Tomorrow begins our Paper Mill Merchandise Sale. This sale allows you to show your support for Paper Mill. There are sweatshirts and T-shirts available for purchase. Flyers are going home tomorrow with students.
Picture Day is October 26th. Bring your smiles to school!
Parent Teacher conferences are taking place on October 25th. If you would like to set up a conference, please reach out to your child's teacher. Due to the conferences, October 25th will be an early release at 12:15.
As part of its continuing work with the Westfield Police Department and ongoing training for students and staff, the Westfield School Department will conduct lockdown drills the week of Oct. 23-27, using the enhanced procedures of what is called ALICE, which stands for “alert, lockdown, inform, counter, evacuate.”
Christopher Rogers, director of operations and safety, said Westfield has been using the ALICE protocol since 2014-15.
“It’s research-based, and it provides our staff and at the upper grades our students the ability to make decisions in real time based on the information they have that is critical to their safety,” he said.
https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/10/westfields-public-schools-will-conduct-lockdown-drills-later-this-month.html
Click here for the latest Westfield Public Schools District Newsletter: https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/1997/WPS/3618809/WPS_NEWSLETTER_2023-Q1.pdf
PumpkinFest is back, rain or shine, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14, on the athletic fields behind Amelia Park off South Broad Street in Westfield.
https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/10/westfield-on-weekends-pumpkinfest-promises-family-fun-amid-autumn-traditions.html
Fall is in the air! Well, it may still feel like summer, but school is in full swing. We just concluded our Penny Wars fundraiser and the students enjoyed filling the buckets and the friendly competition among grade levels. We raised $1,326.47 for our Paper Mill PTO. Thank you to everyone who donated to this fun event!
Good afternoon,
If you have already started the process of completing the Back to School Forms, please complete the forms and submit online. If you need assistance in completing the form, please contact the main office at your child's school.
Thank you,
Westfield Public Schools
A nationwide test of the emergency and wireless alert systems will be conducted Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. ET, when a message will be sent to all cellphones, TVs and radios.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a news release in August that a message that reads, “THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed,” will be sent to all phones.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/national-emergency-alert-test-cell-phone-wednesday-text-rcna118468
If you missed "Superintendent's Spotlight" yesterday, please click on the link below. This week, we met our Special Education Administrators and talked about some of the special education programming in the district. Thanks for watching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXJRLwVJTMM
Our next SEPAC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 5 from 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at Tiger's Pride Restaurant in Westfield Technical Academy. Please click on "view image" for more information. Thank you!
CALLING ALL LOCAL STUDENT ARTISTS!
The City Clerk's Office invites local students K‐12 to enter the Westfield Elections' Coloring Contest. The first of hopefully many coloring contests will be to design your own ‘I Voted’ sticker. Winning artwork will be used in Westfield Election materials, promotions and outreach and exhibited through the City. The deadline for submissions is December 31, 2023. A completed entry form must accompany each sticker design. Official details and entry form can be found here: "I Voted" Sticker Design Competition | Westfield, MA - Official Website (cityofwestfield.org) Need a paper copy? Stop by the City Clerk's Office, 59 Court Street, Room 210 between 9AM-5PM.
https://www.cityofwestfield.org/895/I-Voted-Sticker-Design-Competition
Open House is Tuesday from 6:00-7:30. This is a great opportunity for families to meet your child's teacher and learn about their classroom. Families will also have the opportunity to visit our Scholastic Book Fair in the gym.
This is going to be a fantastic week at Paper Mill! We are starting our Penny Wars, Students grab your pennies and silver coins. Each day we will be collecting pennies, silver coins, and dollar bills to raise money for the Paper Mill PTO. Students have so much fun with this fundraiser and 100% of the proceeds for to our PTO.
If you missed "Superintendent's Spotlight" this morning, click on the link below. This week we talked about the registration process while featuring our new "Welcome Center" located at 94 North Elm St. Suite 101. We also talked about the upcoming autumnal equinox. Thanks for watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzckbTm7IvM
At the School Committee meeting on Sept. 18, Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski and School Business Administrator Shannon Barry asked members to approve the creation of a new Arts Gift Account, for monetary gift donations to the district earmarked for the arts.
Czaporowski said he was contacted by the trustees of the estate of Gerald Patrick, a Westfield alumnus who had a successful career as a professional artist and designer. The trustees said Patrick left a $100,000 donation to the arts programs in the schools in his will.
https://www.masslive.com/westfieldnews/2023/09/estate-of-artist-raised-in-westfield-donates-100k-for-arts-in-city-schools.html
Paper Mill Families:
Next week is our Open House on September 26, 2023 from 6:00-7:30. During our Open House, we will be hosting our Scholastic Book Fair. Students will also have the ability to visit the our Book Fair during the week. The Book Fair will run 9/27-9/29th in addition to the time during Open House.
If you missed "Superintendent's Spotlight" this morning, click on the link below. This week we talked with our Director of Curriculum and Instruction Susan Dargie about our curriculum renewal process and our new Social Emotional Learning Curriculum PreK-12. Thanks for watching!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL0RBFEBDVk
Another week accomplished at Paper Mill! This week we welcomed our youngest learners into the building with Kindergarteners. While this was a short week in terms of half days, we can clearly see that routines and rituals are being put into place, friendships are forming, and students are beginning to settle into school. We look forward to next week!
While we were expecting a cooler day on Friday, September 8, the latest forecast from the National Weather Service predicts that the Heat Index tomorrow will remain between 95-100 degrees. The Heat Advisory also remains in effect. As a result, Westfield Public Schools will dismiss staff and students early again tomorrow. High School students will be dismissed at 11:00 a.m., Middle and Intermediate School students at 11:30 a.m., and Elementary School students at 12:15 p.m. Fort Meadow Early Childhood Center will be closed. Thank you.