WMS Friday Forecast

The Good, The Bad, and The RedHawks

The Good:

As we talk with our students, we find that they are mostly happy in the setting they are in.
Our teachers are seeing most students attend to tasks and learning with their synchronous and in-person learning.
Students are getting involved at WMS through some athletics, and soon with clubs.
Our hybrid students are showing good judgment with safety by maintaining social distance and wearing their masks. (What I feared might be a concern has really been a non-issue.)

The Bad:

Many of our students, on asynchronous days (hybrid) or days they don't have a specific class (remote), think it is a day off. We need your help in changing that mindset and making sure that work gets done. There are some very low grades because of this.
Some of our kids are trying to fool their parents into thinking they have work completed by submitting blank documents to Google Classroom. This is not a Google Glitch. It is kids trying to get out of work. Please be aware that this is happening regularly and our teachers will be in touch with students and parents when it happens.
I will address this issue separately with remote families, but some of our remote students are logging in to a class (video) session, then doing something else. When we try to get their attention or get them to respond, the teacher gets no response. We need to see our students and to get them to participate in their remote sessions to know that they are learning!

The RedHawks:

Overall, most of our kids are showing responsibility by getting their work done! They are modeling our Guidelines for Success in many ways and I am proud of them!

Enjoy your weekend!

Tim

PICTURE RETAKES ARE RE-SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK!

We are pleased that we have been able to move photo retakes and first-time photos to an earlier date! Picture Retakes scheduled for NEXT WEEK.
CLICK HERE for the Pre-Order Form

Wednesday, September 23rd - 8:30 AM -11:30 AM
Thursday, September 24th - 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Students who are on a hybrid schedule will be called down to get their photo taken on the day they are in attendance
Students who are remote can come in anytime during these hours to get photos taken. Please DO NOT come 3:00 PM-4:00 PM due to bus dismissal

PLEASE NOTE:

IF YOU ARE CHOOSING TO HAVE PREVIOUS PICTURES RETAKEN - YOU MUST RETURN YOUR INITIAL PACKAGE AT THE TIME OF RETAKES
ALL PICTURES WILL BE TAKEN IN THE WMS MAIN FOYER

PICTURE PACKAGES FROM PHOTOS TAKEN DURING MATERIAL PICK-UP:

REMOTE LEARNERS: Your photo package or preview calendar has been available in the Wredling Main Office for pickup.
HYBRID LEARNERS: Students have received their photo packages or preview calendar.

Photo ordering information is on the card/calendar with the preview photo of the student. It has the code number for that student's picture.

QUESTIONS?
Color Portraits currently has limited office hours. Please contact Color Portraits Customer Service via our Help Center. Here you can ask for your student's Ticket Code (if you cannot find it on your preview), how to place an order, or any other question you may have including returning an order

A School-Parent Partnership in WMS Student Discipline

A wonderful article about discipline from a mom/principal’s perspective, A Principal (and Mom) on School Discipline, is well worth the read! As the author says, “There's more going on behind the scenes than most parents realize. Keeping these insider tips in mind will help you and your child.” I want to give you our view of discipline at Wredling and how we manage things when an issue arises.

As our kids grow and develop, we expect them to make mistakes. Our kids send inappropriate messages, start rumors, act out on the bus, swear in the hallways, throw food at lunch… or are just defiant about something making them angry. I want to share with you how we handle discipline at Wredling.

We set clear expectations around our school. We have taught our students specific behaviors we want to see at WMS. We spent time reinforcing those behaviors and re-teaching them where needed. We also had teams and teachers work on a Charter for their grade level that outlines how we want to act and feel. Wredling students from 2018 worked collaboratively and created the WMS Student Charter.
Teachers typically do the hard work first! Most often, we give gentle reminders for most issues. “ID around the neck, please. … Remember to put your cell phone in your locker. …” For lesser infractions, the teacher talks to the child. For more serious infractions, we start to track negative issues. For a second infraction, teachers should communicate with home. At the third infraction, a discipline referral is sent to the office. When a teacher calls you with a concern, we hope you work with them- in a partnership- to help make things better.
We take the time to investigate the issue. We interview other students and get statements from any adults who might be involved. We also ask the student to write a statement.
Sometimes when a student comes in angry or agitated, we give the student time to calm down before we interview the student. We have found that, if you give a student some time to recover, they respond better to questions.
In the office, when we get a referral or a student is brought in for a major issue (i.e., vaping, alcohol, or fighting) we look at several factors. How serious was the issue? Does that child have a past history of serious incidents? How honest has the child been in helping us determine what has happened? Has this impacted the learning environment in a classroom? Has it created a safety issue?
When we decide on a consequence, we again look at the above factors. We determine consequences based on each issue separately. We know that what may have an impact with one child may not with another. If our goal is to change behaviors or prevent the issue from happening again, we have to figure out what consequence works.
We don’t tend to call parents for a small issue unless they become chronic, and we don’t notify parents of every small consequence like a lunch detention. We always call parents for larger issues that have bigger consequences, when issues are chronic, or when a student does not change behavior.
When we do call parents, please understand that we have investigated the issue and are calling to let you know what has happened. Our goal is that we work together to change the child’s behavior. We sometimes find that parents don’t believe us or want to blame other students. Again, we want you to know that we take these issues seriously, investigate them, and then give out an appropriate consequence.
Discipline is not always timely. Sometimes our schedule is packed, or investigating takes a long time. Your child may be in the office for a few periods while we investigate. While we try to communicate early and get kids back to class quickly, it is not always possible. But it is a goal for us to improve upon this.
And we need your support. This quote, from the included article, tells you how. “You can support your child's relationship with his teachers by explaining that school rules are to be followed, even if your rules are different at home.” If you or your child feels they have been treated unfairly, please come to us with some suggestions as to who we might need to talk to or what we may have missed. We are not perfect, and we sometimes do an additional investigation and change consequences based on new information we have learned.

