Dear Parents:
Happiest of Diwali to those who celebrate! Diwali is a special festival in India, called the "Festival of Lights." People celebrate by lighting small lamps, setting off fireworks, and decorating their homes with colorful designs. Diwali celebrates the victory of good over evil. Families come together to share sweets and exchange gifts. In our community, we have Diwali celebrations at the Hindu Temples in Farmington Hills, Canton, and Troy.
Grades will be posted by 5 PM on November 8th. Parent/Teacher Conference information is listed below and will be sent to families and will be sent to families in a separate email detailing specific directions regarding how to schedule conferences with your student's teachers. Both in person and virtual conferences will be offered to accommodate our families. We value a strong partnership between parents/guardians and teachers, and Parent/Teacher Conferences are a great way to discuss your student's strengths and goals for continued growth.
We are looking forward to our first Pep Assembly of the year today, the start of the Winter I sports season next week and the PTSA's 1st Annual Turkey Trot on November 20th. Exciting things ahead!
As a reminder, Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend so set your clocks back one hour on the 3rd. Also, staff and students do not have school on Tuesday, November 5th-remember to vote.
Cheers,
Jennifer VanWagnen, Principal
We Are Banks!
Upcoming Events
November
11/1: Diwali
11/2: Dia De Los Muertos
11/1: PBIS Pep Assembly in PM
11/3: Daylight Savings Time Ends, Set Your Clocks Back One Hour
11/4: Online Sign-Up for Conferences Opens @ 7 AM
11/4: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. Oak Valley MS - Away
11/4: 7th and 8th Grade Band Concert @ Banks, 6:30 PM
11/5: Election Day, No School for Students or Staff-Remember to VOTE!
11/6: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. Walnut Creek MS - Away
11/7: Board of Education regular meeting
11/8: Report Cards Available for Viewing
11/11: Veterans Day
11/11: Banks PTSA Meeting @ 6:30 PM in the Learning Commons
11/12: Deadline to Submit PTSA Reflections Submissions
11/12: 6th Grade Band Concert @ Banks, 6:30 PM
11/13:Online Sign-Up for Parent/Teacher Conferences CLOSES @ 7 AM
11/13: Fire Drill
11/13: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. White Lake MS - Away
11/13: 6th Grade Orchestra Concert @ Banks, 6:30 PM
11/14-Parent-Teacher Conferences
11/18: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. Smart MS - Away
11/19: Half Day for Students, Dismissal @ 11:40 AM
11/19: LAYA's Taste of the Lakes Event
11/20: PTSA's 1st Annual Turkey Trot in PM
11/20: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. Centennial MS - Away
11/25: Boys Basketball (BB) vs. Mason MS - Home
11/27: Half Day for Staff and Students, Dismissal @ 11:40 AM
11/28-11/29-No School for Staff and Students, Thanksgiving Break
TURKEY TROT Sponsored by the PTSA!
Mom, I’ll bring home the turkey! Or maybe a Pie….
Join your fellow students on a spirited obstacle race and bring home the Turkey!
1st Place – Turkey
2nd/3rd Place – Costco Pumpkin Pie
What: Turkey Trot – Obstacle Fun Run Race by Grade and Winner for both Girls and Boys!
When: Wednesday Nov. 20th during School Hours
Where: On the fields behind the School
Cost: $10 to get out of class, race and get in the Turkey Spirit!
Use the link below for payment and entry form OR put $ in envelope with students name and grade on it and have them put it in box in Main Office.
Traffic delays, Maple Road, Beck to Benstein
The Road Commission of Oakland County has sent notification that beginning Tuesday, October 29th, Maple Road, from Beck to Benstein, will be under construction. They will begin with milling and then finish paving a day or two later. The work will be done under flag control, meaning traffic will be allowed through at alternating intervals. This will almost certainly result in delays for commuters that travel this route. If possible, I strongly encourage our families that travel this route to start their trip to school early and to pack some extra patience.
Parent/Teacher Conferences: November 14th
A strong partnership with parents/guardians and teachers is key to ensuring our children’s success. One important component of that partnership is parent/teacher conferences. This is an opportunity for us to meet, celebrate your child’s progress, and discuss goals for continued growth.
