WMS Community Bulletin 12-05-21
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 (events, water bottles, Covid testing)
- Important Upcoming Dates and A day/B day schedule
- WPS Leadership Update
- SEPAC Presentation Smore
- Cluster/Department Smore Newsletters
- Orchestra, Chorus, and Band Concert Information for this week
- Parent and Caregiver Climate and Culture Survey
- "Unsolved" Writing Challenge in ELA
- Equity in WPS Speaker Series Part 2
- Community Service Updates
- Watertown Recreation Updates and Flyers
- School Site Council Dates
- PTO Dates
- Contact Information
Watertown Middle School 2021-2022
Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an enjoyable December weekend!
Many exciting events this week: Concerts, Vaccination Clinic, School Site Council, and an Equity Conversation! Please see below for more information.
***WATER BOTTLES NEEDED IN SCHOOL*** - As you may remember from last year, the water bubblers were shut off in order to prevent the spread of COVID. However, we have Water Bottle Filling Stations in many areas around the school. Students need to bring water bottles to school to stay hydrated. We DO NOT have enough cups to be handing them out to students daily. Nurse Michelle needs to save the cups for medication and emergencies. Please send your student to school with a Water Bottle every day. Thank you! We appreciate your help with this matter.
We will be continuing our Covid Pool Testing this week on Monday. We had one positive pool last week; let's be sure and keep being extra vigilant with mask-wearing and distancing! The "Test and Stay" protocol is in effect which helps us keep as many students as possible in school! 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!
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
Here are some important upcoming dates:
Monday, December 6 - School Committee Meeting 7:00 pm
Tuesday, December 7 - Chorus and Orchestra Concert 6:30 pm
Wednesday, December 8 - Vaccination Clinic, Part 2
Wednesday, December 8 - School Site Council 6:30-7:30 pm (new date due to chorus/orchestra concert) Join Zoom Meeting
Wednesday, December 8 - Equity in WPS Speaker Series Part 2: Educational Equity and Cultural Proficiency (repeat from November 1 - more info below) 6:30 pm
Thursday, December 9 - Band Concert 6:30 pm
Thursday, December 9 - SEPAC presentation: Understanding How Anxiety Affects Your School Age Child - 7:00 pm https://www.smore.com/ksjzu
Join Zoom Meeting
Friday, December 10 - Picture Retake Day
Tuesday, December 14 - Community Conversation with the Superintendent 9:00 am / 7:00 pm (more info in Leadership Newsletter below)
Wednesday, December 15 - Early Release Day 12:30 pm dismissal
Thursday, December 16 - WMS Diversity Council 6:00-7:00 pm (new date due to Band Concert)
Friday, December 24 - Sunday, January 2 - Winter Break - NO SCHOOL
Monday, January 3 - School Reopens
Thursday, January 13 - Equity in WPS Speaker Series Part 3 -Defining Implicit Bias - 6:30 pm
Monday, January 17 - NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
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. 12/6 - A day
Tues. 12/7 - B day
Wed. 12/8 - A day
Thurs. 12/9 - B day
Fri. 12/10 - A day
Mon. 12/13 - B day
Tues. 12/14 - A day
Wed. 12/15 - B day - Early Release Day - 12:30 dismissal
Thurs. 12/16 - A day
Fri. 12/17 - B day
Mon. 12/20 - A day
Tues. 12/21 - B day
Wed. 12/22 - A day
Thurs. 12/23 - B day
Fri. 12/24 - NO SCHOOL
Mon. 1/3 - A day
Tues. 1/4 - B day
Wed. 1/5 - A day
Thurs. 1/6 - B day
Fri. 1/7 - A day
Mon. 1/10 - B day
Tues. 1/11 - A day
Wed. 1/12 - B day
Thurs. 1/13 - A day
Fri. 1/14 - 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. Please look for the next update on 11/19.
CONCERT INFORMATION FOR THIS WEEK
Our Watertown Middle School Ensembles will be performing this upcoming week.
Due to Covid-19 protocol, we are asking that only two family members for each student attend in person. We have set up a live stream so everyone can watch it at home!
