WMS Community Bulletin 01-23-22
EXCELLENCE*EQUITY*COMMUNITY
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Se você estiver em um computador, abra uma nova página. Em seguida, para traduzir esta newsletter, clique no link à direita. Se você estiver em um telefone, toque na pessoa no círculo preto para obter o botão de tradução.
(Portuguese)
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(Spanish)
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إذا كنت تستخدم جهاز كمبيوتر ، فافتح هذا في صفحة جديدة. بعد ذلك ، لترجمة هذه النشرة الإخبارية ، انقر فوق الارتباط الموجود على اليمين.
إذا كنت تستخدم الهاتف ، فالمس الشخص الموجود في الدائرة السوداء للحصول على زر الترجمة. (Arabic)
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Եթե համակարգիչ եք, բացեք սա նոր էջում: Ապա, այս տեղեկագիրը թարգմանելու համար կտտացրեք աջ հղմանը: Եթե հեռախոսով եք, դիպչեք սև շրջանի անձին ՝ թարգմանության կոճակը ստանալու համար: (Armenian)
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Bilgisayar kullanıyorsanız, bunu yeni bir sayfada açın. Ardından, bu bülteni çevirmek için sağdaki bağlantıya tıklayın. Telefonda iseniz, çevir düğmesini almak için siyah daire içindeki kişiye dokunun. (Turkish)
Newsletter Table of Contents
- Remarks from Principal Martin (MLK lessons continued, Coats for Kids award, Covid testing, Grade 8 info)
- January 2022 Covid updates from Dr. Galdston
- Important Upcoming Dates and A day/B day schedule
- Cluster/Department Smore Newsletters
- Anti-Bias Coalition Meeting
- Fall Guardian Emergency Contact Verification
- Community Service Information
- Watertown Recreation Updates and Flyers
- School Site Council Dates
- PTO Dates
- Contact Information
Watertown Middle School 2021-2022
Happy Sunday! I hope you all have had a nice (cold!) weekend. One thing I definitely love about winter is that it is basketball season at WMS! I have been enjoying seeing the excellent play by both boy's and girl's teams on Tuesdays and Thursdays when they are at home - so much fun!
Last week in homeroom we all viewed the readings of the MLK essays written by 8th graders Yensi, Valentina, and Hagop. Very moving and truly memorable. This week during WIN/SEL time, students will be viewing the excellent video produced by the WHS Kingian Club in celebration of the life and work of Dr. King. Over the next few days, they will be choosing their favorite quotes from Dr. King, as mentioned in the video, and discussing their meaning and importance. Additionally, they will be talking about Acts of Service and how they can commit to being a positive and active member in the WMS Community and beyond. We are hoping to get a food drive going this upcoming week - please keep an eye out for details and ask your children about the advisory activities! :)
Speaking of community service, Congratulations and thank you to Mr. McDermott and the Community Service club participants who helped to gather the coats for the Coats for Kids project! Watertown Middle School received 3rd Place Middle School for the annual 2021/2022 Coats for Kids and Families program!
The school will receive a $250 Prize for the purchase of school supplies donated by Enterprise Bank. But more importantly, they helped to make sure that anyone who needed a coat this winter received one. Thank you also to all families who donated coats!
We will be continuing our COVID pool testing on Monday (tomorrow). Attendance is certainly improving, and we believe we have turned a corner with positive cases. That being said, please join us in continuing to remind students about physical distancing and mask-wearing. We would love to begin planning future school activities such as dances and larger gatherings, but need to be sure we can all remain safe during these events.
As a reminder:
Please keep your child(ren) home from school if they have any symptoms of COVID (fever, chills, headache, sore throat, coughing, shortness of breath, congestion or runny nose, muscle aches, loss of taste/smell, nausea, or diarrhea). It would be best if you plan to take your child to the FREE rapid symptomatic testing clinic at Lowell West (former St. Jude’s, 175 Main Street, Waltham) any time between the hours 8:00 to 10:30 on school days. No appointment is necessary. Testing at Lowell West is the best option if you have any doubts or questions.
