Principal Scott Meyer presented an overview of student learning experiences at Westwood Elementary School. Mr. Meyer highlighted the strong community and family partnerships cultivated over his 12-year tenure at the school. He noted the school's commitment to academic excellence is reflected in five state awards over the past decade. 

Mr. Meyer presented the school year theme, Westwood Minions, as selected by last year's fourth grade students. They are utilizing this theme in partnership with school spirit activities and student learning. An area of strength for Westwood is revealed in the school's SBA math scores which are above the average of the district's peer group and the state.  

Westwood teachers Kylee Hammond and Jen Larimore shared targeted instructional strategies designed to maximize student success within the core math program. The presentation highlighted key steps of student data review in September to identify specific learning gaps and enrichment opportunities. Based on the results, custom learning paths were established that included student enrichment projects, along with additional practice and interventions for students who required additional assistance with fundamentals and fact fluency.  Students were re-evaluated in October, showing strong academic growth across all tiers.  

Westwood teacher Jen Lee presented a three-prong approach to student attendance focusing on initiatives at the school wide, classroom, and individual level. For the school-wide strategy, they are planning surprise attendance days by targeting strategically selected dates to boost overall turnout. At the classroom level, they are implementing incentives for perfect attendance and classes will be able to pick celebrations such as an extra recess. Individual awards will include students being invited to open gym or other special prizes. 

Board Questions and Answers:

Question: Is the teacher collaboration you shared about new this year?  

Answer: This has always been done with K-2 for reading. There are 14 reading groups by levels in the morning being led by teachers and paraeducators. This year we are emphasizing the model and sharing students more. 

Question: Does this help now that the school has moved to a master schedule?

Answer: Yes, the master schedule has helped teachers get in sync with each other. 

Question: How many minutes are being used in a day for core math instruction and WIN time?

Answer: 60 minutes for core instruction and 30 minutes for WIN. 

Question: How are you doing with your overall school attendance to date?

Answer: School attendance overall started out low in September, but the trend is now moving up with the attendance strategies in place. 

Superintendent Wenzel commended the Westwood team for their model PLC work. He highlighted the core components of the framework that included reviewing standards, developing aligned assessments, analyzing the resulting data, and determining targeted interventions. He emphasized this systematic approach allows the district to effectively track and observe student growth in small, manageable increments. 

Superintendent Wenzel presented information regarding program relocation plans for the early learning programs. He noted that a district administrative team has collaborated to formulate recommendations, proposing a transition of some programs to Evergreen Elementary School and other programs to WEstwood Elementary. Potential challenges and operational details were discussed. Superintendent Wenzel informed the Board that a meeting with the Birth to Five staff is scheduled for Friday, November 6. A formal draft proposal will be presented to the Board for their review at the December meetings.  

Superintendent Wenzel shared an overview of student attendance data that included October attendance rates, year-to-date metrics, individual school goals, and district goals. He emphasizd that student attendance is currently a focus area nationwide, highlighting the direct correlation between regular school attendance and academic achievement. 

The Board and cabinet engaged in a discussion regarding district and school-wide attendance campaigns as well as targeted parent outreach.  Student representative Elliott Cheney shared his classroom observations and experiences concerning student attendance patterns.

Superintendent Wenzel shared the Board meeting schedule and noted that data analysis featuring fall benchmark data will be provided on November 16, followed by a winter benchmark data analysis on February 22 that will include semester grades, and end-of-year data on June 21.  

The WSSDA Annual Conference schedule and breakout sessions were shared and discussed.