Sunday, March 30, 2025

Wildcat Weekly - 3/30/25

 Westport Mission & Vision


Mission: Leverage the strengths of the Westport community to ensure academic growth for ALL!


Vision: Westport will be a venue for academic success!


 Westport’s Collective Commitments: Our Team will:

  • Make decisions which are student-centered and aligned to our WHY!

  • Be present to model consistent processes and expectations!

  • Leverage learning opportunities to increase instructional minutes!

  • Presume positive intent in order to maintain positive mindsets!

Click On


Reminder to pay attention to the clickable links to the right and along the top.  As we continue to add sections making the BLOG a one-stop-shop for all Westport information.  We still have several sections UNDER CONSTRUCTION…This means the link may be there, but there is nothing to see yet.

Key Spots for the Start of the Month:

  1. Cooperative Learning Corner

  2. Westport Social Committee

  3. Instructional Coaches

  4. Monthly Instructional Highlights

  5. Staff & Student Spotlight-Make sure you click on this for current info, celebrations, and schedule

  6. Athletics-Make sure you click on this for current info, celebrations, and schedule

  7. Social Committee

  8. PBIS Lessons located in PBIS

  9. Attendance Information

Key Spots for the Start of the Week: (make sure you are reviewing these areas)

  1. Week at a Glance - WAAG

  2. Must Do/May Do

  3. Nurses Notes

  4. Counselors Notes

  5. Elementary Events Page 

Art in the Park

Thank you to everyone who showed up and helped out during Art in the Park! It was a huge success and a wonderful evening for our Westport community to experience the incredible artistic talent that comes from our school. We appreciate your support in making this event so special!

A big thank you to Dr. Mitchell and Mrs. Foster for their support and dedication! Your contributions helped make Art in the Park a huge success. We truly appreciate everything you do for our school and community!

Thank you also to Ms. Mccoy, Ms. Elwood, Mr. Benne, and Mr. Hoffman for gathering our students to demonstrate all the talent that lives at Westport k-8.

Celebration of Life

Hello. For those who want to know, there is a Celebration of Life service planned for Nola M on Sunday, April 13th, from 11a – 3p, at Nathaniel Greene Park (located at 2400 S Scenic Ave in Springfield). Those who attend are encouraged to wear either her favorite character, Stitch, or her favorite color, pink. Here is a link to her obituary- https://www.hhlohmeyer.com/obituaries/nola-maggard

 

We are collecting donations of money or gift cards for the family, who lost their home due to the fire. If you would like to contribute anything, please turn this in by Thursday, April 10th to Stacy in the office.

Celebrate SPS Banquet

This event is an opportunity to “Celebrate SPS” where we come together to honor the outstanding contributions of our dedicated educators and staff.  Celebrate SPS is more than just an event; it's a celebration of the tireless efforts and unwavering dedication of each member of our SPS family. It's an opportunity to recognize the incredible impact you make in the lives of our students every day.

Join us for an evening filled with appreciation, recognition, and camaraderie. Together, let's celebrate the achievements and successes that make our Springfield Public Schools community truly remarkable.

  • Friday, May 2nd, @ Oasis Convention Center

If you are interested in being part of the evening event, we are required to reserve and pay for a table.  Please complete the linked FORM if you would like to attend.

Care to Learn Hygiene Drive


Care to Learn makes a huge impact on our school and community! Join us in giving back by participating in our Care to Learn Hygiene Drive throughout April.

Please encourage your students to take part—details about needed items can be found on the flyer. It's essential that we support our students' needs while also helping others whenever possible.

Donation boxes are located in the commons. Thank you for your support!

*PLEASE share via SeeSaw and Remind

Yearbook & Memory Book


Paint Processes

Please begin preparing for the summer paint program. The district team will be loading in on May 22-23 and will start immediately to ensure they are complete by the beginning of school.  During painting we will not have access to classrooms, hallways, the MS gym, etc., this means we all need to be leaving on the last day with no plans to return until school starts.  Custodial will not have time to move personal items, boxes, etc. due to having summer school.


Priority 1:  Room cleanliness

  • unchecked

    Empty all counter tops, walls, shelves and above cabinetry.  Reminder trash goes to the dumpster, broken items must be removed for safety purposes, and personal items should be taken home to avoid any damage.

Priority 2: Surfaces

  • unchecked

    Remove all colored light covers from ceiling lights.

  • unchecked

    Remove all items from hanging from the ceiling.