Thank you to all of our families for your continued understanding and support over these past few days. Our strategy should limit exposures to COVID in our schools, and hopefully, we will see lower numbers over the coming weeks.
Please reinforce with your children that they need to be wearing their masks over their mouth and nose AT ALL TIMES while in the classrooms and hallways. We want everyone to stay safe so we can all stay in school!
Student Work Expectations while on Quarantine: While students are not Zooming into classes like last year, they are expected to complete their schoolwork regardless. To be sure, if they are experiencing symptoms and feeling ill, they do not need to complete schoolwork. However, once they are feeling better, they should be checking Google Classroom and reaching out to their teachers and classmates if they have questions. Teachers will be posting work clearly on Google Classroom so students do not get too far behind.
Grade 8 Families: The teachers and I met with each cluster last week to discuss Behavior Expectations for the spring. To be sure, they are no different than our expectations for the fall, or for when they were in the other two grades. However, this June (assuming Covid is cooperating), there are many exciting 8th grade activities such as the DC trip/Watertown Week activities, Field Day, and the 8th Grade Dance. In order for students to participate in these activities, we need to be assured they can demonstrate safe behaviors at all times. If your child was in school for the assemblies, they should have brought the form home. If your child was absent, or you need another copy of the form, please find it here: 8th Grade End of Year Events Contract.
Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Please be well and take good care of one another.
Respectfully yours,
Donna Martin
Principal
January 2022 COVID-19 Updates
Please read the January 2022 COVID Updates from Superintendent Galdston.
Here are some important upcoming dates:
Tuesday, January 25 - Last Day of Term 2
Wednesday, January 26 - First Day of Term 3
Thursday, January 27 - WMS Diversity Council meeting 6:00-7:00 pm Join Zoom Meeting
Monday, January 31 - Anti-Bias Coalition meeting 5:30 pm (see additional info below)
Tuesday, February 1 - School Site Council 6:30 pm Join Zoom Meeting
Friday, February 4 - Term 2 Report Cards sent home
Monday, February 7 - School Committee meeting
Friday, February 18 - NO SCHOOL for students; Professional Learning for Faculty/Staff
Monday, February 21 - Friday, February 25 - NO SCHOOL - February Vacation
Thursday, March 10 - Equity in WPS Speaker Series Part 4 - How to Have Difficult Conversations
2021 - 2022 District School Year Calendar
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A Day / B Day schedule - For all students, specialist classes (Art, Health, Music/Drama, and Tech. Ed) occur on alternate days with Physical Education. I will include the A Day/B Day schedule in my newsletter to help you support your children with materials they may need for each day, for example, sneakers on their PE (gym) days.
Mon. 1/24 - A day
Tues. 1/25 - B day
Wed. 1/26 - A day
Thurs. 1/27 - B day
Fri. 1/28 - A day
Mon. 1/31 - B day
Tues. 2/1 - A day
Wed. 2/2 - B day
Thurs. 2/3 - A day
Fri. 2/4 - B day
Mon. 2/7 - A day
Tues. 2/8 - B day
Wed. 2/9 - A day
Thurs. 2/10 - B day
Fri. 2/11 - A day
Mon. 2/14 - B day
Tues. 2/15 - A day
Wed. 2/16 - B day
Thurs. 2/17 - A day
Fri. 2/18 - NO SCHOOL for students / PD for WPS Teachers/Staff
Mon 2/21 - Fri 2/25 - NO SCHOOL February Break
Mon. 2/28 - B day
Tues. 3/1 - A day
Wed. 3/2 - B day
Thurs. 3/3 - A day
Fri. 3/4 - B day
Please email me with any questions, concerns, or input you may have. As always, we will work together as a community! #wmsstrong
Take good care of each other,
All my best,
Donna
Cluster / Department Smore Newsletters are Here!
