Monday, Jan 9th at 4pm, WB White is hosting Berkshire Black at West Bloomfield MS (home)

GREEN team games have been cancelled for January 9th.

Wednesday, Jan 11th:

Swim meet away @Royal Oak for Royal Oak relays

Green team basketball away at Warner.

Student Spectators are welcome to stay for games at 4pm or earlier.

Games that are after 4 require students to go home and come back to be a spectator.

Athletes, including cheerleaders, do not have to go home regardless of game start time.

The bagel fundraiser will resume January 2023.

Mark your calendars: Frozen Jr is our BIG musical for the year. Our 6th graders will travel to the high school on March 3rd at 10am to watch a preview.

Tickets will be on sale soon for March 3rd and 4th performances.

PTO meeting: January 11th at 6pm.

Next Positive Behavior Treat Event: January 13th

January 15 United We Walk
January 16 Dr. MLK Jr. Day - No School
January 18 Half Day - HS Only
January 19 Half Day - All Schools
January 20 Half Day - All Schools

February 1 No School for Students

Volleyball tryouts will begin Monday, January 23. See below for details.

Also, mark your calendars as we are fortunate to have Funding the Future coming to WBMS on April 28th for 8th graders. More information soon!

8th Grade Dates:

June 5th: Cedar Point trip (more information about costs and times coming soon)

June 9th: 8th grade dance (evening event)

June 13th: 8th Grade Promotion Ceremony details coming soon

Recently, there has been media coverage regarding AEDs, or automated external defibrillators. These devices are used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest.

Our middle school is equipped with 3 AEDs (near the gym, 1st floor and 2nd floor). We have also provided training to all of our staff on the use of these units. The AED placement and number of devices was determined after consultation with district and county nursing staff.

The coming new year brings the end of our first semester of the school year in our new building.

For our students in 6th grade Musical Theatre, that means an opportunity to show off a semester's worth of growth and learning. And what better way to show off, than with a show for family and friends?

Our fourth and fifth hour classes will be performing Free to Be You and Me together on the WBMS auditeria stage on Thursday, January 19 at 10:25 A.M. Family members are welcome to come share in this fun capstone to our class.

Students performing in the show should wear their WMBS House shirts (teal, yellow, or blue). If a student doesn't have a house shirt for some reason, they may wear other WB-branded spirit wear.

We look forward to seeing you at the show.

"WBSD has partnered with Parent Guidance.org to give parents free access to resources and helpful information. We have shared this information with our families. We hope that it will be useful for some of you as well!

ParentGuidance.org is an online service by licensed therapists that provides trusted and specialized courses, professional support, and a safe community for parents to learn how to support their children and get answers to mental health questions.

As we near winter break, the WBMS staff wants to make sure all of our families have access to the resources they may need. This is the Oakland County Community Resource Guide, which includes resources about topics including Abuse & Protective Services; Food Pantries, Clothing & Household; Healthcare Services; Housing Assistance; and Parenting & Pregnancy Resources.

211 (United Way) offers resources/connections for family support as well. Parents/adults can call, text, or email. Here is the link to the 211 website, which is searchable by topic. Additionally, see these 211 flyers in English, Spanish, and Arabic.

Finally, here are some resources for Food Pantry/Supplies near WB/Oakland County.

Sometimes parents and even students are confused about the role of the middle school counselor. In our elementary schools, we utilize social workers for emotional support for all students; however, in middle and high school we expand services to offer supports provided by specifically trained and certified school counselors.

Every middle school student is assigned a counselor. Counselors have many roles including, but not limited to: scheduling, emotional support, academic support, and coordinating teachers' efforts to support students. If a student or parent has questions or concerns about multiple classes a counselor will step in to coordinate parent-teacher meetings, writing support plans and providing information about additional services (both in and outside of school) to support the student and even the family.

Students experiencing a more pervasive and serious emotional crisis may be referred to outside of school services, or our social workers or mental health specialist.

