Dear Westdale Families,

CONGRATULATIONS on all of your successes this past semester! As a Principal I often reflect on my practice and think of ways to improve. I value feedback and I value you! Please do not hesitate to share with me ways that we can improve Westdale! I am here to work together with staff, students and families. My goal is to live my commitment statements so that I can role model living a life of purpose and meaning.

As a Principal, I am grateful to be in a position that allows me to support our students so that they become better people and promote human-kindness. I have often stated it and I have often shouted it out: Westdale Staff and Students are the best! You truly are! Being a reflective practitioner, I think of all the great things that our staff and students do to
promote student success. We have so many devoted teachers who offer their lunch time and after school time either to coach students or to provide extra help. Please take advantage of the many supports we have in place. We are here for you!

There is new legislation around safe schools. The administration will be reviewing safe school policies and procedures not only to inform students but also to best provide students with the knowledge of better decision and choice-making. Please make sure that you make every attempt to attend the safe school assemblies scheduled for February 10th, 2010.

We have new teachers joining our school this semester. We would like to welcome Mr. David M. Christie, Mr. Kevin Tearle and Ms. Sarie Nichol into the Science department; Mr. Nelson Ho and Ms. Samantha Shaw to the Math department; Ms. Lindsay Salvador, Mr. Stuart Marshall, Mrs. Colleen Francisi and Mr. David George to the English department; Mr. Weare to the French Immersion department; Ms. Dawn Cronie to the Phys Ed department; and Mr. Joseph
Simeon to the History and Business department. I know that they are the perfect fit to our already perfect school! We look forward to growing and learning together with our new family members.

We ask that you please visit our school calendar found on the website so that you can be informed of all our upcoming events and important dates. For example, April 8th, 2010 is our OSSLT day for all grade 10 students and for students who are re-writing the literacy test. It is imperative that all students who are required to write the test be prepared. Please read the important information about preparing our students for the Literacy test.

We also ask families to please review our exam policy. We do not extend or allow students to write exams early unless they fall under the exam policy guidelines. Please look in the student agenda for the exam policy or other policies or feel free to call the school (905-522-1387).
Our goal is to provide families and students with the best possible structure to support student achievement.

THANK YOU for a great semester and we look forward to a great semester two!!!

Dear Westdale Families,

I hope and trust that this newsletter finds you well. This has been a great start to what promises to be another EXCITING YEAR for Westdale students and staff! WE ARE THRILLED!

Thank you to the number of parents who come and join us for School Council and Home and School, on the first Monday of every month! I want to publicly acknowledge my gratitude to our WONDERFUL chairs, Ms. Jane Walker (School Council) and Ms. Libby Cook (Home and School) for their leadership and commitment to strengthening parental involvement in our school community! We welcome all parents to join us!

Our teachers are working diligently on creating SMART goals to best support your child’s learning. They first create pre-assessments to determine where the student is in terms of skills and prior knowledge before the unit is taught. For students who are not at the provincial average of level 3 or higher, the teacher devises effective teaching strategies that
best support those students to reach provincial average. The post – assessments allow a teacher to see the effects of those chosen teaching strategies. PLEASE connect regularly with your child’s teachers to discuss your child’s progress.
Our teachers value parental involvement and we know that you know your child best, so please help us help you!
Please come to our Parent Teacher interview night, beginning 4:30 pm until 6:30 pm Thursday, October 29th. Please have your child(ren) approach their teachers to sign the Appointment Request Form, a week prior to the interview date. This form will be brought home by your child(ren). The teachers will communicate via the form what room they are in and what time your interview is. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ATTEND so that we can best help our students achieve their potential while time is on our side!

Please mark your calendars and come to our school MUSICAL and the Winter Concert this December! These tickets will make great HOLIDAY GIFTS!!! Our students are excited to show you their talent! Please come and support music and the arts!

ALSO, please check our website site for all our athletic events…we are city champions and will continue to strive for greatness this year…your support would be appreciated! Congratulations to our midget boys’ soccer champions! You ROCK!!

We also want to welcome our NEW DIRECTOR, Mr. John Malloy to the Westdale community. Mr. Malloy comes to us with a wealth of information and is working hard to make HWDSB the BEST BOARD in the province. We are lucky to have his leadership and passion!

