Westfield Arrow
Aiming to Keep You Informed
October 23, 2020
From the Office
This year, Halloween will look a bit different, both at school and in the community. In order to keep everyone safe, we ask that you reference the Bloomingdale Trick or Treating guidelines included further down in the Arrow, as well as the school guidelines for Halloween costumes listed below. With the current A/B schedule this year, students are able to dress up for Halloween on either Thursday, October 29th or Friday, October 30th at school.
Halloween Costumes
We would like to remind the students to dress appropriately as stated in the Dress Code and to follow the guidelines listed below:
- All current safety guidelines must be followed, including the wearing of approved health masks (neck gaiters are not recognized by the CDC as approved health masks)
- Costume/Hair/Make-up must be completed prior to the arrival at school or entering the bus. Ex: No spray cans are allowed on the bus or at school.
- Costume accessories, if applicable, should not depict or display anything hurtful, harmful or have the opportunity to be utilized as a weapon.
- The classroom learning environment should not be compromised due to a student’s costume.
- Student’s identity must be visible and easily recognizable. Ex: No full masks.
Parent-Teacher Conferences - New format this year
This year, all Parent-Teacher conferences will be held in a virtual format using Google Meets. In addition, District 13 teachers will have the option of using a 3 week window between November 16th and December 4th this year to better accommodate parents; teachers will publish a calendar with individual conference availability between November 16th and December 4th.
Next week, parents/guardians will receive a survey to request conferences with your child's teachers. Using the survey responses, teachers will reach out to interested parents/guardians with a link to schedule a Parent-Teacher conference during the November 16th and December 4th window.
In-Person Learning schedule for 10/26 - 10/30
- Monday: A group in person
- Tuesday: B group in person
- Wednesday: Everyone remote
- Thursday: A group in person
- Friday: B group in person
Have a wonderful weekend!
Stefan Larsson
Principal
Nicole Gabany
Assistant Principal
Warriors of the Week
Each week the staff recognizes students for demonstrating outstanding character based on attitudes or actions that fall under the Character Counts Pillars and our WARRIORS Mission and Vision.
UPCOMING DATES
Please visit our Google Calendar for all activities and schedules!
- Virtual Spirit Week: October 26-30 (see below)
- End of Quarter 1: October 30th
- Bloomingdale Trick-or-Treat: October 31st 3-7pm
- NO SCHOOL: November 3
WESTFIELD THIS WEEK
Grade Level News:
Trick-or-Treat in Bloomingdale
- Day: Saturday, October 31st
- Time: 3:00-7:00pm
- Only visit houses with a lighted front door and green sign.
- Bloomingdale Police Guidelines
- Bloomingdale Trick-or-Treat house signs
STUDENT INFORMATION
Students: Enter the District 13 Holiday Card Design Contest
Information for In-Person Learners (First shared on 10/9/2020)
You can access the most updated health information and other resources using the following link: District 13 Return to Learn resources
If you have additional questions about Return to Learn please submit them here: Additional Return to Learn Questions
Reminder - A/B Group Designation
- Students in the A Group have last names starting with: A-L
- Students in the B Group have last names starting with: M-Z
Reminder-Morning Arrival Time
Walkers and Car riders, please arrive between 8:10 - 8:25am. Bus riders will arrive according to their bus route information. We are asking students not to arrive prior to 8:10, if possible, to avoid groups gathering on the front walkway prior to entering the building.
Vehicle Drop-off: As a reminder, the front lot is only available for bus traffic before and after school; Car drop off is along Fairfield Way. Please drop your child off on the Westfield side of Fairfield or encourage your child to use the crosswalks if needed. Crossing in the middle of the street is unsafe during drop-off and pick-up times.
Reminder - Student Entrances
Staff will greet students on the front patio in the morning and assist them with safely entering the building. Students will be asked to wear a mask* as they approach the building, socially distance themselves from others, and enter the building one at a time. All student entrances are along the front side of the building.
- 6th Grade students will use Door 30, which leads into our Athletic Gym
- 7th Grade students will use Door 32, which leads to our Commons
- 8th Grade students will use Door 1, which is our Main Entrance.
- What do you need for school?
