Downey School Core Values
Welcome to the Downey Elementary School! Our school is an inclusive K-5 building that provides an excellent education to all students. At Downey School we believe that learning is a partnership between the child, parent/guardian, and Downey School professionals. As a staff, we believe that open and honest communication with parents/guardians is important, and we value the input from parents/guardians. To ensure that Downey School is a safe environment for all students and staff to take academic/professional risks, we live by the 6 Downey School Core Values:
Courage, Pride, Excellence, Respect, Responsibility, Inclusion
UPDATES: May 4, 2020
CLASS PLACEMENT:
Dear Downey Parents/Guardians,
Later this month the classroom teachers, special education teachers, specialists, psychologist, and I will begin the process of class placement for September 2020. During the placement process, it is important for us to consider all relevant information. We review information about each child’s academic, social, and personal characteristics and use that information when making placement decisions. Our primary goal is to assign each child to a classroom in which she or he can develop and thrive academically and socially.
Due to the complexity of this process, we will not honor requests for specific classroom teachers for the following reasons:
*Your child’s current teacher has a year’s worth of information and insight to contribute during placement meetings.
*Classroom composition is an important factor in the placement process and it is carefully considered when placing students.
*The goal of student placement is to maximize student learning. Therefore, it is very important that well-balanced classes are created.
If you have information about your child’s learning needs that you would like to share, please send me your input via email by Friday May 8, 2020. Parent emails received will be copied and distributed to the placement team members for consideration. Please note that letters and emails are not kept from previous years since children change and grow, and we make decisions based on current information.
Parents/Guardians of of multiples (twins, triplets, etc), may specify whether you want your children placed in the same class or different classes. Also, please know that if you have more than one child in your family, there is a chance that they will not have the same teachers as their siblings.
Please contact me if you have any questions about the process. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Deb Gallagher
TECH SUPPORT:
If your child’s Chromebook is not working properly please shut it down completely and restart. Another option is to email the Westwood Tech Support at wpstechsupport@westwood.k12.ma.us if you or your child are having difficulty accessing learning resources, experiencing hardware issues with a school-issued Chromebook, or any other issue that is preventing your child from learning in a remote setting. We will do our best to resolve your issue as expediently as possible.
TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK (May 4-8):
A big “thank you” to the PTO who have organized a remote celebration week for the Downey Staff. Your creativity and thoughtfulness are greatly appreciated! While the Downey staff are celebrating this week, parents should also be celebrating, as you too have become co-teachers with all of us! Thank you for being our partners as we navigate remote learning. We couldn’t do our job without your support, we are all blessed to be a part of the Downey Community! We miss you and your children very much.
PTO Updates & Information: 2019
Minutes from the September 11, 2018, PTO Meeting
Minutes from the October 2, 2018, PTO meeting
Minutes from the November 6, 2018, PTO meeting
Minutes from the December 5, 2018, PTO meeting
Minutes from the February 5, 2019, PTO meeting
Minutes from the March 5, 2019, PTO meeting
Minutes from April 22, 2019, PTO meeting
Minutes from the May 7, 2019, PTO meeting
Minutes from the June 4, 2019, PTO meeting
Shop with Amazon and help support Downey! Please consider using our Amazon Smile link to make your Amazon purchases. The Amazon Smile Foundation will contribute 0.5% of eligible purchases back to the Downey School. It's an easy way to support our school and our students!
Downey Gift Book Program
The Gift Book Program continues and is an exciting way for your child to contribute to the school library!
For all purchases made through this link, your child's name will be placed on a label on the inside cover of the book and they will be the first to read the book; all before the book is placed on the shelf in the Downey School library to then be shared by all students.
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