If you are on a computer, open this in a new page. Then to translate this newsletter, click on the link to the right.

If you are on a phone, touch the person in the black circle to get the translate button.

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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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Если вы работаете на компьютере, откройте это на новой странице. Затем, чтобы перевести этот информационный бюллетень, щелкните ссылку справа. Если вы разговариваете по телефону, коснитесь человека в черном кружке, чтобы получить кнопку перевода. (Russian)

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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)

Dear Watertown Middle School Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you all well. I know that I am certainly looking forward to the much warmer temperatures predicted for the middle of this week.

The majority of you have undoubtedly seen Dr. Galdston's letter sent out last night. I would like to echo the sentiments in her letter, and sincerely apologize for this situation, and any resulting stress the students and their families may be experiencing.

In recent days, I have been working with the teachers of the Community Meeting and discussing how to regain the safe environment that existed before February 11th. They have resumed meeting with students in smaller groups, as well as ensuring the chat is between students and teachers only, and not between students for now. We are planning activities that rebuild the trust of the group so they may work together and support one another cohesively.

Please let me know if you have any questions or thoughts regarding this situation. I appreciate your feedback as we work together as a community to meet the social-emotional needs of all students at WMS.

Schedule Changes: There will be both short-term and long-term changes to WMS students' schedules coming soon. School administrators and the teachers’ union COVID working group met last Thursday to discuss all options, and I will be meeting with WMS faculty tomorrow to share plans regarding schedule changes, as well as elicit feedback.

I will inform the WMS community as soon as a decision is made, which I believe will be very soon. I too feel a sense of urgency that more in-person and live instruction is needed.

Respectfully yours,

Donna Martin

Principal

Monday, March 8 - i-Ready Mathematics diagnostic (see information below)

Monday, March 8 - School Site Council meeting 6:30 pm (rescheduled from March 3)

Join Zoom Meeting https://watertown-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/96781118971

Wednesday, March 10 - PTO Meeting 7:00 pm

Join Zoom Meeting https://watertown-k12-ma-us.zoom.us/j/91312161001

Monday, March 15 - Grade 7/8 Assembly with Mykee Fowlin 10:45 am

http://mykeefowlin.com/

“Mykee's programs combine both his professional acting talents and his psychological training. His mission is to create an atmosphere of worldwide inclusion, not just tolerance, towards all people. He has worked extensively with all age groups in the United States and in other countries. His work has included peer mediation, diversity trainings, gender equity workshops, and violence prevention seminars.”

“You Don’t Know Me Until You Know Me” is the show he will be sharing with us:

“To varying degrees, we all wear masks. We are conditioned to hide our true selves, out of fear of being rejected and/or judged. We are taught to devalue or ignore our pain, as if its utility is better served hidden than exposed.”

Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24 - Picture Makeup Days

Thursday, April 1 - Parent Conferences 1:00-3:00 pm and 6:00-8:00 pm

Tuesday, April 6 - Parent Conferences 1:00-3:00 pm and 5:00-7:00 pm

ELA MCAS

Dates TBD - The state has decided to postpone MCAS testing, and the dates for grades 6-8 are currently TBD - stay tuned!

Math MCAS

Dates TBD

Science MCAS (grade 8 only)

Dates TBD

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FOR ALL STUDENTS - Please return ELA novels to your cluster's book collection box!

Grade 6 - Inside Out and Back Again

Grade 7 - The Giver

Grade 8 - Warcross

Yearbooks: The deadline to order yearbooks is April 23rd, and flyers will be coming home soon with additional information. We are excited that school pictures will be included in this year's yearbook as usual!

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

i-Ready Mathematics Diagnostic 03/08

Information for i-Ready Diagnostic Testing on Monday, 03/08:

• Teachers will share all necessary information regarding i-Ready with students during Community Meeting on Monday, March 8th. These will be similar to materials they have shared in the past during HR time, such as a slide show and videos to explain the process and prepare them to take the diagnostic.
• Students will be taking the i-Ready Diagnostic from 8:50-9:50 am, and their CM teachers will be available on Zoom for any questions they may have. ALL students should be working on i-Ready during this time.
  
• Starting at 9:55 am, students will attend their typical Monday cluster classes, shortened by 10 minutes each.
• Many students will finish i-Ready during the first hour, but several will also need to complete the diagnostic during their asynchronous work time. Zoom support will be available from 1:00-3:00 pm on Monday 03-01 - Wednesday 03/03. Teachers will post the information for the Zoom support in their Google Classrooms.

Our annual midyear universal assessments in math and literacy will begin shortly. Students in grades 6-8 will take the i-Ready midyear diagnostic in March. This will provide us with important data on how students are performing in both math and literacy. i-Ready conducted studies of the reliability of the data when giving the diagnostic remotely in the spring across various districts. Their findings revealed that there was less score inflation in districts that were communicating directly with families and when families watched i-Ready family videos about the diagnostic. To that end, we encourage parents/families to view this video to refresh or learn about i-Ready to best support their children.

i-Ready Family Guides (Spanish, Portuguese, Haitain Creole)

• Introducing i-Ready Assessment at Home to Families Videos (English | Spanish)

• Family Guidance for Administering the diagnostic At Home videos (English | Spanish)

The i-Ready experience better helps teachers:

• Use insights from i-Ready to plan instruction

• Set goals and help students take ownership of their learning

Please see the below slide of reminders for the students. We know they will do their best and show us what they know!

