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

Covid Updates

by

Updated 4/29/2021

Westlake is currently navigating a Covid-19 situation that has resulted in the quarantine of the majority of our grades. As we walk through this together, our goal is to be as transparent as possible in an effort to ensure the safety of as many students, families, and teachers as possible.  It is also important that we respect the privacy of those involved.

Please join us in praying regularly for the health of those who are sick and for protection for those who were exposed.

The information below provides a summary of the impact to each grade.

Preschool, Pre-K, Kindergarten

Theses grades do not have any known exposure and are currently in-person. As always, please report any covid symptoms to the office and stay home from school if you or anyone in your household has symptoms.

1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th Grades

These grades were potentially exposed on Wednesday (4/21) afternoon during activities led by the senior class. It is highly unlikely that any elementary students were close enough to the potentially contagious senior to allow for spread, but we can’t be certain.

Return to school: 5/10. Students who meet the criteria below may return to school on 5/3 if no more cases are reported.  Please refer to the 4/29 email from Mrs. DeReus for full details.

Remote learning will still be an option during the week of May 3rd for families who do not wish to obtain a covid test or who prefer to stay home for health reasons.

Students who choose to return on May 10th do not need proof of negative covid test, unless anyone in your household has covid-like symptoms or has been exposed to someone with a positive test for Covid-19 within the past 10 days.

All elementary families must complete this form by Sunday, May 2nd at 5pm to let us know your plans for next week.

Criteria for returning early (grades 1, 2, 4, 5, 6):

  • Your child must have documentation of a negative COVID PCR (lab) test performed on 4/26, 4/27, 4/28, 4/29, or 4/30. Rapid test results (including the at-home BinaxNOW test) cannot be accepted for returning to school early.
  • Your child, and everyone in your home, must have absolutely no COVID symptoms. If your child is having allergies or any COVID-like symptoms, they need to stay home until May 10 (even if they have a negative COVID test).
  • Only students who do not have a sibling in 7th–12th grade may return before May 10th.
  • If your child has a sibling in 3rd grade, the non-3rd grader may return if both children have a negative PCR (lab) test.

Recommended actions:

  • Stay home and avoid contact with other people.
  • Report any covid symptoms or covid test results to the office immediately.
  • Obtain a covid PCR (lab) test (see below) on one of the following dates: 4/26, 4/27, 4/28, 4/29, 4/30, or if symptoms develop at any time.
  • Complete this form by Sunday, May 2nd at 5pm to let us know if your child will return to school on May 3rd or May 10th.

3rd Grade

These students were directly exposed on 4/22 to a faculty member who tested positive two days later. All third graders are required to quarantine for 14 days.

Return to school: 5/10. Third grade will not be allowed to return early.

Recommended actions:

  • Stay home and avoid contact with other people.
  • Report any covid symptoms or covid test results to the office immediately.
  • Obtain a covid test (see below) on one of the following dates: 4/27, 4/28, 4/29, 4/30, or if symptoms develop at any time.

7th–8th Grades

An 8th grader tested positive on 4/26. This student was not in the building while contagious. However, due to the high number of cases in the building, 7th and 8th grades have been moved to full remote.

Return to school: 5/11

Recommended actions:

  • Avoid contact with other students
  • Report any covid symptoms or covid test results to the office immediately
  • A covid test is not needed at this time, unless symptoms develop

9th–12th Grades

All students in these grades are quarantined.

Return to school: 5/10. These students will not be able to return early.

Recommended actions:

  • Do not gather with other students until we know that the virus has been contained.
  • Report any covid symptoms or covid test results to the office.
  • Obtain a covid test (see below) on 4/28, 4/29, 4/30 or if symptoms develop at any time.

Obtaining a Covid Test

If you would like to get a covid test for your child, there are many options now available. Many are free, but your insurance information will be requested. In order for elementary students to return on May 3rd, a negative COVID PCR (lab) test is required. Rapid tests (of any kind) will not be accepted for returning to school early. Rapid tests are useful for diagnosing symptomatic patients, but they are not considered reliable for asymptomatic patients.

We recommend that you start with calling your pediatrician. Most pediatricians are offering both rapid and PCR tests. Some will only test symptomatic patients, but many will now test asymptomatic patients who have been exposed to covid. The benefit of scheduling an appointment with your pediatrician is that a medical professional will perform the test, rather than a parent administering the test while in a vehicle.