Tuesday, December 7th at 6:30 pm: WMS Orchestra and Chorus
Auditorium at WMS
Live Stream: https://fb.me/e/14lLv13lT
Thursday, December 9th at 6:30 pm. WMS Band in Auditorium
Live Stream: https://fb.me/e/1shgNoOxQ
Parent and Caregiver Climate and Culture Survey
Over the past several months, the District has engaged in a series of reviews aimed at assessing where we are at as a learning community. These reviews include our Equity Audit and the DMGroup’s budget review.
And now we are asking parents and caregivers to complete a culture and climate survey. The purpose of this focused dive into our current reality is to provide the District with accurate information about what we have accomplished and where we need to go next as we begin the process of our next round of strategy development. Our current improvement strategy will end this year, and we are ready to begin the next round of planning for the coming years. We will be administering this annual school climate and culture survey to all teachers and instructional assistants, students in grades 4-12, and parents. Your participation in this survey is greatly appreciated, especially during these challenging times. Here you will find the link to the survey. The survey window is open now until December 23. If you are an Early Steps parent, please check Hosmer as your school.
What are the 5Essentials and 5Essentials Survey? 5Essentials is an evidence-based system designed to drive improvement in schools nationwide—it reliably measures changes in a school organization through the 5Essentials Survey and provides individualized, actionable Reports for each school. The 5Essentials system is based on more than 20 years of research by the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research on five components found to be critical for school success:
Effective Leaders: The principal works with teachers to implement a clear and strategic vision for school success.
Collaborative Teachers: Teachers collaborate to promote professional growth.
Involved Families: The entire school staff builds strong relationships with families and communities to support learning.
Supportive Environment: The school is safe and orderly. Teachers have high expectationsfor students and support students to realize their goals. Classmates also support one another.
Ambitious Instruction: Classes are academically demanding and engage students by emphasizing the application of knowledge.
The survey requires no more than 10 minutes for parents to complete. The parent/caregiver survey is shorter in length and is a supplement to the 5Es survey that educators and students take. Please fill out one survey for each of your children. The survey is available in English and Spanish. If you need the survey translated, please reach out to the ESL department for translations.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out this very important and informative survey.
"Unsolved" Writing Challenge in ELA!
Here are the top entries from our school -- grab a cup of coffee and a snack and enjoy reading!
Equity in WPS Speaker Series Part 2: Educational Equity and Cultural Proficiency
Join us on Monday, December 8, 2021, for a virtual conversation at 6:30 pm via Zoom with WPS families and caregivers, facilitated by Dr. Kalise Wornum. In this session, participants will gain a clear understanding of the meaning of educational equity and cultural proficiency. This is a repeat of the presentation that took place on November 1.
Participants will have an opportunity to raise questions and discuss challenges in real-time. This is the second session of a four-part series with Dr. Wornum designed to provide families with information about our equity work in the Watertown Public Schools and to help parents and caregivers navigate difficult conversations around race and bias. Please join whether you are able to participate actively or just want to listen in.
Continuing on with the Series, Session 3 -Defining Implicit Bias- will be held on January 13 at 6:30 via Zoom and Session 4 - How to Have Difficult Conversations- will be held on March 10 at 6:30 via Zoom. Mark your calendars for these upcoming events.
Dr. Kalise Wornum is an Educational Consultant at KW Diversity Inc. Earlier in her career, she served as the METCO Director in the Wellesley Public Schools. As part of the equity work in WPS, Dr. Wornum has collaborated with the WPS Leadership Team in providing resources and training to become Culturally Proficient Leaders, and she delivered this year's keynote speech to all WPS staff on Opening Day, September 1. This work moves WPS towards achieving its mission of preparing all students for life by engaging them in a challenging and meaningful education within an inclusive, diverse community.
Zoom link for Wednesday's Session with Dr. Wornum:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85469700537?pwd=ZEJ6UDlPMld2eFdaWTJmZkxrL0Z5Zz09
Community Service Updates!
***In Community Service news, our Coats for Kids drive is in full swing! Please consider looking through your closets and basements for any lightly used coats of any size, and then donate them in the bins next to the stairs in the main lobby here at the middle school. Your kids earn community service just by donating!***
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!
- Please see the link below for the Winter Session 1 Brochure
- 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
Wednesday, December 8, 2021
6:30 - 7:30 pm
Meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of each month, and are currently scheduled for:
December 8
January 4
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:
December 15 (new date due to concerts)
January 12
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/