WMS Weekly Warrior

January 6, 2025

Happy New Year Woodbury Middle School,

We hope you enjoyed the holiday season and spent quality time with your family and friends. As January marks the halfway point of the school year, it’s a great opportunity to log into PowerSchool and check your student’s grades. It's also a good time to review student attendance.

As we mentioned earlier this school year, we are very proud of the improvement in our attendance rates compared to previous years. However, as we approach the midyear mark, we are noticing that some students are categorized as chronically absent. Chronic absence is defined as missing 10 percent or more of the total days enrolled in school throughout the year. With the 80th day of school approaching, students are considered chronically absent if they have eight or more absences.

Being chronically absent can significantly impact a student’s ability to read at grade level, perform academically, and graduate on time. Good attendance is essential for helping children succeed in school and later in the workplace. Please do your best to ensure your students attend school regularly?

Our drama club auditions for the play Frozen begin today. Auditions will also take place on Tuesday, and the group will meet regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the play, scheduled for April, is performed.

Our sports schedules are in full swing, with our basketball teams playing home games today and tomorrow. Please remember that students must be in school on game days. Chronic tardiness can affect a student's ability to participate in sports. Please visit the athletic page linked below for schedules and other sports-related information. Good luck to our teams! Go Warriors!

Please review the yearbook flyer below for ordering information about the WMS yearbook for the 2024-2025 school year.

Have a great week,

WMS Admin

Bill Nemec, Principal

Aimee Shuhart, Interim Assistant Principal

Please make sure to review the Woodbury Middle School Student Handbook with your student regarding cell phones. Some of you may be aware that the state has issued recommendations on cell phone usage in schools. I have included the proposed language from the state below. Click the picture to access the entire document from the state.

• Middle School − The policy for middle school students should also focus on removing cell phones from the school day or classroom. Developmentally, this age group is particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of excessive personal technology use and has a difficult time controlling their impulses. Concurrently, middle school students experience increased autonomy and independence during the school day, which can lead to increased opportunity for cell phone misuse. − Possession of cell phones in this age group is likely to be viewed as a rite of passage into adulthood, so communication and application of policies that restrict use must be developed in consideration of the specific challenges of middle school students.