Other options include:

Lake County Health Department Site (No cost PCR test)
102 W. Water Street, Waukegan
Hours: M, W, F, Sat, 8–4
Drive-thru; no appointment required
More details

CVS (No cost rapid or PCR tests)
Drive-thru; appointment required
Schedule an appointment

Walgreens (No cost rapid or PCR tests)
Drive-thru; appointment required
Schedule an appointment

Yorktown Clinical Lab – Third Lake (No cost PCR test)
34528 N. Highway 45
Third Lake, IL 60030
Hours: Daily, 10am–7pm
Drive-thru; no appointment required
https://centerforcovidcontrol.org/

BinaxNOW (OTC rapid test – $23.99 for two tests)
This test is available at some pharmacies and is only recommended for diagnosing symptomatic individuals. It can also be ordered online. This test is administered at home, and results are available within 15 minutes.

Covid test results should be emailed to the office or dropped off at the school. If you have any questions, please call the office at (847) 548–6209.

Open Board Meeting

by

Join us on Monday, May 17 at 7:00 pm for our bi-annual All-School Board of Trustees Meeting. 

Twice a year, the school’s leadership prepares a meeting to report to families about what’s going on. The constitutionally mandated meetings happen in September and May.

This spring, the meeting format/location will be determined closer to the date of the event, depending on current gathering size limits.

At the meeting, brief presentations will address the activities of the school administration, development, finances, as well as the Board itself. 

In addition, candidates will be introduced and voted on for vacant board member positions. Each Westlake family may vote once for board members.

Board Member Candidate Applications

If you’re interested in applying to be a board member, please review our guidelines for board members and submit the application by March 1st. The term is for three years and begins on July 1st. If you have any questions about the process, please contact Erica Bucey. 

 

Emergency Closing

by

WCA places safety as a top priority, and that includes traveling to and from school during times of inclement weather. On days when the school is open but travel conditions in your area are still treacherous, it is important for you to keep your child at home until travel conditions improve. If conditions improve later in the morning, you may bring your child for the remainder of the school day. Determining the safety of road conditions in your area is a parental decision.

Of course, we want as many children as possible to be in attendance but not at the risk of their safety. Please weigh carefully whether or not to attempt to come to school.

Students who are remaining home due to inclement weather should default to remote learning for the day. Please notify the office of your decision by 9:00 AM and contact your child’s teacher to get signed on with remote learning.

rotary_telephoneIf school is open but you choose to keep your child at home, please leave a message on the attendance line:
847-548-6209 ext. 0 by 9:00 am or via westlakechristian.org/absence

If you’re wondering whether or not Westlake will be open due to the weather, you can find out in a few different ways:

  1.  Check the Emergency Closing Center website (please note that email notifications are no longer provided by ECC)
  2.  Check the Westlake website for a banner notification (or this page for a header notification)
  3.  Call our office and listen for an automated message: 847-548-6209
  4. Check your email; we will send each family an email by 6:00 AM

Dress Down Day Pass

by

Thanks for watching the What’s Up @ Westlake LIVE Video! To claim your free dress down day pass(es), please enter your information below.

*The deadline for this form has passed.*

Celebrate Westlake

by

Please join us for a live virtual event:

May 13, 2021

Postponed: Date TBD

7:00 pm

While this year has certainly looked much different than any of us expected, the Lord has done so many amazing things through our school.

Normally at the end of our school year, we would host “Celebrate Westlake,” a special event where we would gather as a community and raise funds to bolster the school for the coming year. This year, our event will be online, but it will still be a time of celebrating.

Due to ongoing restrictions on gathering size, we are going to combine many of our year-end concerts and programs into one special event, Celebrate Westlake 2.0. With performances from our bands and elementary music students, a showcase of secondary students’ artwork, and stories of God’s faithfulness, it just seems appropriate to end the year rejoicing together.

You don’t want to miss this! We hope you will join us to celebrate all that God has done in and through Westlake this year.

Tickets are not required for the virtual event.

Donations can be mailed to:

Westlake Christian Academy
Attn:  Erica Bucey — CW21
275 S Lake Street
Grayslake, IL 60030

Discover Westlake

by

Westlake Christian Academy offers a complete preschool through 12th-grade educational program. Families who are interested in a quality Christian education are encouraged to explore our website, watch our videos, and contact us for more information!

Westlake is currently offering full-time in-person instruction, with the temporary option to learn remotely for students who need to stay home due to personal illness or exposure to someone with COVID-19 or COVID-19 like symptoms.

