Vaccinations & Half Days
I sent a notice out yesterday but want to mention it here too. In partnership with the Washtenaw County Health Department, we are hosting a pop up COVID-19 vaccine clinic in our district. The first dose will be administered on Monday, March 1 and the second dose on Monday, March 22. To allow all staff time away from their student responsibilities to get their vaccine, Monday, March 1 and Monday, March 22 will be half days of in-person instruction for K-12th grade. Preschool will have a full-day schedule. Details on how this will impact the Virtual Academy students will be coming from their teachers. You can read the whole email sent to parents HERE.
Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences & Learning Remotely
On March 18 and 19, WLPS will be hosting virtual Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences for Kindergarten-12th grades. In order to accommodate all parents, we need to have day and evening slots available. To make this happen, Friday, March 19 will be an asynchronous remote learning day for Kindergarten-12th grade. Preschool will maintain a normal Friday schedule. Keep an eye out for communication from your building principals and teachers with more details.
While we usually do conferences in the spring for middle and high school parents, we decided to have them district-wide since this has been a year unlike any other. Parents’ access to our buildings is limited, and students are navigating learning during a pandemic. We saw a need to intentionally set aside time at all grade levels to make a connection with our families. Please take advantage of this opportunity to meet with your student’s teachers.
WLES Weekly Update
K-6 parents you can find this week’s WLES Weekly Update HERE.
Welcoming the Class of 2034
We don’t talk about exceptional, personalized education because it sounds good on paper or on a website. We live it day in,day out. We are committed to meeting our students where they are and giving them the support and the tools they need to move forward to grow as students and people. This hasn’t been more apparent as we have worked through the Covid pandemic as a school community. “Is this good for kids?” is the top consideration as we make choices or changes as a district. If the answer is yes, you bet we all work together as a team to navigate through any barriers to making it happen for our students.
This should be reassuring to any of our Trojan parents, but I wanted to state it clearly for those Class of 2034 parents preparing for kindergarten next year. Many are new to our district–sometimes new to primary education as a whole. With so much going on, I want them to know we will do what is best for their children.
If you know anyone in the surrounding areas with children starting kindergarten in the fall, encourage them to come to the Class of 2034 Kindergarten Roundup on March 11 
to see what we are all about. Appointments are required and can be made HERE. On top of meeting our teachers and exploring a classroom and our building, just by attending, students are entered to win a $1,000 scholarship from the Whitmore Lake Community Scholarship Fund awarded upon graduating from WLHS. We’ve put together a really useful resource guide for any parents looking to find the right kindergarten program for their child. It can be downloaded HERE.
I typically do a Facebook Live this time of year where I’m joined by current kindergarteners, resulting in some of the best one-liners you can find. Due to Covid restrictions, we won’t be doing that this year, but I did want to share my favorites. If you need a light-hearted moment to wrap up your week, give them a watch. They are linked below.