A Letter from the Principal

November 22, 2016

Volume 5, Issue 2

‘Canvas’ Information 2

2017-18 Course Handbook

3

AP Teacher of the Year Nominees

4

Best Practices Teacher Column

5

Athletic Update 6-7

Upcoming Events 8

Inside this issue:

Rocks Update: A WHS Quarterly Newsletter

Greetings! As we begin our 2nd trimester, I am reminded how

quickly we move through the school year. In addition to completing

over 10,000 course/credit hours, our students have taken PSAT,

SAT and ACT exams; successfully competed in athletic, academic and extracurricular

events; participated in thousands of hours of service; and even had some fun during their

first 60 days! The early college admission deadline of November 1st has come and gone,

and our seniors are doing exactly what they are supposed to do to prepare for their next

steps. In addition, our community voted to renew an operating referendum for the next

seven years. I cannot begin to express my gratitude to everyone who voted “yes.” Many,

many thanks to the students, parents and staff for making the Fall of 2016 such a success.

I hope the excitement of new courses and new teachers empowers each of us to give our

personal best to new opportunities to learn and grow. I hope that our students are ready to

take on the exciting changes and challenges that accompany a new beginning. One of the

challenges for the beginning of next year is already here: building the 2017-2018 master

schedule.

In the upcoming weeks, your student will be attending class presentations and meeting

with their counselors to determine their schedule for 17-18. WHS offers hundreds of

courses to our students, including a wide range of options and challenging courses in each

subject area. This variety distinguishes us from many other public high schools and I am

hopeful that students take advantage of these opportunities. The courses that students se-

lect drive the entire process of building and staffing a master schedule, which is why your

selections are so important. Students should seek the advice of current teachers, counse-

lors, peers and parents when determining their courses for next year. When selecting

courses, I believe all students should challenge themselves with courses that will require

them to develop new abilities and deepen their cognitive and non-cognitive skills. How-

ever, a student’s course load should not be overwhelming. Determining the “sweet spot”

of challenging courses as well as finding balance between required and elective courses is

imperative for student growth and achievement. Please spend some time with your son or

daughter discussing the courses available for next year and working with our staff to find

that right balance.

Finally, make sure you clear your calendar and come to Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday as

our Rocks fight for our first football state title. Wear your green, and be loud and

proud!!!!

-Dr. Stacy McGuire

Keep up with WHS Happenings on ‘Canvas’

Page 2 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

Westfield High School has adopted the learning management

system ‘Canvas’ for the 2016-17 school year. The middle

school adopted it last year, and then we followed suit this year.

We are excited about what this offers our students and our par-

ents in the name of communication. This platform allows teachers to

post a calendar of upcoming assessments and important dates and also

post homework and reading assignments. They can attach documents

and videos and hyperlink material. Students can take part in discus-

sion platforms and can take quizzes and tests for immediate feed-

back—right inside of Canvas. And this just scratches the surface of what is avail-

able on Canvas in terms of informing students of happenings in the classroom.

There are also observer log-ins for parents so that they can see what is taking

place in their students’ classes. Many parents have shared that it has been very

helpful and convenient to be able to log in to Canvas and see one page with all of their students’ classes together. So

one calendar can show each of the upcoming assessments and important announcements. This platform also makes it

very easy for students to see what they missed if they are absent and get caught up when they have been out.

We will follow up this newsletter shortly with an email to all WHS parents explaining how to obtain and utilize a

Canvas log-in to access your student’s portal. At WHS, we truly believe that your child’s education is a partnership

between school and home, and Canvas is a great tool to strengthen this relationship. We encourage you to stay in-

formed through Canvas, as well as through Powerschool, Twitter, Facebook and our WHS website page.

By Alicia

Denniston,

Assistant

Principal

“At WHS we truly

believe that your

child’s education is

a partnership

between school and

home, and Canvas is

a great tool to

strengthen that

relationship.”

Attendance Reminders and a Snapshot of First Tri

By Ginny Smith,

Dean of

Students

Here are a couple reminders for students and parents regarding attendance:

Remember that students who are coming late to school and arriving during a passing period

still need to sign in at the attendance window.

The tardy count resets at the start of each new trimester. The fourth tardy to class is a

Thursday School whether or not a student receives a detention from their teacher for the

third.

An absence to first period only (late arrival to school) will be counted as a tardy unless there

is documentation supporting the absence.

When returning to school after an illness or a doctor’s visit, please turn in medical notes to the

attendance window in a timely manner so that Powerschool is accurate.

First Tri Attendance %

9 97.48%

10 96.92%

11 96.79%

12 96.81%

Grand

Total 97.01%

Goal:

97% or

Greater

in All

Grades

and

Overall

The Course Handbook and Scheduling Process at WHS

Page 3 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

The Westfield High School Course Handbook for the 2017-2018 school year

was approved by our School Board on Tuesday, November 15th. The handbook

for grades 10-12 has 253 courses available: 223 at Westfield High School, 25 at

J. Everett Light Career Center, and five new courses in the two new pathways of

Hospitality and Tourism and Nursing- Health Services. The 9th grade handbook

offers 88 courses for our incoming freshmen. As we continue to grow our offer-

ings and truly focus on preparation for careers, we are so excited about the num-

ber of opportunities and experiences students will have.

