WIS Weekly

• Who needs support at home, in school, and in the community? ... Every Child!
• Who needs our guidance, attention, and patience today and every day? ... Every Child!
• Who will shape the future of our world tomorrow and in the years to come? ... Every Child!

Dear WIS Family,

Welcome back! I hope our winter break provided an opportunity to reflect on the many blessings in your life - your health, family, friends, loved ones, the things you’ve worked hard for, your career, and, most importantly, time.

"Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back." – Harvey Mackay

May this New Year bring happiness and joy to your life.

Mr. Longacre

slongacre@duneland.k12.in.us

On Friday, January 10th, our entire Westchester campus (WIS and WMS) will participate in a school safety exercise known as a Project ADAM drill. This vital exercise is designed to prepare staff and students in how to respond to sudden cardiac emergencies. Project ADAM (Automated Defibrillators in Adam's Memory) is a national initiative that equips schools with resources, training, and protocols to address and help prevent sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) deaths.

During the drill, members of the unified Westchester staff will practice emergency response procedures, and students will remain in their classrooms as part of a campus-wide "hold." Teaching and learning will continue as usual within classrooms, but students will not be allowed in hallways until the drill concludes. The entire exercise could last about 30 minutes.

Your child may notice announcements, the presence of emergency personnel, or even an ambulance on campus. To help ease any anxiety, you may wish to have a brief conversation with your child beforehand about the importance of preparing for emergencies. Reassure them that this is just a drill designed to ensure everyone is safe and ready should a real emergency ever occur.

Thank you for your support in helping us create a safe environment for our students. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

We are striving to achieve a 96% attendance rate this year at WIS.

5th Grade 93.4923%

6th Grade 93.0465%

When needing to report a student absence, parents/guardians should call (219-983-3710) or email (mkowalecki@duneland.k12.in.us) the attendance secretary in the WIS office by 9:00 am on the day of the absence. If the school sends a student home early, then no notification is required.

Dear Parent/Guardians,

Starting November 6, 2024 through the month of January 2025 the Health Services at WIMS will be conducting Vision Screenings of 5th grade students , according to Indiana Law are required to have their vision checked.

We are asking that if your student wears glasses that they have them on their person daily so that there will be no delay in getting their testing completed. If you have any questions, please contact WIS School Nurse, Tina Sosby, R.N. at 219-983-3710 or via email at

tsosby@duneland.K12.in.us.

Report cards will be available online after 3:00 pm this Friday.

The WIS SAVE Promise club and WMS SAVE Promise club partnered to help bring some joy to our community. Club members made kindness stickers that were put on coffee cups at a local business. While making the stickers, the WIS club members got to meet the WMS club members and watched a holiday movie!

We are excited to announce that this year’s yearbook will include both Westchester Intermediate School (WIS) and Westchester Middle School (WMS). Yearbooks are available for $30.00, and you can order directly through this link: Order Yearbooks Here.

Sixth grade students will have the opportunity to participate in both WIS intramural sports and Westchester Middle School athletics. If your child wants to participate in middle school sports, they must have a current physical on file, dated after 4/1/24. Sixth grade students can ONLY participate in Middle School Cross Country, Westling, and Track and Field. This fall, students can participate in Middle School Cross Country. Mr. Rich Gross rgross@duneland.k12.in.us is the athletic director for Westchester Campus. Please reach out to Mr. Gross with any questions.

Language Arts

• ELA/Honors ELA - As we begin the new semester this week, we'll be starting new novels and continue working on finding main ideas and supporting details in various texts. In addition, we'll start practicing grammar skills.

Math

• Happy New Year! Did you know that 2025 is a perfect square? 45 x 45 = 2025. We think this means it will be a great year for all things math! Math students will be learning about dividing decimals this week and next. Knowing multiplication facts is a huge plus for this skill. If you need flash cards or practice ideas, contact your student's math teacher.

Social Studies

• As we begin the new semester this week, we'll be starting our study of the American Revolution.

Science

• The students spent time designing, testing, and modifying a zipline cart to save the classroom science elf. There was a lot of enthusiasm and creativity!! Fun was had by all!! This week we will continue with our engineering skills and create a ball run that meets the assigned criteria and constraints. This month we will begin our unit over space.

Language Arts

• Welcome back and we look forward to a great rest of the school year!

Math

• Our first week of 2025 will be filled with more algebraic thinking. Students will continue working with equations and inequalities. We will plan on a CSA in the near future. Again, we emphasize that iPads need to be fully charged. We will be taking another ILEARN checkpoint in January - the week of January 20th. We look forward to a great 2025!

Social Studies

• Students will complete their work learning about the Middle Ages. A short project covering the feudal societies will involve the students creating characters and settings in a video game like format. A common formative assessment will be given on Monday January 13 covering the Middle Ages particularly the Crusades and Black Death.

