Westhampton takes steps toward close-knit school

By Owen Boss

Staff Writer

WESTHAMPTON - In the hopes of maintaining the kind of community atmosphere that is the pride of administrators at Westhampton Elementary School, students and staff came together last week to meet the school's newest members.

As part of the school's ongoing effort to educate its students using the Responsive Classroom format, a curriculum developed by the Northeast Foundation for Children that encourages the development of both academic and social skills through regular meetings, Principal Dean Bates organized the school's first all-school meeting of the year.

"We meet a couple of times a month as a way of sharing the learning that is going on here," Principal Dean Bates said. "We do it so the kids can let other students know what they are learning and to form strong relationships between classes."

The 2010 school year's first all-school meeting provided the opportunity to introduce the school's 150 students to the latest staff additions: first-grade teacher Shelby Marowitz, fifth-grade teacher Sarah Moylan, and John Allen, the school's new custodian.

They also took the opportunity to introduce the school's new crop of kindergarteners, which Bates said is a great way to help get them connected to other students.

"We go beyond introducing the students. If they have family members in the building we point out how they are connected to their brothers, sisters and cousins," Bates said. "It's a great way to make them feel welcome."

Following the welcome, Bates said students reviwed basic pedestrian and bicycle safety rules and administrators explained how students can help make sure paper and plastic recyclables are properly disposed of while they're on school grounds.

EHS Open House

At this year's open house at Easthampton High School, parents will get a glimpse of the school's academic goals for the future.

Parents are invited to gather in the high school's auditorium at 6 p.m. on Monday for two presentations showcasing accomplishments over the last few years and some new tools that will help administrators reach their goals for the future.

Assistant Principal Anne Beauregard said the open house will begin with a half-hour presentation outlining last year's Mass Math and Science Initiative results, which local students scored exceptionally well on.

"We are going to show them how our scores in math and science have been steadily improving," Beauregard said.

Parents will be introduced to the new "parent portal," an optional online resource that will allow them to track their student's attendance and performance through the course of the school year.

"Parents will now be able to access their children's grades right online and we expect that to be very helpful and beneficial for our students," Beauregard said.

The next hour will be devoted to letting parents walk through a typical school day, meeting teachers and getting an overview of each class.

Owen Boss can be reached at oboss@gazettenet.com.