HELLO WOLF PACK STUDENTS AND FAMILIES,

We hope that you have been able to connect with your quarter 3 teachers and are engaged with them.

If you have a questions about your Quarter 3 classes, contact your teacher via email or during their scheduled availability.

In an effort to continue improving communication to our families and community of West Hills High School, please take a moment to review the weekly, informative messages below.

Are you looking for previous editions of the Wolf Call Weekly? The West Hills website has them as a resource. (Info, Wolf Call Weekly)

We encourage your participation as an active reader of these communications that will help bridge our communication between WHHS and Students & Families. Thank you for your continued support for all students at West Hills!

WHHS Administration,

Robin Ballarin, Principal

Apri Baker, Assistant Principal (A-G)

Carrie Gaeir, Assistant Principal (H-O)

John Hoadley, Assistant Principal (P-Z)

Cyndi Nowlen, Manager of School Facilities

-Ella Fitzgerald- was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums. Ella Fitzgerald found stability in musical success.

We celebrate our diversity within our school community. February is a special month of acknowledgement and recognition of Black History Month. It is an annual celebration of the many achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Every U.S. president has officially designated the month of February as Black History Month. Other countries around the world, including Canada and the United Kingdom, also devote a month to celebrating Black history. This week, we continue the celebration at WHHS!

To help celebrate African American / Black History Month, this month’s library calendar features books written by Black authors. Each title is hyperlinked to our online library catalog, which students and staff are always welcome to browse and use to request items for checkout. Please see the WHHS Library for more information!

See the reading list HERE.

Friday, Feb. 12-26, Happy Chinese New Year! The Year of the OX: Celebrated by a Billion + people around the world each year, you can learn a bit more about this holiday HERE.

Chromebook Repair/Exchange Info Link (New hours of service)

Please see our updated Chromebook Repair & Service Hours/Days:

Exchanges will be done weekly:

• Mondays through April 2021.

• 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

• Location: Tech Help Office (see map on page 3)

• (all visitors must check in with the Front Receptionist in the Main Office prior to going to the Tech Help Office)

• Tuesdays through Fridays through April 2021.

• 7:30 am - 12:00 pm

• Location: Library (see map on page 3)

• (all visitors must check in with the Front Receptionist in the Main Office prior to going to the library)

  
  

  Questions? Click HERE or contact Assistant Principal John Hoadley

  • Call 619-956-0422 or email jlhoadley@guhsd.net

• February 15th- No School- Campus closed in observance of Presidnet's Day
  
• March 12th- End of Quarter 3
  
• Monday March 15th - Thursday March 25th -Campus closed for Spring Break
  
• Friday March 26th- Quarter 4 begins- No students attend campus: log in to your email, check Schoology or Google Classroom for your distance learning schedule, activities, assignments & class updates.

Our quarter 3 tutorial schedule is now set! Many students are accessing tutoring and doing well. Please consider doing so if you are struggling. Reach out to your Teachers, Guidance Counselor, or Assistant Principal for extra help and/or ideas if you need them!

Please click HERE for our tutorial schedule. All students (including blended and distance learners) are encouraged to attend any sessions that we offer tutorial services for!

Be well Wolf Pack!

We are super proud that West Hills hosted the first official GUHSD athletics event of the year! A BIG thank you for the hard work and patience from our staff, athletes, and coaches to make getting back to competing happen! Please check out some of the pictures below from last Friday's Cross Country event.

The latest edition of the Counselor's Corner is now available! There is Important news you can use with grade level specific information!

Grossmont College has some upcoming Application Workshops to guide you through the first step of becoming a Grossmont College student. It starts with the online application!

Here is the first step in doing so:

• Please join our Outreach Team by signing up for 1 of our workshops
• There are 4 dates to select from: March 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th from 1-3pm (only select one of these days)
• All workshops will be held via Zoom
• Click HERE to sign up for the 1st workshop! (you must use your @GUHSD.net email account)

You will then receive guidance in submitting the application and answers to your questions, and learn more about our First Year Experience Program.

We look forward to seeing you! See the flyer below for more information!

Please know that our Equity Committee is working on all fronts and welcomes anyone and all within our school community to join our meetings, read out minutes, and know that we are committee to a peaceful, equitable, and successful school community for all.

Last week our committee meet and discussed many different items!

If you would like to join us in our next meeting, please email April Baker (abaker@guhsd.net) or Robin Ballarin (rballarin@guhsd.net) and we will add you to the email invite. Our next meeting time is February 23, 2021 from 4:00pm-5:00pm.

Our sub-committees were the idea of students in our committee at large and are student lead! We welcome all who want to work on our racial, gender, religious and cultural equity issues within our community.

