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Dear Westgate Families,
I hope this finds you and your family healthy and well. It is hard to believe that the start of school is only ONE week away! Yay! We couldn't be more excited to welcome students back to our virtual classrooms and get started on another successful year of learning.
Hopefully, most of you have had the opportunity to engage in a 1:1 meet and greet with your child's classroom teacher. We have found these very meaningful and important as we begin a school year unlike any other. I know it has been very helpful for our staff to get to know a little more about you and your child through this process. We are also eager to welcome you again at this week's Virtual Open House sessions on Wednesday, September 2. See below for more information.
Teachers and staff have been very busy preparing and planning for the upcoming year. We appreciate your patience and support as we have navigated the logistics of opening all virtually. We feel fortunate that we have been able to ensure that all students have access to essential technology in order to make the start of the school year as smooth as possible.
As we enter in the last week of summer vacation, I hope you and your child are ready for another great year at Westgate. We are thrilled to begin connecting with both new and returning students in a few short days. As always, we thank you in advance for your continued patience and flexibility as we start the year in the digital platform. We look forward to building strong relationships, providing rigorous instruction, and celebrating our many students in the days and weeks to come.
Please know we always welcome any questions, concerns, and suggestions and we look forward to partnering with all of our students and families for the 2020-21 school year.
All my best,
Hallie Demetriades
Principal
Virtual Orientation/Open House
We are excited to have another opportunity to officially welcome all of our students and parents in a virtual Open House this Wednesday, September 2. You should have received specific information regarding your session and time from your child's classroom teacher. During this session, you and your child will learn how to log into Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBCU), review the instructional schedule, find your teacher's Google Classroom site, and obtain other pertinent information to ensure a smooth start to the first day of school on September 8. We hope to see many of you at these important Open House sessions!
Schedule is as followed:
Pre-K/Kindergarten/1st Grade @ 10:00 am
2nd Grade/3rd Grade @ 11:00 am
4th Grade @ 12:00 pm
5th Grade/6th Grade @ 1:00 pm
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Instructional Schedule
We are excited to finally share our grade level instructional schedules here with our students and families. As mentioned before, all students will participate in four full days of learning Tuesday through Friday. Currently, Monday will begin with a Morning Meeting in your child's classroom followed by some small groups, choice activities, and asynchronous learning. Specific information regarding the Monday schedule will be coming soon from your classroom teacher. Most core (reading/math) instructional blocks will be one hour in length and will have a mix of both whole group and small group instruction. We will have a dedicated school-wide hour for lunch/recess from 12:00-1:00 pm that will provide families ample time to pick up grab and go meals from Westgate, or to eat at home. There will be a mix of synchronous (live sessions) and independent practice time throughout the school day. We hope to provide continuity for our students and are excited about all the new learning our teachers will soon be providing.
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Student Workspace Video by Westgate Teachers!
Our Westgate teachers are excited to share this video on tips to ensure your child's workspace is one that promotes both learning and engagement. While we know that every family has different spaces to participate in virtual learning we hope this video gives you ideas on how you can make the perfect workspace at home for your child!
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Band & Strings - Information
This is for 4th, 5th and 6th grade families! We want to let you know about Band and Strings this year at Westgate! Mr. Erickson is back teaching band, and we have a new strings teacher, Dr. Reed. They have created a new google slide presentation in order for you and your child to learn all about band and strings offerings at Westgate this year. The google slide presentation MUST be viewed using your child’s google fcpsschools.net account. This is almost the same as last spring’s presentation but includes Dr. Reed and does not have chorus since chorus will not be offered in the Fall.
Please click on this link to be taken to the presentation: Westgate Band/Strings Google Slides Presentation
PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT! Thursday, September 17th at 5:00 pm. We will introduce ourselves and our programs and take questions. Please access the Blackboard Collaborate video session through this link: Westgate Band/Strings Live Parent Info Session
STUDENT RECRUITING - We will be meeting with the students during the second week of school during their general music classes so that they can also ask us questions and get to know us.
REGISTRATION GOOGLE FORM! If your child knows what they want to sign up for right now, you may fill out the registration form now. ALL STUDENTS MUST FILL OUT THE FORM! This is slightly different than the one we sent in spring which was in anticipation of in-school learning. Due to our virtual start, students must submit a new form. Please also access this through your child’s google fcpsschools.net account. Here is the link for that: Westgate Band/Strings Registration Google Form
Please email either Mr. Erickson at pgerickson@fcps.edu or Dr. Reed at eareed@fcps.edu with any questions you have! We hope to see your kids in band and strings this year!!!”
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Technology/Support for Families
Parent Technology Help Desk
On Monday, August 24, FCPS launched a toll-free Parent Technology Help Desk to assist families with technology issues. The number is 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered 7 a.m.-11 p.m., seven days a week. Parents who need help in a language other than English should let help desk staff know, and an interpreter will join them on the line. (FCPS has Parent Information Phone Lines available in eight languages to assist with general questions about FCPS.)
FCPS has also created an online portal for older students and parents/guardians to request technology help.
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Library Curbside Checkout - Coming Soon!
We are excited to announce that in a few short weeks we will be offering curbside checkout from our very own Westgate Library. Our Librarian, Mrs. Scherbenske, will be sharing more information with our students soon but we are beyond thrilled to be piloting this program. We have longed to get books back into the hands of our students and will be sharing more information on the logistics and details soon. Stay tuned!
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