If you have any questions or concerns of how we can best help you and support your child, please connect with me at em.delsordo@hwdsb.on.ca. I am here to serve you and your child!

Dear Westdale Families,
What a fantastic year 2008-2009 has been for Westdale!!! I am amazed at how phenomenal our students are. Our Warriors are exceptional and you must be ecstatic to be their parents/guardians; I am ecstatic to be their Principal!!! All too often, we hear that the youth of today are not as we would wish them to be…I argue that today’s youth are, in fact, well-equipped to deal with life’s journey! I am very proud of them and their
successes.
Our Westdale teaching staff is committed to support ALL students. We design SMART goals to close the achievement gaps that exist between students and between classes. Our teachers conduct pre-assessment tasks at the beginning of the semester to measure where
the students are, what prior learning they bring to the unit of study, and by what means they learn best. We encourage you, as parents, to communicate with your child’s teachers so that we can learn from you how to best serve your child. We are thrilled to continue
guiding your children to become global and responsible citizens. Please visit our website for a detailed School Improvement Plan and to see how
different departments are meeting their goals to improve achievement of our kids! I am proud of our staff; they are committed, passionate, kind, supportive and nurturing. Please work with them to support your child!
One needs only to review the many successes our school has had this year to best understand the love in this school. From many athletic city championships, to national music recognition and finally to the applause of many provincial drama festivals, our
Westdale Warriors do well. As a principal, I always want to celebrate ALL of our kids so I host a ―Big Daddy D’s Pizza Party‖ for our student champions. Be it the OFSSA Track and Field/Cross-country Girls’ team, our Math contest winners or the Reach For the Top
Student trivia team…we celebrate all students to live their passion and reach their potential. In fact, that is an indicator of success as outlined in my commitment statements
that I mailed to you this past summer. Please visit the website for a copy of my commitment statements to the school community at large. I use those statements to guide me in my daily behaviours, actions and decision-making. I would appreciate any
feedback you can offer me to better my practice and to build a meaningful relationship with all of you!
Please email me (em.delsordo@hwdsb.on.ca) to inform me of what we need to better
serve the school community.
We would like to congratulate and say good-bye to Mr. Jeff Moore, Vice Principal. Mr. Moore has asked the Board to move him to the inner city as he wishes to learn from the teaching staff and students at Parkview. It is with such sadness that we say good-bye to Mr. Moore but we know that the world will be in better hands because of his passion for
the inner city students and their families. Good-bye Mr. Moore…you created such a great place at Westdale that your inner warrior will continue to be GREEN and GOLD!
At the same time we would like to say Welcome and hello to Mr. Jeff Thomas, Vice- Principal from Sir Winston Churchill. Mr. Thomas has been in administration for the past 7 years. He is eligible to be a Principal with our District School Board of Education and he comes to Westdale with a number of skills that will assist us in moving the school
forward. Please come by and meet with Mr. Thomas as he will be guiding students with the alpha beginning with A to L. He has a wicked sense of humour so please ask him to say something funny!!
We wish to welcome to our staff Ms. Marcy Adachi (Alter Ed and French), Ms. Sarah Lindner (Science and Phys. Ed.), Ms. Delora Skelton (English, Business and Family Studies), Ms. Yolanda DiGiacinto (Spanish and Special Needs) and Mr. Carm Iachelli (on exchange from Ancaster High School for Drama and English). Please send a warm welcome to these teachers as they have come to join the Westdale teaching family!
Our School Council has decided to have our elections on September 14th at 7 pm in room 123. Please use the nomination form enclosed in the summer letter (mailed in August) and please come and participate in our School Council. Meetings are usually held on the first Monday of the month from 7 pm until 9 pm in Room 123. Our Home and School Association is equally proud to be part of our school as we are; in fact, we are the only HWDSB high school to have such a dynamic and proactive Home and School Association. We meet with School Council and share the agenda. Please connect with the school for more information! Parents please join us on September 22, 2009 at 6:30 pm for Meet the Teacher Night. At this event, please make every effort to introduce yourself to your child’s teachers so that you can collaborate on how to best communicate and work to support your child. Our teachers are the best and they are here to help!
Also, please mark your calendars with our important dates to remember. These dates will help you balance your family commitments with the school supports. I also encourage you to please purchase a school agenda for your child so that you have all the pertinent school information that you need to support your child.
Our attendance policy is making quite the culture change in the school. If you have concerns about your child’s attendance or punctuality, please meet with his/her teachers to speak about the many strategies they have in place to support student attendance and punctuality. A gentle reminder: please call in all of your child’s absences to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Margo Dobie at extension 227.
We bid a final good-bye to Dr. Chris Spence and his OUTSTANDING leadership as Director of Education. Dr. Spence has left an influential mark on HWDSB and we are fortunate to have worked with him for the benefit of our kids. We know that he will continue to change the world!
And so we would like to welcome Mr. John Malloy our NEW Director of Education! Mr. Malloy’s skills and passions will greatly assist in moving HWDSB to our preferred future! I look forward to showing him around Westdale and having him meet ALL of our kids and our staff! I know that he will be impressed by this school and school community!
THANK YOU ALL FOR A GREAT YEAR!!!!!!

