WMS Parent News

October 26: Fall Picture Retakes

November 6th - Culver's Night - 5-7:00pm

November 7th - NO SCHOOL

November 11th - 7th and 8th Grade Honor Orchestra (district wide) 9:00am-1:00pm at PHS

November 13th - Orchestra Concert - 8th Grade - 7:00pm (WHS)

November 14th - PTO meeting 6:30pm - Office Conference Room

November 21st - End of Tri 1

November 22nd - Teacher Workshop - NO SCHOOL

November 23-24th - Holiday - NO SCHOOL

Click here to see the full calendar on the WMS website

Take a night off the kitchen and bring the whole family to Culver's this coming Monday, November 6th, 2023 and mention that you are with Woodbury Middle School so the school can receive a percentage of the sales

The next PTO Meeting will be on November 14th, 2023 at the Conference Room by the Front Office at WMS from 6:30pm to 7:30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend! We hope to see you there.

A big "Thank You" to all the students and families that have been selling World's best chocolate bars! If by any chance you forgot to turn in your money, please send it with your student to the front office ASAP.

A big "THANK YOU" to all the families that make generous donations towards the conference dinner on October 17th! Teachers and School staff loved all the food from Acapulco Mexican Restaurant, the beverages, cookies and candy!

WMS is currently hiring for two paraprofessional positions.

Do you know someone who is passionate about working with kids and would like to join our team at Woodbury Middle School? We are currently hiring for paraprofessional positions for the 2023-24 school year.

If you or someone you know might be interested, please reach out to assistant principal Josh Eidem at 651-425-4509 or jeidem@sowashco.org.

Applicants can also go online at: https://www.applitrack.com/sowashco/onlineapp/default.aspx?Category=Paraprofessional

Are you interested in a fun and challenging winter sport that will keep you active throughout the colder months? Consider joining the PWER (pronounced 'power') Nordic Ski Team! Nordic is excellent cross training and a great way to stay sharp during the winter. To learn more, attend the informational meeting this Wednesday, October 25th, at 5:30 PM in the Woodbury High School Lecture Hall.

Learn about the upcoming season, meet the coaches, and find out how you can get involved in this exhilarating winter sport. Mark your calendars and we'll see you Wednesday, October 25th at 5:30 PM in the Woodbury High School Lecture Hall!

Cold weather is just around the corner... To help keep children warm this winter, SoWashCo Community Education is partnering with SoWashCo CARES Education Foundation to help match students in need with new, winter coats, snow pants, boots and waterproof gloves.

Community members and organizations can donate items by filling out the donation form, fulfilling an item from the Amazon wish list or contributing financially. Winter clothing donors will be paired with students in need. You will then be contacted with the requested winter clothing items for a specific child and which school to drop off your donation. To sign up, visit the ‘Give Help’ section at sowashcocares.org.

Donated winter clothing will be available for families in need of assistance through your school’s social worker or at pop-up shopping events beginning in Nov. We will do our best to fulfill every request, however, requests are not guaranteed. For more information, visit the ‘Get Help’ section at sowashcocares.org.

Paper copies of the request forms are available through your school’s social worker or principal. Completed paper forms can be returned to your school’s front office. For more information or a translated version of the form, please contact sowashcocares@gmail.com or call 651-425-6671.

SoWashCo Schools will spend $160 million on security enhancements and renovations at secondary schools.

• East Ridge High School - $35.8 million for the construction of new classroom addition, cafeteria expansion, expansion of CTE, BioMed and STEM spaces

• Park High School - $33 million for the construction of a new cafeteria and kitchen, expansion and renovation of CTE, robotics, STEM, BioMed and learning spaces

• Woodbury High School - $36 million for the construction of a new cafeteria and kitchen, additional science classrooms, expansion and renovation of CTE, STEM, BioMed and robotics spaces and creation of multipurpose learning spaces

• Oltman Middle School - $25.8 million for the construction of classroom additions and cafeteria expansion

• Woodbury Middle School - $4.4 million for the conversion of the old pool area into additional educational space

Detailed information about question 2 will be shared next week. If you would like to learn more now please visit sowashco.org/facilityplanning.

• Check out all of your voting options online.

• Learn more about the bond questions at sowashco.org/facilityplanning.

• Use our Tax Impact Calculator

• See potential boundary changes if Question 2 fails using our Boundary Adjustments Tool

• Watch SoWashCo Schools Vote 2023 video.

• Learn more about elections at sowashco.org/vote-2023/election.

On Nov. 7, 2023 SoWashCo Schools is holding a special election to ask voters to consider two bond questions and a Technology Projects levy.

Taking staff and community feedback and input into consideration, the School Board approved a plan to present the district’s new 5-year facility plan, called Securing Our Future. Supporting Our Students, to the community with two bond questions.

Question 1 addresses safety and security enhancements and expansions and renovations at secondary schools.

