Tomorrow is a half day for elementary students in Westfield. Dismissal is at 12:15
Tune in this Thursday, October 27, from 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. on WSKB 89.5 FM, WCPC cable channel 15, or westfieldtv.org for the next episode of "Superintendent's Spotlight". This week, we are talking with Andrea Allard about the Westfield YMCA. Thanks for watching!
As part of our ongoing efforts to increase communication with our school community, the district is publishing a quarterly newsletter that will contain updates, important dates, and other information. Please click on the images to view our first newsletter of the school year. Thank you.
Wednesday is Wear your favorite color day! We want our students to wear as many of their favorite colors as possible. We can't wait to see all of the colors!
October 25th is our Enhanced Lockdown Drill. Our students will do a great job during the drill
WPS is Hiring!
Be a part of Westfield Public Schools! We are hiring multiple positions across the district including substitute teachers, substitute nurses, classroom and 1:1 paraprofessionals, and many more opportunities that can be found on our district website at https://www.schoolspring.com/jobs/?employer=11953
As there is a growing need for counselors in the state, Westfield Public Schools works in partnership with River Valley Counseling and Rick’s Place to provide additional emotional support for students.
The River Valley Counseling provides four to five clinicians that will come into the school buildings for entire days. This meets the need of about 52 referrals that came in this month so far.
Currently, there are about 36 counselors that focus on social and emotional learning, plus academics and careers. With River Valley Counseling’s partnership with the school district, adjustment counselors are allotted more time to work with more students in small groups, enter classrooms, and do social-emotional learning with a whole class.
As a result of the pandemic, students’ mental health has become more evident in a school setting. “If a student isn’t in a good place mentally then it is a barrier to learning. They really may have something else going on and can’t focus on instruction,” said Westfield Public Schools superintendent, Stefan Czaporowski. “We need to really help them to be prepared and successful in a school environment.”
For adolescents and families that may have lost a loved one due to the pandemic or another cause, Rick’s Place helps with their grief. “The counseling students receive can continue through school vacations and through the summer to carry the progress forward,” adds the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Susan Dargie. However, counseling often takes years to have its desired effect.
River Valley Counseling continuation through summer and vacations would be at the request of parents. Students can also be seen in the clinic. Typically, a student who is referred to River Valley Counseling is already seeing an adjustment counselor, which brings additional support. Sometimes family counseling can also be a result.
“Vast majority of our students are having their needs addressed, but I always think we could do better. Counselor-to-student ratio is a strength of ours,” expressed Czaporowski.
“When we think about educating students, we are educating the whole student and we can’t separate out a child’s brain from their emotions and from their social skills and needs,” said Dargie. “So, we have to look at the big picture.”
For the school to completely replenish from the pandemic, it can take five to 10 years, according to Cazaporowksi, but is certain the vast majority of students will be ok.
A future BRYT program may also be another future development for Westfield Public Schools. This will allow more support for students that may be coming out of hospitalization. “Meeting the need that is needed at that time,” said Dargie.
“We often have students who are really struggling to maintain in the classroom, they really can’t be in that general setting,” explained Dargie. “A program like this would be another space where there is an educator there, but there is also a clinician” (hospitalized for their own safety). With these services, the school district has hopes the mental and academic needs of students will be met.
https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/westfield-public-schools-therapy-service-partnerships-help-adjustment-counselors-work-with-more-students/
Parent Teacher Conferences are on October 26th. If you would like to schedule a conference with your child's teacher, please reach out to the teacher(s) who have your child(ren).
Thank you to all of our families for coming to our Open House last night. We had a wonderful turnout! It is always exciting to see the school at night time for our students. The students were excited to show their parents around the building and all they are learning in class each day. We wrapped up our book fair last night. The book fair is always a success and is a fun event for students. It is a great way to promote reading with your child.
What’s more synonymous with Halloween than a festively carved pumpkin, all aglow with candlelight?
