Western Montgomery CTC

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. - Thomas A. Edison, inventor

OAC

We are pleased to announce the success of WMCTC’s Occupational Advisory Committee meeting this past Wednesday evening! This event brought together local industry experts and educators to discuss trends and provide valuable feedback on our programs. Their insights will help us keep our curriculum and lab spaces up-to-date and aligned with industry standards, ensuring WMCTC students are well-prepared for their future careers.

Thank you to all participants for contributing to our students' success and the future of our local workforce!

A special thanks to our exceptional culinary program, which showcased their incredible skills by catering the event with delicious Texas BBQ! Culinary, You Rock!

New Visitors’ Entrance at WMCTC

To ensure the safety and security of all students, staff, and visitors, all student drivers, students arriving late or leaving early, and school visitors, including salon patrons, are required to enter the school through the main entrance located at the front of the building during school hours.

Students arriving on high school buses will continue to enter the building at the bus entrance.

End of the Marking Period

The first marking period ends on Tuesday, October 29th! Please review your grades on Skyward. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your instructor or school counselors for support.

Trunk or Treat

The WMCTC School Culture Committee is excited to announce that the Western Center will participate in the annual Limerick Township Trunk or Treat event on Saturday, October 26th, from 12 PM to 3 PM at the Limerick Community Park. Please join us for some Halloween fun!

Pumpkin Contest

Next week, the students of WMCTC will be competing in our annual pumpkin contest! Each technical area in the AM and PM sessions will receive one pumpkin to decorate in a fashion that represents their program. The winning programs and pictures will be in next week’s newsletter!

Be safe!

Craig Robinson, Principal

Twice a year, volunteers on our Occupation Advisory Committee are asked to meet with our instructors to discuss the needs in the programs. This week, those volunteers were rewarded with a culinary feast. The students in our Culinary Arts program worked especially hard making sure every person was well fed.

Spring-Ford is closed on Friday, Nov 1. Spring-Ford students will not report to WMCTC on that day.

Parents and students can check WMCTC's Skyward to review grades. Do not forget about gym/health assignments. Students with excused absences can still turn in assignments for partial credit. Some credit is better than none. Remember gym and health credits are a requirement for High School graduation.

Upper Perk 9th graders will be working on their artifacts for Smart Futures. A presentation will take place at the Western Center on Friday, Nov 1. Upper Perk employees will be here to review the documents needed in each student's file. We encourage parents to help and review with students to ensure documents are up to date. Below is a flyer that will be posted in each program classroom at the Western Center.

This is an Upper Perkiomen School District graduation requirement.

For the Cafeteria at Western Center:

Our cafeteria is currently operated by the Spring Ford Food Service Department. Here is a link

to their web page.

https://payments.efundsforschools.com/v3/districts/55178

It provides information on utilizing eFunds for your student lunch account. You will need your

student’s Western Center ID which can be found on the student Western Center ID Badge.

It also provides information on free/reduced lunch program as well as their policy on negative

balances.

Please feel free to reach out to Tracy at tbogu@spring-ford.net with any questions you may

have.

The arrival and dismissal times below are for regular schedule days. On those days where schedules are changed (early dismissal, delays, etc.) the schedule will be shared at that time.

Are you going on a trip? A family vacation perhaps?

If you know in advance that your student will be absent from school for three or more days, please complete an Advance Notification of Extended Absence form. They are located on the WMCTC website or by emailing Attendance@westerncenter.org.

Once you have the form, your student is responsible for taking it to their high school principal and WMCTC instructor for them to sign. Forms cannot be processed until you have both of those signatures! We will then accept the form for Mr. Robinson to consider for approval. Happy travels!

Dear Attendance Office,

My student is sick and they can't come to school. What is the EASIEST way I can make sure their absence is excused?

Sincerely,

WMCTC parent

Dear WMCTC parent,

Great question! The easiest thing to do when your student will not be at WMCTC at their regular time, is to email us! Our email address is Attendance@westerncenter.org. If you email us, there is no need to call & no need to hand-write a physical note! Just email us and tell us why they will be absent! Be sure to include the student name. Easy- Peasy Lemon Squeezy!

Sincerely,

WMCTC Attendance Office

See below for instructions to complete the forms. This information is also available on our website, www.westerncenter.org, under For Parents & Students

The following link can be used to access the Skyward login page. Once in Skyward, the online forms for each student will be at the top of the page.

Skyward login page

Parent username follows this format: parentfirstname.parentlastname (all lowercase)

The password is wildcats77!

Use this link for directions on completing the online forms.

This form (Evacuation Form) must be printed and signed, then returned to Student Services. If you are not able to print, there are copies in the Student Services office.

Questions can be directed to Mrs. Yusko at ayusko@westerncenter.org.

Would you like to be gaining more experience in your trade while also earning a paycheck? Co-Op gives you this opportunity! Students attend their sending high school in the morning and may work in their trade instead of attending WMCTC two to four afternoons a week. A fantastic privilege that takes planning and preparation. Students or families must provide transportation to the job site, students must meet qualifications and be hired by a participating company. Students are encouraged to speak with their instructor and Ms. Mueller in the Co-Op office to find out more.

