Hello WB Students, Staff, and Families,

Happy Holidays to our West Bridgewater School Community! As a school district we wish all of you a joyful, relaxing and safe holiday season. As Superintendent I am incredibly proud and honored to work with our students, staff and families in West Bridgewater.

A heartfelt thank you goes to our dedicated staff, who work tirelessly to provide our students with the best education possible. We're also incredibly fortunate to have wonderful students in the district. And finally, a big thank you to our parents, guardians, and families for your support. Together, we hope to continue demonstrating Wildcat PRIDE.

Mark Bodwell

Superintendent

Check out the Building Project website (link below) for information and updates. Questions? Email the project team at wbes@pmaconsultants.com

Community Meeting/Project Update - January 14, 2025 at 6:00 pm at the Middle/Senior High School in the Auditorium. Come and learn more about the project and ask questions. There will be more community meetings scheduled over the next year + and information will continue to be shared with the public.

Project Team

Town of West Bridgewater: School Building Committee

Owners Project Manager: PMA Consultants

Designer: HMFH Architects

Looking at Potential Consolidation of (3) Schools

Rose L MacDonald School

Howard School

Spring Street School

Enrollment Options

PreK-4 (750 students + PreK)

PreK-6 (1075 students + PreK)

Upcoming Important Dates/Timeline

December 20, 2024 - Submission of Preliminary Design Proposal (PDP) to MSBA

January 2025 – April 2025 (4 months) - Preferred Schematic Report (PSR): Refinement of Options and Develop Preferred Solution

May 2025 : Compile and Submit PSR to the MSBA

May 2025: MSBA Facilities Assessment Subcommittee Review

June 2025: MSBA Board of Directors Approval of PSR

December 2025/January 2026 (exact dates TBD) - Special Town Meeting and Town Ballot Measure Votes

Next School Building Committee Meeting - January 28, 2025 5:30 pm at MSHS

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 .

Thank you to Mr. Collins for coming over for arrival at the Rose L MacDonald School and the Spring Street School today to play some holiday music for the students and staff as they entered the building. It was a great way to start the last day before the break! Great job Mr. Collins!

Earlier this year we received a substantial state grant to support our collaboration with Raising Multicultural Kids (RMK) in Kindergarten through grade six. RMK supports us in fostering inclusive mindsets and celebrating diversity.

Research highlights the benefits of multicultural education, including enhanced open-mindedness, empathy, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving skills. These qualities are essential for personal development and success in an increasingly diverse workforce and global marketplace. The collaboration with RMK is helping us create a more inclusive and equitable school environment.

Please ask your child about the program - some of the books RMK has read and discussed with our students are:

• Malakai’s Costume by Nadia L. Hohn (Grades 2-6)
• The Many Colors of Harpeet Signh by Supriya Kelkar (Kindergarten & Grade 1)
• Mixed Me by Taye Diggs (Kindergarten & Grade 1)
• The Girl Who Figured it Out: The Inspiring True Story of Wheelchair Athlete Minda Dentler Becoming an Ironman World Champion by Minda Dentler (Grades 2 through 6)
• Gibberish by Young Vo (Kindergarten & Grade 1)

Our district administrative team continues to monitor student attendance. We review the student data and information is passed on to our guidance staff. To date we are doing well and are looking to be below last years numbers but we know the importance of good attendance so please continue to do your best to have your child attend school every day that is possible.

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.

The following dates Mr. Bodwell spent at each of the 4 schools. He was in the building from arrival through dismissal. During that time he was in classes, meeting/talking with students and staff, lunches, teacher meetings and shadowing building administration. These days are very educational and also rewarding to spend the day in each school. He has already booked dates in the future at the schools after the break.

• Howard School - November 13th
• MSHS - November 21st
• Spring Street School - December 3rd
• Rose L MacDonald School - December 10th

Our Multilingual students are preparing to take their yearly ACCESS assessment, which is coming up in January 2025. This test assesses English Language Development in the areas of Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. When students reach specific goals, as determined by the state of Massachusetts, they are exited from the ESL program, and are monitored for the following four years. Here are two of our 6th Grade Former English Learners showing off a project they created in Ms. Berry's class. While receiving encouragement from their teacher to celebrate and include individual cultural aspects in their learning, Valentina and Valeria created Peruvian Food Trucks!!!

