Community eNewsletter
Volume 9, Issue 16 . . . December 3, 2021
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December 6 - Late Start Day - 0 hour begins at 9:20 a.m., 1st Hour begins at 10:00 a.m.
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December 7 - NEW! Board of Education Committee of the Whole Meeting - 7 p.m.
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December 9 - Holiday Orchestra Concert
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December 11 - NHS Pancakes with Santa - 8:30 - 11 a.m. - Commons
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December 12 - Holiday Choral Concert - 3:00 p.m.
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December 14 - Holiday Band Concert - 7:00 p.m.
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December 20-22 - Final Exams
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December 21 - Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 p.m.
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December 23-31 - No School - Winter Break
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January 3-5 - No School - Winter Break
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January 6 - No School - Institute Day
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January 7 - First Day of Classes in 2022
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Illinois State Scholars Announced
Twenty-nine seniors from West Chicago Community High School have been recognized as 2022-23 Illinois State Scholars.
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All-State Drama Students
West Chicago Community High School seniors Mikail Herrera, Vincent Lamantia, Elizabeth Ryan, and Jazmin Wilkins were chosen to participate in the All-State Production of “Cabaret”, the highlight of the Illinois High School Theatre Festival to be held January 6-8, 2022.
The Illinois High School Theatre Festival is the largest non-competitive high school
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All-State Musicians (Choir)
Congratulations to seniors Sydney Radke (r) and Kai Herrera (l) for being selected as All-State musicians after a highly competitive audition process! They will participate in the All-State Music Festival in January with musicians from around Illinois.
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From the Nurse's Office
12/3/2021
D94 had three positive cases this week. If you have any questions, please contact the Health Office.
Beginning December 6th, 2021 West Chicago High School will add another layer of mitigation by offering BinaxNOW testing for any student presenting possible symptoms of COVID 19 while at school on a voluntary basis.
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Beginning December 6th any student who presents as symptomatic at school and is sent to the Health Office will be given the opportunity to take a BinaxNOW rapid test. This test will allow a more expedient process for deciding next steps as determined by IDPH and DCHD. With the availability of BinaxNOW testing students can test on campus, and if negative for COVID 19 they can return to school faster if their symptoms are from an unknown cause. Result turnaround time is 15 minutes and parents will be notified by the Nurse of their student’s test results. If your student is positive, your student will be excluded from school, and the guidelines given by the DuPage County Health Department will be followed.
Use of the BinaxNOW test is completely voluntary and is not required. Parents wishing their child to have this option must log into their PowerSchool account to complete the consent survey. You can find the survey in your parent PowerSchool account under BinaxNOW Testing Survey. If you need help accessing your PowerSchool account please contact Beth Schuck (bschuck@d94.org) or for Spanish, Janette Hernandez (jhernandez@d94.org)
Those who are fully vaccinated will not be excluded if they are a close contact. Parents will be notified that they were a close contact and that they should monitor for symptoms and the DuPage County Health Department strongly recommends getting tested 3-5 days after exposure.
If your student has any COVID-like symptoms, they can only return to school if they have a negative COVID test or stay home for 10 days. We can no longer accept a differential diagnosis for COVID-like symptoms. For example, if a student has a sore throat and is diagnosed with strep, they would still need a negative COVID test to return to school prior to 10 days.
If your student has a negative COVID test but had vomiting or diarrhea, they must stay home for 48 hours from the last time they threw up or had diarrhea.
Please do not send your student to school if they have any of the following symptoms:
Fever (100.4 or higher), new onset of moderate to severe headache, shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, new loss of taste or smell, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches from unknown cause.
We need everyone's help to keep all our Wildcat Staff and Students safe and healthy.
If you have any questions about whether or not your student should be attending school, please contact the Health Office:
630-876-6245 Nurse Page
630-876-6246 Nurse Cathy
630-876-6469 (Mrs. Mendoza Spanish)
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Semester 1 Final Exam Schedule
The final exam schedule for 1st Semester has been set. Exam days are December 20, 21 and 22.
Buses will run each morning on the usual schedule, and will leave the school 10 minutes after the last period of each day.
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Seniors: Cap & Gown Order Deadline is December 15
Seniors!
If you have not ordered your Cap & Gown, you must order now! Deadline is December 15, 2021. Orders placed after this date will incur a late fee.
You can choose to Order Now and Pay Later. Just fill out the Cap & Gown reservation survey at
To order by Phone or ask questions, please Call Herff Jones at 815-756-4743.
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Pancakes with Santa Dec. 11
Make memories this holiday season, and start a new family tradition! Join the
National Honor Society as we host our first annual holiday breakfast with Santa on December 11, 2021 from 8:30 - 11:00 a.m. at West Chicago Community High School, 326 Joliet Street, West Chicago, IL 60185.
Families are invited to join us as our elves serve a pancake breakfast. Children can visit Santa, write letters to the North Pole, play games, and create their very ornament for the tree. We invite parents to enjoy holiday carols by some of our
talented singers, and to participate in our raffle. Be sure to bring a camera to capture the memories!
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$5 for children and senior citizens, $7 for adults
Ticket availability is limited, and families are encouraged to use our online ticketing system to reserve their place at the event. We ask that all guests arrive between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. to ensure enough time to fully participate in all of the exciting activities we have planned.
