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Westlake Christian Academy

Grayslake kindergarten, elementary, junior high and high school academy providing Christian families with private academic education.

(847) 548-6209   275 South Lake Street Grayslake, IL
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Kindergarten Roundup

January 4, 2021 by Erica Bucey

We are planning a special night for families of Fall 2021 kindergartners. Make plans now to join us for Kindergarten Roundup in February 2021.

As the dates approach, more details will be available about the exact format of the evening, depending on current guidelines for social distancing and gathering size. Please RSVP below to ensure that you are notified with any event updates.

Who Should Attend?

Monday, February 8, 2021 @ 6:30pm

  • Current Pre-K families who are still exploring kindergarten options
  • Current Pre-K families who are already committed to kindergarten at Westlake (including continuously enrolled families with older siblings)

Tuesday, February 9, 2021 @ 6:30pm

  • Prospective families who are exploring kindergarten options
  • Prospective/new families who have already applied or plan to apply in the future

What to Expect

  • A brief presentation in the gym with our principal and kindergarten teacher
  • Small group tours of the kindergarten classroom
  • Crafts and activities in the gym
  • Take home snack
  • Special info about kindergarten admissions requirements
  • Opportunity to ask questions

Health and Safety Guidelines

Attendees over the age of two are required to wear a face covering inside the building. Chairs will be socially distanced for the presentation in the gym, and multiple activity stations will be set up so that families can spread out. Hand sanitizer will be provided at each activity station.

Kindergarten Admissions

The kindergarten class of 2020-21 had a waiting list, and we anticipate that all 22 spots in our 2021–2022 kindergarten class will also fill.

  • Students who are enrolled in pre-kindergarten at Westlake for 2020–21 will receive priority kindergarten admission through February 28, 2021. After this date, admission is not guaranteed.
  • Prospective families may submit an online application, beginning January 15, 2021. New applications will be considered in the order they were received, beginning March 1, 2021.

RSVP Below:

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Filed Under: News

Preschool Open House

January 4, 2021 by Erica Bucey

Come play with us!

Visit our Preschool/Pre-K Open House for a hands-on introduction to the Early Learning Center at Westlake Christian Academy.

Are you looking for a literature-rich, Christ-centered early learning program that is provided in a warm and loving environment?

Come and learn more about our play-based program on Saturday, January 30, 2021. **Due to high registration numbers, we have added a second time-slot. The 9am slot is full; please RSVP for a 10am slot.**

Additional program information is available here.

Open House Format

Children can explore the preschool or pre-kindergarten classrooms while parents talk with teachers and learn more. Each classroom will have five activity stations, with a limit of one family per station. Hand sanitizer will be provided at each station.

Health Protocols

Westlake’s Early Learning Center has remained open throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. Westlake follows guidelines from the Illinois State Board of Education and the Illinois Department of Public Health regarding health and safety protocol. You can learn more about specific guidelines here.

Open House attendance will be limited and social distancing guidelines will be followed. All attendees over the age of two must wear a face-covering, and temperatures will be taken before entering the building. If anyone in your household has experienced covid-like symptoms recently, we ask that you contact us to reschedule.

Event Capacity

Each classroom will be limited to five families at one time. The first ten families to RSVP will be invited to enter the classrooms at 9am. **A second time slot has been added for 10am.** Registration is required for this event.

The format for the open house is subject to change, due to current health guidelines and limits on gathering size. Please register in advance so that we can contact you with any updates about the event. 

Preschool students must be 3 years old by September 1st and Pre-K students must be 4 years old by September 1st. 

RSVP Below:

  • Attendee Information

    Please let us know who plans to attend the Preschool Open House on January 30, 2021.

Filed Under: News

WCA Hikes Lake County

September 15, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Cuba Marsh Forest Preserve, Photo by Alex Muniz (Freshman)

WCA Hikes Lake County Challenge

Does your family need to get out of the house? Join the WCA Hikes Lake County Challenge! Until November 30th, you can log your hiking miles with Westlake for a chance to win a prize for your family or class. In addition, if you log your miles with the Lake County Forest Preserve’s Hike Lake County challenge, you can win a badge for each family member or even your dog at https://www.lcfpd.org/hlc/. Walking, running, or riding in a stroller count, but not biking.

The classes with the most miles (PS-K, 1st–6th and 7th–12th) win a special treat (PS-K = special snack, other grades = pizza party)! The families with the most miles (PS–6th and 7th–12th) win a family photo shoot from Daniel Adams Photography (a WCA parent owned business). For families with students in multiple grades, the family category will be assigned by the grade of the oldest student.

