WDMCS is applying for a second waiver to the Iowa Department of Education (IDOE) to continue ALL PK-12 students in an online learning environment until winter break, which starts Wednesday, Dec. 23. 

Why do we need to continue online?
WDMCS considers several factors to make our decision, including how COVID-19 is impacting both our community and district. Here’s what we know:

1. The Polk County COVID-19 positivity percentage is above 10% (currently 18%).
2. Student absences were nearing or above 10% when we made the decision to move online starting Nov. 16. Absenteeism has started to decline at all schools since moving online.
3. Staff absences. We continued to see an increase in the percentage of staff absences due to illness prior to moving online.  We also had difficulty filling substitute positions. Staff absenteeism has also declined since transitioning online.

Download/view full COVID-19 Board Presentation

Do I still need to call into school if my student or someone in my family tests positive for COVID-19?
Yes! WDMCS must continue to track any new COVID-19 cases.

• If any member of your family is a close contact or tests postivie for COVID-19, please let us know.
• Please call the school nurse if your child has an illness or a medical concern, is being tested for COVID-19, or has a positive COVID-19 result. 
• You can also call the WDMCS COVID-19 Response Line at 515-633-5990
• School nurses can assist you and your family with education regarding isolation, quarantine, and return dates to school.
• WDMCS is required to notify the Polk County Health Department with positive COVID-19 cases, and they can assist by following up with your family.
• Even during virtual learning, school nurses are here to assist all of our students and families.

How long will students learn online?
If the second waiver is approved, students would continue learning online through Tuesday, Dec. 22. Winter break is Wednesday, Dec. 23-Monday, Jan. 4.

What if the waiver is denied?
If the IDOE does not approve the waiver, WDMCS will look at student and staff absences at each building and consider re-applying to the IDOE for individual school waivers. The Board would most likely hold a special meeting to review recommendations. However, ALL students will continue learning online through Friday, Dec. 4, instead of Wednesday, Dec. 2.

I thought the first waiver was only through Wednesday, Dec. 2. Why can students be online Dec. 3-4 without approval from the IDOE?
The IDOE allows schools to be online two days after a waiver has been submitted. This allows them time to review the waiver and gives districts flexibility with moving (or staying) online.

How will I know if my building is one of those individual schools?
We will email ALL families and staff the response from the IDOE to explain whether or not our districtwide waiver was approved. If we need to re-apply for specific schools, we will email those families and staff.

When will we know if the waiver is approved?
We plan to submit the waiver Wednesday, Dec. 2, which allows us to remain online Thursday and Friday of that week. We hope to know by Friday, Dec. 4, so we can communicate with all staff and families.

Is child care an option for my student?
Kids West developed a plan to support families who needed full-day child care. They will reach out to current Kids West families to determine how many may need this service through Dec. 22.

Kids West staff help students connect to their online classes and monitor independent learning. 

Learning online is incredibly stressful.  What resources are available?
We understand how difficult life is right now without adding the extra pressure of all students needing to learn online. Teachers are working hard to connect, maintain relationships, and provide the critical social/emotional support your student needs. 

Please reach out to your student’s teachers or guidance counselor if you have any questions or need help. We also have several community resources posted on the WDMCS website. Topics include:

• Food/Nutrition 
• Wellness 
• Technology 
• Financial/General Support 
• City Information

Questions about COVID-19? Call 211. A public hotline has been established for Iowans with questions about COVID-19. The line is available 24/7.

What about school activities and athletics?
If the waiver is approved, all school-related activities, including athletics, will continue to be canceled.

Can school activities, athletics, and practices take place over winter break?
If the waiver is approved, we plan to extend cancellations through Monday, Jan. 4. No in-person meetings can be held, but advisors and coaches can hold virtual meetings.

What about meals for students?
Free meals are available at several locations as long as we continue online learning for all students. There will be three curbside pick-up locations and bus stop pick-up locations.

