Westview Wildcat Weekly

Westview Students and Families,

We are excited by how the year has started and owe a lot of that to our students and families. We recently asked our students how the year has started for them and 91% said they feel like the year is off to a good start. Also, we had 91% attendance during our first two weeks. We know many of our students are discouraged by the most recent news that we will be in CDL until February 8. However, we will continue to focus on what we are able to do, deliver the best CDL experience for our students, and celebrate that we get to learn together. We trust each day will get better and better. Please ensure your student participates daily and is in contact with all of of their teachers. Most importantly, we hope everyone is being safe and doing well.

Reach out if you need anything.

Thank you.

Matt Pedersen

Mental Wellness Month and Advisory on October 14

October is Mental Health Awareness Month and we will be educating, and learning with, our students and community throughout the month of October.

In Advisory class on October 14, we will be providing a lesson for our students around wellness, mental health, and suicide. We encourage all of our students to attend on October 14 at 10:15am. Reviewing these items with our students is also part of a state law called "Adi's Act."

Regreso a la escuela Westview: Programa en Español

Brindamos una invitación a nuestra communidad hispanohablante a una presentación virtual en Zoom el 15 de octubre desde las 7pm a 8pm en español. Compartiremos información sobre la escuela y el formato de aprendizaje este año. Habrá también oportunidades de hacer preguntas a administradores y maestros en español. ¡Esperamos su presencia! Se enviará un enlace por school messenger unos días antes de la presentación. ¡Gracias!

THIS YEAR'S YEARBOOK INFO

Everything to know about Yearbook is on the Westview website under activities.

*Senior Portrait Photo requirements and submission Info.

*Yearbook Purchasing Pricing and link to Jostens website for purchasing.

*Senior Recognition Adds info and link for purchasing.. (For Parents)

*Here is the link to the site. https://westview.beaverton.k12.or.us/activities/yearbook

Technology News and Updates

New this week on our WHS Technology for Parents and Students Site http://bit.ly/whsfuture:

Have an issue with your Chromebook? Try these fixes:

Contact the BSD Help Desk for Students

Chromebook Fixes at Home

During the school closure if you are having chromebook issues, please try the following:

Device will not turn on:

Hold the refresh and power buttons at the same time for 2 seconds. Device will then restart.

Certain student apps will not work:

Clear browser history and restart device.

Password will not reset/Criteria for passwords is:

At least eight characters

At least one uppercase and one lowercase letter

At least one numbers, no consecutive numbers (1-2-3)

Can not be any form of password previously used

Can not be easily guessed, i.e. princes, pizza, etc.

Does your student need Tech Help?

This Thursday after Advisory I will be available in my Zoom room from 10:45-11:30 for any student that needs help. In the weeks to come, I am hoping to offer small model lessons on tools they can use in your class. Let me know if there is a tool you would like me to share! Here's the link

Do you know…

All students in the BSD have a Pro account to Read and Write? Read&Write (R&W) is literacy software with tools designed for reading, writing, study, and research support. It has reader software that works with our library articles, websites, and alternate format textbooks.

R&W also includes speech-to-text to assist with typing, and OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities for scanned articles or inaccessible websites.

Student Tech Skills:

We are a few weeks into CDL, but you might still be struggling with how to use Zoom, you Chromebook, Canvas, or StudentVue. Here is a slidedeck that might help. http://bit.ly/studenttechhelp20

Library Events:

Links to awesome library events for this upcoming week including:

Let's Talk YouthLine - Mental Health [online]

Tuesday, October 6, 2020 Add to Calendar

6:00PM – 7:00PM

Beaverton City Library

Poetry Drop [online]

Wednesday, October 7, 2020 Add to Calendar

4:00PM – 4:15PM

Beaverton City Library

Teen Tween Zombie Escape Room (Online - registration required)

Friday, October 9, 2020 Add to Calendar

2:00PM – 3:00PM

Cedar Mill Library

College Rep Visits Update

Senior College Week Oct. 26th-29th, 6:30pm: The Beaverton School District is hosting an event each evening to help students and families gain further understanding of the college access process. For an hour each evening a topic will be covered by experts in the field. There is an English presenter, and a Spanish presenter scheduled each night. Interpreters in other languages will also be available. The range of topics is from FAFSA/ORSAA to applying to a 4 year private school to how to write a strong essay to the benefits of community college. Join as many of the events as you like. There will also be dedicated time for questions and answers for our WHS community, provided by our counselors.