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season from the WB Athletic Department!

As we wrap up the fall season we would like to congratulate our many student-athletes earning recognition for their achievements. In Girls Cross Country, congratulations to Emma Pope for being named an SCC All-Star, Eva Smith as Honorable Mention, and Ashley Hardiman for winning the Sportsmanship Award. For Boys Cross Country, Alex Kelley was named an SCC All-Star, Ryan Geniuch and Sam Stapleton earned Honorable Mention, and Nate Trott received the Sportsmanship Award. The Field Hockey team captured the SCC Gold Conference Championship, with Grace Polen, Abby Matta, and Lauren Holland named SCC All-Stars, Reese O’Keefe and Brianna LaGrange as Honorable Mentions, and Haylee Krakowski receiving the Sportsmanship Award. In Golf, Aiden Delehoy was an SCC All-Star, Matt Walsh and Patrick Harrington earned Honorable Mention, and Colin Maher was the Sportsmanship Award winner. The Boys Soccer Team earned the SCC Team Sportsmanship Award, with Brendan Marinelli named an SCC All-Star, Dylan Spadea and George Baroud as Honorable Mentions, and Brendan Hulme winning the Sportsmanship Award. The Girls Soccer Team also had an incredible season, winning the SCC Gold Conference Championship. Kylie Fuller was named SCC Conference MVP and an SCC All-Star, Samara David and Kerri Gomes were also SCC All Stars. Shayna Wallach and Kate Austrino were Honorable Mentions, while Isabella Morash received the Sportsmanship Award. In Volleyball, Ava Harkins was an SCC All-Star, Jasmine Paulsen and Ariana Lone were Honorable Mentions, and Keira Cogavin earned the Sportsmanship Award. Finally, in Varsity Football, Ty Holmes, Thomas Polidori, and Gage Turner were named SCC All-Stars, Ryan Nunes and Liam Collins earned Honorable Mention, and Sean Hancock received the Sportsmanship Award. Congratulations to all on a fantastic season!

It's time to kick off our winter sports season!

Good luck to all of our student athletes during the Winter Sports Season! Check out the links below for the dates, times and locations of competitions and games for the Winter Season. If you are attending any basketball games in the gym this winter, we are no longer allowing any food or drinks in the gym. Please keep food and drinks in the cafeteria. Thank you for your help to keep our gym clean! Don't forget to follow each coach's Twitter, as well as @WBMSHSAthletics, for schedule updates and the most recent game highlights. The link to the Wildcat Store is at the bottom of the newsletter. Feel free to personalize and order any Wildcat Gear you would like.

Winter Sports Schedules:

Arbiter Live Link - https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=25160

Check out our sports schedule using the link above!

Hudl Link https://fan.hudl.com/

Catch games live on Hudl using the link below and searching for West Bridgewater Middle Senior High School!

Varsity Boys Basketball: Varsity basketball win their 2nd straight game beating Seekonk, 77 to 60, The Wildcats were led by Jag Garces for the second game in a row with 19 points to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and Armani Lloret had 16 points including (four 3-pointers) for the second game in a row as well. Ben Stapleton had 10 points and 5 rebounds, Henry St. Risme had an outstanding all-around game with 8 points, 8 rebounds and added some assists while Lamar Valentina contributed 8 points and 5 rebounds along with JJ Maclean with 8 points. But the shot of the night and game highlight goes to Brendan Hulme, B-Man, who took a pass with 36 seconds left in the game and fired a shot in perfect form well beyond the three-point arc and hit nothing but net. The entire gym erupted with a loud cheer of happiness as B-Man received a standing ovation. What a way to end an exciting game. Great job to you all and to you B-Man the 3-point specialist. They are now 2-0 starting off the season. The Wildcats next game is this Friday the 20th at Bourne. The Freshman Team plays at 3:30, followed by JV at 5 and then Varsity at 6:30. Good Luck to all of the teams.

JV Boys Basketball: Boys JV basketball defeated Blue Hills 63-44 in their first game of the season. The Wildcats came out strong with a 14-0 lead with some quick steals and buckets from Dylan Spadea. Charlie Mallet had a great performance leading scorers with 13 and Kevin Kearton was dominant on the boards with 10 points in the final quarter.

