Dear Wayland Middle School Caregivers,

It is hard to believe that our clocks fell back on Sunday, and we turned the calendar to November! On behalf of the WMS administrative team and faculty, thank you for your support, participation, and partnership through the start of the 2024-2025 school year.

We had many bright sides this week brought by our students, our teachers, and you, our parent and caregiver community.

One bright side from last week was the Masquerade Concert. We thank Whitney Tandon for her work with our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade orchestra students. Each of our grade level groups performed for the standing-room only audience in the WHS theater. The evening ended with an orchestral collaboration, Thriller, which included our 8th grade orchestra members alongside their high school counterparts. If you have never attended the Masquerade Concert, put this concert on your calendar for next year. You will be treated to an amazing orchestral performance with participants, including directors, in full Halloween costumes!

Caregiver Conferences, meetings with caregivers and their student’s homeroom teachers took place on October 23 or October 30. In conferences, caregivers and teachers engaged in meaningful conversations about hopes for the upcoming year, challenges that students face, and students’ trusted adult(s) in our school community. Our homeroom teachers approach their roles with dedication, understanding the importance of their relationships with students as they are the first touchpoint in students’ “home away from home” each day. Thank you for your participation in fostering the important relationships between home and school that support every student’s social, emotional, and academic development

In the month of November, we will continue to focus on the “R”, respect, of BERT with an emphasis on the importance of respecting the identities that each of us bring to our school community. As we approach this week’s election as a community, we recognize that while we share many values, in a democracy we may not agree on political topics. At WMS, we will continue to focus on our shared values of BERT, belonging, empathy, respect, and trust. BERT serves as the foundation for our commitment to making Wayland Middle School an inclusive environment.

Please know that my door is always open. Whether you have questions, concerns, or simply want to share in the excitement of the school year, I encourage you to reach out.

Deborah

• Tuesday, November 5: Election Day
• Monday, November 11: Veterans' Day - NO SCHOOL
• Wednesday, November 13: SUPER Wednesday Early Release, 12:20 p.m.
  Grab & Go Lunch available
• Wednesday, November 27: Thanksgiving Early Release (Grab and Go Lunch) 🦃
• Thursday, November 28 and Friday, November 29: Thanksgiving Recess - NO SCHOOL

Students and teachers are invited to participate in our first Spirit Week of the year. The following will be our themes for each day of the week.

Monday, November 4th: Fun Sock Day

Tuesday, November 5th: Homeroom Day

Wednesday, November 6th: Wayland Wear Day

Thursday, November 7th: Dress Up Day

Friday, November 8th: Comfy Cozy Day

Empowerment in Action: A Community Conversation with WaylandCAN

WaylandCAN is a newly formed non-profit led by a number of Wayland residents in town who are dedicated to fostering social justice through proactive education and inclusive dialogue. Join us for a discussion aimed at inspiring individuals to take meaningful action in Wayland. Share your experiences, learn from others, and discover ways to create positive change in town. We empower our community to amplify diverse voices, challenge systemic inequalities, and drive meaningful change towards a more equitable Wayland.

When: Tuesday, 11/19 from 7-9PM

Where: The Loker School Cafeteria

Register here by 11/15!

Follow WaylandCAN on Facebook and Instagram

A Message From: Laurie Hojlo laurie_hojlo@waylandps.org

We are beginning to plan for all the state mandated health screening that will be happening later this fall. These will include Vision and Hearing (7th grade only), Heights and Weights (7th grade only) and Postural screening (all grades). Most physicians’ offices include these screenings as part of an annual physical exam. This is something you can look for on your childs’ annual physical exam report provided to you.

The Postural screenings will take place at a later date after Vision, Hearing, Heights and Weights. We will announce the dates. Students can wear whatever they feel comfortable in, provided we can view their back. Screening will be done in the locker rooms in a private area or in the health room by a school nurse. Any student who requests a more private setting for their screening will be accommodated. If your child has an abnormal screening result, you will be notified by mail. Letters are not mailed for normal results.

In order for all these screenings to be completed, we will need to pull the students from Wellness, Org Skills and Study Halls. We will make every effort to minimize the time they are away from class. The screenings may not all happen in the same week. If you would like to “opt out” or decline any or all screenings here at the Middle School, please send an email to the school nurse stating any or all screenings you would like to opt out of. A handwritten note will also suffice, but a phone call will NOT - we must have written documentation that you are declining the screening. If interested in opting out, please notify us as soon as possible, or by 11/15/2024 at the latest.

Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.

Thank you for your continued support of WMS’ “off and away” policy through your words and actions.

During the Caregiver Community Event in October, one middle school parent asked, “How can we help you?”. Based on this question and other content from the middle level group, I share the following:

• Improve the quality and quantity of your student’s sleep by 1) setting a time before bed time that all devices are turned off and 2) charging your student’s phone in a location other than their bedroom.

• Model the practices we want to build in our students. For instance, have regular device- free experiences for the family such as “phone free dinners” and “phone free family fun”. Avoid turning an event into an opportunity for social media posting - live in the present rather than the virtual.

• Monitor your student’s device use and engage in conversations about their virtual experiences.

• Inform your student that you will periodically review the content on their device either with them or on your own.

• Have frequent conversations with your student about what they are experiencing in their virtual lives and provide much needed feedback and advice (ie: avoid group chats with large groups as they are places where participants post inappropriate, offensive, and/or harassing content because there is a higher level of anonymity).

• Consider giving your student a device that is specialized for communication and not for internet based apps. In other words, don’t give a smartphone as a first phone. More than one parent mentioned Pinwheel Phones as an alternative to explore.

AM Wellness is a school club during which students can enjoy exercise and activity first thing in the morning. This year the club will be supervised by Ms. Mait and Mr. Williams. Activities typically include basketball and indoor soccer so only students who are interested in participating in these activities should attend. AM Wellness takes place Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00 - 8:30 a.m. The doors to AM Wellness close at 8:20 a.m.

Artists: Liam Parks

Grade: 8

Medium: Mixed Media

Thank You to everyone who has donated to our Gift Your Child fundraising campaign this year! We are at 83% of our goal. Donations made in any amount help us to reach our goal.

Here are some examples of how we support your student and our amazing staff.

• Student enrichment

• Field trip support

• Classroom materials that support collaborative learning

• School clubs

• Social emotional learning

• Field day & school dance

• Recreational supplies for recess and the gym

• Books for every English classroom

• Teacher appreciation events

Please see more examples of what we can support with your help.

Many companies will match an employee's gift to a charity one-to-one or even more in donations! This means that your gift to a charity can be worth two to four times as much as you donate. Ask your employer if they offer a charitable match!

The WMS PTO adds weekly updates in the WMS Weekly Newsletter, but further details, reminders, photos and videos are shared on the WMS PTO Facebook Group. Stay in the loop!

Communications/Social Media PTO Chair

We are looking for someone that can create engaging content for the WMS Facebook Group and future Instagram account. The PTO uses canva.com to create fun videos, social media posts and more.

Other opportunities to volunteer

To see some of the descriptions, click on the volunteer opportunities below.

We have many ways to get involved! Please fill out our survey below or send an email to: Waylandmiddleschoolpto@gmail.com