🧡 Unity Day is October 22 🧡
Join us in standing together against bullying and promoting kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.
We invite all students, staff, and families to wear ORANGE to show unity and support! Let’s flood our school with orange and send a powerful message of togetherness.
Happy Wednesday!
Your voice matters to us. Please take a few minutes to complete the DCPS Stakeholder Survey and share your feedback about West Riverside Elementary. Your input helps us continue to grow and make our school the best it can be for every student.
📝 Take the survey here: Data Triangle Survey
🍂 Our Fall Festival is almost here! 🍂
Join us Friday, October 17 from 6–8 PM at West Riverside Elementary for an evening full of food, fun, and friends!
Enjoy games, music, food trucks, a petting zoo, a giant slide, pizza, prizes, and more.
Admission is free for WRES students and $5 for parents and non-WRES students (includes one slice of pizza).
Don’t forget to scan the QR code on the flyer to preview our Silent Auction items. There are some amazing prizes you won’t want to miss!
Join us Friday, October 17 from 6–8 PM at West Riverside Elementary for an evening full of food, fun, and friends!
Enjoy games, music, food trucks, a petting zoo, a giant slide, pizza, prizes, and more.
Admission is free for WRES students and $5 for parents and non-WRES students (includes one slice of pizza).
Don’t forget to scan the QR code on the flyer to preview our Silent Auction items. There are some amazing prizes you won’t want to miss!
Last week, we celebrated Hispanic Heritage with pride and unity. From colorful flag attire to traditional outfits and festive fun, our students and staff embraced the beauty of our diverse cultures.
At West Riverside, we honor the unique stories that make us who we are — and the joy of coming together as one school family.
🌟 Classroom Spotlight – Ms. Kariokis’ 1st Grade Dual Language Class! 🌟
Our 1st grade Dual Language students are becoming talented storytellers! In Ms. Kariokis’ class, students are diving into narrative writing, learning how to bring their stories to life with strong beginnings, vivid details, and a clear sense of closure.
They’re practicing how to wrap up their stories thoughtfully—making sure every ending feels complete and meaningful.
¡Excelente trabajo, pequeños escritores! Keep shining, storytellers!
Our 1st grade Dual Language students are becoming talented storytellers! In Ms. Kariokis’ class, students are diving into narrative writing, learning how to bring their stories to life with strong beginnings, vivid details, and a clear sense of closure.
They’re practicing how to wrap up their stories thoughtfully—making sure every ending feels complete and meaningful.
¡Excelente trabajo, pequeños escritores! Keep shining, storytellers!
West Riverside is on the move!
Our Gators joined schools across Team Duval to celebrate National Walk and Bike to School Day. Students and families came together for a morning full of smiles, movement, and community pride as they walked, rode, and rolled their way to school.
This nationwide event promotes safe, active, and healthy ways to get to school while building strong neighborhood connections. We loved seeing so many families participate and start the day the West Riverside way—together.
Our Gators joined schools across Team Duval to celebrate National Walk and Bike to School Day. Students and families came together for a morning full of smiles, movement, and community pride as they walked, rode, and rolled their way to school.
This nationwide event promotes safe, active, and healthy ways to get to school while building strong neighborhood connections. We loved seeing so many families participate and start the day the West Riverside way—together.
Thank you to our neighborhood partner, Willow Branch Library, for joining us at this month’s SAC meeting and sharing the exciting events happening in October.
Families can look forward to Turn Up for Tech, Reading with Stormy, Movie and Craft Night, and even discovering the Goosebumps series. There is something for everyone at the library this month.
See the flyers for all the details and dates.
Families can look forward to Turn Up for Tech, Reading with Stormy, Movie and Craft Night, and even discovering the Goosebumps series. There is something for everyone at the library this month.
See the flyers for all the details and dates.
A huge thank you to Englewood High School’s Latino Rams for kicking off our Hispanic Heritage Month festivities Monday!
Their energy, pride, and celebration of culture set the perfect tone as we begin this special month of honoring Hispanic heritage, traditions, and contributions.
Their energy, pride, and celebration of culture set the perfect tone as we begin this special month of honoring Hispanic heritage, traditions, and contributions.
Join us for SAC Meeting on Tuesday, September 30th at 4:30 p.m. (right before the PTA meeting)!
Join us as we honor the rich traditions, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino communities. To make this week even more fun and engaging for our students, we’ll have themed dress-up days!
Check out the flyer below for all the details and let’s show our school spirit together!
Don’t forget to snap pictures and share your celebrations, we can’t wait to see our gators showing off their pride and creativity!
Check out the flyer below for all the details and let’s show our school spirit together!
Don’t forget to snap pictures and share your celebrations, we can’t wait to see our gators showing off their pride and creativity!