The partnership that we form between school and home is vital! While we prefer not to ever have to manage discipline with your child, we hope that we form a strong bond to help your child grow and learn from their mistakes. (And mistakes are important!)

Thank you-

Tim

Conferences with Counselors, Speech Pathologist, and Social Workers

Our counselors, speech pathologist, and social workers are available to meet with you during conference times. If you would like to set-up a conference (video or phone) with a counselor or social worker, please email or call them in advance to set-up an appointment. They look forward to talking to you!

6th Grade:

Counselor- Bridget Hult, 331-228-6200
Social Worker- Terri Kinsella, 331-228-6675

7th Grade:

Counselor- Kirsten Cwinski, 331-228-6156
Social Worker- Coleton Hrgich, 331-228-2485

8th Grade:

Counselor- Ethan Wood, 331-228-5576
Social Worker- Becca Campbell, 331-228-5424

Student Support Specialist:

Kameron Cluchey, 331-228-5652

Student Assistance Counselor:

Jacques Slaiher, 331-228-5168

Speech/Language Pathologist:

Leanne Brockmeyer, 331-228-6165

From the Health Office:

Our new FAX is up and running! To fax medical forms directly to the office: 331-228-3707

If you have one child who has any symptoms that could be related to COVID (fever of 100.4 or higher, new onset of moderate to severe headache shortness of breath, new cough, sore throat, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain from unknown cause, new congestion/runny nose, new loss of sense of taste or smell, nausea, fatigue from unknown cause, muscle or body aches) keep all of the rest of the siblings home, even if they are feeling well, until a clearance note is provided to return to school (see chart).

If you pick up one child from school with any symptoms related to COVID, you must pick up their siblings as well. If you work in the district and you or your child goes home sick with these symptoms, all family members in D303 must go home until the individual with symptoms is cleared. Their clearance, when it is provided by a physician note that indicates an alternative diagnosis, clears all other family members to return. Your school nurses can help you in determining your options for the symptomatic child and the siblings to return to school.

The steps school nurses are taking to mitigate COVID 19 by following the IDPH exclusion guidance promotes a decision-making process that ensures the safer return of students who have depicted symptoms associated with this virus. Thank you for your cooperation in help[ing us mitigate the spread of COVID-19

STUDENT ID Expectations for Middle and High Schools:

D303 has now set clear expectations that all middle school and high school students wear their IDs at all times. If a student does not have an ID, they will need to purchase a new one for $5 in the LRC. The $5 will be charged to your child's PushCoin account. This can add up very quickly if a student does not have their ID several times. Please be sure to talk to your student about showing responsibility by wearing their ID/lanyards at all times, and so that they understand the financial implications of having to buy replacement ID/lanyards.

Students received 1 ID and can get 1 additional ID for free.
Students received 1 lanyard and can get 1 additional lanyard for free.

SUBMIT YOUR YEARBOOK ITEMS!

This week's theme "Sports and Activities during a pandemic"

Pictures can be shared through the Google drive or email at Timothy.Massie@d303.org OR
CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW (computer or smartphone) and use access code - redhawks)

WMS QUICK LINKS FOR FAMILIES

This section will be in EACH edition of the Friday Forecast for your convenience. We will add or update links as necessary. As this list gets longer, we will move it to a linked button.

GENERAL

HYBRID A/B Calendar - current month September next month October
Who to contact at WMS for what?
STUDENT MEAL ORDER FORM - contact our kitchen manager, Deb Badali at deb.badali@d303.org with any questions related to student meals

COVID-19

STUDENT SUPPORT TEAM

6th-grade support referrals
7th-grade support referrals
8th-grade support referrals
REQUEST MEETING WITH MR. SLAIHER: 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade
Community resources as posted on the district website
Resources from the state

TROUBLESHOOTING TECH ISSUES

WMS STAFF SHOUT OUT

This is your chance to offer a shout out to one of our WMS staff members who has done something great, gone above and beyond the call of duty, or who has made a difference in your life (or your child's life). These will be added to our weekly newsletter to staff!