West
Mission Statement: West K-7 is committed to providing an education of excellence that meets each student’s interests, abilities, and needs within a common curricular framework. We believe all students can learn to communicate effectively, to think critically and creatively, and to solve problems cooperatively. Students will apply academic and social skills to become responsible lifelong learners and to appreciate uniqueness in self and others.
Check out the Holland West K-7 Connections on Facebook and give us a Thumbs Up!
West is proud to announce:
Honor Roll Students from 3rd Quarter
Holland West is a "be nice." school!
Student Learner Profiles
2018-2019 Student Learner Profiles are available in the office or online at hollandpublicschools.org under Our District and then Enrollment and Transfers tab. If you would like to share your child's unique learning style with the building principal prior to the classroom assignments. Please turn in the forms to the West office no later than May 1.
Recess Supervisors
West is looking to hire for both morning and afternoon recess supervisors. The hours are 7:25 am-8:15 am and 10:45 am-12:30 pm. If you are looking to be on the school year schedule with flexible hours please email Miss Rhoda or call Miss Rhoda at 616-494-2420.
April 12 Newsletter
Music Notes 
Upcoming Band, Choir, and Orchestra Concerts:
- May 15- 5th grade Band from all K-7 buildings at 6:30 pm in the West Cafeteria
- May 17- 5th grade Orchestra from all K-7 buildings and 6th/7th grade Orchestra from all K-7 buildings at 7:00 pm in the West Cafeteria
- May 22- West, Jefferson, and HLA 1st and 3rd grade Choir concert at 7:30 pm in Christ Memorial Church
- May 24- 5th grade Choir from all K-7 buildings at 6:30 pm in the West Cafeteria
West Walk-A-Thon
Let’s start thinking spring weather, walk-a- thon, and Holland West K-7!
That’s right, our major fundraiser known as the 1st Annual Walk-A-Thon Take a Walk on the West Side is happening right now! The walk-a- thon event occurs May 18, 2018. To help us reach our fundraising goals by that date, please consider following the brief instructions below to register your child/children for participation in the online donation system called The Get Movin’ Crew©. Information was sent home Thursday just before spring break describing the fundraiser and information on how to get started gathering online donations with parent help! Here’s a recap how!
- Create Parent Login at the Get Movin' Crew website. You will receive an email from The Get Movin’ Crew© that contains your created account information
- Register Your Child -Once your login is created, your dashboard will appear and you need to click on Add Student (red tab upper right-hand corner). This takes you to a Student Registration page where you register your child that attends Holland West K-7. You can then come back to your parent dashboard to add your other children if you have more than one to register. Complete the Student Information and Profile Information sections for each child, then click “Add”.
- Share with others- Share this fundraiser via Facebook or other social media by clicking on the blue tab on the student webpage where Twitter, Facebook and Email are suggested. Add a photo to their webpage at anytime by editing (pencil icon)
CURRENT LEADERS: (Incentives for top leaders!!)
- Classroom with most students registered: Mr. Elenbaas
- TOP Grade with most donations $: 4th Grade
- TOP Classroom with most donations $: 1st place: Elenbaas; 2nd place: Shearer; 3rd place: Shears
Thank you to those who are participating online, and/or gathering cash/check donations as well! Any questions or for more information, contact Walk-A- Thon chairs: email Missy Klinge or email Kim House
STAR* Reading Tips
Tip: Decode multisyllable words.
Here’s how: Cut the words into syllable puzzle pieces. Write the number of the set on the back. Ask your child to piece together the three words.
*Information taken from Renaissance LearningTM At-Home Reading Activities PDF
What’s Happening at West
Two District Art Award Winners are from West. They are 5th grade student Jesse Barlow and 7th grade student Grayson Sanders. Their art is being sent off for professional mat and framing, and will hang in the conference room at the HPS Administration building for the following school year. The Art will then be returned to the students for hanging in their own homes. At the school board meeting on April 23rd, the DA awards will be presented to the winners.
Before Spring Break the 3rd graders went on a field trip to DeGraaf Nature Center, and learned about pioneer living. Students were able to grind corn and measure ingredients to make cornbread over an open fire. They also learned how to card wool, make pegs/nails and saw wood.