Counselor assignments (by last name)

Mackenzie Peguese A-GH

Steve Levitan GI-N

Susan Chang O-Z

1. Winter 2 season begins on January 23rd.

2. Any student wishing to tryout for and participate in WBMS School Sports must complete the following and register online:

MHSAA Physical Form- All participants must have a current physical (dated after 4/15/22) on file in order to be able to participate in tryouts. There are no exceptions to this rule. https://westbloomfieldathletics.com/mhsaa-physical-form/

3. Please complete FinalForms registration at www.westbloomfield-mi.finalforms.com

4. If a child participated in a previous sport at WBMS this year, their registration is all set and their physical is on file. They just need to add the Winter 2 sport they are participating in to their file.

5. With volleyball, 2 of our 4 teams will have to practice at Roosevelt Elementary daily (Old Abbott Middle School building). The volleyball standards and nets are still there and a shuttle has been arranged daily (after the first 3 days of tryouts) to drop the players off at Roosevelt.

6. Parent pick up will be at Roosevelt or WBMS depending on team.

We strongly encourage students to wear their lanyards and IDs to help the check out in the lunch lines go faster.

We have made some changes: Those students wearing a teal lanyard may exit to class through doors closer to the teal pod to encourage on time arrival

Our district nutrition office has created a separate "snack line" to ensure that every student who wants to purchase a lunch can do so and have plenty of time to eat. This has been a HUGE success however, many students prefer to purchase snacks in addition and sometimes in lieu of a lunch so the snack line has become very long and sometimes there is not enough time for students to purchase snacks.

We appreciate the patience of all of our students as we continually try to improve the lunch experience for each one of them

Nutrition Services serves nutritious meals to students daily in all buildings. A school lunch includes an entrée, grain, fruit, vegetable, and milk. A la carte milk prices are $0.50 for students and adults.

Middle School Breakfast: $1.50 Middle School Lunch: $2.95

See below for a list of prices for all alacarte (snack) items

Through the month of January, we will begin Kids in Charge lessons with all students in all 4 core subjects. A kid in charge is someone who makes safe decisions for themself. They will cover alcohol prevention education, tobacco and vaping prevention education, marijuana prevention education, making good choices, refusal skills, safe and trusted adults and coping skills. This is a great opportunity to discuss what they learned on these topics and the rules and expectations you follow in your home on them as well. This program is sponsored by the Greater West Bloomfield Community Coalition. To learn more about these topics visit www.gwbcoalition.org.

We love our parent volunteers and would like to extend that invitation again to any parent interested:

If you are interested in coming into the building to volunteer, we have a variety of areas to offer you the opportunity to participate in.

If you would like to begin the process of volunteering at the middle school please click on this link and complete the google form.

Once you have completed the form, you will be emailed the required forms to complete. Once those forms are completed and processed you will be contacted to arrange the date(s) and times to volunteer.

We look forward to having parents, and guardians in the building to support the educational process.

Link to google form: Click to begin the volunteer process

REGISTER TODAY!

Attention all parents - have you created your PowerSchool Parent Portal Account? If not, please create a parent portal account today. This allows the District the ability to communicate with you about your child's progress. Additional information can be found here

Mrs. Morton can also help--she is in the main office

Teachers can assign lunch detentions for disrupting class, but most lunch detentions are for tardiness to class.

Here is how they are assigned: the first 3 tardies = warnings, the 4th tardy is a lunch detention, the 5th tardy is a warning, the 5th and 6th tardies are after school detentions.

The pattern then repeats. Consequences reset on the first Monday of each month.

Parents can keep track of your student's tardiness on Power School. If your child is assigned an after school detention, you will receive an automated message from our HERO system as long as your email contact information is updated and accurate.

Additionally, we have updated the HERO system to send email notices when students are late to classes. The email will be sent from HERO notifications.