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Get a FREE Car Wash While Supporting Wildcat Athletics
A little under 30 days remain to support Wildcat athletics at the pump - and The PRIDE Stores will throw in a FREE car wash! (Only valid at The PRIDE of West Chicago at the BP at Rt. 59 and North Avenue in West Chicago.)
Help out your West Chicago Wildcats by filling up at the PRIDE of West Chicago's Spirit Pump. Spend $20 at the pump or in the store and get a FREE Carwash ($3 Value), spend $50 and get a FREE Premium Carwash (Valued at $9). Only valid at The PRIDE of West Chicago) Come out and support West Chicago Community High School and get a FREE Carwash!
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Patrick McCormack - Class of 2017 - WeGo Places Podcast
Patrick McCormack, Class of 2017, is a Mobility Analyst at GoExceed.
You can find lots of great interviews with former WeGo Wildcats with amazing careers - go to d94.org/wegoplaces. |
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WCCHS Social Emotional Support Web Page
The members of the Student Services Department recognize how difficult this time has been on our students, families, and members of our feeder communities.
With that in mind, we would like to share our social emotional support page which has a myriad of mental health resources for students, parents, and teachers.
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From Our Community Partners |
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FREE programs for WCCHS parents from the Glenbard Parent Series: |
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Friendship: The Evolution, Biology and Extraordinary Power of Life's Fundamental Bond
Tues Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
Lydia Denworth
Friends are the family we choose, and these bonds are essential. They affect our bodies, our minds, and humans require them to thrive across their lifetime. Friends matter at every age, but never more so than when we are young. The new science of friendship explains why. Join us and learn how the social brain gets built, the importance of social and emotional learning for healthy development, and how building good friendship skills early in life sets children and adolescents up for a long, healthy, and happy life. Denworth, a contributing editor for Scientific American, addresses whether friendships are changing in the age of social media, as well as the effects of the pandemic on young people’s social lives. She will also provide guidance for parents to help as life gets back to normal.
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Cultivating Genius and Joy at Home to Ensure All Children Thrive
Co-hosted by the Equity and Inclusion Committee (EIC), and Families United in Support of Excellence and Equity of All, Especially Those that Identify as African American Students of Black (FUSE).
Wed. Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad
High performing, engaged students is the goal of all caregivers. Here are the practical and inspirational ways to draw from students’ strengths and promote marginalized learners′ success within and beyond their classroom walls. Participants will learn a framework for excellence, which is based on identity development and skill development. Discover free and practical resources, literacy strategies and activities to build competence and achievement. The goal is to help youth to see the joy in themselves and others.
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13 Things Mentally Strong Kids Do
Wed. Jan. 19 at noon and 7p.m.
Amy Morin
Here are the tools students need to train their brain to think, feel and act stronger than ever both inside and out. Learn the ways to help young people develop healthy habits, build mental strength to overcome life’s toughest challenges, and take action toward becoming their best selves. Morin’s best-selling books, including; 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do, 13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don’t Do, and 13 Things Strong Kids Do have been translated into 40 languages. Her TEDx talk, “The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong,” is one of the most popular talks of all time.
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Presentado por el Comité Asesor de Padres Bilingües (B-PAC) y GPS – Programas en español. |
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Herramientas prácticas para padres para tiempos difíciles
Jueves 16 de diciembre a las 7 - 8 p.m.
Dr. Ferny Ramirez
Los adolescentes están reportando niveles de estrés que son incluso más altos que los de los adultos. Los adolescentes se preocupan por la tarea, las calificaciones, los amigos y las obligaciones familiares. Estas preocupaciones, además de los miedos que tienen sobre la seguridad, la estabilidad y lo desconocido, han provocado niveles aún mayores de ansiedad y depresión en los adolescentes de hoy.
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El Dr. Ferney Ramirez está aquí para ayudarlo. Los participantes aprenderán cómo abordar la desesperanza, la irritabilidad, el bajo rendimiento escolar y la falta de motivación. Los participantes también aprenderán sobre el papel que juega la inteligencia emocional en el éxito de un niño durante toda la vida. El Dr. Ramírez ofrecerá orientación sobre cómo responder a comportamientos que los adultos tal vez no comprendan, y brindará estrategias compasivas para que los cuidadores fomenten las habilidades que son esenciales para todos los adolescentes y conducen a una vida más satisfactoria, las mismas habilidades que conducen a la educación y éxito profesional y resultados exitosos en la vida.
El psicólogo Dr. Ferney Ramírez coordina programas para familias en Chicago y varios distritos escolares de Illinois y es autor de diez publicaciones sobre salud mental. Es presidente de Family First Organization y tiene una amplia experiencia en psicología clínica, terapia de pareja y consejería familiar dentro y fuera de los Estados Unidos. Obtuvo títulos avanzados en Filosofía, Psicología Clínica y Salud Ocupacional en Colombia y fue profesor de las Facultades de Psicología y Educación de la Universidad San Buenaventura, Colombia.
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Contact Communications Coordinator
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Notice of Nondiscrimination
The Community High School District 94 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
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