Mustang Musings

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year first Mustang Musings!

This is a monthly newsletter that will be sent out each month as a highlight and celebration of events and happenings throughout the district. Past newsletters will be posted on our district website.

Also, if there are specific items or questions you have, please reach out to Mrs. Bauer at bauere@wgsd.us or 970-724-3217.

We are Grand Today. Greater Tomorrow.

Go Mustangs!

The Mission of West Grand School District is "Committed to Excellence in Education" with a focus of Excellence in Learning, Excellence in Leadership, and Excellence in Engagement. We highlight that each month at our Board of Education meetings and our Profile of a Learner.

WGSD principals being recognized at the West Grand Board of Education September meeting for the their commitment to Excellence in Leadership.

We have been working on aligning our communication channels and strategies as a district. Here are communications you should expect from us this year:

1. One on one conversations/connections with classroom teachers regarding your student's academics and behavior.
2. "Week at a Glance" from Principal Hooks, posted on ParentSquare each Sunday. This gives you an opportunity to see all of the upcoming events as well as information and resources that are extensions of the classroom.
3. Coffee & Conversation with Superintendent Bauer and Principal Hooks. Hosted out in our community on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 7:00-8:00am. No agenda, just availability to listen.
4. Mustang Musings -- Monthly newsletter to highlight staff, students, and happenings throughout the district
5. Alma -- This is our new student information system (replacing PowerSchool). Registration and enrollment happen on this platform. Students and families can check grades, attendance, etc.

Besides our personal conversations, in-person meetings, and various gatherings at events, there are a few platforms that West Grand School District will use to communicate information.

Make sure you are connected to one of these platforms:

• ParentSquare: Download the app or sign-in online
• District Website: www.wgsd.us
• District Facebook: @WGSD1JT

Call us at:

• West Grand Early Childhood Center, 970-724-0271
• K-8 Front Office, 970-724-1000
• HS Front Office, 970-724-3425
• District Office, 970-724-3217

We had a great turnout at our West Grand Community Engagement and Back 2 School Night in August. The rain and storms couldn't dampen our spirits!

We had partners from our community including the Town of Kremmling, Middle Park Health, Henderson Mine/FreePort, and Grand County Economic Development there gathering input and data regarding what our families want to see here in Kremmling as a community. Food was provided thanks to the work of many people and generous donations. Different community groups hosted booths both at the high school and the K8 for resources and connection.

We hosted a district-wide pep rally where staff got to "walk out" to their songs with an appearance from our Mustang mascot! The WGHS Cheerleaders led the crowd in some Mustang cheers. Students and families then were able to meet the teacher and see the individual classrooms. The energy sure was excited to start the year!

Thank you for your support and attendance!

A priority for us this year is family and community engagement. We are hosting our first Community Connections Night this next week on Wednesday, October 2 from 5:00-7:00pm at West Grand High School.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Did you know that you can find our calendar of events both on our website and in ParentSquare? These calendars sync with our schools' google calendars, so they are the most up-to-date schedules.

ParentSquare calendars are in top right corner. You have to be under one school (K8 or HS) and cannot see both at the same time. That is a ParentSquare configuration.

Website: wgsd.us

Click on the "Calendar" tab, under Events "view calendars," and it will take you to the full integrated calendar. You can toggle either the K8 or HS off to see only one; otherwise, you will be able to see all events listed.

WGMS and WGHS student athletes have been hard at work on and off the field of competition. The West Grand Booster Club does a great job of updating scores and competition highlights on their Facebook page. We appreciate the Booster Club and their support!

Follow your West Grand Mustangs on the NFHS network to watch live or recorded home games and the away games if the hosting school has NFHS. Visit NFHS West Grand Athletics to catch the action.

WGSD offers students opportunities to explore different options and passions for what their life may be after high school. We call that "post secondary exploration." You may have also heard the phrase "College and Career Readiness." It all means the same thing and the goal is to connect students to their future possibilities.

Here are some highlights already from this fall semester:

• 20 students are enrolled in Concurrent Enrollment (college) courses
• 14 Student Interns and 4 Additional Community Business Partners
  
• 8 Students in a Work Study
  
• 17 Students in Technical Writing / Scholarship Class
  

Upcoming events:

1. US Air Force Visits WG - Sept. 26th

2. Western Slope College Fair in Aspen - Oct. 6th

Technical Writing and Concurrent Enrollment students in the classroom are pictured below.

Our September Intern of the Month, Brooke James. Ms. James is a Junior, serving her internship through one of our newest Community Business Partners, Grand County Library Kremmling Branch.

She serves under the direction of Emily Pedersen and Shelly Mathis. Much of her time is spent assisting patrons, and preparing for various activities and programs within the library. Brooke stated that "there are a lot of layers to the library. So getting used to that has been really challenging."

When asked what Profile of a Learner Attributes she has been able to apply she said that she has needed most to be Adaptable and also Connected to the community.

She believes this experience will help her in the future because she is learning skills and techniques related to a small business, the importance of being organized and being a good communicator.

Middle school students are working hard in Physical Education (PE) class with their Pre-Tests for Physical Fitness Testing. Teacher, Mr. Nachtrieb, is grateful for the effort they are putting forth and looking forward to seeing their growth throughout the year.

Mr. Warren, a prominent firefighter, parent, and community member, presented to the high school students and Mr. Tripicchio's classes on 9/11 and the following week. He talked about what it was like being at Ground Zero and what all he and his crew did while there. It was a powerful presentation. We thank Mr. Warren for sharing his experience with staff and students.

Pictured below is Mr. Tripicchio, Mr. Warren, and Collin Warren.

As we begin the new year, I want to make sure you remember you can find the K-12 year-at-a-glance curriculum map which outlines the big topics covered in each grade and content area for our families and community.

Here is the link to our curriculum map.

The video below was created last year, but walks you through what our "Year at a Glance" curriculum map is all about.

Through our instructional leadership restructure, we have new faces in some new roles this year in the district. If you haven't had a chance to read about them, open the file to learn more about our instructional leaders!

There is still time for you and your school and district community members (i.e., educators, staff, parents and guardians, students) to have your voices heard on the critical issue of school funding in Colorado! AIR and CDE are offering two additional dates for virtual Town Halls where interested Coloradans can discuss school funding in their local public schools and across the state. The forums will be open to all citizens of Colorado regardless of your geographic region.

Also, to provide additional opportunities for people to express their views, we plan to keep the Public Education and School Funding survey open until after the last town hall – at the end of the month.

We hope you can continue to support our efforts have stakeholders in Colorado inform the study of school funding in Colorado.

Please help us spread the word! You can do this by directing those in your network to the Colorado Financial Adequacy Study website, where they can register for a virtual town hall and take the survey.

Mrs. Bauer and Mrs. Hooks hosted the first Coffee and Conversation of the year. It is an informal time where they will be out in our community to sit and talk about school. There will be no agenda, just an opportunity to have conversation.

Bauer and Hooks will continue to host this time the third Thursday of the month from 7:00am - 8:00am.