  • unchecked

    Remove tape, hot glue, anils, screws, wall putty, etc. from walls.

  • unchecked

    If you have items on the wall, which you need removed, this would be a good time.  If this is the case please talk with Mike and I so we can approve its removal.

  • unchecked

    Ensure all metal door frames on both sides are free so the metal frame can be sanded and painted.

Priority 3: Item Location

  • unchecked

    Move all classroom furniture including bookcases, storage cabinets, filing cabinets, storage boxes to the center of the room.  Furniture etc. should be far enough away from walls that an 8ft. ladder can safely be used and allow a person to walk by the ladder.  Each wall in a room will have people on it at the same time.

  • unchecked

    Roll up rugs and put them in the middle of the room. Leave boards empty

  • unchecked

    Empty single door closets, if they have concrete backs, so those walls can be painted as well. 

Building Pride

On Thursday and Friday as I walked through the building I was able to lay my eyes on a few things, which may not normally be visible with the building in use.  These things made me ponder how each of us play a role in maintaining our work environment in a positive and professional manner.  Please take some time to put some processes in place in your spaces to ensure we maintain a healthy and clean environment for everyone. If you see it you should report it and address it. If we walk aimlessly by a piece of trash and refuse to pick it up, others will do the same.   

  1. Areas of Concern: In class Chromebook damage, trash on floors, damage and vandalism to building and furniture. 

  2. END OF DAY PROCEDURES: Each team member should complete the following:

    1. Please make sure all doors and windows are locked.  We should never leave windows open, it leaves the building unsecured.

    2. Please TURN OFF all technology.  There should never be a projector left on overnight and we should never leave out where students can mess with it.  If you are the one turning it on, make sure you are the one turning it off.

    3. Please make sure your students put their chairs up on their desks at the end of the day, this will help custodial teams more efficiently clean our spaces each night.

April Awareness Days

The following are optional jeans day. Jeans stickers are $1.00, good for that day only, and must be paid to Stacy in order to receive your colored sticker for the day.

If you have any questions regarding the dress code, please reach out to your AP.

Please consider joining us on these special days - with, or without, jeans!

RTI Coaching Academy

As a COMPREHENSIVE school, Westport K-8 will continue to have a CAMPUS-WIDE focus on Response to Intervention (RTI) processes. As we have previously discussed, all grade levels will have required RTI times integrated into the daily schedules.  This PAID training will provide you an opportunity to begin early to process how RTI time and work will focus.   This 2-day training will also give our team an opportunity to process how we can plan and prepare for our P2P time at the middle school levels, and how our elementary teams can utilize the RTI time to share the workload of intervention. Please plan to attend if at all possible. 

Registration for the Summer RTI Coaching Academy on July 9-10 is open.   

End of Year Processes

As we come to the end of the year I will begin adding information here about things you will need to begin doing or planning to support the work of others in the building throughout the summer.


  1. Curriculum Updates:  As we receive new curriculum we need to make space by removing old curriculum items.  Our instructional coaching team will support our work in this area, but each teacher will be responsible for packing and organizing the items in their rooms.

  2. Summer School As we prepare to host summer school at Westport please begin packing up any and all personal items and take them home (if at all possible).  This will prevent any theft or damage done by anyone within the building.  The instructional coaching teams will be helping distribute and shelf curriculum items as we get closer to the end, this will free up some spaces, especially for the elementary teams. 

  3. Classroom Boards and Walls: Please make sure all items are removed from walls, lights, ceiling tile frames, and boards.  As custodial services, construction teams, and paint teams are moving throughout the building they will throw away anything, which may impede their ability to complete their work.

District Info


Professional Learning Updates (Martha Doennig)


Developing Your Guiding Coalition 

As you continue to consider developing teacher leadership and having a guiding coalition that represents your teams that talk about teaching and learning in PLC, encourage your Guiding Coalition Members to sign up for Adaptive Schools in June!


Summer Professional Learning

There are many paid professional learning experiences being offered this summer.  Check out this preview of learning opportunities, and then register in Kickup. Select learning that will propel you forward as you positively impact student learning!


