Westlake Weekly Podcast: CLICK HERE for this week’s Westlake Weekly Podcast.

Weekly Surveillance Testing  Interest: Click HERE if you are interested in a weekly COVID test on campus for yourself or your students.

While we have Rapid Response kits available for students showing symptoms of or who have been exposed to COVID , we also offer weekly surveillance testing to our staff members. We are considering offering weekly surveillance testing to our students, and need to know how many families are interested to create the best plan. 

• What is surveillance testing? This is COVID-19 testing when you don’t have any symptoms and have not been exposed. 
• Why would someone participate in weekly testing? Surveillance testing can help catch asymptomatic cases to keep them from spreading. Some families have reached out because they have immunocompromised family members in the household, and would feel safer knowing their students are not carrying the virus home. 
• When would the surveillance testing happen? We are considering doing the weekly surveillance testing after school on Wednesdays.
• Which test is used? We use the PCR self-swab, which is a lower nasal swab. Results are usually received  in 2-4 days. The state of California is experiencing a shortage of Rapid Response tests and have asked us to reserve them only for exposed or symptomatic cases. 
• CLICK HERE if you are interested in having your student(s) participate in weekly surveillance testing.

WCS Families, we need you!: Are you willing to get paid as a Substitute Staff member for a day? We need Substitute Teachers, Substitute Yard Duties, and Substitute Classroom Aides! 

You will be trained and paid for your support! If you would like to be a Substitute Teacher, but don’t have a credential, we’ll help you get credentialed and even help pay for it!

Click the links above  to join our team or email [email protected] with any questions, thoughts, or suggestions.

4th-8th Illuminate Parent Portal:  4-8th grade students and parents now have access to view their grades.  A one sheeter, with your student’s access code, was sent home with your child on Friday.  To log into the parent portal go to:  westlakecharter.illuminatehc.com If you have questions, please email [email protected].

K-8 Enrichment launch: After School Live is back! The fall enrichment session begins Monday, October 11. Click HERE to see what classes are being offered and to register. Class capacity is limited, so sign up sooner rather than later to save your spot. Scholarships are available; please email Allison Chavez directly to request a scholarship or with any questions: [email protected].

Health and safety: Please see our Health and Safety Guidebook and our COVID Dashboard on the Return to Schools website. 

K12 Traffic Campaign: Families, please use waystowestlake.com to plan your safe route to school for arrival and dismissal. We have  launched our Traffic Safety Campaign and are grateful for every Explorer Family who has made safe choices. 

1. Respect all traffic laws. Help keep traffic flowing. If you are slowing down traffic to save time, the time you save is being paid by others.
2. Park responsibility. Do not block driveways, crosswalks, or intersections. If you couldn’t walk away from your car all day, then you have probably parked incorrectly. 
3. Use the Crosswalks. You may think that it is saving time, but jaywalking creates tension and stress for drivers making accidents more likely.

School Supplies Donations: Thank you, families for your support! Every student has the pencils, folders, chromebooks, pens and supplies they need thanks to your support.. We are 43% of our goal for school supply donations with our Kindergarten families leading the way at 95% of their grade level goal. CLICK HERE to make your School Supplies donation today.

In case you missed it…

BASE October Break: Families, we want to hear from you: are you interested in sending your Explorer(s) to BASE over October break? If so, please CLICK HERE to let us know. Your responses will help us decide if we offer an October break camp and what it will look like.

COVID Symptoms: If your student has any COVID-19 symptoms, please keep them home until they are symptom free for 24 hours. Symptoms include: Fever over 100.4, sore throat, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, muscle/body aches, cough, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell. If your student has any of those symptoms, please keep them home until they are symptom-free for 24 hours and email [email protected] to report their absence. 

COVID Testing Availability: We will continue to partner with NUSD to provide, free, optional COVID testing each week for students and staff. Furthermore, WCS will provide on campus rapid response testing for students by family request. Please look for information as we get closer to the first week of school. CLICK HERE to make an appointment.

Spirit Store Update: Be on the lookout for our Spirit Store launch in the next few days. The site is almost ready and we have over 40 new items to choose from including dozens of items featuring Everest the Explorer. We cannot wait for you to see it!

Dos Coyotes Fundraiser:  Thank you to everyone who participated in the first restaurant fundraiser of the year last week at Panda Express. Our next restaurant fundraiser is coming up on Wednesday, September 22nd from 4-8pm at Dos Coyotes (2701 Del Paso Road). There are 3 easy ways to participate. Call and mention WAVE, order online using code DosFun or in-person and mention WAVE. We will receive 20% of the total sales. Thank you for the continued support!

Olympic Triathlon Fundraising Committee: Each year we host an Olympic Triathlon to celebrate our three speciality programs and raise money for Westlake Charter School. This is our only large fundraiser of the year and we need a lot of help to make it fun and successful. We are looking for a team of volunteers to start planning as soon as possible. Please reach out to Amber Hustead [email protected] to get involved today!

Kudos: Several parents and guardians have been volunteering at Walking School Bus and in front of the campus directing traffic. These efforts increase safety, decrease congestion and make the morning less stressful for our families. Thank you to each of our fantastic volunteers. You are making a huge difference in our community!