We only assign after school detentions on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Students will need picked up at 4:00. You do not need to come in the building. Mrs. Henry or Mrs. Berryman (our after school detention teachers) will walk them out to the carline. Mrs. McDowell will also send your student home with a reminder note.

Please help your child and encourage him/her to be on time to class.

Although we have alloted time for students to complete XELLO during the school day, many students have yet to complete the process.

We will pull kids at recess who have not completed the process to allow them to do so.

ASK YOUR STUDENT ABOUT XELLO

XELLO is a program that assists students in discovering relevant college, university, trade, and career options based on their personality, skills, and knowledge. XELLO is a great tool to explore career options.

Students will use XELLO each year through twelfth grade by logging into their student PowerSchool account. Students have access to XELLO at home please ask your student about his/her XELLO plan and progress.

Students can complete XELLO at home or at school. Links to the directions can be found below

Anna Brener, nominated by Mrs. Scheloske: Anna is a remarkable young lady. Anna comes to class every day with a positive attitude and a willingness to help her peers. Anna always gives 100% effort in class and on all of her assignments. Anna is respectful to her Teacher and to all of her classmates. I am very PROUD of Anna!

Luke Redner, nominated by Mrs. Scheloske: Luke is a wonderful young man. Every day he enters class with a positive attitude and he ALWAYS gives 100% effort to his work and 100% attention to our daily lessons. Luke is kind and respectful and very helpful to his classmates. Every single day Luke makes it a point to greet me in the morning and he always wishes me a nice day as he leaves class. I appreciate him so much!

Hunter DeGrand, nominated by Mrs. Bairski: Hunter is a well-rounded student. He has many interests and always does his best. He is excited to learn and offers great insight to class discussion. He does things because it is the right thing to do and he is humble about it. He never expects a reward or any extra privilege- he just dies things to be kind and helpful.

On March 3rd, all 6th graders will take a school bus to West Bloomfield High School at 10am

to view part of the middle school musical "Frozen Jr"

This is what we call a reverse field trip, meaning, all students will attend (no fees, no permission slips). If parents do not want their 6th graders to attend there will be an opt out process in February.

As you know we have very limited medical treatment that we can give students. Students cannot bring over the counter or prescription medication to school without proper documentation (see form below)

We as school staff are allowed to give ice as part of standard first aid care in a school setting without parental consent, in addition to bandaids and soap and water.

If it's deemed a minor injury the student can be treated and return to class.

For a head injury or more serious injury the parent will be notified in addition to ice or bandages.

Extra Learning Opportunities

We are excited to announce that our district is offering new programming in our schools to provide extra learning opportunities (before or after schools) and additional support during the school day through the use of one-time federal grant funding. Students will be invited to participate based on identified needs. These identified needs are data-driven and in accordance with grant guidelines and requirements. We realize that many families may be interested in an opportunity like this. Our goal is to provide targeted support to as many students as possible, specifically for those with an identified need for additional support. If you have not received an invitation and are interested, please contact our principal, Mrs. Amy Hughes.

If your student tests positive for CoVID 19 please keep your student at home and email Mrs Graff: Lisa.Graff@wbsd.org with the onset date of symptoms and the test date so she can calculate the days your student must stay home and wear a mask in school. These days are excused.

Route 3 cannot host any extra riders at this time.

If your student needs to ride a different bus home (or to a friend's house) a note must be dropped off in the main office before 1st hour, with a parent's signature. The note will be processed and can be picked up by the student during the day. The notes, authorized with a staff signature must be handed to the driver of the route. Students who do not have signed notes will not be allowed to ride a different bus.

Please mark your calendars! We will take professional photos of every house (pan to wear your house shirt) in the morning of Feb. 6th

Photos will be available for purchase/order soon.

Our own Max Columbus interviewed the district DEI Leader, Ms Sonja James. See the interview below

We have a wonderful in school support team to assist students. Counselors, assigned by last name, are the best place to start. We also suggest reviewing with your students:

• Trusted Adults - Please encourage your students to utilize trusted adults in their schools. When we focus on relationship building, the culture of the school becomes one of inclusion and support where students feel comfortable confiding in trusted adults.

