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West Hills STEM Academy

8 Houses, 1 Griffin Family

May Newsletter

Posted Date: 05/12/26 (02:54 PM)


Griffin Gazette

Griffin Gazette West Hills STEM Academy ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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Griffin Gazette

May 2026


Dear Families,

🌸 May is here, and we are heading into one of the busiest and most exciting times of the school year! 🎉 We have lots of fun end of year activities coming up, including celebrations 🥳, field trips 🚌, and special events as we finish the year strong together 💪. May is also SBA testing month ✏️🧠, and this is a chance for our students to shine ✨ and show all they have learned this year. You can help set students up for success by making sure they get a good night’s sleep 😴 and eat breakfast each morning 🍳 to fuel their brains for learning and testing. Thank you for your continued support and partnership ❤️ as we celebrate a strong finish to the school year! ☀️



Warmly,

💜Principal Powell



House Celebration

Reveur scored the most points for January! Help us celebrate the House of Success!



Input for Next Year's Classes

We value family input for student placement. If you would like to provide information for next years placement, please stop by the main office and fill out an input form! We do not take requests for specific teacher. 



How to Order House Shirts

Exciting News!
We’ve partnered with Unique Experience to bring you the official West Hills store — now live online!

You can now purchase house shirts and West Hills attire anytime, from anywhere. Show your school spirit in style!


🛍️ Shop Now: Shop the West Hills store! 



Patrol of the Month

We are excited to recognize Lily as our Patrol of the Month for April! Lily leads her peers with kindness and a big heart. No matter the situation, Lily can be counted on and will give her best effort. Lily is an amazing leader and role model to her peers. Yay Lily!


Since we missed posting for March, we would also like to recognize Gracelyn as the March Patrol of the Month! Gracelyn never misses her days for patrol and is always on time. She is kind and respectful as she does her duty each day. Gracelyn is the perfect role model to her younger (and sometimes ever older) peers! Way to go Gracie!



Bremerton Backpack Brigade

The Bremerton Backpack Brigade exists to provide supplemental food on weekends for children in need throughout the elementary schools in Bremerton. If your family is in need of food support, please contact Mrs. Clemmons (school counselor) to enroll. Mrs. Clemmons can be reached via email at:

caitlin.clemmons@bremertonschools.org or via phone 360-473-4609.



My name is Jenni Sherman. I am your new Nurse here at WHSA. I have been a Nurse since 2006. I started in a General Surgery Clinic for 6 years, then to a med/tele floor for two years before ultimately landing in Labor and Delivery where I have been since 2015. School Nursing is a big change for me but I am really excited for the challenge! I have three kids. My oldest, Addison, is graduating this year, turning 18 in a couple weeks and just signed her commitment to play NCAA Soccer in Chicago at Dominican University! (If I get tearful at the drop of a hat, that's why!) My son, Parker, is 13 and in the 8th grade. He lives and breathes Basketball. My littlest daughter, Sophie, is turning 11 next week, in the 5th grade and plays soccer just like her sister. I am so excited to be here at West Hills and to have been welcomed into Amistad!



BSD's Child and Family Resource Guide

Looking for community resources for your child or family? We invite you to visit our Child & Family Resource Guide linked from our website (look in the "Services & Support" menu). If you have additions or suggestions for this guide, please send them to brigitte.vernon@bremertonschools.org.


DOH Safety Study Hall


The Safety Study Hall is a one-stop resource for schools, families, and students looking for tools and guidance on essential health and safety topics. Created by the Washington Department of Health and OSPI, this hub includes strategies for preventing opioid overdoses, securely storing medications, and firearm safety. Start learning today: https://doh.wa.gov/community-and-environment/schools/safety-study-hall



Community Connections

 

 
Thank you for your donation!

 
We L💙V E our Community Partners!


We Are Learning...

 
  • Phonics: Blending, letter sounds, reading sight word sentences fluently.
  • ELA: Comprehending stories, reading short stories
  • Writing: Illustrate and use labels and write or tell your opinion to match.
  • Math: Counting 100, counting on, identifying numbers out of sequence, counting objects to 20, write in order to 20, count to write how many to 20.
  • SEL: Courage

 
  • Phonics/Foundational Skills: long vowel teams, r-controlled vowels. 
  • ELA: CVCe and vowel teams. Reading sight words. Reading passages with fluency. 

  • Writing:  Learning paragraph writing with First, Next, Then, and Last.

  • Math: Using multiple strategies to complete mixed addition and subtraction word problems through 20, including story problems with math drawings. 

  • SEL - Courage - choosing what is helpful, right, and kind - even when it’s hard or scary.

 
  • Second grade
  • Phonics: blends, digraphs, vowel teams
  • ELA: Main idea, key details,
  • Writing: sentences with correct punctuation, paragraph
  • Math: subtraction within 1000, shapes, time
  • SEL: courage
 
  • Phonics:  Practicing with three letter word blends.
  • ELA: Continuing to practice the skill of finding and citing evidence from the text to support our responses to questions. Also, practice identifying text features of a text to support our understanding of what we read.
  • Writing: Opinion writing.
  • Math: Multiplication/division with units of 6's and 8's 
  • SEL: Honesty

 
  • Phonics: Vowel teams and multisyllabic words
  • ELA: Main idea and Key detail. Reading and responding to a Performance Task
  • Writing: Finishing up opinion writing and moving to narrative
  • Math: representing numbers in unit form, fraction form and decimal form.
  • SEL: Courage

 
  • Phonics:  Reviewing foundational skills and focus on strategies to build confident readers.
  • ELA:  Explaining the main idea of nonfiction text using RACE.
  • Writing: Using multiple informational sources to write a multi paragraph opinion essay.
  • Math: Dividing decimals to the thousandths place by two digit numbers using standard algorithm
  • SEL: Identifying ways to manage anxiety when it comes to social, emotional and educational stress. Just in time for state testing!
 
  • Phonics: Final blends
  • ELA: Citing text evidence
  • Writing: Opinion/argumentative essay
  • Math: Geometry and Measurement
  • SEL: Goals, perseverance, and effort

 

Upcoming Events

5/12 Water Festival - 4th Grade

5/21 Onraka Family Night

5/25 Memorial Day

5/29 PTA Family Movie Night 

6/2 Showcase Concert

6/2 5th Grade Family Night at Mountain View

6/10 Pinewood Derby 4th Grade

6/16 Field Day 

6/18 Last Day of School



Vision

West Hills STEM Academy empowers students to thrive through innovative learning, resilience, and self-advocacy. By building strong connections in a safe and equitable environment, we prepare ALL students to achieve at high levels and face future challenges with confidence.


Mission

G.R.O.W.T.H. We Ensure It…Every Student, Every Standard, Every Day

Guarantee achievement
Realize mastery
Obtain independence
Welcome connections
Tenaciously uphold expectations
Honor progress


West Hills STEM Academy

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The Bremerton School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee(s) has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Carol Bailie at 360.473.1026, or the Section 504 Coordinator, Mark Mayfield at 360.473.4702. Mailing address: 134 Marion Avenue North, Bremerton, WA 98312.


Bremertonschools.org Website Update





We now have a button on the footer of EVERY web page that allows people to translate the entire website into multiple languages - with one “toggle.”


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Kimberly Powell
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