Westlake Weekly – November 2, 2018

Click HERE for this week’s Westlake Weekly Podcast

Parent Survey: Please click HERE fill our parent survey use to rate your family’s experience at Westlake Charter School during the 2018-19 school year.  These questions help us evaluate how we are doing on our current strategic plan.

Conference Week: Conference week is next week, November 5th through the 9th. Remember, November 5th-9th will be early dismissal for all grades to allow for time to meet with each of our families – Kindergarten will dismiss at 1:00 PM and 1st-8th grade will dismiss at 1:30 PM. Our BASE program will be open after school until 6:00 PM each day. Click HERE to scheduled your conference. Click HERE for instructions on how to sign up.

AS Live Clubs Volunteers: Our fall session of AS Live Clubs is under way and the kids are having a blast crafting, gardening, playing basketball, and so much more! Click HERE to sign up to lead a club next session. It’s fun and easy, and the kids love the experiences you offer! Email [email protected] with questions.

Call for Coaches: Families, we’re recruiting BASKETBALL and DODGEBALL coaches and referees for our winter season of Explorer Athletics! Click HERE for more information, to sign up to help out, OR refer a coach! Click HERE for the link for teen coach sign-ups. Email Allison Chavez [email protected] with questions.

Veterans Day/BASE CLOSED: School and BASE will be closed on Monday, November 12th in observance of Veteran’s Day.

Thanksgiving Break: School will be closed November 19th to 23rd for Thanksgiving Break. Our BASE program will be open from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM on November 19th and 20th.

Whole School Morning meeting:  Families are welcome to join us for our end of trimester whole school morning meeting! At the whole school morning meeting we will sing songs, celebrate students and build community in the same way we do in class each day.

• K-2:  Wednesday, November 7th, 8:45 AM- 9:30 AM
• 3-5: Wednesday, November 7th, 9:45 AM – 10:30 AM

6th – 8th Grade ONLY Advisory Fishbowl– Please join us as our 6-8 grade students discuss ways to address the important topic of Bully Prevention. On November 16th from 8:15 AM – 8:57 AM, you will join a small group of 6-8th grade students and a staff member and engage in a guided conversation about Bully Prevention. Click HERE to sign up to be a part of this event.

Homework Help at North Natomas Library: Did you know students K-12 can receive free homework help on Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:30pm at the North Natomas Library.  No need to register! Homework Help is ideal for:

• Students who need regular homework assistance
• Students needing guidance on large projects or reports
• Students whose parents are not native English speakers and may want their kids to have help with spelling, grammar and writing assignments
• Students who would benefit from study skill building and mentoring from a trained teen volunteer

Olympic Triathlon: You have probably been hearing a lot about the Olympic Triathlon but may not be sure exactly what it is. The Olympic Triathlon is our biggest fundraiser of the year. It isn’t just about fundraising but is also about celebrating what sets us apart from so many other schools. Our three specialties of Art, PE and Spanish taught by credentialed teachers! At Westlake we do not ask you to sell magazines, cookie dough, coupons or anything else. This is the one and only fundraiser we ask each and every student to participate in.

• Have you had a chance to checkout our new online donation system? You are able to personalize a family donation site to send to friends and family, post on social media or show to co-workers in the office. Please visit http://pledgestar.com/westlakecharter to set up your family donation page. You can customize it with student name(s), a photo and donation goal. You then quickly set it up to send an email explaining why WCS is amazing and how they can help us meet our goal this year.
• Our school wide goal is to have each student contribute $180 which represents $1 for every day of school. We encourage families to give what they can whether it is less or more than the goal amount. We are striving for 100% participation from all students to contribute at least $5 towards our Olympic Triathlon Fundraising efforts.
• Over the years families have come up with many create ways to fundraise including making and selling items, a lemonade or hot cocoa stand, sending a video about why they love WCS to potential donors, garage sales and more. You can raise money any way that works for your family!
• We will be collecting checks and cash at the Maybrook entrance on Tuesday mornings from 8-8:40am. Students will receive prizes and recognition based on online and in person donations.
• On Thursday, November 29th our students will participate in a special day of learning on the Olympic Triathlon Event Day. This day is completely staffed and planned by our parent volunteers alongside some fabulous WCS staff members. We need your help to make this day fun and successful for our school and students. Please be on the lookout for an event day sign up soon. In the meantime, if you would like to get involved with planning please click HERE and fill out the form to be contacted. We currently need help planning the obstacle course, making class flags and more.
• Chipotle Family Night Out: Join us for a fundraiser to support Westlake Charter School on Tuesday, November 6th between 4pm and 8pm. Just tell the cashier at 2800 Del Paso Road Suite 100 you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 33% of the proceeds will be donated to WCS.

Family Science Night: Please join us on Wednesday, November 14th at 5:30pm for a fun and interactive Sierra Nevada Journeys Family Science Night. The first half of the event will be full of a dozen different hands on STEM stations for all ages to enjoy. Beginning at 6:15pm, families break up into teams for a friendly design challenge with the goal of launching, testing or measuring an item you just built together. What an incredible opportunity to experience hands on learning with the entire family!

We need volunteers to make this fun night a success. Please Click HERE to sign up!

Amazon Smile: When you start your holiday shopping this month (or next) please consider making all Amazon purchases at https://smile.amazon.com/ and add Westlake Charter as your charitable organization. Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice when you shop at smile.amazon.com. Thank you!

Kudos: As our first season of Explorer Athletics comes to a close with the Championship Flag Football and Volleyball games, we are reflecting on how well it has gone. A huge part of this success has been due to the volunteer coaches, scorekeepers and all the parents who helped to make this season possible. Thank you so much for making it possible to have over 100 athletes participate over the past two months. This wouldn’t have been possible without you!