6th grade students Mya Dailey, Lilly Mendels, Austin House, and Hayden Witters are going to state for a STEM competition and possible win! Their E-Cyber Mission Team (the Panthers) project is The HabiDesk (plastic desk)
March 29 Newsletter
Lost and Found
Lost and Found will be donated during Spring Break. Make sure to check with your student to see if they are missing any items.
West Walk-A-Thon
Last week was the kick off for the 1st Annual West walk-a- thon fundraising event! Information was sent home last Thursday describing the fundraiser and information on how to get started gathering online donations with parent help! Remember, Holland West K-7 understands that promoting health and wellness is more important than ever, therefore this walk-a- thon will be a major fundraiser this spring! We have until May 18 to make this successful for the students, teachers and Holland West K-7! Get started today!
Parents: All it takes is a few minutes to register your child to be successful in gathering online donations to support this fundraiser! As soon as you can, complete the registration process and share as much as you want with friends, family, coworkers, and more! Social networking is key in this process!
Students: Be sure you share your The Get Movin’ Crew© handout in your folder from Thursday with your parents to get you signed up so you can meet and exceed your donation goals to help your school! There will be incentives for classrooms that have met their classroom donation goals, as well as incentives for students who exceeded donations of $200 and more!
LEADERS:
- Classroom with most students registered: Mr. Elenbaas
- TOP Grade with most donation $: 7th Grade
- TOP Classroom with most donation $: Tie between Shears, Elenbaas, and Shearer
Please be sure to get registered before Spring Break so that we can be successful as quickly as possible! Any questions or for more information, contact Walk-A-Thon chairs: email Missy Klinge or email Kim House.
6th and 7th Grade Field Trip Forms
Please have your middle school student turn in his/her field trip forms to his/her first hour teacher ASAP. Thanks!
Library Book Reminders
Please help your student remember to return his/her library book. Many sixth and seventh graders have books that are overdue. Please put Library books in the backpack the night before to help get the books back on time! Other students would like to read these books. Thanks! –Mrs. Stark
What’s Happening at West
Mr. Shears reports that the 7th Grade Physical Education students are competing in their annual Ping Pong tournament. These kids have worked hard on rules and proper technique. They are ready to Ping and Pong to the championship!
Reading is S'more Fun! This has been "March is Reading Month!" We want to say a BIG SHOUT OUT to our PTO! They gave classroom teachers $50 worth of books from the Book Fair. This enabled us to give prizes to our readers who met their reading goals for the month. We also want to thank Mr. Shearer for making wooden puzzles as prizes for our poster contest winners! They were:
- 1st - Ella Larsen - Ryzenga
- 2nd - Jeffrey Reed - Shearer
- 3rd - Delaney Wilson - Kooyer
- 4th - Andrew Legg - Elenbaas
- 5th - Jabin Austin - Hildebrand
We had an all school hour of reading to Celebrate March is Reading Month
West is proud to celebrate our Wall Stars: Damien Barber, Josiah Duch, Luis Falcon, Blake House, Peyton Lehman, Elena Lewis, Logan McCoy, Anastascia Morin, Carter Brandt-Obaseki, Evelyn Rector, Lauren Rosales, Alyssa Stamps, Rebekah Straub, Alicia Tabor, Alianna Villegas and Olivia Weiss
Parent Letter from Superintendent Davis
February 27, 2018
Dear HPS Parent/Guardian,
I am writing today to provide you with important information as it relates to Holland Public Schools and a recommendation before the HPS Board of Education.
Over the past several months the Board of Education and Administration have been clarifying and affirming our core values and beliefs; defining our needs and expected outcomes that our community has for us; preparing all of our students to be ready for college, careers and the community; assessing the critical shortage of affordable housing in the city of Holland and its impact on our community studying the declining birth rates in our attendance areas and the aging demographics of our core city; surveying our parents on their needs, wishes and program evaluation; and recognizing the harsh reality of how schools are funded in the state of Michigan. This has led me to make this recommendation.
Before the recommendation, just a few facts:
- Since 2000, HPS has been a deficit spending district for 12 fiscal years.
- Our total FTE has declined 10% since 2012-2013 and 22% since 2006/2007. In five years it is likely that HPS will be a school district of approximately 3,000 students down from a high of over 5,500 before the onset of schools of choice and a change in funding under Proposal A.
