Westside Elementary

Have you enrolled your kids for school next year??? If you're having trouble, please make sure you are signed into Wengage through GOOGLE CHROME on a computer. You can follow this link to get to the parent portal https://ok.wengage.com/Claremore If you need help or have any questions, please call the office at 918-923-4245. Pre-enrollment numbers are used to hire the appropriate number of staff members and create schedules. To ensure we have a full staff, please enroll your children by May 2nd.

We may not have posted our Hero Wall in a while, and due to some technical difficulties its not Wednesday 🤪, but that does not mean our students haven't been filling up that wall! We love seeing this wall so full (and we had to add more space!!!!) because it means our students are working hard in our building. Way to go, Westside students! We are so proud of you! #HeroWallWednesday#CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Mrs. Book's class had a cute little visitor in their classroom! Mr. Book brought in Mrs. Books' favorite hen, Helen! Helen visited the students during their chick hatching unit and proudly showed them how beautiful some of their chicks may grow to be someday 😉 #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Mrs. Sweet's 2nd-grade class had a great time prepping for Easter! They did a Math Egg hunt, experimented with some cookie coloring, and you can't forget the egg coloring fun! They even created their own traps to catch the Easter Bunny! (Talk about sharpening those creative and critical thinking skills 😉) They just missed him but he left them some cute bunnies with books for all that made a trap! Mrs. Sweet said her students did a fantastic job with the planning and creating, but the best part was seeing them join together to problem solve! They also had a blast! Great job, Mrs. Sweet, and class! ❤️ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

The District Teacher of the Year Celebration will be tonight at 5pm. The dessert reception will recognize all our Site Teacher of the Year recipients and announce the 22-23 District Teacher of the Year. You can watch it live ▶https://youtu.be/XYDxRYj85eI. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside proudly introduces another one of our fabulous Kindergarten teachers, Mrs. Sayre Whitaker! Sayre Whitaker has taught at Westside for 12 years. She taught 2 years of 2nd grade, 3 years of 1st grade, and is currently in her 7th year of teaching Kindergarten. She lives in Claremore with her husband Billy, niece Lilly, nephew River, and father-in-law Donald. They have 3 dogs, Buster, Axel, and Rose. She is a graduate of Claremore High School and has a Bachelor's Degree from Northeastern State University in Early Childhood Education. Teaching is her life's ambition and seeing the joy in her student's eyes when they truly understand something they have struggled with makes her heart happy. Favorite Things: God, my husband and family, and my students! 💖 Fun Fact: I love all things Harry Potter! Thank you for sharing with us, Mrs. Whitaker!! Westside is thankful for you!! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #TEACHERFEATURE

First Grade came to school on Monday to some 'egg-citing' stuff! Mrs. Thomason's class had 6 chicks hatch and 9 more are pipped! Students learn a lot about life cycles, nature, and practice responsibility during the chicken hatching process! This unit is a Westside favorite ❤️ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Getting in our last miles on the last day of Running Club!! Super proud of all their hard work!! So many goals were achieved! 🙌🏻 Last Day of Running Club calls for Mr. Phillip with Patsy's Sno Cones! (PS. Look for Patsy's Sno Cones at our Family Fun Night Event on May 6th!)💗 Looking forward to our Field Trip at Wheels and Thrills on May 3! 🛼 ⚡️

Ms. Palmer’s class participates in a postcard exchange every single year. This year was different though. They teamed up with Mrs. Ratcliff! Students typed out their postcards in Ms. Palmer’s class and decorated their cards in art. Mrs. Ratcliff had students draw an Indian blanket flower using their own style! We love this example of how written communication can bring people together! It is also an example of great teamwork! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

It's Raffle Ticket time! Family Fun Night is just around the corner and our students are working hard to sell those raffle tickets! Tickets are $1 each and you can enter to win a few things: ✨$250 Walmart Gift card✨ ✨$250 QuickTrip Gift card✨ ✨Stanley's 7 Cube Freezer✨ Raffles tickets will be sold by students for the top seller contest until May 6th at 9:00 AM, and raffle tickets will also be sold during the Family Fun Night! The winners will be drawn during FFN but YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE PRESENT TO WIN! The students that sell the most also have the chance to win some stuff! PreK-2nd grade top seller will win a new bike! 3rd-5th grade top seller will win a new hoverboard! Thank you all for supporting our students! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #FAMILYFUNNIGHT