- Welcome In-Person Learners: video from Mr. Larsson
- 6th grade In-person Arrival: video from Mrs. Gabany (specific to 6th grade)
*Please see this resource on guidance for acceptable masks; please note, as we enter winter months, neck gaiters at this time are not considered an acceptable mask and won't be able to be used at school due to unknown effectiveness per the CDC.
Students! Email Westfield Your Pictures for the Arrow and the Yearbook
Email your pictures to: WFyearbook@sd13.org
Parents/Guardians: Please Call in Your Student's Absence
Save Your Plastic Frosting Containers for Art Class
Put Your Creativity Out There--Enter the Art Contest!
STUDENT COUNCIL NEWS
TECHNOLOGY
Chromebook Trouble?
If you need assistance from the Technology Department, please use this link to request support.
Students: Please log out of your chromebook and back in daily
See this video on how to log in and out of your chromebook.
'How-To' for Parents/Guardians:
Otus for 6th grade Parents
FROM THE WESTFIELD SOCIAL WORKER
Parents, please complete this needs assessment:
FROM THE WESTFIELD NURSE
PARENTS:
The State of Illinois is not waiving the requirements for all students who have mandated health forms (physicals, immunizations, dental and eye exams), even though students are not currently physically present in the schools. Please submit the mandated forms to your child’s school as soon as possible. If you have any concerns or questions, please contact your school’s building nurse for assistance (Westfield Middle School nurse is Beth Jones bjones@sd13.org) Please scan, fax, or drop off hard copies of medical documents to the school. We are unable to accept photographs of medical documents. Thank you!
{Students who are transferring into our district from out-of-state must speak with the building nurse.}
The exclusion date for non-compliant students remains October 15th, except for the dental exam which is not due until May 2021.
The required forms are available at your Doctor offices and on your school’s website, located under “Health Information”.
Please see below for the grades which have mandated paperwork due October 15th:
Kindergarten (or 1st grade, if your student did not attend kindergarten): physical examination, up-to-date immunizations, eye exam and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
2nd grade: dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
6th grade: physical examination, up-to-date immunizations and dental exam. (Dental exam is due in May 2021.)
Teenage Depression and Anxiety
Student Expectations for Remote Learning
We ask that all parents take a moment and review the expectations for proper school behavior and on-line etiquette provided in the following links. Please reference our Student Handbook for general policies and procedures and this Virtual Etiquette for Google Meets infographic to assist students with Remote Learning expectations. Thank you!
Get the Parent PowerSchool App
Similar to the PowerSchool Parent Web Portal, parents can download the PowerSchool Mobile App from the App store on your iOS device or the Play Store on your Android device. Simply search for “PowerSchool” to find and install the mobile app on your smartphone or tablet.
- After downloading the mobile app to your device, connect the Mobile App to the correct PowerSchool server for Bloomingdale School District 13, by entering our unique, four-character code: G M K T
- You can also search for Bloomingdale SD13 by district or school name.
- The PowerSchool Mobile App will display your child(ren)’s schedule and assignments.
- PowerSchool Mobile app users can also enable Push Notifications to receive alerts when attendance is recorded or a final grade changes. To setup notifications within the app: Tap Account, then tap Notifications to configure the notifications you want to receive. Use the slider icons to turn the notifications on or off.
- Note: Parents must have a PowerSchool Parent Web Portal account created and students linked to their account before using the PowerSchool Mobile App. Click here for instructions on how to create a parent Portal account.
WESTFIELD'S PARENT TEACHER ORGANIZATION (PTO)
Halloween Contest!
Enter your submissions here: Submission Form
Need help on how to get your link? Watch this video from Mrs. Gabany: Getting a shareable Link
When students return fully, we'll use SignUp.com to organize Westfield Volunteers.
1) Click this link to see our SignUp: https://signup.com/go/xZeejVZ
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
BLOOMINGDALE PARK DISTRICT PROGRAMS
WESTFIELD SOCIAL COMMUNICATION
How-To Videos
Gmail:
- How to delete all email (6th grade)
- How to appropriately write an email
- You can only email other sd13.org email addresses
- Creating Bookmarks
- Starring and snoozing Emails
Google Classroom:
- How to Join Classroom(with Code)
- How to Join with Teacher Invite
- Check Stream and classwork page
- How to Turn in assignments
PowerSchool: Coming Soon
- Logging in
- Checking grades
- Seeing assignments
- Comments from Teachers
FlipGrid:
Chromebook: