Back to School Information

Dear Grammar School Parents, 
Summer is again passing too quickly!  Carpets have been cleaned, floors have been waxed, and some rooms and teachers have new locations!  We are excited to welcome our new students and families.  We are so thankful that so many of our GS faculty and staff are returning to Westminster this school year.  We do have some great additions to our community.  Mrs. Jenna Green will join our third grade team as an aide and will continue to work in aftercare with Mrs. Kuku.  Mrs. Amanda Johnson will join Mrs. Garrett’s class as her aide this fall.  Mrs. Sarah Kimbro will work part time with our K-1st grade students in reading groups and tutor students to help sharpen early literacy skills.  Mrs. Grantham will be working with Mrs. Hilliard teaching 1st grade and Mrs. Young will continue to be her aide.  Mrs. Williams will join Ms. Dacus and teach Junior Kindergarten this fall.  Mrs. Sherrod will work alongside Mrs. Williams in JK.  Mrs. Laurel Smith will move from teaching 1st grade this past year to teach 2nd grade with Mrs. Quiroz as her aide. Along with our fabulous additions to our faculty and teachers transitioning grades, we have some physical movement that you will notice when you come to see us in the fall.  Kindergarten will be located in the new rooms in the hallway just north of the cafeteria. This hallway looks so different and it is an exciting time to be a kindergartener.  Not only will they have new rooms but they will also share a Discovery Room next door which will be a place for centers and fine motor discovery each day.  In addition to Mrs. Miller teaching WEE, Mrs. Anthony has agreed to teach WEE on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons due to the growing interest in the program.  Mr. Bell, our 3rd-6th grade Latin teacher, has moved to the classroom located at the far end of the lower GS hallway.  Laurel Smith’s 2nd grade classroom will be located just across the hall from the rest of the 2nd grade team.  This is an exciting time in GS and we are so very excited for you to see and experience everything in the fall.  

Meet the Teacher Day:
We are also looking forward to our open house style Meet the Teacher Day on Monday, August 14.  Details regarding this day will be posted soon.  You will receive welcome letters/postcards from your child’s teacher after we send out our class lists on July 28.  

Supplies:
Unless you opted out or are a new family who joined our community after 6/14/23, all of your child’s supplies on the list have been purchased through 1st Day School Supplies.  These supplies will be in your student’s classroom on the first day of school.  If you chose to opt out or have recently joined us, you may bring your labeled supplies to the school at any point this summer.  Please have them clearly labeled with your child’s name.  You can find the supply lists here. 

Staggered Start the week of August 14-18:
Parents and students in JK, K, and 1st grade will have a staggered start to the year beginning on Tuesday, August 15.  Teachers in those grades will contact you with the schedule for your child that week.  

It is a joy to be in community with you all and watch your children grow and mature in wisdom and stature and in their relationships with God and each other.  Having seen God’s faithfulness last year, we go into this new year rejoicing and confident that we will again see God’s gracious hand leading and providing for us.  I am so grateful for our faithful parents who generously and enthusiastically support our school.  New parents, we are eager for you to be a part of this special community.  We welcome you and need you! Our Westminster Parents Association (WPA) works diligently and faithfully behind the scenes to support and encourage our faculty, staff, students, and community.  You are automatically a part of this group, no joining necessary! It is a privilege and a joy to partner with you all.  May God continue to give us grace, wisdom, energy, and joy for the journey.  

In Christ,
Emily Newman 
Head of Grammar School 
 

You can find the 2023 Grammar School Meet the Teacher Day schedule HERE.

We hope you will find the Summer Reading Plan a useful tool for cultivating a love of good literature and for encouraging your child to read. 

1. Enjoy a book as a family! Reading aloud not only stimulates an interest in good books, but also models expressive, fluent reading. Using appropriate intonation, expression, phrasing, and pausing demonstrates that meaning is embedded in the interpretation of words and fosters comprehension.

2. Set up a daily reading time and provide age-appropriate books. You will find wonderful, graded selections on the attached recommended reading list.

3. Make frequent trips to the library!

4. Periodically have your child read aloud to you as you follow along in the text. This will help you assess your child's reading progress. Encourage your child by helping him sound out words if he begins to struggle.

5. Encourage your child in his required summer reading. Students entering grades 3-6 are required to read two books, but we hope students will read many more. You should have received summer reading instructions and packet from Mrs. Karla Scott during the summer. If you did not receive the instructions or you have further questions, please email Mrs. Scott. 

23-24 Grammar School Supply List 

Please scroll to find your child's grade. WEE supplies are also included here. 

