Westfield Arrow
Aiming to Keep You Informed
September 25, 2020
From the Office
At this time, there is no date set for a return to in-person learning at Westfield. However, we do remain hopeful that our middle school students can return soon, and we are excited to see that the Elementary Schools will have Kindergartners and Pre-K students able to attend on Monday, 9/28.
The DuPage County Health Department is currently not recommending the mixing of students throughout the day, but hopefully the county health numbers will improve soon and move us into the "minimal" category, which will allow us to function as a traditional middle school. One of the main challenges at the middle school level is the need for most students to switch classes throughout the day and attend classes at their individual instructional level or to take courses of their choosing.
This week, we sent home bus route and bus stop information for you to review in preparation of a potential return to in-person instruction at Westfield. As Dr. Bartelt has shared, parents will have the option to choose full remote learning for their child when a date is announced for in-person learning at Westfield.
Attention 8th Graders - No PSAT8 Testing
Lake Park High School has informed us that they will not be administering the PSAT8 exam this year. They are working on alternative methods for student placement and will share more information at a later date.
MAP Assessments: Parent MAP Letter
We have MAP testing scheduled on the following dates for the following grades. The students will receive more detailed information from their teachers.
6th grade 9/29
7th grade 10/1
8th grade 10/6
Students will take one test in the morning then one test in the afternoon and will not attend their regular classes for the day. When they have completed their morning test they are finished until they have to report back after lunch. Similarly, when they complete their afternoon test they are finished for the day.
If you'd like more information here are some resources:
Family Tool Kit, Family Guide to MAP growth
Attention 6th Grade Parents
This week, 6th Grade teachers helped students create their accounts in Otus. There are videos in the 6th grade team newsletter below to help you create your account, connect your account to your student (they can provide you their specific student code from their profile), as well as a deeper explanation of the Otus platform.
Warriors of the Week
Each week the staff recognizes students for demonstrating outstanding character based on attitudes or actions that fall under the Character Counts Pillars and our WARRIORS Mission and Vision.
UPCOMING DATES
Please visit our Google Calendar for all activities and schedules!
- MAP TESTING: 6th grade - 9/29; 7th grade 10/1; 8th grade 10/6
- District 13 Virtual Board Meeting: September 28th at 7:00pm
- Spirit Wear: Westfield Wear Shop open now through October 5
WESTFIELD THIS WEEK
Six Word Challenge
Grade Level News:
STUDENT INFORMATION
Westfield Spirit Wear! Order by October 5!
Your order will come individually bagged to school and we will organize a pick up plan for your items we will communicate at a later date!
Student Expectations for Remote Learning
We ask that all parents take a moment and review the expectations for proper school behavior and on-line etiquette provided in the following links. Please reference our Student Handbook for general policies and procedures and this Virtual Etiquette for Google Meets infographic to assist students with Remote Learning expectations. Thank you!
Students! Email Westfield Your Pictures for the Arrow and the Yearbook
Email your pictures to: WFyearbook@sd13.org
Extra-Curricular Activities
We are working with staff to create virtual opportunities for students to participate in clubs and performing arts programs. At this time, we are unable to offer traditional athletic programs, however we are working with coaches to design online opportunities for those groups as well. More information about Extra-Curricular offerings for the 2020-2021 school year will be shared soon.
TECHNOLOGY
Students: Please log out of your chromebook and back in daily
See this video on how to log in and out of your chromebook.
'How-To' for Parents/Guardians:
Get the Parent PowerSchool App
Similar to the PowerSchool Parent Web Portal, parents can download the PowerSchool Mobile App from the App store on your iOS device or the Play Store on your Android device. Simply search for “PowerSchool” to find and install the mobile app on your smartphone or tablet.
- After downloading the mobile app to your device, connect the Mobile App to the correct PowerSchool server for Bloomingdale School District 13, by entering our unique four-character code: G M K T
- You can also search for Bloomingdale SD13 by district or school name.
- The PowerSchool Mobile App will display your child(ren)’s schedule and assignments.
- PowerSchool Mobile app users can also enable Push Notifications to receive alerts when attendance is recorded or a final grade changes. To setup notifications within the app: Tap Account, then tap Notifications to configure the notifications you want to receive. Use the slider icons to turn the notifications on or off.
- Note: Parents must have a PowerSchool Parent Web Portal account created and students linked to their account before using the PowerSchool Mobile App. Click here for instructions on how to create a parent Portal account.
Otus for 6th grade Parents
Chromebook Trouble?
If you need assistance from the Technology Department, please use this link to request support.
Parents/Guardians: Please Call in Your Student's Absence
FROM THE WESTFIELD SOCIAL WORKER
Parents, please complete this needs assessment:
FROM THE WESTFIELD NURSE
PARENTS:
The State of Illinois is not waiving the requirements for all students who have mandated health forms (physicals, immunizations, dental and eye exams), even though students are not currently physically present in the schools. Please submit the mandated forms to your child’s school as soon as possible. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact your school’s building nurse for assistance (Westfield Middle School nurse is Beth Jones bjones@sd13.org) Please scan, fax, or drop off hard copies of medical documents to the school. We are unable to accept photographs of medical documents. Thank you!
{Students who are transferring into our district from out-of-state must speak with the building nurse.}
The exclusion date for non-compliant students remains October 15th, except for the dental exam which is not due until May 2021.
The required forms are available at your Doctor offices and on your school’s website, located under “Health Information”.
Please see below for the grades which have mandated paperwork due October 15th:
Kindergarten (or 1st grade, if your student did not attend kindergarten): physical examination, up-to-date immunizations, eye exam and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
2nd grade: dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
6th grade: physical examination, up-to-date immunizations and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
Teenage Depression and Anxiety
WESTFIELD'S PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)
When hot lunch returns, we'll use SignUp.com to organize Westfield Hot Lunch Volunteers.
1) Click this link to see our SignUp: https://signup.com/go/xZeejVZ
2) When school resumes, review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
BLOOMINGDALE PARK DISTRICT PROGRAMS
WESTFIELD SOCIAL COMMUNICATION
How-To Videos
Gmail:
- How to delete all email (6th grade)
- How to appropriately write an email
- You can only email other sd13.org email addresses
- Creating Bookmarks
- Starring and snoozing Emails
Google Classroom:
- How to Join Classroom(with Code)
- How to Join with Teacher Invite
- Check Stream and classwork page
- How to Turn in assignments
PowerSchool: Coming Soon
- Logging in
- Checking grades
- Seeing assignments
- Comments from Teachers
FlipGrid:
Chromebook: