January 12, 2025
Dear WHS Students, Families, and Staff,
I hope everyone has enjoyed the weekend. It’s nice to see it getting a bit lighter out in the afternoons. I’m thinking a lot lately about resilience as we head into midterms and soon our second semester. How we handle moments of hard news, defeat, or failure. Do we resort to blaming or do we reflect and think about what we could have done differently. The midpoint of the school year is a good time to self-reflect and think about your successes and failures so far. Where do you have room to grow, where do you have room to take a healthy risk, try something new, and what might you need to admit to yourself in order to make a change. The ability to persevere through a challenging situation is often where the learning happens.
As you continue to prepare for midterms remember that no one test defines you, nor does one grade. High school should be about discovering what you are interested in, what you like to do, and developing good work habits to pursue your interests successfully. This will not come without some bumps along the way. Remember the goal in high school is to grow!
Midterms have arrived! Please click the link here to see the overview of our Midterm schedule, which began with a January 10th review day and ends on January 21st with a Makeup day. Please click here to view the detailed schedule of the review days and exam days with class and break times. If students do not have an exam they are free to leave. It is expected that students will be in school on the next review day on January 15th, for the entirety of the day.
Midterm Study Tips & NHS Study Sessions
Ms. Swezey has put together this handy midterm study tips handout. It has a space for students to make their study plans for the week ahead and provides study tips and strategies. Our National Honors Society students will continue to offer study sessions after the first two days of exams. Students can come to the library after school to access study groups/help on:
Midterm Refreshments Are Back! - There are a few more volunteer spots available
Due to popular demand, following two great years, the PTO is bringing back this fun service to our students during Midterm Exams 2025. If you'd like to help out during this very fun volunteer event, check out the opportunities at our sign up genius link here. Refreshments will be offered during the break period between exams from 9:30am-10:30am on January 13th, January 14th, January 16th and January 17th. Let your students know to drop into the lobby during the break period on those days for a treat from your PTO! This is a
great way to get involved in the high school!
Seniors - Class of 2025
The senior class was emailed a link to order their cap and gown this week. Please remind your seniors to place their order if they haven’t already done so. They just have to click the link, create an account, and place the order. The cost of the cap and gown is covered by the class dues collected annually.. The last day to do this is February 14th, 2025!
Athletics
Boys basketball had an exciting Friday night at the Sheehan Center in Bridgeport, playing Kolbe Cathedral. It was such an exciting game and our boys played so hard. Kolbe tied the game in the final second to go into over time and our boys never gave up. It was great basketball! Our boys and girls Ski Teams had impressive runs on Friday and our Swim and Dive team defeated New Milford. Winter sports are in full steam, with 240 athletes participating in our programs. Our indoor track program is making impressive strides, with scheduled meets at the Yale Season Opener and at The Armory in NYC, along with developmental meets at Bethel High School. Our boys and girls basketball and ski teams are demonstrating strong potential and a lot of energy. The wrestling team secured a significant home opener victory over Bethel, while our E-sports program launches into its second semester with lots of excitement. Make sure to follow us on Instagram, @whsathletics, and on X, @westonathletics, or check our website, https://athletics.westonps.org/, so that you are aware of all that is going on with our athletes, including daily home events.
Rigorous Coursework Letters
The Connecticut State Department of Education sends out yearly letters to the parents/guardians of students in Grades 9 and 10 who have the potential to succeed in rigorous courses based on their state test scores. This information is only one factor in determining the best academic program for each student. The totality of a student's choices must be considered and the overall pressure and time a child’s schedule will entail. More information is forthcoming about our scheduling calendar, teacher recommendations, and our open enrollment process. On January 22nd during PACT I will be addressing all students via a Google Meet as we begin our course scheduling process for the 2025-2026 school year.
Course Scheduling for the 25-26 School Year
When we begin our second semester teachers will be thinking about their new units and recommendations for next year for their students. Our course scheduling process will be beginning soon. More information to come in The Week Ahead next week. 8th Graders will be coming to the high school on Tuesday, January 21st to meet their counselors and get a little high school preview. HERE is the calendar of our process. More to come…!
Weston Robotics
All Weston teams made it through qualifying matches to earn places in the Elimination rounds of the Weston Robotics Tournament this past weekend. Congratulations to teams V and U for this accomplishment! Weston Team Y (Ethan Wang, Adam Kusek, Kavan Patel, Jay Rajan and Alex Jeffries) conquered the Robot Driver Skills and Programming Skills Challenge and qualified for the CT State Championship! Weston Team W (Cooper Schleef, Angela Zhao, Joshua Miranda, Emily Arias) won their Semifinal match alongside the Danbury D team, and finished second in the Finals match as Tournament Champion runner-up, qualifying for the State Championship a second time!
Free ACT & SAT Practice Test Event
Westport C2Education is welcoming 2025 by offering a free practice test event on Saturday, January 18th, and Monday, January 20th. Students can take a free SAT®, ACT®, or PSAT ® practice test in the digital format to see where they stand. High test scores continue to be critical for admission to competitive colleges.
Great test scores start with great test prep. Students can register by reaching out to the following:
Westport@c2education.com OR 203-226-2646.
Habitat for Humanity Volunteer Opportunities
Through their Aging in Place program, Habitat for Humanity helps older adults maintain their independence by providing critical home repairs, modifications, and community services tailored to their needs. With more than 19 million older adults living in homes that require modifications for safety and accessibility, their work is essential in helping them stay in their homes and communities with dignity.
Additionally, their construction projects provide an opportunity for volunteers of all skill levels to engage in hands-on building efforts that directly contribute to safe and stable housing for families in need. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to learn and make a difference! If you are interested, please feel free to reach out to Briana Stuart at, brianna@housatonichabitat.org to discuss how you can get involved.
Important Reminder!
A reminder about the delivery policy (taken directly from the student handbook). To reduce the number of visitors on our campus and ensure the safety of our students and staff, deliveries of any kind must be directly related to school business and approved by the building administration. Food deliveries will not be permitted on the Weston Public Schools campus. Failure to comply with this expectation will result in confiscation of 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 do not use 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:
January 5, 2025
December 15, 2024
Upcoming Events:
January 15: Midterm Review Day
January 15: BOE Meeting Public Forum
January 20: Martin Luther King Jr. Day - No School
January 21: Midterm Makeup Day
January 21: 8th Grade Students visit the high school
January 30: School Climate Meeting
February 12: 8th Grade Transition Night
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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