Westlake Weekly – July 21, 2017

July 21, 2017

Greetings, Explorer Families!

Welcome to the 2017-2018 School year! Our first day of school is on schedule at the new campus for August 16th, and we are excited to see you there! Leading up to the launch of school on our brand new campus, we wanted to reach out and get you thinking about some upcoming opportunities. Included in the “Save the Dates” tab of this blogpost are several important upcoming events and communications including links to an academic calendar and a bell schedule. Please keep an eye on your email inbox and your mailbox as we intend to begin sending home communications during the next several weeks and a welcome back packet in the first week of August.

Walking through our community, the most frequently asked question we hear is: Will the campus be ready on time?  Yes. We are opening school, as planned, on time. Our construction team worked hard through the rainiest winter on record to make sure our classrooms, offices and flexible learning spaces would all be completed on time. Back in April, as the rains began to subside, our construction team was forced to focus its efforts on sitework, classrooms and learning spaces to ensure that we open on time; therefore, when the school opens, the team will continue to work on the Gymnasium, the Cafeteria and our Library Media Center until they are complete and ready for use. Our staff have already crafted plans to ensure our outdoor dining areas are clean, safe and shaded to ensure student nutrition is a focus as we launch the year.

We know everyone is excited to see our new campus, however, the first day that the school will be open to our families is August 15th, at our Meet the Teacher Event. While we would love to introduce you to the campus earlier, we feel we need the time to continue construction and prepare for your students. When you arrive for Meet the Teacher, we will be sure to have tour maps and walking guides ready so that you can get a good look at our new home.

When you first step onto our new #ExplorerCampus, we hope that you will recognize the purposeful design features that align the construction of this facility to our Westlake Charter School pillars of instruction and the mission of our school.

Our Mission: We demonstrate what is possible when school and community collaborate to create inspiring adults with the academic and social-emotional readiness to lead as Global Citizens.

We demonstrate what is possible when school and community collaborate…
As we launch this school year, we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to set traditions of collaboration within our community. For example, we will need our families to each commit to working together on our daily walk, bike and ride to school program and follow all the drop off & pick up guidelines outlined in our waystowestlake.com website. When we work together, we can set a tradition that will demonstrate what is possible when we collaborate. You will notice that this commitment is also present in our school design: many spaces, both inside and outside of the classrooms, have been dedicated to student and staff collaboration as well as the intentional connectedness of our Gymnasium, Multi Purpose Room, Library Media Center and Indoor/ Outdoor stages. In these large gathering areas, we intend to show the world what is possible when Westlake families get together at events like the Fall Festival, only a few months away!

…to create inspiring adults with the academic and social-emotional readiness…
Westlake has a 12 year history of academic excellence. As we designed this new campus, we planned for state of the art 1:1 technology, science labs, flexible learning spaces that will allow for hands-on project based learning, as well as indoor/outdoor learning areas that will allow our teachers to design cutting-edge exploratory and personalized learning experiences for all our students. To support the social-emotional development of each student, our campus has been mindfully designed with play areas, outdoor spaces, as well as special places just for when a student needs a break. Furthermore, we will continue to bring our WCS Core Values to life on this new campus through videos, in-class discussions, thematic units and experiences designed to promote the social-emotional wellness of all our students.

…to lead as Global Citizens.
Where better than in Natomas, one of the most diverse regions in the nation, to design a school that intentionally maps itself to the four corners of the globe? As you enter our campus, you will recognize that each building is mapped to a continent. Key features of each building are named after wondrous regions from the continent assigned to the building. For example, the Flex Rooms in the 4th and 5th grade neighborhoods, representing the continent of Asia, are named Mount Everest and Valley of the Flowers, while the Kinder & 1st Grade Flex Rooms in Australia are named Kangaroo Island and the Great Barrier Reef. Each building will inspire our students to delve deeply into our place in a global world and will inspire our teachers to design thematic studies that help our students grow to become inspiring global citizens.

Families, welcome to our new home. We look forward to starting school on time, and collaborating together as we work to create traditions. Please keep your eyes on your inbox as our school will be continuing to communicate each week via blogpost on our website at westlakecharter.com.

We look forward to the launch of an amazing year with your family.

Sincerely,
John Eick
Executive Director
Westlake Charter School

Save the Date: Westlake Charter School 2017-18

August 4, 2017 – Welcome Back Packets Mailed
Our staff will be sending home the 2017-2018 Welcome Back Packet this week. Please complete all of the enclosed forms, and place them back in the envelope. Bring the envelope to the Back to School BBQ or to Meet the Teacher. We are hoping to receive 100% of our Welcome Back Packets completed and returned before the first day of school is over. If you do not receive a packet by August 10th, please email [email protected] or call (916) 567-5760.

August 12, 2017 – WAVE Back to School BBQ – 11:00 AM
Come join the fun at Valley Oak Park as our entire community gathers right next door to our brand new campus on the weekend before school begins. The BBQ will begin at 11 AM. Take a look at our enclosed Back to School BBQ flyer for all the information!

August 15, 2017 – Meet the Teacher – 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
This will be the first day that the new school will be open to the public. We have extended the length of this event so that all families can take a self-guided tour of the new campus, as well as find your student’s classroom, and meet the teacher. This event is two hours long from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Class lists will be posted in multiple locations across campus as well as on our website prior to the event.

August 16, 2017 – First Day of School
This is the big day! We need everyone to plan a route to school that follows the guidelines on our waystowestlake.com website. Let’s demonstrate what is possible when we all work together. We will open the day with 6th-8th grade students reporting to their advisory classes by 8:15 AM, while Kindergarten-5th grade gather for our first Morning Line Up at 8:30 AM on the black top. All students should plan to be 15 minutes early to find their schedule and their classroom. Click here for the Bell Schedule and the Academic Calendar.

August 16 – 18, 2017 – Kindergarten Conferences
Kindergarten Conferences are a time for each Kindergarten family to meet one on one with their student’s teacher.  Kindergarten dismissal for August 16th-18th will be at 11:30 AM, immediately following kindergarten lunch.  Please visit www.westlakecharter.com to schedule your family’s kindergarten conference.

If you have any questions, thoughts or concerns regarding any of the above information, or if you just want to reach out and wish us luck as we prepare for this exciting new year, we would appreciate it if you contacted us by emailing [email protected].