Building a Bridge to the Next Year and Beyond

I am very indebted to Dr. Jon Clark for the trajectory he and others in his charge put WGHS on for many years. His wisdom in hiring and putting many successful programs in place have weathered an important standard for success: they have lived on beyond his time as principal at Webster Groves High School. I would borrow from a notable program that our school has acknowledging our “proud past” coupled with an “inspired future.”

Munir Prince, our current Activities Director, shared the metaphor of a bridge connecting the school’s rich history and our desired future. Our current state of schooling in the pandemic has exposed our gaps and limitations as well as provided the opportunity to ask questions of standard practices we too often fall into without necessary contemplation. We hope to emerge from our necessary COVID-centric work to one that allows us to safely travel to the other side, in not a different institution but rather a more evolved version. Much of that work happens in addition to our daily tasks.

I have shared some updates and examples below:

• Scheduling for 21-22: We are currently polishing next semester while also looking on the horizon to next year’s course selection. Returning underclassmen students once again will make determinations about courses, as will our current 8th grade class at Hixon. Information will be out in the next week.
• Academic Networking: We have embedded Academic Networking into our 2021-22 schedule that we had planned for this school year. Academic Networking allows students to pursue academic work, to receive extra help, make up missed assignments and tests, study and receive interventions, and increase overall contact time between teachers and students.
  
• New courses for 21-22: We are adding brand new courses for the 2021-22 year, including Kinetic Wellness, Technical Writing, and Civil Engineering and Architecture through Project Lead the Way.
• Supporting virtual students: Staffing adjustments, continued home visits, Virtual Student of the Week recognition, creating more opportunities for Zoom visits and interaction with teachers, offering more support to students who are struggling
• Adoption of Canvas as our learning management system and use of Zoom for parent conferences
• Schedule revision: We began over a year ago asking if our drop schedule, which has been used for many years, allowed us to best meet the instructional and student needs. Varied groups of staff, and soon parents and students, will have input into some options prior to doing more learning and processing to prepare for a potential adjustment when we are safely able to conduct school as we did pre-pandemic.

As historian Anne Gordon Reed noted with her observations of particular historic figures, “You take the bitter with the sweet.” While we continue to battle conditions of the pandemic and wearily march forward each day, we are hopeful we are better after our shared challenge of crossing the bridge.

Regards,

Matt Irvin

Students can get credit for their volunteer hours for this year’s Statesmen Service Awards (2020-2021). The period to log hours runs from April 1, 2020 - April 1, 2021.

If you’re working for a food bank or making masks for healthcare workers or picking up groceries for the elderly - now is the perfect time to do some good and give to others. Whether service hours are completed through classes, clubs, youth groups, organizations or individually, students need a minimum of 50 hours of volunteer work for a non-profit agency and must not be compensated for the work.

Criteria:

-50+ hours

-Service must not be done within the course of the school day nor pay accepted for the services

-Form must be completed by student and signed by a supervisor who can verify hours completed by student. BLANK FORMS ARE IN OFFICE 124.

Note: Volunteer hours are not eligible for hours in the A+ program. A+ hours are acquired through mentoring and tutoring.

Further questions, you may contact John E. Thomas, thomasejohn@wgmail.org or Julie Simonson, Simonson.julie@wgmail.org

St. Louis County COVID-19 Update

COVID-19 Testing

Getting tested for COVID-19 has never been more important during this pandemic than it is now. More than 260,000 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in St. Louis County. This crucial to our efforts to contain the spread of the virus and is a major factor in understanding the patterns of its spread.

This includes testing for those who are asymptomatic and anyone who had close contact with the public to get a test – even if they haven’t had direct contact with someone who was positive. Testing is available to anyone who requests it. To make an appointment for a free test through St. Louis County Department of Public Health, click here or call 314-615-0574.

Drive-through testing is done at the following DPH clinics:

6121 North Hanley Road in Berkeley

4580 Lindbergh Blvd. in South County

Missouri residents who may be experiencing stress and anxiety related to COVID-19 may call the “Show Me Hope Line” at 800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746 for assistance. The service is available 24 hours a day throughout the week. For additional information, please click here.