Here is what you need to know: (from the Student Handbook p.15)

Juniors (in the Spring) and Seniors are eligible for the Cooperative Education Program based on their grades, attendance, task grid completion, NOCTI pre-test score, and technical instructor and principal recommendations. A student who has five (5) or more unexcused absences from school or more than ten (10) days excused absences from school may not be eligible for the Cooperative Education Program.

Below are the PE schedule cycle days for the 2024-2025 school year. This is not a Monday-Friday schedule. This only lists the 'day' each shop is assigned their PE session.

Farther below this schedule is the calendar which shows when students will report to PE.

**Due to Student-Run-Enterprises, our cycle days do not follow in numeric order**

Below are the October and November calendars for PE Days at WMCTC. PE days are announced daily stating the current day cycle and the next day's cycle.

Through the year, cycle days may not be in numeric order.

****If a student misses their PE class, they must check Mr. English's Google Classroom for their assignment. It is the responsibility of the student to complete work that has been missed.****

Salon is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday 11-2!

Salon is open Thursday evenings, every other week.

Online booking available or call 610-489-7272 x 211

The Salon

Sports Medicine, Year 2 students, completed a "twinkie dissection" and created Spooky Gingerbread People this week. These labs helped reinforce directional terminology that is standard language used by anatomists.

Early Childhood students recently visited St. Teresa of Calcutta childcare.

Our Welding students attended a competition at the Philadelphia Naval Yard. Two of our students, Logan Albright and Nate Bateman, competed. Both showed awesome work. Logan placed third in the competition.

Logan Albright, Mr. Bartholomew, and Nate Bateman

Email Attendance@WesternCenter.org or call 610-489-7272 extension 209 regarding any attendance-related concerns (excuse notes, early dismissals, attendance letters, etc.).

Parents/guardians have access to view their student's attendance, assignments, grades and discipline using WMCTC's Skyward system. WMCTC's Skyward is not the same as the high school's Skyward.

Parent/guardian sign-in follows this format:

username: parentfirstname.lastname (all lower case) (Example: joe.smith)

password: If you have forgotten your password for WMCTC's Skyward, please contact Mrs. Anne Marie Yusko at ayusko@westerncenter.org or 610-489-7272 x 208.

https://www.westerncenter.org/Domain/123

Parents, remember, you can sign on to WMCTC’s Skyward to see your student’s grades, attendance, assignments, discipline, and other important information. Go to www.westerncenter.org, click For Parents & Students at the bottom of the page, then choose Skyward Family/Student Access.

Forgot your username or password? Contact Mrs. Yusko at ayusko@westerncenter.org

Have you moved?

Be sure to send your new address information to Student Services at studentservices@westerncenter.org

Please note that the high school does not forward change-of-address information to WMCTC.

If an item has been lost or misplaced, it might be in Lost and Found in the Student Services office. These items may have been left on the bus, in our cafeteria or a classroom. Stop by to see if anything belongs to you.

If you've lost something, check it out!

If a student tests positive for COVID the CDC, as well as WMCTC, recommends staying home for 5 days after your symptom start date. Your symptom start date is considered day zero. If symptoms improve by day 5 and you are fever free for 24 hours with no fever reducing medications you may return to school on day 6 (ex: symptoms start on 9/1, isolate from, 9/1 through 9/6, may return to school on 9/7 if above criteria are met).

Please let the WMCTC nurse (DDavison@WesternCenter.org) as well as WMCTC attendance (attendance@westerncenter.org) know the student is positive and will be out.

If a household family member tests positive for COVID but the student is completely symptom free, the student may come to school.

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When a student isn't feeling well, he/she needs to visit the nurse for consultation. If a student contacts their parents without seeing the nurse, the student will still need to see Ms. Davison before dismissal.

Scan the QR in the flyer below to learn more

Seniors need to have 3 things in place to be awarded SOAR credits.

-Score overall Competent or Advanced on NOCTI testing

-Have a final cumulative GPA of 2.75 in your technical area

-Have a completed task list with all tasks marked at proficiency level

(SOAR does not include Cosmetology and Sports Medicine programs).

Students meeting these requirements will be mailed home all paperwork needed for SOAR credits. These credits are good for 16 months after graduation. Students refer to collegetransfer.net for participating schools.

What if I do not qualify for SOAR or my school is not connected to SOAR?

Take anything you have completed/earned from WMCTC (Certifications/NOCTI results/task list) to your school of interest. See if they will award any advance credit or allow you to test out of class. BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE.

Montgomery County Community College is having an Open House at both campuses in October. Scan the QR code on the flyer below for more information.

The mission of the Western Montgomery Career & Technology Center is to prepare quality citizens for lifelong productivity in a challenging and changing world by forming innovative partnerships among family, school, and community.

Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center, in accordance with Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, will not discriminate in educational programs which it operates, or in admission or enrollment procedures on the basis of race, religion, sex, color, age, national origin, or handicap and provides equal access to the boyscouts and other designated youth groups. The Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center is an equal opportunity employer and educational institution. We assure that procedures and practices are followed to provide equal access to all programs. Any questions concerning the application of Title IX, compliance or complaints may be referred to Donna Wilson, Compliance Officer, at 77 Graterford Road, Limerick, PA 19468 610-489-7272, ext. 203

Email: crobinson@westerncenter.org
Website: https://www.westerncenter.org/
Location: 77 Graterford Road, Royersford, PA, USA
Phone: (610) 489-7272
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WESTERNMONTGOMERYCTC/