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Hello, Westview families,
Every Westview student participates in physical education a minimum of four days a week. Westview knows that appropriate physical activity is essential to a student's overall well-being. Physical Education at The Westview School is more than just moving your body. Our Early Childhood Development students begin each day with Motor, warming up their bodies to prepare for a full day of school. Beginning in Prekindergarten through Lower Elementary, our students attend PE daily. Upper Elementary and Middle School students attend four days of PE. Middle School students also have one day of Health class each week.
While you may see students running around our track or kicking a ball, our Westview PE teachers, Ms. Brenna and Ms. Trevie, intentionally design physical activities to support students' growing bodies and growing minds. Our students learn essential life skills while improving their health and well-being during PE.
Many PE activities are used to develop coordination and a sense of cooperation. Students frequently have opportunities to work as a team and support others as they work together towards a common goal. Our PE teachers model and encourage prosocial behaviors that support the development of healthy interactions and relationships. There is nothing more rewarding than watching students help one another.
This week Ms. Trevie staged Largent Hall as a haunted house-themed obstacle course. This turned physical activities such as frog jumps, scooter riding, climbing, and crawling into a game. If you follow us on social media, yesterday, we gave our followers a live-action look into the spooky fun. Playing games in a structured setting allows students to practice flexibility and gain new skills—gestures such as a high-five from a teacher or teammate help improve a student's self-esteem. Our students learn that sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, but we can always get back up and try again.
"Winning and losing is sometimes difficult for our students," said Ms. Trevie. "Learning to both win and lose well is a skill we work on daily in PE class." All children need to understand that self-esteem should not be tied to winning or losing but to taking part and learning from every opportunity.
Ms. Brenna ensures her PE class is always working on both the physical and social aspects. As Ms. Brenna welcomes her students to class, she greets them and asks, "How do you feel today?" The student's response, "Today I feel...happy, sad, excited, frustrated." This simple question allows her students to feel heard and assess their attitude coming into PE. She ends every class with the questions, "Were you a good sport today? Did you cheer on your friends?"
PE's many benefits carry over from the playing field or gym into the classroom, leading to better academic performance. Research shows that children who participate in physical education can better regulate their behavior and stay focused in class. It offers the chance for them to relax, release pent-up emotions, and spend time with their friends. Westview is lucky to have Ms. Brenna and Ms. Trevie helping our students improve their health and well-being.
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PE WITH MS. BRENNA + MS. TREVIE | |
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Calendar at a Glance
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17
NOVEMBER 21-25, 2022
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Astros Spirit Day - Friday, October 28 | | |
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Orbit called to remind us to "root, root, ROOT for the home team" as the Astros head into Game 1 of the World Series. Tomorrow, October 28 is Astros Spirit Day! In lieu of On Fridays We Wear Blue, wear your favorite Astros tee to show your team spirit. | | |
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It’s not a major surprise that animals can assist with reducing stress and anxiety by providing comfort. The Westview School is happy to announce that the Houston Humane Society will begin monthly visits to our school starting in November. The visits may include dogs, cats, and small mammals. | |
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The Houston Humane Society offers school programs that focus on social-emotional intelligence using animals to relate real-world problems to children in a fun and engaging way. Literacy skills can improve when children read to animals, and it’s a great confidence booster for struggling readers to read aloud to animals. Children who have positive experiences with reading are motivated to read more.
The first visit will include ECD and Pre-K students interacting with Houston Humane Society volunteers and animals for about 20 minutes followed by Kindergarten through Lower Elementary students attending a brief presentation and then visiting with the animals for a few minutes. Upper Elementary and Middle School students will have a longer presentation followed by time with the animals.
Please complete the consent form and return it to your child’s teacher indicating if you give your child permission to interact with the animals. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact Dr. Laura Casper-Teague.
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Hey there, Westview Dads! This November, Dads' Day will be back on campus at The Westview School. We can't wait to celebrate our Westview Dads! Please save the date for Thursday, November 3, 2022. All dads are invited to campus for a memorable morning with their students. Activities and times will vary between grade levels.
ECD, PreK, and Kindergarten
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
LOWER ELEMENTARY + MIDDLE SCHOOL
8:30 AM to 10:00 AM
UPPER ELEMENTARY
9:00 AM to 10:30 AM
Please use this link to RSVP, and let us know you are coming. Please remember that other "father figures" are welcome if dad cannot attend.
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Westview EDU | Supporting Your Child in Developing Academic Skills | | |
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A child's success in school depends on many factors, but parent involvement tops the list on a child's academic success. Parents are the most important teachers.
