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Good Evening Bulldog Families–
I hope that you and your family have been enjoying a fantastic summer! This is our first Bulldog Breakdown for the 2022-23 school year and our Westfield family cannot wait to welcome you all back for the 2022-23 school year. The first day of school is next Monday, August 22. We’re excited for an incredible year and hopefully you all are too!
Below is a lot of information for the upcoming weeks as we get ready to kick the year off. Please take some time to check it so you and your family do not miss any opportunities and/or deadlines.
As always, please feel free to reach out to me with observations, suggestions, questions and celebrations. You can do that through e-mail, call, or through the form located here: https://forms.gle/4eW9rgPRVBF2a5gd8.
Go Bulldogs!
Tony DiBari
Proud Principal
Westfield High School
Bulldog BBQ
The Bulldog BBQ will be Thursday, August 18th, from 4:00-8:00pm. This is an opportunity to meet your teachers, learn about clubs and activities around the school, watch some performances, and meet up with old and new friends. Please see the fliers below for more specific information.
  Bell Schedule
The following link is the bell schedule for the 2022-23 school year: WHS Bell Schedule 2022-23. Please make sure to keep this on hand for you and your students.
Lunch/Food
Per FCPS, All students who wish to eat school breakfast and/or lunch will be required to purchase their meals this year. Those who qualify and register for Free and Reduced lunches will be able to receive those services the same as before.
Free and Reduced-Price Meal applications are now available on the FCPS website. Interested families are encouraged to submit the application at least ten days before the first day of school. A new application must be submitted every school year.
All students will have the opportunity to eat lunch outside in either the courtyard or back lawn (weather permitting).
Food deliveries from restaurants are not permitted during the school day. This includes any delivery services as well. Food that is delivered to school in this way will be held until the end of the day, when students can then pick it up.
Transportation/Drop-Off
Unless meeting with a performance group, athletic team, or other staff sponsored organization, students should not enter the building before 7:30am.
Kiss & Ride: You may drop your students off at Door 11 starting at 7:30. When entering the Kiss & Ride loop, please make sure to pull forward as much as possible to allow more cars. This helps the line move quickly and clears traffic from Stonecroft Boulevard.
Bus stops and route information will be shared with families via the ParentVUE accounts on August 9. For more information about bus transportation, including how to access the Bus Delay Notification System, visit the Transportation page. Transportation will load that information in SIS StudentVUE and ParentVUE under Student Info > Transportation. You can only see this information if you log on via the website, not the app.
Digital Consent
At Westfield High School, our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your student may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here.
Here is the link to a form where you need to indicate whether or not your student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible, as your student will not be able to use the digital resources until we have received your permission.
If you have multiple children at Westfield, the form will need to be filled out individually for each child. Also, if your child attends an academy or online campus you will need to fill this out for each school setting.
The site may experience a high volume of traffic, as all parents in FCPS attempt to provide permission for their children. If the link does not work at the time you attempt to fill it out, please try again at a later time. We appreciate your patience.
If you need the consent form in another language please click here and choose another language on the menu at the top right of the page. If you need a translated form, please do not use Internet Explorer.
If you have any questions, please email Kyle Laspe, Assistant Principal at kclaspe@fcps.edu
Families in Need of Support
Westfield High School has partnered with Western Fairfax Christian Ministries to provide students in need healthy meals for the weekends. Westfield is delivering approximately 50 meals to students every Friday afternoon. If you have a student who could benefit from a Friday meal at anytime this school year, please reach out to Sara Genetin at sjgenetinpil@fcps.edu or 703-488-6382.
Staff Recognition
FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. Please visit the following link to recognize staff members who have done impactful things: FCPS Cares
Volunteer Call-out
We are still looking for your help! We value you as community partners and want to invite you to become more involved at Westfield. One way to do this is to volunteer and substitute teach. If you’re interested, the first step is following the links below. Thank you for your willingness to help!