Meals will be given out three days a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (closed Nov. 25 and 27 for Thanksgiving break). Two days of meals will be handed out each day, so families are invited to come all three days each week. A warm entrée will be provided each time to eat right away, along with heat-and-serve items, fruits, vegetables, and milk.

Learn more

What about facility rentals?
If the waiver is approved, facilities will continue to be closed to rentals (both buildings and outdoor spaces) through Monday, Jan. 4.

What about Community Education classes or service learning opportunities?
WDMCS Community Education classes have already transitioned to a virtual environment or have been canceled. In-home service learning opportunities are being encouraged for I-Care and Silver Cord.

Please keep in mind the important role that our family and community members play in keeping us in the in-person and hybrid models. Wearing face masks in public, practicing physical distancing, frequent and correct hand washing, minimizing your time out in public, limiting the number of people you interact with, and staying home when you are sick will all help minimize the spread of COVID-19.  

We hope to hear from the IDOE by Friday, Dec. 4, about the districtwide waiver. Once we know if it is approved, we will communicate with all staff and families by email, app, and text, as well as through our district website and social media. You can also receive daily COVID-19 updates through our district dashboard.

Free meals are available at several locations during West Des Moines Community Schools’ transition to online continuous learning, Nov. 16-Dec. 2. There will be three curbside pick-up locations and bus stop pick-up locations.

The communities of our Polk County school districts are distinctly different in wonderful ways, but we are united today with one very important message. If we want to keep our schools open and staffed, and return all students to the classroom safely, we need everyone’s help in the fight to stop the spread of COVID-19.

More than that, we need to do our part to save the lives of the vulnerable people who live in our neighborhoods and help the staff in our county’s hospitals stay available to everyone who needs help. 

We stand in solidarity with the Polk County Health Department and fully endorse this urgent message from Director Helen Eddy. 

• Ankeny Community School District
• Bondurant-Farrar Community School District
• Des Moines Public Schools
• Johnston Community School District
• North Polk Community School District
• Southeast Polk Community School District
• Urbandale Community School District
• West Des Moines Community Schools

We come to you with a plea, we need your help reducing the spread of COVID-19 in our community. As of November 12, 2020, our positivity rate is 20.8%.  The situation is very real, urgent and not slowing down any time soon. We need to change the trajectory of this disease and the impact we are feeling in our community. We are asking you to communicate the information below with your District’s families and staff.  Their actions away from school have a big impact on the health of our entire community.

Wear a Mask

We cannot stress the importance of wearing a mask. This is the best form of protection against COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have now provided new guidance that wearing a mask can protect BOTH the person wearing the mask and those around you. Wearing a mask will help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our community.

Stay Home

If an individual is sick, whether it is a student or a staff member, stay home. Contact your healthcare provider to discuss your symptoms and see if you need to be tested for COVID-19. If you are waiting for COVID-19 test results, stay home. If you go back to work or school, you can potentially expose everyone around you to COVID-19. Finally, if a student or staff member is in quarantine or isolation, they need to abide by the rules from public health and healthcare providers. When people do not follow the rules of quarantine and isolation, this increases positive cases and hospitalizations.

Reduce Community Spread

Limiting our contact with others is our new normal. We know it is difficult for family and friends not to see each other especially with the holidays coming up. However, we need to strongly encourage our community to limit who they are around and places they are going. This means limiting going to gatherings, social events and places where people who are not your immediate family are at. The people you are around and the places you go impact your health and your family’s health. We need our students and staff to make smart decisions outside of school and would appreciate your help sharing this message.

It’s past the time to begin taking this virus seriously. This means wearing a mask, staying at home and not attending events or gatherings small or large. The choices we make have consequences. Please help us reduce community spread in Polk County.