Freshman Basketball: Freshman Basketball lost their season opener in overtime in great effort against Seekonk. Isaiah David led the Wildcats with 16 points.

Cheer: The WB Varsity Cheerleading team has been out supporting our Winter teams in their games already. They are off to a great start this season! Way to go WB!

Girls Basketball: The Girls Basketball Team lost their season opener to Seekonk 50-25. Grace Polen led the Wildcats with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks.

They will play next against Bourne on December 20, 2024.

Indoor Track (Boys And Girls): WB Winter Track competed in their second meet of the year last night at Wheaton College. Both WB teams fell to Joseph Case in the overall results, however Boys scored in the following events: Nicco Robinson placed 3rd in the 300 with a PR time of 42.29. Jude Tait placed 2nd in the 600M with a PR time of 1:31.82. Alex Kelley won the 1 mile and 2 mile, gaining a new mile PR of 5:03.53! Jeremiah Barrows also scored in the mile, earning 2nd place against Case. Aquiles Gomes threw a new PR of 37'9" in Shot put to place 2nd against Case and Jude Tait and Nicco Robinson placed 2nd and 3rd in the long jump. Girls highlights included a first place in the 1000M for Sarah Diedrichsen with a PR time of 3:58.91, a first place in the mile for Eva Smith with a new PR time of 6:29.79. Chloe Gauthier scored second place in the 55M hurdles and 3rd in the 300M and tied for second in the long jump with Brianna Lagrange. Kate Austrino placed first in the 55M hurdles and 3rd in the high jump, with PR's in both! Look to watch these wildcats compete again at Wheaton on Jan 2nd!

Middle School Boys Basketball: Tuesday the Boys Middle school defeated Holbrook middle school 41 to 21. Offensively the boys struggled but the defense and rebounding came up big for the boys.Jeremy Borey led all scorers with 13 points.Nick Karras, Ferrell Eugene, and Xavier Washington led the defense in steals and rebounds.

Middle School Girls Basketball: The Girls Middle School team played a great game against Holbrook but came up just short. They lost the game by a score of 29 to 18. Good Luck this season!!

WEB Boys Hockey Team: The WEB boys Hockey team fell short last night to league rival Rockland by the score of 5-3. Jack Pimental had a pair of unassisted goals, and Tyler Henderson notched his first of the season also unassisted. WEB is excited to play their home opener this Saturday night vs Cohasset/Hull at 5pm at Bridgewater Ice Arena!!

WEB Girls Ice Hockey: The WEB Ice Hockey Team had a tough loss to Scituate in their home opener 6-1. Their lone goal was scored by Evelyn Concannon. Emily Lavallee was also named player of the game. Good luck!

BR/WB Gymnastics- Good Luck to our gymnastics team this season! Their first meet will be held on Monday, January 6th at 3:00PM vs Brockton @ Spectrum Gymnastics

Update:

Kylie Fuller has been selected to participate in the A Shot For Life Courage Cup on January 26th. Her goal is to raise $1000 to support this wonderful event, which benefits cancer research.

From Kylie: To me, it's such a great cause and if people are interested in donating they can just click on the link below and put "Kylie Fuller" in the "public message of support".

https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MjI1MjI3

Thank you for your consideration and best of luck to Kylie

Wildcats Athletic Store:

Check out the West Bridgewater Athletics online apparel store where you are able to personalize and order gear. Check out the link below to create and order your Wildcats Apparel. 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

In theory the holidays are a time for love, peace and harmony but in reality they can feel overwhelming and chaotic. You simply can't pour from an empty cup so your own health MUST be a priority. Here is a simple tool to use daily to help create some space between what is going on in your life and what you're going to do about it.

The Quickest, Easiest Mindful Parenting Tool
(exerpt from https://mindfulfamilies.net/mindful-parenting/mindfulness-meditation-exercises-children-parents/)

From chaos to calm: breath deeply…
Every parent has had (AT LEAST!) one of those completely stressed out, awful moments where things feel out of control. Before crumbling or totally losing it, try this:

Stop.
Put one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart.
Take a long, slow, deep breath in.
Fill the lower belly first, and then gradually fill up to the top of the throat.
And then slowly let the breath out in reverse.
Feel better?