Our ninth graders are organizing this activity as a service learning project, under the supervision of Mrs. O’Malley, the secondary science teacher.

Cuba Marsh Forest Preserve, photo by Alex Muniz (Freshman)

Families can log their hikes using the form below, or by returning paper slips to your child’s teacher (or Mrs. O’Malley).

Report Your Hike

  • Date Format: MM slash DD slash YYYY
  • Please enter a number from 1 to 20.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Graduation Livestreams

August 5, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Westlake will be live-streaming our 2020 graduations for friends and family who would like to participate. Please note that the in-person events have a capacity of 50 people and are limited to invitees only.  The following link will be live a few minutes before the scheduled event.

Watch Now

Kindergarten Graduation – Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 7:00 pm

To those who hoped to join in for the Kindergarten Graduation, we experienced technical difficulties that prevented the livestream and also impacted our ability to record. We tested the livestream on Wednesday, and everything worked perfectly. We are so sorry that we do not have a video to share with you. We will be sharing a photo album with the families of our 2020 kindergarten class. 

Eighth Grade Recognition – Friday, August 7, 2020 at 7:00 pm

High School Graduation – Saturday, August 8, 2020 at 2:oo pm

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Apply

July 22, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Please contact us with any questions.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Return to School Guidelines – Fall 2020

July 9, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Many are the plans in the mind of a man,
    but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

–Proverbs 19:21 (ESV)

Westlake Christian Academy has prepared the following plan for returning to school, in compliance with guidelines from the State of Illinois, the Illinois State Board of Education, and the Illinois Department of Public Health. This plan is subject to change, as health guidelines are updated.

Printable Guidelines

UPDATE 8/17/2020 – Updated guidelines were released by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

All students in preschool–12th grade may attend school in the building every day, as long as we are in Phase 4 of Restore Illinois.  Parents may also choose to have their children attend classes remotely. To request remote learning, please call or email the office. Westlake will follow our regular calendar, but several community-building events will be canceled or postponed until the spring.  Westlake will make the following modifications to our policies and procedures.


On Monday, October 19 we will adjust our drop-off procedures as follows:

The biggest change to note is that we will no longer be taking temperatures at the car, as the thermometers are becoming more inaccurate in the cold weather. All Elementary and Secondary students will exit their cars, enter the main door, and then have their temperatures taken at different stations throughout the school.

Because we are unable to take temperatures at the car, if your child registers a fever inside the building we may have to send your child home after you have left the premises. Please take your child’s temperature every morning before leaving for school to help us mitigate that inconvenience.

Students dropped off before 8:00 am will have their temperature taken inside the front door.  At 8:00 am, elementary students in before care will go up the BACK STAIRS to class as they have already had their temperature taken.

During normal drop-off times (after 8:00 am),

  • Kindergartners will go up the main stairs and will have their temperature taken at their classroom door.
  • Elementary students will go all the way to the second floor and have their temperature taken at the entrance to the second floor hallway.
  • Junior high students will go to their lockers first and then up the front stairs to have their temperature taken in the main hallway. 
  • High school students will go up the main stairs and have their temperature taken at the entrance to the main hallway.
  • Preschool and Pre-K, parents can still bring their child to the same spot at the end of the ramp. Our teachers will invite your child to the door, let one student in, take their temperature, and then invite the next student to come up the ramp.  Our teachers will open the door when ready for the next student and invite just the student to come up the ramp. Parents, DO NOT walk your child all the way to the door; please remain at the bottom of the ramp.

Arrival

  1. Upon arrival, all students and staff will receive a temperature and symptom check before entering the building.
  2. Everyone entering the school building will wear a face covering.
  3. Parents will drop students off at the main door for grades K-12 and at the end of the ramp for preschool and pre-K. 
  4. Students will go directly to lockers and then classrooms; there will be no loitering in the halls.
  5. The time when students are allowed to go their locker will be extended to 8:00-8:15 for secondary and 8:00-8:20 for elementary to allow for fewer people to enter the building at a given time.
  6. Preschool and Pre-K arrival time will be 8:10–8:30.  
  7. Parents will not enter the building or walk their children to class. 
  8. Before-care will meet in the cafeteria, but students will sit in separate groups by grade level.

