Westside Elementary

#ZebraTravelDiaries - SUMMER BREAK 2022 As you head out on vacations, staycations, day trips, camp, zoo, playdates, or any other summer fun, send us your pictures in your ZEBRA GEAR and tell us where you are and we'll share them with our community. You don't have to be going far, you just have to show your #CPSZEBRAPRIDE (sporting your ZEBRA logo) when you are there. Stay safe, have fun, and email photos to jbrace@claremore.k12.ok.us.

It's time to make sure all your school-issued technology devices are returned to school. Remember to bring in the device, power cord, and cover. If you have not already returned your device to your child's school of record, please do so ASAP. The deadline is May 18, 2022. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

The Board of Education approved a new 22-23 academic calendar on Monday. There are a few changes you might want to note. 📅 Fall Break was moved up a week to Oct. 13 & 14, 2022 📅 Graduation was set for May 21, 2023 #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Family Fun Night 2022 was a HUGE success! With your help, we raised $18,007 😱😍 for our PTO which will greatly, and directly, benefit our students! We had a great time with our students and their families! Thank you to all who came out and showed their support of Westside! Our community's involvement means so much to us! It was a great day to be a Zebra! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #FAMILYFUNNIGHT22

Yesterday our district celebrated our collaboration between Grand Lake Mental Health Center and Claremore Publics Schools. They discussed the history of this collaboration and the beginning of BISSS (Behavior Interventions In a School Setting) in the schools. They also discussed how this started 4 year ago with our very own Mrs. Angy Bains being the first Behavioral Health Coach in the district and Westside was the pilot school site for this program. It has now grown substantially with a Behavioral Health Coach in every CPS school. Today, May is Mental Health Awareness month and today, May 10th, is Mental Health Worker Appreciation Day! We are so grateful for our Mental Health Workers here at Westside! "I am so fortunate to have been able to see this program develop over the years. I love being a WESTSIDE zebra!" -Angy Bains #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #MentalHealthAwareness #MentalHealthWorkerAppreciation Day

Happy Mother's Day to all our "moms." Our birth moms, adoptive moms, step-moms, and bonus moms. To our Aunt moms, sister moms, Grandmoms, single Dad moms, and surrogate moms. To our work moms, cheer moms, dance moms, sports moms, PTO moms, homeroom moms, teacher moms, and school moms. Happy Mother's Day to whoever makes up your "mom"tourage, all of them play an essential role in nurturing, raising, and supporting the children in our community. We appreciate your commitment to the welfare and personal growth of your children - our students. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Eleanor Roosevelt was able to convince the 81st Congress to create the first Teacher Appreciation Day. It was in 1944 that the first discussions of creating a national day to honor teachers began between politicians and education professionals. We now honor Teachers with a week long celebration to pay tribute to educators who empower students across the country with the knowledge and skills they need to reach their potential and achieve their dreams. Be sure to thank a teacher this week! We sure are grateful for the AMAZING teachers we have here at Westside! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside would now like to introduce you to our Behavior Health Coach, Mrs. Angy Bains! "I have been the Behavior Health Coach (BHC) for Westside for the last 4 years. My role is to work with the school to advocate for students that exhibit behaviors that are preventing or limiting their success. BHC’s are centered around helping the student and will work closely with teachers, counselors, principals, and parents to best serve the needs of each student. My goal is to help the student stay in (or return to) the classroom setting. To accomplish this, I provide the student with life skills at home, at school, and in the community. My goal is to empower students and set them up for success." Favorite Things: Anything Chocolate, Dt. Dr. Pepper, Starbucks, reading on my Kindle, singing to students in the cafeteria, and seeing students set goals and achieve them. Fun Fact: I have performed in numerous musical theatre productions including Annie, Nunsense, and Oliver. Thank you for telling us a little about yourself and what you do for our students at Westside, Mrs. Bains! You are greatly appreciated! ❤️ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #TEACHERFEATURE

Have you enrolled your kids for school next year??? If you're having trouble, please make sure you are signed into Wengage through GOOGLE CHROME on a computer. You can follow this link to get to the parent portal https://ok.wengage.com/Claremore If you need help or have any questions, please call the office at 918-923-4245. Pre-enrollment numbers are used to hire the appropriate number of staff members and create schedules. To ensure we have a full staff, please enroll your children by May 2nd.

