The Banks Bulletin

Dear Banks Families:

First semester grades will be available for families to view beginning January 27th at 5 PM. We are so proud of our students for their efforts.

Congratulations to Ishani Panja for being recognized as an Express Yourself contest winner at the 26th Annual Martin Luther King Day Event on Monday, January 20th.

If you didn't get the chance to attend the Art Exhibition yesterday, do yourself a favor and stop by the ESC anytime to check out the fantastic pieces on display created by our Bulldog artists. You won't regret it! Thank you so much to Kaysie Stassi for her dedication to the arts and the success of our students.

Cheers,

Jennifer VanWagnen, Principal

We Are Banks!

January

1/27: Report Cards Available to View @ 5PM

1/27: Fentanyl Fathers Community Presentation - Clifford Smart MS

1/27: Girls Basketball vs. Walnut Creek @ 5:30 PM, Away @ WLC

1/27: Wrestling vs. Walnut Creek @ 4 PM, Home

1/29: Half Day for Students, Staff for Professional Development

1/31: In-District Transfer Application Deadline

1/31: Pep Assembly

Congratulations to all the students who participated in the Scripps Spelling Bee on January 23rd. We recognize your hard work and commend your efforts. The competition was fierce! Our Bulldog Champion, Tara M., will advance to the Oakland Schools Regional Bee for a chance to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Thanks to Mrs. Kelty, Mrs. Mather and Ms. Smith for serving as judges and special thanks to Mr. Morrow for not only serving as the pronouncer, but also for his preparation and commitment to ensuring our students are offered this opportunity. We are blessed to have the best at Banks!

Wrestling

The Walled Lake Marching Band is seeking prospective members that will be attending Walled Lake Central HS, Walled Lake Western HS, Walnut Creek MS, or Sarah Banks MS next fall to join the organization! Students currently in eighth grade band are highly encouraged to join on their instrument, but the organization is also seeking any middle students for its premiere color guard. No previous experience spinning a flag or related skills needed for the color guard! Any prospective student and their parents that are interested are invited to attend “Walled Lake Marching Band Information Night” on February 4, 2025 at 7:00 PM in the Walled Lake Central High School Band Room. There will be opportunities to meet the directors, current students, and have some ice cream! See you there!

If you and your student are happy with the school they will be attending next year, please disregard this message. If you are interested in your student possibly attending a different school next year, please continue reading.

The in-district transfer request window is currently open until Friday, January 31st. The application can be found below. This application is for families to request a Walled Lake school different than the one their student is slated to attend based on address/school path. All 8th graders are reviewing their high school path with Mrs. Danforth.

6th and 7th grade families from Loon Lake Elementary, Walled Lake Elementary and Wixom Elementary will continue to attend Sarah Banks Middle School. These paths are based on the elementary school your student attended/would have attended based on your current address in Skyward:

Hickory Woods Elementary will now attend Sarah Banks Middle School.

Transfer requests are not guaranteed and are based on several of factors including if there is space at the school you have requested.

IMPORTANT: families must provide transportation to the new school you are requesting.

Please reach out if you have any questions. Our Banks team is happy to help!

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Our yearbook team has been working hard creating the yearbook. It’s almost time to share the yearbook with your students, and that’s a reason to celebrate!

We will be turning in the number of copies to order soon. Click on the link to guarantee your copy before they are all sold out. When they are gone, they are gone!

WLW Basketball is hosting a Middle School Night on Friday, January 24th vs. WLC. We encourage students and families to come out to watch their future high schools compete. Join the fun!

WLCSD, in partnership with the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities, invites parents, guardians, and community members to an important educational presentation by Fentanyl Fathers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness about fentanyl prevention and the dangers of misuse.

📅 Date: Monday, January 27
🕔 Time: 5:45–6:45 p.m.
📍 Location: Clifford H. Smart Middle School Media Center

This presentation will take place just before the WLCSD PTSA Council Meeting, which begins at 7:00 p.m. in the same location. Students are also welcome to attend the presentation; however, all three WLCSD high schools will host similar assemblies during the school day that week. High school parents should watch for additional details regarding these events.

We hope to see you there for this crucial conversation!

Join the Walled Lake PTSA Council on January 28th starting at 5:30pm at the Zekelman Holocaust Center for the FREE community building event "Building Connections: Learning from the Past, Uniting for the Future".

In partnership with the Walled Lake Consolidated School District and the Zekelman Holocaust Center, this FREE event is open to staff, students, families, community and faith leaders, and the greater Walled Lake Schools community! Take a tour of the museum, make connections with other people within Walled Lake Schools, and listen to a Next Generation Holocaust Survivor Speaker. This event is best for people ages 10+ - please use your best judgment in bringing younger students.

We still have room for 4 more students to register for the trip. We are expecting these remaining spots to fill up quickly, so please don’t hesitate to register your child if you are still considering it. The deadline to register is Friday, January 31st or once those 4 available spots fill up, whichever occurs first. The American Expeditions Travel Website has been preset to waitlist any new registrations after those 4 spots fill up. If you register, be sure to purchase the CFAR (Cancel for any Reason) insurance option. We’d love to have your child join us on this memorable experience!

Please visit our Sarah Banks D.C. information and registration link through American Expeditions, click on "GO TO MY TRIP" and enter the tour code: sarahbanksdc2025. When you register, you will need to pay the initial deposit on the trip portal and the required CFAR insurance.

To view the meeting presentation from October 10th, please click here. If you have any questions about the DC trip, please reach out to Mr. Morrow at DavidMorrow@wlcsd.org.

The Walled Lake Consolidated School District is committed to supporting the health and well-being of our students and families. To help address concerns about vaping, we are sharing valuable resources that provide information on the risks of vaping and strategies for prevention. These tools are designed to empower families with knowledge and support meaningful conversations at home. Together, we can help every child make healthy choices every day.

• E-cigarettes and Vaping: What Parents Should Know - American Lung Association
• E-cigarettes and Youth: What Parents Need to Know - Centers for Disease Control

• E-cigarettes/Vaping Facts - Oakland County Health Department

In an effort to find additional ways to celebrate our staff, the WLCSD Community Relations department requests that families fill out the information below for staff who are rock stars in their classrooms and school communities.

A sample of what these shout outs will look like on social media and in our district newsletters is on the right.

In addition to receiving phone calls and email notifications from the school district in the event of a school closing or emergency, parents can also sign up to receive SMS Text messages.

Please find the helpful step-by-step instructions linked below as well as the video tutorial on signing up for SMS messages.

· Signing Up for SMS Messages via Skylert

Jennifer VanWagnen

Principal: jennifervanwagnen@wlcsd.org

Kellan Watkins

Principal's Secretary: kellanwatkins@wlcsd.org

Becky Smith

Interim Assistant Principal: rebeccasmith@wlcsd.org

Jennifer Dean

Assistant Principal's Secretary: jenniferdean@wlcsd.org

Important Phone Numbers:

Main Line: 248-956-2200

Attendance: 248-956-2290

Email: JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org
Website: https://banks.wlcsd.org/
Location: 1760 Charms Road Wixom, MI 48393
Phone: (248) 956-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbanksptsa