Notes from the WGIS Principal

This page provides thoughts and commentary from Dan MacCollum, the Principal of West Genesee Intermediate School in the West Genesee Central School District.

Dear WGIS Families,

Here we are, the last Friday of September! What a month this has been to kick off our 2024-2025 school year. From our locker day, to our opening week assemblies and pep rally, to learning what it means to be part of the "We" when we talk about "We are WGIS". There has been a lot of learning our first month together and we are ready to continue on with a fantastic 2024-2025!

Next week, we turn the page to October. This brings thoughts of Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day (our first 3 day weekend), further changes in our weather and of course Halloween! It will also bring in new experiences in classrooms, continued support for all learners based on what their needs are and celebrating success! As we move through the next 5 weeks, we will maintain our focus on learning and continuing to build our community.

As always, thank you for your continued partnership with our school to make sure all of our students find success at WGIS.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

What was formerly referred to as "Team Time" is now called "WIN" at WGIS and all buildings across the district. This is a time specifically set aside for every student to receive some additional support. These supports are sometimes to give a student a little more time to develop a better understanding of a topic and other times, it is to provide an "extension" of the learning because a student has mastered a concept that requires more time for their peers to achieve.

In the next few weeks, all students and families will receive feedback from the universal screener they took at the beginning of the school year. This is just one of the measures we use at WGIS to ensure all students are receiving the support they need to be successful.

The Special Education PTSA will be having our first meeting this Tuesday, Oct 1 at Split Rock Elementary School Playground at 6pm. We will have kickball, chalk art and ice cream available. It will be a great chance for kids and parents to come together to meet, play and talk about this year's events. New members are welcome. Come find out more about us!

This year, we will be using Second Step to promote positive character traits in our students here at WGIS. Each week, we will focus on a new character trait. Students who exemplify the character trait of the week will have an opportunity to be recognized on the Friday announcements and be featured in our weekly e-news.

This week, we recognized students that exemplified respectful behaviors throughout the school day. Next week, we will focus on responsibility. We will be on the lookout for students showing responsible characteristics in how they interact with each other, their teachers and our school.

This week, we recognized students who went out of their way to show respectful behaviors . Congratulations to our Positivity Paw winners; Azalea, James, Lexie, and Matthew!

The physical safety of everyone in the building is crucial to ensuring all students can learn at high levels. Physical safety means ensuring all students keep their hands to themselves, respect each others personal space and rely on trusted adults to help mediate any situations where students become frustrated with one another.

Physical safety also extends to walking in the halls and on the stairs. As students become more comfortable in the building, they begin to move quicker which can lead to unsafe situations. Please review with your student the expectations for physical safety in our building. We spent a lot of time the first few weeks of school, teaching expectations to keep everyone safe. Reviewing those expectations both in and out of the building will allow students to best remember and show their understanding of these expectations.

As we become more familiar with ParentSquare, it is important to keep in mind how we can best utilize this communication tool. For instance, as clubs begin to start up in October, there will be more messages posted on the WGIS news stream. Please check this source of information frequently for updates.

If you need to communicate with a teacher, a ParentSquare message is a perfect way to check in and give or receive a quick piece of information. It is not necessarily the best place to have an in depth conversation about a students overall performance in school. Similar to email, a message through ParentSquare can leave a lot for interpretation and at times mislead the reader.

We encourage parents to reach out to teachers but please know that the best venue to have any conversation of depth regarding your child will be a parent meeting with their team either in person or via phone. This ensures everyone is able to clarify thoughts and complete a meeting knowing that their concerns and celebrations are heard and understood. We are partners in the success of every student at WGIS and we are committed to ensuring success for all.

• October 9 - WGIS PTA Meeting 6pm
  

• October 14 - No School Columbus/Indigenous Peoples Day

• October 31 - Halloween