Parent/Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Thursday, November 14th from 12:15-8:15 p.m in a hybrid format. Half of the day is formatted for virtual conferences and the other half is allocated for in-person conferences. The times listed below are the format for both types of conferences, and are consistent at all four district middle schools. When you sign up in Skyward for your conferences, the virtual or in-person formats will be listed. At the middle school level, once spots are taken in each format (in-person or virtual), there will not be additional times available to sign up through Skyward.
All individual Parent/Teacher Conferences need to be scheduled online, in advance, through your parent Family Access account. You may sign up for time slots beginning on Monday, November 4th @ 7:00 a.m. All conferences, regardless of core or encore teacher, must be scheduled online.
Virtual Conferences: 12:15 - 3:45 PM
In-Person Conferences: 4:00 - 8:15 PM
Important Details for Scheduled Conferences
Online sign up in Family Access will only work using your parent login. If you still need a username and password, please email FamilyAccess@wlcsd.org or contact the Family Access hotline at 248.956.2190.
Online sign up will be available November 4th@ 7:00 a.m. and stay open until November 13th @ 7:00 AM
Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place virtually via TEAMS and each individual conference will be 5 minutes in length for general education classes. Special Education Resource Room Caseload workers will offer 15 minute conferences. Teachers will monitor the TEAMS waiting room and will remove parents and admit parents at the scheduled time.
Prior to conferences, parents will be provided with a master list of teachers and the teacher’s corresponding TEAMS Link.
When scheduling consecutive conferences, you must leave one five-minute conference gap between appointments. Ensuring you have a five-minute gap will allow you time to move from one teacher’s conference to the next.
With all students having six different teachers throughout each school day, if their academic grade is satisfactory to both you and the teacher and you feel your student is being successful, please consider prioritizing the several teachers that you must see during conferences. Following this process will allow enough time slots to be available for all families.
Scheduling a conference with your counselor is not required, however, if there is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed at conferences you may schedule a conference with your child’s counselor. Due to the number of students they serve, if you do not have a pressing issue then you do not need to schedule a conference.
If you feel you need a longer conference with any teacher, we are happy to schedule a separate conference. All staff contact information can be found at our school website.
Tutorials: Conference Scheduling on Skyward
A video tutorial showing the process for scheduling conferences can be found at this How To Schedule Conferences Online link.
Written directions can be found at the Secondary Parents Conference Sign Up link.
Tutorials: Attending Conferences via TEAMS on November 14th, 2024
Video directions for how to attend your conferences on November 14th can be found at this Video Directions Link
Written directions can be found at this Written Directions Link
8th Grade Washington, D.C. Trip
Thank you to all the families who were able to attend the Washington, D.C. Trip Informational Meeting on October 10th. For those families who were unable to attend, please visit our Sarah Banks D.C. information and registration link through American Expeditions, click on "GO TO MY TRIP" and enter the tour code: sarahbanksdc2025.
To view the meeting presentation from October 10th, please click here.
If you have any questions about the DC trip, please reach out to Mr. Morrow at DavidMorrow@wlcsd.org.
New Information: PTSA Update
We are only ONE memberships away from our membership drawing! Join the PTSA now!
Want to help your child’s school?? JOIN THE PTSA!! Your membership includes volunteering at school events OR not! Monthly meetings OR not!
We would love to have you as much or little as your time allows but your Membership Donation helps no matter how much time you have! HELP us meet our membership goal of 100 members! In return we are raffling off this fantastic FALL BASKET! Have you already joined the PTSA? No worries you will automatically be entered into the raffle! Virtual tickets will be drawn after we have reached our goal!
Want to have the inside scoop on what is happening in your child’s school?? JOIN THE PTSA and JOIN US for our monthly meetings! We love to have parents/guardians at our meetings! Join here…
PTSA Reflections: Submissions Due by November 12th
Is your student looking for a creative outlet? We are looking for students to enter into our yearly nationally recognized Reflections contest! This year's theme: Accepting Imperfection
Deadline to Submit PTSA Reflections Submissions: November 12th, 2024
Use this link to gain insight on this Theme.
Explore the 2024-2025 PTA Reflections Theme: Accepting Imperfection
Use this link to enter the contest.
Want to pick PTSA Reflections theme for next year? Enter the theme contest here…
District seeks operating millage replacement in November election
Walled Lake Consolidated Schools is asking the community to replace its current operating millage with an 18 mill non-homestead millage that represents roughly $31 million and a 3.6297 mill hold harmless that represents approximately $2 million of the district’s budget. The total of $33 million accounts for 18 percent of the district’s $187 million revenue budget.
