Westside News

Dear Westside Parents and Community Members,

 

As we begin our Thanksgiving break, it provides an opportunity for us to thank you for your continued support, cooperation and participation in partnership with our staff as we work together for our students.  We are now half way through the 2nd quarter and our students are working hard to achieve their goals, and we thank you for attending conferences in October to talk to your children’s teachers about their progress.

 

Thanksgiving is about giving thanks to those who help us all on a daily basis including:

• All of our classroom teachers who bring their best work to the students daily
• All of our support staff who greet you in the office, maintain our sites, provide meals for our students, work in the classrooms, playground and street crossings, maintain our instructional technology, make instructional copies for classrooms, register our students, welcome you to the district office, maintain our programs, hire employees, and all the other work done throughout the district
• All of our trustees who meet regularly providing direction for the district
• All of the parents who volunteer in our schools in classrooms, through PTA/PTSA, School Site Councils and all the many other ways you help our students
• We also want to thank all of our veterans who were celebrated earlier this month for their service to our country

 

We also want to thank our Rancho Vista School parents for their prompt response to picking up their children early from school last week.  Obviously, the broken water valve was unexpected, and though we made great effort to restore water to the site, it was not possible and we had to close school.  Thanks so much for your help.  The repair was made later in the afternoon and we were able to hold school on Friday.

 

Thanks also to our Quartz Hill School parents who had a delay in dismissal last week as we worked to remove an individual from the front of the school who displayed behaviors that were inappropriate.  Your cooperation helped us resolve the situation.

 

School will resume on Monday, November 27th.  We will be in session through the end of the semester on December 22.  Winter break will begin on December 25, 2023, and students will return to school on January 16, 2024.  Many activities will be planned at your children’s schools during the coming month, so please check with your local school for specific dates and times.

 

Again, thank you for all your work with our staff all year.  You are appreciated.  I hope you will enjoy your time with your family, reflecting on the many things for which we are thankful.

 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Regina L. Rossall

Superintendent

October 25, 2023

Dear Westside Parents and Community Members,

 

Thank you for your recent participation in our parent conferences. Meeting with your children’s teachers should offer you valuable information about the progress they are making toward achieving the academic standards for their grade level this year, as well as their growth in other related areas of their development. Both the time the teachers and you devoted toward these important meetings were appreciated. Most of our sites reported great participation in this year’s conferences.

As you know, this was our first year to have a fall break for students. Many parents have commented on how much they appreciated the family time spent with their children, traveling, visiting local attractions, or just the chance to relax. Your feedback about this break will be appreciated–please feel free to share with the staff at your children’s school, contact me via our Let’s Talk Program, or via email. One area that we will try to address next year is providing a centrally located daycare for parents in need of that service.

Test scores for schools and districts on the State required tests for 3rd-8th graders for the 22-23 school year were publicly released at the end of last week. WUSD scores showed an overall improvement over the prior school year, however, they still don’t show mastery of the state standards for each tested grade level. There will be a presentation to the Board during an upcoming meeting.

Our annual School Accountability Report Cards (SARC) will be completed by each of our school staff and posted to their websites in the coming weeks. This is a report to the community required of each public school in the state. Please check out the reports about your children’s schools.

Congratulations to the Board President, Dr. Christopher Grado on his recent selection to the Quartz Hill High School Hall of Fame! This is an honor for his continuing service in the field of education, including his service on the WUSD Board, his prior service on the Lancaster School District Board, his work at Antelope Valley Union High School District, his work with graduate students and the many other contributions he has made to the community since completing high school. We are proud of his selection.

Several of our schools will be hosting fall activities in the coming week. Please check the website of your children’s schools for more information.

Looking for a job? Please consider applying to work where your children attend school. Applications can be found and filed on our website. Thank you for considering WUSD.

Thank you again for your participation in our recent parent conferences. If you missed conferences and still want to talk to your children’s teacher(s), please contact the teacher or school secretary to arrange an appointment.

 

Happy Fall,

 

Regina L. Rossall

 

Regina L. Rossall

Superintendent