|
Holiday Family Needs:
The holiday season can be expensive and stressful for families. If you are in need of food, clothing, or help with holiday gifts please contact Nurse Ellen Nadeau at enadeau@westwood.k12.ma.us We work closely with local agencies to secure funding for families who need assistance during the holiday season or any time of the year. Please know that all names will remain confidential.
School wide Veterans Day project
Dear Families,
We just wanted to thank you all for your support with our Veterans Day project. The front lobby looks so patriotic! Be sure to check it out! The kids really did a nice job on decorating their stars honoring veterans and all of them hanging up together makes a big impact! We wanted to invite you to the final part of our Honoring Veterans Project. Parents are invited to stay for a few minutes at dropoff on Monday morning. At 8:55 the first graders will be gathering along the baseball backstop to lead the school in the pledge of allegiance and recite a Veterans Day poem. Breakfast will be wrapping up a few minutes early to usher kids outside, so students interested in breakfast will need to be there by 8:45. Also, please come check out our flag garden in front of the school on Veterans Day, or anytime. Thank you veterans!
Thanks,
The First Grade Team
Fun Run Update
Thank you for supporting the PTO sponsored Booster Fun Run! The event was so successful because of your support. Stay tuned for more details about how the money is being used. To celebrate as a school, the PTO has created a Downey Spirit Week. Below are the details.
Monday-PJ Day
Wednesday-15 minutes extra recess.
Thursday-Students pick their own seat at lunch.
Friday-Student dress like a teacher. Teachers dress like a student.
A Note from Donna Tobin, Director of Social-Emotional Learning
Re: Read Aloud Program.
Dear Families,
Last year, the Office of Student Services began developing a new Parent Read Aloud program, designed to provide an opportunity to increase parent/caregiver involvement specifically in Elementary classrooms across the district. The goal of the program is to expose all students to various types of disabilities across grade levels. This fall, Donna Tobin, Director of Social-Emotional Learning, formed a committee of parents and educators. The group, under the leadership of Donna Tobin, reviewed and selected books as well as developed a parent/caregiver training for the program. Parents/caregivers were excited about supporting this program last year, and we hope that we can count on you again this year.
We have Parent Coordinators from each of the elementary schools: Samantha Sturma, Downey School; Jennifer Kaddy, Martha Jones School; Mercedes Carrasco, Pine Hill School, and Shelagh Danaher, Sheehan School, along with Meg Kara, Pine Hill librarian; and Abby Smith, Sheehan School Psychologist partnering with Dr. Tobin to review, evaluate, and select books and conversation prompts, and locate simple activities to go along with some of the books. We have selected books that represent a wide range of topics, including: neurodiversity, intellectual disabilities, and physical/health disabilities. We hope these books will support our goal of celebrating individual differences and allow all students to see themselves and others as wonderfully unique individuals.
How You Can Help!
We are looking for parent/caregiver volunteer readers from each grade level (kindergarten through grade 5) at your child’s school. The role would include:
Attending a 30-minute training that will help you prepare for class discussions, questions, and feedback.
Preview and select the book from your grade level list/bin
Work with the classroom teachers to select a time each month from January through May to go into each grade level classroom to read the books. (Note: each read-aloud story comes with guiding questions for a whole-class discussion)
Provide feedback at the end of the year to your school’s Parent Coordinator on what worked well and what might be adjusted in future years to improve the program.
If you can help by becoming a volunteer Reader, please complete this sign up form no later than November 21, 2025. If you would like more information about volunteering before signing up, please reach out to your School Coordinator above or contact Donna Tobin. Once we have our volunteers, we will reach out with training dates (flexible) and next steps. Please make sure you have an updated CORI on file. A CORI is required for all volunteers. You can check with your school’s administrative assistant to complete a CORI or check your current status.
If you would like more information about the program content, please email or call Donna Tobin at dtobin@westwood.k12.ma.us or at 781-326-7500, ext. 8532.
Thank you,
Donna Tobin, Director of Social-Emotional Learning
Lori Cimeno, Director of Student Service
Lateefah Franck, Director of Equity Integration and Community Partnerships
|
