Welcome to Westhill Elementary School, home of the Mustangs! We take pride in our school community and are committed to our motto: Westhill Mustangs are Kind, Courteous, and Courageous.
We believe education is a fundamental right for all children and we strive to meet the many needs of our diverse population. Academic and creative potential is fostered at each grade level in a manner that challenges students to work hard, communicate effectively, solve problems, and think creatively. To accomplish our goals, the teaching staff strategically works together to support the various learning styles and needs of our students. To help students maximize their learning they need a safe and supportive environment so we also place an emphasis on positive character development and responsible behavior. We value kindness and civility and the courage it takes to stand up for those values.
Our Westhill staff is a dedicated group of educators who continually focuses on what is best for our children and genuinely cares about each child's academic and social well being. We value a strong partnership with parents and our community and know that our success depends on all of us working together for children. Over the past five years we have been committed to helping every child become an active reader with great success. This year we continue our focus in reading while also committing ourselves to helping students gain stronger math skills. With the new math standards released from the State Office of Public Instruction as our guide, we have recently realigned our curriculum and instructional practices to better meet the needs of students.
Each child's educational program is enriched by classes with our skilled and talented specialists at Westhill. Our librarian has a passion for books and skillfully inspires a love of literature with our children. In addition, he is committed to helping students understand the world of technology and information literacy preparing them for a world where information is just a "click" away. Our music specialists teach children skills and an appreciation of the arts as they learn to perform and create. Our evening music performances are some of the highest attended events at our school each year. The physical education specialist is dedicated to helping students become physically active through exercise, games, and personal skill building. Balancing academic, physical, and creative learning allows our students to develop all their strengths.
Westhill is a warm, friendly community where parents feel welcome in our school and spend countless hours volunteering in classrooms or supporting fun family events. It is a pleasure to work and learn in such a supportive community.
Your comments, questions and suggestions are important and always welcome. Please feel free to contact us at 425-408-5500.
Anne Cullum
Westhill Principal |
|
|
|
At Westhill we believe that all students can achieve at high levels. To make this happen we must work together in effective teams focused on knowing the learning needs of our students and providing the most effective instructional practices. As a staff we have designated time to work together to maximize our strengths and knowledge and to help each other grow and learn. Through our work in professional learning communities we ensure that students at every grade level benefit from the experience and skills of the entire team.
In alignment with the District and Board goals, our School Improvement Plan is focused on helping all Westhill students master essential grade-level skills in Reading and Math. Our goals include helping our staff learn how to become skillful and effective professional learning communities, as well as gain the necessary skills in Assessment Literacy.
Reading
To support our work in helping all students master grade-level standards in reading, we plan to utilize the common district assessments as measures of how our students are doing and as a guide to the types of instruction they will need to master grade-level work or to increase rigor, so all students grow. Instructionally, we are working to continue building our skills in creating opportunities for students to practice various reading strategies in appropriate independent texts while providing coaching through individual conferences or small group instruction. Like any skill, success comes from continued practice and skillful feedback.
Math
To support our work in helping students master grade-level standards in math, we are implementing a new math curriculum along with common district assessments to measure student success and as a guide for on-going instruction. Our professional development in this area includes increasing our own math content knowledge and instructional skills as well as discovering math practices that are most effective in helping students learn and apply mathematical knowledge.
Each year, we analyze state, district, and building assessment data to create our School Improvement Plan. Our plan outlines the strategies we will implement to reach our school learning goals. Non-student days provide opportunities for school-wide curricular planning as well as time for grade level collaboration and training. On-going staff development in both instructional strategies and assessment literacy will be guided by the needs of our professional learning communities. |
|
We hope all students have opportunities to join with peers in the sports, activities, or hobbies that they enjoy. At school, we offer the following clubs and activities to help our students develop their passions, enjoy the company of others, or develop their leadership and community potential.
We believe that group and community involvement by students now, will lead to community involvement and civic leadership as adults. The following list highlights several of our current student activities: Library Helpers, Student Safety Patrol, Student Council, Math Olympiad Teams, Student Gardening Club, Book Clubs, Intramurals at noon, Tech Team, Junior Buddies, Spirit Days, Band & Orchestra, and Elementary Sports. |
|
We invite parents and community members to become involved with Westhill classrooms and our school programs. While a list of current opportunities is shown below, we also welcome new ideas or services as they are offered.