Dear Westdale Families,

What a fantastic year it has been! We have collected more championships in this semester to add to our athletic accolades. Congratulations to the Jr. and Sr. Girls’ Waterpolo teams for their silver and gold medals! Congratulations also go to our Badminton team for their OUTSTANDING season. Our Boys’ Hockey team are CITY CHAMPIONS AGAIN!!! Our athletic coaches need to be highly commended for their passion, skills and time in supporting our young athletes.

Congratulations also to our DRAMA students for their outstanding performance of the student-written play, “Enter Alice”. I had an opportunity to go to the Sears Drama Festival to support our kids and I was incredibly impressed by the sophisticated script and staging of this student piece. As a former drama educator myself, I know the amount of time and energy needed to mount a show and advance to the Southern Provincial Competition. MANY thanks to the Cast and Crew and teacher advisor for all their work and passion!

As a school, we are thrilled to also have tremendous academic success. Currently the administration is meeting with all departments to review and monitor the SMART goal cycle and the Teaching Learning Cycle. The SMART goal cycle looks at data that suggests at what level of learning students are performing and what we can, as a teaching profession, do differently in order to support all learners in the class. We look to research-based pedagogy to support our SMART goals and we look at monitoring what we do to measure the success of all learners. In this way,
today’s learning classroom looks VERY different from what it was when we were in school and it also prepares our students for the future. Our Teaching Learning Cycle looks at where students are prior to the teaching of a unit and it allows teachers to work as a team to monitor students’ learning so that we can structure lessons to enable all students to achieve the provincial standard of the Overall Curriculum Expectations. I need to publicly state that our teachers are working tirelessly to advance student learning. Our teachers are linking curriculum expectations to their daily lessons; designing and implementing pre- and postassessment
tasks to monitor prior knowledge, and structure lessons that support all
students with the Ministry Overall Expectations. Our teachers need to be applauded for their professionalism, passion and talent in doing what is in the best interest of our students.

Please communicate with all your child’s teachers and have them
share with you how they plan to support your child. We believe that ParentalInvolvement is so important in the teaching and learning cycle, that we welcome whatever you can do and share with us to best support your child. We believe in working together as a team and we know that you know your child best. Please work with our staff in order to best support your child.

Please review our School Improvement Plan which can be found online
and please review the Ministry curriculum expectations so that together we can support your child. We are looking forward to another great semester!

E. Del Sordo, Principal

Dear Westdale Families:

What a wonderful start to a promising second semester! We are thrilled at Westdale to be highlighting some of our great accomplishments thus far. Our academic data reveals that we have had a HIGH majority of our students achieving their full credits and are on track!

CONGRATULATIONS students for your great accomplishments and WELL DONE staff for your phenomenal work in preparing our students to meet and excel with the provincial expectations! I invite all families to please visit our SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIP) and our Departmental SMART goals so that you can give your input into best serving
your child’s needs. We are a community school and we appreciate any support that thehome can provide us.

Thank you to Mrs. Melnick for her terrific work with our website. Please let us know if we are missing anything on our website that could support your needs in communicating our school’s work!
I am also excited to announce that we are CITY champs again! Well done to our BOYS’ Hockey team and to our talented and devoted coaches, Mr. B. Bukvic and Mr. M. Flynn!