Sincerely,
Helen Eddy, Polk County Health Department Director

Helen E. Eddy, RPh, MBA
Director, Polk County Health Department
1907 Carpenter Avenue
Des Moines, IA 50314

Update from nov. 11: At a special meeting of the West Des Moines Public Library Board of Trustees on Tuesday, Nov. 10, members of the Board and library administration made the decision to maintain curbside-only service through at least Nov. 30. The Board and administrators made the decision based on a discussion of the increase in positive COVID-19 cases in Polk and Dallas Counties as well as the decision by West Des Moines Community Schools to file for an online-only instruction waiver as the community positivity rate exceeded 15 percent.

 Learn More from the Library: Extending Our Closure for Public Health

From Oct. 16: As part of ongoing renovations, the West Des Moines Public Library will be closed Tuesday, Oct. 27, through Wednesday, Nov. 11, reopening on November 12. During the closure, library staff and contractors will:

• Move the children’s collection and other library materials currently housed on the first floor to temporary shelving on the second floor
• Lay new carpet on the first floor
• Erect temporary walls to contain dust and noise on the first floor
• Re-carpet public elevators
• Move some library furniture out of the building into storage.

Contractors and city engineers expect to complete the project in spring of 2021. Learn more about the renovation, curbside pickup during the closure, and what to expect after  the library reopens at www.wdmlibrary.org.

UPDATE (10:45 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12): The Iowa Department of Education approved the waiver to transition ALL PK-12 students to an online learning environment starting Monday, Nov. 16. Western Hills Elementary and Valley High School are already online.

Students will remain online through Wednesday, Dec. 2.

View “We Are ALL WDMCS” newsletter for more information

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ORIGINAL POST (Tuesday, Nov. 10): WDMCS is applying for a waiver to the Iowa Department of Education (IDOE) to transition ALL PK-12 students to an online learning environment.

Why do we need to move online?
WDMCS considers several factors to make our decision, including how COVID-19 is impacting both our community and district. Here’s what we know:

1. The Polk County COVID-19 positivity percentage is above 10% (currently above 17%).
2. Student absences are nearing or above 10%. Valley absences are above 10%, and several other schools are seeing a rise in student absences due to illness.
3. Staff absences. We continue to have an increase in the percentage of staff absences due to illness.  

Download/view full COVID-19 Board Presentation

When would students move to online learning?
Monday, Nov. 16-Wednesday, Dec. 2 (10 total school days).

What does this mean for Valley High School?
Valley High School is in an online learning environment this week (Nov. 9-13). They would continue to learn online through Wednesday, Dec. 3.

What if I have been told to quarantine past Dec. 3?
Students and staff who have tested positive for COVID-19 or been confirmed as close contacts must follow the guidelines already communicated to them. 

What if the waiver is denied?
If the IDOE does not approve the waiver, WDMCS will look at student and staff absences at each building and re-apply to the IDOE for individual school waivers. We would automatically apply for a Valley waiver and consider which other schools should be included in the request.

How will I know if my building is one of those individual schools?
We will email ALL families and staff the response from the IDOE to explain whether or not our districtwide waiver was approved. If we need to re-apply for specific schools, we will email those families and staff.

When will we know if we are going online Monday?
We hope to hear by Thursday or Friday this week. Once we hear if the districtwide waiver is approved, we will communicate with all staff and families.

Is child care an option for my student?
Kids West child care is contacting current Kids West families to determine how many would need full-day child care. They will then determine if there are any additional openings.

How would students learn online if at Kids West?
Kids West staff would help students connect to their online classes and monitor independent learning. They will be provided resources to help them troubleshoot any technical problems.

How will the school day be different for students?
If you are an online student, you will continue your daily schedule for instruction with your teachers. Students who have been learning at school will now transition to online classes with the same teachers who have been teaching them each day.

• View PK-6 schedules
• View JH schedule 
• View VSW/VHS schedule (effective Nov. 16) 
• View Walnut Creek Campus schedule 

Will Teachers Teach from Home or at School?
On-site teachers can choose to teach from school or provide online instruction at home. Teachers should communicate with students and families to share more information about class work and assignments. 