College Rep Visits are Underway!

Over 200 College Rep Visits are coming to you virtually. Often these people are the first readers of admissions applications and it's a great way to learn facts about a college which are not on their website.

Virtual College Rep Visits that occur during school hours at Westview High School are for students only. If parents, families, and other community members have questions, we encourage you to contact those colleges directly for further information. – Virtual visits are suggested for Juniors and Seniors.

To see the full calendar and sign up for a presentation by a college rep, students go to your Grade Level Class or All Student page in Canvas.

CDL Extended Until February 8

Dear BSD Community,

At last night’s School Board meeting, administrators announced plans to extend Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) through the end of first semester (February 8) for grades 4-12. We continue to consider extending CDL through February 8 for grades Pre K-3.

Grades 4-12

We’ve been watching the county and state COVID-19 metrics closely. While the Beaverton School District is located in Washington County, we’re linked with Multnomah County because more than 10% of our employees live in that neighboring county. To be able to start hybrid learning (part in-school/part CDL) for grades 4-12, the following metrics would have to be met:

10 or fewer cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Washington (and Multnomah) County over 7 days for 3 weeks in a row
Test positivity of 5% or less in Washington (and Multnomah) County over 7 days for 3 weeks in a row
Test positivity of 5% or less statewide over 7 days for 3 weeks in a row

Given the trajectory of the health metrics, we don’t believe that we’ll realistically meet those numbers by November 16, the end of the first quarter. We have previously communicated that we’d be making the decision to continue in CDL on a quarter-by-quarter basis.

Grades Pre K-3

As established by Governor Kate Brown, the criteria for starting hybrid learning with Pre K-3 students is different:

30 or fewer cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people in Washington (and Multnomah) County over 7 days for 3 weeks in a row
Test positivity of 5% or less in Washington (and Multnomah) County over 7 days for 3 weeks in a row
COVID-19 is not actively spreading in the school community

Again, current health metrics aren’t trending in a positive direction. However, we’ll wait until October 19 to make a final decision for the quarter.

Know that if we were to see a drastic change in metrics or the Oregon Department of Education/Oregon Health Authority changed the guidance, we could alter our decision. Our goal is to provide you with as much information as possible so that your family can make plans accordingly.

Thank you for your continued support.

Westview Zoom Norms and Expectations

Students - This is our virtual classroom. Let’s keep it a positive space that is conducive to learning. We’ve got this!

Be sure you are logged into your BSD student account.
Show up to class a couple of minutes early and wait to be admitted.
We will ask that you identify yourself with your preferred first and last name before your teacher welcomes you in from the waiting room.
We look forward to hearing your thoughts and joining conversations, but please keep your audio on mute until you want to speak. This will help limit background noise.
Whenever possible, find a quiet place free of distractions (siblings, parents, television, etc.)
You are welcome to keep your video off, but please stay present with us.
If you have a question, use the chat box, or raise your hand.
Respect others' privacy by not taking screenshots of participants or recording sessions.

Have patience with yourself and others. We’re all in this together.

Remember, Zoom sessions are recorded.

Attendance

Reminder: We are tracking attendance this year.

Student attendance will be gathered every school day and phone calls will go home indicating a student did not report their attendance in a class. The call will encourage students to participate in learning later that day. We will check participation after school hours and correct attendance for those students who worked in their courses later in the day.