West Bridgewater Students, Staff and Families,

As we approach April Break I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Spring break!

We are very excited that the School Committee FY25 Budget was recommended by the Town Administrator and the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee. Thank you to all for your support of the West Bridgewater Schools and the FY25 Budget. Below is a copy of the FY25 Budget Presentation.

Here is a link to the 2024-2025 School Calendar that was approved at the last School Committee meeting.

Congratulations to the students who were recognized at the Spring Wildcat Breakfast. They were recognized by the staff at the MSHS for doing a great job and demonstrating the Wildcat PRIDE core values of Passion, Respect, Ingenuity, Determination and Empathy. Great job Mrs. Page and Mr. Hanna as well as the food service department for putting on a wonderful event!

Once again the district will be hosting the Academic, Technology and Fine Arts Showcase at the Middle/Senior High School on May 9th from 5:30 - 7:00 pm At this event you will see staff and students representing Grades K-12 and all subject areas. All are invited to attend! Much more information will be coming in the future!

Once again our 6th grade students are spending the week in Groton, MA at Nature's Classroom. This is always an amazing week for our students. Thank you to the Howard School staff for volunteering their time to go on this trip. Also thank you to our parent chaperones. I was able to go up to visit on Tuesday and the kids (and adults) were having a great time!!

Student council fundraiser winner Olivia Bazile invited her friend James to accompany her on the firetruck ride to school. Olivia and James’ classmates were able to greet them getting off the truck.

The fundraiser raised over $1600 for Dana Farber/Jimmy Fund.

To help parents and community members know the best way to communicate with the school we have created a chain of command guideline that should be a helpful resource. By contacting the following people in the order listed your questions and concerns can be dealt with most efficiently. This information is found on the website under "Contact"

Inclusion Matters partners with families with children with special needs, including children with IEPs and 504 Plans.

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Inclusion Matters was begun by a group of parents in response to the school district's need for a SEPAC. As an official 501(c)3, Inclusion Matters now offers workshops for caregivers and families, IEP and 504 consulting, an annual conference (on hold due to the pandemic), and family events for families with and without special needs in communities across the South Shore of Massachusetts.

The SECOND ANNUAL PLEDGE WALK FOR CHILDHOOD CANCER will take place on Saturday, May 4th from 4-7pm. Hosted by the MSHS student-run Committee for Childhood Cancer Awareness, this event raised over $18,000 last year for the Jimmy Fund Clinic at Dana Farber Cancer Institute and their goal this year is to top $25,000! It will be a fun day with food trucks, music, games, a chance to dunk Mrs. Page and to just be with the community to help an important cause. Please contact the MSHS with any questions. We hope to see you there!

The objective of the Policy Subcommittee is to regularly review policies of the West Bridgewater School Committee to determine if they are current, consider the interests of stakeholders, and are in line with guidance from the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. At the most recent school committee meeting on April 8, 2024, the following policies were reviewed and revised as indicated:

• GCA - Professional Staff Positions

• GCBA - Professional Staff Salary Schedules

• GCBB - Employment Of Principals

• GCBC - Professional Staff Supplementary Pay Plans

• GCE - Professional Staff Recruiting / Posting Of Vacancies

• GCF - Professional Staff Hiring

• GCG - Substitute Professional Staff Employment

Additionally, the following policies were opened and are scheduled for review at the next school committee meeting on May 13, 2024:

• GCIA - Philosophy Of Staff Development

• GCJ - Professional Teacher Status

• GCK - Professional Staff Assignments And Transfers

• GCO - Evaluation Of Professional Staff

• GCQF - Suspension And Dismissal Of Professional Staff Members

• GCRD - Tutoring For Pay

• FGDA - Support Staff Positions

• GDB - Support Staff Contracts And Compensation Plans

• GDD - Support Staff Vacations And Holidays

• GDO - Evaluation Of Support Staff

• KF Form 1 - Application for Use of School Property

• KF Form 2 - Application for Use of Athletic Spaces

• JEB - Entrance Age

For any questions or to provide feedback, please contact the policy subcommittee at kmilton@wbridgewater.com and rdragonetti@wbridgewater.com. A complete listing of policies can be found in the WB Policy Index at https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org under the School Committee tab.

