As we look ahead to our annual Friendship Dance, I pause to think of my own daughter's experience. As a parent of a high school student, I want most for her to have a memorable and safe night with her friends on a night when some might see the opportunity to engage in substance use. As a school community, we are making efforts to help educate our students in health classes, coordinating visits from Preferred Family Healthcare, and educating students in other settings about the concerns of underage drinking and related activities.

Several years ago I attended a presentation by Clayton Behavioral, a facility that offers many mental health services, including treating substance use disorders. Part of the presentation dealt with the impact of substance use on the developing brain of adolescents and how the mix of families, school, and communities can partner to prevent teen use of drugs and alcohol. They shared data from survey questions were determined to be more predictive of teen substance use. The first question focused on parenting disposition and the child’s ability to approach the parent for needed support, and the second centered on supervision. If students responded with “most of the time” or “always,” there was considerable decrease in the likelihood of consistent use of substances.

Question: “I can talk to my parents about my problems”

a. Never

b. Rarely

c. Sometimes

d. Most of the time

e. Always

Question: “My parents know where I am after school”

a. Never

b. Rarely

c. Sometimes

d. Most of the time

e. Always

Some conversation topics to ask your child prior:

· Before - Know the plans. Ask the important questions: Who’s driving? Who’s going with you? What is their contact information?

· After – Support from the community. Local police departments will be alert and active our respective communities enforcing social hosting ordinances, MIPs, DUIs, etc. to help keep our kids and the community safe.

Few of the above are without conundrums, such as responding to their growing independence while monitoring their safety as well as the knowledge of high stakes around substance use and allowing learning from their mistakes. While a teen's engagement in substance use is not the measurement of good parenting nor is it fully determinant of our children’s worth, we are hopeful to keep our children safe and being their best self at school and at home. If you are seeking resources in this work, please contact your child’s counselor.

Regards,

Matt Irvin

• 10/28: Band City Museum Performance
  
• 10/28: ACT Test @ WGHS
• 10/30: WGHS First day of boys'/girls' basketball, girls' wrestling
• 11/1: NO SCHOOL; Teacher PD Day
• 11/2: Senior Panoramic Photo (during Advisory)
• 11/4: Friendship Dance, 7-10pm, WGHS

Students are welcome to dress up for Halloween on October 31, provided they follow the normal dress code. Students are not allowed to wear face coverings or anything over their heads. Face paint or fake weapons are NOT allowed.

DATE: SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4

TIME: 7-10 PM

LOCATION: WEBSTER GROVES HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM

COST: $10

TICKET INFORMATION

• Tickets will be on sale Monday, October 23, 12:00am - Thursday, November 2 at 11:59pm.
• ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED ONLINE AT Friendship Dance 2023.
• Students will use their LUNCH PIN when purchasing tickets online and tickets will NOT be sold at the door.

FINES:

In order to attend this event, students must NOT have an outstanding school fine. If they do, their lunch PIN will not be active when attempting to purchase a ticket. You must stop by the Athletic Office to pay your fine or pay it online through the SIS portal. If you pay online, please email the athletic office at edwards.kim@wgmail.org or stop by, to let them know it was paid, allowing us to activate your code. If you are uncertain of your fines status, please login to your SIS account and check before trying to purchase tickets.

OUTSIDE GUEST TICKET INFORMATION for Non-WGHS Students:

There will be up to 75 outside guest tickets allowed for this event. Any outside guest must have a completed outside guest form on file before being allowed to purchase a ticket. This form can be found attached to this email or in the Athletic Office. Please return completed forms to Kim Edwards in the Athletic Office once tickets go on sale. After an outside guest form is approved, a code will be distributed to the student to purchase their outside guest ticket online. *All outside guests must be accompanied by the WG student who purchased their ticket.

Outside Guest Form Friendship 2023.pdf

DRESS CODE:

Friendship Dance is a semi-formal event and you are expected to wear semi-formal attire. Examples of semi-formal attire may include a dress, dress pants, suitcoat, tie, or collared shirt. Dresses may be strapless (if they fit properly) or include spaghetti straps. Head coverings must be appropriate for the occasion. Inappropriate attire would include jeans of any color, shorts of any type, t-shirts or baseball caps. If a student or guest is not within the dress code they will be asked to change before being admitted to the dance. Thank you for your cooperation with this.

We look forward to a fantastic & memorable evening for everyone.

The Senior Panoramic Photo will be taken on Thursday, November 2 at 10:04 a.m. Click on the order form below to order.

November 1 is a PD Day; there is no student attendance!

