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We are pleased to provide you with a summary of the first quarter of the school year at West Springfield. This report aims to highlight key achievements, activities, and important information pertaining to your child's education and the overall school community.
We are proud of your child's accomplishments in the first quarter and appreciate your ongoing support in their education. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to your child's teachers or the school administration.
Kelly Sheers, Principal
Jason Potten, Assistant Principal
Academic Highlights
This year, FCPS has new ways of teaching reading and writing to our students. We also have new ways to know if students need extra support and how we can best help them. Starting in November, your child’s progress reports will look different. The progress reports are different because of these changes:
- Before: the FCPS Planning and Pacing Guide covered different standards each quarter.
- Starting school year 2024-25: Benchmark Advance covers all standards each quarter, building towards mastery.
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New K-3 Literacy Screener (VALLSS)
- Before: PALS for K; iReady for Grades 1-6.
- Starting school year 2024-25: VALLSS in K-3 shows more specific areas your child may need extra support.
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New Virginia Standards of Learning (see VDOE site)
- Before: Measured overlapping skills on any text.
- Starting school year 2024-25: Measures separate skills using grade level text.
Our progress reporting will still use the same 4-point scale below. Please refer to the Grading Guidelines for more details.
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4
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Consistently demonstrates understanding of content and skills of standard taught this quarter.
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3
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Usually demonstrates understanding of concepts and skills of standard taught this quarter.
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2
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Sometimes demonstrates understanding of concepts and skills of standard taught this quarter.
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1
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Seldom demonstrates understanding of concepts and skills of standard taught this quarter.
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It’s important to know that students are not expected to master all of their grade-level standards until later in the year.
Academic Supports/MTSS
Using a variety of forms of FCPS and state assessments, our Multi-tiered System of Supports (MTSS) interventions in K-6 have begun.
- 28 students are in Tier 3 Reading Interventions
- 35 students are in Tier 2 Reading Interventions
- 17 students are in Tier 2 Math Interventions
- 8 students are in Tier 3 Math Interventions
Parents were informed by their child’s teacher (or MTSS team) if they are receiving an intervention and quarterly updates will be provided directly to them. More information about MTSS can be found here. If you have questions about your child’s progress, please reach out to your child’s teacher.
School Improvement Goals
A summary of our School Improvement and Innovation Plan can be found on our school website which highlights our areas for growth and focus this school year: https://westspringfieldes.fcps.edu/about/school-innovation-improvement-plan
Caring Culture
WSHS Teachers for Tomorrow
We are excited to partner with West Springfield High School to support their Teachers for Tomorrow program and we have welcomed a number of students into our classrooms to learn about the teaching profession and explore a potential career in education.
Sense of Belonging
Our Heritage Night was a huge success, highlighting the rich diversity and talent in our community. Our school buddy program is off to a great start, and our students have collaborated with their buddy classrooms in the first quarter celebrating student learning.
WSES Get2Green Team
Students in our Green Team have been actively working to transform our courtyard into an outdoor learning space and learning garden. Students have planted a variety of perennials to beautify the grounds and planted a vegetable garden. They are almost ready to pick their chard, lettuce, and kale to make smoothies! Next, our Green Team will be taking on a school-wide paper recycling program.
Student Behavior
The Responsive Classroom approach proves to be a strong Tier 1 support for our students to create a positive, kind, and caring classroom and school community.
- A total of 31 office referrals have been made this quarter on students who were not following the SR&R which suggests that our Tier 1 Responsive Classroom approach is working for most all of our students.
- We continue to struggle with students being respectful to the adults in the cafeteria and making positive choices while unsupervised in the bathrooms. We would love more parent volunteers to support in the cafeteria too!
Your support in ongoing conversations with your children about expected bathroom behavior and respect to all adults is appreciated.
Committee Updates West Springfield’s Diversity and Equity Advisory (DEA) Committee
The DEA committee is a WSES parent-led committee that includes staff who collaborates with school administration. The committee has met twice this quarter to engage in conversation around the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion. This year, the committee has supported our work around the planning of Inclusion Schools Week, improvement in parent communication strategies, and Heritage Night.
Quarter 1 Parent Survey
Parent Survey
We ask parents/guardians to complete our 3-question Q1 survey to provide us input on your Quarter 1 experience at West Springfield for you and your child.
To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
Para leer este boletín en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
ይህንን ዜና መፅሄት በሌሎች ቋንቋዎች ለማንበብ፤ እባክዎን ድረ ገፃችንን ይጎብኙ።
اس نیوزلیٹر کو دوسری زبانوں میں پڑھنے کیلئے ، براہ مہربانی ہماری ویب سائیٹ ملاحظہ کیجیئے۔
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