What about school activities or athletics?
If the waiver is approved, all school-related activities, including athletics, are canceled.

What about meals for students?
If all students transition to online learning, our Nutrition Department would pre-package two breakfasts and two lunches that could be picked up three times a week. Three schools will be designated pick-up locations. More detailed information will be sent to families later this week.

These meals are free of charge and funded by the United States Department of Agriculture through the summer meals program extension.

What about facility rentals?
If the waiver is approved, facilities will be closed to rentals (both buildings and outdoor spaces).

We hope to hear from the IDOE by Thursday or Friday this week about the districtwide waiver. Once we know if the districtwide waiver is approved, we will communicate with all staff and families by email, app, and text, as well as our district website and social media. You can also receive daily COVID-19 updates through our district dashboard.

There will be no school on Friday, Nov. 13, due to a districtwide professional development day for WDMCS staff. In September, the WDMCS Board of Education approved two additional professional development dates—Oct. 30 and Nov. 13—to allow teachers to focus on district initiatives during the teacher contract without requiring substitutes.

Classes will resume on Monday, Nov. 16.

View & Download: 2020-21 Calendars at a Glance

The WDMCS Board of Education approved three additional professional development dates at its Oct. 26 regular business meeting: Feb. 8, March 11, and April 2.

West Des Moines Community Schools (WDMCS) consistently monitors the percentage of positive COVID-19 cases within Polk County. As shared in a previous communication, when the positivity rate exceeds 10 percent as the average over a 14-day period for five consecutive days, district leadership may call for a special Board of Education meeting to discuss.

As of Friday, Oct. 30, the 14-day average in Polk County is above 10 percent. Consequently, we are calling a special Board meeting for Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 6 p.m. to discuss temporarily transitioning students online. This may impact all students or specific buildings.

The meeting will be held in the Community Room at the Learning Resource Center, 3550 Mills Civic Parkway, West Des Moines, to allow for social distancing. The meeting is open to the public, but face coverings are required.

Please do not attend in-person if you feel ill, have a temperature of 100.4 or higher, or are experiencing other COVID-19 symptoms. This meeting will also be streamed live.

Watch the live stream

In the meeting, district leadership will present:

• student and staff attendance data
• Polk County data broken down by zip code
• Unfilled substitute data

If the Board directs district leadership to proceed with a full transition, staff will continue their daily schedule for instruction, teaching from school to students learning from home. If you are an online student, you would continue your daily schedule for instruction with your teachers. Students who have been learning at school would transition to online classes with the same teachers who have been teaching them each day.

WDMCS will send a follow-up communication to families after the Board meeting to share whether or not a transition will occur.

Board of Education Meeting Materials

School Board Meetings Listing with Agendas

School Board Information

School Board Meeting Calendar

If you or someone you know has a child who will be 5 years old on or before Sept. 15, 2021, it’s time to enroll for fall kindergarten! 

Online enrollment for kindergarten will open on Nov. 1. Please visit our “Welcome to Kindergarten” page to learn about WDMCS kindergarten and start your enrollment today!

Welcome to Kindergarten

Kindergarten is a big step in life’s journey and a time of discovery and change for your child and for you. We hope you begin your kindergarten journey with the WDMCS. We are excited to learn, play, and grow with you! 

Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program

La Sra. Bonilla dirige a los estudiantes en un juego. Bilingüe: habla dos idiomas con fluidez. Alfabetizada en dos idiomas: puede leer y escribir en dos idiomas.

When you enroll, you can let us know if you are interested in the Dual Language Spanish Immersion Program at Western Hills Elementary. 

Immersion students spend half their day learning content in Spanish and half their day learning in English. About half of the students come from Spanish backgrounds and half from English and other language backgrounds. Immersion students typically approach native-like levels in their second-language by the end of elementary school, and often surpass their “English-only” peers by grade 4 or 5.

Learn more about Dual Language Spanish Immersion