• 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,

We are excited to announce our Attendance Contest for the 3rd nine weeks, which will begin on Tuesday, January 21st. This contest will focus on perfect attendance during 1st period classes. To track our progress, class scores/rankings will be displayed on the hallway whiteboard or in another designated area, such as the cafeteria. The winning 1st period class from each grade level will receive a visit from the prize cart (sponsored by PTO and Student Council) and delivered personally by me. Our schoolwide goal is to achieve a 96% attendance rate-- I'm confident that we can reach this milestone!

Thank you for your continued support in encouraging regular attendance. Together, we can make this school year a successful and rewarding experience for our students.

Mr. Longacre

slongacre@duneland.k12.in.us

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

5th Grade 93.5598%

6th Grade 93.0224%

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.

5th Grade - Leah LaLevee

Leah continues to work hard in math class and brings a positive attitude each day towards her learning. She participates during class and asks meaningful questions. In fact, Leah makes me a better teacher because of our interactions in the classroom. All of her work and dedication has paid off and most notably her RIT grew 19 points on her Middle of the Year NWEA (from 191 to 210). This growth put Leah in the 99th percentile for observed growth.

6th Grade - Christine Pierce

Christine is showing growth academically and personally. She initiated the idea for a dance team for WIS by creating a presentation, and then followed up with teachers and students. While wanting to dance with friends, Christine also thought about others and how it could benefit them. She was inclusive in her thoughts and ideas.

Reading Specialist - Mrs. Kelly

It was very clear from the moment Mrs. Kelly came to WIS to offer a wealth of knowledge. She not only responded to teacher questions with answers, she provided lessons and examples to support them. She constantly seeks ways to improve student scores, and those scores improve. The relationships that she has built with her students and staff have made all the difference. Mrs. Kelly’s guidance has empowered her students and her team to achieve the goals they set out to accomplish. Each year with her is better than the last. WIS sure is lucky to have her.

EXL Instructional Aide - Mrs. Ryan

Amanda takes initiative in the classroom and uses her experience to step up and lead. She is actively involved, dedicated, and always present at WIS, doing whatever she can to support everyone. Amanda is incredibly supportive and excels at implementing effective interventions for kids, making her a valuable asset to WIS.

The Duneland School Corporation will continue to improve current facilities to enhance the student experience with the following capital improvements in 2025: playground replacements at Bailly, Brummitt, Jackson, and Liberty elementary schools and soccer stadium renovations and carpet replacement at Chesterton High School. This presentation below provides additional details on the scope of each project. Concept drawings and timelines regarding 2021-2025 capital improvement projects are available on the DSC website.

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.

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

• Last week, we dove deep into The City of Ember. This is a unique, sometimes sad, story, but students are really enjoying the tale. We continue to work on writing a RACE response and reviewing grammar skills. This week, we will be taking our next ILearn checkpoint test on Thursday. Honors ELA - Last week we dove into Johnny Tremain. This is a challenging unit for students, as the whole novel is written as if it truly is the 1770s. However, we are finding lots of common ground between kids then and kids now! This week we will be taking our next ILearn checkpoint test on Thursday.

Math

• We have finished our work with decimal numbers. We had a CSA on Friday. Students will still use these skills in homework, Get More Math and spiral reviews. This week, students will begin working with fractions. Our fraction unit starts with adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers.

Social Studies

• Last week, we did a deep dive into the background of the Revolutionary War. This week, we will take our CSA over that information, and begin looking at the writing of the Declaration of Independence.

Science

• Last week the students worked on customary and metric conversions. This week we will continue with our practice.

Language Arts

• Students will continue to evaluate arguments in nonfiction. They will continue to find the best evidence that supports a claim. Please ask your child to show you how a graphic organizer works. They are becoming familiar with them.

Math

• This week in the wonderful world of numbers (and data displays) . . .We will continue working on mean, median, mode, and range. We will also focus on dot plots, histograms, and box plots. Wednesday we will have our second ILEARN checkpoint for this year. So far we have covered these skills: fraction operations, decimal operations, expressions, equations, inequalities, and data displays. IXL has a review section for all of these skills. Students have been given information on what will occur in the event we have a 2-hour delay or eLearning day. If we have a synchronous eLearning day, students are expected to attend the Google meets for each class.

Social Studies

• Students will be finishing up their lesson on the Renaissance period and leading into the Age of Enlightenment. Our focus will be on some of the main points within this time period as well as famous figures from the time. Our common formative assessment will be given on Friday.

Science

• Next week, our class will focus on wave properties and sound waves. At the beginning of the week, students will review and study these topics, including how waves transfer energy, the parts of a wave, and the characteristics of sound waves. At the end of the week, students will take the Common Summative Assessment (CSA) to demonstrate their understanding of these concepts. Please encourage your child to review their notes and study materials at home to prepare for the assessment. MS-PS4-1, MS-PS4-2

PE

• This week in PE, students will be playing Spikeball. We will start with some lead-up games and practicing skills and end with Spikeball games.

Art

• This week in art students will begin making the bases for their lightbulbs from paper, creating individual templates. Later in the week students will transfer their templates from paper to metal, learning how to engrave and emboss their metal lightbulb bases.

Music

• This week 5th grade students will continue on recorders. We will also be exploring the woodwind instrument family. 6th graders will continue their finger patterns, performing RH LH and Both. The first playing test is Wednesday. We will begin to talk about hand shifting in piano.

PLTW

• This week in PLTW the 5th graders will continue to learn about coding robots on the VEX VR website.The 6th graders will get practice coding with Makecode Arcade and also explore more inputs with the Micro:bits.

Media

• Students will be continuing digital citizenship and digital technology modules. Students are asked to remember to save or screenshot all work completed on January 21.

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