Good morning WHS families,

 

It is hard to believe that we are starting another school year!  Personally, I love the first few days of school.  The excitement and energy of these young adults is unparalleled. Last week was very busy at WHS. Thank you to all of the families that stopped by to prepare for the school year by picking up schedules, parking passes and preparing lockers.  It was great to catch up with the students in the halls and see how anxious they were about returning.  Our staff is ready to go and looking forward to meeting with the students on Monday morning.  Last week we also had the Demon Nation Spirit Rally sponsored by the Westlake Demon Athletic Boosters.  What an amazing event to kick off the school year.    

 

As we work our way through this week, we are on an adjusted schedules the first two days.  This will allow the administrators and counseling team to meet with each class to discuss our goals with them for this school year.  We will be talking about taking care of each other, pride and a family environment that we need to foster and encourage at Westlake High School.  Additionally, we will be bringing the students up to speed on the handbook as well as the new changes related to attendance that we outlined last week in an email

 

I am a firm believer in practicing our safety drill procedures early in the school year as well.  We have asked our SRO and Westlake Police to be on hand as we practice of safety drills.  Once again, I want to make sure that we are prepared as early as possible.  The best way to do this is to set aside some time and not rush through these drills.
  

Hopefully, If you get a moment, you can stop by for some of our athletic events  this week.  At the very least, please stop by on Friday night and see our Demon Nation school spirit on display and check out the football team and the best band around for the first time this season! 

 

As a reminder, WHS Open House is August 29 from 7:00 pm-8:30 pm.  I will be sure to send a schedule and details out later this week.  Also, school picture day will be on August 31. Information will follow. 

 

We are very excited to have your children with us this year.  As of Friday, we had over 1,200 students enrolled.  As I shared with the Freshmen parents this week, please reach out to us if something needs addressed and please don't assume that we hear everything that you hear.  We are in this together and look forward to working with you children this year!

 

Have a wonderful week!    

 

Paul Wilson

Principal -Westlake High School

Westlake City Schools

PHONE:     440-250-1003

TWITTER:    @WHS_Westlake

Later today, all of North America will be treated to an eclipse of the sun. Anyone within the path of totality can see one of nature's most awe-inspiring sights - a total solar eclipse. Here in Westlake, we will see a partial solar eclipse where the moon covers part of the sun.

The eclipse is expected to begin at approximately 1:06 p.m. and will be at its peak at approximately 2:30 p.m.

The eclipse will be near its peak at dismissal of our elementary schools. All of our principals are aware of this and have been proactive in planning their dismissal procedures with staff.

The Westlake City Schools have also been proactive in planning for this event. Last year, Dr. Jeanne Bishop, who leads our Planetarium at Parkside, applied for and received a grant from NASA for a large quantity of viewing glasses. Some classes do plan on completing eclipse activities. There has been concern about viewing glasses being distributed or purchased online that do not meet specifications for viewing. The glasses acquired by Dr. Bishop are certified by NASA.

Many classes, especially in the younger grades, will not be viewing the eclipse due to the timing of the event. However, we do have some concerns we would like to share.

• Dismissal - the peak time aligns with the dismissal of our elementary schools. We do have plans in place in case outside light is an issue. Our exterior lighting will be on and flashlights available if necessary.
• Inadvertent viewing - Students should not look up at the sun during this event without protective and approved eyewear. Teachers will be communicating this to students, but we ask that parents review the seriousness with your child as well.
• Students who walk to and from school - If parents are concerned about their child walking home from school, they are welcome to contact their child's school to arrange for them to be picked up or to attend LINK that day.

If you have any questions or concerns about the eclipse, please contact your child's school building principal or teacher. Thank you.

Welcome back!  We were happy to see having a counselor available once a weekthroughout the summer was a helpful resource for so many families - it's certainly something we'll continue in the future!  All the counselors will return full-time on Monday, August 14th to help with schedule pickups and orientation. If your student notices an error on their schedule please encourage them to stop by their counselor's office to have it corrected before the school year starts!

 

Last Name A - E	Terry Kennedy	kennedy@wlake.org
Last Name F - K	Mark Campo	campo@wlake.org
Last Name L - Q	Dana Bail	baild@wlake.org
Last Name R - Z	Joan Jerome	jerome@wlake.org

 

PARENTS OF SENIORS - This is an exciting year!  The college application process will be underway soon and we're here to help your family navigate the journey.  Counselors will go in the English classrooms early in the school year to outline what the college application process looks like at WHS and will be available to meet with students individually to help answer questions and provide direction during this time!  Keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities like "Coffee with the Counselors" to discuss the application season in smaller groups.  In the meantime, College Board has a good timeline for consideration (keep in mind ACT can always be taken in place of SAT) and the high school's counseling website has a wealth of resources as well!

 

CCP STUDENTS OFF-CAMPUS - In an effort to stay more connected with our College Credit Plus (CCP) students taking classes outside of WHS, we have created a "Remind" Group to allow us to easily communicate important information with our students! If your child is taking a CCP course off-campus please encourage them to sign up for our "Remind" texts and notifications. Parents are welcome to register as well! Visit rmd.at/k2bh8a to sign up or text @k2bh8a to 81010.

 

NEW THIS YEAR - We are restructuring the way we organize 504 Plans and will have a 504 Coordinator managing the process for students receiving accommodations. Joan Jerome (R-Z Counselor) will take the lead with 504s this year and will be in touch with parents in the upcoming weeks with more specific details what this will look like. Also changing is the process for collecting service learning hours - the school counselors will no longer collect student's service learning hour logs, Mary Dunn will collect and record hours in the main office. We will still promote service learning opportunities in the counseling office!

It's that time of year again!  We invite you to join Westlake Music Boosters and get involved and be a part of all the fun!  We support all Pre-K through 12 music programs and teachers in our district.

Our first meeting is Tuesday, September 12th at 7pm in the WHS Library.  But don't wait until then to get involved: