What's new with Watkins Middle?

A weekly reflection and preview of all things WMS

WMS updates and reminders

Tuesday 4/14, all students will take Part 1 of the Math state test & Thursday 4/16 they will take Part 2. Testing will take place during the morning portion of the day. If possible please avoid signing your child out of school between the start of the day and 10am on test days. Make ups for all state tests take place on non testing days.
There is no school Friday 4/18 of this week.
Teacher appreciation week is coming up during the 1st week of May. Help us celebrate the awesome work they do by sending them a shout out. staff shout out form here.
Students that earned 3rd quarter honor roll (all A's and B's) will be treated to our PTO sponsored 'honor roll' sundae's next week. Students will also be receiving their Warrior cards as a part of our building wide positive behavior incentive system (PBIS). Students will be able to use these cards to access PBIS incentive events, ice cream trucks, and Kona Ice should they choose to do so. Students would still need to bring money to purchase ice cream or Kona Ice for select events.
April 22nd is earth day. During non testing days students will help keep the campus clean by conducting some trash pick up sessions by grade during FOCUS block for the week.
8th grade girls interested in playing high school golf should attend a parent informational meeting on 4/14 in the high school commons (6pm).
Be sure to check out our fliers below for our annual WMS plant sale, and our second annual culture night. Check out this informational video about last years culture night, as well as details for this year. We hope you are able to attend! Summer camp information is listed below as well.
Licking Memorial is conducting health physicals this spring. See details listed below.
Cheerleading tryouts will be occurring in May (see flier below). Parents should plan on attending a meeting in the middle school cafeteria May 5th at 5:30pm.

Have you missed any previous newsletters? You can always look on our school website to find archived newsletters to catch up on all things Watkins Middle School.

Shocking discoveries

Students in Mrs. Redfern's class broke out the electric snap circuit kits this week as they explored how electric circuits work and energy transformations.

Genetics

In Ms. Borch's Science 8 class students tried to determine if they had "Super powers". Students were given a control and then an experiment and if they were able to pick up the bitter taste of the experiment, they have the Supertaster gene. Seventy-five percent of the population has this gene, but some of us do not hold this "Super power."

Honors Science 6

Students in Mr. Walter's Honors Science 6 learned all about cells. They were tasked with applying the structures of a cell to another concept. In this picture a student compared a cell to parts of a farm.

Final coffee shop presentations

In our final round of coffee shop presentations students representing all grades and portions of the building presented to an outside audience group that included district office personnel, the owner of porters coffee, and a member of the PAST foundation. Our winning group was the "Glo" cafe from Mrs. Graves focus group.

Who dunnit?

Students in Ms. Flower's humanities entered class this week and came across a crime scene. They put all of their wits and collaboration together to crack codes and solve the crime.

Spring theater

Mrs. Haye's spring theater students performed their self created skits for other students this past week.

Progress Book Set up assistance

Complete this form to have a staff member reach out to you regarding parent access to progress book.

Athletics

Please click the link below for all of your athletic ticketing and scheduling needs.

Hometown Ticketing

Varsity Ticket events are $7 up to 1 hour before the event. At the gate tickets are $8 (use of a card includes a fee at the gate). Middle School tickets are $5.

All athletes should enter and exit the building through the 600 hall (Door 7) entrance before and after practice each day.

Upcoming Events

4/22 Part 1 of the 8th grade Science test
4/24 Part 2 of the 8th grade Science test
4/29 4th quarter interims
4/30 Spring Choir concerts (6-8:30pm)
5/4 Orchestra concert (2-3pm)
5/14 Culture Night (5-8pm) video flier
5/16 Science Fair
5/16 8th grade farewell dance (6-8pm)
5/18-21st 8th grade DC trip

Transportation & Attendance information

Bus concerns:

We ask that you please contact the Transportation Department directly at 740-927-5901 with any concerns about your student’s bus (late arrival or other issues). Their phones are manned 6:00 am to 5:00 pm, and they have direct contact with all buses.

Attendance:

Please call the 24 hour WMS attendance line at (740) 927-6807 to report student absences. This voicemail box is available 24/7 and messages are retrieved on school days between the hours of 7:00am through 3:00pm.

If your student will miss school due to a pre-planned absence, please complete this Trip/Vacation Authorization Form.

Watkins Middle School Google Calendar

Stay up to date with all our building happenings!

Contact us

Get in touch with WMS!

Email: jball@laca.org
Website: https://wms.swl.k12.oh.us/
Location: 8868 Watkins Road Southwest, Pataskala, OH, USA
Phone: (740)927-5767
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gowatkinsmiddleschool
Twitter: @WatkinsMiddle