WMS Community Bulletin 06-13-21
EXCELLENCE*EQUITY*COMMUNITY
If you are on a computer, open this in a new page. Then to translate this newsletter, click on the link to the right.
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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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Si está en una computadora, abra esto en una nueva página. Luego, para traducir este boletín, haga clic en el enlace a la derecha. Si está en un teléfono, toque a la persona en el círculo negro para obtener el botón de traducción.
(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)
Watertown Middle School 2020-2021
Happy Sunday! I hope you all are having a very nice and relaxing weekend. Personally, this is the first weekend in a while I have not had any senior or graduation festivities, and I am enjoying the calm. :)
As we enter the last full week of the 2020-2021 school year, I wanted to say thank you to everyone for your support of your students, their teachers, and of Watertown Middle School in general during this challenging year. Reflecting back, we have certainly all been through a great deal since March 2020, but there have been highlights as well. I will never forget the joy of welcoming back half of the students in person during the first hybrid days in November, and then the majority of them all together in April. We have enjoyed mask break activities and lunching and learning outside, and have increased home-school communication over Zoom. There are certainly positive takeaways from this year that we will bring forward into future years! There will be another newsletter next weekend, but I wanted to be sure and say thank you and express my gratitude before the last busy week of school; the Watertown Middle School community is a strong one and I appreciate all of you! As we say good luck and farewell to our 8th graders and welcome the new 6th graders, I know we will continue to grow and learn together into next year!
Parent/Caregiver Coffee: I will be hosting a Coffee over Zoom on Friday, June 18th from 8:30-9:30 for parents/caregivers. Please come if you have any questions about next year, reflections on this year, or just to say hello! Join Zoom Meeting
For Grade 5 Families: If your child was identified by their grade 5 teacher to take a world language next year, you should have received an email from me to make the choice of which language. Please fill out that form by tomorrow, Monday, June 14th. If you did not receive that email and you believe you should have, or if you have questions about the process, please reach out to me.
For Grade 8 Families: You should have received an email from me on Friday about upcoming activities. Please read that information carefully and sign the permission slips so that your child(ren) may participate in the events. I will put hard copies of the permission slip in the Main Office as well.
The information is also included in this Grade 8 Events Smore Newsletter and attached here: Grade 8 Events and Permission Slip 2021.pdf 8th - 2.png
Information for Grade 8 from WHS: Students should consider reviewing their course requests for 9th grade in PowerSchool before the last day of school. The courses listed under "Class Registrations" in PowerSchool are the courses that students should expect to be scheduled for. If changes need to be made, students are strongly encouraged to contact their school counselor before the summer break to ensure that they are scheduled for the classes they hope to take next year. If concerns arise over the summer, we ask that students schedule a meeting with their school counselor before the first day of school as it becomes more difficult to move student schedules once the school year has begun. School counselors will be available to meet with students at the end of August.
9th-grade counselors are as follow:
Students with last names A-E: Mr. Fabian Rivera
Students with last names F-I: Ms. Adrienne Eaton
Students with last names J-O: Ms. Katharine Slayton (Ms. Lindsy Orpen is on leave)
Students with last names P-Z: Ms. Jaimie Leonard
Students in our ESL program: Ms. Kimberly Osborne
**Please see Ms. Skypeck, Mr. Del Porto, or Ms. Martin if you need your PowerSchool log-on information.
From Dr. McGuinness: Here are the Teaching & Learning - WPS Summer Academic & Enrichment Offerings, June 2021 for your enjoyment and planning purposes. This document is a Prek-12 compilation.
Please keep in touch with your child's teachers and guidance counselors if they are having a hard time at all with anything: schoolwork, homework, stress, friends, etc. Communication is always the key to helping the children be as successful as possible! :)
Please also feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Thank you!
Please be well and take good care of one another.
Respectfully yours,
Donna Martin
Principal
Here are some important upcoming dates:
Wednesday, June 16 - Ms. Skypeck (rising gr. 6 school counselor) and I will be visiting Cunniff grade 5 classes (postponed from last Monday)
Thursday, June 17 - Grade 8 Scavenger Hunt
Friday, June 18 - Celebration of Juneteenth
Friday, June 18 - Parent/Caregiver Coffee 8:30-9:30 am Join Zoom Meeting
Monday, June 21 - 8th Grade Party 7:00-10:00 pm
Monday, June 21 - School Committee Meeting 7:00 pm
Tuesday, June 22 - Last Day of School (early release at 12:30)
Final Report cards will be mailed home at the end of the week
Tuesday, June 22 - Grade 8 Graduation 10:30 am
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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
Creativity Perseveres!
As our community transitioned from Remote School to Hybrid Classes to Fully In-person School, our students, our projects, the way we taught, and the way we interacted adapted.
But throughout all those changes, the common thread of creative engagement persevered. Our amazing students came to art classes ready to engage, challenge themselves and learn new skills and concepts. The connections they made in class and the compliments and advice they gave each other, all contributed to the impressive body of student work you will see here. Our artistic community is resilient and creative. They find joy, strength, and solace within themselves and share it with our community through visual art.
The Watertown Fine, Applied and Performing Arts Department believes in the power of art to heal, to empower, and to inspire.
