Hello, West Sound Tech Families!

We are looking forward to the new school year and all the new opportunities it brings for our students. If your student has been on campus before, they will notice significant changes to the building.

There are MANY changes happening on campus this year. We are so grateful to our legislature for approving significant capital funding to support the modernization of West Sound Tech (WST). This construction will be ongoing onsite at WST for the next few years. As WST will be an active construction site, we will have specific expectations in and around the campus.

Classes begin Tuesday, September 5th. If you are unsure of the class or session your student is scheduled for at WST, please contact Erin Mckiernan at Erin.mckiernan@westsoundtech.org, or at 360-473-0557.

WST is a school of choice for students and is intended to function as a simulated workplace. Students are expected to model workplace behavior and attire, below you will find the student handbook for WST and for Bremerton School District. Students are expected to adhere to both. At West Sound Tech we are preparing students for careers AND post-secondary learning. Please read through this newsletter carefully as there is important information to best support your student this year.

Please make sure that we have updated information for your child, including updated address, phone number, and email address if they have changed since registering for WST.

VERY IMPORTANT:

WST will have very little parking on campus the next couple of years. We need all WST students to participate in the bus transportation that each district provides and not drive to WST. Every school from each district provides daily transportation to and from WST that is accessible for every student.

We understand this will be a significant change for some students and families and appreciate your assistance in helping during construction.

If you have questions, please contact the director, Shani Watkins, at Shani.watkins@westsoundtech.org, or 360-473-0550.

Our WST culinary arts students are getting a unique experience this year! Students will travel to Olympic College each day meeting with the culinary instructor, Janine Colburn in Building 12 room 201.

Students have TWO options for getting to and from the Olympic College campus. First, WST will have a bus that takes all culinary students that ride the bus to Olympic College (OC) and return them to WST in time to transfer to their bus back to their sending school. Second, culinary students can self-drive to the Olympic College campus each day. Students parking on the OC campus will need a parking pass. We are still working on access to those.

Culinary Arts Families ONLY, please complete the survey below to help us best support your student and their success.

A map of the class location at Olympic College is included after the survey.

The Culinary Arts class for WST will be held at Olympic College in Building 12 (see map below), in room 201 daily.

Olympic College Address: 1600 Chester Avenue, Bremerton, WA 98337-1699

The yellow colored lots are the lots students may park in while attending their WST Culinary Arts Class.

West Sound Tech serves 10 school districts across the Kitsap Peninsula, but we are also part of the Bremerton School District. There are West Sound Tech expectations and Bremerton School District expectations. When appropriate the BSD handbook is referenced in the WST handbook.

Every WST is expected to read the WST handbook and sign the final pages, as well as be familiar with the BSD handbook. These pages will be submitted to your student's instructor along with the signed syllabus expectations pages.

West Sound Tech handbook and expectations

Bremerton School District handbook and expectations

The Washington State Governor’s Office of the Education Ombuds (OEO) is an independent state agency that helps to reduce educational opportunity gaps by supporting families, students, educators, and other stakeholders in communities across WA in understanding the K-12 school system and resolving concerns collaboratively. OEO services are free and confidential. Anyone can contact OEO with a question or concern about school.

OEO listens, shares information and referrals, and works informally with families, communities, and schools to address concerns so that every student can fully participate and thrive in our state’s public schools. OEO provides support in multiple languages and has telephone interpretation available. To get help or learn more about what OEO does, please visit our website: https://www.oeo.wa.gov/en; email oeoinfo@gov.wa.gov, or call: 1-866-297-2597 (interpretation available).

• To enter WST you must check in at the main administration office, located on the south end of the building.
• Before entering the school, visitors must have their ID scanned by the Bremerton School District's visitor management system Raptor. Learn more here.

• There are no specific COVID protocols in place for school visitors for this school year. However, if a visitor is experiencing any symptoms of illness, they should not enter the school facility.

WST has a two-part attendance requirement. As a simulated work environment, students are expected to contact their instructor to notify them of their absence. In addition, the parent/guardian is required to contact the front office to notify them of the reason for the absence (this is a state requirement).

Student Expectation: Student needs to contact the instructor prior to the start of class to notify the instructor of their absence. Students can use Remind, email, or phone call to notify the instructor.

Parent/Guardian Expectation: Parents/guardians, please call Erin Mckiernan at 360.473.0557 or via email at erin.mckiernan@westsoundtech.org to excuse your student’s absences. To excuse an absence, please include the following:

· Your name

· Student’s name

· Date of Absence

· Reason for Absence

It is important to note that parents/guardians must notify WST of any absence, the sending school does not report them to WST.

In case of snow days/emergency closure days:

· WST follows any closures consistent with Bremerton School District. If you hear that Bremerton schools are closed, then WST is also closed.

· If your student’s school closes for snow/weather, your student will be excused from WST for the day.

· In terms of school calendar days, WST is on a different calendar than most sending schools. If your student’s sending school has a non-student day that is different than WST, your student will be excused. For example, many schools have a non-student day for Indigenous People’s Day, however, WST is in session that day. If your student’s sending school does not have school this day, they will be excused from WST.

If you need to update your contact information, please contact Erin Mckiernan at erin.mckiernan@westsoundtech.org or 360.473.0557.

WST uses Skyward as our student information system. To access WST student information, including your student’s attendance and grades, please use the SEPARATE WST Skyward login for WST.

To access your WST Skyward login information, please contact Erin Mckiernan at erin.mckiernan@westsoundtech.org with the following information for verification purposes:

· Your full name and phone number

· Your home address

· Your student’s full name

· Your student’s birthdate and year of birth