Westlake’s Education Advisory Board’s (EAB) next meeting is Thursday November 5th.
At this September 17th EAB meeting, 22 people squeezed into Westlake City Hall’s tiny conference room and two people sat just outside the door. This is the kind of engagement we’re looking for people! Instead of the usual paltry Education Advisory Board plus one or two residents.
What brought all of this interest? Westlake’s new elementary school (current moniker by the County: 23-H). Slated to open next school year(!), 23-H already has a bunch of walls up!
Learn about 23-H’s April groundbreaking HERE; an update from March HERE; and older news from November 2025 HERE!
1) One point that was hammered home by 23-H Principal Darline Winewski (learn more about here HERE), outgoing Palm Beach County School District 6 Board Member Marcia Andrews, incoming Board Member John McGovern, AND PBC’s North Regional Superintendent Dr. Camille Long (yes, they were ALL present!) is this, and it’s simple: the most important thing we can do to make this school its very best is to have strong civic engagement at the upcoming PBC School District Board meetings. Those three precious minutes of Public Comments allowed at these meetings are EVERYTHING. Literally. It is official public record of the most potent kind: the kind that people feel strong enough to show up for.
Facebook is not official public record. Even lil ol’ Westlake Wanderer is not official public record.
So showing up and showing out to these meetings is of the utmost importance. Please, talk to your friends, family, and neighbors once these meetings are scheduled (they will be well advertised) and make sure as many people with good ideas, questions, and concerns… show up! Word of mouth is so important here.
2) Principal Darline Winewski wants to clarify that right now, at this point in the process, she is ready to get feedback, hear your thoughts and concerns, and be a sounding board, but she is not yet a fount of information. The reason is because almost no decisions have been made yet; so much is up in the air still.
What she has been hearing is top priority: VPK and after-school programs.
Principal Winewski really does want to hear from you! She has said it before, she would rather have a line of 300 caring and involved parents/guardians outside her door than none at all. Hear hear!
3) The process of establishing 23-H’s personality is ongoing (see this gorgeous flowchart below). Starting in October, the School District of Palm Beach County’s Advisory Boundary Committee (ABC) will begin analyzing this current year’s 11-day count data (see the first box under FALL-WINTER). This data will lead to zoning recommendations by the superintendent, I believe Dr. Long, which after a series of double-checks, the ABC will eventually adopt. (Resultant studies will be published at pbcschoolzones.info.)
A way to make your zoning concerns of official public record, if you can’t make the meetings (but please do!), is to email them to public.comment@palmbeachschools.org. For example, Westlake not being zoned for two schools within our own city limits: Golden Grove Elementary School and Western Pines Middle School is something that many of us want addressed during this process.
From here, the District will pull the demographics (i.e., records, assessments and such) to determine what the students zoned for 23-H have already been assessed for and determine enrichment programs from there.
Then, it’s up to us, again OFFICIALLY, to help fill out the clubs and extracurriculars that will round out the school.
4) If you have had your student PRIVATELY assessed for unique needs, whether it’s gifted, autism, speech impairment, etc., if you feel comfortable, NOW is the time to please share those results with your student’s PBC public school, if you haven’t already. As seen in item 3 above, this is how the District determines which special programs 23-H needs and deserves (as allowed by budgetary constraints).
5) The coyote mascot is not as sure a thing as I thought it was. It looks like this is up for grabs as well as the school’s name. But these resourceful, communicative and, gregarious animals were running rampant in Westlake in its early days. They still do, to be honest. And Principal Winewski says the wily and CUTE coyote has tested well with students.
6) The naming committee exists! It’s comprised of three community members (one member is EAB member Krystal Lexima and one member is from the Acreage); two district staff members; and two teeny tiny wee lil’ students!
This committee will select three names from all of the suggestions they’ve received (OFFICIALLY, remember) and provide the School District Board with these three names and the reasons they rose to the top above all the others. From there, the District Board will select a name according to policy. The next opportunity to OFFICIALLY suggest a name is at Westlake’s October 6th City Council meeting!
Ultimately, the name should not create confusion with established local schools, programs, or businesses. For example, I suggested Chrysalis Elementary, but this is apparently the name of a nearby mental health services and therapy center. While Westlake’s first community is the Hammocks, there is already a Pierce Hammock Elementary School. Horizons, there’s a New Horizons Elementary in Wellington. So we’ve got to avoid that kind of redundancy.
Westlake Elementary seems to be a popular suggestion, but this one is a no-go because, first, the school could have students from outside of our city and, second, the name could still be polarizing to some in the area. This school is a county school and should be palatable for everyone.
These are the types of big picture, long term implications that need to be considered. Keep them in mind when conducting your own spitballing.
7) 23-H WILL have a fifth grade its first year. The special note is that if you have a rising fifth grader next year, they can choose to stay at their current school, instead of having to move to 23-H for their last year of elementary.
See you at Westlake’s October 6th City Council meeting where Principal Winewski will be taking name suggestions again!
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