For those families who have opted for the Distance Learning Only plan, please read this important information.

Later today, students will be able to see in the student portal which hybrid group they have been assigned to, either A, B, or C. If a family has more than one student at West, and they are scheduled for different groups, please contact one of our assistant principals, Mike Elston or Andy Krause, to request the students be scheduled in the same group if that works better for your family.

The A group will have their first day of school on Wednesday, September 9. The B group's first day will be Thursday, September 10; while the C group will start on Friday, September 11. Beginning on Monday, September 14, we will follow the A - A, B - B, C - C rotation. Students will be able to see the day their group is to come to school in person in their student calendar. We will also post the days on our family calendar and in the daily announcements.

All 9th graders will report to school on Tuesday, September 8. With the help of our Link Crew leaders, we will have a Freshmen Orientation Day. 9th graders will receive a message later this week, telling them which classroom to report to when they arrive at school. Students will be in small groups, socially distant throughout the day.

This day will include learning about high school and what it means to be a Scarlet. They will spend some time with their counselor to talk about their high school career. They will also spend some time with the principals to go through the student handbook. Freshmen will have an opportunity to hear all about high school life at West from our Link Leaders and will be able to ask questions. There will also be time for students to go through their schedule, meet each of their teachers and spend a little time to get to know their teachers.

All students will report to school on their assigned day during the first week of school. This means freshmen and Link Crew leaders will come two days the first week.

Students will hear later this week which classroom they should report to when they arrive at school, as students will be meeting in small groups (Scarlet Squads) to go through some of the items we typically cover during Kick-Off Days (student IDs, bus passes, parking permits, etc.) and will take part in some activities to help transition back to school and to learn what school will be like this year.

After the Scarlet Squad meetings, students will follow their class schedule.

Students will be assigned a specific door to enter the building. Students who walk to school should enter the door nearest to them when they arrive at school. Students who take the bus will go to the door nearest their drop-off spot. Students who have their parents drop them off should enter through door 19 or door 12. Students who drive to school should enter the lobby doors or door #24.

Upon arrival, a supervisor will be there to ensure students are wearing masks. Students will report directly to their 1st hour classroom. Grab and go breakfast items will be available in the cafeteria to those students who want to get breakfast. Students will follow directional signs in the cafeteria and remain 6 feet apart while picking up breakfast.

In the classroom, desks will be set up 6 feet apart, and students will have assigned seats. Attendance will be taken. The teacher will be available to support the learning needs of the students in the classroom. Collaboration and hands-on activities may also take place in the classroom. There may be times when there is synchronous learning, which means students at home would log in online to join the students in the classroom in learning.

The student will follow their schedule, just as they would during a normal school day. There will be directional signs in the halls and stairwells. When it is passing time, students will move throughout the building maintaining a distance of 6 feet from others.

This year, we will have 2 lunch periods. Students will have lunch either before 4th hour or after their 4th hour (they will find out the first day of school which lunch they have). Lunches will be mixed grades 9-12. 11th and 12th grade students will continue to have open lunch. 9th and 10th grade students are expected to stay at school. Students staying for lunch will have three options to choose from, each with a separate line and the lunches will already be in to-go containers. Students will stay 6 feet apart while in line to pick up their lunch. Students will eat in the cafeteria or other designated space. Desks will be in the cafeteria and other spaces, placed 6 feet apart.

At the end of the day, students will exit the building through the nearest exterior door.

With the new tiered busing plan, our school day begins at 8:45am and ends at 3:35pm. Our earliest buses will arrive at about 8:15am, which is the time we will open the school for students. Please be reminded that students need to report directly to their 1st period classroom.

When students are not scheduled to be in the building, they will engage in their online work. Students will be responsible to enter their attendance in Infinite Campus on their at home days. The student will be able to access their teachers during their assigned class period. There may be times when the teacher has everyone log in for the class period, so students will need to check in to know the plan for every day.

It is important that your mobile device is working properly for the 2020-2021 school year. If your chromebook is in need of repair, please send an email to familytechhelp@isd77.org and set up a time to get it repaired or replaced. Please take care of this as soon as possible.

As long as we are in the Hybrid or Distance Learning Plan, parking permits will be available at no cost, and any student who fills out the parking form will receive a permit.

If we are able to return to all in-person school this year, the parking permits will be revoked and we will go back to seniors getting first priority, then juniors and the cost would be pro-rated based on the start date of all in-person learning.

Students who would like a permit need to fill out this form. The permits will be given during the first week of school to those students who register.

Students will receive their IDs during their small group time on the first day of school. Students need to carry their IDs with them at all times. When entering the building, students may be asked to show their ID. Students will use their IDs for breakfast, lunch and to check out books.

We care for all of our Scarlets, and that is why we are taking the extra time the first week of school to welcome students back, help them transition to school, start with building connections before getting into content, and letting them know we are all in this together.

If you have questions, please feel free to email me, sblasi1@isd77.org, or give us a call at 387-3461.