23-24 Grammar School Uniform Policy

Dear Upper School Families, 
I hope all of you have had an enjoyable summer so far! After traveling north to New York State to visit state parks and to camp with my family, we visited old friends at Notre Dame and then had a relaxing but rainy week off for the Fourth of July. After several weeks away, I’m now back in the office as I continue preparing for the upcoming school year. I am excited to see your students back on campus in August! 

I wanted to give you all a few updates about the Upper School before the start of school. First off, we’ve hired Seth Stevens to teach Western Civ I and II for 9th and 10th grades. Seth attended Westminster in its inaugural year and has been on the pastoral staff at First Evan in the past. More recently, he’s been senior pastor at an evangelical church in Clovis, California for the last three years. We’ve also hired Allaina Armstrong, a Westminster student in 7th and 8th grades and a recent graduate of Union University, to teach 8th grade Life Science and 10th grade Anatomy. When you see them, please welcome both Seth and Allaina to Westminster. For this upcoming year, we also have a few teachers who are changings jobs. Elissa Roberts will replace Linda Janikowsky as our new Academic Support teacher (in addition to her role as 7th grade Science teacher), and Natalie Martin will split time between 6th and 7th grade math. She will teach Pre-Algebra for 7th graders. Moreover, Darren Adams will teach junior and senior math classes and be the new chair of the math department. Finally, Betsy Cashman is set to join our staff as a part-time counselor for the Upper School. She will be on campus one day a week to offer counseling to students who need extra support at school.  

As I reflect on all the teachers and new administrators we’ve hired over the last two years at WA, I’m grateful that God has provided teachers (both new and old) who love God with their hearts, souls, and minds, and who love their students and want to introduce them to God’s Truth in the Bible and creation. Each of our teachers wants your students to experience God’s deep wisdom “from before the dawn of time” and to show the beauty of God’s world through their disciplines.  

As we gear up for the upcoming school year, please remind your students about their summer work, particularly their math packets and summer reading. As the beginning of school nears, we will send your student’s schedule to you as well as more information about Meet the Teacher Day (set to take place on Monday, August 14) when we run a shortened form of a regular schedule. 

Please also read carefully through all the Back to School information on the website. Please return any requested forms or fill out online forms. Included on the website are student supplies, the major dates calendar, uniform policies (with a few new options that won’t be mandatory until the 2024-25 school year), and forms for the school year. Later this summer I’ll send out another update with information about the Upper School Meet the Teacher Day (8/14). I’m looking forward to seeing you and your students!

Grace and peace,

Jonathan Callis, Ph.D.
Head of Upper School
 

You can find the schedule for 2023 Upper School Meet the Teacher Day HERE.

You should have received an email from Mrs. Robin Reed in June with all of the information you need for your student's summer reading assignments. If you have any questions, please email Mrs. Reed.

Below is a list of school supplies that Upper School students will need to have on the first day of school. Items will be broken down by class only if specifics are required. If you have questions, please contact Robin Reed.

Upper School Supply Lists

23-24' US Uniform Policy 

PE Uniform Shirts:  Adult Sizes  | Youth Sizes

The '23-24 Major Dates Calendar can be found here. 

There is an updated menu being offered for the '23-24 school year. Please click here to view the belltower menu offerings and prices. 
You can view ordering instructions here. 

Any athlete that participates in a Westminster sport must have the appropriate forms filled out, signed by a parent/medical professional, and returned to the athletic office before the applicable season begins.  Forms are valid for one school year and physicals are valid for one year from the date of the visit. 

1st-5th grade athletes

• Participation Waiver
• Medical Evaluation

6th-12th grade athletes

• Participation Waiver
• Medical Evaluation
• Concussion Form
• Sudden Cardiac Arrest Form

See carpool guidelines for JK-12th, before and after school care here.

Choir
Choir auditions have been held and the list will be emailed later this summer.  If your child is in 3rd-12th grade and would like to participate in choir, but did not get a chance to audition, please email Mrs. Smith.

The choir fee for the year is $150, which is divided into $75 per semester. This fee covers music, folders, and uniforms.  Returning singers may trade their old or outgrown uniforms in to Mrs. Smith for a different size.  

Strings
We offer beginning, intermediate, and advanced strings ensembles. The advanced and intermediate ensemble members are selected by audition.  Please contact James Ryan, our director of strings, to set up an audition day/time in August.  The fee for the string ensembles is $150 per semester.  

Robotics, Ballet, Chess, Tumbling, Tennis Skills and MORE!

You can also find information about aftercare here, including the prepay option that includes a 20% discount.

We are so glad to have our parents as such an involved and vital part of the Westminster community. Please check out all of the opportunities to plug in on our parent volunteer page!