Greetings, Explorer Families,
This is a very exciting season for our community and we need your feedback to design what comes next. Tonight we are launching a parent survey to help imagine what is possible for each of our next steps at Westlake Charter School. During a strategic planning session during this month’s WCS Board meeting, our Board of Directors asked that our school focus our attention on reconnecting with our community. After two years of responding to pandemic restrictions, it looks like guidelines may be coming that help our school move forward on our mission of demonstrating what is possible when school and community collaborate!
On February 28th, the California Department of Public Health will announce its new health and safety guidelines for K-12 schools. With this in mind, and in collaboration with our entire community, Westlake Charter School is excited to announce three ways we are adjusting our practices now in a first step toward reconnecting with our community. Beginning Monday, March 7th, Westlake will:
- Invite our families onto campus for outdoor arrival and dismissal! We are looking forward to seeing our families on campus again. During this initial phase, we ask that our families do not enter the classrooms, but look forward to a day when we can take that next step together.
- Reorganize recess for our students so that they are able to interact more freely with their peers across the entire grade level as opposed to staying in the current activity zones.
- Encourage on-campus volunteering during the school day outside of the classroom. We are looking forward to collaborating again, on-campus, in so many ways. During this first phase, these will be non-classroom based opportunities, but we hope this first step is a celebration!
We believe these are just the first of many steps to come as we reimagine what is possible when school and community collaborate. In tonight’s survey, we would like to hear what opportunities our families feel are appropriate and would like to happen next.
As we commit to the much-anticipated work of reconnecting with our community, it reminds us that at this time two years ago, Westlake Charter had announced that we were searching for our next K-8 principal. During these past two years, we are so thankful that our Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Mrs. Callau, stepped into the K-8 principal position to lead us through the pandemic. However, now that we are envisioning a future where we continue the path we were on prior to the pandemic, it is time for Mrs. Callau to return to the important work she was doing as our director. That means we have the next four months to seek a K-8 principal to lead our community as we embark on the future of WCS. Please use tonight’s survey to offer feedback on the qualities your family hopes for in our new K-8 leader.
Thank you, families, for your continued support of Westlake Charter School. For two years we have worked hard to adjust to the demands of the moment; however, we believe the time has come for our school and community to collaborate on what the future may hold for our school. This is an exciting time and we hope that you will get involved first by completing tonight’s survey.
CLICK HERE to complete our Family Survey.
Thank you, families.
And as always…Let’s Explore!
