March 7, 2025

Dear Westchester Middle School Families,

We are excited to announce that several talented Westchester Middle School students will have their artwork featured in the upcoming Porter County Arts-A-Budding student art exhibit! The exhibit will be open from March 4–13, 2024, Monday through Sunday from 8 a.m.–6 p.m. at the Chapel of the Resurrection on the Valparaiso University Campus. A special reception and awards presentation for students and their families will be held on Sunday, March 9, from 2:00–3:00 p.m. at the same location. Congratulations to our participating students: Iyanna Beach, Angelo Bernahl, Savannah Carlson, Riley Evans, Abigail Kuffer, Kaden Mullert, Siddarth Senthil, Avery Smith, Genevieve Smith, and Adlyn Wallace. We are so proud of their creativity and hard work — we hope to see you there to celebrate their accomplishments!

We’re excited to introduce ParentSquare for the 2025-2026 school year! This new platform will streamline school-to-home communication, allowing parents to easily receive updates, share files, view calendars, sign up to volunteer, schedule conferences, and more — all in one place! Please see below for more information.

This week in Advisory class 7th grade students were given the attached slides and watched the presentation on slide 2. Please listen to the recording and review with your child their Google form submission by checking their school issued email for a copy of their responses. Only responses from school issued email addresses will be accepted. Answers can be changed from their email or reaching out to Mrs. Darcy Lamb dlamb@duneland.k12.in.us.

25-26 WMS Incoming 8th Grade Scheduling Information (1).pdf

Thank you for your continued support!

Respectfully,

Mrs. Lauren Seiss, WMS Principal

Reminders:

• 48-Hour Attendance Policy for Call Off(s) - Parents/Guardians will have 48 hours to excuse their students absence, after which time it will be considered unexcused.

• Parents who are picking up their child or dropping something off for their child must present a driver's license or state ID to our office staff in order to do so. Also, if a parent sends someone else to pick their student up or drop something off for them, they must not only present identification but must also be on the list in Skyward as a family or emergency contact.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

3/8 - Westchester Robotics Competition

3/14 - Kona Ice - During Lunch

3/14 - End of 3rd Nine Weeks

3/14 - Orchestra Rehearsal

3/17 - LMS/WMS Band ISSMA Preview Concert at 7:00pm @ CHS Auditorium

3/18 - LMS/WMS Orchestras ISSMA Preview Concert at 7:00pm @ CHS Auditorium

3/19 - Duneland Choral Festival at 7:00pm @ CHS

3/21 - Report Cards Accessible Online

3/24-3/28 - NO SCHOOL- Spring Break

3/31 - Classes Resume

Upcoming ATHLETIC Dates to Remember:

3/10 - (H) 7th Gr. Girls Basketball Game vs. Hobart at 5:00pm @ WMS

3/10 - (A) 8th Gr. Girls Basketball Game vs. Hobart at 5:00pm @ Hobart

3/11 - (H) 7th Gr. Girls Basketball Game vs. Thomas Jefferson at 5:00pm @ WMS

3/11 - (A) 8th Gr. Girls Basketball Game vs. Thomas Jefferson at 5:00pm @ TJ MS

3/13 - (A) 7/8 A Team Girls Basketball Game vs. Krueger at 5:00pm @ Krueger MS

3/15 - (A) 7th Gr. B Team Girls Basketball Invite at 8:30am @ Thomas Jefferson

3/15 - (A) 8th Gr. B Team Girls Basketball Invite at 9:00am @ Ben Franklin

3/18 - (A) 7th Gr. Girls Basketball Conf. at 5:00pm @ Ben Franklin

3/18 - (H) 8th Gr. Girls Basketball Conf. at 5:00pm @ WMS

3/19-20 - (A) 7th Gr. Girls Basketball Conference Semifinals at 5:00pm

3/19-20 - (A) 8th Gr. Girls Basketball Conference Semifinals at 5:00pm

Dear Families,

We are excited to announce that we have adopted a new form of school-to-home communication at called ParentSquare for the 2025-2026 school year. This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with [school or district name]. It provides a safe way for district administrators, school principals, teachers, staff, and parents to:

• Send and receive school and class information

• Share pictures and files

• See calendar items

• Sign up to volunteer

• Schedule parent-teacher conferences

• and much more . . . all in one centralized place!