- Birth rates in the City of Holland have declined -22% and Park Township -35% since 1997...the two areas which define our attendance areas.
- With respect to school funding, we are just now above the funding levels of 2008-2009 nearly a decade later, slow growth and funding from the state that is directly related to the classroom.
- If the funding formula in the recently published Michigan School Finance Research Collaborative were in play, HPS would receive over $16M in additional funding annually; taking into consideration poverty, at-risk learners, second language learners and special education students. FundMi Schools.Org
Despite all of this, we continue to thrive in our programming and results. As you may be aware we celebrate:
- Two Division I State Competitive Theatre Championships in 2018
- Division I State Soccer Champions 2017
- Award Winning Performing Arts Department with members from our choirs performing at Carnegie Hall this May, 2018
- Defending World Champion/State Champion US First Robotics
- Recognized recently by the Michigan Department of Education Center for Education Performance as having the 2nd highest percentage of college graduates attending selective colleges in the Holland / Zeeland area
- The areas only dedicated Early College High School program serving first generation college students leading to an Associate's Degree; tuition free to the student while in attendance at HPS
- The areas only Two-Way Bilingual Immersion School that is thriving and growing
- This year we launched a three-year engineering pathway program at Holland High School in partnership with Motus Integrated Technologies.
- One of the areas only K-7 STEM programs
- Our K-7 schools are all beating the odds and reaching high levels of literacy achievement despite our demographics of those who qualify for free/reduced lunch or do not speak English.
- A learning community where students from nearly 40 countries speaking over 30 different languages come together to learn together.
- And the list goes on...
How do we maintain this level of excellence without cutting programs? We have to reduce duplication wherever possible, and right size the district. We have to utilize our spaces in the most effective/efficient manner possible. We have to reduce expenditures. We are no longer able to deficit spend. We have sold properties to balance our budget. We must now take decisive action. We must also listen to the feedback provided during the recent HPS parent survey.
On March 19, the HPS Board of Education is set to review and consider voting on the following recommendation.
- The district will transition to a K-5, 6-8, and 9-12 program. Transitional Kindergarten will continue to be provided at our K-5’s.
- Great Start Readiness Programs and Early Childhood Special Education will transition from Maplewood to our K-5 buildings. Maplewood ECC will continue to be leased to and serve the Head Start Program.
- Holland Heights, Holland Language Academy, Jefferson and West will become K-5 schools.
- East will become a 6-8 middle school.
- Holland High School will be 9-12 serving the traditional programs that HHS is known for, in addition to the HVRT (alternative high school program) and the Holland Early College Program.
The following meetings have been set to learn more about this recommendation:
- Thursday, March 1, 7:00 pm at East School, 373 East 24th Street.
- Tuesday, March 6, 7:00 pm at East School, 373 East 24th Street.
- Thursday, March 15, 9:00 am & 7:00 pm Holland Early College, 45 East 25th Street. This is specifically for families of Holland Early College.
Respectfully,
Dr. Brian Davis
Superintendent of Schools
West Calendar
No School! Professional Development Day for Staff
Friday, April 27 7-9pm at West
$4 in advance $5 at the door
In collaboration with West student council and HLA student council, a Spring dance for 6-7 graders will be hosted in the Holland West Cafeteria.
Tulip Time 6/7 Grade Band Marching Rehearsal. This is a mandatory rehearsal and will happen rain or shine.
End of the year concert: 6th Grade @ 6:30pm & 7th Grade at 7pm. That is the time the concert start times, but each grade will need to be there 30 minutes prior to performance time.
West Half Day Dismissal is 11:00 AM
West Half Day Dismissal is 11:00 AM
5th grade band concert at 6:30 pm in the West Cafeteria
The 5th and 6th/7th grade orchestras will perform an end of the year concert at 7 pm in the West cafeteria.
We invite you and your family to "Take a Walk on the WEST side!" Our Spring Fundraiser is a Walk-A-Thon.
1st and 3rd grade choir students will be having their end of year choir concert at Christ Memorial Church 595 Graafschap Rd @ 7:30 pm
Office Staff
West
Holland, MI 49423
Phone: 616-494-2350
Fax: 616-393-7544
