Monthly Buzz


Welcome to January at Licking Heights West. While some may say that January is the beginning of the “long” part of the school year because we do not have any big breaks until Spring Break, I view January as a month without interruptions. We are always focused on student achievement and we continue to plan for the future.
 
West is continuously looking at our students and determining who is struggling and needs additional supports and who is pulling away from the pack and how we supplement their needs as well. This is the time of the year when we begin meeting with the parents of our incoming kindergarten class for the following year to discuss how we can transition them into West as successfully as possible. We have lots of meetings with parents and teachers to discuss what interventions we can put into place to help our kids meet the goals of the curriculum.
 
We have opened our phone lines for kindergarten registration for the 2012-2013 school year. If you have a child or know someone who has a child that will be five years old by August 1st, call the office (614)864-9089 to schedule a screening time in April. We will mail a registration packet to you. You can either bring the packet back into the school when you have completed filling it out, or you can bring it with you when you come to the screening with your child. The screening process only takes 15-20 minutes on average.
 
The addition of our new wing – the purple hallway - is well underway. The roof is on and the windows are in, allowing the workers to work throughout the winter months in preparation for our August opening in 2012. If you have not yet heard, we are excited to announce the district’s intentions to bring the second grade class to West for next school year. This will be an addition of nearly 300 students for a grand total of approximately 875 students. While this addition provides some challenges, it ultimately gives us another year with our students to work on academic and social-emotional growth. We are excited about the thought of having more team members (2nd grade teachers) and the experiences /expertise that they will bring. Stay tuned for more updates with this configuration in the months to come.
 
Have a safe and warm January; a perfect month to drink some hot chocolate and curl up with some good books!
 
 
Mr. Hempleman
Principal