Spring Cooperative Learning Refreshers 

Want to boost student engagement and bring joy to your classroom? Join us to explore ways to embed student engagement strategies from Cooperative Learning, 7 Steps to a Language-Rich Classroom, and Active Classroom within your district-provided curriculum. From pre-K to 12th grade, there is no better time to try things out than 4th quarter! View sessions here, and register in Kick Up

PBIS Increases Attendance, Decreases Suspensions, and Improves Staff Retention (SW-PBIS)

The SPS district PBIS team wanted to share updates received from PBIS work across Missouri public schools and improved student outcomes and schoolwide climates. All information shared below can be found in the MO SW-PBS 2024 Annual Report. Some key findings are below:

There is a clear correlation between multiple years of high-quality PBIS implementation* and increases in key student outcomes for all students and students receiving special education services (e.g., IEP) including attendance, exclusionary discipline, and academic achievement. Students can only benefit from high quality instruction, and therefore experience improvements in learning if they are at school and in the classroom. It is important to note that students receiving special education services are not yet experiencing outcomes similar to students who are not receiving special education support, indicating that PBIS implementation is necessary but insufficient for remediating all special needs. 

********


Access & Opportunity (Michelle Gavel) 

Make-up dates for Cultivating an Asset-Based Mindset Training dates for certified staff paid on the teacher salary schedule are open for sign-up in Kick-up. 

  • April 1st 7:30am-8:30am BAC 150


Elementary Curriculum Updates 

Please see the list of Reveal Materials for Cross-Cat & DH/H Teachers:

Reveal Math Implementation Guide, K-5

Reveal Math Teacher Resource Package Grades K- 2

  • Reveal Math, Grades K-5 Digital Teacher Center, 4-years

  • Reveal Math, Grades K, 1, 2, Teacher Edition, Volume 1

  • Reveal Math, Grades K, 1, 2, Teacher Edition, Volume 2

  • Reveal Math Differentiation Resource Book, Grades K, 1, 2

  • Reveal Math Assessment Resource Book, Grades K, 1, 2

As the district sponsored ACT dates approach, we would like to host a College Colors Day. 🧡🐯💙

Please encourage your students to wear their DREAM College Colors/Gear/Swag on Friday, April 4th to support our juniors in achieving their best score!  Staff please wear your Alma Mater gear!

25-26 Scheduling Events

Westport K-8 Celebrations

Elementary: Ms. Lutz - Elementary Library

Middle School: Ms. McCoy - Band and Orchestra

K-8: Nurse Emily  


Friday we celebrated the elementary Guys Group, ran by Coach C, who sponsored our school wide food drive for Ozarks Food Harvest! These boys worked so hard to give back to the community and will celebrate next week with a field trip to the OFH Farm! 

  • Money Raised: over $1,100

  • Items Donated: 317

Elementary 0 Referral Challenge Winners! 

These students received 0 office referrals during our challenge & won the drawing for a $500 ROAR-Ward bonus!

Battle of the Books Team

Friday our Middle School Battle of the Books team made a ROARing appearance at Kickapoo! 🧡🐯💙

Student Events


Middle School Dance

  • Tickets will go on sale next week during lunch periods

  • You will receive an email with students who are eligible to attend the dance sometime over the weekend.

  • Due to the date change, we NEED MORE CHAPERONES!  Please fill out the form if you could help chaperone Springfield’s best dance opportunity of the week!!

Westport MAP Test Prep


LINK - Follow this link to review grade level specific Test Preparation processes.

MAP Test preparation tool; day by day plan - COMING SOON!

Elementary English & Math     April and May Testing Calendar

MAP training April 10th in PLC room:  7:40, 8:40, 9:40, 11:10, 12:10, 1:10.  All 3-5 teachers, SPED teachers, specialty, support staff (Interventionists, SCL, Behavior), AP’s must attend one of these trainings

Reminder: K-2 you will have 4th Quarter DCA’s

  •         3-5 you will not have DCA’s 4th Quarter because of MAP testing

  •         K-5 teachers, make sure you request your sub for Benchmark testing.  

Middle School 

MAP training April 10 in PLC room during scheduled PLC time. All middle school teachers and support staff are required to attend training. 

Specials Grams


Elementary Specials Grams Information:
Specials teachers will be tracking daily progress for each class, using a rating of 3, 2, or 1 based on classroom behavior. The goal is to earn 5 threes within 3 weeks!

  • You can view your class's progress [here]

Spring Bunny Grams


After having HUGE success with Valentine’s Day candy grams, Mrs. Foster put together a spring fundraiser idea to help continue to build a positive culture and climate for staff, students, and families! 

BUNNY GRAMS! All proceeds go to The Social Committee. Ordering is now open!


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