Hello Whitford Families,
While there might only be fifteen student contact days in February, there’s no shortage of information and news coming out of Whitford. We have ended our first semester and teachers are working hard to assess student work measured against learning targets and making summary judgements so you as parents and guardians have a clear picture of what your student has or has not mastered. Beyond our academic marks of 1-4, please pay attention to the behavior marks given by teachers. There is usually a direct correlation between behavior marks and how students are performing. If their academic marks are lower than expected, take a look at the behavior marks. It might help clear up any confusion.
February is also conference month. We will be conducting conferences in a similar fashion to how they were done in October. We are still not allowed to have people in our building, so in-person conferences will need to wait until next year. All parents/guardians received an email on how to indicate when you would like your communication from teachers for conferencing. We will do our best to meet your needs, but please remember that teachers simply don’t have enough conference hours to meet with their entire student load. They will need to prioritize who to call or email. If you don’t receive information on your student during conferences from a specific teacher, reach out to the teacher via email and they will respond.
Believe it or not, forecasting is just around the corner. Our 8th graders will be meeting with high school counselors to forecast for next year and our returning students and 5th graders will be forecasting for their electives around the end of the month. For those students returning, we will be offering the same electives as all other middle schools. Art, Drama, Technology, Band, Choir, Spanish (both native and beginning). This is an exciting time for students as most students get two elective choices. 7th and 8th grade students will be choosing yearlong electives.
On the student behavior front, we have seen a sharp decline in aggressive student behavior as compared to the beginning of the year. This is welcomed news as our staff has created rapport with our student body and we are able to deescalate student behavior before anything gets aggressive. I want to thank not only you as parents/guardians for talking to your students about proper behavior, but also to our amazing staff who is more visible, aware, and understanding of student needs.
However, getting to class on time has been a challenge for some. We are having more students find a way out of class and roaming the halls than at the beginning of the year. We have our campus monitor and other support staff, but we need your support to eliminate this dilemma. It would be helpful if you have a conversation with your student about the importance of staying in class for the entire 42 minutes. This will increase student achievement and continue to keep our school safe.
Our students have faced a whirlwind of changes over the past two years. I believe it was two years ago last week that the first COVID-19 case was reported in the United States. Since that event, our students have been through a two-week pause, ending a school year on Zoom, uncertainty over how school will look for the next year, starting a year on Zoom, trying to figure out hybrid, returning to school this year will guidelines and protocols about social distancing and masking, as well as contact tracing and new variants. I have always believed that children are resilient, and this proves not only are they resilient, but are also able to adapt and adjust to adversity and change. A life skill they will need to be successful in the workplace and in life.
Brian Peerenboom, Principal