Save the date for Thursday, November 10 at 9:15 AM in Largent Hall for our November Westview EDU | Supporting Your Child in Developing Academic Skills. Stacy Anderson, Educational Consultant at Premier Academic Solutions will share her insight and proven strategies on effective ways parents can enhance and support classroom learning at home.
This event will be held in person in Largent Hall on The Westview School campus. Zoom attendance will be available by request. All attendees, both virtual and in-person, should register for the event.
REGISTER HERE
Any questions? Having an issue with the online registration form? Email Sarah Chauvin for assistance.
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Westview Celebrates Veterans Day | | |
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The Westview School would like to recognize our families with members serving or having served in our Armed Forces. We want to honor you and/or your loved ones on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11. If you or anyone in your family is a Veteran, please complete this survey. Thank you for participating. *If you submitted a survey last year with your loved ones information and picture, we do not need you to complete again.
TAKE OUR SURVEY
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The Westview Fund is Happening NOW | | |
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Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to this year's Westview Fund. It's not too late to give and support our fundraising efforts for the year. There are a couple of ways you can help.
First, donate. You can access our online giving via our website or use the donate link found in the email. Secondly, share. We would love for you to share our Westview Fund information with any family or friends who might be interested in supporting our school. Here is the link to our email, or you can direct them to The Westview Fund page on our website. You should have received our full-color mail-out of our Westview Fund earlier this month, giving you the option to write a check instead of using our online giving.
Thank you for your continued support!
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The Stewart Center: Top Tip of the Week | | |
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Have you been following along with the tops tips coming from The Stewart Center? This will be a regular feature in our Westview Weekly, and we hope it is a value add to your reading. This week's top tip comes from Lisa Van Hofwegen, Speech-Language Pathologist.
The Stewart Center at The Westview School is our on-campus therapy clinic staffed with qualified professionals ready to meet the needs of families and students at Westview and the Houston community. The Stewart Center team is always ready to go above and beyond to support a child. We are thankful to The Stewart Center for sharing their words of wisdom with our community.
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PERSPECTIVE-TAKING LEADS TO MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION
Theory of mind, also known as perspective-taking, is a capacity that guides us in our communication with others. As we understand that different people have different thoughts, feelings, and ideas, we begin to adjust our communication so that it is more meaningful to our conversation partners. There are many pre-linguistic and early developing features that contribute to the development of theory of mind. If your child has not quite reached this capacity, try engaging in perspective-shifting conversations. For example, you can talk about what various family members like or don’t like: “Dad likes to play bingo, but I like to do puzzles.” Please see this short video for a more detailed description of theory of mind.
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Mindfulness in Art Group Sessions Forming for November | | |
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Mimi Le at The Stewart Center is forming a group for Mindfulness with Art sessions beginning in November 2022. Groups are for students in grades Kindergarten and up. Sessions will be held on Wednesdays from 3:00 PM to 3:50 PM.
Students will incorporate art, music, sound, and meditation to enhance mindfulness practices together as a group. Mindfulness has been proven to enhance self-control, flexibility, and self-awareness and lower anxiety, stress, and depression. The other benefits of mindfulness include improved mood, empathy, and compassion.
If you or interested in signing your child up for Mindfulness with Art with Mrs. Mimi, please email Mimi Le.
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Message from POW: Two Sleeps to Trunk-or-Treat | | |
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POW TRUNK-OR-TREAT
POW will be hosting the 5th Annual POW Trunk-or-Treat this Saturday, October 29 from 10 AM to 12 PM. We are so excited to welcome back vendors to our BOO Bazaar for shopping and fun! Check out who will be setting up shop on Saturday here.
POW Trunk-or-Treat will remain a free event for kids to partake in trick-or-treating, bounce houses, games, and a photo booth. It's not too late to sign up to help! We are also looking for some POW volunteers to help out during the event. Sign up to volunteer here.
We can't wait to see everyone this week for what is sure to be a Spooktacular Event. Thank you to all our donors and trunks who help to make our event such a success!
Questions about the event? Please contact Stefanie Rugaard at (281) 507-1131 or email pow@westviewschool.org.
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THANK YOU TO OUR 2022 TRUNK-OR-TREAT DONORS | |
Save the Date for Alex’s 5K Run/Walk & Kids' K | |
The Westview School provides a unique, specialized, and nurturing learning environment offering outstanding educational and social opportunities for children on the autism spectrum. | | | | | |
