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Elementary School News
An Invitation for Parental Involvement
Thanks to the efforts of students, parents, faculty, and staff, the new school year has gotten off to a great start. For this momentum to continue and for the school to have its best year ever, cooperation and communication between the school and parents must be a priority.
This year, Mr. Al Lopez is leading efforts to involve parents in WCS like never before. Last year, Mr. Lopez served as the school's director of development and varsity baseball coach. He has added the new responsibility of admissions director to his list of responsibilities, and his enthusiasm for advancing the school is obvious and contagious.
His primary method for accomplishing his goals is to solicit parental input and encourage their involvement in meaningful ways. WCS parents have already received invitations for involvement via email, and Mr. Lopez has made it a priority to meet many parents at the orientation nights and even in the mornings as parents drop off their children at school. Although it is still early in the school year, some parents have already responded by offering their support for a variety of projects.
Anyone who is willing to take advantage of this year's opportunities for parent involvement should contact Al Lopez by telephone at 305-274-3380 ext. 218, by email at alopez@westwoodchristian.org, or by simply stopping by his office inside the middle school building.
A S P I R E
After School Program for Instructional & Recreational Enrichment
ASPIRE registration forms are available in the elementary school office, on the parents' pages at www.renweb.com, and on the Enrichment web page. For those new to WCS, ASPIRE offers classes for students of various ages from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM once or twice a week. The program changes each month, so there is almost always something new for the children.
It is important to observe the registration deadline, else participants will have to pay a $10 late fee.
Spirit Days & Spirit T-Shirts
This year, the elementary school will continue having designated spirit days approximately twice each month. These days are special because elementary school students may wear their official spirit t-shirts and their khaki shorts uniform. This year, the spirit t-shirts will be royal blue and have the school's logo on the front chest and on the back.
Spirit Days are not the only reasons the school is selling this t-shirt. Students who purchase the t-shirts will be able to wear the shirt on field trips with their uniform khaki shorts. Having students wear these t-shirts on field trips allows students to have a nice uniform look while offering the comfort that does not always come with wearing the traditional school day uniform. Parents are also encouraged to purchase and wear these t-shirts.
All elementary students are required to purchase one of these t-shirts. The office has these t-shirts in stock now.
AR Café
Miss Thomas will continue managing the AR Café this year. The café will be open in the mornings and right after school, so students (and parents) can purchase breakfast items or snacks. Parents are encouraged to volunteer in the AR Café on the days and times that best meet their schedules. Anyone interested in helping in this area should see Miss Thomas or one of the ladies in the elementary school office.
Accelerated Reader Returns!
Starting Monday, August 20, students will once again be allowed to earn AR points by taking Accelerated Reader quizzes. This begins the school's third year with the AR program, and each year student participation has increased.
For those unfamiliar with program, Accelerated Reader is a reading enrichment program that involves students reading a book from the school's AR list and then taking a quiz on the book at one of the school's computers. The software grades the quizzes immediately and grants points based on the book's level of difficulty and the student's accuracy. Students have opportunities throughout the school year to exchange their points for prizes from the AR Store. This program has proven to be a great motivator for many students to increase their leisurely reading.
Parents and students may access the interactive AR quiz list web pages from the enrichment section of the elementary school website: http://www.westwoodchristian.org/wcssite/elementary/default.cfm.
Ren Web
By now, all parents of WCS students should have the ability to access student and course information from Ren Web. Any parents who have not received an email explaining the login process should contact Mr. Juan Tarquino at 305-274-3380 or jtarquino@westwoodchristian.org.
Ren Web is a web portal that offers parent and student access to grades, attendance, and homework assignments.
Students Raise Money for Missions
Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of students and teachers from the preschool, elementary school and secondary school, WCS raised over $33,000 for domestic and international missions. Elementary students raised over $12,000 by themselves.
The money will be divided among several missionaries and projects including the following:
Eric and Cindy Baker: Eric grew up in the Central African Republic; he and his wife are missionaries to Brazil. John and Minako Baltz: John grew up in Japan, and Minako was born in Japan; they are missionaries to Japan. Gonzalo and Beth Cera: Gonzalo is a Miamian whose parents are from Columbia; they are missionaries to Costa Rica. Richard and Juanita Frost: over 50 years of missionary work in the Caribbean Islands Marvin and Sarah Gochenour: over 50 years of ministry in Miami, Saipan, and others parts of Florida and Virginia Ryan and Heather Hill: missionaries to Thailand Mark and Teresa Jacobsen: ministering to the Haitian community in Broward County Jan and Deborah Milton: providing medical services, hospital supplies, and spiritual help through Operation Renewed Hope to Third World Countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America Assist building a church in the country of Guyana.
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