West End News

We are off to a great start this week!!!

Many thanks to all who attended family night last week. What a fun time everyone had... and there was snow!

Read with Me is back this week - Wednesday, February 1, at 11:00.

Please keep reading to see all the neat things we have going on at West End!

Have a wonderful week!

Angie Garrison, Ed.D.

Principal

West End's Mission: Our West End Community maximizes students’ potential by providing instruction that builds our students’ knowledge, strengthens their skills, and develops in them career-ready characteristics for success in an ever-changing world.

PTA will be doing Candygrams for Valentine's Day again this year. Parents and family members can send Candygrams to children, and students can send them to their friends and teachers. Orders are due no later than Friday, February 3.

Just a reminder that K4 Parents are invited to a workshop on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 5:30pm. Mrs. Chapman will be sharing ways to develop your child's vocabulary!

Thank you for attending our "Winter Wonderland" family event last week! We had 495 folks in the building and it even snowed! Thank you for taking the time in your evening to attend.

West End Reads begins Monday! Our book selection for this year is Finding Gobi: The True Story of One Little Dog’s Big Journey by Dion Leonard for second, third, fourth, and fifth grade students. Preschool students, kindergarten students, and first grade students will read the corresponding picture book Gobi: A Little Dog with a Big Heart by Dion Leonard. We hope you will join us on our reading journey as we learn about the resiliency of friendship through Dion and Gobi. Students who complete the activity packet will be invited to a special celebration on April 21st. An even bigger surprise is that Dion and Gobi will visit our school in April to share their journey with us! We cant wait to start reading!

Fourth grade teacher, Mr. Gilstrap-Hill had the most parent nominations for our "Teacher of the Month" honor in January! Mr. Gilstrap-Hill teaches Math and Social Studies at West End. One parent that nominated him stated, "He has gone above and beyond helping my daughter in his classes. He is always very caring and proactive with her needs in class." Another parent wrote, "Mr. Gilstrap-Hill has done an excellent job teaching my daughter this year. Through her work and grades, I can see how much she has grown. Not only that, he has done an outstanding job of helping my child with her emotional needs this year." He was presented with a personalized tumbler from our community partners Trinity Point Church as well as a prize basket from Pizza Inn. Way to go Mr. Gilstrap-Hill!

1/30/2023 New Books of the Week

This week take a look at NEW books about snakes, penguins and where we live!

Scan this QR Code to begin the application process. You may also use this link.

Click here to complete this short form to nominate a deserving West End teacher for the honor of "Teacher of the Month." You may complete the form as many times as you wish. The teacher with the most nominations each month will receive this honor along with a gift card from our community sponsors!

If you have not connected with your child's teacher(s) on our Schoology program, please contact them for your access code. These were sent home with all of our new students last week. Let us know if you have questions!

Please remember to turn in an excuse for each day your child misses school. Doctor’s notes, parent notes, emails, texts, and Schoology messages to the teacher all serve as excuses. Please note, doctor’s notes are required after the 10th absence. If a child accumulates 3 consecutive or 5 total unexcused absences, an Attendance Intervention Plan conference will need to be held. Continued absences could result in additional conferencing and/or referral to the district for truancy…leading to possible Court Order for attendance. This includes being at school on time each day. Students tend to perform better when they maintain a routine schedule and begin the day with their classmates.

Student devices are in use by all students. Kindergarten uses Chromebook tablets in their classrooms. Help us to encourage students to take care of and protect their devices in order to keep then working properly all school year. This includes taking care of chargers and cases as well. Remember lost or damaged items can incur a fee to replace them. If you have not already, please sign in to your My School Bucks account to pay the $25 tech fee that is required of all School District of Pickens County students.

My School Bucks Link

Please visit this link to view our Family Engagement Opportunity Calendar for the year! Volunteer training dates are listed as well. We would like to challenge each family to attend both parent conferences this year and at least two family events. There are so many to choose from! Let's "dive deep" together!

YouTube

Email: angiegarrison@pickens.k12.sc.us
Website: http://wes.pickens.k12.sc.us/
Location: Easley, SC, USA
Phone: 864-397-2500
Facebook: facebook.com/westendelem
Twitter: @westendelem