February Community Newsletter

Greetings:

Thank you for your patience as HWDSB has navigated a cyber security incident. Through this process, the top priority remains the privacy and security of our students and staff. With this disruption happening at the beginning of semester 2, it has provided our staff with additional opportunities to focus on getting to know students, building community within classes, and setting the conditions for student success. As of today, internet access has been restored at all HWDSB schools while a cyber security investigation continues. HWDSB will continue to keep students and parents updated via Board platforms, including Instagram and Facebook.

Sincerely,

Brian Goodram, Principal

Important Calendar Dates:

Shout Outs / Good News:

Co-Op Career Fair:

Thank you to Ms. Palmieri and Mr. Daschko for their time and leadership in organizing the Co-Op Career Fair in late January. This was an engaging way for students to demonstrate their learning and growth over the semester. Students, staff, and community partners were able to learn of the breath and depth of experiences co-op students were afforded from their respective placements. We are grateful to our community businesses for their ongoing support of our Co-Op program here at Westdale!

OSSLT:

Provincial results of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) were released last month. At Westdale, 86% of first time eligible students were successful on the OSSLT. This is another promising result and testament to the collective efforts of our students, staff, and families. Thank you to our Literacy team, led by Ms. Girolametto, as well as our English department for their work in equipping and supporting our students through this process. As you will see on the graph to the side (sharing Westdale OSSLT scores for the 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 school years), our scores are continuing in a positive trend and exceed the provincial average of 85%.

Other News:

Semester 2 “Re-Set”:

With the beginning of semester 2, we have the opportunity to re-establish expectations that support focused learning and student well-being. As shared in the calendar, we are hosting grade assemblies this week to reiterate expectations to students. At Westdale, we continue to follow the Personal Mobile Device (PMD) procedure:

• Consistent messaging and application of the PMD procedure is important so we are supporting our students and one another with this expectation. Our collective and consistent efforts at the beginning of the semester in promoting focused learning will help support student learning and achievement later on.
• As a staff, we need to model these behaviours ourselves. PVPs, teachers, EAs, and other support staff are asked to continue to demonstrate being off PMD’s and engaged during instructional time and during school events (e.g., assemblies).
• For our Westdale students, they must have their devices stored out of view and powered off (or on silent mode) during instructional time unless permitted by the educator. There are exemptions to this, for example, students who use their PMD as a health/medical support tool.
• We are discouraging “tech breaks” during instructional time as students within one class will likely be connecting with students engaged in learning in other classes.
• As a way to support students with distractions from their PMD, bags are available to staff to use with their classes. Through the process, the educator will ask a student who has needed multiple reminders to get a bag or “pouch” from the teacher, turn off their PMD, place it in the bag, secure it, and store it away for the remainder of the class period.

We appreciate the support of our parents/guardians by reminding students of our expectations and by not contacting students (e.g., texting) during instructional time. Thank you in advance for you ongoing cooperation.

Every Day Counts:

As we begin a new semester, it is a great time for students to reflect on their achievements and set goals for the upcoming term. Regular attendance and punctuality is essential to student success as it provides students with adequate time to learn, connect, and demonstrate their understanding of overall course expectations while developing habits that will support them beyond high school. This semester, we are continuing on with the Day 1 / Day 2 “flip” schedule where periods 1 and 2 will rotate on a daily basis. On Day 1 (odd numbered calendar dates), periods will run in order: P.1-P.2-P.3-P.4-P.5. On Day 2 (even numbered calendar dates) periods will run in the following order: P.2-P.1-P.3-P.4-P.5.

Public Health Immunization Clinic:

On Tuesday February 18th, Hamilton Public Health will be at Westdale for the duration of the school day to provide an immunization clinic for Westdale students. The clinic will occur in the Upper Gym and students will be called down through the PA system by grade and alpha and can visit the clinic, as needed. Students requiring immunizations would have been contacted by Hamilton Public Health (through mail) in early January. The suspension date for non-compliant students is set for March 7th. This is in accordance with the Immunization of School Pupils Act (IPSA).