Wilson Middle School Newsletter

Dear Wilson Parents,

Our school has a goal to increase student attendance. Since the school closures related to COVID-19 we have struggled to get ALL students to return to school and attend consistently. Our team has and will continue to make an effort to reach out to families and help address the barriers for having students attend school. What we are asking of you to help us in this endeavor are the following:

1. Please update your phone number and email address with the school, so that you can receive our attendance calls.

2. Please reply to ParentSquare notices for student absences to excuse their absence.

3. Call the school if your student is showing signs of losing interest in school attendance. We can work together to address the issues that may be getting in the way.

4. If your student is absent, require them to keep up with assignments at home (as possible) by checking CANVAS and/or emailing their teachers.

Having said this, we still advise that you please keep students’ home if they are sick.

Thank you,

Mr. Araiza

Principal

February is a good time to take a close look at your student’s progress in school. We are still in the beginning stages of the 3rd quarter. Make plans with your student for a successful second half of the year. Please contact your student’s teachers or one of our counselors if you need information about how to make this happen. You may also use Skyward's “Family Access” to stay informed of your student’s grades, homework assignments, email teachers and much, much more! Also, put it on your calendar and plan ahead for our Spring Conferences, from March 29-31.

This month is also of particular interest to 8th grade students as the transition process to high school kicks off. There are several activities planned by our counselors to help them with the selection of courses. If you have any questions or would like additional information, call our school counselors at 573-2406.

2/2- Family Movie Night (hosted by the Booster club) 6:30pm in the Main Gym. "The Rise of Gru"

2/6-2/10: National Counselors Week

2/13-2/17: Spirit Week

2/20-2/24: Mid-Winter Break/No School

Parents and students,

We would like to inform you that the office will not be responsible in accepting any Valentine's Day deliveries or gifts of any kind, such as, balloons, flowers, chocolates etc.

Parents, you must update your students information and emergency contact list. If there will be any changes to your phone numbers or address please contact our registrar, Ms. Thomas at 573-2406.

Patience

The capacity, habit, or fact of being patient

Paris Ochoa, Jose Pinzon, Tonni Vohra, Maverick Myers, Samuel Anderson, Angel Amador-Zambrano, Akira Wheeler, Jaydin Villalvazo-Flores, Aubrii Hozjan, Rolando Maciel-Garza, Yanuel Arguello, Jaxon Weyhrich, Anthony Mendoza-Yepiz, Alektra Lee, Adriel Bustos, Elizabeth Hughes, Alysza Villa, Ernesto Rosales, Cassidy Murphy, Addison Ward, Yosaira Vaquera, Alvaro Olivas, Alexis Nunez, Joshua Fowler and Emily Carbajal

ADMISSION IS FREE. There will be popcorn and other refreshments for $1.00. Students can wear their PJ's and bring blankets and pillows. The movie that will be shown is "The Rise of Gru".

For every $1.00 spent on refreshments you will be put into a door prize raffle for fun stuffed Valentines Day toys and treats!

Hope you can join us.

Wilson 6th grade Life science students are amazing! We have a class full of hands-on learning. We are currently participating in the "Mushroom Challenge". In this experiment students are designing a growing system to see if their lab group can grow the most amount of mushrooms. Very interesting to watch mushrooms grow and learn about the life cycle of different types of fungus! We are well into our ecosystem unit now and your students are building eco-columns using the scientific process to determine what types of pollution cause severe effects on our environments. Students are enjoying learning about the energy flow through ecosystems, food chains, producers, consumers, and decomposers. They are learning about the different types of relationships organisms have in ecosystems and will be completing an ecosystem research project to start in the 3rd quarter. We are very much looking forward to the learning about the Plant Kingdom, getting outside to utilize the Wilson Garden Center and the greenhouses to learn the lifecycle of plants and all the plant processes. Never a dull moment in science!

Meets after school Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2:30 to 3:30 PM. We provide students with a snack, have tutors available, and any other supplies they need like paper, pencils, markers, rulers, and calculators. We keep attendance when students arrive and when they leave. Please call Mrs. Madrinich at 573-2422 for more information or if you want to check if your children are attending regularly.

Meets in the library after school on Tuesday-Friday from 2:30 to 3:30 PM. Students attending can explore a variety of arts and crafts. We will keep attendance and you can call Mrs. Madrinich at 573-2422 if you want to check on whether your child is with us. We would love if any adult with a skill or craft they would like to share could come and help us learn what you know. You will need to complete a volunteer form in the office, so please contact Mrs. Madrinich at 573-2422 or leave a message if you are interested in helping out.

