District eNews
January 29, 2021
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As part of our ongoing collaboration with the St. Charles County Department of Public Health, a school in our District, along with others in the county, will serve as Points of Dispensing (PODs) in order to vaccinate school staff in a safe and efficient manner.
The State of Missouri has opened its phased vaccine availability plan to include Phase 1A, Phase 1B-Tier 1 and Phase 1B-Tier 2. School personnel are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Phase 1B-Tier 3, which is not yet open. We do not currently have a timeline for when the state will open Tier 3, and will likely receive short notice when it does, but we are developing the process for when that time comes. We will work with the health department to schedule vaccine distribution on days when school is not in session.
Five schools in the county have been strategically and geographically designated as PODs. WSD employees can receive the vaccine at any one of the five sites, by appointment only:
· Francis Howell High School
· Francis Howell North High School
· Fort Zumwalt West High School
· Wentzville Holt High School
· St. Charles West High School
We encourage everyone, staff and families who want to eventually receive the vaccine to register with the St. Charles County Department of Public Health through its website. Those who have registered will receive communication directly from the health department when eligible to make an appointment for the vaccination. We will continue to update you as we learn more about vaccine availability. In the meantime, you can learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine and distribution plans for our state and county via these websites: the State of Missouri, and the St. Charles County Department of Public Health.
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WSD Names New Chief Communications Officer
The Wentzville School District Board of Education has approved the hiring of Derrick Docket as the new Chief Communications Officer, effective February 1. Mr. Docket has worked for the WSD since 2018 as the Director of Marketing and replaces Mary LaPak, who has been named the new Executive Director of Communication for the Rockwood School District.
In his current role, Docket established the district’s newly created marketing department,
developing and managing advertising partnerships throughout the community. He was
instrumental in the roll out of the new district logo and has supported the athletic and
activities programs, as well as the graphic design needs of the WSD. He has also successfully recruited and mentored students in order to live-stream sporting events and create digital programs for games and performances. Prior to working for the WSD, Mr. Docket served as the Associate Commissioner of New Media & Technology for the Missouri Valley Conference for seven years. He has a bachelor of arts in graphic design/digital imaging with a minor in advertising and promotion from Missouri State University.
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Green Tree Elementary art teacher Pam Winter has been named the 2021 Elementary Art Educator of the Year by the Missouri Art Education Association (MAEA), an organization dedicated to keeping quality visual arts education in Missouri schools.
Winter has taught in the District since 2005 and has been the art teacher at Green Tree Elementary for 14 years. In 2016, she was named Green Tree’s Teacher of the Year. Last year, Winter received the Alpha Delta Kappa Missouri Excellence in Education Award, the South-Central Region’s Excellence in Education Award, and is now in the running for the International Excellence in Education award, which will be announced in July of this year.
“I am honored and humbled to win this award,” shared Winter. “I work with so many amazing educators at Green Tree, within Wentzville School District, and across the state of Missouri who have shared ideas that continue to enrich the experiences of my students in the art room. I love facilitating creative experiences and adventures for my students at Green Tree.”
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Kindergarten Registration
Dates have been set for the Wentzville School District’s kindergarten screening process. This event is for all children who will turn five BEFORE August 1, 2021. Parents are asked to register online using the Quick Registration and Screening form. If your child has not been screened at the Parents as Teachers office or his/her preschool this year, appointments are required and can be made when you register online. Screening appointments are available in the morning and evening and are filled on a first come, first served basis. Please note that due to social distancing and space limitations, it may be difficult to accommodate siblings at the screening appointment. Please be sure to check your address with the District’s Boundary Locator tool to determine which school your child will attend prior to registering your child for kindergarten. All screening appointments will take place at the Parents as Teachers Office at One Campus Drive, Wentzville, MO 63385. Screening dates are as follows:
· Thursday, February 4, 2021
· Tuesday, February 9, 2021
· Thursday, February 11, 2021
· Wednesday, February 17, 2021
· Thursday, February 18, 2021
· Tuesday, February 23, 2021
· Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Your information will be sent to your child’s elementary school. The school will contact you to complete your child's kindergarten registration. To access a list of necessary materials and documents for registration, please see our Kindergarten Registration Procedures page. For additional information about kindergarten registration and screening, or to check if your child has a current screening on file, please contact the Parents as Teachers office at 636-327-3863, ext. 22281.
