Tiger Tales

Maybe it is because of the warmer weather and things are starting to bloom, but March always feels like a huge page turning in the book of a school year. Even though it feels like we have lots of school left, I'm always amazed at how quickly these last few months of school speed by. We end the 3rd nine weeks on Friday. Which means we are in final quarter of this academic year. The faculty and staff of WES has worked to keep you connected to our day to day by having regular parent/teacher communication.

We’ve been very busy this semester from the 100th Day of School to our Book Character Parade. This week we are celebrating “Read Across America Week”. Guest readers stopped by to read to each class this week. We look forward to sharing this time with our community helpers every year.

Our P.E. Department sponsored the Kids Heart Challenge during the month of February. WES raised $8,533 for the American Heart Association. We didn’t meet our $10,000 goal, but we are proud we were able to support a great cause.

Look for detailed information on upcoming events this nine weeks. Make sure that you have joined your teacher’s Remind or Class Dojo. If you have changed phone numbers, please contact the front office to update your information.

As we continue to strive for excellence in education, I want to express my appreciation for your partnership. Together, we can create an environment where every child feels supported, valued, and inspired to reach their full potential.

If you have any feedback, suggestions, or if there's anything specific you would like to discuss, please feel free to reach out. Your input is highly valuable, and we are always open to working together to enhance the educational experience for your child.

Once again, thank you for your unwavering support. I look forward to our continued collaboration for the benefit of [Student's Name] and all the students at our school.

Best regards,

Mrs. Lewis, Principal

Westside Elementary has gotten off to a great start in 2024! Coach Bradley kicked off our Tiger Talks for Boys with a personal story about making good decisions in life, and we are working on plans for U.S. Jones Principal Alphus Shipman to address our young gentlemen soon.

On the safety and emergency preparedness front, WES has completed our regular monthly drills for lockdowns and severe weather. Teachers, staff, and students have demonstrated awareness, knowledge, and self-control during these drills to ensure we are all ready in the event of any emergency.

In closing, I am regularly calling and having discussions with parents concerning their children's attendance here at WES. I would like to take this opportunity to stress just how important it is for our young scholars to be at school as much as possible to ensure they are reaching necessary academic objectives for their grade levels and to shore up any learning gaps that might be present.

J. Russell ,

Assistant Principal

During the month of March Pre-K will be completing themed math and literacy units. Our themes this month are Dr. Seuss, St. Patrick's Day, and Easter/Spring/Plants. We will be focusing on the letters X,Y and Z and numbers and number 25-28. Our Pre-K Drawing for the 2024-2025 school year will be held on March 15th.

We are so excited about Read Across America Week! We will be reading Dr. Seuss books and working on our rhyming words. Then we'll start learning about plant needs and life cycles! In math, we'll work on counting, shapes, and geometry. It's going to be a busy month! April will be here soon and we'll squeeze in one more field trip!

March will be an exciting month for first grade. We will be learning about animals and their habitats in knowledge and will take a trip to the Birmingham Zoo as an extension of our learning in the classroom.

In our skills unit we will explore various spelling alternatives and patterns, plural endings, root word spelling changes when a suffix is added, practicing comprehension and fluency in our reader, Kate's Book, and writing letters expressing personal opinions.

In math, students are using strategies based on place value and properties of operations to add within 100 and subtract multiples of 10 within 100.

February was a month filled with learning for second graders, and we look forward to March and all the learning we will do! Second graders have been learning all about three- digit addition, and we will soon be moving into three-digit subtraction. In knowledge, we have been learning lots of interesting things about insects. Did you know there are more insects on earth than any other animal?! We have started our Lady Liberty program and will be learning all about how to be a super citizen! We are working really hard to get our second graders prepared for the ACAP test that they will take in April!

Spring Library News

March is always a great month in the library. We start off with Read Across America and our annual Character Parade. This year we had many creative costumes as students paraded around the gym with their favorite books. Coach Bradley's DJ skills made is a fun party! Our first and second grade students have been busy reading and taking Accelerated Reader tests all year. Since September, they have passed 7,378 AR quizzes. That's a LOT of books! The current AR Marking Period ends March 14th , so check with your student and see if he/she has met their goals. Kindergarten students have been checking out library books during their weekly lessons. They are doing a good job being responsible with the books they have borrowed. Please help by making sure library books stay in their backpack when not being read; that way they will be ready to exchange on their library day.

Andrea Johnson

Library Media Specialist

Happy March! This month marks the beginning of spring. A time of renewal! I’m looking forward to all the new and exciting things this month is sure to bring.

This month, students will continue the College & Career lessons. These lessons always prove to be a wonderful time of exploring and learning for students.

I will also discuss “Test Taking Strategies” with our 2nd Grade students as they prepare for the ACAP Summative State test that will be given in April.

I am very excited for the lessons activities I have planned. As always, I am here to help whether it's Academic, Social-Emotional, or College & Career.

ACAP Summative State Testing Dates for 2nd Grade

April 2-3 April 16-17