Many students still have books out from the past two years that we haven't assigned fines for yet in the Skyward system. Once fines are set, they must be paid before student records can be released to other schools or for seniors to participate in graduation. Please have your children check on the books they have borrowed in their library Destiny accounts. They can log in from home with their @ysd7 usernames and passwords just like all of their other class information and email. If books are found and returned, you can avoid having to have a fine in Skyward. All of our YSD schools will accept a GOOD, USED COPY OF THE SAME TITLE of a lost book rather than paying the cost to buy a new copy. That saves YOU money, and the library gets the book back for others to read. We call that a WIN-WIN situation for everyone!

To be successful in all subjects, children need to master reading early and keep up their skills by daily practice. Even reading a fiction novel builds BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE for many subjects, and develops empathy, the ability to put yourself in the mind of someone different from yourself. Empathy is needed to relate to other people and understand their point of view. Encourage your children to read more by modeling it yourself. Anyone with a YSD account can access the Yakima Valley Regional Library ebooks through the SORA app on the Wilson MS Library Destiny homepage. There are free magazines, ebooks, audio books for all ages when you add the YVRL library to the YSD selection of thousands of titles to share at home!

Wilson Middle School students will get the chance of a lifetime to meet and learn from a best selling Washington State author from Tacoma, Marissa Meyer, March 3rd! Marissa Meyer is celebrating the ten year anniversary of her Lunar Chronicles series beginning with the first novel Cinder. Ms. Meyer writes science fiction fantasy novels based on fairy tales. She donated 30 copies of Cinder for Wilson students to read prior to her coming to visit. A small select number of students will be specially chosen to meet with Ms. Meyer in a group setting to get copies of her books signed and to ask more personal questions about what it's like to be a famous author!

When winter weather hits Yakima, many YSD staff are up (very) early consulting with city management, driving the bus routes and putting teams in place to best remove safety hazards at our buildings.

Our procedure includes making a delay or closure decision by 5:30a.m.

What is the procedure for determining to close school due to inclement weather? Check our policy here: Operational Procedure 2221 - Emergency School Closure (PDF).

We post messaging about delays and/or closures to (in this order):

• YSD Mobile App (with push notification): https://www.ysd7.org/MobileApp
• The district and school websites: https://www.ysd7.org / En Español: https://es.ysd7.org/
• District Facebook: www.facebook.com/yakimasd / En Español: www.facebook.com/YSDEspanol
• District Twitter: www.Twitter.com/yakimaschools / En Español: twitter.com/YSDEspanol
• District Instagram: www.Instagram.com/yakimaschools
• Local Media - We send our message to local media via the FlashAlert system (view media list)

We realize there are many opinions as to when we should delay, close or remain open in full operation. We take this decision very seriously and do our best to keep school open and on time. However, should we need to close school, we will make up each day lost. Please check the district calendar for a listing of designated snow make-up days. If we do not need to make up days, there will be no school on the scheduled snow make-up days. We do not make up time from delays.

If the weather is poor, allow extra time to get where you need to be and make sure you have prepared your children with warm coats, boots, hats and gloves. To prepare for delays and closures, please make sure you have a care plan in place for your children should you need to report to your employment. It's also time to be prepared for winter driving.

During the winter, we often run "Snow Routes" for our buses. Keep in mind that the buses do their best to stay on schedule but will drive slowly and safely. Please be prepared for possible delays at your bus stops. If a route is more than 30 minutes behind, an update will be posted to our transportation web page. If we run snow routes in the morning, we will stay on snow routes in the afternoon. Please be familiar with your child's snow route: View Yakima School District Bus Routes.

​How is breakfast handled during a weather delay? In elementary school buildings, breakfast will be available in the cafeteria only for students who are let into the buildings early. (Child Nutrition staff does not provide supervision) Breakfast will not be served in the classrooms. However, it will be available for those students who are hungry and want to eat prior to lunch service. In middle school buildings, breakfast will be available to students, as normal, as they are entering the buildings. In high school buildings, a second chance breakfast will not be offered. Students will still be allowed to eat breakfast before the start of classes in the cafeteria.

Monday 8:00am to 1:30pm

Tuesday-Friday: 8:00am to 2:30pm

All student cell phones, earbuds, and electronic devices are to be turned off and stored in student backpacks once students are on campus between the hours of 7:30 am and 2:30 pm.

