West End News

West End has the opportunity to add an additional kindergarten class. Many thanks to our parents who are willing to switch teachers after the beginning of school! Beginnning Monday, Kim Stephens will teach our new class and TayaNee Ledwell will be her teaching assistant. We are thankful for both of these ladies - what a lucky group of kindergarten students! For those students in Mrs. Stephens' class.... your activity schedule is as follows: Monday - PE; Tuesday - Computer Lab; Wednesday - Art; Thursday - Music; and Friday - PE. Have a great week, Sea Turtles!!!

MAP Testing begins this week with our 2nd graders taking Reading Fluency on Monday. (See the full schedule below). On the days your child/children test, help them get off to a great start by making sure they have a calm morning on the way to school and give them a "high 5" for the great job they will do on their test!

The car line.... (I promise, we will get to the point when we rarely mention the car line!)

• We appreciate your feedback! We do get a lot of questions about the alternate merge. The car line is designed for each car in the right lane to make space for one car from the left lane to merge into one line. A suggestion given to us is for cars in the left lane to wait and begin the merge process as you get to the top of the hill to head down into one line. Many thanks to all in the right lane as you let one car in each day.
• We need your help in the mornings! When you enter the car line from highway 135, please have your child/children start getting ready to exit the car. It will be very helpful if they have put away tablets, phones, toys, etc. and have their things (backpacks, lunch boxes, jackets, etc.) gathered to be ready to get out of the car.

Be sure to mark your calendar for Open House, Thursday, September 1. (More details below)

(Reminder....) If your child tests positive for COVID, please remember to complete the district COVID form. A link and QR code are available in this newsletter to help with locating the form.

We wish everyone a great week! Stay healthy!

Angie Garrison, Ed.D.

Principal

Make sure you purchase your field day t-shirt and bag! Our field day is scheduled for October 14 with a rain date of October 21. Orders forms were sent home this week, let us know if you need another.

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.

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!

Student devices are in use by all students with the exception of Kindergarten as of today. 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

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

Any SDPC student who tests positive for COVID will need to enter their information on the SDPC Student COVID Reporting Form.

Students who test positive will need to quarantine for 5 days. At this time, there is no contact tracing. Siblings will not have to quarantine unless they are having symptoms or test positive.

Please let us know if you have questions. We hope everyone stays well!

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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