Westwood Junior High

During this season of gratitude, I want to express my appreciation for the talented and dedicated faculty and staff who make our campus such a special place for our students. The collaboration between our community, families, teachers, students, and district allows Westwood to consistently be a top-performing junior high in RISD.

Last week was incredible as we showcased and celebrated Westwood. On Tuesday, a Garland ISD middle school’s leadership team visited to learn about our outstanding student leadership initiatives. On Wednesday, we hosted a record number of families for Magnet Marketing Night, and many shared their amazement at the incredible work our students are doing. Thursday marked our first Student Council meeting, where students discussed ways to serve our community. Finally, on Friday, we celebrated our students at the Fall Pep Rally, recognizing our amazing coaches, athletes, and student leaders. Its a great time to be a Westwood Wolf!!!

We will close this week with one of my favorite days, Richardson Reads Day, an annual districtwide event celebrating student choice and reading for pleasure. This year, Richardson Reads Day will be celebrated by all schools on Friday, November 22, 2024, with the theme “Fall for Books.”

Please remember that Progress Report 4 will arrive in your email inbox from your child’s Wolf DEN (advisory) teacher by 4 PM on Friday, November 22nd. This report will include all of your student's grades, which you can regularly access in FOCUS as teachers update gradebooks diligently.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. We are here to connect with you and your child and value our partnership in your child's learning, growth, and success. Be sure to check our newsletters, Westwood Twitter & Facebook pages, school website, and PTA platforms for updates.

Thank you for your continued support!

Best regards,

Sincerely,

Katie Mottram

Westwood Principal

WWJH Parent HUB

• November 22: Progress reports published
• November 25-29: Thanksgiving Holiday / No School
• December 3: Choir Winter Concert
• December 10: Band Winter Concert
• December 17-20: Fall Exam Week, bell schedule
• December 20 - January 6: Winter Break / No School

Parents of 8th grade students:

We have received notification of 8th grade students who are eligible to apply for National Junior Honor Society. If your student is not already a member and has a cumulative GPA of 90 or higher, you will receive an e-mail letting you know that your student is eligible to apply for membership. There will be additional details about the application process in that e-mail. If you have any questions, please contact the sponsor (megan.pearce@risd.org).

Hello 8th grade Westwood Wolves,

As we bring the summer to a close and homework is piling up and sports and fine arts events are starting to populate our calendars, we wanted to remind every one of the great opportunities to explore, in the safety of group school travel, one of the most dynamic, energetic and historical cities in the world - London, England.

Spring break offers us the opportunity to visit Stonehenge, Oxford, the Tower of London, travel the London Eye, enjoy a Westend Musical, perform in a workshop with trained Shakespearean actors, visit and learn at London museums, try new foods and snacks, and experience a new city, culture and country. All with friends from school.

Last year's trip was an overwhelming success, and you have an opportunity to join us this year. Do you have a friend that you want to travel with? If so, share this email, pass along the website and sign-up information and help build out the trip.

To sign-up, visit our website: CLICK HERE

To view last year’s itinerary: CLICK HERE (we have added Stonehenge this year)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Coach Lockett (beverly.lockett@risd.org).

Travel expands the educational understanding of the world and hits directly the goal of RISD to develop global thinkers across their schools. Westwood happens to get a head start on this.

Eligibility Requirements for Athletics

All students must have an updated physical and all UIL Rank One paperwork completed prior to participating in any tryouts, practices, or games. All UIL information can be found on Westwood, RHS, and RISD Athletics websites. If you have any questions, please contact one of the coaches at Westwood.

Tickets:

Tickets for all RISD Athletic Events can be purchased at the gate or by visiting the link below:

https://richardsonisd.brushfire.com/

High School Football Games:

All students attending Varsity football games must wear their school issued ID for admission.

Volleyball:

7th grade A team competed and earned 5th place in the district. The 8th grade A team competed and earned FIRST place in the district. The 8th graders beat Parkhill, who has been undefeated all year and it was an amazing game to watch. A really special moment.

Cross Country:

Congratulations to our 7th & 8th grade cross country boys team, along with Coach Shelmon, who secured FIRST place and are district champions! Congratulations to our 7th grade cross country girls team who placed 2nd and 8th grade cross country girls who placed 3rd along with Coach McAdams! LET'S GO WOLVES!

Basketball 2024-2025:

Congratulations to the 7th and 8th-grade student-athletes who earned a spot on the 2024-2025 basketball teams. See the schedule below. 😊

Cookie Decorating

The library had it’s annual Halloween cookie decorating contest the last week of October. Students came down during their lunch and decorated 2 cookies. They then turned in 1 to be judged. There were so many creative designs! Thanks to those parents who donated supplies off our Amazon wishlist so we could have this event! We hope to do it again in February for Valentine’s Day!

Richardson Reads Day

RISD is celebrating Richardson Reads Day on Friday, November 22nd. Students will read for 20 minutes during each class period. They have made a visit to the library with their RLA classes, participated in speed dating with a book, to insure everyone found a great book to read that day. We can’t wait for the best day of the school year! We love reading!

Database of the Month – TeachingBooks.net

The library is always open! This month’s Database of the Month is TeachingBooks.net. There is so many resources for each book, audio clips about every author, and even some games to play in this database. Check out what is available for students in this presentation. They have a Database Challenge that they can enter that’s due Friday, November 22nd. We spotlight a different database each month.

Book Club Meeting!

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, November 20th during lunch. A lunch is reading The Wednesday Wars, B lunch is reading Girl Forgotten, and C lunch is reading Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie.

Want to support the library? Check out our Amazon Wishlist of items we need to pull off these library events. Thank you so much to those who have already granted some of our wishes!

Thanks so much for your support!

We have met 65% of our fundraising goal and need your financial support to get to the finish line. Your donations allow all the fun things for our students and staff – parties and treats for our teachers, quarterly student award gifts, teacher of the month awards, school dances (PAR-TAY!), and the end of school luncheon for teachers. Here are four ways you can help:

WWJH Sprit Night at SPIN! Pizza on November 21

Let SPIN! Pizza (348 W. Campbell) take care of dinner for the family and they’ll donate a portion of the proceeds to WWJH PTA!

Spirit Night at Andy's Frozen Custard

Come support your WWJH PTA Spirit Night at Andy's Frozen Custard at Hillcrest Village on Wednesday, December 4, from 4-8pm!

Attend a Sign & Go Party

Our next WWJH PTA fundraiser party, Deck the Halls with Pickleballs, is 4-7 pm on December 15 at Spring Creek Tennis and Pool (adults only, please). You can either participate in the tournament (PRIZES!), play for fun, or just come for the pizza, drinks and entertainment as a spectator. Tickets are $20 per person and can be purchased here.

Donate to the General Fund

If pickleball, parties or Spirit Night aren't your thing, we would greatly appreciate a donation. Donate online here.

Parents - The RISD Special Students Services team provides a newsletter for parents of students with Autism. Please click on the link below to read the latest edition to learn more about Autism.

RISD recognizes the work our teachers perform to support every child, every day. And we believe there is an opportunity EVERY day to show our appreciation for all they do to ensure student success. Click here to learn more about the Thank a Teacher program and how to sign up, and we will connect you with a campus.