Garden News- We are excited to announce that we have started the renovation of the RLM's raised bed gardens! Our COA volunteer, Mr. Douglas DeCosta broke ground with a couple of high school students this week! Mrs. Warnock's, Living with the Land Club continues to provide the MSHS kitchen with fresh herbs.

New Breakfast items- Students loved some of the breakfast items we menued during National School Breakfast Week in March and we are keeping them on our breakfast menu cycle. Breakfast (or snack as it is often called) is served mid-morning as is available free to all students.

Monthly Menus - Click on WB Food Services to find April's lunch menus. Incredibly, locally grown apples from CN Smith Farm are still being served each week.

Field Trip Lunches- Interested in saving time and money? Let your student's School Nutrition Staff pack a lunch for any upcoming field trips. It's free! Order forms ( or links to a Google Form) are typically sent with permission slips.

Food Assistance- Project Bread Food Source Hotline , West Bridgewater Food Pantry.

Position available- Great at social media and interested in food photography? There is a stipend available for an individual to promote our School Nutrition program on social media. Hours are very flexible and variable but the applicant will need to be available during the day.

Questions, concerns, suggestions? Contact Ann Marie Grinder, Food Service Director at agrinder@wbridgewater.com or (508)894-1220.

Massachusetts defines chronically absent as missing at least 10 percent of days enrolled (for instance, 18 days absent if enrolled for a typical school year of 180 days), regardless of the reason for the absence. Being chronically absent can have a significant impact on a student's academic progress and their ability to access the variety of academic and non-academic supports that schools provide.

Families we need your help. We know that students get sick and have days that they are not able to attend school (funerals, college visits etc) but if students are just not feeling great please work to encourage them to attend school. Every day a student misses is a day missed of learning and for social and emotional development. They are also breaking the school routine which sometimes can create negative habits. If you have questions or concerns or need assistance please reach out to the building administrator, main office or a trusted staff member. We want to make sure we are partnering with you to help you in whatever way possible.

Spots are still available in our 5 day program!

Preschool Information for the 2024-2025 School year is now available. Please click the link below for more information:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RCn0ZSi9ONrrGXbXZepCfZfpC3G9T_yngAMXDN97TcE/edit?usp=sharing

Check out our Sports scores, highlights and posts below! Congratulations to all of our Winter Sport Athletes! We are going to take time to recognize the Winter Award winners in this version of the Newsletter. Congratulations to all that received awards. Thank you to all who have come out to support our athletes throughout the winter season! As always make sure to check out our coaches Twitter as well as @WBMSHSAthletics for updates on the schedule and highlights from games and matches.

Spring Sports Highlights:

Unified Basketball:

The Unified Basketball Team hosted Walpole, Westwood, Canton, and Medfield in a Jamboree on April 2nd. Games ran from 3:30-5:15 with teams getting an opportunity to play a variety of schools. It was a great experience for everyone as the student athletes from all schools were able to showcase their love for the game and their teams. Great job by all those that participated. And a special thank you to all who helped set up and cheer on our Unified Athletes!

Boys Lacrosse:

WEB Boys Lacrosse never gave up but fell to Mashpee 13-8. 3 goals a piece for Cylas Hickey and Connor Kingman. Collin Brown chipped in with 1 goal and the mashpee goalie was nice enough to chip in with one goal as well. The boys will play Cardinal Spellman at home on Thursday.

Girls Tennis:

The West Bridgewater Wildcats girls tennis team have been challenged this season facing all new teams in a competitive new league. However, last Friday Adalyn and Elayna Jenkinson secured the first win of the season at second doubles against Fairhaven. The game yesterday against Seekonk was a tough loss, but Grace Polen battled through three sets in her singles debut. This showed the reliance of not only Grace, but the team as a whole! With two more matches this week the girls hope to pull out a win or two.

Boys Tennis:

The Boys Tennis Team picked up a great win over Seekonk 3 to 2. Noah Schneeweis and Aidan Maher battled in their singles matches against strong opponents. Noah Holland battled and made some key adjustments so he could bounce back and absolutely dominate the second and third sets. Henry Loan-Baker and Sean Byrnes were outstanding at the net winning in straight sets for WB. With the match tied up at 2 to 2, it all came down to the dynamic duo of Ryan Geniuch and Nathan Trott. Nathan’s serve was unstoppable and Ryan was a machine at the net for the Wildcats. Geniuch and Trott won their match in straight sets which gave the Wildcats their victory.