• OK2Say - Michigan Student Safety Program - Report anonymous tips on criminal activity, potential harm, or threats using OK2Say. Call 855-565-2729.

• Talk to Us - On our district website. This is a safe place to ask questions and report problems anonymously.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline - Provides 24/7 confidential support for those in distress and suicide prevention.

Mental Health Resources

WBSD has partnered with Parent Guidance.org to give parents free access to resources and helpful information. ParentGuidance.org is an online service by licensed therapists that provides trusted and specialized courses, professional support, and a safe community for parents to learn how to support their children and get answers to mental health questions.

If you know of someone experiencing grief or stress this season, please click here for tips and strategies.

Semester 2 will begin at the end of January.

It is rare that we need to change a student's schedule. We do not change schedules to accommodate requests for a certain lunch, to be in class with friends or to request a specific teacher. PLEASE complete this form only IF you are currently placed in an incorrect class; for example: I have Waller for ELA now and Weiner semester 2.

Please do not email your counselors directly. Counselors will use the responses on this form to make changes in the order which they are received and communicate those changes to you. Students should not assume that the schedule is changed until the updates can be seen in Power School and/or the counselor has communicated with you directly.

Also, if you are interested in being a LINK student, I am attaching the application here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NsAgSBq8kYeyAXmDSF9itBY-Ttp-NjLmAy-JmmnukLw/edit?usp=sharing

Due January 10th

Schedule change request form is here: https://forms.gle/htXssgLFXTMxiL3V6

The WBSD is pleased to announce that we have entered into an agreement with GAGGLE to continue our efforts to keep students in our school safe from harm.

Gaggle is a student safety software that we will begin using on our platforms at the end of January 2023. Over 1,500 school districts across the country utilize gaggle to identify students who may be in crisis so appropriate staff members can contact parents and support the identified student.

Gaggle leverages a powerful combination of best-in-class artificial intelligence, machine learning, and a highly trained content review team to flag concerning content that K-12 students may be ingesting, receiving, or posting using school-provided devices and platforms, including Google Workspace for Education, Microsoft Office 365, Google Chat (formerly Google Hangouts), Microsoft Teams, and the Canvas learning management system. The tool is used by more than 1,500 school districts around the country to help identify and protect young children from threats of violence, self-harm, and suicide; child pornography, online predators, and sexual content; cyberbullying or other forms of online abuse; and drug or alcohol abuse.

Key points of this relationship include that only district owned and supported devices and platforms will be reviewed, the most serious content will be identified and shared with parents and the overall goal is the continued protection of all of our WBSD students.

If you have questions about this product or the district’s intentions, please reach out to any of the 3 WBMS administrators.

We require students to wear their lanyards and school IDs every day. To support these positive behaviors, we will be rewarding those students with a raffle ticket.

If a student needs to purchase a lanyard, they are for sale for 2$ in the office

If a student needs to purchase an ID, they are for sale for $5 in the office

We are drawing a winning ticket every day at every lunch!

Our next PBIS reward will run from Dec. 5-Dec. 23rd and January 9-12th. The criteria will be no office referrals and five or less tardies. We love catching our Lakers doing the right thing!

As the weather is getting colder, parents are asking about our procedures for coats, and snow boots.

Coats that fit in a student's locker should stay there for the day (unless it is needed for recess). If a coat does not fit in the locker, students may hang coats on hooks in the Advisory classes during the school day.

Snow boots will be the house collaboration areas (we ordered plastic trays for the boots to be placed on).

We will continue to have an opportunity for students to go outside for recess as long as the students want to go out and the weather cooperates (for example, we will not offer the outside option during an ice storm)

If your student is waiting to be picked up in the car line please make sure they are appropriately dressed for the weather. We are asking that parents pick up those waiting in the car line ASAP due to the changing conditions of MIchigan's cold weather and no after school supervision for students waiting to be picked up.