We may not have posted our Hero Wall in a while, and due to some technical difficulties its not Wednesday 🤪, but that does not mean our students haven't been filling up that wall! We love seeing this wall so full (and we had to add more space!!!!) because it means our students are working hard in our building. Way to go, Westside students! We are so proud of you! #HeroWallWednesday#CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Mrs. Book's class had a cute little visitor in their classroom! Mr. Book brought in Mrs. Books' favorite hen, Helen! Helen visited the students during their chick hatching unit and proudly showed them how beautiful some of their chicks may grow to be someday 😉 #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Mrs. Sweet's 2nd-grade class had a great time prepping for Easter! They did a Math Egg hunt, experimented with some cookie coloring, and you can't forget the egg coloring fun! They even created their own traps to catch the Easter Bunny! (Talk about sharpening those creative and critical thinking skills 😉) They just missed him but he left them some cute bunnies with books for all that made a trap! Mrs. Sweet said her students did a fantastic job with the planning and creating, but the best part was seeing them join together to problem solve! They also had a blast! Great job, Mrs. Sweet, and class! ❤️ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

The District Teacher of the Year Celebration will be tonight at 5pm. The dessert reception will recognize all our Site Teacher of the Year recipients and announce the 22-23 District Teacher of the Year. You can watch it live ▶https://youtu.be/XYDxRYj85eI. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

First Grade came to school on Monday to some 'egg-citing' stuff! Mrs. Thomason's class had 6 chicks hatch and 9 more are pipped! Students learn a lot about life cycles, nature, and practice responsibility during the chicken hatching process! This unit is a Westside favorite ❤️ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside proudly introduces another one of our fabulous Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Sayre Whitaker! Sayre Whitaker has taught at Westside for 12 years. She taught 2 years of 2nd grade, 3 years of 1st grade, and is currently in her 7th year of teaching Kindergarten. She lives in Claremore with her husband Billy, niece Lilly, nephew River, and father-in-law Donald. They have 3 dogs, Buster, Axel, and Rose. She is a graduate of Claremore High School and has a Bachelor's Degree from Northeastern State University in Early Childhood Education. Teaching is her life's ambition and seeing the joy in her student's eyes when they truly understand something they have struggled with makes her heart happy. Favorite Things: God, my husband and family, and my students! 💖 Fun Fact: I love all things Harry Potter! Thank you for sharing with us, Mrs. Whitaker!! Westside is thankful for you!! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #TEACHERFEATURE

Getting in our last miles on the last day of Running Club!! Super proud of all their hard work!! So many goals were achieved! 🙌🏻 Last Day of Running Club calls for Mr. Phillip with Patsy's Sno Cones! (PS. Look for Patsy's Sno Cones at our Family Fun Night Event on May 6th!)💗 Looking forward to our Field Trip at Wheels and Thrills on May 3! 🛼 ⚡️

Ms. Palmer’s class participates in a postcard exchange every single year. This year was different though. They teamed up with Mrs. Ratcliff! Students typed out their postcards in Ms. Palmer’s class and decorated their cards in art. Mrs. Ratcliff had students draw an Indian blanket flower using their own style! We love this example of how written communication can bring people together! It is also an example of great teamwork! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

It's Raffle Ticket time! Family Fun Night is just around the corner and our students are working hard to sell those raffle tickets! Tickets are $1 each and you can enter to win a few things: ✨$250 Walmart Gift card✨ ✨$250 QuickTrip Gift card✨ ✨Stanley's 7 Cube Freezer✨ Raffles tickets will be sold by students for the top seller contest until May 6th at 9:00 AM, and raffle tickets will also be sold during the Family Fun Night! The winners will be drawn during FFN but YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PRESENT TO WIN! The students that sell the most also have the chance to win some stuff! PreK-2nd grade top seller will win a new bike! 3rd-5th grade top seller will win a new hoverboard! Thank you all for supporting our students! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #FAMILYFUNNIGHT

Running Club Recognition! 10 Mile 🦶 Peighton Barnes Brayden Schumacher (not pictured) Owen Armstrong Allie Escobar 20 Mile 🦶 Tristin Kara Tania Vazquez Noah Groom (not pictured) Jax Smith Cy Busby (not pictured) 25 Mile 🏅 Grant Butler 90 Mile 🦶 Rivers Ratcliff Finley Faulconer Way to go, guys!! 🙌🏻 LAST DAY of the running club is TODAY!! (Wednesday, April 20th) Keep working towards those goals!! #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside would like to brag about our 2020-2021 district teacher of the year for this teacher feature! Meet Mrs. Andrea Ratcliff! "My name is Andrea Ratcliff. I’ve been teaching since 2006 and moved from my home state Arkansas to Oklahoma in 2017. I teach Art at Westside. I have 2 kids (Ella, 8th & Rivers, 3rd) and am married to Chris, the athletic director at RSU! Go Hillcats! I love good music playing real loud, travel (especially in the mountains), good food (and will travel a long way to get to it), pretty things, to laugh & making others laugh. I love kindnesses, I love life & I’m grateful every single day for it. Favorite Things: big cup Reese’s, Lindor truffles, quality music, good naps, watching others succeed, just LIVING…. Fun Fact: when I was a kid, I used to sneak out into our fields at our farm and lick our cattle’s salt blocks….after the cows had already licked them first. Yummy. " This is so very you and we thank you so much for sharing, Mrs. Ratcliff! We are very thankful for you! ❤ #TEACHERFEATURE #CPSZEBRAPRIDE