WHES Heights Highlights
Week 1: August 15th-19th
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WHES Newsletter Update for 081522
Updates for this first week of school are:
- Monday will be our first day of school August 15th
- 7:40am
Early before-school drop off in the auditorium for PAL - 5th grade.
NOTE: This is not a before school program, but a time that school staff will have activities for the children like reading, coloring, or puzzles. They sit by grade level and sit and talk
- 8:00am Students Line Up Supervision Staff escort students to classroom (put away backpacks and lunches)
- 8:10am Students enter classroom to be in seat before the tardy bell
- 8:15am Tardy Bell Rings
- 2:39pm Dismissal (except Tuesday 1:39pm Early Dismissal)
- 2:39 - 6pm STAR After School Care picks up the children whose parents applied for the FREE child care program
- 7:40am
Have a great evening and see you tomorrow!
Kind regards,
Mrs. Hughes
Monday Morning Message Assembly
Please join us for Monday's assembly by grade level.
PAL/TK/K/1ST On August 22nd
The assembly will be virtual. To access the assembly, students and teachers will log in through Schoology. Its purpose will be to build community expectations for students around digital citizenship, character, and social emotional strategies. Please sign in and let's get started at 9am!
To access, follow the steps below:
Step 1- Login to Schoology at lms.lausd.net with your student QR Code or MYMail student
email and password
Step 2- Click to GROUPS inside your Schoology Account (found at top left blue bar) to find &
then click to enter "Westport Heights Community Schoology" Group
STEP 2B- If you have not joined our school's group, click "MY GROUPS" and join by clicking
JOIN GROUP or "+" (on new iPads)
Step 3- Enter Access Code: F4SD-8VW5-M2FMJ and then click JOIN.
Step 4- Click on the Assembly Zoom Link
Step 5- Follow the directions inside the Zoom waiting room and sign in on the link provided
there.
If you need help, Mrs. Blanca and I will be available to assist those who need assistance getting into our Westport Schoology group or accessing the Zoom room designated for the Morning 9am Assembly. You may can call Ms. Blanca at 424-6661153 or call the school at 310-645-5611 to reach me.
Kind regards,
Mrs. Hughes
Student and Family Wellness: (213) 241-3840 The Student & Family Wellness helpdesk is open 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Please call for support with mental health, immunizations, health insurance, food & housing, enrollment, and more.
How to help your child activate his/her Schoology account on lms.lausd.net?
Steps to Allow Your Child be Issued a Device
- You will need to register on Parent Portal using your PIN, Child's Student ID, and date of birth if you have never done so before. Register here: https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/10470
- Your child needs a working device (either iPad or Chromebook). You will need to complete District Device Permission forms in advance of receiving device. THE THREE (3) FORMS ARE ALL LINKED IN THE BLUE BOXES UNDERNEATH THE SCHOOL READINESS BOX BELOW.
- Your child knows their MyMail address ("xxxxxxx@mymail.lausd.net") and password (4th and 5th) or has their QR code to access Schoology (PAL - 3rd)
Important: If any of the above items are not true for your child, your child will not be able to access instruction on the first day of school (Aug 18th). Please IMMEDIATELY visit the following link, or click the button below, and let us know so we can ensure you have access: https://bit.ly/WHESSchoolReadiness
Note: If you recently enrolled your child in August, you may call the office to confirm the day of your device distribution day and for information regarding student MyMail email and password.

Welcome Back Westport Heights 2022-2023 Teacher Roster
We are small but mighty! Welcome back Westport Heights Elementary School Teachers:
PAL- Mrs. Lisa Collins
TK-2nd - Mr. Michael McGurty
TK/K - Mrs. Ann Bishay
1st - Mrs. Linda Recendez
2nd - Ms. Luz Quintero
3rd - Ms. Christine Grams
4th - Mr. Theodore Fortier
4th/5th - Ms. Brittany Evans
5th -Mr. Seth Faber
Cotsen Mentor - Mrs. Farrah Cocozza

