This year’s spiritual emphasis theme is Take the Towel – choosing to serve others out of the overflow of our love for God. Next week is our Spiritual Emphasis Week and our junior high and high school students will have two opportunities to walk out that theme.

On Monday, January 27, students will be going to Bernie’s Book Bank in Lake Bluff. This will be our first time as a large group partnering with this organization. Bernie’s Book Bank sources, processes and distributes quality new and gently used children’s books to significantly increase book ownership among at-risk infants, toddlers, and school-age children throughout Chicagoland. 2019 was their 10th anniversary and 17 million books have been distributed through them since their inception.

If you would like to donate new or gently used children’s books (sorry, no spiritual themes allowed) for us to bring on January 27, please bring them to the office. If you’d like to be a driver for this trip, please contact the office.

Then on Thursday, January 30, they will all head out to Feed My Starving Children’s (FMSC) Libertyville packing warehouse and serve there. Help fund our Feed-My-Starving-Children service project on Thursday, January 30.

Here are a few interesting statistics from FMSC:

• $88 feeds a child for a year; a dollar a day (or $365) feeds an entire family
• $52 is the average value of food produced/packed per person in a two-hour service period
• $3600 is the approximate value of food Westlake will pack on January 30

Would you consider contributing to support FMSC’s efforts?

• Fast for lunch on January 30 and contribute the cost of your lunch
• Give out of your own resources
• Adults: we’d love to have you join us in transporting and/or packing. If you are available, please contact the office.

Donations are tax-deductible and checks can be made to Feed My Starving Children. We would like to bring our donation with us on that day, so if you are planning on giving and give ahead of time that would make it convenient for us to include it on our service project day. Donations can be dropped off in the office.

Arrival and Dismissal

Westlake has an established traffic flow for arrival and dismissal for the purpose of safety and efficiency. Drop off Pick up MAP 2019-2020 are provided for families and additional ones can be acquired at the office. The arrival traffic flow is somewhat different from the dismissal traffic flow.

Drivers should drive slowly (no more than 5mph) and not double park. Please remain in the line and do not try and pass vehicles that are still stopped in front of you. Watch for children, especially in the parking lot. If you have students in both elementary and our Early Learning Center, please first drop off your elementary student at the front door then pull around the building and park in the spots along the ELC building to walk your child in. Please don’t allow your young child to run across the parking lot to get into the building.

Please watch this short video:

Please note: Grayslake Police may ticket anyone who parks on any portion of a municipal sidewalk.

Illinois law prohibits driver use of cell phones in school zones, including dropping off or picking up students.

Arrival

School starts at 8:15 a.m. for secondary and 8:20 a.m. for all other grades. Students must be in their classrooms at those times. Students should arrive at least 10 minutes early to prepare for their day.

Pre-K-Grade 6: Elementary students arriving before 8:10 a.m. proceed directly to the cafeteria. At 8:10 a.m., Preschool and Kindergarten will be escorted to class. Students in Grades 1-6 will be released to their classrooms at that time as well. Students arriving after 8:20 a.m. should go directly to the office for a student pass and then proceed to class.

Junior/Senior High: Secondary students who arrive before 8:05 am proceed directly to the library. At 8:05 am secondary students are release to their first period class.

Dismissal

Elementary School ends at 3:10 p.m. Students are to be picked up no later than 3:25 p.m. Any elementary school students remaining after 3:25 p.m. will be escorted to the After School Care program. Required fees will be assessed.

Junior and Senior High School ends at 3:20 p.m. Students are expected to leave the building no later than 3:40 p.m., unless they are participating in a Westlake activity or responsibility. Junior and Senior High students remaining after 3:30 p.m. must report to a supervised area.

Half-day dismissal is 11:30 am. Except on Late Start Fridays, when it is 12:00 pm.

Due to legal and liability issues, students are not allowed in the building before or after designated school hours, unless they are participating in a school-sponsored activity, assignment or event.

Would you be willing to send a few letters to your friends and family on behalf of Westlake? The school will provide you with everything you need – just fill out the form below to request letters to be set aside for you in the office.

The beginning of the school year is right around the corner which means

School Supply Season!

If you’re looking for a comprehensive list of the supplies required for all our grades, click here.

Our Parents Association has also arranged for online purchasing of school supplies, which you may order here.

We’ve created individual screen-sized images for you to save to your phone for ease of shopping. You can just save whichever ones you need.

This past Sunday morning, a group of Westlake students led worship and sang Christmas music for a church in Waukegan. It was a joy to see their enthusiasm shining for the church. Serving God is what we do, and this was just one way to show that spirit. You’ll read about another way below in this update. Our Savior, whose birth we celebrate at this time of the year, taught us this by His example: “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.” We are about raising disciples who will reflect Jesus Christ in thought, word, and deed.