As Westwood has welcomed families, students have
demonstrated academic growth, particularly in math
and science. Westwood students are 69 percent
proficient or advanced in science, compared to 62
percent statewide, and the school has TVAAS growth
scores in math, reading, and science well above the
state average.
Mr. Fuhrman is quick to credit the school’s teachers
with nurturing a culture of both high expectations
and caring for students. Teachers regularly come to
him with a “tremendous amount of data,” Mr. Fuhrman said, and a genuine concern for every student’s
needs is always present.
“We don’t just simply teach to the middle. We teach
to every child,” Mr. Fuhrman said. “If we can’t do that
on our own, we find the support that’s going to help
us do that. We look for the support structures and
really pursue them once we find them.”
An outdoor classroom gives kids hands-on experiences with gardening, plants, and caring for rabbits.
And most recently, an $80,000 21st Century Community Learning Center Grant and a $3,500 Bonnaroo Works Fund grant provided funding for a portable
Maker Lab. About 20 kids are in the lab each day
after school, working with community mentors and
journaling discoveries in writing. Fourth- and fifthgrade participants have assembled a Raspberry
Pi computer, built circuitry, engineered a catapult,
flown a drone helicopter, and experimented with a
Weatherbug station now situated at the school. Like
many Westwood programs, the Maker Lab offers a
family component through its monthly Family Maker
Saturday event.
“We really see our school as a collective family,
and anyone who is connected with that, we want
to make sure they feel that familial bond with us,”
said Thomas Fuhrman, Westwood’s principal.
“Any given day after school, you’ll find kids using
iPad Minis to control robots,” said Mr. Fuhrman.
For Westwood special education teacher Elise Layne,
the school’s success stems from student support
structures that enable academic growth. A community spirit brings high expectations within reach.
“The children aren’t afraid to take risks because they
feel safe in the classroom,” Ms. Layne said. “I think,
when you walk through our doors, you can feel it.”
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