Question 2 addresses elementary school space at schools projected to exceed capacity (Bailey, Grey Cloud, Pine Hill and Red Rock elementary schools); and construction of additional bathrooms at schools only containing a single set/four stalls (Crestview, Hillside, Pine Hill, Pullman and Royal Oaks elementary schools).

The second bond question addressing elementary school space and bathrooms is contingent on the passage of Question 1, meaning Question 2 cannot pass without the approval of Question 1. If Question 2 fails, elementary school attendance boundary changes will be implemented for the 2024-25 school year.

Question 3 is a Technology Projects levy that revokes our current technology levy and replaces it with a new levy that would increase funding for infrastructure, safety and security relating to technology.

• You can learn more about the bond question at sowashco.org/facilityplanning.

• Learn more at https://www.sowashco.org/vote-2023/election.

• Use our Tax Impact Calculator

• See potential boundary changes if Question 2 fails using our Boundary Adjustments Tool

Advisory teachers and students will continue working next week on our annual "Lip Dub" school-wide video. This is a fun tradition at WMS - the best way to describe it is that all advisories participate in one big music video that travels throughout the school.

Monday -- Morning Meeting

Tuesday –AVID Grade Check

Wednesday – Kindness Lesson

Thursday – DEAR Day

Friday – Wildcat Weekly

Did you know you could set your Schoology Notifications up so that you can receive a message any time your child has a missing assignment? This will be beneficial for checking in with your student about their grades and helping them keep up to date with assignments.

Special note: You may need to set this back up this school year even if you had it set up last year.

Notifications are daily or weekly opt-in messages that notify parents, via email or text, of their child’s academic progress. Parents will be notified about homework, graded tests and assignments, recent activity, upcoming tests and other due dates.

Once you are logged into Schoology and you have connected to your child(ren) you can set up notifications.

NOTE: Notification settings affect all children so you only need to setup notifications for one child.

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to your name at the top right
2. Choose any child that you are connected to in Schoology
3. Click the dropdown arrow next to your child's name at the top right, then click 'Settings'
4. Click the Notifications tab and change the settings to your preference. Don't forget to click 'Save Changes'

https://www.sowashco.org/services/technology - schoology for more information

Email for help: schoologyhelp@sowashco.org

The District Data and Assessment Committee (DDAC) has three open positions for parents/guardians and one open position for a community member.

The DDAC is a feedback group consisting of district staff members, school administrators, teachers, parents/guardians, community members, and students. The DDAC provides recommendations and feedback to the Department of Program Evaluation, Research and Assessment about state-wide and district assessments.

• The DDAC meets virtually three times a year on the second Thursday in November, February and May from 4:00pm to 5:30pm. This year’s dates are:

• November 9, 2023

• February 8, 2024

• May 9, 2024

• The term-length is two years.

For more information and to apply see: English Flyer and Spanish Flyer.

All Woodbury Middle School Students will be assigned a school-issues Chromebook for the 2023-2024 School year. Students will receive their Chromebooks the first week of the school year.

All students will also be given a Student Planner.

Technology-Student and Parent Portal Information-Please update any changes

South Washington County Schools (SoWashCo Schools) is offering families the option of purchasing a Device Protection Plan to protect district-issued devices from theft (with a filed police report) and accidental damage to the device, damage from fire, flood, natural disasters ,or power surges.

The enrollment fee for individuals opting to participate in the Device Protection Plan is $25 per device annually. Families who qualify for Educational Benefits are eligible for reduced pricing ($12.50 annually per device) or free coverage. It's important to note that the protection fee is nonrefundable. Coverage will begin upon payment receipt and extend until Aug. 31, 2024.

For students who were enrolled in the Device Protection Plan during the previous year, it is essential that they inform the school of any damages incurred over the summer within the first week of the new school year. To sign up and make payments for the device protection plan, families can use the EduTrak website. If you have any inquiries or require a paper form, feel free to get in touch with us at fees@sowashco.org.

Learn more about device protection

Instructions for paying fees through EduTrak

Please note that families who waive the device protection plan will be responsible for the full cost of repair or replacement of the device.

South Washington County Schools (SoWashCo Schools) offers activities and classes for youth through SoWashCo Community Education. Activities and classes are conveniently offered at your child's school, partner locations within our community and online.

The latest activities and classes can be found on our website under Get Involved > Youth Activities.

Middle School Girls Basketball:

https://sowashco.ce.eleyo.com/course/23043/winter-2024/middle-school-girls-basketball

Start Date: Nov. 6 for girls in grades 7th and 8th

Middle School Boys and Girls Wrestling:

https://sowashco.ce.eleyo.com/course/22739/fall-2023/middle-school-wrestling

Start Date: Nov. 6th for boys and girls in grades 6-8

Find More Classes and Activities

Order a 2023-24 YEARBOOK today!

Click here to order your yearbook

6th grade Counselor - Rebecca Crislip 425-4512 rcrislip@sowashco.org

7th grade Counselor - Karlie Lehmann 425-4524 klehmann1@sowashco.org

8th grade Counselor - Natalie Herzog 425-4514 nherzog@sowashco.org