Parents—Getting Started Video

All district and school, grade level and classroom information will now be sent to your computer or phone via email and/or text. For even more convenience, download the ParentSquare app (available for free for iOS and Android devices).

Have questions? Click the question mark in the top right corner of the desktop version or the Help tab on the app (tap the triple bar icon at the top left) to find answers to most of your questions.

Saturday March 1st, WMS Robotics attended its fifth and final competition of the season here at

home at Chesterton High School. This competition was also a middle school only competition.

Our four teams were among the 22 teams from northern Indiana down to Indianapolis. All of the

teams did a fantastic job competing and saw major improvements over their last competition. 2

of the teams made it to the round of 8 for finals. All teams have been working really hard this

season and are hoping their work has paid off. While each team saw their skills score go up

drastically, we now wait and see if the scores are high enough to qualify for state.

In addition to the overall improved scores by all four teams, Team A was chosen for the

Innovate Award. The Innovate Award recognizes an effective and well documented design

process for a novel aspect of the team’s robot design or gameplay strategy. The submission of

an Engineering Notebook is a requirement for the Innovate Award.

The 50th annual Porter County Arts-A-Budding student art exhibit will open on March 4 featuring the best artwork produced by students’ grades Kindergarten-8th in Porter County. Visual Art teachers from across Porter County have selected the top 11 pieces of artwork done by their students during the past year. Hundreds of students’ art will be featured at this Best of Porter County Exhibit.

This exhibit may be visited from March 4-13, 2024 Monday-Sunday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. at the Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University Campus. A reception and awards presentation will be hosted for students and their families on Sunday, March 9 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. at the Chapel of the Resurrection, Valparaiso University Campus.

Many talented young people have been recognized since ARTS-A-BUDDING began 49 years ago. It was started by Visual Arts teachers who wanted to honor students and encourage their creativity. This exhibit is organized annually through the volunteer efforts of these teachers and in cooperation with the Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University.

Iyanna Beach, Angelo Burnahl, Savannah Carlson, Riley Evans, Abigail Kuffer, Kaden Mullert, Siddarth Senthil, Avery Smith, Genevieve Smith, Adlyn Wallace

Summer School Registration will open on Monday, March 17th in a new Skyward portal. Families interested in enrolling in one of Duneland's PreK-12 Programs should look for email communication next week with detailed instructions on how to register.

Separate registration processes will be shared for invitation only Kinder Camp and Grades 1-4 High Ability programs. PreK-7 Summer School will take place at Liberty Elementary from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. in Session 1. Grades 8-12 Summer School will take place at CHS from 7:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m. in both sessions. See below for the scheduled dates of this year's schedule.

Help CHS get third year in a row!

Help VOTE Chesterton High School 'Best Public High School' for the 3rd year in a row! Voting opened TODAY. Participants may vote one time daily in each category today through March 23. Click on the image below of this link to vote:

https://www.nwitimes.com/exclusive/readerschoice/best-of-the-region-ballot-2025/

Please call our main office at 219-983-3780 to report your student absent with in 48hours.

Attendance questions should be directed to Amanda Ray amray@duneland.k12.in.us

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.

Westchester Middle School 7th grade Math students and Liberty Middle School 8th grade ELA students will be participating in the ILEARN Checkpoint pilot this year. Assessments will be condensed and focus on limited standards during each of the three checkpoints

A Common Sense School is an honor that recognizes efforts in teaching digital citizenship to young people and engaging the entire school community in this important discussion. All of the Duneland Schools currently teach digital citizenship and all five Duneland Elementary schools have received the 2024-2025 Common Sense Education recognition badge and their school media specialists are Common Sense Educators. This recognition acknowledges a school's commitment to creating a culture of digital citizenship.

The DSC Child Nutrition Department is now utilizing NutriSlice as its new menus program. This app is available for iphone and android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.

This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each items at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of food items being served at each of the schools.

Breakfast $1.60

Lunch $2.95

Help us celebrate DSC Child Nutrition staff during National Nutrition Month and beginning on March 1. Take this time to thank the Child Nutrition Associates in your school for all they do in keeping our students nourished.

ATTENTION!!!

2024-2025 ALL ATHLETES MUST HAVE A CURRENT PHYSICAL ON FILE TO PARTICIPATE!

Middle School Physicals will need to be turned in to coaches or the athletic department, prior to open gym, tryouts, or practices in order to participate.