Science

• Students will be starting a new standard about waves. The beginning of the week will consist of a lab where students will create a model of a simple wave that has a repeating pattern with a specific wavelength, frequency, and amplitude and then do a RACED response for that lab. At the end of the week, students will be doing a Nearpod to learn about the types of waves and sound waves. MS-PS4-1, MS-PS4-2, & MS-PS4-3

PE

• This week in PE we will be starting our basketball unit. We will be working on skills and playing lead-up games. Last 9 weeks we had a 90 second plank challenge!! Below are all the students who achieved their 90 second plank.

Art

• This week in art we will continue with our Kandinsky projects. Students will add their own elements to their artwork creating a balanced composition. Later in the week students will add color to their artwork by painting their projects.

Music

• This week begins our “performance” rotation in Music. Over the next 4.5 weeks we will be applying the knowledge we gained in the first 2 rotations in a performance setting. 5th graders will begin recorders and 6th graders will begin keyboards. 5th graders will also be introduced to instrument families and have the ability to try out various woodwind and brass instruments and will be presented with an opportunity to join Band next school year.

PLTW

• Both the 5th and 6th grade students will be reviewing the routines and expectations for PLTW as we come back for the 2nd semester. 5th graders will also be reviewing the Engineering Design Process and what they have learned about robotics so far. The 6th grade students will get experience with computer coding on the Makecode Arcade website and will also have a brief overview of the Microbits.

Media

• This week students will begin their second semester rotation. They will receive information regarding class requirements and begin their first lessons in digital citizenship and/or digital technology.

Our Trojan Cafe has a new look! We have a new serving area with 2 lines to serve our students. We will also have new trays available for our students to use during lunch.

Please help your student memorize their student identification number, as they will need to know this number in order to purchase their lunch.

Here are the meal prices for the 2024-25 school year.

Elementary Breakfast Price: $1.45

Elementary Lunch Price: $2.55

Intermediate/Middle/High Breakfast Price: $1.60

Intermediate/Middle/High lunch Price: $2.95

• iPads are the property of Duneland Schools. Students should keep the devices in operable condition.
• Students should refrain from downloading apps, pics, etc. that are not permitted under school and/or corporation policy.
  
• Students are required to bring their charged iPads to class.
• Our Intermediate curriculum is designed to utilize iPads for lessons, remediation, and enrichment activities.

5th and 6th grade students are not allowed to use their personal communication devices (cell phones and smart watches) during the instructional day. Items used for communication should be stored in lockers to be kept safe throughout the day. If students need to contact a parent/guardian during the day, they are welcome to do so from the office. Classrooms also have phone access. Similarly, students are not permitted to wear personal earbuds with bluetooth capabilities attached to their phones (e.g. Air Pods, etc.). Students will need to use their school-issued iPad earphones for Exact Path lessons and select ILEARN testing sessions. The only time audio ear pieces are permitted are for teacher-assigned classwork and medically-approved needs.

Westchester is committed to supporting students' use of technology. To get your problems solved as fast as possible, choose one of the following methods:

1. Open a new Incident IQ online:
   1. AV number is typically located on a sticker on the back/bottom of the device
2. Open a Incident IQ ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
   1. Please be sure to include email address, student or staff name, and a description of the problem
3. Contact Westchester's tech aide (Ms. Bennett) in WIS Library/Media at 219-983-3710 or fbennett@duneland.k12.in.us.

DUNELAND TRANSPORTATION

Information regarding student bus transportation for the 2024-2025 school year is available on DSC website under the Transportation Department.

TRACK STUDENT'S BUS WITH MYSTOP APP

The Duneland School Corporation Department of Transportation has now made My Stop available to our families.

My Stop is a web-based application which will allow parents to access live bus GPS information using a smartphone, tablet, or computer and securely view the current location of your child’s bus on routes. The system also provides the bus’s estimated time of arrival at your child’s bus stop.

Please read the attached letter to parents for more information on how to use My Stop to track your child's bus.

To make an appointment please call 219-763-8112. Let NorthShore know you are a Duneland School student or staff member and that you would like to make an appointment at the Duneland School Clinic located at the old CMS.

WIS Mission:

WIS provides a safe and engaging environment where students are empowered to explore their talents, build on their curiosity, embrace high expectations, and become responsible, caring citizens.

WIS Vision:

WIS inspires learners to become independent, critical thinkers collaborating in an environment where responsibility, adaptability, and reflection are modeled and developed.

Email: slongacre@duneland.k12.in.us
Website: https://www.duneland.k12.in.us/Domain/14
Location: 1050 South 5th Street, Chesterton, IN, USA
Phone: (219) 983-3710
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westchesterintermediate/