Greetings Wildcat Nation,
I think it is safe to say that we would all practically mortgage our homes for a cold front this time of year after dealing with merciless heat since last May. 😊 However, the heat certainly doesn’t damper the wonderful things going on here on campus as our students and teachers continue to charge forward with enriching content and mastery of new material. As we approach the ending of the first nine weeks….and yes you read this correctly that a quarter of the school year is already almost behind us…..I wanted to give a huge shoutout to our entire school community for such a great start to the year. In recapping some campus enrichment activities, I am happy to report an outstanding Spirit Week followed by a very competitive Powder Puff football game whereby our Senior emerged victorious with a resounding win. The week concluded with our annual Homecoming event attending by over 400 students and I am again happy to report that a fun time was had by all. Special thanks to all our parent volunteers who gave us their gift of time in helping us supervise the event. As we wrapped up Spirit Week and all the fun no one was more eager than I to get back to what West Shore does well and that is prepare our students for the academic journey that lies ahead. With the administration of PM 1 testing several weeks ago and PSAT today things have been quite busy on campus from the assessment front. The PSAT was administered in its’ new College Board format of being completely digital, so we are anxious to learn and get feedback from students on how this experience was for them.
Our seniors have been very busy working on college applications and planning for their Senior Projects in the Spring. As you well know, the senior year here at West Shore is where the rubber really meets the road in putting final touches on transcripts and extracurriculars concurrently with completing their acceleration requirements for graduation. I am very proud of them as they continue with this arduous journey, and we remain committed with needed support every step of the way. In turning our attention to extracurriculars please join me in wishing all our Fall sports teams the best of luck as they head into district and regional play. Our student-athletes deserve a lot of extra credit for balancing challenging academic schedules along with these commitments outside the classroom!!!
As we look ahead to the coming weeks, I wanted to also highlight our Musical Theatre Program as they host our upcoming Fall Musical, The Little Mermaid on Friday, October 27th with two showings also at 1pm on Saturday, October 28th and 7pm the same evening. Please come out and show you support for our performers as it is sure to be a great event. Additionally, I wanted to also remind our parents that Thursday, October 19th is our Fall Parent Conference night and if you need to make an appointment with your child’s teacher you may do so by calling Ms. Amanda Sanford in our Guidance Office at Ext. 28607
On a final note, I wanted to inform our community that our school board is in the final stages of planning for our missed school day as a result of Hurricane Idalia. The proposal going forward for approval is that First Semester will be extended until January 8th which is the first day back from Holiday Break. Should this likely proposal be approved, Final Exams will still be administered prior to the break. Teachers will simply continue with content as almost all of our classes are year-long.
In closing I wanted to give one more gigantic shoutout to our West Shore PTA, and especially organizer Sherie Stovall, who held their annual Blingo Fundraiser event a few weeks ago. The event is so well attending and is now more widely recognized as an entire community event rather than solely a West Shore event. The support, which certainly benefits our school, is nothing short of astounding and our PTA is amazing for putting it all together. Thank You!!!!
At West Shore we don’t do average….we do AWESOME!!!!
Best,
Rick Fleming