Wilson Middle School staff will not be responsible for lost or stolen cell phones or electronic devices. If the student is caught with their phone out during school hours, the phone will be taken to the office. If it is the students 1st offence they can pick it up at the end of the day. If there is a 2nd incident and anytime after, the parents will be asked to come and pick up the cell phone from the office.

If students need to reach parents for any reason they can use the phone in the office.

Please encourage your student to come to the office if they are not feeling well. We do not allow students to text or call parents from their cell phones in class. This disrupts learning and causes confusion in the office because we are unaware as to why the student is leaving.

Wilson Middle School guidelines for students will foster an environment of respect for oneself, a sense of school pride, and will improve the level of safety in our building, while maintaining a focus on academic achievement. This policy applies to all students at Wilson Middle School.

Students may wear:

· Pants, shorts, sport shorts, and skirts of any color.

· Shorts and skirts that are longer than the finger tips, when arms are extended down to the sides.

· Tops that are of any color, or style, as long as shoulders, cleavage, backs, chest, and midriffs are covered.

· Hats and hoods, but only outside the building.

· Footwear that is safe for all school activities.

Students may not wear:

· Pants, shorts, or skirts with holes above the finger tips; unless worn with leggings underneath.

· Clothing with excessively ripped/hanging material that can catch or snag.

- Muscle shirts, tank tops or crop tops.

· Bedtime slippers, flip-flops, or “slides”

· Pants, shorts, or skirts, “sagged”.

· Trench coats or long overcoats.

· Any items deemed by administration as disruptive to the educational process, such as gang attire, or items with sexual, drug or alcohol messages, or those deemed unsafe. (This includes gang color or representation through numbers, pictures, Old English fonts, etc.)

We believe our dress code preserves our commitment to provide a safe and equitable school environment for all students. If in doubt, please call 573-2400 to avoid a disruption to your student’s education.

ABSENCES: If you have not called in your student's absence and we have not made contact with you, please send a note with your student upon his/her return in order to avoid an unexcused absence. We are now required to send an attendance letter after three unexcused absences. At five unexcused absences, we will schedule a conference to discuss attendance issues. If, your child obtains 7 unexcused absences or 10 unexcused absences in a year a BECCA petition will be filed for your student in juvenile court. Feel free to contact our attendance secretary at 573-2410.

TARDIES: Students need to be in class by the time the tardy bell rings. In the morning, the first bell rings at 7:50am, students are expected to be in class by 8:00am and ready to learn! Students have 4 minutes to get to their next class on time; otherwise they are tardy, which disrupts the learning process.

CHECKING OUT A STUDENT: When you know your student has an appointment or needs to be picked up early, we ask that you to send a note or call in the morning with the time they will be picked up. Your student will need to turn in the note to the office and will receive a pass to be released with the time you indicate. We will not be calling classrooms, as this interrupts instruction.

If you have any questions, please call our attendance secretary at 573-2410.

PRE-ARRANGED ABSENCES: If your student will be gone from school for other than an illness, or medical appointment, please fill out a prearranged absence form ahead of time. The forms are in the office at the student service desk. They need to be completed two weeks ahead of time with a parent signature or attached note, the dates of the absence, teacher signatures, and the principal’s signature. If such an absence occurs, and the form is not completed by district guidelines, the absence is not excused

Students should always check their school email and Canvas page to stay current on their school assignments.

Yakima School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.

The following employees at 104 N. 4th Ave. Yakima WA 98902 have been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination:

• (Non-Students) Title IX/ADA: Robert Noe, Chief Legal Counsel, (509) 573-7039 noe.robert@ysd7.org;
• (Adult) ADA/504 Compliance Coordinator: Chris Miller, Human Resources Director, (509) 573-7066 miller.christopher@ysd7.org;
• (Students) Title IX/ADA/Section 504: Omar Santoy, Director of Student Services, (509) 573-7004 santoy.omar@ysd7.org.

Individuals with disabilities who require assistance or special arrangements to attend a program or activity sponsored by the Yakima School District should contact one of the ADA Coordinators 24 hours in advance of the event to inquire about reasonable accommodation. Deaf, deaf-blind, hard of hearing, and/or speech impaired individuals may access Washington Relay Services by calling 7-1-1- or 1-800-833-6388.

Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM

Website: https://www.ysd7.org/Domain/232
Location: 902 South 44th Avenue, Yakima, WA, USA
Phone: (509)573-2400

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WilsonMiddleYSD

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilsonmiddleschoolysd

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WilsonCavaliers