During Instruction

  1. Elementary students will stay in their classrooms, and art/music teachers will come to them.
  2. PE will take place in the gym or outside on the playground.
  3. PE will be outdoors as much as possible.
  4. Secondary students will travel to their classes as usual.  They will only go to lockers before school, at lunch, and at the end of the day. 
  5. All stairways will be one way.  
  6. In the classrooms, desks will be placed as far apart as possible and all facing in one direction. 
  7. Students will be encouraged to wash hands frequently.
  8. Students will wear face coverings during classroom instruction as much as is reasonably possible.  The teacher will have the flexibility to permit students to take off their masks when needed. 
  9. Students will not wear masks for PE, lunch, rest-time, and recess.
  10. If a student is absent, they will have the option to join the class remotely through Google Meet. 
  11. There will be no field trips, at least for the first semester.
  12. High school and junior high retreat will happen as usual, though we will need to consider transportation options. 
  13. Only essential visitors will be permitted in the building.
  14. All visitors must sign-in in the office and complete a symptom questionnaire. 
  15. Teachers will wear face coverings at all times, but some teachers will need to wear shields instead of masks when teaching phonics, foreign languages, content with new vocabulary, or at other times when seeing the teacher’s lips moving would be necessary for learning.

Chapel

  1. We will continue to hold chapel each week but will rotate which classes are in the gym and which classes participate remotely from their classroom.
  2. Parents will not be able to join us for chapel, but when a class leads chapel we will offer a livestream for parents to watch. 

Lunch and Recess

  1. Elementary students will eat lunch in their classrooms. All classrooms will be nut-free this year. 
  2. Grades 7-10 will eat lunch in the cafeteria. Grades 11-12 will eat in an alternate location (TBD).
  3. Recess will happen as usual, as we will be able to limit the number of children on the playground to 50. 

Dismissal

  1. Elementary dismissal will happen on the playground, but classes will need to be spread out more than previous years.  
  2. Secondary students will need to leave the building promptly at 3:20, as there will be no lingering around after school. 

Extended-Care

  1. We will continue to provide after-care.  Students will be separated by grades PS-K, 1-3, and 4-6. 
  2. Before-care will meet in the cafeteria, but students will sit in separate groups by grade level.
  3. Children may not bring any personal items, such as blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, or toys. The school will provide a blanket, which will be laundered every day.

Extra-Curricular Activities

  1. We will continue to offer band. Students will be spread out in the gym to allow for plenty of social distancing.  
  2. Beginning Band will begin the year with individual lessons and wait to meet as a whole group until later in the year.
  3. Regarding athletics, we are monitoring the IHSA Return-to-Play guidelines, which continue to change frequently.

Resources and Materials

  1. Elementary library books will be on a rotating cart. Books will not be taken home. 
  2. Shared Chromebooks will need to be wiped down after each use. 
  3. Students’ materials like crayons, pencils, scissors, and glue will need to be kept separate. There will be no community materials.

Cleaning and Disinfecting

  1. High touch surfaces will be disinfected at least twice per school day.
  2. We will follow all IDPH cleaning/disinfecting recommendations at the end of each school day to ensure that rooms are clean and disinfected before the start of the next day. 

Attendance

  1. Our attendance requirements will be more flexible for the 2020-21 school year.  Students who need to stay home due to a Covid-19 infection or Covid-19 exposure, will be able to join the class through Google Meet and keep up with their class work.  
  2. Students with a fever (100.4 or higher), respiratory symptoms, or any Covid-19 symptoms of any kind will need to stay home.
  3. If a child develops a fever (100.4 or higher), respiratory symptoms, or any Covid-19 symptoms during the school day, they will need to be picked up immediately. 
  4. If a student or teacher is sick, they will need to be fever free for 24 hours and at least 10 days from the start of symptoms before they return to school, OR provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test or a doctor’s note saying they may return to school. 
  5. Teachers with a fever (100.4 or higher) or Covid-19 like symptoms will need to stay home. When possible the teacher will be able to teach from home using google classroom, and students will still meet at school for instruction.
  6. UPDATE 8/17/2020 – If a student or teacher tests positive for Covid-19, the entire class will be required to quarantine for 14 days.  If a student or teacher is home sick with suspected Covid symptoms, the rest of the household must stay home until an alternative diagnosis is made (doctor’s note required) or a negative Covid test result is received.

Do you have questions regarding the guidelines?

