WMS Weekly Newsletter

Dear Wayland Middle School Caregivers,

Our Bright Sides this week begin with a thanks to Whitney Tandon and all of our orchestra members for their stellar performance on Wednesday evening. In the words of Susan Memoli, Director of Fine Arts for WPS, “it would be impossible to pick a favorite selection, as they just kept getting better and better leading to the ultimate closer! As always, these productions take a village.” Special thanks to the performing arts staff who were present to support the lights, sound, and movement and management of all of the members.

During our most recent Super Wednesday, our Curriculum Leaders facilitated the last session of four sessions in the series on accountable talk. In the last session, we had an opportunity to engage with a Story Corps Video from an emotional level, creating motivation and engagement for learning, and then did “the shuffle”, collaboratively analyzing the text in increasingly complex ways based on Bloom’s Taxonomy (a classification system that defines and distinguishes different levels of human cognition). In small groups, we engaged with the “text”, for instance, by sorting the text excerpts by location and chronologically, making inferences based on excerpts, identifying theme, and creating a title for the text. The room was abuzz with collaborative, focused talk, and considerations of how to use this accountable talk move in classrooms.

As always, my door is 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

• Monday, January 20: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - NO SCHOOL
  Wayland METCO Community Celebration Luncheon (see above for details)
  

• Tuesday, January 21: Principal's Caregiver Coffee 9:15-10:15 AM.☕

• Wednesday, January 22: 6th Grade Ski Trip - Henry Cluster

• Thursday, January 23: 6th Grade Ski Trip - Thoreau Cluster

• Wednesday, January 29: Lunar New Year - NO SCHOOL

• Monday, February 17: President's Day - NO SCHOOL

• Tuesday, February 18 - Friday, February 21: February Break - NO SCHOOL

• Thursday, February 27: WMS Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We are thrilled to share that Peer Mediation will now be offered as part of our school’s response to student conflict. Peer mediation is a conflict resolution process where trained students help their peers resolve disputes in a constructive way. It promotes communication, understanding, and problem-solving, allowing both parties to reach a mutually agreeable solution.

There are currently twenty-four trained Wayland High School (WHS) peer mediators. Their preparation began with three full-days of training which focused on the skills needed in a facilitative mediation model such as active listening and reframing. Mediators fully understand that neutrality and confidentiality are critical in their roles and are only involved in mediations in which there is no conflict of interest. WHS peer mediators hone their skills through authentic mediation sessions as well as weekly practice mediations facilitated by the WHS assistant principal. In every mediation, there are two student mediators and one trained adult in the room to support the mediators.

Referrals for peer mediation will only be made by WMS counselors or WMS administrators to ensure that referrals are appropriate for peer mediation. Given past experience at the high school, referrals for peer mediation will primarily be in cases of social conflicts between students.

Thanks to the collaboration of WMS counselors, administrators, WHS Assistant Principal Sean Gass, WMS PTO board members, WHS peer mediators, WMS will now benefit from the peer mediation program at WHS.

Grades will close on Friday, January 24, 2025. Caregivers will be able to view grades in HAC on Monday, February 3, 2025. Please make sure you can access your HAC account with your correct login and password before the date as to avoid any delay in accessing this information.

For any questions or assistance, please call the front office at 508-358-3801.

The School Committee has requested that we as a district examine our current policies/practices related to cell phones (and other student devices) and make recommendations that will support both the academic and emotional lives of our students.

As such, the district has created a district Cell Phone Working Group. This group includes School Committee members, School Council members at both the middle and high schools, representatives from our elementary school community, and district leaders.

The Cell Phone Working Group met for the first time on Monday, January 6th. The first task of the group is to assess how current practices are working this year. This is an important topic as we as a school community have committed to a robust “off and away” policy. The Cell Phone Working Group intends to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to provide feedback based on current practices. Stay tuned for this opportunity and other updates!

As you know, it is important for all schools to practice safety protocols in order to ensure that students and teachers know how to respond in different situations. WMS has already had practice with safety protocols this year. Earlier this year, we conducted both a fire evacuation drill and a “stay in place” drill, and we also walked to our off-site evacuation location. For those who are not familiar with “stay in place”, it is a protocol used when, for instance, there is a medical emergency in the building or when there is a dangerous situation outside of the school (ie: a bear on the campus or a chemical spill nearby). In “stay in place”, hallways are cleared to allow for the resolution of the situation, and students stay in their classrooms and learning continues. All of our practices have gone very well!

In the upcoming week, we will practice the ALICE protocol. ALICE is our response if there were ever an intruder in the building. This is a very unlikely situation in our school given our existing safety policies. During the practice, students will listen to and follow their teachers’ instructions as teachers decide whether to lockdown in their classroom or lead students to our outdoor evacuation area. We will not be walking to our off site evacuation site during this drill. Students will be informed during homeroom on the day that the practice will take place to ensure that they are aware it is only a drill and so the practice happens in a calm and orderly manner.

Thirteen-year-old problem solver, Edwina, dishes out advice with the help of her friends and a little song and dance!

SHOWS:

Thursday, February 6: 7:00 PM

Friday, February 7: 7:00 PM

Have your child join the google classroom for all the info!

https://classroom.google.com/u/0/c/NzI5NDk3MzA0MDE3

Artists: Owen Martens

Grade: 6

Medium: Ink, Mirrors & Photography

Let's celebrate our SOUPER middle school teachers and staff!

On January 23, let's provide a comforting lunch of soup and salad as an appreciation for all they do to support our children. Please sign-up here to contribute!

How much soup? We're asking for 12 crockpots' worth, assuming an average size of 6-7 quarts. PLEASE INDICATE which soup you're bringing, to guarantee a variety of offerings.

No time to shop? We've also included a few easy items from Amazon! Have them delivered directly to me, or drop them at your convenience. Address: 8 Brackett Rd, Wayland.

When to drop off? Soups should be delivered to the Middle School by 10am on Jan 23. Non-perishable items can be dropped off at 8 Brackett Road by January 22 before 5pm or to the school by 10am on January 23.

Any questions? Please contact Shirra Baston at shirra.baston@gmail.com

Reminder: Please label any items you would like returned to you!

Thank you to our WMS community for helping us reach our fundraising goal! The PTO is now able to fund more great programs, enrichment activities and unique classroom materials for our students.

Grant requests

We are currently reviewing grant requests from staff and will soon be putting your donations back into the classrooms.

It's not to late to donate.... (See link below)

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! Ask your employer if they offer a charitable match!

The WMS PTO adds weekly updates in the Monday newsletter, but additional reminders, school news and photos are shared on Facebook.

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

Other opportunities to volunteer

To see some of the descriptions, please see here.

We are looking for volunteer(s) that would like to create engaging content for the WMS Facebook page and assist with other communication related tasks. The PTO uses canva.com to create fun videos, graphics and more. Please send and email to: Wayalndmiddleschoolpto@gmail.com