President's Message

September 2015

Hello Westfield Bulldogs!

Welcome back to school! I hope the year has started off well for your students and you!

As you get organized for the year, please note that the PTSA web site, ptsa.westfieldhs.org and the school’s main webpage contain valuable information. Please bookmark the websites and check them often. Also, if you are on Facebook, please “like” us. You can find us at Westfield High School PTSA. We will continue using these as information resources as in the past.

Upcoming Dates/Events (complete list of events on the PTSA calendar):

• Back To School Night for 11^th/12^th grade families: September 16!
• Senior Parent Meeting: Before the back to school night on 9/16 at 6pm
• Dog Dish Café: Will be open during both back to school nights! Stop by the cafeteria to enjoy a quick dinner before meeting your student’s teachers! Subway sandwiches and Domino’s pizza will be available.
• Volunteers are needed to help the Dog Dish Café run smoothly (both nights)! If you can help, please sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/whsbulldog Some student volunteer opportunities are available!
• PTSA Meeting: 9/17 – Come meet the new Principal, Dr Anthony Copeland
• Back To School Night for 9^th/10^th grade families: September 29th

Please join us at the September PTSA meeting. Following a short business meeting, We will hear from our new principal, Dr Anthony Copeland.

At Westfield, Back to School Night is divided into two nights: September 16th for 11^th/12^th grade students and September 29th for 9^th/10^th grade students. Both begin at 7 pm. Your students should give you a map with their class schedule listed. This will allow you to locate their classes. I encourage you to attend (even Junior/Senior parents!) to learn more about your student’s classes, especially the expectations of the teachers and the work load. Stop by the Dog Dish Café in the cafeteria to fuel up before or during the evening.

October’s PTSA meeting on October 15 will have Westfield’s own Librarian, Joann Lesser, come to share what is available in the library and how the students can access the library.

The PTSA is hard at work planning programs that parents/guardians will find

beneficial when raising a teenager. Work is in progress to bring back alumni to talk to parents, freshmen and sophomores about how to plan the high school career in order to meet college requirements: the ins and outs from our own students who have traveled the path. Another successful program is a class on parenting teenagers without pulling out your hair! We will post the dates on the website and send out an eblast for notification.

The PTSA is proud to have already been able to do the following for your staff/students/families this year:

• Sponsor the Welcome Back to School teacher/staff luncheon
• Offer some school supplies to the teachers during the lunch
• Co-sponsor the Bulldog BBQ
• Approve several staff mini grants
• Tidy up the senior courtyard, with new umbrellas, repaired picnic tables and weeding
• *Spruce up the landscaping in the front of the school

Please help us continue to make an impact! Thank you to everyone who has joined the Westfield HS PTSA this year! If you haven’t yet, please join. Your membership matters. Your membership and involvement help the PTSA work toward its goal of supporting all students, staff members and families at Westfield. You can join online now or you can print the form and send it in to the main office. As a bonus, every person who joins by October 6^th, 2014 will be entered into a drawing for a new Kindle Fire HD and all student members will be entered into a drawing for a Turbo Tutoring SAT prep class!

The PTSA will create a directory again this year, thanks to April Milner who has volunteered to be the chairperson this year! If you or your business would like to advertise in the directory, please email April. Rates are very reasonable.   Directories may be ordered using the All-In-One Membership form, which has a directory area. Finally, if you choose to opt-out your student from the directory, you must complete either the FCPS opt-out form or the opt-out portion on the Membership form by October 1, 2014.

Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered time this year! Many people helped make the Bulldog BBQ and Staff lunch a success! New volunteer opportunities are listed now at: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/whsbulldog

For a complete list of businesses and individuals who donated to this year’s silent auction, please BBQ information page. We greatly appreciate the support of our business community and ask that you consider supporting these businesses that support us!

As always, please contact me with any questions, suggestions or comments you may have. I look forward to working with you.

Kindest Regards,

Meg Crossett
Westfield HS PTSA President