Anita Gaines, Principal
[email protected]
706-866-9211
Weekly Wrap Up at West Side For Parents/Guardians- 11/18/24

A special thank you to everyone that was able to come out to West Side last week. We appreciate our Veterans and community members that attended our Veterans Day program and we are so thankful for all of the parents that were able to join us for parent lunch last week! We hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving meal!

This Tuesday night we have P.O.W.W.O.W Night!!!

P.O.W.W.O.W night (Parents of West Side Working On Winning) is November 19th at 6:00. This will be a time where you can come to your child's classroom and be informed about your student's academic status and goals for growth. It is not a time for an individual conferences, but rather a time to learn about the academic benchmark given and the goal for your student. Individual conferences may be set with your child's teacher at any time. The goal of this meeting is to work together to monitor student progress and set goals for future learning, so that ALL students will be able to achieve at higher levels. So, please join us on November 19th for pizza and P.O.W.W.O.W night!!!

🎄🎄We will have our Christmas Sing A Long on December 5th beginning at 6:00. This year we will have it at LFO in the new theatre! We hope to see you there!! More detailed information will be coming soon!🎄🎄 Christmas parties will be on Dec. 20th, the last day of school for the semester. 🎅

We are working hard this year to increase our attendance rates. If you have been in the office lately you may have noticed that our attendance and tardy rates posted daily. We do understand that we can't always avoid sickness. However, please help us continue to keep our attendance rates as high as possible. Great attendance helps increase academic gains. Our weekly attendance rate last week was 93.5 % again. Our daily rate this past Friday dropped to 89% which was lower than usual .Help us reach 98% this week! Let's keep up the good work! We want to celebrate our students for being present at school.

Electronic Device Policy

Cell phones and electronic devices are not allowed to be used during the school day. If students have a cell phone or other device, they will be asked to turn it off and keep it in their backpack. You can view this policy in the Catoosa County Student/Parent Handbook page 74.

Our Braves PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) Expectations are:

• Have respect
• Own our behavior

• Work towards success

Please review these school wide expectations at home and encourage students to display them at school. Students can earn PBIS points and rewards at school for displaying appropriate behavior. They will be able to earn rewards with their points.

Just a few reminders:

• Please plan on dropping students off in the car rider line. IMPORTANT: Please do NOT exit the vehicle during arrival/dismissal. If you need to exit the vehicle in the morning, please park in a parking spot and then walk your child in the school. In the afternoon, you can pull up to the front if you need to exit your vehicle to assist your child with buckling. When arriving at the school for the car rider line, all cars must turn right on Sutton from North Ave. No left turns should be made from Sutton Avenue into the school car rider line. If you must are tardy or must enter in the front entrance please park in a space. For safety purposes, please do not park in the fire lane.
• Doors open at 7:00am. Tardy Bell rings at 7:50am and announcements begin at 7:40am. Instruction begins at 7:50 this year. Students need to be in their seats ready to learn at this time. If you have to drop your students off in the front of the building because they are tardy, you must walk your student in and sign them in. We would love to have students here by 7:35 so they can participate in announcements. If the car rider line is closed. Please drive to the front to walk your student inside. If you would like to eat breakfast, ID will be required to enter the building and you must sign in at the front office. Your visitor sticker allows you entrance to the cafeteria only. After you eat, please let your child walk to class alone while you sign out at the front office and exit the building. This policy is for safety purposes. It is important that I know who is in the building and where they are.
• Information about Birthday Treats: Please contact the teacher in advance if you want to send in birthday treats. We can only have store bought birthday treats. Due to allergies and the safety of students, we cannot give out homemade items
• In the afternoon, please remember that all students should be picked up by 3:00 pm unless they are enrolled with the YMCA at West Side.

• Attendance Information:

• When a student is absent, please send in documentation for why the student was absent.

• You can send in parent documentation for 5 days during the first semester (Aug-Dec) and then 5 days during the second semester (Jan-May). Once you reach the 5 parent note limit, absences will be unexcused unless a doctor's note is given.

• After multiple unexcused absences, parents will be required to sign an attendance contract per Catoosa County Attendance Policy.

Please make sure that you are connected to your child's teacher on Class Dojo! There will be important information posted there throughout the year from teachers and administrators. If you have any concerns please feel free to reach out to your child's teacher. If you need to reach administration at any time, please reach out via email or phone call. Have a great week. We are thankful that you are a part of West Side where our mission is to ensure high levels of learning for all students!

You may find the following resources helpful when talking with your child about school safety:

Safe Screens Presentation

Talking to your children about school shootings

CCPS Parent Safety Video

CCPS Student Safety Video