Welcome back to a new school year! I am so excited to walk

through this journey with you all as we continue to build

responsibility, faith, and confidence across all areas within the

school. Within this guide, you will find information about the

curriculum, expectations, technology, homework, contact info,

supplies, specials, and schedules. I understand this will be a

good amount of information, but please know, if you have any

questions, thoughts, or concerns, do not hesitate to contact me

via email I have provided.

Dear Parents andStudents:

I come from a large, Catholic family and I am one of 5 children.I was born in Kalamazoo and lived in Paw Paw for 5 yearsbefore moving to the Caledonia area when my dad was

transferred to the Wayland Michigan State Police post. Upongraduating from Wayland High School, I attended Grand

Rapids Community College for two years and then transferredto Western Michigan University to obtain a K-12 Art Education

degree. I have since acquired an Elementary Endorsementfrom Grand Valley State University.

I have always wanted to teach and when I started college, Iwas planning on going to school to teach Math. Taking a

couple of drawing classes at GRCC made me fall in love withthe history and the hands-on creativity and I switched gears to

Art. After graduation from WMU, I did some subbing in localdistricts and in 2010 I was hired at Jenison Public Schools

working as a preschool aide and the Before and After Schoolsupervisor of one of their elementary schools. In 2011, I wasgiven the opportunity to pilot a Preschool Art program and I

did that until I came to St. Therese to teach Art in 2014. In2016, I began teaching Young Fives and Kindergarten here atSt. Therese. I very much enjoy teaching all subjects and I love

being able to instill creativity into the classroom.

An introduction guide for Mrs. Westervelt's Wonders and their families

Welcome St. Therese4th and 5th Grade

Students!

About Mrs. Westervelt

My husband Jake and I have been married just over ten yearsand we have two children – Callista and Daniel. As a family, welove to hang out with our friends, be outside enjoying walks,

swim, play golf, listen to music and have campfires. We’veenjoyed several road trips and we look forward to many more.

I also have a goal to show Jake some of the places I havetravelled to abroad! I love learning about new places all overthe world and their cultures and I always strive to bring that

passion into the classroom for all of my students.

Over the course of the year, your child will learn an array of

materials through technology, traditional paper and pencil,

independent and group work, and hands-on projects. We will

use Big Ideas for Math, TCI for Science, MI Open Book for

Social Studies, Disciple of Christ: An Education in Virtues as

well as The Faith and Life Series for Theology and we are

thrilled to introduce our new ELA program: Amplify CKLA.

Amplify provides lessons that build writing and reading skills

and confidence with the help of cross-curricular materials.

Curriculum

TechnologyStudents in our classroom will primarily use Chromebooks. Each student will be

assigned to their own Chromebook. We will take the first couple of weeks at school

to set up our Chromebooks, get familiar with new programs, obtain username and

password information, and help determine the rules and expectations of using their

device. Together, we will create a Technology Contract that students will bring home

to review with their families and sign. Students will use their new Chromebooks to

read materials and complete assignments for ELA, Science, and Social Studies,

continue building their typing skills, build responsibility, create slideshows and videos,

edit photos, and much more. **Individual headphones are HIGHLY

recommended as our supply at school is very limited. Please send in a pair

that your child is comfortable with as soon as possible. They may be corded or

Bluetooth. If you need any suggestions on decent, reasonably priced

headphones, please feel free to ask.**

Homework

Classwork and HomeworkExpectations and Responsibility

Agendas

Absenses and Make-Up Work

If your child will miss any school due to illness, please make sure to contact the school office

at (269) 792-2016 and schoolwork will be provided to make up when they return to school. If

you would like the school work the day your child is out, please let the office or myself know as

soon as you can and I will get supplies together to be picked up at the end of the school day. I

will list the due date on the work. *We ask that only parents and guardians call to inform us of

an absence and to arrange homework pickup.*

In the event your child will need to quarantine for an extended period, please allow for a

whole day after notifying the school for me to get supplies together. Together, we can work

out a plan for additional services you need from me (phone call, ZOOM etc.)

If your child is going to miss any school because of a trip, work will ONLY be provided to them

when they return to school. Students will be given a number of days to complete work based

on how many days they are out of school. (ex: if they are absent 5 days, students will have the

five days after they return to complete work.)

As a school, we will be implementing “Alternative Homework." Each family will be providedwith a Bingo-style board at the beginning of each month and it is expected to be completed by

the last day of the month. While this is not traditional, after several hours studying thepositive effects that come with it, we feel that it is extremely beneficial for providing

opportunities to spend more time together when life gets busy while still completing tasksthat will build knowledge and skills across all content areas as well as life skills.

With that said, please understand in our classroom, as our students are building moreinvolved skills academically, and preparing for middle school and added responsibility,

students will still have occasional traditional homework. Traditional homework your child maybring home would most likely be: classwork that is unfinished, spelling lists, additional reading

materials or reading that was not completed in class or occasional projects. You will findboxes within the monthly "Alternative Homework" board that you can check off for

completion of some traditional homework that is brought home.

One of the main goals for the students in our classroom is to build responsibility - atschool and at home - academically, socially and emotionally. It is my hope that

students will build a solid foundation of being responsible for when they move on tomiddle school and beyond - as a student, friend, peer, sibling, son or daughter, citizen

and more.

As we begin the year, within the first few weeks, students will have a better handle onwhat is expected when it comes to being responsible after completing severalindependent and group tasks. As the year progresses, the responsibilities and

expectations on how we work in class and at home on our school work will be wellknown and displayed for students and families to see and refer back to.

Students will be provided with their own agenda and will beresponsible for filling it out daily and bringing it home to be

signed by a parent. Throughout the year, we will discovertools to successfully use an agenda to stay organized withupcoming events and due dates as well as provide parentswith a glimpse into our day and the work we’ve done and

topics we have covered. Students need to return theagenda to school every day.

Snacks, Water Bottles andBirthday Treats

Specials

Contact Information

Class Updates

Each day, students will have an opportunity to eat a morning snack if they would like. Snacks

will not be provided, and students are responsible for packing their own snack from home

daily. I ask that you encourage your child to choose a snack that is healthy (no candy, cookies,

brownies etc.)

Please send your child to school with their own water bottle every day – whether reusable or

plastic. We will have a limited number of water bottles available for use until we receive our

refillable water station, but it is easier for students to bring their own and it also saves on time

when students don’t have to go downstairs and get a new water bottle.

If you would like to send birthday treats for your child’s birthday, you are more than welcome! I

ask that you send them on the day or as close as you can if their birthday falls on a day there

is no school. If your child’s birthday falls in the summer and they would like to bring a treat, we

can plan a time during the last couple weeks of school.

Students will have two gym sessions per week with Mr.

Kingshott, one art session per week with Mrs. Corcoran

and one music session per week with Mr. Truswell. We are

currently working on possibly getting an additional music

session with the help of Father Evelio and Rick Wykoski.

cwestervelt@sttcatholicschool.org

St Therese Catholic School recognizes that electronic mail (email) is

a fast and convenient way for one to send messages, but fast is not

always good when it comes to discussing education. It is our

practice to respond to parent communication as quickly as possible,

but it is also understood that communication during instructional

time is impossible due to the focus on teaching and learning. It is

our policy to answer all correspondence by the end of the following

work day.

I will post any updates or pictures for our classroom on our

class page:

https://sttcatholicschool.org/fourth-and-fifth-grade

A reminder will be sent via text through FACTS when new

information is posted.