West Genesee District e-Newsletter
September 4, 2020
West Genesee Athletic Community Receives Scholar-Athlete School of Excellence Award
Congratulations to the Wildcat Nation for being recognized as a 2019-20 NYSPHSAA Scholar-Athlete School of Excellence Award winner.
To earn the School of Excellence Award, 75% of a school’s varsity teams must qualify and receive the Scholar-Athlete team award.
Update to Food Service Information
We are looking forward to kicking off the 2020-2021 school year next Thursday, September 10. Please make sure that you read the food service information letter linked here and below. A couple of thoughts when reading this are as follows:
1. Create a Nutrislice account for pre-ordering.
2. Make sure that your child's MySchoolBucks account is funded. (See more below in the District Reopening Information article.)
3. Remote learners may also order meals, but must be in bundles and be ordered a week ahead. (See link below or click here - First Order Due Date is Monday September 7 for the week of September 14.)
4. In person meals must also be preordered on Nutrislice. (First Order Due Date is Wednesday September 9 for September 10. We encourage pre-ordering by the week or month.)
5. Your child's MySchoolBucks account will not be charged until the service day has passed.
6. Pre-ordered meals can be cancelled per the attached letter linked below.
USDA Free Meal Program
On August 31, 2020 the USDA announced that they would be extending the free meal program for all students through December 31, 2020 OR until funding runs out. Since we do not know when this funding will run out, we are recommending that for September you fund your Child's MYSchoolBucks account as you normally would, Please be assured that we will not charge your child's account for reimbursable meals that they purchase as long as the funding continues, hopefully through December 31, 2020. We will continue to keep you posted on this as things develop.
Update to Transportation Information
We are excited to see your children next Thursday. Please refer to the letter linked below in the District Reopening Information article for details regarding transportation or click here. As we prepare for the new "temporary normal" please review the following key facts with your children for preparation in riding the school bus:
- They must have a mask to ride the bus.
- They must present the driver with their daily health pass to board the bus.(They will hold on to the pass to be given to the staff at the school building.)
- Hand sanitizer will be available on the bus.
- They must sit in their assigned seat. You can find their seat assignments by accessing the Ride360 App or web link as discussed in the letter linked below in the District Reopening Information article.
- Other than siblings, in some instances, all passengers are assigned to their own seat.
- Once in their seat, you child should slide into the window side of the seat.
Please take a few moments to review these key safety steps with your child before next Thursday. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
District Reopening Information: New Items Added (FAQ/Transportation/Food Service/Technology)
After receiving the New York State Department of Health and New York State Education Department’s guidance document earlier this month, the West Genesee Central School District started working to adopt the model and create our own Reopening Plan.
West Genesee formed a COVID-19 Task Force early this year which has been exploring options for the safe reopening of our schools. The District has also been working with a regional group of school districts through OCM BOCES to share information and best practices. Based on the committee’s recommendations and the regional group’s work, in accordance with the new state guidelines, West Genesee submitted an initial plan to New York State by the July 31 deadline.
Below is additional information concerning the reopening of schools. Please note items that indicate they have been recently added, updated, or revised.
Frequently Asked Questions (Updated on September 4)
School Bus Transportation Letter (Posted on August 28) See above for more info
School Building Meal Program Letter (Posted on August 28) See above for more info
Chromebook Distribution Information (Posted on August 26)
West Genesee District Reopening Plan (Posted on July 31/Updated on August 14)
West Genesee Virtual Learning Plan (Posted on August 14)
West Genesee Testing and Contact Tracing Plan 2020-2021 (Posted on August 14)
- West Genesee Student Days During In-Person / Hybrid Learning (Revised on August 14)
- 2020-21 School Year: What’s New and Different?
Click here for more information including links to videos of all Talks with the Superintendent and Panels, guidelines for reopening, and other important resources.
Reminder: First Days of School Info
As a reminder, here is information for the first days of school and who will start attending on the days listed below:
Thursday, September 10
- All in-person K-4 students
- Hybrid Grades 5-8 students with last names starting with L-Z
- Hybrid Grades 11 and 12 students
Monday, September 14
- Hybrid Grades 5-8 students with last names starting with A-K
- Hyrbrid Grades 9 and 10 students
- All remote students
Notes from West Genesee Nurses: Children with Chronic Health Conditions
We would like to draw your attention to a topic of interest for those of you who have children with chronic health conditions. After consultation with our Medical Director, we are asking parents and caregivers to provide updated letters from their child’s Health Care Provider that may help clarify chronic health conditions and any corresponding symptoms.
An updated letter, dated on or after May 1, 2020, will help the school District staff should the need arise to evaluate symptoms from a chronic health condition, that are also listed as symptoms of COVID-19. New York State and Onondaga County have encouraged this request in order to help nurses and medical staff expedite evaluation and decision making should a student develop symptoms during the school day.
We realize information is rapidly changing during this pandemic. We continue to review and update the many safety protocols that have been implemented to allow a safe and successful start to the school year.
As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have regarding your child.
Be Well!
Your Nurses
Check Out the Health Requirements: Spotlight on High School Senior Requirements
This past year there have been updates to the Health and Registration requirements for students. Here is a link to the Latest Immunization Requirements Information located on our website.
Spotlight on WGHS Senior Requirements:
All 12th grade students in New York State MUST HAVE proof of receiving the Meningococcal vaccine (shot) in order to attend school.
- Students entering Grade 12 MUST have either
- 2 doses of meningococcal vaccine with the booster dose given on or after age 16
Or
- 1 dose if you child’s first dose was given on or after age 16
If we don’t receive record of this vaccine within 14 days of the start of the school year, your child will face exclusion from school. Your child will be excluded from school on September 25 if we don’t receive documentation of the vaccination.
If your child has chosen the remote option for school this year they must also be up to date with their immunizations. Please reach out to the WGHS nurses if you need guidance on this topic at cprior@westgenesee.org or khancock@westgenesee.org.
Calendars for 2020-2021 are Now Available Online
The online District 2020-2021 Events Calendar is now available from the website homepages. To view on a mobile device click here or to view in a grid format on a laptop click here.
You can also access the one-page District calendar by clicking on here.
Note: A hardcopy of the WGCSD 2020-2021 Events Calendar/Information Guide will come come home (one per family) the first weeks of school! (Remote learners will get them when they pick up their chromebooks.)
TIP: Accessing Calendars from the Blackboard Mobile Phone App
If the time for an event on the mobile phone app calendar is not correct, check the timezone setting in the phone settings to make sure it is set to the correct time zone.
Also, you can refresh the mobile app calendar from an android phone by following these steps: open the app, go to settings, manage app, storage and then clear data and cache. For those with iphones follow these steps: open the app, go to settings, click on reset app defaults.
Upcoming Events
- September 7, 2020 No School - Labor Day
- September 8-9, 2020 Superintendent's Workshop Day (No school for students)
- September 9, 2020 Remote students pick-up Chromebooks and supplies at home schools
- September 9, 2020 Board of Education Meeting - 7:00 p.m. - High School Library (also livestreamed from our website)
- September 10, 2020 First Day of School for: All in-person K-4; Hybrid Grades 5-8 students with last names starting with L-Z; Hybrid Grades 11 and 12 students
- September 14, 2020 First Day of School for: Hybrid Grades 5-8 students with last names starting with A-K; Hybrid Grades 9 and 10 students; All remote students