Westlake Weekly – August 18, 2017

Important Information Regarding the Solar Eclipse

Dear Explorer Families,

Our school community has been planning to step outside and view the solar eclipse on Monday; we purchased ISO Certified glasses from Amazon.com, the glasses were shipped to our school, and our staff were all preparing for the event. When we unwrapped the glasses, box by box, we found that some glasses had the ISO Certification stamp on them, and some glasses did not. Erring on the side of caution, our administrative team contacted the vendor, who has asked that we destroy the  entire order, as it may be possible that we were shipped non-certified glasses. Using non ISO certified glasses while looking directly at the solar eclipse could lead to permanent eye damage, and for this reason, we have cancelled this event at school.

We will be encouraging classroom teachers to continue with their planned lessons on this event and expect that many classrooms will view the eclipse safely on the live stream from NASA.

We apologize for the inconvenience and disappointment this may create. We are also disappointed, but would rather err on the side of caution when it comes to student safety.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to reach out directly to the WCS administration team.

Click Here to view the response from Amazon regarding the glasses.

Ways to Westlake: 

Thank you, families, for working together to make arrival and dismissal a little smoother each day. Here are a couple highlights:

• Thank you to the families committing to dropping off in safe drop zones: the parking lot and green zones away from campus. These zones ensure that students can enter campus without crossing any streets.
• Please use crosswalks, we have seen too many families ignoring traffic laws and creating dangerous situations to save a few steps. Let’s all teach our kids traffic safety together.
• Thank you to the hundreds of families committing to using the walking school bus, or the rear gates to enter and leave campus. Eliminating foot traffic in the parking lot makes it much safer for everyone.

To help plan your safe route to and from school go to: WaysToWestlake.com

K-8 Back to School Night: 

We are looking forward to welcoming our Explorer families to our amazing Back to School Night event August 23, 2017. Families will have the option of attending session 1 or session 2.

K-5:

Session 1: 5:30 – 6:05 PM

Passing Period: 6:05 – 6:10 PM

Session 2: 6:10 – 6:40 PM

Passing Period: 6:40 – 6:45 PM

Open Session: 6:35 – 7:30 PM (Classrooms open for questions and speciality classroom visits)

6-8:

Session 1: 5:30 – 6:05 PM (Advisory Classroom)

Passing Period: 6:05 – 6:10 PM  

Session 2: 6:10 – 6:40 PM (Advisory Classroom)

Passing Period: 6:40 – 6:45 PM

Open Session 3: 6:45 – 7:30 PM  (Visit Humanities and Math/Science and Speciality Classrooms)

RSVP to use BASE at Back to School Night

Back to School Night is a Parents and Staff only event – please do not bring your student to Back to School Night. We enjoy the opportunity to talk about school, our shared expectations and student learning without the students in the room: just adult to adult. However, we know that some families may be in a pinch and need somewhere safe for their Explorers to be during this event, so, we have asked some of our BASE team to work overtime so that BASE can be available during Back to School Night. Spaces are limited, so please RSVP.

Please CLICK HERE to reserve a space for your student at BASE during Back to School Night.

School Lunch: 

Click HERE to see this week’s school lunch menu.

Volunteerism: As you know, volunteerism and parental involvement are a huge part of what makes Westlake Charter special. We ask our families to participate and volunteer a minimum of 30 hours each school year. We know your time is precious. Not only does your involvement in your child’s education lead to better grades, higher test scores and raising their self-esteem, but it connects YOU to our school community and all the great things that are happening here.

We have many exciting opportunities for you to get involved, meet other parents and make a difference in our amazing community. We are currently looking for individuals and teams to lead various events throughout the year and help us meet our fundraising goals!

Logging Volunteer Hours: We listened to your feedback and created an easy, one click way to log parent volunteer hours! You should have received the instruction sheet with your Family Name which will be used to log and track your hours. It is that simple. Please contact [email protected] with any questions or changes. Please Click HERE to visit the new form to log your hours!

Spirit Store: The Westlake Charter Spirit Store is open! We have a wide variety of items available including t-shirts, polos, outerwear and bags. Just Click HERE to browse our selection of WCS gear and place your order today. The deadline to submit an order is August 28th at noon and items are scheduled to arrive in mid-September. Don’t delay, the next order won’t be made until Spring 2018.

WAVE Calendar of Events: WAVE has a full calendar of events planned for the upcoming school year and we are excited to share it with you. Please Click HERE to learn more about WAVE and access the full schedule of events, meetings, coffee talks and more. Many events are still in need of leads and volunteers so please contact Amber Hustead, WAVE President, at [email protected] for more information or to start getting involved today. These incredible events cannot happen without your support!

Sign Up to Run an After School Club: Our WAVE Team is partnering with the school to create the After School LIVE (Locally Inspired Vibrant Explorers) Program! After School Live will launch the first six week session soon, so now is the time to sign up to run a club! Click Here to view the Volunteer Flyer.