As we return to campus from spring break, we embark upon the end of the school year filled with many activities, sporting events, honors’ day celebrations, and graduation. We are grateful for this year and for your support in our efforts to provide in-person instruction on our campus each day. While this year has been a challenging one, we have seen success in many areas – student academic achievement, athletic and literary accomplishments, and an incredible response to our 50th anniversary campaign and recent auction. We wanted to take a moment to update you on a few items and calendar changes as we approach the end of the school year:
With over 60 percent of our faculty and staff having been vaccinated or having had COVID and our number of COVID positive cases and quarantines having decreased to zero, we believe that we can safely make adjustments to our guidelines. While we will continue to maintain social distancing in our classrooms and disinfect in our restrooms and common areas, we will encourage, but not require, the use of face coverings/masks in our buildings. We will continue to monitor the COVID situation and modify these guidelines if necessary.
Upper School parents should expect to receive information regarding their student’s attendance via text messaging through our Parent Alert RenWeb/FACTS system. We believe that text messaging will allow us to reach parents more effectively than phone calls/voice mails and emails.
Thursday, April 29th will be a noon dismissal for all students in grades Pre-K through 12. This will allow us to have Field Day activities for our Lower, Middle, and Upper School students in the morning. This is also the date of our Booster Club’s annual golf tournament and raffle, and we hope you will join in supporting the Booster Club by participating in the tournament, purchasing a raffle ticket, and attending the dinner and drawing for the raffle ticket that evening at Houston Lake Country Club.
Friday, May 14th will be a student holiday as we hold commencement exercises for the Class of 2021 at 10 a.m. on the football field. We have made the decision to hold graduation outdoors again this year; and a morning event helps avoid the chance of a late afternoon thunderstorm. Faculty and staff will be on campus all day, and Upper School students in grades 9 through 11 may participate in an optional study day for exam preparation from 12:30 until 3 pm.
The spring is a wonderful time on our campus. We are grateful for the privilege to educate your children, and we appreciate your continued support and prayers as we complete Westfield’s 51st school year.