You may read the notes from our latest meeting here.

Check out our Integrated Math 2 course taught by Mrs. Vanderburgh who has been teaching math at West Hills for 16 years! This past week students learned change in area and perimeter. Students also reviewed last week's assessment on probability using tables, charts, and word problems to solve their problems! Mrs. Vanderburgh and students also interpreted data that compared teenagers who have a license and job all while teaching in person, conducting a LIVE zoom, and practicing social distancing and proper sanitation. Thank you Mrs. Vanderburgh and students for allowing us to "peek into your classroom!"

On Tuesday February 9th, our Advanced/Honors Theatre class had a virtual field trip with the La Jolla Playhouse for a Playwriting Workshop, and students had so much fun practicing writing dialogue with improvisation games! This is the second opportunity our program has experienced these unique virtual workshops this school year. A BIG THANK YOU to San Diego ArtsBusXpress for proving a grant to make this experience happen and Mrs. Nylund-Lieb for sharing!

WHHS held a blood drive last week that will help in saving lives in our community! We understand there is no substitute for blood and no substitute for your generosity. Check out WHHS ASB students Isabella Craig-Ruiz and Brandy Atuatasi who graciously helped out with our blood drive! Thank you all who participated and donated during this event.

WHHS AVID classes have been working on a month-long unit surrounding emotional intelligence and mental health. As part of the culminating assignment, students are drafting a letter to the principal about whether they support or oppose potential California legislation acknowledging mental health days as excused reasons for school absences.

The vulnerable and honest conversations about our students' emotional and mental wellness have been eye-opening and inspiring. With so many adolescents struggling through this pandemic, mental and emotional health is a topic we cannot afford to ignore. Ms. Worth and Ms. Edwards are grateful to have these experiences with our students and we look forward to offering this curriculum to future AVID classes as well!

Check out this TED Talk for more information!

We hope you all had a great start to quarter 3! We understand you may need some additional supports. If you are in need of any mental health resources, please reach out to your Guidance Counselor or our Mending Matters resources linked below:

• crisis/access lines,
• phone apps designed to support mental health,
• some wellness tips from our Youth Advisors.
  

Also, please see our upcoming parent forum! More info below..

If yes, ALL FAMILIES should complete their registration through their parent portal.. don't wait.. get started today!

Please click HERE for more information!

Questions? Please contact Assistant Principal's Secretary Mrs. Lenhoff at 619.956.0425 or mlenhoff@guhsd.net.

If the answer is "yes" to either question then please remember these important guidelines:

• All work hours must be outside of school hours.
• This means you cannot work during the classes you are enrolled in (following our bell schedule day) and when your teacher has required zoom meetings.

• Students must meet and maintain a 2.0 G.P.A (grade point average) to obtain and keep a work permit.
• Attend school regularly (including zoom sessions) on time to obtain and keep a work permit.

If you obtained a new job or switched employers, you need a new work permit.

Click HERE for more information about obtaining a new or updated work permit.

Hello Wolf Pack students and families,

Thank YOU for being so responsible, respectful and honorable in staying home if you are ill. We are truly grateful to all in our school community who have emailed, called or let us know of a student's positive circumstance and in keeping them home to fully recover. While we do get notification from the Public Health Department, YOU find out before we do and this makes all the difference on campus!

If you have any signs or symptoms of covid, or if you have had close contact (live in the same household) with someone who has tested positive:

• Please stay home.
• Email our nurse Lori Farra at Lfarra@guhsd.net or call her at 619-956-0471.
• Please include the last date your student was on campus (if they were).
• You can also email teachers (although for student privacy, you do not need to disclose why the student might not be turning in work right away or on campus for 10 days).
  

As a reminder, everyone coming onto campus is required to wear a mask, get their temperature taken, keep 6 ft. social distance, and wash hands frequently.

Thank you for helping us to keep our school community safe.

Go Wolf Pack!

Students and Parents/Guardians:

The faculty and staff are proud to partner with you in the education of your student. Educational success for all students cannot be complete without an effective partnership with all parents/guardians. You are the most essential part of your children’s education, and it is important that we build a strong relationship in order to best serve your student’s educational needs.

We strongly encourage you to review the 2020-21 Student Handbook.

For more information or questions, please contact your assigned Assistant Principal.

Please remember:

• to WEAR FACE MASKS at all times while on campus: This is NOT optional.
• if you are wearing a clear face shield, you MUST WEAR A FACE MASK in addition to the face shield.

Neck and Face Gaiters Reminder

• Also, The CDC has updated their website and our District has asked us to make sure we are not allowing neck and face gaiters on campus any longer.
  

• Please see the CDC page here for more information.
  

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!