We are equally thrilled to congratulate our MOST TALENTED MUSIC bands for their NATIONAL INVITATIONAL and WINS …again! Thank you to our music teachers Mr. J. Abell and Ms. C. Hill for their passion and expertise in leading our school’s music department to a NATIONAL spotlight! We are excited to state that Westdale has many
clubs and teams that support all students.

Thank you to our student President, Mr. Patrick Whelan, for his outstanding leadership in governing TRIUNE, our student government.
Please see our website for all the exciting clubs and activities offered at WESTDALE!

Thank you also to our Home and School and School Council for all their parental involvement and support. Please come join us as we meet the first Monday of every month!

Some important dates for all of us to remember and mark on our calendars; the Ministry OSSLT is scheduled for all grade 10 to write on April 2 in the morning. On April 2, we will be running ALL classes in the afternoon, with the opportunity to support all students in the morning. We will be offering one on one support for any student who is struggling to meet curriculum expectations. These students can come during the morning, while the grade 10s write the literacy test and meet with teachers for EXTRA support. We are also offering credit rescue opportunities for students whose preliminary report card suggests that they are
falling behind. Please meet with your teacher to best organize your time and work.

We also want parents to take complete advantage with our Parent/Teacher interviews on March 26th from 4:30-6:30 pm. Please schedule an appointment via your child with their teachers!

Also please come join Home and School and School Council on presenting a FACEBOOK seminar on how to protect your child and family. This will be a free seminar on April 30th at 7pm in the auditorium. PLEASE come and support your family’s privacy!

Congratulations to our Colour Outside the Lines group for providing the school with the opportunity to eliminate homophobia and by providing a POSITIVE SPACE for all students to learn! I am proud of your efforts, values, and passion! Remember human kindness will
change the world!

E. Del Sordo, Principal

Dear Westdale Families:

I am amazed at how phenomenal our students are. Often I am stopped in the hallway by students to chat about the world and politics. They are polite, intelligent and kind human beings; kudos to all of
you to have raised such great kids. We are thrilled to continue to guide your children to becoming global and responsible citizens. Our teaching staff has been working diligently with writing SMART
goals to address our School Improvement Plan (SIP). SMART goals are created by teachers by reviewing student achievement data and looking to improving instructional practices that measure student success. Please meet with your children’s teachers to review their SMART goal in relation to your children’s needs. I am proud of our teaching staff. They are eager and willing to assist all students to meet with success!

I also want to stress that we are proud of our Directions Team for their leadership in the creation of the SIP by facilitating meetings and activities with staff. In this regard, the SIP is written by the staff under
the direction of our co-chairs for the 2008-2009 Directions’ Team; Mr. Graham and Mr. Flynn. I am equally proud of our school’s leadership group, the Cabinet which is made up of department heads and
assistant heads. Their role is to move Westdale to our preferred future. Under the leadership of both Directions and Cabinet, our students are given many opportunities to meet department SMART goals
and student success. Please check the school website www.hwdsb.on.ca/westdale for a copy of our SIP.

Many thanks to Mrs. Melnick for creating an outstanding website. Please visit our website to best inform you of our school’s operations as well as to witness some of the greatness that our students achieve. If there is something missing in our website, please email me: Em.DelSordo@hwdsb.on.ca to inform me of what we need to better serve the school community. We would like to congratulate Mr. Moore, Vice Principal, for being his success in moving ahead to the
“Eligibility to Hire as Principal” list. Mr. Moore has created many successful policies and programs for Westdale and we look forward to his future successes as Principal!

We wish to welcome back Mr. Stepaniuk from a leave with the Canadian National Defence to work in Haiti. Mr. Stepaniuk had kept a journal to share his experience with his Westdale family. Please check
the website for the journal and feel free to connect with him to share your thoughts. We are looking to having Mr. Stepaniuk share his experience with the student body at large. Also welcome to the great
Westdale School Community Mrs. Angelini (Head of Mathematics); Mr. Lewer (Science and Geography); Ms. Cronjaeger (Math); Dr. Milosevic-Hill (Math); Mr. Simeon (Family Studies) and Mr. Kalogiros (Alter Ed and English). Parents, please join us on February 17th at 6:30pm for Meet the
Teacher Night. At this event, please make every effort to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher so that you can collaborate on how to best communicate and work to support your child.