On July 16, parents met for a Principal’s Q & A Session. Questions and answers were recorded for your reference and can be read here. Please read through that document in full to see if your question has already been answered. If you still have questions after reading through our guidelines above and the Q & A Highlights, please feel free to contact us.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Chromebooks

July 7, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Westlake uses 1:1 technology in grades 7-12. This means every student in those grades uses his/her own Chromebook. Parents should purchase a Chromebook prior to the first day of school. The required model for 2020-21 is the Acer Chromebook 311.

When your Chromebook arrives, do NOT log on. WCA will do the initial log on at the beginning of the school year to make sure it is connected to the student’s official Westlake account for proper management. Just have the device charged and bring to school on the first day of classes.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Video Guidelines

April 13, 2020 by Erica Bucey

We want to hear your story of why Westlake means so much to you! Please record a short video and submit it by April 20th so that we can all “see” each other during the online Celebrate Westlake event.

In order to get the best quality video, please follow these guidelines:

General:

  • Videos should be horizontal orientation, not vertical (if recording on a phone, turn it sideways).
  • Whatever you choose to record with (computer, cell phone, iPad, camera) please be sure it is resting on something stable.  DO NOT HOLD THE DEVICE, as in a selfie video, as that will have lots of shake. Position the camera to be at face-height (it’s the most flattering angle), not below you or above you.
  • When possible, stand facing near a window – this will give you the best possible lighting.  If that’s not possible, stand somewhere with the least background distraction – a blank wall or an area of your home which doesn’t have clutter or too many “lines”
  • Follow the rule of thirds — pretend your screen is cut in 3s, both vertically and horizontally. Whoever is recording, should make sure the subjects face is in the top third of the screen whether on the right or left.
  • Wear simple clothing – no crazy stripes or patterns (sometimes these get distracting or the video will distort it).
  • Please speak clearly, make sure there are no background noises, and speak slightly louder than you think necessary.  We can always adjust the volume down, but increasing volume isn’t possible.
  • Videos can be individuals or families.

Recording:

  • Stand or sit up straight — no slouching.
  • Smile!
  • Press record and take a deep breath, looking straight at the camera, count to two in your mind, then begin speaking.  At the end of your video, please do the same (look at the camera, smile, and count to two) before ending the video.
  • Start by introducing yourself and tell us your grade and how long you have been part of Westlake.
  • You can just say “hi” to all of your friends at Westlake, or you can take an extra minute to let us know how Westlake has impacted your life.
  • Each video should between 30 seconds and two minutes.

Send your completed videos to pictures@westlakechristian.org. Thank you!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Impact Stories

March 12, 2020 by Erica Bucey

Westlake students experience education in an environment where they are loved, challenged, and encouraged to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. YOU make that possible through your prayers and financial support!

Feed My Starving Children

During Spiritual Emphasis Week, our students in grades 7-12 spent time volunteering at Feed My Starving Children.  While working at a station with 7th-8th grade boys, a student who is new to Westlake this year began telling another volunteer about how much he liked his new school.  He shared that the kids are actually nice, and the teachers really care. He said that for the first time in his life he actually had friends at school. Westlake Christian Academy is very intentional about teaching students how to love God and love others.

Seed Nursery

This year the 9th grade biology class has spent a little time each quarter helping at the Lake County Forest Preserve Seed Nursery.  The students plant seedlings, harvest seeds and sort seeds that have already been gathered. This is part of our effort to help our students become good stewards of the environment. 

It gives them an opportunity to serve our community, work hard, and gain an understanding of the work that goes into following the creation mandate by caring for the earth.  

4th Grade Chapel

Recently, our 4th graders presented a skit in chapel about two doctors who spent all their time learning, but never actually helping the sick people.  They made the point that if we just learn about God, but don’t tell others, then we are not following Jesus’ direction to go and make disciples.  At Westlake our students are not just taught the truth, but they are equipped to share it with others. In fact, one of our 4th graders shared her testimony at her church the following week as part of her decision to be baptized.  

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Leadership Vision Night

October 1, 2019 by Erica Bucey

Join us Monday, November 4th, 2019 at 7pm for a special evening of fellowship and vision casting. This small gathering will provide an opportunity to engage with school leadership and to hear about the exciting things happening at Westlake Christian Academy.

Schedule:

7:00 Reception and Fellowship
7:30 Presentations
8:15 Discussion

Location:

Hope Presbyterian Church (OPC)
18215 IL-120
Grayslake, IL 60030

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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Latest News

Emergency Closing

February 15, 2021 By WCA Office Staff

Discover Westlake

January 5, 2021 By WCA Office Staff

Kindergarten Roundup

January 4, 2021 By Erica Bucey

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