Baseline vs. Increased Capacity Schedule for Return to School: Families, we are so thankful for the collaboration and effort that took place to help Kindergarten – 8th grade students transition back to on-campus instruction safely. Many schools and districts are preparing to transition out of models such as our Baseline model, and return to school more often using increased capacity schedules. 

To successfully transition to what may come next, we will need to continue to collaborate with the incredible teams that have made the work possible up until now. Our teachers and staff members have done a fantastic job leading this work and these first weeks back have been a huge success, in part, because of the hard work of these teams. To be respectful of how hard everyone is working, we wanted to spend this first week back just focusing on safely transitioning our students back to campus. During this next week, we will meet with teams of staff members to discuss next steps. We will reach out to our families soon to discuss our plans for what comes next. 

To help our teams plan, we have launched a survey via email to families who have elected full time distance learning during our baseline return to school. Just like the survey in January, this survey asks if families will return while school is offered two days a week or four days a week. This information will help our teams plan for next steps regarding important decisions such as how long we may stay in our baseline schedule or how we might transition to our increased capacity schedule.

Thank you families for your collaboration and continued support of Westlake Charter School, we look forward to announcing next steps as soon as possible. 

Letter to our Community: Families it is with sadness and a heavy heart that we are sending this letter to our community to demonstrate our commitment to anti-racism in response to the recent violence experienced by the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in our nation. Click HERE to read this letter supporting our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities during this time of pain and suffering.   

Notify of COVID-19 Exposure: If a member of  your household has been exposed to COVID-19 or has tested positive to COVID-19  in the past 14 days, please be sure to email [email protected] so we can partner to follow the quarantine or isolation guidelines. Also, if you student has had any COVID-19 symptoms in the last 24 hours, please email [email protected] and your student’s teacher so your student can participate in Distance Learning until they have been symptom free for 24 hours. 

JoinWestlake.com: We have community members who are interested in how to enroll in Westlake Charter School. If you have friends or family who are interested, you can point them to JoinWestlake.com. While our enrollment lottery has already taken place for the 2021-2022 school year, it is not too late to be added to the waitlist. 

BASE: During Level 3: Baseline, our BASE program will be available for students. BASE will not be a drop-in program, due to the need to ensure social distancing, families will be required to make reservations and pre-pay for BASE. On Distance Learning scheduled days 8:10am-3:00pm BASE will be $45/day and on in-classroom scheduled days 11:00am-3:00pm BASE will be $25/day.

• Click HERE to make a BASE Reservation
• Click HERE for the BASE Registration Packet 
  • If you are not yet registered, please complete, scan and email the registration packet to [email protected]. You may also drop it off to a BASE staff member between 8:00am-2:00pm. Please call 916-567-5768 and someone will come out.
• Please note: Reservations and payments must be made a week in advance in order to attend BASE during Level 3: Baseline. If you are interested in attending March 22nd-26th, please make your reservation and payment by March 15th at 5pm.  

6-8 Advisory Fishbowl: Please join us on April 21st from 8:35 AM – 9:10 AM, you will join a small group of 6-8th grade students and a staff member and engage in a guided conversation about a topic that will be proposed by our students. We are solidifying the topic.  If you would like to participate with us click HERE to sign up to attend.

Baseline Daily Schedule: Each day students have the opportunity to meet live with their teacher either in distance learning or live on campus. Those live experiences are for 2.5 hours each day. (except Kinder 2 hours) For the remainder of the day, students should participate in independent learning activities that are prescribed by their child teacher(s) which may include: Specialties, Freckle, Lexia, and completing academic activities in Google Classroom. Please check Google Classroom daily to ensure your student is completing daily independent learning activities. These activities are not expected to take over 2 hours for any grade level.

Below is the minimum amount of time per grade level for independent learning activities each day:

• Kinder – 60 minutes
• 1st – 3rd – 80 minutes
• 4th – 8th – 90 minutes

Jibe Step Challenge: It is not too late to participate in Jibe’s Go for Gold Step Challenge. Click HERE to learn more and print the step log. Be sure to email the student’s step totals to [email protected] by April 5th to be entered to win a prize. 

Food and DL Kit Distribution:  Our Food Services and Distance Learning Kit Distribution will move to a new location this week to accommodate arrival and dismissal. Food and Distance Learning Kits will be inside the parking lot. Click HERE for a map. If you are picking up or dropping off a student, please stay to the right in the arrival/dismissal lane as usual. If you only need to pick up a meal or a kit, you can go around the arrival/dismissal lane and into the parking lot.

High School Happenings:

We have a great team forming so we wanted to put the call out one more timeWe will be working with our landscape architect and contractor to build tables, benches, and some fun architectural features for our high school’s outdoor space. If you build things or have a family member or friend who is a builder, Click HERE to complete our interest form.  

In case you missed it:

SDM Carline/Walking Update: Families, please be sure to set your preference.  If you are set as Car Line your pin number will not work for walking on that day. Click HERE for the School Dismissal Manager Video.

Virtual Orientation:  This week we’ve learned all about the health and safety protocols and the logistics of returning to campus during Morning Meeting and Advisory.  Click HERE to review these resources with your family as well.  

Seasonal Allergies: Our Return to Campus date coincides with an increase of seasonal allergies in Sacramento. Some seasonal allergy symptoms overlap with COVID-19 symptoms shown on page 9 of the Guidebook to Reopening. If your student has seasonal allergies, please reach out to your healthcare provider for documentation that the symptoms are typical of their underlying symptoms. Healthcare documentation is required to return to school after 24 hours without fever and improving symptoms. 

Office Appointments: During Distance Learning, our office is not open for visitors. If you need to pick up a device, headphones, or missed a Distance Learning Kit pick up, please schedule an appointment to pick up your item. Without an appointment, we may not have your items prepared, or may not have staff available to help. For virtual support, you can call 916-567-5760 or email [email protected]. Click HERE to make an appointment to pick up your item.

Virtual Science Night: Science Night is finally here! This is your last opportunity to register to join other Westlake families for a fun night of Stem activities. Our Virtual Family STEM Night hosted by Sierra Nevada Journeys takes place on Wednesday, March 31st from 6-6:30pm. This night is limited to the first 40 registered families. A link to join and materials list (typical household items) will be emailed after registration. Click HERE to sign up today. We hope to see you there!

International Festival: We want to learn about your culture at the 2021 International Festival! Each year at this unforgettable event families share food, traditions and information about their culture while taking a trip around the world exploring other cultures. This virtual event will launch on Sunday, April 25th. Are you interested in sharing recipes, crafts, traditions or information about your culture? This can be a video, picture, recipe, dance or just about anything else. We want to make sure as many cultures as possible are represented! Please click HERE to sign up or send an email to [email protected] to learn more. 

2021/22 WAVE Committees: Are you looking for a way to get more involved next year? We have several committees including Community/Family Nights, Fireworks Booth, Olympic Triathlon, International Festival, Staff Appreciation, Corporate Donations, Spirit Gear and more. All committees are in need of leads and members. Please send an email to [email protected] to learn more about these opportunities. Together we can make the 21/22 school year fantastic! 

Kudos: What a fantastic week of collaboration! Social media was full of students excited to return to campus. Our teachers found new ways to teach students on and off campus. Parents and staff ensured students were prepared to return safely. Students were led in outdoor activity time keeping a distance while having fun and getting the wiggles out. Thank you to each member of our Westlake Community for coming together to make this possible.