FCPS Volunteers: https://www.fcps.edu/get-involved/volunteer-fcps
Substitute Teachers: https://www.fcps.edu/careers/career-opportunities/substitute-teaching-opportunities/new-applicants
Westfield Volunteer Interest Form: https://forms.gle/go7B58zdT1cz5Km9A
Tech Updates
Need Tech Support? CLICK HERE
Calendar
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Aug 18
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Bulldog BBQ/Open House
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4-8:00pm
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Aug 18
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Varsity Football Home Scrimmage
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10:00 am
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Long Term Event:
Class of 2023 Graduation - June 5, 2023, 9:30am - Eagle Bank Arena
From FCPS
SR&R Updates
At the start of each school year, you are asked to sign to acknowledge your review of the Student Rights & Responsibilities (SR&R) document.
The SR&R explains expectations for student behavior and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable, and supportive school environment. Read the Letter from the Superintendent on the 2022-23 Student Rights and Responsibilities: A Guide for Families.Key changes to the document for the 2022-23 school year include:
- Adding rights to protect citizenship and immigration status from unauthorized sharing.
- Changes to FCPS’ Acceptable Use Policy Regulation for Technology.
- A new section on cell phones.
The new section on cell phones prohibits cell phone use in classrooms. We recognize that this new policy will be a shift for many students and families this year, but research shows that managing phone use during class time will support students’ attention and ability to fully engage in their learning. Schools are partnering with parents to have students understand the importance of putting their phones away to minimize distractions during class.
Students in secondary and high schools must silence phones and put them away during all instructional periods, unless there is a medical need or emergency, or teachers have allowed the usage of cell phones for instructional activities. Cell phones may be used on campus before the first bell, after the last bell, during passing periods, and lunches.
If a parent or guardian believes their child requires access to a personally owned device(s) as an accommodation, they should contact child’s school team—i.e., 504 Committee, Individualized Education Program (IEP) Team, English Language Committee, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) Team—to schedule a meeting to have their request considered.
Parents should talk to their child(ren) before the start of the school year about these expectations for this upcoming school year. Families may also review the parental controls available for all iPhone and Android users. More information about the SR&R is available online.
Topic: Emergency Care Updates in SIS ParentVUE
Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to ensuring that the climate in all FCPS facilities is safe and secure. In support of this goal, FCPS provides weCare@school (weCare), an emergency care information system, available to FCPS parents and guardians who have registered for their own Parent account.
WeCare helps manage emergency medical information by enabling parents to go online to enter and update their children’s medical data at their convenience. Contact information provided automatically enrolls parents to receive eNotify communications from the district and their child’s school. eNotify is the communications tool for FCPS emergency, transportation, attendance, weather closings and delays, and essential outreach messages. Messages are sent via email and text messages. Occasional phone messages are sent as well
Get more information about updating your emergency care information.
Topic: Trust Policy
You may have heard that the Fairfax County School Board approved a Trust Policy that solidifies our commitment to foster a caring culture and strives to provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for all students and families.
This policy aligns with Fairfax County’s Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy to ensure that FCPS students and families can access FCPS benefits and services without fear that information will be disclosed, directly or indirectly, to federal immigration officials.
The school division is already performing much of the work referenced in the Trust Policy. The policy, along with the upcoming regulation, will serve to solidify our efforts, so all FCPS staff, students, and families have a common understanding of the policy.
Every FCPS employee plays an important part in carrying out the Trust Policy and will demonstrate cultural responsiveness in supporting families, students, and other staff by protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information (PII) of students and families. Employees will follow a clear, standardized process for requesting, accessing, or disclosing prohibited personal information as outlined in FCPS Regulations 2202 and 4220.
Additional information is available in multiple languages on FCPS’ Trust Policy webpage. Please email FCPS’ Office of Professional Learning and Equity, OPLFE@fcps.edu, with questions about the policy.
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