WBMSHS Principal Update to Families

Dear WB Community,

I hope this newsletter finds you well. Please take some time to read it and see all the great things happening at the MSHS. I hope it can provide you with some important information and give you a glimpse into what we are doing throughout the year.

As always please feel free to reach out to us anytime with your questions or concerns.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs. Page

• Senior Awards/Scholarship Night - May 22, 2023 - 5:30 refreshments - 6:00pm start
  
• Senior Reception - May 24, 2023 - 6:30pm
• Graduation Ceremony - May 26, 2023 - 6:00pm
• Booster's Golf Tournament - 6/19/2023 - West Bridgewater Country Club

Congratulations to Benjamin Howard and Briana LaGrange for being chosen as West Bridgewater's recipients of the New England League of Middle Schools Distinguished Student Award.

This award is given each year to middle school students who have distinguished themselves by demonstrating many of the following qualities: Teamwork, Dependability, Positive Interactions with others, Productivity, Respect for diversity & Empathy for others

• Mandatory graduation rehearsals for ALL seniors Monday at 9 am. Chromebooks and chargers may be dropped off with Mr. Collins starting at 8 am.
  

• The Class of 2023 continued the tradition of making a Lip Dub. A Lip Dub is a music video, lip synced to a mash of songs, and shot all in one take. This year's video was directed by senior Lasadia Gurley and the class performed to a mash-up of songs that were memorable to them throughout the years. Click the button below to check it out! Special thanks to Mr. Cray for his assistance!

Seniors walked through the hallways as a group and were cheered on by underclassmen and staff to celebrate their last day of school on Friday May 12, 2023. Then they carried on WB tradition with the car parade to the schools and followed up with a cookout provided by the school staff.

The Junior Prom was a success. Students looked fabulous and had a great time at the Mockingbird in East Bridgewater. Click the link below if you would like to see the Grand March.

The West Bridgewater River Walk will be held on Sunday, June 4, 2023 from 10:00am-2:00pm. We are looking for student volunteers who might like to earn community service hours, or just be a part of a fun community day. We need help running activities (games, crafts, bouncy house, music, raffle/silent auction), setting up/breaking down, and with other odds and ends jobs. Students can earn up to 6 hours for their time. If you are interested, please see Mrs. MacMillan in Guidance to sign up or find out more information.

Guidance News: We said goodbye to our Seniors. They are off to do great things!!! AP testing is complete and we continue with MCAS testing over the next few weeks. The Counselors continue with their 1:1 meetings with the Juniors to prepare them for Senior year and beyond. Make sure they are staying on top of their to-do lists for their futures.

Great job by Nala Mando and Sarah Diedrichsen for bringing the Walk for Childhood Cancer to fruition. It was a great event.

Join Inclusion Matters on Thursday, May 18 from 7 - 8 p.m. for our final webinar of the school year. Dr. Joanna Christodoulou, associate professor at Mass General Hospital, will help us learn more about dyslexia and how we can support kids with dyslexia at home and at school. Our webinars are free and open to the public; no registration required. To join, use this Zoom link: https://bridgew.zoom.us/j/99013142814

Are you a parent with a child with a 504 or IEP? Would you like to be involved in supporting disability awareness and special education in WB Schools? Come join the Inclusion Matters Board and provide leadership to future Inclusion Matters efforts! Learn more and join online at bit.ly/JoinIMBoard

Elijah Vilnaigre represented West Bridgewater at the MUN in Weymouth. The Key Note Speaker was State Representitive, Kevin Murphy. Elijah is on the AD HOC: Percy Jackson Committee.

The Spring Concert was held on the 11th. Seniors performed on our stage for the last time in front of a packed house. The night concluded with a moving tribute to one of their own, Bella DuBois. Congratulations to the seniors and all members of the chorus and band.

This month, to wrap up their studies of the Spanish language here at WBMSHS, the Spanish V students created Teach Me Projects. Students became the profesores, teaching their classmates about one of their passions in the target language. They provided new vocabulary terms, provided instructions completely in Spanish, and created a live, interactive lesson that all benefited from. We learned how to play basic notes on the piano, how to shoot a free throw, and how to paint a flower just to name a few! It was a great opportunity for the students to demonstrate proficiency of the Spanish language and highlight their interests. Bien hecho!

Students in Mrs. Brogna's Honors Anatomy & Physiology class participated in the Digestive System Olympics. They had a great time competing.

In Biology class, students played a game to simulate the process of natural selection. Students began the game as a “abrachiosaurus” dinosaurs: a species with no arms and one leg. These species dwell in a nest and their food source is seeds. Students had to acquire seeds to feed themselves and their families with the limitations of their mutations.

As the game went on, students were given “mutations” such as the ability to have one arm, two arms, or have camouflage. They were also give unhelpful mutations such as having to twirl from point A to point B, crawling like an inch worm toward their seeds, or being a conjoined twin. Some mutations made them vulnerable to predation, others helped them survive predation. Students left the lab with a deep understanding of the process of evolution.

The Global Citizens Club is partnering with Caritas Smile to collect donations of school supplies to send to students living in poverty in the Dominican Republic.

For those who don’t know, the Dominican Republic is a Spanish-speaking nation in the Caribbean that borders Haiti. Over 40% of its residents live in poverty, and over 10% in extreme poverty.