Here are the remaining days in which there is no student attendance due to professional development:

November 1, PD Day

January 3, Records Day

February 16, PD Day

We are seeking feedback on our College Planning events, please complete this 3 question survey.

• For Seniors who are applying to college and need to request transcripts or letters to accompany their application, please reference our College Application Guide.
  

• Juniors and Seniors are invited to attend our College Representative visits during the school day. Please visit our counseling webpage to view the calendar and stop by the counseling office for a pass.

• AP Exam Registration is now open! Students/Guardians enrolled in eligible classes have been emailed detailed registration information. Click here to begin registration. Registration deadline is November 10, 2023.

Important Upcoming Dates:

October 29 - National College Fair @ Saint Louis University 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.

November 10 - AP Exam Registration deadline

Parent Prom is back! All WGHS parents are invited to attend this fun evening of music and dancing to raise money for faculty grants, student scholarships, and the senior party. More details to come, but for now, mark your calendars for APRIL 6 and start planning your fabulous prom attire.

Thank you to Mash Pit by Zoey's Attic for being our title sponsor. We are looking for volunteers to help plan, donations for raffle items and food/drink, and more sponsors!! Please contact Tracy Brangle (tbrangle@yahoo.com) if you are interested in being a part of this special night.

To get your student involved, or to learn more, have them follow this link and log in with their school-district gmail account: https://wgsd.givepulse.com/group/518837-Webster-Groves. Keep in mind, the website is accessible to students only and they must log in with a wgcloud.org email address to gain access.

The Webster Groves, Shrewsbury, Rock Hill Chamber of Commerce is seeking Course Marshal volunteers in need of Statesmen Service Hours for this year’s Santa’s On The Loose 5K Run / 1 mile Walk.

• When: Dec 2, 2023, from 7:15am to 9:30am.
• Where: We will meet on the front steps at Webster Groves Public Library. We will have a brief meeting to discuss safety, responsibilities, and assign posts on the course, located in Webster Park, directly north of the library.
• Point of Contact: Katherine Poppen – 314-520-5469
• Students should register as course marshals at https://runsignup.com/Race/Volunteer/MO/SaintLouis/SantasOnTheLoose The sooner the better so we can be sure we have enough volunteers.
• Optional: Student should consider dressing in fun, bright, silly attire or costumes and bring noise makers to cheer on the runners. Motivational Signs are also welcomed!
• Our goal is to have at least 25 Course Marshals consisting of a mix of community members, chamber members, and student volunteers.

Call your child's AP office to report an absence, late arrival, or early departure. Checking out early? When leaving school during the day, students must check out through the assistant principal’s office.

Student Early Release:

1. We require at least one hour notice when calling your student out early. Call the Assistant Principal's office before the designated time and report the absence. You may also send a note with the student to be presented to the Assistant Principal's office before school.

2. At the designated time, your student will receive a pass to check out if you called ahead. The student will check out in the Assistant Principal's office.

3. You will NOT enter the building if you have called the absence in and communicated a pick-up location with your child. However, if you choose to pick up your child in the building, you must do so at the main entrance on Selma Avenue. Upon entering the building, check in with the receptionist. Please bring your driver's license if you are checking in. The receptionist will contact the Assistant Principal’s office to send for your student. Please be aware that not calling ahead to schedule an early release can take up to 30 minutes to send for a student.

Webster Groves School District uses ParentSquare for school communication, primarily with email, text and app notifications. ParentSquare automatically generates an account for each parent, using their preferred email address and phone number. We encourage parents to access their accounts so they can download the mobile app and update their preferences on when and how they are notified.

To stay connected with the learning in our classrooms, please create a Canvas Observer Account which is our district's learning management system. You will find three helpful documents below:

1. Canvas Informational Letter
2. Creating an Observer Account, Logging into Canvas, and Setting Notifications
3. Student Accessing Canvas

If you have any questions please contact Tim Brown, Director of Student Assessment, Data and Learning Technologies at brown.tim@wgmail.org.

The Spirit Store is open! Hours are 8-9:15 a.m., Tuesday - Friday.

The online store is open 24 hours a day at https://www.wghsparentsclub.org/spiritwear.

Every time you shop at the Spirit Store, you are supporting student scholarships and teacher grants!

Email: erb.mickey@wgmail.org
Website: hs.webster.k12.mo.us
Location: 100 Selma Avenue, Webster Groves, MO, USA
Phone: (314) 963-6400
Facebook: facebook.com/WGAlumni
Twitter: @WebsterGrovesHS