WPHS FAMILY NEWSLETTER
#PANTHER STRONG
Back to School Information
Letter from our Principal
Panther Parents and Students:
We know that this summer began with a time for us all to regroup and begin to decompress from what was a very steep learning curve from March 13 - May 25. We were so impressed with our students and our teachers and our community as we rallied together to build a two month learning experience out of thin air.
As this summer has progressed, we have been working behind the scenes to refine and develop new plans to open this school year with student safety (amid a pandemic) and student learning as our dual focus. Many questions have come from you as we begin to inch closer to the August 25th start date. When we started the process of building, things were quite blurry. Now, things are beginning to come into focus.
This week, we sent you information about online registration and a good number of you have completed it. Thank you for jumping into the process with eagerness. Your information helps us to continue building our educational plan as we open school this fall. Knowing how many of our students choose the In-Person, Remote or Online options will help us to shift staff responsibilities and be more productive with our staff development. This information is critical. If you have not completed the registration process, please do so by August 6th.
As we begin school, we must mitigate the risks associated with close contact of groups of students. This will require ongoing management. A first step in that effort was to reduce the number of students and staff who are in close contact with each other for extended periods of time. That’s why we’ve built a schedule that puts our students into two academic courses per day rather than four. It’s also why we’ve reduced the total length of the in-person instructional day.
We want to be clear - the expectation for continuous learning and self-directed learning is still very high. This is a highly valuable skill that is intentionally taught at the high school level. Normally, we build this skill over time. Unfortunately, this must be rapidly developed and supported at home, by our families. During our time of truncated direct instruction, students must build study times into their at-home time. .
We encourage you to begin having this conversation at home; preparing yourselves mentally for devotion to learning and extended self-direction.
Students will take two classes per day - a total of four classes for the 1st calendar quarter (August 25 - October 22). The daily class periods have been lengthened to 105 minutes each- constituting a semester’s worth of learning. On October 26th we will switch to a new set of four classes (finishing on January 15th), and that will complete another semester. Right now, we’re only planning on using this schedule through January. If the Covid restrictions continue into the new year, we will re-evaluate the need for continuing this learning cycle.
While this is not ideal -we researched numerous approaches and we are confident it is the most productive way to achieve a high school learning cycle and reduce the cohort of students who are in close proximity to each other for extended periods of time.
Keeping you safe at school will be a very important part of our collective responsibility. We’re all in this together. Wearing your mask every day and throughout the learning day will be extremely important. It’s the defining element of just how long we’re able to keep in-person learning alive at Woodland Park High School. You, our staff and our students are the deciding factors in keeping the whole school safe from exposure to the pandemic. If you’re sick, we need you to stay home and continue learning there. When we all participate equally, with enthusiasm and with diligence - we can be assured that every effort has been made to keep us in school, in-person.
Watch for more weekly newsletters containing important information to navigate the next several months together. Our administration and counseling staff have now returned from their summer hiatus and are available to assist you with any questions you might have. Please send us an email. We will get back to you just as soon as we can.
I look forward to seeing you as we can, or simply hearing from you. Take care and remember we are #PantherStrong.
REINTEGRATION PLAN
Student Registration
Need extra support?
Need a Family Meeting or tour of the building before school starts or before you make a decision regarding your students' return to school choice? Please contact your student's counselor to set an appointment.
Dan Nickels
A - E
Jen Johnston
F - K
Jeremy Grier
L - Q
Chad Cosner
R - Z
In Person schedule for QUARTER 1
SCHOOL DAY
Fall 2020 school is in session from 9:00-2:00
Students may enter through the Panther doors beginning at 8:45 AM and must stay physically distanced while waiting to be released to class at 8:55 AM.
SCHOOL HOURS AND BELL SCHEDULE
1st Quarter (August 25 - October 22)
Academic Blocks (periods)
Green Day = 1st Block and 5th Block
White Day = 3rd Block and 7th Block
2nd Quarter (October 26 - January 15)
Academic Blocks
Green Day = 2nd Block and 6th Block
White Day = 4th Block and 8th Block
Times BELOW subject to slight change based on transportation availability.
A final schedule will be published prior to August 25.
ATTENTION! Due to CoVid 19 we will NOT be hosting Physicals at WPHS this year. Contact Melissa Yeryar for more information regarding physicals. myeryar@wpsdk12.org
Woodland Park High School SPORTS and ACTIVITIES UPDATES
PLEASE CHECK THE WEBSITE FOR UPDATES.
Golf will begin on Monday, August 3
Softball will begin on Monday, August 10
Marching Band has been canceled by the Colorado Band Masters Assoc.
All other sports and activities are on hold unless otherwise announced.
Please contact Mr. Joe Roskam at jroskam@wpsdk12.org if you have questions regarding ATHLETICS.
Please contact Ms. Sara Lee at slee@wpsdk12.org if you have questions regarding ACTIVITIES.
A Message from our Counselors
WPHS Office of Student Services is pleased to announce the addition of two new staff members to the team of academic and social emotional supports for our students. Mr. Dan Nickels and Mr. Jeremy Grier join our team as School Counselors that have been assigned a specific alpha-section of our student body.
WPHS is fortunate to have been awarded a grant to expand our counseling services and therefore, increase our ability to support students in a smaller cohort assigned to each counselor. Four counselors now provide direct academic guidance to improve student engagement, achievement and connections to post-secondary readiness. Those four counselors and their alpha assignments are as follows:
Dan Nickels (Students last names beginning A-E)
Jen Johnston (Students last names beginning F-K)
Jeremy Grier (Students last names beginning L-Q)
Chad Cosner (Students last names beginning R-Z)
Continuing to support social emotional needs through restorative practices is the team of Josh DeSmidt and Bob Pierciefield (Mr. Bob). Finally, the school’s social worker position (still in the process of being finalized) is ready to provide direct support to a small group of students who have very specific needs.
Counseling team members are back on duty and are available to answer your questions related options available for learning (in-person, remote, online) during our Covid Reintegration to school. Student schedules are being re-worked right now to accommodate health guidelines. Finalized schedules will be available on IC after August 14th. Please remember that student schedules are built from the requests made last spring. Few changes should be expected because school staffing decisions have already been made directly reflecting those student requests. Availability of new or different course requests are subject to those staffing decisions and now, the requirement of reduced cohort learning size in each class (target of 25 students per class period).
We look forward to seeing you all soon!
The Counseling Team