As Mrs. Forhan's School Board term comes to an end, our own Max Columbus interviewed her for her parting thoughts. See below

Every month the Superintendent and the Board of Education will recognize one WBSD student for academic excellence. In addition, the student must be dedicated to their studies, clubs and organizations, and exhibit qualities of a role model. They will be presented with the Superintendent's Excellence Award at the regular board meeting for that month. The Superintendent's Excellence Award is meant to promote success in and out of the classroom. The student must be able to handle many different aspects of student life while maintaining excellence in the classroom. The student must be diligent and complete their assignments on time; show a strong effort to learn subjects to the best of their ability; prepare for class; and have good classroom participation. The student must demonstrate excellent behavior in and out of the classroom, is well mannered, and is respectful to both peers and teachers. This award is designed to nominate and select students who promote and take pride in WBSD and in themselves.

Students will be nominated by WBSD staff and administration each month. Each month the staff will be reminded of the nominations and sent a link to complete the nomination application. Each staff member can only nominate one (1) student per month.

A student cannot receive the award more than once within a year.

The event will take place at West Bloomfield MIDDLE School in the Audeteria from 1 - 3 p.m.

1 p.m. - Short program featuring student talents

1:30 p.m. - Walk begins

2:15 p.m. - Refreshments available

We encourage you to participate in a variety of service projects and activities at the event including:

• Blessings in a Backpack – donate small cans of tuna and chicken and Kraft Mac & Cheese

• Lighthouse Pantry – donate Mac & Cheese, canned vegetables, non-perishable items, adult and child diapers, and baby formula

• Open Door Food Pantry – donate non-perishable foods and socks

• Book Donation – donate new or used K - 12 books for West Bloomfield students in need and Lighthouse

• Decorate Bookmarks

• Peace Rocks – decorate rocks with symbols of Peace. Make 2 and 1 will be placed in the terraces of WB Library or around a peace pole yet to be installed on the administrative grounds and 1 may be taken home

• Peace Mobile – submit designs that will be later painted on a “hippie-type” van which may have variety of uses.

• Bone Marrow Registry

If your student will be ABSENT or LATE to school please call the Safeline at

248-865-4482

The line is open 24/7

Absences must be excused within 24 hours of the date

If your student must have access to, carry or take ANY prescribed OR over the counter medication while at school, a form attached below, completed and signed by a doctor, must be on file in the main office.

This includes, but is not limited to Tylenol, Tums, prescriptions, and Advil. Under no circumstances can a student be in possession of medication without the proper forms on file. Students possessing medication without the forms on file or distributing medication to other students will be subject to discipline following the district's Code of Conduct.

Nominate an 'Exceptional Educator'

WXYZ (Channel 7) seeks your help in recognizing some of the exceptional educators within WBSD. Nominate a difference-maker today! A winner will be chosen monthly and will receive a $1,000 donation for their respective school or program, along with a $100 gift card to Happy's Pizza. Discover more and nominate a teacher or administrator as an exceptional educator.

Boston University:

Greetings!

It may be cold outside in Boston, but it’s never too early to start planning for summer! Please let your students know they can now apply online for the 2023 Summer Term High School Programs at Boston University, via our website.

Next summer, we are offering five pre-college programs, each of which provides rigorous and collaborative college life experiences that will enable students to gain a strong sense of their personal and academic potential. Here is a brief overview of the one some of our middle school students are eligible for:

• Summer Preview is a one-week, non-credit residential or commuter program in which students explore one subject of interest while previewing the college experience. Students must be entering eighth grade or their freshman or sophomore year of high school in fall 2023.

Amy Hughes, Principal

Jermaine Evans, Assistant Principal

Blaine McDowell, Dean of Student Services

Lisa Graff, Assistant Principal