Baseball:

Baseball won 16-7 over Hull to improve to 2-1 on the season. Brayden Ross picked up the win on the mound. The offense was led by James Sheedy who went 2-3 with 3 RBI’s, Jag Garces who reached base safely 5 times and stole 5 bases, and Thomas Polidori who got his first varsity hit with a double.

Softball:

The JV Softball team beat Rockland 18-11. Emma Milton pitched her first game with 4 strikeouts. Holly Horton and Campbell Lee had great hits to score runs for the wildcats. Sydney Muller had her first double play in the field and Allie Edgerly made key plays at shortstop.

The Varsity Softball team beat Rockland 4-1 on Tuesday. McKenzie Craig allowed only 1 run over 7 innings. Alana Fildago had 3 hits and scored a run. Ava Matta, Neala Boyd, and Haylee Krakowski had a great game in the field. Other key highlights in the game include Bella Hyde having her first at bat in a few years and Vange Hilchey destroying part of a van in the parking lot with a foul ball.

Winter Sports Awards:

Boys Ice Hockey

Congratulations to Christian Bates who was named South Shore League All Star!

Boys Basketball

Congrats to Thomas Stapleton, Collin Baker, Jag Garces and Aidan Maher for receiving South Coast Conference Honors for Boys Basketball! Thomas Stapleton was named a SCC All Star. Collin Baker and Jag Garces were named Honorable Mention. And Aidan Maher received the Sportsmanship Award! Great Job!

Girls Basketball

Congrats to Jenella Jacobs, Mia Harrington, Ava O'Neil and Kayla DaSilva for earning South Coast Conference Honors for Girls Basketball! Jenella Jacobs, Mia Harrington and Ava O’Neil were named Honorable Mention. Kayla DaSilva received the Sportsmanship Award! Congratulations!!

Girls Winter Track

Congrats to Ella Dunbury, Aly Bassett, Viviana Morales- Wakin, Emma Pope for earning South Coast Conference honors for Winter Track!! Ella Dunbury and Aly Bassett were named SCC All Stars! Viviana Morales and Emma Pope were awarded Honorable Mention honors. While Emma Pope also received the Sportsmanship Award. Great Job!!

Boys Winter Track

Congrats to Kenly Laime, Derek Frederickson, Alex Kelley and Derek Cashman for receiving South Coast Conference honors for Winter Track!! Kenly Laime was named a SCC All Star. Derek Fredericksen and Alex Kelley were named Honorable Mention recipients. Derek Cashman was awarded the Sportsmanship Award. Congratulations!!

**Game Schedule**:

Please check out the WB game schedule on Arbiter Live! Link is below.

https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=25160

Other Athletic News:

Wildcats Athletic Store:

West Bridgewater Athletics have opened an online store where you are able to personalize and order gear. Check out the link below to create and order your Wildcats Gear. Let’s Go WB!!

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/massachusetts/westbridgewater/west-bridgewater-high-school

**WB-CAM:

A big thank you to the WB-CAM for live streaming our athletic events! They do an amazing job! Please follow them on Twitter to find out which athletic events are being live streamed. Let's Go Wildcats!

Twitter: @WBCAM0998

The Apparel Store is open. I am working on sharing some of the promo codes that were sent in the email below. Feel free to share!

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/massachusetts/westbridgewater/west-bridgewater-high-school

We have submitted the OPM Narrative to the MSBA (before the deadline of April 10th) for their review.

We are scheduled to be on the agenda for the MSBA OPM Review Panel on May 6, 2024.

The next School Building Committee meeting will be on May28, 2024 at 6pm.

The next steps include working with the OPM to advertise, interview and hire a Designer/Architect for the project.

It is our goal to keep you and the community updated as much as possible as we go through this process. As always if you have any questions please reach out mbodwell@wbridgewater.com .

Registration is now open. Come join the fun!