We invite you to join us as we connect with and celebrate one another.
In this spirit, we offer you our second Virtual Art Show!
https://sites.google.com/watertown.k12.ma.us/wpsart/home?authuser=0
Newton's Laws Experiment
FREE Summer Enrichment Opportunities for Rising 6th - 12th Grade Students!
Watertown Community Education is pleased to offer FREE summer enrichment courses for Watertown Public Schools students entering grades 6-12! These in-person summer enrichment courses are designed to provide students with the opportunity to try a new hobby, explore an area of interest, engage in activities with their peers, be physically active, and simply have fun! We are most fortunate to share that for the 2021 Summer only, these enrichment courses are being offered FREE of charge to students as we have additional federal funding for schools. Please note that while some of these courses may have an academic component or complement a core subject area, these enrichments are not academic courses, are non-credit-bearing, and do not provide grades. For more information, including full program details, and a list of course offerings, please click here: https://www.smore.com/85u3z. Registration opens on Friday, June 11th at 6:00 PM. Please reach out to Jeff Bodner jeffrey.bodner@watertown.k12.ma.us 857-241-8499 or Debi Cornelius debora.cornelius@watertown.k12.ma.us 857-241-8067 with any questions.
Watertown Middle School Math Department Updates
On Tuesday, June 1, Mathematics Curriculum Coordinators Elizabeth Kaplan and Dan Wulf, along with Mathematics Coach Shephali Chokshi, presented to the Curriculum/Policy Sub-committee of the School Committee regarding mathematics at WMS. Below is the summary of their presentation:
Highlights of 2020/2021
All math teachers worked diligently and collaboratively to implement a common curriculum: Illustrative Math/Desmos.
WMS hired a new math coach, Shephali Chokshi, who supported and coached all math teachers. This included planning and implementing the curriculum, co-teaching, and working with students.
In addition to middle school staff, elementary coaches assisted in purposeful planning for students transitioning from 5th to 6th-grade math.
Updates for 2021/2022 School Year
7th-grade math has historically had two levels of the same math content - PreAlgebra and Advanced PreAlgebra. For the upcoming school year, 7th-grade math will be similar to 6th-grade math in that it will be one level of math. Beyond 7th grade math, the following is currently offered in Watertown:
8th Grade: Two levels of math (8th Grade Math & Algebra); 9th Grade: Algebra and Geometry
The math department will be conducting an external math program review in the fall of 2021. For this review, math education leaders from other districts will spend time in Watertown analyzing documents, observing classes, and meeting with teachers, students, and parents. We will be looking for parents to participate in forums with these external reviewers.
Teachers will continue to participate in math coaching focused on curriculum, instructional practices, and differentiating instruction to meet the needs of all math learners.
We will be using Zearn in grades 6 and 7 as a resource for the middle school WIN (What I Need) block.
Next Steps and Further Resources
A Middle School Parent Math Night will be scheduled for the Fall of 2021
The following article is an important resource that guides our work in thinking about mathematics through an equity lens. Catalyzing Change in School Mathematics_ Creating the Opportunities Our Students Deserve
Please feel free to reach out to Elizabeth Kaplan, K-7 Math/Science Coordinator, (elizabeth.kaplan@watertown.k12.ma.us) or Dan Wulf, 8-12 Math Coordinator, (daniel.wulf@watertown.k12.ma.us) with any questions.
Student Dress Code Reminder
With students coming back to school full time on April 12, we wanted to remind all students and families about the WMS Dress Code as published in the WMS Handbook. Please review this with your child(ren). Thank you!
Student Dress Code
Students’ clothing/dress should reflect their readiness to focus on learning, education and hard work. We recognize that students express themselves in many ways as young adults, but at the same time, school attire should support the scholarly culture that leads to academic success.
Student clothing should be neat, clean, and worn in the manner for which it was designed. If a student is out of dress code, he/she will first get a verbal warning and be asked to change. If the student can’t find appropriate clothing, he/she can use our stock of Watertown athletic clothing as an alternative. If it is a second or repeat offense, the student will be referred to administration for disciplinary action.
Students are expected to adhere to the following guidelines while in school, or while attending a school-sponsored event or field trip:
No clothing or accessories with inappropriate or offensive symbols or statements shall be worn. Some examples include but are not limited to:
References to drugs, tobacco or alcohol
References to discriminatory slurs
References to violence
Sexual connotations
Head coverings shall be worn in the case of religious or health reasons.
Chests, stomachs, buttocks, and all undergarments should be covered at all times. Undergarments should not be visible at any time.
All clothing, including shirts, tops, dresses, pants, shorts, and leggings, must be completely opaque (not see-through).
Clothing must be free of holes, rips, and tears that are inappropriately located.
Night clothing, including but not limited to pajamas, slippers, etc. may not be worn.
Administration reserves the right to evaluate the appropriateness of student dress when needed.
We will evaluate the dress code on an annual basis to adjust for cultural trends
Weekly Learning Plans
Grade 6 Website and e-Learning Plans - click here
Grade 7 Website and e-Learning Plans - click here
Grade 8 Website and e-Learning Plans - click here
If you have any questions, please email (or have your student email) the teacher.
Thank you!
**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/