If you do not have a Missouri birth certificate, you may obtain one at a cost of $15 from the St. Charles County Community Health/Environment-Vital Statistics Office, 1650 Boone’s Lick, St. Charles, MO 63301, or by calling (636) 949-7558 for more information.
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COVID-19 Updates
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Snow Days This Year
Here's a fun historical fact: For this year’s senior class, there have only been two years when they had more than six snow days in the academic year: 2010-2011 and 2013-2014, which both had nine snow days. Remember, the first six snow days will NOT require at-home learning for students and will NOT result in days being added on to the end of the school year. For more information about At-Home Learning Days, visit the WSD website.
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February 15 - No Classes (PK-12) Presidents Day
February 16 - No Classes (PK-12) PD Day
For the remainder of the school year, Late Starts will take place on:
February 8, March 8, and April 12.
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Friendly Reminders
Please stay home if:
- You are ill or have any symptoms
- You are in quarantine
- Any member of your household has been tested for COVID-19 and is awaiting results
If you are notified that your student is on a modified quarantine, please remember that that St. Charles County Department of Public Health only permits students to attend classes during school hours. These guidelines do not allow for students to attend extracurriculars or activities during the time of modified quarantine.
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The Question Project
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Liberty High School Presents The Trail to Oregon
The Liberty High School Theatre Department will present “The Trail to Oregon” on January 29 and 30 via a streamed video recording. The musical is based on the book by Nick Lang, Matt Land, Brian Holden, and Jeff Blim, with music and lyrics by Jeff Blim. The production is the first Liberty High School student-directed musical and will be performed by an all-school cast and crew.
“The Trail to Oregon” is a hilarious parody of the classic game, The Oregon Trail. Watch the
family; Father (Michael Gannon), Mother (Shaina Feinstein), Daughter (Anna Wright), Son
(Anna Decker), Grandpa (Connor Higlen), McDoon (Shane Wolz), and fellow travelers (Aicha
Beye and Morgan Feinstein) as they set off from Independence, Missouri, and try to avoid all
the dangers of the trail.
The production is under the direction of Michelle Yoder, with assistance by Rhett
Cunningham, technical director, Alyssa Place, music director, and Amanda Yoder,
choreographer. Due to the pandemic, the performance has been recorded and will be
accessible online for $5 to view each evening at 7:00 p.m.
WSD Foundation Topgolf Fundraiser
The WSD Foundation is hosting a fundraising event at Topgolf in Chesterfield on February 28 from 4-7pm to raise funds for teacher and building mini grants. Last year, the Foundation awarded $9,000 in grants to deserving teachers at 13 different WSD buildings and an additional $7,000 in GM STEM Grants to teachers at nine schools. All proceeds from this Topgolf event go to funding grants for WSD teachers who are implementing innovative and impactful strategies in their classrooms. Topgolf has implemented a number of safety measures, which include spacing out bays and utilizing bay dividers, as well as disinfecting between each group. Masks are required to be worn into the building and anytime you are outside of your team bay. Teams will be limited to six people and the cost to participate is $300/team or $55 per person, which includes three hours of gameplay, a buffet and soft drinks. There will be friendly competitions and prizes throughout the evening. If you would like to sign up individually or as a team, you can do so by visiting https://tinyurl.com/WSDfoundationGolfEvent2021.
The Foundation Board is also seeking sponsors for this event. Sponsorship levels can be found by visiting https://tinyurl.com/WSDfoundationEVENTsponsor.
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Virtual Academy Registration
One of the positive implications of the past year has been that some students and families have found that they prefer learning in a virtual environment. As a result, the WSD will continue to offer the Virtual Academy as an option for students next year. Registration has now opened for students who will be in grades K-8 during the 2021-22 school year. The Virtual Academy enrollment form is located in our Student Information System (Parent Portal) for you to complete for each K-8 student in your household. To access the Virtual Academy eForm, please select the 2021-2022 school year in the top, right once you are logged into Tyler SIS Parent Portal. The deadline for K-8 student selection is Friday, February 26, 2021.
PLEASE NOTE:
The deadline for high school students to register is today, January 29. Please access the Parent Portal for your high school student today if you have not already done so.
If we have continued global pandemic concerns leading into the 2021-22 school year, we will have an additional enrollment period for virtual learning closer to the start of the school year. The purpose of this enrollment is for those students who wish to learn virtually next year, regardless of the status of the pandemic.
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