COMMUNICATE
Bell Schedule: Arrive to classroom by 8:15am to not be tardy! Here are the important highlights to mention for this area:
Early before-school drop off in the auditorium for PAL - 5th grade. NOTE: This is not a before school program, but a time that school staff will have activities for the children like reading, coloring, or puzzles. They sit by grade level and sit and talk
| Drop Off & Pick-Up Protocols The front of the school on 79th Street is for valet. We will not resume valet until we have our next parent volunteers and will notify the school community when valet service officially begins. The front of the school will have signs and cones for areas that are not for parking. There is ample street parking. Please make sure to observe all traffic laws and not block our neighbors' driveways. | Cafeteria MenusClick this link to find our school menu. https://achieve.lausd.net/Page/11718 |
Bell Schedule: Arrive to classroom by 8:15am to not be tardy!
- 7:40am
Early before-school drop off in the auditorium for PAL - 5th grade.
NOTE: This is not a before school program, but a time that school staff will have activities for the children like reading, coloring, or puzzles. They sit by grade level and sit and talk
- 8:00am Students Line Up Supervision Staff escort students to classroom (put away backpacks and lunches)
- 8:10am Students enter classroom to be in seat before the tardy bell
- 8:15am Tardy Bell Rings
- 2:39pm Dismissal (except Tuesday 1:39pm early dismissal)
- 2:39 - 6pm STAR After School Care picks up the children whose parents applied for the FREE child care program
Drop Off & Pick-Up Protocols
The front of the school will have signs and cones for areas that are not for parking. There is ample street parking. Please make sure to observe all traffic laws and not block our neighbors' driveways.
More Information Every Wednesday we send home a blue folder, with important papers that need to be signed. However, in order to save the trees, some of the needed information will be digital. With that being said, you will still need to check for information digitally similar to this newsletter. | After School Protocols The are three exit gates.
| School Experiences
|
More Information
After School Protocols
- PAL is dismissed from the front gate at 12:45
- TK/K/1st exits from the kinder yard.
- 2ND & 3RD will walk outside to the front of the school.
- 4TH & 5TH exit from the Yorktown gate.

COVID Plan
- Masking: Indoor masking is strongly recommended at all Los Angeles Unified schools and workplaces.
- All schools have surgical masks available for distribution upon request to any student or employee.
- Response Testing: Similar to our summer school programs, Los Angeles Unified is implementing a “response testing” protocol during the 2022-2023 school year using at-home rapid antigen tests.
- The California Department of Public Health recommends that “antigen tests be considered the primary option for detecting COVID-19 in schools, compared to PCR tests.” The antigen test provides rapid results for individuals who have virus levels that are high enough to transmit the virus. The PCR tests have a high level of sensitivity and can pick up low levels of the virus both before and after infection. This may cause students to unnecessarily miss school with low levels of the virus despite being asymptomatic and not being a risk to transmit to others. Therefore, the antigen tests will help to ensure that every child has access to in-person learning while maintaining a safe school environment.
- Weekly asymptomatic COVID-19 testing is no longer required.
- Testing will only be required for those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or those who have been in close contact with a person who has tested positive.
- Symptomatic students and close contacts will be provided with an at-home rapid antigen test by their school.
- Students who become symptomatic or ill while at school are required to wear a mask while being treated at the health office and waiting to be picked up by a parent/guardian. School administrators will provide a rapid antigen test kit for the symptomatic student to take home.
- If parents have questions they can call their school site or the Family Help Desk at (213) 443-1300.
- Back to School Rapid Antigen Testing: Antigen at-home rapid tests will be distributed to all students and staff and should be used within 48 hours prior to entering campus for the first day of school. We will also be distributing antigen at-home rapid tests at the end of the first week of school. All students and staff should also take a rapid test within 48 hours prior to the start of the second week of school.
- If an individual tests positive on a rapid antigen test, please upload the result onto the Daily Pass.
- If your child has symptoms of COVID-19 such as fever, cough, congestion, sore throat, vomiting or diarrhea, please keep your child at home. Your child must take an at-home rapid test and can return to school if the test is negative, when symptoms have improved and your child is fever-free without fever-reducing medication for 24 hours.
- Based on differences in testing distribution across school sites, your principal will provide information about how you can access rapid tests between August 8 through August 12, and throughout the school year.
- Daily Pass: The Daily Pass will continue to be used to upload COVID-19 rapid antigen test results and vaccination records, monitor positive cases and to notify close contacts of a person who has tested positive.
- Students and employees do not need to generate a Daily Pass QR code to enter school campuses.
- Vaccination: Our employees are already vaccinated. We encourage all eligible students to be vaccinated as well, and all members of the school community to receive any boosters for which they are eligible.
- Positive Cases: Individuals who test positive must isolate at home and may be released from isolation on Day 6, provided symptoms are improving, they are fever-free for the past 24 hours without fever-reducing medication and have a negative test result from a rapid antigen test taken on or after Day 5 and upload results to Daily Pass.
- If the individual is asymptomatic, Day 0 of isolation is the day the individual was tested. Day 1 is the first full day following the day the individual was tested.
- If the individual is symptomatic, Day 0 of isolation is the day of symptom onset, regardless of when the individual tested positive. Day 1 is the first full day following the day that symptoms started.
- Employees eligible for shortened isolation must continue to wear a highly protective mask at all times in the workplace around others, except when eating or drinking, for 10 days after the date of the positive test.
- Students ending isolation early are strongly recommended to wear a highly protective mask when around others, except when eating or drinking, for 10 days after the date of the positive test.
Have questions about the new school year? Share them with us.
How do I get my Parent Portal PIN?
