WCS Weekly Newsletter

Any student work posted here is protected under copyright,

and may not be reproduced without express written permission.

1/15 - Basketball Home v. Nobleboro; Boys: 3:45pm, Girls: 5pm

1/16 - 8th Grade Parent D.C. Meeting: 6pm

1/20 - MLK Holiday: NO SCHOOL

1/23 - Basketball Home v. Bristol; Boys: 3:45pm, Girls: 5pm

2/14 - 💘PTA K-5 Family Dance: 6-7:30PM

2/17 - 2/21 - February Break - NO SCHOOL

Great things are happening at WCS!

This week our third graders began their swim lessons at the Bath Area YMCA! Each third-grade class participates in one lesson a week for six weeks. This year, Mrs. Babcock's class will be first and Mrs. Keefe's class will begin their lessons in February. The lessons are intended to provide basic swim skills, and teach water safety to students. Ask your older Wildcats what they remember from their lessons in third-grade!

Greetings Wildcat Families,

As we work our way through our first cold snap of the winter, I want to review our procedures for determining indoor/outdoor recess. There is no state law or policy referencing a temperature that would necessitate indoor recess. In fact, they specifically mention that schools in northern Maine will more likely go out in colder temperatures than schools in southern Maine. They do provide a general guideline of a "feels like" temperature below 10 degrees, and this is a standard that we use to guide our decision-making.

The process itself involves a few different factors: First, we use weather.com and weather underground as our two sources to check the "feels like" temperature for Woolwich. If those readings are 5 degrees or below, it is an automatic "inside recess." If they are between 6 and 10 degrees, we then consider other details such as our current weather pattern. If only one day of extreme cold is predicted, we lean towards keeping kids in. However, if it is a prolonged pattern like this week has been, we lean towards getting kids outside as opposed to keeping them in for multiple days in a row.

With this in mind, I urge you to make sure your children are coming to school dressed warmly and prepared to go outside. This might mean bringing snow pants even though there isn't any snow on the ground.

I hope you all have a warm weekend!

Mr. Libby

This week sixth graders started their participation in the L.E.A.D. (Law Enforcement Against Drugs & Violence) program. We welcomed Sagadahoc Sheriff's Office Deputies Chad Carleton, and Mark Anderson who are running the sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays . L.E.A.D. is a 10-week program that focuses on: goal setting, decision-making, effective communication, conflict resolution, pro-social bonding, and bullying prevention.

This week, our seventh grade students took a field trip to the Maine Maritime Museum as part of their "Sense of Place" unit. Students explored the complexity of the human impact on the Kennebec River through a comparison of two seemingly contradictory perspectives and agendas: an environmentalist and an industrialist. Taking on one of these two perspectives, students analyzed whether specific artifacts supported or obstructed their respective agendas. Through this process, students traced the environmental history of the region from two viewpoints, illustrating the power of biased perspective in interpreting facts and forming arguments. Though these perspectives are at times in opposition, students considered whether current and future innovations in technology can provide mutually beneficial solutions to promote industry and protect the environment. Through the course of the session, students created a large-scale annotated “visual” timeline that maps the complex human relationship to the Kennebec River region. Thanks to the MMM for the program description!

• BRR! It is super cold in the mornings! If you are dropping your student off in the morning, please do not let them out of the car until the doors open at 8:17 AM. We are not able to let students into the building early, as there is no adult supervision as teachers are often in meetings right up until the start of school. Students should remain in vehicles with their adults until the doors are open.

• Our Lost & Found is starting to grow! Remind your student to take a look to see if anything belonging to them has been turned in! Parents are also welcome to check when they stop in. The Lost & Found is located in the front entryway of the building. All unclaimed items will be donated over February vacation.

In accordance with School Board policy, the following promotional announcements have been included at the request of the sponsoring organization because they may be of interest to students and their families. These activities are not sponsored by the school, and inclusion of these announcements does not constitute endorsement of the organizations or activities by the school.