West Side Story 2.0
February 19, 2021
Assuring learning excellence and readiness for a changing world.
Transitioning Hybrid Learners to In Person Learning
If your student is a Hybrid learner, but would prefer to do Distance Learning Only, please contact your student's counselor and they will make that change for you.
If your student is a Distance Learning Only student, but would prefer to be an In Person learner, please connect with one of our Assistant Principals (Mike Elston - grades 9, 11; Andy Krause - grades 10, 12) to make that request. Please note, we may not be able to honor these requests at this time, due to the limited space in classrooms and other learning areas.
How can we get any student who wants to be in the building to be able to do in person learning? Our county COVID numbers need to be below 10. So, don't stop now! Continue to mask up, practice social distancing and wash your hands so we can stop the spread and get ALL students back in the building.
Transition Plan
Schedule for the Week of February 22 - 26
February 22 and 23 - no school, transition days
February 24 - distance learning only, asynchronous learning
February 25 - In Person students (formerly Hybrid groups A and B) are in the building, Distance Learning Only student can log in to google meets
On Wednesday, students should check their moodle courses for any assignments that may be posted. Thursday and Friday our hybrid learning students will be in the building. Distance Learners are encouraged to log in to the google meets for each of their classes.
Here is the daily schedule:
Attendance for In Person Students and Distance Learning Only Students
In-person Students (formerly our Hybrid Group A and Group B)
Students will attend school in-person and attendance is marked by their teacher
Families will be notified of unknown absences through the parent portal and automated calls
Distance Learning Students (Always Virtual)
Students will log in to Campus Portal Daily to mark themselves as participating in Distance Learning for that day for each of their scheduled classes. This is the same process that our Distance Learning students used at the beginning of this year.
All Students: Distance Learning Wednesdays
On Distance Learning Wednesdays, all students will mark themselves as participating in Distance Learning for that day for each of their scheduled classes (the same process that our distance learning students will follow).
In-Person Students who are quarantined, ill, etc. but who are able to continue to attend school virtually:
Please contact the school and inform our attendance secretary as to the length of the time your student will need to attend school virtually.
Your student will be temporarily assigned to the Distance Learning group and will be able to mark themselves as participating in Distance Learning following the same process they will do on Distance Learning Wednesdays.
When your student is able to return to the school building, they will be returned to the In-Person group and attendance will be taken by their teachers.
Parents will continue to be able to access student attendance via the parent portal. If you have concerns about your student’s participation and attendance, please reach out to our attendance secretary for more information.
Parking
As we communicated earlier in the year, while in the Hybrid learning model we were able to offer parking permits at no cost for any student who filled out the parking form.
As we return to our In-Person learning model, we will need to revoke all Hybrid learning model parking permits. We will then re-issue new parking permits for the remainder of this year following our past practices. There will be no fee for a parking permit this year. All Senior and Junior students wishing to receive a parking permit at West will need to fill out this form. As we will have more demand for parking spaces then we can accommodate, we will use the following process to issue permits:
Interested Juniors and Seniors fill out this form
Seniors will be given first priority and must submit this form by 4:00pm on Thursday, February 25th.
Juniors wishing to be entered into the lottery will submit the form, and will be placed into a randomized drawing. If your name is selected for a permit you will be sent an email on Friday, February 26th notifying you that you will be issued a permit.
Juniors are not guaranteed a permit as we do not have enough parking spaces available to meet demand.
Freshman and Sophomores will not be issued parking permits, but parking is available in our free lot located to the south of the football field near the baseball fields on a first come, first served basis.
Spring Conferences - March 1
We will hold virtual parent-teacher conferences on Monday, March 1 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm. Please use this link https://ptcfast.com/schools/Mankato_West_High_School to schedule conference times with your student’s teachers. You will find your student’s teachers by viewing your student’s schedule on your parent portal in Infinite Campus. If you need assistance with PTCFast please access this video for support.
Seniors Only
Senior portraits MUST be submitted by MONDAY, MARCH 1st, 2021 or you might not make it into the yearbook. We would love to have a picture for each student. If you do not have a senior photo, please let Ms. Mayra know and we will work to try and find a way to take a picture for the yearbook. For more information about senior pictures, grad ads, or ordering a yearbook, please go to our school yearbook page.
At this time, we are holding our date for Prom, April 24th, and it appears as though it will be a senior only Prom. Events, such as Prom, are limited to 250 people. The Class of 2021 did not get a Prom their Junior year, so if the event limit is not raised, we will only allow Seniors who attend West High School to attend Prom.
Upcoming Events
February 22, 23
No School - Transition Days
February 24
Hybrid Students return to the building as In Person Students
March 1
4:00pm - 8:00pm
Virtual Conferences
National Merit Finalist
National Honor Society
1000 points
Family Academy
Please join us on March 15, 2021 for Mankato Area Public School's Family Academy. There are four breakout sessions to choose from providing families tips, tools and strategies to stay engaged with your student's education. All sessions will be held online. To register: Go to isd77.org and click on Connect and then on Family Academy or call 507-387-5501.