 Friday, June 3rd –3rd through 5th grade 9:30-11am and
1:30-2:30pm (Pull of Peace, relays, etc.)
No rain dates for Field Days
 Westbrook Grade 5 Farewell Ceremony is Tuesday, June
14th at 7:00pm at Westland Middle School.
 Westland Middle School Grade 8 Ceremony is on Thursday,
June 16, 2015 at BCC High School
 BCC Graduation is on Wednesday, June 1st 10:00am at Constitution Hall
 5th grade Musical The Pirates of Penzance, May 31st and
School begins each day at
9:00
Please help your child to be on
time each day. If you are running late, please escort your
child into the main office so
that they can receive a late
pass. Tardy students should
have an adult with them. Supervision begins at 8:40 AM
please DO NOT DROP OFF
your child before this time.
Plans for Next Year
This week you will receive a brief
letter inviting your input into your
child’s classroom plans for next
school year. Please return this
form if your child will return to
Westbrook next year. This is very
important information for us as
our number of students determines our staffing for the 20162017 school year.
Ms. Lane will give a brief overview
of how we form homeroom classes
at Westbrook during the next
PTA meeting, and it will be the
topic of the April 13th Principal/
Parent Coffee.
Please complete one form for each
of your children who will be returning to Westbrook in 20162017. You are kindly requested to
return the form to your child’s
teacher by Friday, April 22, 2016.
Thank you!
Dress for Recess Success
As the weather grows warmer we will be outside for recess whenever
weather permits. Although Westbrook does not have a formal dress code,
we strongly SUGGEST that students who choose to wear flip-flops to school
bring sneakers or other shoes more appropriate for active wear. Our health
room sees many students as a result of “flip-flop” injuries and students are
safer and happier when they are wearing footwear that assists them to play
actively.
AUTHOR’S CELEBRATION
Mark your calendar for our end of year Author’s Celebrations. Students in Grades K-2 will
share their work with invited guests from 2:15 to 3:15 on Monday, June 13th.Students in
Grades 3-5 will share their work with guests from 2:15 to 3:15 on Friday, June 10th.
Westbrook students and staff have worked hard to build our skills as Writers and Teachers
of Writing. Join us to learn more about the Writing Process, and to celebrate our success as
Authors! More details to follow from your child’s homeroom teacher and grade level team.
Parking, Traffic and Bus Transportation
When picking up your children at Westbrook please be sure to park ONLY in designated spots,
and not in the spots marked NO PARKING, NO STANDING, in front of fire hydrants, or
blocking neighborhood driveways. We have had several occasions when our busses were unable
to round the corner on Glen Cove and continue onto Allan Terrace. This caused students to be
late in arriving home. If cars continue to park illegally and block access to the school we will
notify the Montgomery County Police Department. In addition, please adhere to posted speed
limits and drive attentively on your way to and from school. Whether snow drifts are high, it’s
raining cats and dogs, or sunny skies have brought students out on bikes and scooters, it is
HIGHLY IMPORTANT to drive with care on the way to and from school. Children sometimes
behave in unexpected ways once school is over, or if they are afraid of being late. They have
been known to dart in front of cars, or into the street without permission from parents or
caregivers. We all want to be on time to our next destination, but wherever that may be it is
NEVER more important than the safety of our Westbrook students and their younger siblings. Be a member of our Community of Caring even when you are behind the wheel!
Snow Emergency Days and the Contingency Calendar
MCPS plans for a limited number of snow days each year, and as of this writing we have used
MORE than that number. At this time based on the number of days that we have missed, the
contingency days built into the calendar call for school to be extended to Tuesday, June 21st.
While that may change, please keep it in mind when planning end of the year schedules, summer travel, and activities.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE + ARTS INTEGRATION= ENGAGED LEARNING
Thanks to the generosity of the PTA each grade level at Westbrook is able to benefit from an experience with
an Artist In Residence (AIR) This uniquely enriching opportunity benefits all Westbrook students. Grade level
teams confer each year to decide which AIR will most benefit their students, and what type of program will best
enhance their curriculum. This year we have had a wide range of AIR experiences for our students.
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Kindergarten worked with Mosaic Artist, Arturo Ho. Soon their art work, reflecting Woodlands, Jungle, and
Ocean habitats, will be placed in the Kindergarten hallway.
1st grade is once again working with Synetic Theater, with a performance planned for April 8th.
2nd grade will work with Mosaic Artist, Carien Quiroga.
3rd grade learned about writing song parodies with Alden Phelps.
4th grade created an opera about Columbus with Mary Gessok of Opera Odyssey.
Currently Grade 5 is hard at work with our own Gianne McNeil, Westbrook’s Music Teacher Extraordinaire, on
their upcoming production of “The Pirates of Penzance” which will take place on May 31 and June 1.
Westbrook also received a grant from the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council for mosaic artist
Carien Quiroga to work with our cluster program for students with emotional disabilities (ED Program).
Their recently completed mosaic will soon be installed in the hallway near our main staircase.
PTA grant funds allowed several staff members to attend the Kennedy Center’s National Conference on Arts Education. In addition, each grade level team has a staff member who is part of our Arts Integration Action Team.
In February; members of the Arts Integration Action Team and a PTA AIR Representative took part in a site
visit to Kensington Parkwood Elementary School, a Model Arts Integration School in MCPS. As we become more
familiar with MCPS Curriculum 2.0 teachers are noticing that many opportunities to integrate the arts are explicitly referenced in the curriculum. We also continue to work with Arts Coaching Teaching Artists who provide
professional development to our staff members. This allows Westbrook’s teachers to integrate the arts into
their typical classroom instruction. In the past two years Westbrook teachers and many students have worked
with Arts Coaching Teaching Artist Sean Layne. Sean is a nationally recognized teaching artist affiliated with
the Kennedy Center, and he works with schools throughout the nation. All staff members have been introduced
to the “Actor’s Toolbox” a method for building a cooperative, social, and kinesthetic community. This year with
additional support from Sean, students and teachers in selected classrooms were able to deepen their understanding of the use of drama techniques such as tableau in the classroom. Teachers gain experience in using the
techniques as they receive coaching from the teaching artists. In this way; our Westbrook staff builds their
professional knowledge. They are able to use these strategies with their current class and with classes in years
to come. Arts coaching like this is a transformative and sustainable model for engaging and enriching our students.
Westbrook staff and students benefit from these marvelous programs which would not be possible without the
generosity of the PTA. We thank you, and we look forward to continuing to build this aspect of our program in
future years.
PARCC Testing for grades 3-5
State mandated Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) testing will begin in
May for students in grades 3-5. The dates for each grade level are on the attached Grade Level calendars Please
be aware of these dates and do not plan routine doctor and dental visits or other discretionary absences on dates
when your child will be tested. If you find that you have a conflict with a previously scheduled appointment that
cannot be changed, please alert your child’s teacher as quickly as possible. Students cannot take partial sessions,
so if your child arrives late, or needs to leave early, he or she will need to take the PARCC during one of our make
up sessions. Parents will receive score reports in the late spring.