Fall 2021–22: Westlake is now welcoming inquiries and applications for Fall 2021. We encourage all interested families to apply as soon as possible. Applications will be considered in the order in which they are submitted online.

We currently have waiting lists for pre-k, full-day kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. It is possible that spaces will become available, so we invite you to submit an application.

Tour the School

We are currently conducting extremely limited tours of the school. Visitors are not allowed in the building when students are present. Face coverings are required inside. To request a tour, please submit an inquiry.

2021 Open House Dates:

Tuesday nights at 6:30pmApril 13

  • May 11
  • June 15

**Open House dates and protocol are subject to change, due to current health guidelines. Please check back here for updates.*

Open House RSVP:

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

More Information

Please look through our Admissions Info Booklet for an overview of our school, programs, and pricing.

If you would like more information, please submit your request below. We look forward to talking with you soon.

Request Information

Christmas Concert Series

by

Christmastide (Intermediate and Concert Band)
Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Ringing In Christmas (Preschool – 6th Grade)
Thursday, December 17, 2020

Thank you to the WCA Parents Association for arranging to have Dalton’s Cakes make cookie decorating kits for our elementary families.

Be sure to share your cookie creations with us by using #wcaChristmasCookieFun and tagging @daltonscakes.

Merry Messages

by

merry-messages

Take a few moments and spread some Christmas cheer!  Each year, as part of the fundraising for our Senior Mission Trip, we offer our Merry Messages to our students and families.  For just $0.50 per message, you can write a sweet tiding to that special someone and we’ll include a candy cane to be delivered on Tuesday, December 15th throughout the school day. These Merry Messages are only able to be delivered to Kindergarten – 12th grade (sorry, we can’t accommodate Pre-S/K).

There are two ways to order:

  1. Print out the order forms below and fill them out yourself
  2. Fill out the online form and we’ll hand write it for you!

All payments need to be made to the office by the beginning of the day on Friday, December 11. Feel free to pay by cash or check, but bring exact change if you’re paying by cash – our elves don’t carry change. You may either send in your orders & payment with your student or place it in the mailbox that is outside the main doors to the left.

Self-Written Orders:

If you’re wanting to print and hand-write your order, please print one of each of the attachments, fill them out, and send in the completed order and message to the office along with your payment.

Merry Message Order Form 2020

Merry Message Note Cards 2020

Online Ordering:

If you’d like to do your ordering online, please fill out the form below completely, then be sure to send in your payment (your message will not be delivered if payment is not received by Friday, December 11th before school).  There is only one message per entry, so if you’d like to send more than one Merry Message, you’ll need to fill out the form again on the confirmation page.

Merry Message Entries Are Now Closed. You may still be able to contact the office, but online orders are closed.

Giving

by

Donate Now

Did you know that no family pays the full cost of educating a child at Westlake Christian Academy? In addition, 45% of Westlake families receive need-based tuition assistance and benefit from the generosity of people like you.

You can make a difference in a student’s life by donating to Westlake’s Tuition Assistance Fund. Your donation makes it possible for students to receive a high quality Christian education at an affordable price. 

As a ministry, Westlake Christian Academy walks by faith, depending on God to use his people to cover the gap between what it actually costs to provide an education and what some of our families can pay. Thank you for helping us to meet the needs of these families!

Click here to Donate Now:

Donate Now

Diversity Focus Group

by

One of our core values is Unity in Diversity, and given the cultural unrest this summer we are making a concerted effort to maintain this value.  There is a group of teachers meeting on Friday mornings who are working on ways to ensure that diversity is reflected in our materials, celebrated in our classrooms, and valued in our relationships. 

At the same time, a group of parents and students met this summer to discuss any problems or circumstances related to diversity that the school leadership might need to address.  In response to all the social unrest we have witnessed during the spring and summer of 2020, we have gathered a small group of parents, teachers, and students to address this issue. 

Our desire is to listen first–to determine in what ways Westlake might be able to do a better job of celebrating the diversity among us, treating one another with respect, and training our students to love and respect others.  After sharing concerns and personal experiences, we hope to make recommendations to the faculty and staff of things that could be done to improve our school in this area. 

Anyone in our school community who is interested in helping with this effort is welcome to attend.  We are having another meeting of this focus group on Tuesday, October 27 at 7pm.  If you are new to the Westlake community but would like to join the conversation, you are officially invited.  We will be discussing suggestions for how to help our students develop this core value.  Please register here, if you plan to attend on October 27.

275 South Lake Street
Grayslake, IL 60030
(847) 548-6209