Summer Surround Care will be available from June 24 through August 15 2024 at the Middle Senior High School. The program will run Monday through Thursday. Daily and weekly rates are available to best fit your schedule The program is open to students who are entering grades 1-6.

Activities will include: Arts & Crafts, Indoor and Outdoor Free Play, Music, Games, Waterplay & Sports. We will take walking trips to local places such as Friendship Park and Town Park. Registration and more information at: Summer Surround Care

The next meeting will be on Friday, April 12th at 9:15 am at the Spring Street School. All are invited to attend and we hope to see you there!! The next meeting will be on Friday, May 17th at 9:15 am

Check out the April WB Principals newsletters!

MSHS https://www.smore.com/n/eak1y

Howard School https://www.smore.com/n/x3vrm

Rose L MacDonald School https://www.smore.com/n/yujr0

Spring Street School https://www.smore.com/n/y7ht9

We are always looking for qualified persons to fill substitute teaching positions. If you are interested, please visit https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/page/substitute-teaching for more information or contact one of the building principals for more information.

Our School Nurses:

• MSHS/LEAD NURSE

• Julie Diedrichsen 508-894-1220 x1305 or jdiedrichsen@wbridgewater.com

• HOWARD SCHOOL

• Peggy Linskey 508-894-1250 x3115 or mlinskey@wbridgewater.com

• ROSE L. MACDONALD SCHOOL

• Lynn Moniz 508-894-1240 x4102 or lmoniz@wbridgewater.com

• SPRING STREET SCHOOL

• Sara Mando 508-894-1230 x2122 or smando@wbridgewater.com

For more information about sick child guidelines, health related policies and state mandates, please visit the Health Services website at https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/page/health-services

Check out some of the PTO information below:

The WB Gridiron Club will again be selling fleece blankets!

There is a brand new design we are excited about along with the design from the fall.

These Super Soft Fleece Blankets are $40 ea. and will be available for pickup in the next week.

If you are interested in a presale, please fill out the attached google form to guarantee your blanket(s) as these will not last! Order Form: https://forms.gle/ZWSKjTaiSL9gfdBX9

**West Bridgewater Field Day & Softball/Baseball Opening Day - April 28th, 2024**

Get ready for an action-packed day at West Bridgewater Field Day, marking the exciting start of the baseball/softball season!

**What’s Happening?**

- **FREE Painting & Balloon Animals:** Unleash your creativity and enjoy fun shapes!

- **Tasty Treats:** Enjoy delicious hotdogs, visit the Black Hat Food Truck, and don't miss out on our Ice Cream Truck for sweet delights!

- **Inflatable Obstacle Courses:** Challenge your friends and have a blast.

- **Exciting Softball Games:** Cheer on your favorite teams in friendly competitions including WB Fire Department vs WB Police Department, WBYAA Girl's Coaches vs WBYAA Boy's Coaches, and WBHS Teachers vs Elementary Teachers.

**Special Highlights:**

- **Kick-off Parade:** We start the day with a vibrant parade. Be part of the excitement!

- **Community Spirit:** Join us in making this event a memorable gathering of our wonderful community.

- **Amazing Raffles & Merch:** Don't miss the chance to win fabulous prizes and grab your West Bridgewater gear.

Let's come together to support our teams and enjoy a day filled with fun, laughter, and community spirit. This year, we're all about making memories that will last a lifetime.

Mark your calendars for **April 28th, 2024**. It's going to be a day to remember, similar to the 200th bicentennial day! We can't wait to see you there and kick off the baseball/softball season with a bang!

Registration for Tackle Football & Cheer is now OPEN!
Sign onto our new crossbar website and register today!
www.wbwildcats.com

We have a few new things happening this year:
Cheer: Is Competition Cheer not for your athlete, but they still want to be involved? Sign up for Sideline Cheer Only! This is now available at all levels!

Early Bird Signup: Register Today and you can choose to either pay your registration in full or take part of our installment plan.

Mark Bodwell, Superintendent of Schools

Email: mbodwell@wbridgewater.com
Website: www.wbridgewaterschools.org
Location: 2 Spring Street, West Bridgewater, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 894-1230
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wbridgewaterschools
Twitter: @WBPSwildcats