PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE

September 15, 2020

Dear New and Returning West Parish Families, 

Welcome to a New Year at West Parish!  This is a year like none of us have experienced in our lifetimes. I thank you parents, teachers and Gloucester community for coming together and working to meet the academic and social emotional needs of ALL of our West Parish students both those who will come to the building and those who are learning remotely! This last six months showed us that it truly takes a village! I am so proud of the work of our whole community this spring and summer and I look forward to learning and growth we will all experience in the months ahead.

New families, my hope is that you will quickly come to love and become involved in this school community.   When asked, “What makes West Parish special?” invariably the answer is “The People.” The entire West Parish staff (teachers, support staff, cafeteria and custodians) do SO many things above and beyond their job descriptions to support the students and each other.  In addition, we have a tremendously supportive and active parent community who seek out opportunities to enhance student learning and life experiences. The West Parish School community is a truly special place for both children and adults! 

We will continue our PBIS (Positive Behavior Intervention and Support) initiative.  You have already seen one of undertakings with our school expectations video. The purpose statement that guides our school’s approach and actions in teaching behavioral expectations and discipline. “West Parish is a community of life-long learners. We respect and take care of ourselves, others, and the environment. We strive to do our best in all that we do.”  We have developed behavioral expectations for 5 common areas of the school; Hallways, Bathrooms, Arrival, Cafeteria (not applicable for fall 2020) and Recess.  During the first weeks of school, teahers will explicitly teach the procedures and expectations of each area to students and staff. Often as adults, we think students know what is expected of them behaviorally and we can be guilty of jumping to discipline and consequences prior to ensuring that we have been clear in teaching what is expected.
 

I am truly thankful for Gloucester DPW, our custodians and Leaman Landscaping for making our school clean and beautiful inside and out! Teachers’ have been in organizing their instructional spaces into warm, welcoming and safe environments for your children.  A special thank you goes to Lois Lane, our school secretary and again our four custodians who have ensured our school looks fabulous and is ready for our students to arrive. As always, West Parish teachers were busy learning this summer and are ready to bring their learning and planning each day to meet the diverse learning needs of all of your children.  

In conclusion, I would like to thank our Parent Teacher Organization & Fifth Grade Committee of 2020 for their work in supporting students and staff. Their support has been essential this fall in preparation for teaching and learning this year. They have supported the purchase of materials for individualized materials, for Art, Music, Physical Education and canvas bags for every student in the school. Our remote learning families received those today! While we cannot have volunteers in the building at this time, we have so many volunteers working with our students and teachers that were I to try and list them all I would definitely miss MANY, therefore thank you EACH for your work it makes West Parish the community we all love!

I am looking forward to a wonderful year, please contact me at any time with ideas, questions or concerns or just to introduce yourself!!

Warmly, 

Dr. Telena Imel

Principal 

PS. If you are in need of specific information, (Transportation, School Lunch, Before School Program, etc.) please check the district Back Together page or the “Back To School” page on the West Parish website September 2020

Welcome to the West Parish Website!  West Parish School is a Kindergarten to Grade 5 school of approximately 360 students and 65 staff members. 

We LOVE our beautiful school!  Thank you to all of our teachers, support staff, parents and district personnel for making the start of the new year a success!  Each year we adjust our arrival and dismissal routines to make them safe and efficient for our community. Please call or e-mail me with recommendations or questions regarding our school routines.