Hundreds of kids and their families will get the chance to test those creative skills at this year’s PumpkinFest, slated for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, rain or shine, on the athletic fields behind Amelia Park off South Broad Street in Westfield. Now in its sixth year, the event is organized by Westfield on Weekends, and according to Co-President Bob Plasse, more than 100 people volunteer their time to make this event happen.
https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2022/10/westfield-pumpkinfest-promises-fun-for-whole-community-next-weekend.html
Each morning we have morning announcements. While the announcements include the lunch menu, PBIS announcements, and we have a daily schedule we follow to make our announcements fun for our students.
Make Me Laugh Mondays- Joke of the day
Trick me Tuesdays- the Riddle of the Day
Would you rather Wednesdays- Would you rather question
Name that Tune Thursday- Name the song we play
Fun Fact Friday- A fun fact is shared
We also have been having school-wide meetings on Friday. This is a wonderful way to build community within our school! Ask your child about one of our morning announcements. We hope it puts a smile on your faces!
Our Pawsitive Hall of Fame is filling up! We have many classrooms earning their 10 Golden PAWS! We have had stuffed animal day, slime making, cozy day just name a few of the ways teachers are celebrating with students for their positive behavior.
Also this week we have our winners for the following Raffles:
Soccer with Mr. Hogan
Bracelet making with Ms. McPherson
Selfie with OREO the Panda
Board games with Ms. Jennings
Painting with Ms. Burgess
We can't wait to have these opportunities with students!
Wacky Wednesday is this week! Wednesday, September 28th wear your wackiest of outfits to celebrate our first Spirit Day of the year!
We are just finishing our 3rd week of school and our 2nd week of Kindergarten. I am impressed with students adjusting to building expectations. We have talked about meeting expectations throughout the whole campus of Paper Mill. Tomorrow we announce the new name of our mascot- the Panda. We had a school-wide brainstorm on names and have cast our final votes! Stay tuned for the name!
Pete the Poetry Pirate visited 2nd Grade this week. Students learned a lot about poetry and the magic of words. It was an exciting week for 2nd Grade. We have our Wacky Wednesday happening as our first spirit day of the year on September 28th. We look forward to seeing everyone's wacky outfits!
The United States Attorney’s Office is hosting a virtual Internet safety presentation for parents the evening of Tuesday, September 20th from 6:30 – 7:30 pm. The presentation, entitled Keeping Kids Safe and Secure Online: A Project Safe Childhood Presentation for Parents will bring awareness to the dangers of the internet, including gaming and social media platforms that predators use to groom children with the intent of exploiting them sexually online or for an in-person meeting. The presentation will focus on prevention by educating parents and community members how to help keep children safe online. Theye will be covering the following topics:
Social Media 101 & Digital Footprint
Cyberbullying
Sexting
Gaming
Victim Support
Protecting Against Online Predation
The presentation is free. Registration is required. The link to register is included on the attached flyer.
September Newsletter
Picture Day at Paper Mill is October 5th this year! Picture retakes will take place on November 9th
Be a part of our Westfield Education to Business Alliance (WE2BA). Please click on the link below for more information. https://sites.google.com/schoolsofwestfield.org/we2ba/home. If you are interested in partnering with one of our teachers for an Adopt a Classroom opportunity, please scan the QR code.
Paper Mill Families:
We had a FANTASTIC first week of school! We introduced our new mascot and PAWS expectations to students. Students were earning lots of Panda Paws this week. The students have adjusted nicely to the back-to-school routine. Next week we start our PBIS Raffles
We are excited to have our youngest learners, Kindergarten, join us on Tuesday! This was a great way to start our school year off!
Westfield Public Schools is thrilled to announce our new app for mobile phones! Stay up to date with access to real-time sports scores, the daily cafeteria menu, news from administrators, student stories, and even emergency notifications.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9OKq6xGPe0
You can download the app for free on both Google Play or the Apple App Store.
Download for Android: https://bit.ly/3f8hysa
Download for iPhone: https://apple.co/3qO1Nc1