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) for all grade 10s and previously eligible students will be written on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 in the morning. Students in grades 9, 11 and 12
will have a shortened day. We will communicate the final schedule closer to the day. To best prepare for the OSSLT, please have your child see the Librarian, Mrs. Bowman, or Mme Morrison for information about literacy supports that are available. We also have many numeracy supports for
students writing the grade 9 EQAO test and for numeracy in general. Please connect with your child’s teacher and ask how to best support your child’s numeracy skills.

Our attendance policy is making quite the culture change in the school. If you have concerns about your child’s attendance or punctuality, please meet his or her teachers to speak about the many strategies they have in place to support student attendance and punctuality. Also, please call in all your child’s absences to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Dobie, at extension 509.

Lastly, our first cohort of IB students is doing extremely well. We are thrilled to be offering such an extraordinary program for all of the HWDSB. A gentle reminder to IB parents that the geography and French IB exams occur in May. Please connect with your child’s IB teacher for strategies to help support your child. We know that our IB students will make a profound difference in the world. We look forward to reading all about their accomplishments as well as the accomplishments of all our
students.

THANK YOU ALL FOR A GREAT FIRST SEMESTER!!!
E. Del Sordo, Principal

Dear Westdale Families,
I hope and trust that his newsletter finds you well. I want to thank the
number of parents and guardians who have emailed, written a letter or
phoned the school to support our Late and Attendance Policy. We will
continue to support students in making the right choices that sustain a
healthy learning environment for all. Please connect with all teachers so
that together we can maintain a high level of success for our kids.

Please come to our Parent Teacher interview night, beginning 4:30 pm
until 6:30 pm Thursday October 30th. This week, have your child(ren)
approach their teachers to sign the Appointment Request Form. This form
will be brought home by your child(ren). Teachers will communicate via
the form what room they are in and what time your interview is.
Congratulations to our wonderful teaching staff for all their work on
supporting student learning. During our Learning Community and
Professional Activity Days, we gather as a staff to review school data and
create S.M.A.R.T goals to support student achievement. The Westdale
teachers work diligently on reviewing curriculum and identifying essential
learnings so that we can use instructional strategies to best support
students. Please come to Parent Teacher interview night to meet with your
child’s teachers and discuss how to best support your child’s learning.
Our teaching staff are here to collaborate with you in supporting your
child! Ask our teachers to share with you their SMART Goals!

Enclosed in this newsletter will be a QUICK GUIDE for your family.
Inherent within the Quick Guide is information that will help you with
importantdates, parental involvement and Board Policies. Please see our
website for school specific calendar dates. I am proud to announce that we
are the only high school within the district to have an active and dynamic
Home and School Association that works diligently to support all students.
Please come and join the Home and School Association and/or School
Council. We like to thank both the Mr. Jay Keddy, Chair of Home and
School Association and Ms. Robyn Kostyshyn, Chair of School Council
for their leadership, passion and commitment to students. We meet the
first Monday of every month from 7 pm until 9 pm in room 123. We
welcome ALL parents and guardians!

Yours in education,
E. Del Sordo, Principal
Principal

“My Commitment Statements”
Em Del Sordo, Principal of Westdale Secondary School
Created 2007

*            to recruit and retain a highly qualified, motivated and professional staff who are experts in program and program delivery

*            to ensure that staff are provided with professional development opportunities to keep them current in their practice

*            to provide instructional leadership

*            to ensure that there is open and honest communication between and among staff, students, parents, the community and the Hamilton Wentworth District School Board .

*            to be accessible to students, staff and parents.

*            to offer a program that enhances rather than limits student choice and opportunity.

*            to provide specialized programs for students with special needs, interests and abilities

*            to collect and monitor achievement data on a regular basis and to modify the program accordingly

*            to support a wide variety of co and extra- curricular activities that support student interests and needs.

*            to develop and maintain excellent relationships with our other feeder schools to offer the best transition possible to secondary education at Westdale Secondary School.

*            to carefully monitor the academic progress, behaviour and emotional well-being of each student

*            to develop and maintain a code of conduct that ensures a safe and orderly school environment

*            to recognize and celebrate the achievements of the Westdale community

*            to secure and maintain the facilities.  To keep them adequate and appropriate.  To ensure that the pride of the school is reflected in its upkeep and appearance.

*            to role-model for students, staff and community human-kindness, servant leadership and a life of purpose and meaning.