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.  

COVID-19 Vaccine Approval for children ages 5 to 11: On Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021 the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 was approved for use in California.  CLICK HERE to find the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Press Release. 

• Per the Sacramento County Public Health (SCPH):  Families looking to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11 can visit myturn.ca.gov or contact their primary care provider for available appointments, however it will likely be a few more days until appointments for this age group are widely available.  Some providers, including retail pharmacies, are already scheduling appointments on their websites, but many providers are still receiving their pediatric vaccine supply and making final preparations to vaccinate 5 to 11 year olds.  SCPH expects most providers to begin vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 next week.

NUSD COVID Vaccine Clinics: NUSD will have vaccine clinics on December 3rd at the following locations:

• Urgent Care Now Natomas (7am- 1pm): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/ucnncovidvax120321
• 12 years old and up at NHS (3pm- 6pm): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/nusdcovidvax120321
• 5 to 11 years old, 3-6pm at NHS: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5to11nusdcovidclinic120321

K-8 Virtual Conferences: Next week teachers will be holding Trimester 1 virtual conferences.  A reminder that November 15th-19th is a minimum day schedule.  Students will be dismissed at 1:30pm (1st-8th) and 1:00pm (Kinder) all week. Your teacher shared information on how to log in at your scheduled time in their Friday email. Use the google meet link to log on for your scheduled time.

• If you need  help accessing or scheduling your conference please call our front office at (916) 567-5760.

BASE for Conference Week: BASE is open Monday-Friday from dismissal until 6:00. Daily activity stations will allow students to choose what activities they participate in, including Zumba, soccer, musical chairs, making a soothing rice bag, a fall leaf project, and building a STEM robot. CLICK HERE to register your student. Please set School Dismissal Manager to “BASE” on days your student will attend. Reach out to Allison Chavez with any questions: [email protected].

Lost and found:  On the Mabry (K-8) campus come retrieve your items from lost and found.  Please enter the visitor gate on campus after 3:30pm.  We are working on a solution to get the current lost and found on the curb for easy access in the future. 

Food Drive: In partnership with the Natomas Chamber of Commerce, Westlake Charter School has Food Donation stations in the reception areas of our K-8 and High School campus.  Food donations will benefit families in our community, and will be made available to the Stanford Settlement and Joey’s Food Locker.  Please consider donating canned & non-perishable food items by Friday, November 19th.

Spirit Day – Decades Day: Friday, November 19th is Decades day! Students can dress like they are from another decade. Ex: a rocker from the 80s or a flapper from the 20s. Students should refrain from bringing distracting props or accessories.

High School Food Trucks:  High school students will be able to purchase alternative lunch items from our Food Truck Extravaganza on Friday 11/19 during the regular lunch block.  Prices range from $8-$13 per meal.  Our regular lunch service will still be offered on Friday as well. 

Thanksgiving Break: School will be closed November 22nd to 26th for Thanksgiving Break. Our BASE program will also be closed during Thanksgiving Break. 

Olympic Triathlon: The 14th annual Westlake Charter School Olympic Triathlon is here! The Triathlon is not only our biggest fundraiser of the year but an event to showcase what makes our school unique. It is about celebrating and supporting our enriched educational opportunities which includes specialities at our K-8, athletics, clubs and activities. Our annual Olympic Triathlon allows WCS to celebrate these incredible opportunities and offer our family, friends and community a way to support this work.

• On Friday, December 10th our students will participate in a special day of learning on the Olympic Triathlon Event Day. 
• You can get started fundraising today! Please visit http://pledgestar.com/westlakecharter to set up a family donation page. You can customize it with student name(s), a photo and donation goal. It is easy to quickly request sponsors via email or text explaining why WCS is amazing and how they can help us meet our goal this year.
• Prefer to collect donations in cash or checks? Simply put the donation in an envelope with the student’s name and teacher then drop off at the donation table during our collection drop off times or deliver to the front office. Upcoming donation collection days:
  • 11/15 1:30-2pm Mabry Campus near Maybrook gate
  • 11/16 7:30-8am East Commerce Campus
  • 11/18 3:35-4pm East Commerce Campus
  • 11/19 8-8:30am Mabry Campus near flagpole
  • 11/28 3-3:30pm Mabry Campus near Maybrook gate
  • 11/30 7:30-8am East Commerce Campus
  • 12/2 3:35-4pm East Commerce Campus
  • 12/3 8-8:30am Mabry Campus near flagpole
  • 12/6 3-3:30pm Mabry Campus near Maybrook gate
  • 12/7 7:30-8am East Commerce Campus
  • 12/9 3:35-4pm East Commerce Campus
  • 12/10 8-8:30am Mabry Campus near flagpole

BASE Closed Over Winter Break: Due to a limited number of interested families, BASE will be closed over winter break. Please plan accordingly.

Substitute Teaching Positions – Update: If you’ve taken college-level coursework in Reading, Writing and Mathematics – even if you have yet to earn a degree – you might be eligible to substitute teach.  CLICK HERE if  you are willing to get paid as a Substitute Teacher for a day or even part of a day.  Let us know you are interested and we will work with you through the process.  Thank you!

K-8 Counselor’s Corner:  CLICK HERE to review the November newsletter from our K-8 counselors, Jessica Krivoy and Carli Fabbri. 

Middle School Needs Your Help: The middle school team is looking for cardboard donations for an upcoming STEM elective: Paper roller coasters and popsicle stick bridges! If you have empty boxes laying around and would like to help, please watch this quick video with all the details. Once your cardboard panels are cut to the correct size, please send them in with your middle school student to Mr. Aichele’s classroom or drop them at the front office. Thanks in advance and, as always, let’s explore!

In case you missed it…

Weekly Surveillance Testing  After School: It’s not too late to participate in the weekly surveillance testing for students. CLICK HERE to pre-register your student. Testing takes place on Wednesdays – at the high school from 1:00-1:30PM and at the K-8 from 1:30-2:00 PM. Email [email protected] with any questions. 

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.

Chipotle Fundraiser:  Our next restaurant fundraiser is coming up on Tuesday, November 16th from 4-8pm at Chipotle  (2800 Del Paso Road). There are 3 easy ways to participate. CLICK HERE to show the cashier a digital flyer prior to paying, CLICK HERE to order online using code FE2VD6E or simply mention the WAVE fundraiser prior to paying. We will receive 33% of the total sales. Thank you for the continued support!

Volunteer Opportunities: We need help on our K-8 campus. Our Lost & Found is overflowing and we need 1 or 2 volunteers to come on campus after school to help organize and sort these items. Our arrival and dismissal team is in need of additional support directing traffic to and from our campus. Our walk and bike to school program needs a volunteer to help students check each morning near the front office. Do you have 1 or 2 days a week you can help with any of these opportunities? Please contact [email protected] to get started. 

Amazon Smile: If you are an Amazon shopper please shop through https://smile.amazon.com/ and add Westlake Charter School as your charitable organization. Once enrolled, Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. This feature is also available on the app now. Every dollar helps!
Kudos: Thank you to the families who have already created a fundraising page for the Olympic Triathlon! We are starting to see donations coming in and cannot wait for this year’s event day. Thank you for supporting our incredible programs!