Some of the new courses offered next year, including the two new pathways,

include: Cadet Teaching, Career Exploration Internship, Digital Illustration,

AP Art History, Advanced Nutrition and Wellness- Global Nutrition, College

Math Prep: CCR Math

Bridge, Macroeconomics, US History divided

into three time periods, Philosophy and Religion,

and Elective P.E. Fitness Fusion and Boot Camp

101 classes. JEL has two new courses:

Healthcare Career Exploration and Graphic and

Web Design.

WHS counselors will begin with a ninth grade

scheduling meeting on Tuesday, November 22nd. The handbook will be online directly following that meeting. They

will then meet with every student individually and discuss his or her course requests and academic plans. Sophomores

and juniors will follow that same plan in January and February.

If students have questions concerning their future schedule, they should sign up in the counseling center and their

counselor will call them down to meet and discuss.

By Kevin Scanlon,

Assistant Principal & Dan Doberty

Director of School

Counseling

“”As we continue to grow our offerings

and truly focus on preparation for

careers, we are so excited about the

number of opportunities and experiences

students will have.”

Online Scheduling Instructions:

Use Mozilla Firefox, Chrome or Safari… they all work better than Internet Explorer

Log in to your Power School Account

Click on “Class Registration” on the left side of the screen, under “Navigation”

Follow directions carefully. Enter 17 total courses/credits (15 credits/2 alternates)

Hit “Submit” when you are done

Once courses are submitted, print the list of your course requests

Go over your course requests with parents

If anything needs to be changed, you can do so prior to the December 4th deadline

Counselors will answer questions and make appropriate or necessary changes when we

meet with you

Page 4 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

By Mark Ewing,

Student Life Co-

Coordinator

By Bill Naas

Assistant

Principal

WHS Congratulates AP Teacher of the Year Nominees

Congratulations to AP Environmental Sci-

ence teacher, Jason Bousman, and AP

Chemistry teacher, Kevin Morse for being

named AP Teacher-of-the-Year Finalists by

APTIP-IN. Both Mr.

Bousman and Mr.

Morse are very deserv-

ing of this honor due

to their commitment to access and success in their AP courses. Mr. Bousman

has grown AP Environmental Science from just 13 students two years ago to

132 students enrolled this school year while maintaining an impressive AP

exam pass rate. Mr. Morse has doubled the number of AP Chemistry sections

being taught at WHS. All of his students have passed the very difficult AP

Chemistry exam the last two years. WHS is very lucky to have these two very

dedicated teachers challenging and preparing our students.

A congratulations is also extended to all teachers and students at WHS for

being named an AP School-of-the-Year Finalist by APTIP-IN. WHS had

744 students pass 1110 AP exams last school year. These numbers rep-

resent the strong commitment and hard work our teachers and students have

dedicated to the rigorous course work needed to build prepared and successful

graduates.

“A congratulations is also

extended to all teachers and

students at WHS for being named

an AP School-of-the-Year

Finalist by AP TIP-IN.”

An Update from our PTO

By Becky Henn,

PTO President

We have had a very busy first trimester with the PTO. We've had an amazing

group of volunteers help with everything from teacher appreciation lunch, school

pictures, to hearing screenings. We've also had some very interesting meetings,

including a meeting with Dr. Grate our new superintendent, coffee with Dr.

McGuire and we even learned how to use Raspberry Pi with Mr. Bruns!

Our next trimester looks to be just as busy. Coming up in a couple of weeks

we'll be posting Honor Roll signs on the lockers of all the students who make

honor roll in the first trimester. That is usually over 900 lockers! We will be

having a Chick Fil Fundraiser on Dec. 1st, Coffee with Dr. McGuire on Jan.

10th and our next PTO meeting on Jan. 17th. We can't wait to have you join us!

Page 5 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

With state and national

standards, textbooks, stand-

ardized tests, and other factors influencing what

is happening in the classroom, sometimes it’s

hard to keep the focus on the students. A major

focus of PLCs (Professional Learning Commu-

nities) is using student learning to guide what

and how we teach. Instead of focusing on

whether a topic was taught, we look at if the

students learned it. Looking at homework,

quizzes, and tests in meaningful ways allows us

to reflect upon what was taught and how well

students learned it.

In the Chemistry PLC, we have been improv-

ing how we look at student data over the past

several trimesters. We look at the quality of the

tests and quizzes themselves, but we also use

the feedback to help change our teaching. We

reflect as a group and individually to find

strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improve-

ment.

When looking at quizzes and labs, we analyze

the data (looking at performance on specific

questions) to find where the students are strug-

gling. This allows us to make changes as we

teach, allowing us to reteach and/or focus our

test review towards what the students need. We

are also able to share and compare our data to

see which teachers have the most success teach-

ing specific topics, hoping to figure out what

they are doing well.