Student COVID testing will continue this week on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Update on the testing: New Massachusetts mandates are allowing students of any age to self swab under supervision. Nurse Michelle will still be helping all of our students and making sure samples are collected correctly, but the process will be much quicker with even less interference to learning time. She said it's going very smoothly!

**A note from the nurses:

Thank you to all who have signed up for pool testing thus far. It is not too late to enroll your children in weekly pool testing, if you are interested please fill out the google form below. Moving forward, only positive pools and close contacts will be alerted with the weekly testing results. If you do not receive an update 24-48 hours after your child participates in pool testing, it means their pool tested negative. Positive pools will be contacted as soon as possible and given further information and instructions at that time.

Again, if you wish for your student to be testing, please fill out the google form below. Please note that pool testing is only offered to hybrid students who participate in IN PERSON learning, we are not currently able to test remote students.

If you have signed your child(ren) up to be tested, please remind them that they will be tested every week, and that it is not a one-time occurrence. Student testing will occur during grade level mask breaks.

From Dr. Galdston:

WMS COVID-19 testing will continue into the new year. If you have already signed up your child, there is no need to fill out the form again. If you would like to sign up your child, please read the message below and fill out the following form: https://forms.gle/9gqu867ae6TB2ULf6. You only need to sign up once for the ongoing weekly testing.

Please consider being part of the testing! Testing prevents the spread of COVID-19 and it's free for families at this time as we using grant funding to cover the costs.

Best,

Dede Galdston

***Here is the SMORE Newsletter which was sent out originally with all of the details of the testing.***

Thank you!

We look forward to supporting you with your educational technology questions.

Here is a link to the Weekly 03/05 Family Ed-Tech for All Newsletter, LIVE Ed-Tech Support Sessions & WPS Family Ed-Tech Website with resources, just for you.

Do you need help with Ed-Tech? Please complete the WPS Ed-Tech Support Request Form. A member of the WPS Ed-Tech team will reach out to you within a school day.

Few additional resources: 1. Link to Common Sense Media Resources about Race and Racism

3. Link to Typing.com Video Tutorial and Handout

4. Link to EPIC Women's History Month Resources

4. Link to BrainPOP Black History Month Resources

Thank you and have a terrific day,

Rashmi Pimprikar (District Ed-Tech Coordinator), Digital Learning Team and IT Team

• School meals are free for ALL students for the entire school year.

• Students can order a lunch in Community Meeting each morning and will be given out at the end of the day.

• Lunches should be eaten after you leave school at 12:30

• The meals will be packaged in easy to carry bags and will contain multiple breakfasts and lunches.

• If a student requests meals on both of their in-person days they will receive breakfast and lunch for 7 days.

SEE SCHOOL NUTRITION WEBSITE FOR MENU.

GRAB & GO MEAL SITE WILL BE OPEN:

EVERY MONDAY

12 - 1:30PM

&

4:30 - 6PM

From the Handbook (with some Remote Learning updates):

Attendance is the most important aspect of educating our students. When students are not here, they do not have access to instruction.

At Watertown Middle School, we pride ourselves in maintaining a very high attendance rate throughout the year. Understandably, there will be times when our students will need to take time away from school for a variety of excused reasons. The following procedure is in place to ensure good attendance, support our families, and follow state and federal laws.

Students are expected to be present and punctual for all classes. All students must be in Homeroom/Community Meeting (in-person or Zoom) by 8:30 a.m.

If you are having trouble with your Chromebook or have any Tech Difficulties (computer, camera, charging cord, hot spot)...

Call 617-926-7783 and let Ms. Cardillo or Ms. Brackett know.

“My name is (your name) and I have (teacher name) right now and I am having Tech Trouble. Can you please let my teacher know?”

Tardiness

A student is considered tardy if he or she is not in homeroom by 8:30 a.m. Teachers will mark students tardy when they are late to homeroom and/or late to class.

Absences

In the event that a student is tardy or absent, a parent or guardian must call the absence hotline at 617-926-7783 before 8:30 a.m. Please state the name, grade, and homeroom of the student. In the event that the absence is not reported, the school will call the student’s home or the place of employment of the parent or guardian to verify the absence.

Please see the Handbook for further details describing Excused Absences versus Unexcused Absences.

Resulting Actions:

● After 3 days of unexcused absences with no contact to the school from the parent, the Assistant Principal will be notified.

● After 5 days of absences (both excused & unexcused) per quarter, a letter of concern will be sent to parents/guardians. At ten absences, a support meeting will be scheduled with parents/guardians, guidance, and administration to create an Attendance Plan, which clearly outlines the school, parent, and student obligations to improve the problem. If absenteeism continues, further action will be taken, up to and including petitioning the Juvenile Courts with a Child Requiring Assistance, (C.R.A.).

To get Emergency Alerts from the Town of Watertown text WATERTOWNMA to 888-777. Your cell phone number will be into the system without having to establish an Everbridge account. You also have the opportunity to add your email address into the system at this time. You would then receive all emails and/or texts from the system. If you already have an Everbridge account, this is not necessary, as you will continue to receive the notifications sent by the town.

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/