Westwood Junior High

Spring is officially here, and we are incredibly proud of our Wolf Pups! They continue to shine in their classes, on the field, and in performances. Thank you for your ongoing support of our students, faculty, and staff—it truly makes a difference.

Celebrating Our Fine Arts

We are thrilled to celebrate our Orchestra, Band, and Choir for their outstanding achievements. Each group earned top ratings of “Ones” and brought home the SWEEPSTAKES award—an incredible accomplishment! Congratulations to our talented students and dedicated directors for their hard work and excellence in performance!

Progress Reports

Tomorrow marks the end of the first three-week period of the fourth quarter, progress reports will be emailed on Friday April 4th by 4:30pm. Your student’s Wolf DEN (advisory) teacher will send the progress report, which will include grades for all class periods.

STAAR Testing Updates

State testing begins soon! The first STAAR test will take place on April 4th, and the last will be on April 29th. Please expect additional communication regarding testing schedules and procedures in mid to late April.

We encourage you to continue working closely with your student and their teachers. A strong partnership between families and educators is essential for student success, and we appreciate the positive, supportive, and open communication that helps build trust and collaboration.

Thank you for being a valued part of the Westwood community!

Sincerely,

Katie Mottram

Principal

kathryn.mottram@risd.org

• April 03: Multicultural Night at 6:00 PM
• April 03: Enrollment Help Lab at 3:30 PM
• April 04: Spring Dance at 6:00 PM (Buy Your Ticket Here)
• April 08: STAAR Reading
• April 15: STAAR 8th Grade Social Studies
• April 22: Enrollment Help Lab at 7:30 AM
• April 23: STAAR 8th Grade Science
• April 28: Spring Picture Day
• April 29: STAAR Math/ EOC Algebra 1
• April 30: National Junior Honor Society Induction at 6 PM

We are thrilled to share some exciting news! Our wonderful Coach Lockett was named "Super Teacher" this past Monday. It was a delightful surprise, and we couldn't be prouder of her dedication and passion for our students. Let’s all congratulate her for this well-deserved recognition!

We are excited to announce that our school has been recognized as an AVID Schoolwide site! A huge congratulations to Ms. Wilkin and Mr. Duncan for their hard work and commitment to student success. We are incredibly thankful to have such an outstanding team here at our school!

Congratulations to our girls tennis teams! 7th grade doubles and 8th grade single secured 2nd place in the district! Additionally, the 7th grade overall achieved recognition as runner-up with the most points for the season in singles and doubles tennis! 🏆

We are thrilled to share the results from our recent district track and field meet! Our students showcased their skills and sportsmanship, and we are incredibly proud of their achievements:

• 7th Grade Girls: 4th Place
• 7th Grade Boys: 2nd Place
• 8th Grade Girls: 2nd Place
• 8th Grade Boys: 5th Place

Congratulations to all our athletes for their hard work and dedication!

Once more congratulations to our chess team for participating for the first time in the UIL competition! We are so proud of their accomplishments and the way they represented our school!

Get ready to light up the night! Don't miss out on the fun—grab your tickets now and glow on the dance floor!✨

Last day to purchase tickets online is Thursday, April 03, 2025!

*A 3.99% fee will be charged for all card payments.*

TENNIS:

The girls and boys Tennis teams participated in the RISD JH District Tennis Tournament. The coaches are extremely proud of all of the students who represented Westwood JH. The support

and camaraderie among the teams were unmatched!

• Girls: 7th graders Harper Devinney and Piper Luburich competed in doubles and singles and placed 7th and 8th. This talented team finished in 2nd place for the tournament. The 7th grade girls participants received a second place finish for overall points earned during the tournaments. Congratulations to 8th graders, Ella Martini, who finished second place overall in the 8th grade division.

• Boys: Roland Raftery, Saskar Paudel, Samuel Drazin, Luke Clair, Noah (Walker) Clem participated in the RISD Boys division. All participants made it to the quarterfinals round before being eliminated. Roland Raftery received a second place finish in the 2025 tournament. A special thanks to Sam Drazin for serving as an alternate and showing up everyday ready to participate if needed for 7th grade.

Track & Field:

The track and field teams demonstrated excellence (1st/2nd place finishes) in all 3 regular season

meets. The district qualifier meet was held on Wednesday, March 26th at Pearce High School.

We are proud to have so many Wolves qualify for the final District Championship event

scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st at Eagle Mustang Stadium. The list of girls and boys

participants and the Order of Events for the meet is attached. Special Note: The district meet

operates on a different order of events than the regular season track and field meets. Please

come out and support the Westwood Wolves as they compete for the 2025 District Track & Field

Championship!

Soccer:

Soccer tryouts for boys 7th and 8th grade teams will begin April 2nd. The7th and 8th grade girls'

practices will start on Thursday, April 3rd before school at 6:45 AM. Information regarding

soccer tryouts has been posted on Schoology and flyers throughout the building. If you have

additional questions, please contact the girls coaches, Coach Schroeder and Coach Beahm or the

boys coaches Coach Shelmon and Coach Robinson.

Quarter 3 Grade Report:

UIL eligibility grade check for all student-athletes was received on March 17th. If a student

failed a course required for participation, he or she will be able to regain eligibility on Monday,

April 7th with the first day to actively participate in competition on April 14th. This will affect

the students participating in soccer.

Eligibility Requirements for all Athletics: All students must have a current physical and updated UIL Rank One paperwork prior to participating in any tryouts, practices, or games.

Tickets:Tickets for all RISD Athletic Events can be purchased at the gate or by visiting the link below: https://richardsonisd.brushfire.com/

April is School Library Month! To celebrate students will be engaging in a contest each week of the month: Quackenger Hunt each week, Database Challenge, Bookmark Contest, Guess the Bookworms, and a Morse Code contest! All information will be in their Library Schoology Group each week.

Book Club is meeting Monday, March 31st. All 3 lunches are reading Imposters by Scott Westerfeld, who attended Westwood!

March’s Database of the Month is Gale in Context Middle School. Check out all the resources this database has!

****Reminder that STAAR tests are coming up in April. The database TexQuest, in your child’s Classlink -> Library Resources, has practice tests for reading, math, science and social studies! Practice at home or anytime, 24/7!

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, we would greatly appreciate it. Donate online here.

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.