November 17, 2024
Dear WHS Families,
On Friday we held a very powerful school-wide assembly, Take a Stance Against Anti-Semitism in response to the hate-based vandalism on a Jewish student’s locker in one of our team rooms. I would like to thank the Jewish Student Union for all of their hard work and coordination with the community representatives. Students heard from Mr. Sarkany, a Holocaust Survivor, Rabbi Friedman from Temple Israel, Senator Blumenthal and Erika Brunwasswer from the ADL. I am sharing the slides from the assembly HERE if you you would like to view the videos from Mr. Sarkany and Senator Blumenthal.
Rabbi Friedman spoke to students about symbols and how they can evoke different emotions and feelings. At the end of the assembly students were able to take a blue square pin to show their support of people of the Jewish faith, provided by the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. A special thank you to Jonah Rothlein, Ari Frimmer and Asher Feldman for their dedication to this very important work and to their advisors Mrs. Klein, Mrs. Luksberg and Mrs. Arena. This assembly was a testament to the power of student voice and the impact of giving students the opportunity to rise above the hate and make a positive difference. Our work will continue as we develop more programs and plans to create a safe and positive school environment to prevent hate and discrimination of all kinds at Weston High School. At the end of the presentation you will find a QR code that students were able to scan to give us feedback about the assembly and to let us know if they have experienced any form of hate. I continue to appreciate your partnership and dialogue on this topic.
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In this month of thanksgiving, our students are working to “PACT” the Weston Food Pantry. Students should bring various pantry items to their PACT classrooms prior to November 20th. The winning PACT group will win treats from Uncle Leo’s! Let’s all contribute to filling the Weston Food Pantry. For more information on the most needed items, see the Weston Food Pantry website.
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We’ve had another busy weekend at WHS. Our week began with Veteran’s Day, recognizing those who have served at Town Hall where our choir students sang the National Anthem and students from the American Heroes Club presented the wreath. The day continued with our veterans joining students for lunch at WHS and then a panel discussion at the end of the day. Congratulations to our Girls Swim & Dive team on their 11th straight CIAC Class S Title. Meghan Leahy is also our state champion in the 50M Free! Well done girls and congratulations Coach Barone! Our Boys Soccer team competed against Tolland yesterday, entering the CIAC Class M tournament as a 24th ranked team. It was a hard fought battle between the two teams and our boys held their own against a Tolland team that had handily beaten others in their previous tournament games. Congratulations to Coach Guardado and our Class M State Runners Up Boys Soccer.
If you had a chance to see Unexpected Developments this week then you know how talented our students truly are. This small but mighty cast of seven students brought their comedic chops to the performances this weekend and had the audiences laughing out loud. Congratulations to Director Nancy Ponturo and Producer Sara Winant and always a huge thank you to Liz Morris who dedicates so much of her time to our students and our Theatre Program. 
Robotics
Congratulations to Team W including Emily Arias, Joshua Miranda, Cooper Schleef and Angela Zhao on winning the Innovate Award at this weekend's Vex Robotics tournament in Madison. They were honored for their work on developing code and mechanisms to color sort the rings during match and skills play. Way to go Trojans!
Swap Shop
Thank you to everyone who donated and then purchased their gently used clothing for this fall’s Swap Shop event sponsored by the WHS Green Team. 
Winter Athletics
Just a reminder that winter athletics begin on December 2, 2024
Midterms
We continue to take feedback on all we do. We are in the process of developing our midterm schedule and should be able to share it soon. For planning purposes midterms will begin on January 10th with a 4-period review day, followed by those 4 exams. Then another 4-period review day, followed by those exams. We have also included a makeup day on January 21st. Schedule will be shared soon.
Class of 2025: Upload your baby picture for the yearbook.
CLICK HERE to upload ONE baby picture by Monday, December 2.
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Enter Contact Info
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Select "Upload Your Portrait"
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Upload baby picture
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Crop
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Grade: select "Baby Pictures"
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Enter First Name + Last Name
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Submit
You will receive the confirmation below that your baby photo has been uploaded successfully.
Healthier Approach to College Admissions
To our seniors and families, the November deadline has come and gone and we know that the process continues throughout the school year. On November 19th Challenge Success is hosting a webinar: A Healthier Approach to College Admissions. I encourage you to watch together to help frame your conversations over the next couple of months. This is also helpful for our 9th-11th grade families as well!
When registering for the event, please use the passcode WESTON2024. This will waive the $29 fee to sign up. I also encourage families to check out the Challenge Success website for more useful information.