Classroom Spotlight – Ms. Gallegos’ Class 🌟
Our students in Ms. Gallegos’ class are hard at work generating, describing, and extending patterns! From colorful designs to number sequences, they are building strong math foundations while having fun recognizing the order in the world around them.
Keep up the great work, scholars!
Our students in Ms. Gallegos’ class are hard at work generating, describing, and extending patterns! From colorful designs to number sequences, they are building strong math foundations while having fun recognizing the order in the world around them.
Keep up the great work, scholars!
We are honored to recognize Ms. DePriest as our West Riverside Elementary Teacher of the Year. For 24 years, she has poured her heart into teaching, and for the past 14 years, she has been a cornerstone of our West Riverside family.
As a first grade teacher and our Extended Day Director, she has touched countless lives with her dedication, and unwavering love for children. Her passion, her commitment, and her deep love for her students and our community shine through in everything she does. West Riverside is better because of her, and we are proud to celebrate the incredible impact she has made and continues to make each day.
Good morning West Riverside families! It has been brought to our attention that some of the fundraiser materials that were sent out have the wrong school name and code on them. When you sign up to participate in the fundraiser, please search for West Riverside Elementary. Our school's code is 143803. Thank you for supporting our school!
Join us September 22–26 as we honor our nation’s history and freedoms with a week full of fun spirit days:
Monday: Red, White & Blue Day
Tuesday: Camouflage Day – Support Our Troops
Wednesday: Hats Off to Freedom!
Thursday: Crazy Hair + College Shirt Day
Friday: United in School Spirit
Monday: Red, White & Blue Day
Tuesday: Camouflage Day – Support Our Troops
Wednesday: Hats Off to Freedom!
Thursday: Crazy Hair + College Shirt Day
Friday: United in School Spirit
Located in the heart of the historic district, West Riverside offers a unique learning experience designed to build a strong foundation for your child’s educational future. As a Dual Language school, we provide academic instruction in both English and Spanish, giving students the opportunity to become bilingual, bi-literate, and bicultural.
We offer an immersive environment, skilled teachers, a 50/50 split of classroom time in English & Spanish, strong family engagement, multi-cultural experiences, plenty of community partners, and program continuity to middle and high school Dual Language programs. Students at West Riverside work torward becoming bilingual in elementary school and ultimately graduating high school with a Seal of Biliteracy.
Visit us today and see how West Riverside is preparing students for success—in multiple languages!
Tour Dates/Times:
October 18, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
November 22, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
December 13, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
We offer an immersive environment, skilled teachers, a 50/50 split of classroom time in English & Spanish, strong family engagement, multi-cultural experiences, plenty of community partners, and program continuity to middle and high school Dual Language programs. Students at West Riverside work torward becoming bilingual in elementary school and ultimately graduating high school with a Seal of Biliteracy.
Visit us today and see how West Riverside is preparing students for success—in multiple languages!
Tour Dates/Times:
October 18, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
November 22, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
December 13, 2025 (10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.)
🌟 Classroom Spotlight 🌟
Ms. Laguna’s 2nd graders are busy exploring science tools and practicing how to make observations and inferences just like real scientists! 🔬📝 They’re curious, engaged, and working together like pros.
Ms. Laguna’s 2nd graders are busy exploring science tools and practicing how to make observations and inferences just like real scientists! 🔬📝 They’re curious, engaged, and working together like pros.
Check out the Weekly Bulletin!
Thank you to all of the grandparents who walked their grandchild to school on Monday! Your support is invaluable to our students!
Our first classroom spotlight of the year is Ms. Gelinek's Spanish Language Arts class. These awesome fifth graders are learning about central idea and key details. They are reading and writing in Spanish! Not to mention, they are working cooperatively with partners like pros. Way to go WRES Gators! That's how we show Gator P.R.I.D.E. (Perseverance, Respect, Integrity, Determination, and Excellence)!
🎉🐊 West Riverside Elementary has earned PBIS Silver Status! 🎉
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) helps us build a positive school where students are celebrated for making great choices. One way we do this is through our PBIS Store “Gator Cart Friday”! Students can spend their Gator Bucks on fun items as a reward for showing Gator Greatness.
We’d love your help stocking our cart! Popular items include:
Candy & snacks
School supplies
Small toys & games
Drinks or juice boxes
Your donations make these celebrations possible and keep our students motivated! Thank you for helping us continue our PBIS success.
PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) helps us build a positive school where students are celebrated for making great choices. One way we do this is through our PBIS Store “Gator Cart Friday”! Students can spend their Gator Bucks on fun items as a reward for showing Gator Greatness.
We’d love your help stocking our cart! Popular items include:
Candy & snacks
School supplies
Small toys & games
Drinks or juice boxes
Your donations make these celebrations possible and keep our students motivated! Thank you for helping us continue our PBIS success.
