Dear WA Community,

I hope the second week of school went well for you and your family. Thank you to those who attended our lower school Back-to-School program on Tuesday, August 23. It was a wonderful evening to meet our parents and encourage them as we begin a new year of prayerful partnership. Looking ahead to next week, we have the middle school Back-to-School Night on Monday, August 29 and the high school Back-to-School program on Tuesday, August 30. We look forward to seeing our upper school parents at these programs.

Please know that as we prepare for our third week of the school year, we are still working on refining after-school dismissal and the lunch lines. Even though we saw some progress this past week, we want to make sure we continue to make these areas move as quick as possible. With that said, please continue to be mindful that morning arrival and after-school dismissal can be slow at times because we will always choose safety over convenience to protect your children.

As we begin a new school year, I would like to share some information about our school Leadership Team (members of the Leadership Team and their emails are listed below). At Westminster Academy, we use a participatory team approach to make prayerful decisions. The Leadership Team uses the collective wisdom from everyone's feedback and input to prayerfully seek God's leading as they review, discuss and decide on school-related matters. We constantly value and appreciate everyone's suggestions and perspective.  Should you have any questions or need additional information about the Leadership Team or WA, please let me know.  Please do not hesitate to email me or visit with me (or your child's teacher, coach or principal) about any school-related matter during the school year at WA.   

Leadership Team

Jason Beaupied beaupiedj@wacad.edu

Laura Brash '87 Bishop bishopl@wacad.edu

Mike Critch critchm@wacad.edu

Sharon Curlee curlees@wacad.edu

Jack Fleck '81 fleckj@wacad.edu

Jeff Jacques '94 jacquesj@wacad.edu

Blake Matthews matthewsb@wacad.edu

Becky Myers myersr@wacad.edu

Leo Orsino orsinol@wacad.edu

Shannon Wallhoff wallhoffs@wacad.edu

Matt Weissman weissmanm@wacad.edu 

Please continue to saturate our students, school parents, school families, teachers, staff members, coaches, volunteers, guests, alumni, donors, School Board and church leadership in prayer. Please continue to pray for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to capture every soul, transform every mind and impact every person at Westminster Academy. Please pray that every member of our school community would grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ and in their heart-felt and intellectual understanding of God's Holy Word. Please pray that God would continue to use WA (each of us individually and collectively) as He has for the last forty-one years in a mighty way for His glory and divine purposes throughout the school year.

I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing. John 15:5 (Bible verse for the 2011-2012 school year).  

Blessings to you and your family in the Name of Jesus Christ,

Leo Orsino

Headmaster 

Upper School  

 August 29

     A Day     

8:00 AM Varsity Golf at Westminster Christian Invitational (A) 

7:00 PM Back-to-School Night for Parents (Grades 6-8)    

Tuesday, August 30

B DAY

3:30 PM Varsity Golf vs.Coral Springs Christian       

  5:00 PM JV Volleyball vs.The Benjamin School (A)  

6:30 PM Varsity Volleyball vs.The Benjamin School (A)     

Wednesday, August 31

A Day  

8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Mom's in Touch Prayer Group Woman's Ministry Room at CRPC     

Thursday, September 1

B Day

4:00 PM MS Football vs. Calvary Christian (H)    

4:00 PM JV Football vs. Calvary Christian (A)  

7:00 PM Back-to-School Night for Parents (Grades 9-12)

Friday, September 2

A Day

Pep Rally 10:45-11:25 AM (Grades 7-12) 

7:00 PM Varsity Football vs. Gateway Charter (H)  

Lower School

Wednesday, August 31

8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Mom's in Touch Prayer Group  

Woman's Ministry Room at CRPC   

Thursday, Sept 1   

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Summer Readers' Pool Party    

Friday, September 2    

8:15 AM - 8:45 AM  Coffee with Dr. Orsino, Mrs. Myers and  

Mr. Critch  Room 127/128   

Parents' Back-To-School Night  

Early every school year, we invite our parents to enjoy an evening walking through their child's schedules and meeting with their teachers. This is a ten-minute introductory time for you, our parents, to find out what each class is about, receive a copy of each class syllabus, and ask questions. The middle school date was moved due to a scheduling conflict, so please note the new date is Monday, August 29, 2011.  

The high school Back-to-School Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 1, 2011. Each night we will begin classes at 7:00 PM. Our PTF provides refreshments throughout the evening, so please come early and enjoy refreshments and fellowship with other parents. 

We look forward to seeing you at Back-to-School Night!

  Let's Talk About Lunch...  Q & A  

As we launched our new lunch program, we have had some additional questions. Please click here for information which you may find helpful.   

Please click here to view next week's menu! 

The annual magazine fundraiser began this week! This fundraiser is important to our school community and your support allows a substantial portion of the subscription price to come back to WA to fund important programs and projects that benefit our students.  

If you would like to support our school, you can shop online and renew or order new subscriptions - simply click here and enter our school account number (1117353) and make a selection! All online sales will count toward your child's prizes. Family members living outside our school area can easily go online and order magazines without having to do it through the mail. The success of our sale depends on the teamwork of our students, families and school community.

Your participation is greatly appreciated--thank you! 

New WA water bottles, coffee cups and t-shirts (long-sleeve and short-sleeve), along with WA hoodies are now available in the school store!

 School Store Hours:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings from 7:45 - 8:15 AM. The store will be closed on Tuesday mornings.  

The store is also open Monday-Friday in the afternoon from 2:45 - 3:30 PM. The School Store is located in the gymnasium, with an external entrance near the lower school entrance.   

For your convenience the store will be open during 

all of our Back-to-School Nights!

CASA/Hang Time--After School Opportunities for Students



We are excited to offer children a safe and fun place
 to go to after school! CASA is for children from preschool (beginning at two-years-old) to the 5th grade. Children have time to rest, eat a snack, do homework, and enjoy being a kid!

We also have a great "Hang Time" experience for middle school students. "Hang Time" students have the opportunity to finish their homework, have a snack, and enjoy some time with friends.

Please click here to sign up for CASA, and click here to sign up for Hang Time. You may also call Lynn Koffler at 954.632.7466, ext. 2519.

Westminster Academy uses ParentsWeb as part of the RenWeb School Management Software, which gives you an opportunity to be aware of your child's academic progress and future success.

You can access ParentsWeb by clicking the link in the upper right-hand corner of the school's website. If you don't yet have a ParentsWeb account, you may create one by clicking "Create New ParentsWeb Account" and entering the email address on file with the school. If we do not have your email on file, please contact IT at:  parentsweb@wacad.edu.

This Week's Helpful Tip: 

For the best experience, please download the latest version of the Firefox Web browser which is available for free from Mozilla. Once you have accessed ParentsWeb, we recommend that you bookmark it in your browser for easy reference.

Check the E-News each week for additional helpful tips..... 

 Small Group Bible Studies 

Westminster Academy is excited to bring small group Bible studies to the entire Upper School this year! It is our hope that these gatherings will give students another way to connect with the Gospel as they discuss with fellow students the spiritual truths presented in chapels.

Small groups will meet during chapel time on alternate weeks. This year, we will be studying the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22, "The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control..." Each month we will be looking at a different "fruit," in both chapels and small groups.

We hope that you would ask your child about these Bible studies to open up great family conversations about God's Word.

We hope this is a special year for your family, as together you prepare for the next stage of life!