WMS Bulletin
01-01-20 Faculty and Staff
Welcome back to 2020!
I hope everyone had a fabulous break and enjoyed a relaxing time with family and friends! We celebrated my mother's 80th with her many cousins and friends - I think she's still tired from all the dancing she did! :) I hope you all made some fun memories as well!
We will not have a Liaisons meeting on Thursday morning (1/2). I'm sure everyone can use the time to see students and prepare their classrooms, especially if their areas were affected by the maintenance over vacation.
These winter months are when an enormous amount of learning continues, and I look forward to working with you as you make the magic happen! I am also looking forward to seeing the results of the second i-Ready diagnostic, as I know you have all been working so diligently with your students and looking at the data together. It is my goal to attend many more (if not all) of the data meetings in this new year. The ILT and I will be compiling midyear information regarding the Turnaround Plan, and we will share it all with you as well. As a result of your diligence with your students (and your tremendous Learning Targets! - no joke!) I am confident that WMS will show growth this year. Keep up the good work!
Have an excellent week!
Duties This Week:
AM: Cafeteria / PM Waverley and Bemis: C. Cochran
AM: Cafeteria / PM Bemis and Westminster: M. Sullivan
AM: Waverley Entrance / PM Waverley Driveway: J. Kirkcaldy
Bemis St. Crosswalk: M. Ferguson
The full Bus/Breakfast duty schedule can be found here:
Bus and Breakfast Duty Schedule
Lunch Duty this Week: None! Please keep asking around and let me know if you know anyone who might be interested! We need to fill 1-2 more spots.
**Upcoming Dates**
December 18 - HR to visit WMS to answer any questions you may have 11:15-1:15 pm in the conference room
January 2 - Welcome Back to School! **No liaisons meeting this am**
January 3 - Progress reports distributed
Jan 6 - Jan 9 - ACCESS testing
January 7 - ILT meeting 7:15 am
January 7 - Administrative Learning Walk at WMS 9:00-11:00 am (information to come soon)
January 8 - Department meetings
January 9 - PDT meeting
January 15 - Early Release Day
January 15 - i-Ready Mathematics Diagnostic
January 15 - PD 1:00-4:00 pm
January 22 - Grade 8 to WHS
January 23 - i-Ready Reading Diagnostic
ILT Update - "Unpacking" Learning Targets and Learning Strolls Part 2
Please find an "Unpacking Cheat Sheet" HERE.
Additionally, the ILT will be doing part 2 of the Learning Strolls to see some of that "Unpacking". Please check in with one of the ILT members to discuss a good time for that to happen. You may want to have the same person as you had for term 1, or perhaps someone new. If you have any questions, please also see an ILT member. Thank you!
ILT members: Heidi, Eddie, Jason, Jim D., Meg G., Jim K., Kerri, Donna, Chris, Kellie, Karen S., Alison T.
Maintenance work at WMS over vacation
Here are the jobs which were completed:
- The cafeteria walls were painted
- The walls and lockers of the 7th-grade hallway were painted, as well as the Bemis Street entryway
- Walls on the lower level hallway were painted
- New floors were installed in the remaining five classrooms on the 6th-grade floor (the other classrooms received new floors this summer)
- Nurse Michelle's office floor was repaired
- The closet in Room 121 (new faculty lounge) was abated and the air quality tested both before and after the abatement. The tests showed good air quality
- The (very old!) safe was opened in Penelope's office. No one knows the last time it was opened, but we wanted to see what was inside, if anything, and if the 9" tiles were also on that floor as they were in the closet of 121. Inside they found a couple of flags, some old photos, and three cash boxes with a total of 10 cents in them. No records of any type were found inside. The safe does have 9" tiles which are in good condition and pose no risk at this time. A decision will be made in the future regarding abatement. Although the tiles are in excellent shape and pose no risk, the DPB conducted an air quality test on Monday (12/30). The results from the air samples, one inside the safe and one from the adjacent room, came back with results of less than 0.01 f/cc, which is below the clearance level. We will have a formal report in the next week or so.
The school looks terrific! We are looking forward to welcoming back all students and all of you in the morning!
WPS Computer Science Education Week!
We had a fabulous week of Computer Science! Thank you to Leah, Justin, Sarita, Dan, and Rashmi for putting it all together!
The contests are still going on!
- ARCADE CODE CONTEST: Design a game for the WMS Arcade! Use scratch.mit.edu to create a platformer, role-playing game, top-down, first-person - you choose the style.
Entries will be judged by a panel of teachers on creativity, coding cleverness, and playability. Visit the WPS Computer Science website to learn more. - #WPSCODERS CONTEST: Calling all students to combine the magic of doing, creating and making with the power of code to design innovative prototypes. There are four challenges for the 2019 #WPSCoders Student Contest. Please visit the WPS Computer Science website to know more about the curriculum events and the student contest.
Here is a link to the WMS Computer Science Education Week Curriculum Page that hosts Hour of Code, CS Ed Week Playground activities, CS Ed Week Literature in the library, along with the Student Contest information.
There is a link to the WPS CS Ed Website under the student resources section of the school websites for quick access.
Attendance Issues
Thank you!
Important ESL Information
Also, one new highlight is that we should have the PHLOTE (Primary Home Language Other Than English) category in Power School to say if the family requires interpretation. They have dedicated much time to marking this field. If you find that the families marked do NOT require interpretation please let Kate or me know. In the same vein, if they haven't marked someone as needing interpretation, please also let Kate or me know.
WPS Digital Learning/Library and Computer Science
Respecting one another's classes
Thank you!
No Backpacks to Period 7 please!
***They may also need a reminder by their lockers that they can't pack them up either. Taking the time to pack their bags will also make them late!***