Caritas Smile, a non-profit organization made up of volunteers, will be heading down to the Dominican Republic in June to build a school for elementary school students. Please help us meet our goal by sponsoring a student at this school. To sponsor a student, please bring THREE school supplies to the cafeteria donation box. Items such as notebooks, writing utensils, crayons, folders, erasers, and even backpacks would be appreciated. Any questions, please see Ms. Fougere or Mr. Ennis.

Happy Mental Health Awareness month. The National Alliance on Mental Illness(NAMI) is celebrating this month with their “More Than Enough Campaign”. It is an opportunity to acknowledge the value in who we are as individuals. Please visit the site for how you can join the challenge at: https://www.nami.org/Get-Involved/Awareness-Events/Mental-Health-Awareness-Month

Welcome Cats!

Weekly rundown for those of you who couldn’t make this week's games. V baseball lost in a close game against Tri-County 7-5 as well as the JV Baseball team with a final score against

Tri County, 12-14. Both teams will face Cohasset on 5/19. The boys baseball team will be celebrating their seniors at their game on Tuesday, May 23rd vs Bishop Connolly. Come and check it out and cheer them on! V softball beat an undefeated Tri County team 12-10 and the JV softball team lost to Tri County 15-6. Both teams will play Diman on Friday, 5/19. The Varsity softball team will also be celebrating their Seniors on 5/19. Come on out and cheer them on! Good luck to track athletes who are competing in the MSTCA Invitational meet, this Saturday, 5/20 at Norwell High School. Our Boys tennis team lost a tough match to Bishop Connolly and the Girls tennis team celebrated their seniors on senior night with a win against Bishop Connolly, 4-1. Congrats to our seniors on the Boys and Girls Tennis teams, Ryan Estrella, Kyan Santiago-Calling, Ava Cibotti, Olivia Crandall, Isabella D’Agostino, Hannah Freeman, Kiera Gallivan, Vicky Mauro, and Hannah Smith!

More WB Athletics News!

***Check out the Flyer for the Signature Health Summer Strength and Conditioning Program. More info to follow. The program will run from Monday-Thursday, June 26th through August 10th.

***The WBPD is hosting CATS Camp again this summer. June 20th-July 13th on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9am-11am. They are seeking student volunteers to be coaches and assist with the camp for volunteer hours. If you are interested, please sign up in the main office.

WB Boosters Annual Golf Classic! Sign up now!

Monday, June 19th, 2023

West Bridgewater Country Club

Registration link: https://wbathleticboosters.square.site/

Mattress Fundraiser - The West Bridgewater Athletics Department's inaugural “Mattress Fundraiser” is THIS Saturday, May 20th at the MSHS from 10am - 4pm and we would really appreciate your support if you’re in the market for a new mattress to wait until then. There will be a FANTASTIC lineup of luxury pillows on the day of the sale as well. Cool gel sleeping pillows, and several essential oil-infused pillows like lavender, chamomile, and peppermint as well as premium sheets, Mattress Protectors, weighted blankets, convertible bean bag chairs, body massagers, Adjustable Power bases and frames are also available. So even if you don't need a brand new mattress right now - there are several other products for purchase and every purchase will help the kids!

Check out the most up to date Power Rankings for Spring Sports:

https://miaa.net/power-rankings/

*Check out spring sports athletic schedule on the Arbiter Live Website: https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=25160

Make sure to follow along on Twitter for all your athletic updates

WBMSHS Athletics (@WBMSHSAthletics) / Twitter

Good Luck to all of our Wildcats!!

Remaining High School Dates

Grade 9

June 6, 2023 - STE Session I

June 7, 2023 - STE Session II

Remaining Middle School Dates

May 17, 2023 - STE - There is only one science session.

Field trips- With Spring comes student field trips. Whether your student is in elementary school or in high school, the WB Food Nutrition staff can pack their lunch! Look for the links to google lunch order forms along with permission slips. These lunches are FREE!

Universal free school meals have helped support students and families the past two years. On average, 56,665 more Massachusetts children participated daily in school lunch in October 2022 compared to October 2019. Not having to pay for school meals could save families up to $1,200 per student per year (source: Project Bread). Legislation is being proposed in MA to make universal school meals permanent.

Adding funds to a student's lunch account. While (1) breakfast and (1) lunch per day continue to be offered at no cost, extra meals and a la carte items such as bottled water, freshly baked cookies, ice cream and milk for students that bring lunch from home are offered for sale in the cafeteria. Students must have money on their lunch account to purchase any extra items. Cash and checks are accepted and electronic payments can be made through MySchoolBucks. You will need your child's 10-digit SASID# to register for a MySchoolBucks account.

Click on WB Food Services to find April's menus.

Food Assistance- Project Bread Food Source Hotline , West Bridgewater Food Pantry.

30 hour/week position available! Interested individuals should contact Ann Marie Grinder, Food Service Director at agrinder@wbridgewater.com or (508)894-1220.

A friendly reminder that all medications need to be kept in the nurse’s office. The only exception is for students in grades 9-12 who carry life saving medications such as inhalers and/or EpiPen's. All medications, even if carried with the student, need to have a medication order on file with the nurse. If you would like to authorize your student to take over the counter medications at the nurse's office you can access the STANDING ORDER MEDICATION & ANNUAL HEALTH UPDATE FORM on our Health Services page on the district website: https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/page/health-services

Email: cpge@wbridgewater.com
Website: https://www.wbridgewaterschools.org/o/ms-middle-senior-hs
Location: 155 West Center Street, West Bridgewater, MA, USA
Phone: 508-894-1220
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wbmshs
Twitter: @WBMSHS