I trust your New Year has had a great beginning. My prayer for each WCA family is that God will be honored in all that we do and say in 2005! With the New Year and the start of a new semester, please be advised of the following items and events for 2005.

1. WCA has scheduled an all school Spiritual Emphasis Week for the week of January 24-28th. Chapel is scheduled daily with special activities planned around the theme "The Armor of God." Please be in prayer for the week and attend if time allows.
   
2. By now, all families should have received a letter regarding the Family and Student Handbook. Just a reminder that policies will be consistently enforced during second semester which began on Jan. 18th. The Handbook must be read by both you and the student and then the signed agreement (last page of Handbook) submitted to the office on/or before Jan. 31st.
   
3. All High School students have until Jan. 31st to drop or add courses for second semester.
   
4. We have some students with excessive absenteeism and tardiness to school. Please review Handbook Section D, on pages 230-232, regarding WCA guidelines.
   
5. The issues of safety and supervision are real concerns we have as a staff, especially after school hours. Please read Handbook Section B, on page 225, regarding Elementary and High School procedures for after school care.
   

Absences/Late Arrivals
If a student needs to leave school early for an appointment or for any other reason, please send a note, and have them bring the note to the office as soon as they get here in the morning.  We will give them a pass for their teacher, and they will be waiting for you in the office at the time you specify in the note.
Elementary parents, if your child will be arriving after 8:25 am, please come to the office to sign your student in, and then they will receive a pass to class.
A Cold Weather Reminder…
We will continue to go outside for recess unless the temperature is below 10 degrees with or without the wind-chill. It is very important that every child have the appropriate cold weather clothing. Please be sure to send a winter coat, hat, gloves, snow pants, boots and any other warm clothing your child may need to class each day.  Students who forget their winter clothing will continue to go outside, but will not be allowed to play in the snow. If your child is too sick to be outside at recess, he/she should be kept home.
Parent Sign-in                         
Parents are always welcome at Westlake. However, parents please note that for security purposes, if you will be in the school for reasons other than dropping off or picking up children, please sign in at the school office. Thank you!

Snow Days!
Hopefully everyone survived our first snow days experience.  We have learned a few things about the best ways to relay school closing information.  The best channels to watch are 9 WGN and 5 NBC.  The best radio station to listen to is WBBM Newsradio 78 AM.  You can also call the school office at 1-847-548-6209, choose extension 6 (school closing info.) and listen to the message or go online to www.emergencyclosings.com and check the alphabetical listings.  All information about school closing should be available as early as 6:15 am, but no later than 6:30 am, pending no problems with the telephone lines or email service.

• Tune in to: WGN Radio 720 AM, WMBI 90.1 FM or AM1110, or WBBM Newsradio 78 AM.
  
• TV stations: Channel 2 CBS, Channel 5 NBC Chicago, Channel 7 ABC, Channel 9 WGN, FOX and CLTV News.
  
• Call: 1-847-238-1234. Touch-tone phone needed or call Westlake Christian Academy at 1-847-548-6209 extension 6 for school closing.
  
• Online:  Go to the website of any of the radio or TV stations above, or go to www.EmergencyClosings.com to search for your facility by name and city or by phone number.
  
• E-mail:  Sign up for personalized E-mail notification of your facility's status at www.EmergencyClosings.com
  

A few good people to work on a team organizing on-going cash-back for WCA fundraising. We are putting all fundraisers with a cash-back program for our school under one umbrella, including Box Tops for Education, Campbells, Ink Jet cartridges, SCRIP, SchoolPop.com. We would like another one or two people to help administer one of these programs, one or two people to pick up ink jet cartridges from local businesses, and someone who has a flair for advertising/writing/p.r./desktop publishing to help communicate these programs and the results of our families' collective "smart spending". Contact Julie Stroud at [email protected] or (847) 918-1948 for this 2-3 hour a month volunteer task.

Do you have a heart for prayer? Do you have the gifts of encouragement, mercy, or administration? WCA's prayer ministry needs several people to join in praying for WCA families, faculty and staff, and students. This ministry is simple - add these items to your personal prayer life and once a month take your turn sending ecards of encouragement. The prayer team primarily communicates via email, so if you are a computer user, this may be your easiest and also most fulfilling WCA volunteer opportunity. Contact Julie Stroud at (847) 918-1948 or [email protected].