We’ve Been Sneaking into Your Brains - SPECIAL SCHEDULE
On November 21st Weston Public Schools will be hosting Max Stossel, an award winning artist, the Founder of Social Awakening, and Youth & Education Advisor for the Center for Humane Technology. “We’ve Been Sneaking Into Your Brains” Is a presentation for students sponsored by the WPS PTOs. We will be hosting two assemblies on November 21st, 7th-9th graders during their Period 3 class at WHS, and 10th-12th graders during their Period 6 class. Max illustrates specific ways technology is designed to be addictive & distracting. He provides tools to help combat these designs, and leads a much-needed discussion among peers about the impact of phones & social media. Max does distinct versions of this talk for middle schoolers, high schoolers, and for college students.
"Social Media and Your Kids" Is a similar keynote designed for educators and parents. This presentation includes an overview of how students are using social media and gives recommendations on how to improve focus and diminish distraction in learning environments. This session concludes with time to discuss what’s working and not working in our classrooms and households. This will be held at the WHS Auditorium in the evening after students have received their presentation during the school day. We welcome families to attend for this important discussion.
Youth Services Program - Problem Gambling & Gaming
Wilton, Weston and Westport's Social Services and Youth Services are hosting a free Zoom and Learn on Tuesday, the 19th of November from 12 to 1 for Wilton, Weston Westport or other local residents to learn more about problem gambling and gaming. They will be hosting presenters from Catalyst/The HUB, CT Renaissance and The CT Coalition on Problem Gambling. Please see the flier linked here for more information.
Poinsettia Fundraiser
The Weston Performing Arts Booster Club is sponsoring a holiday poinsettia plant sale to help raise funds to support the performing arts in the Weston public schools including scholarships and music trip fundraising. Please see the attached flyer that includes a link to the order form.
Orders need to be placed by Monday, November 18 and pick up will be available at the high school on the dates and times of the winter music concerts.
Filament submissions
We are pleased to announce that Filament, the WHS Literary Magazine, is accepting submissions for the Fall/Winter Edition. The deadline is December 2nd. Please ask your students to use this opportunity to showcase their creativity and self-expression through poetry, short stories, digital artwork, drawing and illustration, essays, and more.
School Climate Committee
Our next School Climate meeting will be on Thursday, December 12th, at 2:40 in the Main Office Conference.
Important Reminder!
A reminder about the delivery policy (taken directly from the student handbook). In an effort to reduce the number of visitors on our campus and to ensure the safety of our students and staff, deliveries of any kind must be directly related to school business and/or have been approved by the building administration. Food deliveries of any kind will not be permitted on the Weston Public Schools campus. Failure to comply with this expectation will result in confiscating the delivered item(s) and a 1-hour detention. Weston High School food services provide healthy, nutritious, and delicious lunch and morning snack options. We kindly ask our families to refrain from sending food and beverage deliveries to our students during the day.
Pickup & Dropoff
A reminder to please continue to use the access road for picking up and dropping off students. We also must keep the fire lanes clear on each side of the crosswalk, especially at the end of the day, with so many students pouring out of the building. We want to make sure we aren’t inhibiting anyone’s line of sight, especially our security guards, as they man the crosswalk. In addition, please make sure you are not using any parking lots to drop off students. I have recently received some feedback that parents are parking in student parking spots while dropping off their students. Please understand that this creates a lot of confusion in the parking lot AND makes the student whose space you park in late! Thank you to all who support our students' safe entrance and exit.
Communication Protocol
Please remember we have a Communication Protocol to help you navigate the common occurrences in the daily lives of students, families and staff. For many of your concerns this protocol will let you know how to proceed.
Previous Letters:
November 10, 2024
November 3, 2024
October 27, 2024
October 20, 2024
October 13, 2024
Upcoming Events:
November 18: BOE Meeting (Remote)
November 21: Max Stossel “We’ve Been Sneaking Into Your Brains”
November 21: Mohegan Tribe Lunch and Learn (WHS Library)
December 2: Senior Baby Pictures due to the Yearbook
December 3: Junior College Kickoff
December 4: Band Winter Concert
December 9: 9th Grade Assembly - Poetry Out Loud (Period 7)
December 12: School Climate Meeting
January 10: Midterm Review Day (Schedule forthcoming)
January 21: Midterm Makeup Day
As always should you have any questions or concerns please call the main office and we can provide you with support to find the information or person you need to speak with.
Kindly,
Meghan
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