- Joining our PTSA
- Assisting with Guided Reading groups
- Serving as classroom, health room, and library volunteers
- Assisting with our noontime intramural programs and recess supervisors
- Attending your child's parent/teacher conference
- Assisting with classroom and extended learning activities, e.g., Art Docents
- Helping coordinate After-School Enrichment Programs
- Assisting with Track and Cross Country
- Assisting 5th and 6th grade Math Olympiad Teams
- Serving on our Emergency Preparedness Committee
However you choose to be involved, we invite you to be an active part of your child's school. We believe you will find the experience rewarding and want you to know that your efforts will be appreciated by the staff and students at Westhill. |
|
Westhill's PTSA is dedicated to providing enrichment activities and programs for all students enrolled in our school and their families. Our PTSA works with the administration, teachers, and other staff to support student achievement, creativity and success.
PSTA-sponsored events include an all-school welcome-back event, bingo night, movie night, talent show, and an art gala event in the spring. We provide volunteers for the breakfast, art docent, and library docent programs. Our social services committee organizes coat, toy, or food drives for local charitable organizations. Our Safety committee ensures that each child has adequate emergency supplies in the event of an emergency and provides parent education materials about keeping safe. The school directory, which is compiled and updated by the PTSA each school year, is available to all students. The staff appreciation committee showers the staff with treats and luncheons throughout the year to show how thankful we are for their efforts on behalf of our students. Through our reflections program, students have the opportunity to express their creativity in a variety of media. We sponsor a used book drive and book fair to benefit the library. We have a school spirit program where students and parents have the opportunity to buy school logo t-shirts and sweatshirts.
Our successful fundraisers have allowed the PTSA to provide the school with various assemblies, artist-in- residence programs, and science programs, as well as the many fun family activities throughout the year.
Our PTSA has room for everyone. There are many ways to support our school's PTSA efforts through your involvement and we welcome every person in our community to join our efforts. |
|
Westhill Elementary School opened its doors for fulltime use on January 7, 1960, and has been an integral part of the Bothell community ever since. Our most recent building remodel was completed in 1994.
Westhill currently has an office wing housing our main office, nurse's office, staff work room, storage area, and lounge. Another wing houses our music room, computer lab, gym, kitchen facilities and custodial area. We have two classroom wings separated primarily into a Primary Wing and an Intermediate Wing. As our population grew we added five portables that are currently still in place.
Westhill students, local sports organizations, and various community groups enjoy our spacious playfield and playground area, along with our gym. PTA donations have supported playground enhancements that provide additional areas for student play and recreation. Through local Technology Levies, all classrooms have been retrofitted with updated technologies for instruction and student use. This link to the most current technologies has been vital to our goal of preparing our students for success in the 21st Century. |
|
2009 WASL Scores
|
April 2009
|
Students
|
Reading
|
Writing
|
Math
|
Science
|
|
3rd Grade
|
64
|
86.2
|
|
83.1
|
|
|
4th Grade
|
58
|
85.7
|
77.2
|
73.2
|
|
|
5th Grade
|
63
|
84.1
|
|
71.4
|
65.1
|
6th Grade
|
79
|
83.3
|
|
63.3
|
|
|
|
|
|
October 2008
|
.5K
|
K
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
6th
|
Total
|
|
American Indian or Native Alaskan
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
7
|
Asian
|
2
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
2
|
7
|
5
|
6
|
38
|
Black or African American
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
13
|
Hispanic or Latino
|
8
|
1
|
5
|
9
|
15
|
2
|
3
|
9
|
52
|
Caucasian or White
|
22
|
14
|
40
|
35
|
41
|
37
|
48
|
55
|
293
|
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
1
|
Multiracial
|
1
|
1
|
6
|
9
|
2
|
8
|
3
|
3
|
33
|
Not Provided
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
TOTAL
|
36
|
22
|
59
|
63
|
67
|
57
|
62
|
79
|
446
|
|
|
 |
|
