Welcome Back!
The bulk of this week's News and Notes is reintroducing you to communications we use to share very important information. We want our parents and community to be informed, and we employ many types of tools to accomplish this goal.
I want to take this opportunity to also thank all of you for choosing Whitmore Lake Public Schools to educate your children. Our teachers have worked throughout the summer months getting ready to introduce the best teaching strategies and will be using the best curricular materials available to WLPS. We are always looking to improve our instruction, and I can say that nobody is outworking us.
A special thanks has to go to our maintenance, custodial and transportation staff. These people are also committed to your children and make sure our learning spaces are clean and ready for use and that our vehicles are safe. They worked all summer long getting things in proper condition. This is a difficult task given the age of a lot of the equipment with which they are working--but, they got the job done. I am proud of them, as well.
I hoped you enjoyed your first week at WLPS. It has been a great week to be a Trojan.
Keep In the Loop
Below is a brief description of all the tools we have available and the best ways to use them to have a successful school year.
www.wlps.net
Our website, newly designed, is kind of the end all be all for information. You can find bus schedules, lunch menus, staff contact information and teacher websites along with easy links to our PowerSchool, athletic and community recreation pages and more. One of my favorite new features on the site are the calendars. You can click between calendars specific for each building or department to get a clear idea of what is happening in the district.
Facebook and Twitter
For social media users, if you haven't "liked" our Facebook page or followed us on Twitter, I highly recommend you do. We have extremely active pages which provide daily highlights of the great things happening at WLPS, celebrate alumni accomplishments, remind families about upcoming events and programs as well as provide helpful education-focused tips for parents and students (a highlight from last year was our Dwight Schrute-themed financial aid facts memes. Good stuff.) We monitor it constantly, so if you have a general question and are unsure of who to direct it to, post it on our wall or tweet at us, and we will get you the information you need. This is the first place school closings are posted as well. I would say our most retweeted tweets involve snow days, hands down.
Click HERE for our Facebook page.
Follow us on twitter @WLSchools.
Also check out my twitter handle @WLPSPrincipal. Other twitter pages of interest include @WL_Athletics, @WLHS_Yearbook, @TheTrojournal, @WLHS_Band, @WLHSSpirit, and @WLHSstuco. Also check out WL Community Recreation on Facebook.
PeachJar
In lieu of stacks of papers sent home in backpacks, which pile up on your counters at home, we distribute all flyers digitally thanks to our friends at PeachJar. You will receive flyers in your e-mail daily, so as not to miss anything. This is key when our Whitmore Lake Community Recreation department rolls out a new season of programs because no one likes missing soccer sign up or having to pay the dreaded late fee. If you are not receiving PeachJar e-mails from us, head HERE to register.
ParentLink App
Now imagine being able to access everything I mentioned above, all in one place. We've got an app for that--literally. With our WLPS app, you can check the calendars to see what is happening in each building, access PowerSchools, browse PeachJar and even read my weekly blog every Friday! When schools are closed or we need to get a message out quick, we send out push notifications through the app as well. If you haven't downloaded it yet, I highly recommend you head to your App Store or Google Play and search for Whitmore Lake Public Schools.
Blackboard Connect E-mail and Phone Notifications
We will continue to send out e-mail blasts and/or phone messages when we have a building or school-wide message to get out. This is how you will be notified of school cancellations, important meetings or issues that need to be addressed, etc.
If you have any questions about the tools above, feel free to contact our Community Relations Director, Maria Carter-Ewald at maria.carter-ewald@wlps.net
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