Westfield schools face an increased need for small-group instruction to help students advance academically. Learn how our bond proposals aim to meet these needs and create space for Full Day Kindergarten in this short video. https://youtu.be/OGB4HpmqXL0?si=NeW0fKkDrejh9CtX
Stay in the know! 📨 Dr. G’s weekly Budget + Bond updates are packed with key details ahead of the April 15 vote. Check your email inbox or visit the NEWS section on our website: https://www.westfieldnjk12.org/article/2106929 https://www.westfieldnjk12.org/article/2106902
Writing is hard work! We teach students to generate ideas for writing. Then we foster the writing process by helping them through various drafts. We teach about different text structures. Next, we edit and revise. We check for spelling and grammar. When we feel like it's just right, we publish and we celebrate! 4-B had a publishing party today. Thank you to our parents for giving our students an audience for their writing!
Lexi, from the Student Council Celebrations Committee, researched, wrote and announced over the loudspeaker, information about Mae Jemison, the first Black woman to travel into space, for Women's History Month. Thanks Lexi!
🎥 Want to understand the details behind our April 15 Bond Referendum? Our video series breaks down the key projects, funding plans, and the process, making it easy for you to stay informed! Watch now and get the full picture: https://bit.ly/Bond-Referendum-Videos
Counselors and teachers from Roosevelt Intermediate School came to speak to our 5th graders about transitioning to the their future school. They learned a few French words, the new schedule, and a brand new music offering that sounds exciting!
Here is the description:
Next year we are going to offer four options for your full-year music class: Band, Orchestra, Vocal Music and our new course, Modern Music. Modern Music focuses on modern music creation and performance using technology. Students will expand upon the knowledge learned through elementary general music to explore various digital music tools and software in order to compose, arrange, and produce their own original music. Through hands-on projects, activities, and performances, students will develop essential skills in note reading, composition, piano keyboarding, sound design, lighting design, live performance, and digital audio production. Activities and project examples will include creating a podcast, composing music using the blues, designing a light show, and composing a soundtrack for a movie, all through Noteflight and Soundtrap, which are online software programs for creating and composing music.
Cello Fury performed and engaged our students in conversations about their path to creating a band and learning to play their instruments. It was amazing to hear all of the different sounds they create. Thank you to the PTO for scheduling another great assembly!!
Many were decked out in their green attire for St. Patrick's Day. 1st graders tried to build the perfect traps to catch a leprechaun. Our student leaders also researched and announced the history of St. Patrick's Day.
Lots of in-person and remote opportunities through April 8 to learn about the Budget and Bond Referendum! https://bit.ly/WPS-BudgetBond-Engagement
We are incredibly grateful for this $10,000 grant from Sustainable Jersey for Schools and NJEA, which will help us transform the underutilized space behind Franklin School into ‘The Franklin Hub’—a vibrant, welcoming, and accessible outdoor learning and community space. Thanks to the generosity of the Franklin PTO and Project Playground, an entire section of accessible playground equipment is already in place. This grant will support the creation of an outdoor classroom and meeting space, serving as the cornerstone of the Franklin Hub. The project will also feature a large, student-designed mural celebrating sustainability, diversity, and inclusion, with the school’s motto: ‘I Belong. You Belong. We Belong.’ In collaboration with our community partners, we are excited to unify the playground, outdoor classroom, and Habitat Garden areas, fostering inclusivity, learning, and connection among our students.
Students on the Student Council Celebrations Committee research topics like Women's History Month, Pi Day, Ramadan and St. Patrick's Day. They then create bulletin boards and slide shows as well as make announcements on the loud speaker to the student body.
March 14 is Pi Day! Mrs. Rygiel and her committee of teachers created an afternoon of activities to celebrate pi. There were pi poems and pi jokes. Students explored symmetry, circle graphs, and the properties of circles. The book Sir Comference was read. There was a skit about circles. The main event was our annual recitation of the digits of pi. Does trying to recite the digits of pi really make any sense? Does that sound like an irrational idea? Probably, but we had fun trying.
We have many activities to celebrate Pi Day but the annual "Pi Day Reciting Contest" has the same intensity as the Scripps Spelling Bee. And this year's winner is... Conrad Grez! He could recite 209 digits! Congratulations Conrad!
March 14th might come and go with little fanfare at some schools, but not at Franklin School, with Mrs. Rygiel, our Math Club teacher (founder of Math Night) running things. Here's a little background from History.com for those who might not know. March 14 marks Pi Day, an annual celebration of the mathematical sign pi. Founded in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw, March 14 was selected because the numerical date (3.14) represents the first three digits of pi, and it also happens to be Albert Einstein’s birthday. The first Pi Day celebration took place at the Exploratorium (Shaw’s place of work), a San Francisco-based interactive science museum, and featured a circular parade and the eating of fruit pies. It wasn’t until 2009, however, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to formally recognize Pi Day. Why all the fuss about pi? The Ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes is most commonly credited with being the first to accurately calculate the estimated value of pi. Since it is an irrational, transcendental number, it continues on to infinity—the pi-ssibilities are endless! The seemingly never-ending number needs to be abbreviated for problem solving, and the first three digits (3.14) or the fraction 22/7, are commonly accepted as accurate estimations. We use it as an excuse to explore and celebrate anything to do with circles!
Dr. Stetson taught 1-H all about the importance of staying healthy during flu season and the power of good handwashing, which included a fun activity and experiment. Which works better, soap or hand sanitizer? Soap! Thanks Dr. Stetson!
The Roosevelt Intermediate School 8th Grade Band performed for Music in our schools month. We were impressed with their skills and we had fun while singing and clapping along to a few familiar songs! It was great to see many former Franklin All-Stars!
That's a wrap on Willy Wonka Jr.! Cast and crew are celebrating a job well done!
That's a wrap on Willy Wonka Jr.! Cast and crew are celebrating a job well done!
Mic check! Sunday matinee for Willy Wonka Jr. starts at 2:00pm!
Encore!
