WMS Weekly Warrior

October 28, 2024

Good afternoon, Woodbury Middle School,

We hope you had a wonderful weekend! WMS held its first Spirit Rally on Friday. The students enjoyed the spooky activities organized by our Alliance Student Leadership Group. They used their PBIS raffle tickets to participate, and some lucky students won Amazon gift cards. Events like these truly bring out our school spirit and provide a lot of enjoyment for everyone.

Congratulations to the students and parents of Woodbury Middle School for improving our state-reported chronic absenteeism rating! WMS’s rating has decreased from 17% to 7%. Chronic absenteeism is when a student is absent for over 10% of the school year. We want to thank everyone who understands the importance of being in school and arriving on time.

Our end-of-the-month PBIS event will take place on Friday during a Power Hour. Eligible students will choose an activity to participate in and redeem for positive school behavior.

Eighth-grade students will visit Nonnewaug High School on Wednesday for an elective fair. During this event, they will explore all the electives offered at NHS, which will help them prepare to schedule classes for next year. Parent pick-ups and walkers will be dismissed a few minutes later than usual, as students will need to return to WMS from the high school. The delay should only be a few minutes.

The Screamfest dance in the gym will occur on Friday night from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available for sale in the café. Tomorrow is the last day to buy a ticket, which costs $5. No tickets will be sold at the door, and students must have their tickets to enter. This event is only for Woodbury Middle School students. If you have any questions, please call the office.

WMS is excited to honor our veterans this year throughout November. All members of the WMS Community are invited to honor a vet by completing THIS template with a donation of $1.00. A Display of our honored Veterans will be in our main hallway and posted on school monitors throughout the building. Families also have the option to purchase a flag to be hung around the halls of WMS for a minimum donation of $1.00 in honor of all Vets. All money collected will be donated to Homes for Our Troops.

Our Parents in the Middle will have their first meeting on Nov. 14th at 6:30 in the WMS LMC. As the meeting approaches, a Google Meet link will be sent to those who want to meet virtually.

Have a great week,

WMS Admin

Bill Nemec, Principal

Aimee Shuhart, Interim Assistant Principal

Please make sure to review the Woodbury Middle School Student Handbook with your student regarding cell phones. Some of you may be aware that the state has issued recommendations on cell phone usage in schools. I have included the proposed language from the state below. Click the picture to access the entire document from the state.

• Middle School − The policy for middle school students should also focus on removing cell phones from the school day or classroom. Developmentally, this age group is particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of excessive personal technology use and has a difficult time controlling their impulses. Concurrently, middle school students experience increased autonomy and independence during the school day, which can lead to increased opportunity for cell phone misuse. − Possession of cell phones in this age group is likely to be viewed as a rite of passage into adulthood, so communication and application of policies that restrict use must be developed in consideration of the specific challenges of middle school students.