Please click on the Smore links to read all about the exciting teaching and learning taking place throughout the school!
Cluster Smores will now be updated twice a month and were updated on 1/14. Please look for the next update on 1/28.
Anti-Bias Coalition Meeting
We will be having our monthly ABC meeting on Monday, January 31st at 5:30pm evening. The meeting will be HYBRID, as we continue our work on reestablishing our purpose with Lisa Smith-McQueenie of LMS Consulting for Change.
The in-person location is the Data Lab on the 3rd floor of the Phillips Building. Please RSVP using this link, so that we are able to ensure that the physical space is sufficient for appropriate distancing- https://forms.gle/MaqHYdkJr26kfPao6.
For virtual participation, the recurring zoom link is listed at the very bottom of this email, along with the remaining dates, for your convenience.
Best,
Kimberlee Henry, EdD
The remaining dates are the following Mondays from 5:30-7pm:
January 31st
February 28th
March 28th
April 25th
May 16th
June 13th
Annual Online Fall Guardian/Emergency Contact Information Verification
There are still many WMS families the have not completed the online Fall Guardian/Emergency Contact Information Verification. You should have received an email prompting you to complete this process.
The Annual Online Fall Guardian/Emergency Contact Information Verification forms are still open. This process utilizes our online registration/enrollment system and is required annually to verify and update student demographic, health, family, and contact data.
Please note: To ensure you receive all of the District’s email and phone communications, please provide a primary phone and email address for each custodial contact – Mother, Father, or Guardian. The form is pre-populated with student data as it appears in our system. Please review and update as necessary.
Enrollment is mobile-friendly and is accessible from any smartphone. If you do not have access to a computer or a smartphone, please contact the Registrar - Terri Stafford - at 617-972-4216.
Community Service Updates!
The Snow Shoveling program is back at WMS! If your child is interested in earning community service hours by shoveling snow for an elderly neighbor this winter, this is the program for them! Permission forms are available in the main office, or you can print the form attached below. Shortly after the form is submitted to the main office at the middle school, someone from the rec department will reach out with your child's assignment.
This form will be used by all students to log their hours.
This is the form for caregivers to submit ideas for community service opportunities.
At WMS, it is recommended that 6th graders complete at least 10 hours of community service, 7th graders complete at least 15 hours, and 8th graders complete at least 20 hours.
If you have any questions, please contact Mr. McDermott at christopher.mcdermott@watertown.k12.ma.us
Updates from the Watertown Recreation Department!
- Information/Links for the February and April Vacation Programs are attached below.
- Our Snow Shoveling Program is a community service opportunity provided by the Department of Recreation and the Council on Ageing. The program pairs up middle and high school students with seniors in the Watertown Community to provide snow shoveling. (attachment below)
- Our Wachusett Ski and Board Program offers Middle and High School students a six-week program of skiing and boarding on Saturday nights beginning January 8. (attachment below)
- The Department of Recreation is looking for seasonal staff to support our upcoming programs as well as our very busy summer schedule. If there is interest, please have them contact me directly at the Recreation Office at 617-972-6494 for more specific information.
WMS School Site Council
Tuesday, February 1, 2021 Join Zoom Meeting
6:30 - 7:30 pm
Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of each month, and are currently scheduled for:
February 1
March 1
April 5
May 3
June 7
PTO Meetings
Yes, there is a PTO in Middle School, and we want as many of you as possible to be involved! :)
Meetings are typically held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm and are currently scheduled for the following:
February 9
March 9
April 13
May 11
June 8
We will start with having meetings on Zoom, but can transition to in-person if the group would like to do so. Looking forward to seeing you there!
**EMERGENCY ALERTS**
Watertown Middle School
Email: donna.martin@watertown.k12.ma.us
Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/
Location: 68 Waverley Avenue, Watertown, MA, USA
Phone: 617-926-7783
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/watertownms/