The WJHS Panther Update
Sept. 15, 2023
Principal's Letter
Panther Families,
Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States runs from September 15th to October 15th each year. It's a time to celebrate the rich cultural heritage, contributions, and achievements of our Hispanic and Latinx communities.
Throughout this month, we'll be sharing stories of Hispanic and Latinx trailblazers, highlighting their impact on our world. Announcements will be made, First Chapter Fridays will include read-alouds from Hispanic authors, a bulletin board will be up for all to see, and a spirit day will occur. Ms. Lett, our Dual Language teacher has created a music trivia game to span the month and her students are helping to make the month exciting as well. Make sure to talk to your students about what they've learned each day!
Our first PTO Meeting was on Wednesday evening. Thank you to those who attended. Your support of WJHS is vital to maintaining and enhancing our culture. We appreciate you, and, of course, it was great chatting with all of you!
In the meeting, I discussed our school goals, which are directly in line with our district goals. I think it's important to share those with our entire community as well.
ELA:
1. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, all three grade levels will reach no less than 55% proficiency in ELA as measured by the IAR assessment.
2. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, no less than 70% of ELA students will reach their typical growth goal as measured by the IAR proficiency.
Math:
1. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, all three grade levels will reach no less than 45% proficiency in Math as measured by the IAR assessment.
2. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, no less than 70% of MATH students will reach their typical growth goal as measured by IAR proficiency.
School goals are essential to us because they provide a roadmap for our staff and students, promote accountability and improvement, and ensure that our school's efforts are directed toward achieving meaningful outcomes for students and the community.
As a staff and administrative team, we have created an action plan focusing on how we will achieve and monitor progress toward achieving these goals and have already begun diving into the data to find our baseline data.
STUDENTS OF THE MONTH
Congratulations to the following students who were selected by their teachers as Septembers Students of the Month!
6th grade - Harrison R., Teresa S., Ian O.
7th grade - Alexis O, Erick S., Joanna R., Max M.
8th grade - Evy E., Sebastian G., Christopher S.
Attendance Matters - We have surpassed 20 days of school now at the start of the year and our Attendance team is closely monitoring absence data.
Attendance:
The district-wide goal is "no more than five" in order to keep kids in school as attendance is a critical component to academic success. "No more than five" is an end-of-the-year goal for each individual student.
One major metric we look at is when students are "Chronically Absent". Chronic absenteeism is defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason (illness, appointments, unexcused absences, etc...).
Students who have been absent 2 or more days this year are currently chronically absent from school. This percentage goes down as the school year goes on, as long as students do not accumulate more absences.
As our team monitors schoolwide attendance and chronic absenteeism you may hear from us in the form of a phone call or letter home in the mail. Our communication is all in service of making sure our students at WJHS are set up for success.
Attendance Tip:
Schedule appointments outside school hours as much as possible. If an appointment has to be made during school hours, talk to the scheduler/provider to minimize missed school as much as possible. Stress the importance of your child being in school. For appointments at the very beginning or very end of a school day, have your student attend school before/after the appointment.
CUSD201 Introduces Our New Guest Screening Process - Part of keeping our students safe is knowing who is in the building at all times. We are implementing a new visitor management system Verkada Guest that screens guests against registered sex offender lists and various criminal databases to manage access to schools and facilities. When community members visit Manning, Miller, WJHS, and WHS they'll notice an iPad outside the entrance.
Visitors will use either the iPad Kiosk at the school entrance or a QR code with their mobile phone to sign in. They will follow the prompts to complete the quick process and the school secretary will be notified.
To enter the building, visitors must have either a US driver's license or state ID. If they do not have a US driver's license or state ID, they are directed to get in touch with the school office in advance of their visit.
Verkada maintains the privacy of the data collected during this process.
- No imagery is used from Verkada Cameras or the Verkada Guest kiosk to do biometrics searches within the third-party database.
- The search results are not shared with any other third parties or across customers.
- All communications to the system are fully encrypted when in transit and rest.
Drills - We will begin our required emergency drills in the next few weeks. If you would like to excuse your student from any of the following critical incident drills; please notify our office, no later than 9:00am on Monday, October 2nd.
- Tuesday, October 3rd - Fire Drill
- Tuesday, October 17th - Armed Intruder Drill
- Tuesday, October 25th - Fire Drill
- Friday, November 3rd- Weather Drill
Biddy Cheer - Calling all future cheerleaders! If performing with the WHS cheerleaders during half time of the Varsity game sounds exciting to you, here is your chance! See the attached flyer below for all the details.
Current Trends:
Concerning Snapchat Posts -We have been made aware of a Snapchat group called, "Bible Study", in which students are speaking to one another in an unkind, inappropriate way. I highly suggest you look through that group chat if your child is part of it. Please know that once students realize we know about their thread, they will change the name of it. It is good practice to peruse your child's phone consistently.
We have also had an uprise in students airdropping wanted/unwanted pics/media to others during school hours. You can help us mitigate this issue by changing the settings on your students' phones so that they can not accept images from others. This change will keep your students safe outside of school as well.
FREE Youth Screen Dependence & Digital Health Webinar for Parents and Clinicians -
In our increasingly digital age, screen dependence is becoming a growing concern. We invite you to join a free 1.5 hr. CE Credit webinar, designed to provide crucial insights into this modern day problem. For additional information and to register, click here.
Jr. Citizen's Police Academy Opportunity - The Junior Citizens’ Police Academy is a FREE, educational, informative and fun program, where young adults can meet police officers and learn about their job. The mission of the program is to increase community interaction, understanding and communication between the Westmont Police Department and our young citizens of the community. Participants are encouraged to ask questions, and actively participate in our discussions and hands-on activities throughout the class. This class may qualify as community service hours for certain programs, including the Westmont Jr. High SSLP. We will provide an engaging and enjoyable experience for everyone. All classes will be held in the Westmont Police Department training room. Use this form to complete your pre-registration. We will contact you once class dates are finalized and confirm that your child will be able to attend. If you are unable to attend, we will retain your contact information to reach out about future classes.
CLASS TOPICS:
Welcome and Tour of the Police Station | Communications and the 911 System | SWAT Demonstration & Presentation | Social Media | Crime Scene Investigation & Processing | Fingerprints | Traffic Stops
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Participants must either 1) live in Westmont, or 2) attend school in Westmont, and:
Have parental permission to participate.
Have reliable transportation to and from class.
Have few or no prior criminal contacts with law enforcement.
You are between 12 - 15 years of age
FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE CALL DETECTIVE DURST AT (630)-981-6365, OR EMAIL JDURST@WESTMONT.IL.GOV
PLEASE SIGN UP HERE! CLASS WILL BE LIMITED TO 20 STUDENTS!
Mighty Oak Athletic Youth Program - We are happy to let you know about a new afterschool youth program offered to our kids. Michael Ockrim is the founder of Mighty Oak Athletic, located just a few miles from the school at 6424 S. Cass in Westmont. They offer an engaging after-school program designed to empower students.
The first 30 students who enroll will receive a discount. Click on the link above for a list of what they have to offer. We would love to hear a review! If your student attends, please drop us a line and let us know what your thoughts.
Remember to check the WJHS calendar for up-to-date information on Clubs, Events, & Athletics.
Sincerely,
Amy Quattrone
WJHS Principal
Mum Sale at Miller and Manning
Trunk or Treat
Student Council is hosting our 3rd Annual Trunk or Treat Friday, October 13th, 6-7 pm (rain date 10/20). The top three winners with the best decorated trunk will receive a spooktacular prize!! Sign up Here .