Eagle Ridge Elementary
Principal Lindsey Sierra
The Eagle Engineers came out at the top and won first place in all Broward County Elementary Schools!
Some of our students took part in summer STEM+CS challenges, which had the following focus: “Conserve and sustainably use in the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.”
Fiona Jose participated in an individual county-wide challenge, where she created a brochure or infographic explaining what we know about conserving the oceans and marine life and how people can help in the efforts. She received an achievement certificate from the STEM+CS department.
Eagle engineers Erica Faucher, Arianna Huriash, and Carolyn Zheng took part in the summer Minecraft challenge about “Life Under the Ocean.” They did research on Florida sea turtles, on what challenges they have, and on what can be done to protect them. Along with their research, the students brainstormed different ideas, planned, and built a Minecraft world for this challenge.
In another online Roboduel national competition by Robotify, grade 5-12 students competed against each other in coding. Again, our Eagles have outshone in this competition. Rahee Patel, Samanyu Mahajan, Arianna Huriash, and Isla El Chantiry all placed in top 20 teams in the Regional competition and qualified for the Nationals.
These students met with their teams during the summer on a regular basis and discussed their goals and progress. We are beyond proud and thrilled with their accomplishments with Mrs. Naik. We are privileged to watch our Eagles soar!
Heron Heights Elementary
Lauren Generoso , HHE PTO President
Hawks go pink!
Join the Heron Heights Elementary parent-teacher organization as we go pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month and kick off our first service project of the year! Our Hawks will be making cards with words of comfort and encouragement for those battling breast cancer.
To raise awareness, we will be selling pink spirit shirts and scrunchies for both children and adults. For every shirt and scrunchie sold through October, we will be donating $1 to “Not My Daughter… find a cure now!” To purchase, please visit our website, www.hhepto.com.
Together, we can help the fight against breast cancer. Thank you for your support!
Riverglades Elementary
Christina Chioda and Kimberly Mann
Riverglades Elementary is excited to welcome everyone “back on track” this 2021-2022 school year! Get ready for a slightly spooky October, as we are excited to announce that we will be having our first annual “Trunk or Treat” event. Not only will there be an opportunity for treats, but there will be an opportunity for books too! Students can get treats and books as our Trunk or Treat event will coincide with our Fall Bookfair. It’s an occasion not to be missed! Start brainstorming costume ideas, as more details will be coming soon.
Want to celebrate a birthday in style and see your child’s name in lights? Why not purchase a “Happy Birthday” banner to be displayed on the marquee at the front of the school? To find out more, go to the store section of the school’s PTA website (riverglades.memberhub.com). While you’re there, don’t forget to join the PTA or purchase other amazing items such as our discount card and/or family banner.
We hope you are excited for all the fun events that Riverglades has in store for this year!
Park Trails Elementary
Principal Arlene Manville
We were very excited to kick off the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year at Park Trails. This is a thrilling year for us — not only are we transitioning to become a STEAM school featuring a Robotics and Engineering Lab, a Makers Space Design Lab, and a multimedia program that will engage all of our students in coding and programming, but this year also marks our 20th year serving the Parkland community.
We will be hosting a rededication ceremony in January and will be sharing more details later in the year. There are some exciting things happening at Park Trails this year! Check out all the events we have planned by visiting the school’s website and the PTA’s website.
Somerset Parkland Academy
Jennifer Knight, VIPP President
Giddy up — the Somerset Parkland Cowboys ride into their second year.
In year 2, Somerset Parkland Academy continues where it left off last year by trying to give the kids a sense of normalcy and by providing the best in-person learning experience possible. The school has added more than 300 additional students as the middle school now includes seventh grade, and it will expand to eighth grade next year.
The VIPP Parent Group has continued to create projects and volunteer opportunities while growing its active membership base to 140 members. VIPP hosted a kid meetup at Urban Air Adventure Park for new students to meet existing students before school started.
For the new kindergarten students, the VIPP and Principal Castro started “Operation Kinder Loving Care,” allowing parent volunteers to come into the school to assist with arrival, dismissal, and lunchtime, so the little ones have less anxiety during this big transition. The kids and parents have loved it!
The school will have a “Hispanic Heritage – Taste of Countries” event on Oct. 19 to let students experience the food, music, and décor of countries in Central and South America. On Oct. 29, VIPP is planning the Somerset Spooktacular with costumes, candy, and Halloween scares. Finally, the school will honor its volunteers by hosting a “Parent Night Out” event followed by a kid meetup ice-skating event at the Panther Den.
If you would like to sponsor or get involved, we’d love to get you plugged in. Stay tuned for information on our signature winter event!
Westglades Middle
Principal Matthew Bianchi
Stay connected to Westglades!
Westglades Middle School has so many ways for parents to stay connected and in the know. Please follow us on our social media accounts and visit our website to find up-to-date information on everything going on at Westglades.
Here is our program spotlight:
Westglades Middle School has several amazing programs and opportunities for our students. This month we wanted to highlight our band program. The school boasts a comprehensive band program, offering Beginning Band, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Honors credit, Marching Wolves, and soon a Jazz Band.
The band has been invited to perform at Disney World and Universal Studios. Both the Concert and Symphonic bands have earned All Superior ratings at Music Performance Assessments. In 2019, Westglades Bands had 26 students placed in the Broward All-County Band, more than any other school. During 2020 e-learning, Westglades Bands placed four students into the Florida All-State Band. In Spring 2021, the band produced a Virtual Concert with the Westglades Orchestra program, which is on YouTube.
What’s happening at MSD high school
How exciting it was to welcome our Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) Eagles back to campus! We were strategic in ensuring that our students felt confident about the transition from online learning to face-to-face instruction. As a result, we hosted “Fly Like an Eagle,” a two-day school orientation program designed to give incoming students a jump-start on a successful high school career.
Our “Back to the Fundamentals” theme for the 2021-2022 school year has proved very successful, as we made sure to get back to the basics but also remind everyone that education is fun.
As soon as we started to get settled in, we realized that Homecoming was right around the corner. Our superhero theme didn’t dare disappoint. We kept with the tradition of hosting our Friday afternoon parade and Homecoming game, followed by the Homecoming dance on Saturday.
In addition to all of the festivities, we were honored to collaborate with the city of Parkland in recognition of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 with a special presentation by our Drama Department at City Hall. Sydney Lotz and Reese Garrity conducted readings from “With Their Eyes,” a play written by high school students who witnessed the towers come down. Caroline Eaton sang the National Anthem.
With testing season approaching, we have partnered with the city of Parkland to offer SAT and ACT preparation on select Saturdays for all MSD students and Parkland residents, free of charge. We’ve already seen an amazing turnout. We are thrilled to be back and look forward to an amazing 2021-2022 school year. Stay tuned for more information on the outstanding things going on at MSD!