There are a total of 6 forms that need to be completed. The actual physical is completed by the Dr. and the rest of the forms are completed by the parent(s) and the student. Physicals will not be accepted if there are forms missing!

*Physical Checklist*

• Final Forms Online parent and student
• Physical Examination from the Dr.
• History Form (It is 2 pages)
• Consent and Release Certificate (Make sure insurance information is complete)
• Concussion and Sudden Cardiac Arrest Form
• Co-Curricular and Extracurricular Activities Code of Conduct

Need to FIX your Skyward App?

Since the Skyward migration has been completed, the mobile app should automatically pull the new URL. Parents who are not getting the new URL, should remove the current account from the Skyward app and add the account back.

You can verify that the app is using the new URL by performing the following steps in the app:
1. Accounts--Edit
2. Click District. Review the URL under "Connection will be attempted using:"

You can delete the existing connection by performing the following steps in the app:
1. Accounts--Edit
2. Delete

DSC's new Skyward uses the following link: https://skyward.iscorp.com/scripts/wsisa.dll/WService=wsedudunelandscin/seplog01.w

Cell Phones, Smart Watches, Earbuds, & Earphones Usage:

7th and 8th 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.

iPad Use

• 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. Middle school curriculum is designed to utilize iPads for lessons and enrichment activities.

CONTACTING IT SUPPORT

Contact the Duneland School Corporation IT department via one of these methods:

1. Open a IncidentIQ ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
   
2. Log into IncidentIQ and submit a request duneland.incidentIQ.com

Internet Connectivity

Families without internet due to financial hardship have access to programs from two local providers.

Comcast Internet Essentials:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Internet Essentials program from Comcast.

• This program offers internet at a low cost per month.

• Additional options and services are also available

• More information is available at this Comcast link

Frontier Lifeline Program:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Lifeline Program from Frontier.

• More information is available at this Frontier link

ParentSquare, the new communication platform, allows parents and guardians in DSC to receive all of their communications from the district, schools, classrooms and school activity groups in one unified app and service.

Duneland School Corporation has adopted ParentSquare as its new communication platform for the 2025-2026 school year and will begin inviting DSC families to verify their accounts over the next few months before launching in June.

ParentSquare is a communication platform designed for schools to connect with students’ families and keep them informed. It’s used by K–12 schools and districts to streamline messaging - such as announcements, attendance notifications, event reminders, one-on-one messages, and more - into a single, user-friendly interface. This decision has followed careful consideration of the needs of our school community as well as laws and regulations surrounding student data privacy. ParentSquare will help us to centralize messages and announcements to improve engagement with our students’ parents and guardians.

By unifying multiple tools into one communications app and service, ParentSquare provides a seamless experience for parents and staff. Parents will be able to keep track of news, activities and events from all their children’s schools in one place.

DSC hopes that ParentSquare’s intuitive, two-way platform will foster greater communication and family involvement. With ParentSquare, parents can enjoy photos posted by teachers, fill out forms and permission slips, sign up for parent-teacher conferences, check grades and attendance, and much more. School staff and parents can engage in both one-to-one and group messaging with real-time language translation.

“Effective school-to-home communication has never been more important, which is why Duneland School Corporation adopted the ParentSquare communication platform. We’re looking forward to reaching 100% of our families no matter where they are, unifying all our communications tools, and adopting a more eco-friendly approach by reducing the amount of paper used to send important communications,” said Bridget Martinson, DSC director of Public Relations/Marketing.

DSC’s partnership with ParentSquare will enable stronger engagement between school and home, and help empower everyone within the school community to stay connected and informed. For more information on ParentSquare, please visit www.parentsquare.com.

Parent Observer Account

Parents are encouraged to set up their Canvas observer accounts to monitor their students' progress. Parents can click this link to view how to set up their Parent Observer Account

Link to the Canvas Log In

WE WANT TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION THAT STUDENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO RIDE THE BUS HOME WITH FRIENDS THAT DO NOT SHARE THE THE SAME DESIGNATED BUS ROUTE. THE DECISION HAS BEEN MADE WITH THE UTMOST CONCERN FOR THE SAFETY OF ALL OUR STUDENTS.

n the Fall of 2023, a strategic planning team was formed to review and update the current four-year strategic plan into a five-year plan that will be used to guide the Corporation from 2024-2028. The new Strategic Plan will guide DSC for the next five years in the areas of Student Achievement, Safety & Operations, People & Culture, and Finance & Facilities.