Running Club Recognition! 10 Mile 🦶 Peighton Barnes Brayden Schumacher (not pictured) Owen Armstrong Allie Escobar 20 Mile 🦶 Tristin Kara Tania Vazquez Noah Groom (not pictured) Jax Smith Cy Busby (not pictured) 25 Mile 🏅 Grant Butler 90 Mile 🦶 Rivers Ratcliff Finley Faulconer Way to go, guys!! 🙌🏻 LAST DAY of the running club is TODAY!! (Wednesday, April 20th) Keep working towards those goals!! #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside would like to brag about our 2020-2021 district teacher of the year for this teacher feature! Meet Mrs. Andrea Ratcliff! "My name is Andrea Ratcliff. I’ve been teaching since 2006 and moved from my home state Arkansas to Oklahoma in 2017. I teach Art at Westside. I have 2 kids (Ella, 8th & Rivers, 3rd) and am married to Chris, the athletic director at RSU! Go Hillcats! I love good music playing real loud, travel (especially in the mountains), good food (and will travel a long way to get to it), pretty things, to laugh & making others laugh. I love kindnesses, I love life & I’m grateful every single day for it. Favorite Things: big cup Reese’s, Lindor truffles, quality music, good naps, watching others succeed, just LIVING…. Fun Fact: when I was a kid, I used to sneak out into our fields at our farm and lick our cattle’s salt blocks….after the cows had already licked them first. Yummy. " This is so very you and we thank you so much for sharing, Mrs. Ratcliff! We are very thankful for you! ❤ #TEACHERFEATURE #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

On Thursday of last week, Westside had a GROOVY time during our rise and shine, celebrating FOUR FANTASTIC YEARS BEING A GREAT EXPECTATIONS MODEL SCHOOL! Our Pre-K teacher, Mrs. T, said it best "The Great Expectations program is one in which I fully believe is best practices for the education of students. Essentially its premises boil down to giving your best and expecting the best from others and using respect to achieve that goal." It was wonderful to have some special guests and have all of us all together for the assembly! It's always a great day to be a Zebra! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #GREATEXPECTATIONSMODELSCHOOL #4GROOVYYEARSOFGE

Westside would like you to meet Mrs. Denise Classen! Denis Classen is an elementary teacher at Westside. Mrs. Classen was a paraprofessional at Westside for 7 years and has been a teacher for 7 years. Mrs. Classen grew up on a farm in North Dakota and has lived in Oklahoma for 30 years. She has 3 boys that are all graduates of Claremore Schools. Favorite Things: She enjoys reading, working with the youth football/cheer organization, and spending time with her family. Interesting fact: I do not like to wear closed-toe shoes. I only put them on for short periods when it is VERY cold outside but quickly change back into my sandals when I get inside. Thank you for sharing with us, Mrs. Classen! We are proud to have you with us at Westside! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #TEACHERFEATURE

We know you have been waiting and did not forget about our Miles of Change coin drive! With PTO's help, our students brought in an astounding 216 pounds of change! It totaled somewhere around $1,900! WOW. After we finished collecting change, assisted by PTO and some 4th and 5th graders, we laid out 1/4 of a mile worth of change and calculated the amount of change it would take to fill a WHOLE mile. (Our AMAZING students helped with the math!) It took 23,469 coins for 1/4 of a mile and would take around 93, 876 coins to do a full mile! We loved giving our students real-life experiences to connect to their classroom instruction and we can't thank you all enough for donating all these coins! A big thanks to PTO for all their effort in this. We are thankful for all you do at our school! This coin drive is sure to bring miles of change to our school. 😉 It's a day to be a Zebra! *Congratulations to our winning wings..... 3rd and 2nd grade! They nearly tied in weight of coins so both wings will receive a party* #CPSZEBRAPRIDE #MILESOFCHANGE

First grade is hatching some big ideas and chicks!😉 Recently, they used an Ova-scope (pictured below) to look at the fertilized eggs. Mrs. Sanders's class currently has 17 that are moving around, 4 they aren’t sure about, and 2 that are not fertilized. It’s very egg-citing!! 🐣🐤🐥 #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Westside now proudly introduces, Mrs. Hope Vinson! Hope Vinson is a certified PreK-12th Grade Reading Specialist for Claremore Public Schools. Mrs. Vinson has taught for 24 years, 22 years in First Grade, and is currently a Reading Specialist for Westside Elementary. Mrs. Vinson has taught in Texas and Oklahoma. Mrs. Vinson earned her Master's Degree in Reading from the University of Texas of the Permian Basin in 2007 and was awarded Outstanding Graduate in Reading Education. She enjoys reading of all genres, yoga, and spending time with her family. Interesting Fact: I went to the Drummond Ranch and toured the Lodge. I opened every drawer, closet, and refrigerator and explored the pantry. Guess what Ree keeps in the drawer next to the stovetop? Ree keeps hairspray and lipstick, not spatulas and spoons, in the drawer next to the stovetop! Thank you for sharing with us, Mrs. Vinson! We are thankful for you! ❤ #TEACHERFEATURE #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Have you enrolled your kids for school next year??? If you're having trouble, please make sure you are signed into wengage through GOOGLE CHROME on a computer. You can follow this link to get to the parent portal https://ok.wengage.com/Claremore If you need help or have any questions, please call the office. 918-923-4260. Pre-enrollment numbers are used to hire the appropriate number of staff members and create schedules. To ensure we have a full staff, please enroll your children by May 2nd. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

** REMINDER ** CPS will be closed on Friday, April 15th for an extended holiday weekend. We are "egg"cited to spend some extra time with our families. #CPSZEBRAPRIDE

Yesterday was National Paraprofessional appreciation day! Westside would like to thank our paras for all the work they do and the love they show our students. We couldn't do it without them! ❤ #CPSZEBRAPRIDE