The Wildcat Chat

This Tuesday, February 20 (date change), our rising seventh and eighth graders (current sixth and seventh graders) will have an opportunity to join us at Willard for our rising night and electives fair, starting at 6:00 p.m. This week, our rising seventh and eighth grade scholars were able to review our virtual electives fair to begin thinking about their elective choices for the upcoming school year. In the coming weeks, students will be selecting their courses for next year — this truly is an exciting time.

Rising ninth grade students will be receiving their course selection lesson from the Lightridge School Counselors on Tuesday, February 20 and Wednesday, February 21, through their Resource/Spectrum Block. Information about rising ninth grade course selections at Lightridge may be found here. Also, on Friday, February 23, parents of rising ninth graders may visit the Lightridge High School Library at 8:30 a.m. to learn more about course offerings. Click here for their informational flyer.

There are 11 days remaining to register for the WMS Spring 2024 Heart and Sole season! The spring season will officially begin on Monday, March 4, 2024. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Van Acker. To register for this free adventure, click here.

In addition, interested in making an impact on the community around you? Want to support local causes and give back to the world? Then, definitely check out Girls With Ideas — a new club, free run by scholars Natalie DeSesso and Laura Niles and Ms. Russell. If you are interested, stop by the cafeteria from 8:00 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. and check out the morning announcements this week for more information.

Our next PTA Meeting will be on Wednesday, February 21, in our WMS Library, starting at 6:30 p.m. Please feel free to join us to review upcoming events such as the eighth grade field trip and the our annual teacher appreciation efforts. For comprehensive PTA information, please feel free to click here.

From Wednesday, February 21 to Friday, February 23, our fabulous deans will be visiting Resource/Spectrum classrooms to remind students about behaviors in the hallways, cafeteria, and locker areas. Moreover, they will be highlighting digital citizenship, classroom expectations, and self-reflection. Please feel free to continue these rich conversations at home, as we want to make sure that all of our scholars are upholding our CLAWS characteristics of Character, Leadership, Attitude, Work Ethic, and Service!

The LCPS Annual Staff, Family, and Student surveys begin on Tuesday, February 20 and will be open until Sunday, March 17. The Research Office will email a survey invitation to parents/guardians on February 20. Parents/guardians are asked to respond once per school in which they have a child enrolled. The messages will be sent to the email addresses listed in ParentVUE and include a unique link. All questions can be referred to Research@lcps.org.

You may now view the Winter Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA) results in StudentVUE and ParentVUE under the "Documents" tab. The report includes information regarding the understanding of specific questions in both math and reading. Please feel free to reach out to your child's English or math teacher if you should have any questions.

Each year, our English Learner students who receive active English Language (EL) services take part in the WIDA ACCESS Test. These scholars will complete four different tests across four domains: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. These assessments will begin the week of February 26, 2024. For specific information regarding these tests, please feel free to reach out to Kim Steiner.

The Ryan Bartel Foundation FORT is coming to Willard Middle School as an after-school program this spring. The FORT is a safe, healing space for teens to connect with other teens and trusted adults through games, discussions, and creative and fun interactive workshops to help them build resilience and identify their strengths. The Willard FORT will include three after-school workshops where students can try healthy activities that can help relieve stress and promote mental wellness. Students will create a glitter calming jar, try movement and yoga, learn to knit, practice mindfulness, and more!

Since this is a pilot program, it will be free to students but only 10 students will be able to attend while we test the program to see if it’s something we would like to continue in the future and is helpful for our scholars. Please contact Shawna Smith, our school social worker, if your child might be interested in attending. Ms. Smith's email is shawna.smith@lcps.org or you may call the main office number and ask to be connected. Click here to learn more about the FORT effort.

Writing in a planner can be done in a variety of ways. When writing in an agenda, some include not only the due dates, but also break down the assignments into chunks. For example, if a research paper is due on a Friday, perhaps complete the research on Monday, write the first draft on Tuesday, create the reference page on Wednesday, review the final draft on Thursday, and then hand the project in on time by Friday. If there’s a test on Thursday, make sure to write down not just the date of the test, but also when you’ll study throughout the week or weeks leading up to it. Color coding things can also be helpful. So, you might highlight due dates in yellow, first drafts in pink, second drafts in blue, etc. Color coding can come in handy with subjects too if that’s easier. Highlight math in green, science in purple, etc. This helps you see which subject has the heaviest workload in each week and allows you to better prioritize. By writing things down and preparing for assignments ahead of time you can reduce stress, make homework more predictable, lessen frustration and procrastination, and increase work production and productivity. Who doesn’t want that?

Research done by the John Hopkins University has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness and memory. Find a piece of music that feels relaxing to you; you may want to try an instrumental piece. Take a deep breath and continue to listen to the music while you take deep relaxing breaths. By the end you may feel more relaxed and focused. You’ll also have enjoyed a beautiful piece of music! For a helpful music guide, click here.

LCPS partnered with two services — ParentGuidance.org and Care Solace – to provide parents/guardians and staff with resources to support their families and themselves. ParentGuidance.org provides parents/guardians with access to online seminars and parent coaching. Care Solace helps students, staff, and families find mental health and substance use treatment matched to their needs. These resources are available at no cost to LCPS parents and staff. LCPS provides these resources and services to promote the well-being of students, their families and staff and to foster a collaborative and supportive environment with no barriers to access. Click here to learn more.