Online Registration

Online registration is coming to West Fargo Public Schools! Look for further details and communications to be sent to families later this spring as we prepare for implementing the process for next year.

High School & Middle School Names

At the March 11 regularly-scheduled meeting, the School Board voted 6 - 1 in favor of naming the district's third middle school Heritage Middle School. The new middle school will open for the 2020-2021 school year and will serve students from Legacy Elementary School, Horace Elementary School, and Deer Creek Elementary School. Heritage Middle School will be located at 6350 76th Ave S, Horace, ND 58047. The School Board also voted 4 - 3 in favor of naming the district's third high school West Fargo Horace High School. The new high school will open for the 2021-2022 school year and will serve students from Heritage Middle School. The official address for Horace High School is to be determined, but it will be within the city limits of Horace, on the same campus as Heritage Middle School.

Momo Challenge

The Momo challenge is the latest online ‘challenge' that has understandably caused many parents concern. Although there have been lots of media stories in the last week, there is no verified evidence that this ‘challenge’ has caused harm to children, and more recent investigations have found it to be fake news. Despite this, it is clear that it is causing distress among parents and children.

The Momo character — the disfigured face attached to a bird’s body — was, in fact, a prop named ‘Mother Bird’ made in Japan three years ago for an art exhibition. It was claimed that the Momo challenge was ‘played’ over WhatsApp. The Momo character allegedly asked would-be participants to contact ‘her’ and do a series of challenges — the final challenge being suicide. 

Although the Momo challenge is now being reported as a hoax, the reports, warnings, and disturbing images could still cause distress to children. It’s important that parents talk to their children about it. The best way to start is to ask a general question about whether they have seen anything online that upset or worried them. Explain that there are often things that happen online that can be misleading or frightening and that some things are designed to get a lot of attention. Parents need to follow their child’s lead — introducing a worrying subject to a child who isn’t familiar with it might lead them to investigate. On the other hand, avoiding mentioning it won’t provide a chance for a good discussion. Take your child’s lead and whatever you decide about overtly talking about these kinds of topics, make sure that they know that contacting strangers and doing anything at all that they are asked to do online or off that makes them feel scared, worried or uncomfortable is not OK.

There are many great online resources available; here are three of our favorites: Common Sense Media, NetSmartz, and ParentZone.  

Kindergarten Preregistration

West Fargo Public Schools will hold kindergarten preregistration from 4:00PM - 7:00PM on Monday, March 25 and Tuesday, March 26.

With the exception of Deer Creek Elementary School, all families go to their neighborhood school to preregister. Deer Creek Elementary School families should preregister at Legacy Elementary School.

Each registered child must provide a copy of a current immunization record and proof of identity (birth certificate, visa, I-94, or other government-issued ID). Preregistration is still possible without these documents.

Children must be five years old on, or before, July 31, 2019 to attend kindergarten in 2019-2020.

If you do not know which school your child will attend, enter your address online at www.west-fargo.k12.nd.us/registration. Preregistration is an opportunity for parents to complete the necessary paperwork; students need not attend. Students and families will be invited back to meet staff and tour the schools at August's Back to School Night.

New Middle School & High School Transition Plan

At the February 11 School Board meeting, the Board approved the grade level transition plan recommended by the Strategic Transition task force:

• 6th-9th grade students to attend the new middle school in 2020-2021
• 9th-10th grade students at the new high school in 2021-2022, 9th-11th grade students in 2022-2023, and 9th-12th grade students in 2023-2024