Every District in the state is expected to levy, with voter approval, 18 mills on all non-homestead properties in order to receive full state funding under Proposal A. The 3 mill "Headlee cushion" will allow the district to collect the full 18 mills over the duration of the operating millage. The proposal will not increase property taxes on any primary residence property that is within Walled Lake Consolidated Schools boundaries. Since the approval of Proposal A in 1994, the Walled Lake Consolidated Schools’ community has overwhelmingly supported the operating millage, most recently in 2014.
If the November 5, 2024 proposal is not approved, the school district will lose more than $33 million in operating revenue every year and the state will not make up the shortfall.
More information about the 2024 Operating Millage Replacement can be found at www.wlcsd.org/elections.
WLN Annual Gift Drive
Hello Walled Lake Middle Schools,
The Walled Lake Northern annual gift drive is just around the corner, and we need your school’s support! If possible, please share this message from our Northern Leadership students with your school’s families. Your involvement will help make this year's drive a success!
Walled Lake Northern proudly hosts an annual gift drive, supporting a school in need each year. Our community "adopts” children, fulfilling their holiday wishes and essential needs.
Northern students thoughtfully wrap every gift, and in December, our Leadership class personally delivers the gifts to the school, bringing joy directly to the children.
We welcome donations of children's clothing, shoes, boots, and toys. Your support will help us fulfill our mission of bringing joy to children in need this holiday season.
Please feel free to follow the link to our Amazon storefront.
https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/2QEWGD83JR5LN
All donations can be shipped directly to Walled Lake Northern:
WLN Gift Drive
6000 Bogie Lake Rd
Commerce Township, MI 48382
United States
Please reach out to Payten Shepard or Emily Brown with any questions.
Thank you for your support!
Payten Shepard & Emily Brown
Food Service Information-Free Breakfast and Lunch for All!
During the 2024-25 school year, all Michigan public school students in grades Pre-K through 12 will have access to free breakfast and free lunch every day through the "Healthy School Meals for All" program. This includes a meat/meat alternative, grain, fruit/vegetable and milk. A la carte items will be available for purchase.
Families are still encouraged to complete the free/reduced meal form in Skyward to help secure additional funding for the District including Title I funding. By completing the form, eligible families may also receive access to other free and reduced programs within the District including SAT testing, pay to participate, and more.
District Chromebook Repair Process
Please follow the steps below when your student's District Chromebook needs to be repaired.
- If a student needs support, he/she should fill out a Student Chromebook Support Form linked on all of the Google Classrooms and on the school website under Students. Being logged on to the school google account is required to access the form.
- The information in the form will be sent to Mrs. Stasak, our Middle School Computer Resource Teacher. She will reply to the student at his/her school gmail account. She will offer suggestions to fix the issue or, if it needs service, she will tell the student to take the chromebook to the office and give it to building admin secretary (enter the name for your building).
- The chromebook in the case will be sent through inner office and the student will be allowed to use a loaner chromebook AT SCHOOL. It will be the student’s responsibility to pick it up each morning from the office and return it at the end of the day.
- When the chromebook has been repaired, it will be delivered back to the school for the student to pick up.
- If the family purchased insurance, the first repair is free and all additional repairs carry a deductible. Deductible invoices or repair invoices, for those that did not choose insurance, must be paid before the repaired chromebook is returned.
- If a student with a personal chromebook has a network issue, the same form can be used. We are not able to fix physical problems with personal devices and loaner chromebooks will not be provided.
Signing up for SMS Messages in Skylert
In addition to receiving phone calls and email notifications from the school district in the event of a school closing or emergency, parents can also sign up to receive SMS Text messages.
Please find the helpful step-by-step instructions linked below as well as the video tutorial on signing up for SMS messages.
Connect With Us
Jennifer VanWagnen
Principal: jennifervanwagnen@wlcsd.org
Kellan Watkins
Principal's Secretary: kellanwatkins@wlcsd.org
Becky Smith
Interim Assistant Principal: rebeccasmith@wlcsd.org
Jennifer Dean
Assistant Principal's Secretary: jenniferdean@wlcsd.org
Important Phone Numbers:
Main Line: 248-956-2200
Attendance: 248-956-2290
Email: JenniferVanWagnen@wlcsd.org
Website: https://banks.wlcsd.org/
Location: 1760 Charms Road Wixom, MI 48393
Phone: (248) 956-2200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Sarahbanksptsa