For tests, we use the data to reflect on the unit.

Instead of merely relying on the “feeling” that

something went well, we have evidence that

shows what students learned. That allows us to

modify future instruction to reteach and review

the topics in later units. We also have direction

on how to change and shape the course for fu-

ture students.

Although analyzing data isn’t all that we do, it

is a big part of truly understanding what stu-

dents learned.

Best Practices Highlight: Letting Student Learning Data Drive Instruction

By Kevin Morse,

Science Co-Content Area

Director

The Fall athletic season is coming to a close as the Winter athletic season begins!!! Our Fall teams

competed at a high level, and we are proud of the achievement. We strive to give our kids the op-

portunity on a daily basis to become better leaders by experiencing the world of athletics and all that it

affords. They are making numerous decisions on a daily basis that will help them the day after they

leave our doors.

This fall, our girls’ golf team repeated as Conference, Sectional and Regional Champions!! We

also were IHSAA State Runners-up for the second year in a row. Our girls cross country team ad-

vanced to the IHSAA State finals and finished 10th. Our boys team advanced to the IHSAA Region-

al level and we had

two individual runners

advance to the State

Finals!! Our volleyball team defeated Car-

mel in the IHSAA Sectional final in becom-

ing champions!!

Our cheer competition team advanced to their

State Finals and finished 9th!

Finally, our football team repeated as Sectional

Champions for the fourth straight year and won

the IHSAA Regional and then the IHSAA

Semistate this past Friday night versus Fort

Wayne Snider. We are state championship-

bound!

Page 6 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

Fall Athletic Season Wrapping Up: Lots to Celebrate...

By Bill Davis

Athletic Director

Page 7 Rocks Update Volume 5, I ssue 2

The Winter Athletic season promises to be just as competitive. Our boys and girls basketball, cheer, boys and

girls swimming and wrestling teams are working hard to get their seasons off to a great start. We hope you come

out to support our teams.

One thing that we know

is VERY im- portant is our

past history that has led

to the high achievement

in the athletic department.

We will be "Celebrating

20 Years" in the current

high school facili-

ty. Westfield Athletics is excited to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of opening the new high school. The current

building opened for the 1997-1998 school year and 2016-17 will mark the 20th year in this building. In honor of

this milestone, Westfield Athletics will be recognizing our former athletes, managers, and coaches that graduated/

coached between the years of 1998-2016. We will have our second recognition ceremony this winter. The second

recognition event will take place at the varsity boys basketball game on Saturday January 14, 2017 when the

Rocks host the Lafayette Jeff Bronchos. We have sent information via Twitter and Facebook along with asking all

of you to spread the word soon. We have a registration page that all former athletes during this time period will

need to go online to our athletic website to complete. We look forward to seeing all the alum that built the power

of the Rocks!!! Please share this information with everyone that you know, so that we can honor as many individ-

uals as possible.

The Westfield Football team defeated FW Snider for the Semistate Championship

and will be playing for the IHSAA 5A State Championship on Saturday, November 26

at 7:00 PM at Lucas Oil Stadium. Presale tickets will be available per the schedule

below. Tickets are $15.00 for school age children and up (pre-school children and

younger do not need to purchase a ticket) $1 of every presale ticket goes towards

Westfield Athletics so we encourage all Rocks Fans to purchase them ahead of time

rather than at the gate.

Winter Season Promises to be Just as Exciting!

WWS Mission

To provide meaningful and engaging work in the pur-

suit of profound learning.

WWS Vision

To be the world-class learning organization focused on

continuous quality growth for all

WHS Mission:

We desire to move WHS from a high performing to top

performing school academically, athletically and in

student activities.

Westfield High School

18250 North Union Street

Westfield, IN

46074

Keep informed on Facebook and Twitter!

https://www.facebook.com/

westfieldhighschool

www.twitter.com/WWSWHS @WWSWHS

Phone: 317-867-6800

Fax: 317-867-2909

www.wws.k12.in.us

Westfield High School

Upcoming Events Our community won the right to host a presentation by the KIND Campaign which focuses on

the issue of teen bullying amongst girls. On November 16, the KIND presentation was given to

our WHS freshmen girls. Upperclassmen leaders also led some small group discussion follow-

ing the presentation. As the girls left to head back to class, they were given the opportunity to

sign a Kindness poster that will hang in our Learning Center. 11/23-25:

Thanksgiving Break

12/5:

Grade 11 College Planning

night

12/13:

Band Holiday Concert

12/15:

Choir Holiday Concert

1/10:

PTO Coffee with Dr.

McGuire

A Special Note of Thanks: Several area businesses donated coupons, gift cards or other services to our students

and our teachers to be used this school year as a form of recognition and appreciation for all of their hard work. We

appreciate their partnership with us and their generosity. A special thanks to: Grand Junction Brewery, Gan-

dolfo’s, Red Robin, Titus Bakery, Westfield Diner, Domino’s, Chick-Fil-a, Ricker’s and Regal Cinemas. We

thank you for your support of Westfield High School staff and students.