How does that work? We have two parts to our nervous system: a “fight, freeze, flight” sympathetic nervous system and the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system. The nerves for that “rest and digest” system are in our belly. When you take a deep breath, you tap into those nerves. And when you take three deep breaths, you really begin to soothe your whole system.

Tuck this little mindful parenting tool into your toolkit. Hopefully, you’ll never need to use it (yeah, right!). But it will be there for you when things begin to break down and you need immediate repair.

Universal free school meals - Free meals continue in 2025! Happy New Year!

Click on WB Food Services to find Monthly menus.

A couple of recent highlights:

"School-Made" scratch baked goods made by our intern Anthony D'Agostino- Hot cocoa muffins were a hit!

Mr. Bodwell made a guest appearance at RLM and jumped in to help serve lunch alongside Ms Diane! I was told he did a great job and the students loved seeing him!

The holidays and school breaks can be a stressful time for families struggling to make ends meet.

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

Food Allergies and Diet Modifications- If your student has a food allergy or needs a diet modification, WB's School Nutrition Department will accommodate them with a Medical Statement from a licensed healthcare provider. Please contact the school nurse for more information on the required documentation.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY!

We are still looking for Cafeteria substitutes, Cafeteria monitors and an individual to help the Wildcat Cafe with social media.

Interested individuals should contact Ann Marie Grinder, Food Service Director at agrinder@wbridgewater.com or (508)894-1220 ext 1320

Adding money for a la carte items: While meals are free, students must have money on their accounts to buy extra items. Milk is available for students that bring meals from home for $.75 at all schools and Howard and the MSHS offer many healthy snacks and bottled water. Cash and checks are accepted and electronic payments can be made through MySchoolBucks. You will need your child's 10-digit SASID# to register for a MySchoolBucks account. Happy Holidays!

Thank you to the families who responded to the recent questionnaire about bullying. School administrators have spent time reviewing the responses from families, students, and staff. While the majority of respondents feel that WB Schools respond appropriately to allegations of bullying, we've found some areas where we can improve. Below you'll find a slide from our presentation to School Committee identifying our proposed next steps.

One important step is making the reporting of suspected bullying easier for students and families. All school websites now feature an easy-to find, easy to complete "Bullying Reporting Form." You'll also be able to find a button to report bullying included in every school newsletter.

The next Superintendent Coffee Hour will be on Friday, January 10th at 9:15 am at the Spring Street School. A few days before the meetings an email will be sent to all families with a tentative agenda and sign-in information. Hope to see you there!

Check out the newsletters for each of the 4 schools in WB! Lots of great information

Spring Street School https://secure.smore.com/n/kapwz

Rose L MacDonald School https://secure.smore.com/n/4xs30

Howard School https://secure.smore.com/n/dq3m2a

Middle/Senior High School https://secure.smore.com/n/edna7

Great job WB student Matt Navin! https://www.enterprisenews.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2024/12/19/brockton-ma-christmas-holidays-socks-homeless-teen-matt-navin/77061482007/ Matt recently dropped off over 3,000 pairs of socks to Brockton City Hall to give to people in need around the Brockton area. Well Done!

December 2, 2024

The objective of the Policy Subcommittee is to regularly review the 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 December 2, 2024, the following policies were reviewed and revised as indicated:

• KA - School/Community Relations Goals

• KBA - School-Parent/Guardian Relations Goals

• KBBA - Non-Custodial Parents' Rights

• KBE - Relations With Parent/Booster Organizations

• KDD - News Media Relations / News Releases

• KE - Public Complaints

• KLG - Relations With Police Authorities

• KLJ - Relations With Planning Authorities

• KLK - Relations With Local Governmental Authorities

Additionally, the following policies were opened and are scheduled for review at the next school committee meeting on January 13, 2025:

• IB - Academic Freedom

• IC/ICA - School Year/School Calendar

• ID - School Day

• IE - Organization of Instruction

• IGA - Curriculum Development

• IGB - Support Services Programs

• IGD - Curriculum Adoption

• IHAI - Occupational Education

• IHBD - Compensatory Education

• IHBEA - English Learner Education

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.

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.

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