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

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

Weekly Surveillance Testing  After School Starting Wednesday, 9/22: CLICK HERE to pre-register your student. Once they are pre-registered, they just need to go to the testing location after school. At our high school testing will be done in the Oasis. At our K-8, testing will take place near the Parent Walking Gate. This is a self-swab test, so we would ask for the parent/guardian to be present if your student will need help doing the swab. Staff members are not allowed to swab students. 

• 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? Wednesdays after school. 1:00-1:30 PM at the high school and 1:30-2:00 PM at our K-8
• 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. 
• Can parents also be tested? Unfortunately, our CLIA waiver only covers staff and students. Family members can participate in the weekly community testing at NUSD. 

K-12 Spirit Day: Sports Day will be Friday, September 24th. Students and staff can dress in sports attire or clothing that represents your favorite sports team. No dangerous accessories (i.e., bats, hockey pucks, metal cleats). Show your WCS spirit by posting pictures on all social media platforms and using the hashtag #WcsSpiritFridays!  At our high school we will have a 

Call for Coaches: 6-8 athletics are back! Practices and games will start after October break. Right now, we’re recruiting volunteer basketball coaches for the fall session! If you or someone you know is interested, please reach out to Allison Chavez ([email protected]). CLICK HERE for our recruitment flyer with more information.

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].

BASE OVER BREAK: BASE will be open over October break! Here are the details:

• Monday-Friday from 7:00am to 6:00pm
• Half days (less than five hours) = $25 flat fee
• Full days (five hours or more) = $45 flat fee
• Pre-registration and pre-payment is required
• CLICK HERE to pre-register your Explorer(s). Upon receipt of your registration, we’ll let you know how to pre-pay to reserve your spot.

Yard Duty Position and Substitute Positions: WCS Families, we need you –  Click HERE to help. Are you willing to get paid as a Substitute Staff member for a day or even part of a day? We need Substitute Teachers, Substitute Yard Duties, and Substitute Classroom Aides! Families, if you’ve ever thought about stepping into the classroom and would like to be a Substitute Teacher, but don’t have a credential, we’ll guide you through the process to get credentialed and even help pay for it! For non-teaching positions, no credential is needed! Either way you will receive paid training to become a part of our team!

Bike Racks Installed at WCHS:   Thanks to a partnership with with JIBE our high school campus has a brand new set of bike racks installed.  We have several high school students who are riding their bikes to our campus.  We will have an event in the coming weeks with JIBE to celebrate their installation and the installation of a brand new fix it station.  Stay tuned for details.

9th Grade Conference Week– Mid-Semester Conferences will be held the week of October 11th, 2021.   These conferences will be  virtual student-led with your students’ advisory teacher.  The sign up for conferences will go live on September 20th for families to register for their conferences.  Click HERE for the online scheduler, click HERE for the parent directions.

K-8 Dismissal Update: Please continue to update your student’s dismissal option in School Dismissal Manager. We will continue to dismiss each student by their dismissal group and will not be using Car Line Pins this year.  

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].

In case you missed it…

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.

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 is Open: Our brand new Spirit Store is officially open! Click HERE to choose from over 70 items. That’s right, 70 items! We are thrilled to add Everest and our new High School logo to the Spirit Store. WAVE does not have an inventory so please be sure to check sizing information before placing your order. All items are made to order and shipped directly to you. We cannot wait to see this new gear on campus and out in the community!

Dos Coyotes Fundraiser:  Our next restaurant fundraiser is this 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: Thank you to everyone involved with getting the Spirit Store up and running. Working with our new vendor, Wamiswag, has been a fantastic experience. A lot of people came together to make this possible including Monica Deras, Dr. Eick and the WAVE Board. Great work Team!