WRMS Weekly Update

Please continue to conduct this screening at home, daily. If your student is symptomatic or potentially exposed, please contact Mrs. Penn at deborah.penn@wwrsd.org ASAP.

Our schedule for the upcoming week is as follows:

Monday, 11/2: A Day, Group 1 in-person, periods 1-5, lunch, 6-7

Tuesday, 11/3: B Day, school-wide remote, periods 1-5, lunch, 6-7 (follow hybrid bell schedule)

Wednesday, 11/4: A Day, Group 2 in-person, periods 7-3, lunch, 2-1

Thursday, 11/5: No School

Friday, 11/6: No School

Monday, 11/9, we will resume our regular hybrid and group schedule.

Here is the Hybrid Bell Schedule again.

Please find our updated Hybrid Calendar for the remainder of 2020.

Please see the linked letter from the WTPD and WWPD. Be safe, be smart, and have fun!

Students are welcome to dress up for Halloween tomorrow. Even in our remote environment, the typical rules will be in place:

• Normal school dress code will be in effect.
  
• Weapons of any sort (real or fake) are strictly prohibited. If they make an appearance, they will be dealt with according to the code of conduct.
  
• Masks, head coverings, or face paint that make a student unrecognizable are not permitted.
  
• Costumes that may create a significant distraction are advised not to be worn.
  
• Costumes must be in "good taste".
• School staff may use their own judgment to determine whether or not a costume is school appropriate and ask a student to make a change.

Please remember that classes and instruction will be continuing. If you are concerned that your costume violates any of these expectations, do not wear it to class, but rather wait until Saturday to dress in the costume. Should you log in inappropriately dressed, the code of discipline will be followed.

Each day your student is in-person, please make sure they bring each of the following with them:

• 2 masks (1 on + a back-up)
• A fully charged, school-issued chromebook
• Headphones
• Refillable water bottles
• Tissue packs
• Individual hand sanitizer
• Other materials according to their teachers

Meal distribution is being moved back to the bus loop. Here is the meal distribution schedule for this week:

GROUP 1 and FULL REMOTE: On Monday

GROUP 2: On Wednesday

Please click here for information on pre-ordering lunch and on free and reduced lunch.

We have a number of students who are missing one or two classes during the course of a remote day. Please be proactive in communicating with Mrs. McDonough and your student's assistant principal (below) if this is a planned absence or technical issues. Our assistant principals will be reviewing each student's attendance to ensure students are attending class when they should be, and discipline may be assigned accordingly.

Grade 6: michael.corso@wwrsd.org

Grade 7: barry.albert@wwrsd.org

Grade 8: michael.attanasio@wwrsd.org

We are in the process of improving our attendance processes in Genesis. We are updating students with the pictured icon to indicate what days they were and will be learning virtually. Also, the "excused-remote" attendance code, for days when your student should have been in-person but instead was learning from home, will now indicate they were "present". If your student is staying home to learn on a day when s/he is scheduled to come in, please contact Mrs. McDonough via email (sharon.mcdonough@wwrsd.org) or by phone (201-664-5560 x6000). Thank you!

We'd like to keep the success going, and could use your support with students on their remote days. Students must be on time to their remote classes (the bell schedule is in place even at home), and keep their screens on for the entirety of the time requested. Virtually, students are in class from 8:15 - 3:04, and most classes are live. Students should not be leaving unless their absence is recorded with our attendance office.

We could also use your support with the at-home learning environments. The better the in-school learning environment is mimicked at home, the better-off the student will be through the transitions. Students should not be playing music, they should not be on their phones, and parents and siblings should not be interrupting classes. Rule of thumb - if it wouldn't happen while they were in-person, it shouldn't happen at home. Thank you!!

If your student needs support, academic or otherwise, please reach out to their guidance counselor or AP, we are absolutely here to help them!

If you need help with your school-issued chromebook, please have your student email tech.help@wwrsd.org from their school account.

Picture days are re-scheduled for Wednesday, November 11th and Thursday, November 12th. Group 1 students will have their pictures taken on the 11th and Group 2 on the 12th. Remote students can come in on their corresponding group days from 1:30 - 3:00 for their pictures. All pictures will be taken outside by the new main entrance, weather and temperatures permitting.

Forms will be going home when we return, but here, also, is the link to a digital copy.

Tours for full remote students will correspond with picture days. Students will be taken in small groups around the building following their pictures being taken. Please make sure you bring your mask!

At this time, students can pick up their agendas, WW masks, remaining chromebooks, and yearbooks from last year if they ordered one, as well.

This is a reminder from the Westwood Regional School District Medical Department that if you are planning on traveling out of State, whether it’s for a day, weekend or an extended vacation, you should check the NJDOH Travel Advisory, NJ Travel Advisory Hub, prior to leaving.

This site is continually updated but if you travel to another state that is on the list, you will need to quarantine for 14 days prior to returning to school and/or work.

Recent clarification from the Department of Health regarding “traveling through a state” specified that if you are traveling and stop at a rest stop, short layover, etc., and do not visit anyone in that state, then you would not have to quarantine. However, if you stay less than 24 hours in a designated state that is on the list and visit someone in that state, even for a short period of time, you would have to quarantine for the 14 days because you have then increased your risk factor for contracting COVID-19.

Feel free to contact your building nurse for any questions regarding this matter.

The Guidance Counselors are available every day to meet with students regardless of whether they are scheduled for in-person or remote learning. In an effort to maintain current safety guidelines, students are strongly encouraged to request meetings with their counselors by emailing them. Counselors will contact the student as soon as possible to schedule an online or in-person meeting. Counselors will continue to see students on an emergency basis, as well.

If your student is having difficulty, be is academic, technological, social emotional or more, please reach out to us! Our trained staff is here to support them whether we are in-person or remote!

Counselors:

• 6th Grade - Ms. Fabrocini (caitlin.fabrocini@wwrsd.org)

• 7th Grade - Mrs. Androulakis (christie.androulakis@wwrsd.org)

• 8th Grade - Mrs. Sparno (jenny.sparno@wwrsd.org)

Nurses:

• District Head and Middle School Nurse - Mrs. Penn (deborah.penn@wwrsd.org)
• Part-time nurse and RN - Mrs. Galow (kenia.galow@wwrsd.org)

Assistant Principals:

• 6th Grade - Mr. Corso (michael.corso@wwrsd.org)

• 7th Grade - Mr. Albert (barry.albert@wwrsd.org)

• 8th Grade - Mr. Attanasio (michael.attanasio@wwrsd.org)

The WRMS PSO is gearing up for the school year! Thank you for the balloon arrangements to brighten our students' arrivals this week!

We are a Box Tops school! Even though Box Tops has gone digital, there are still some products out there that have unexpired traditional clips. If you see the traditional clip on the box, you can still get credit for those as long as they are not expired! Please have your student turn those in by the new main office and keep scanning your receipts!

Please find a Bergen County Mental Health resource document for your reference and support. You can also check out the resource page on www.BergenResourceNet.org regarding resources about inclusion, social consciousness and understanding, etc.

Please click here to access an online library of electronic flyers for our community partners.

Please mark your calendars for important upcoming events...

• 10/29 - Board of Education Meeting
• 11/3 - Per Executive Order-177, "All public primary and secondary schools shall be closed to in-person instruction on November 3"; therefore, we will schedule an "All remote" day of instruction for all groups.
  
• 11/5 & 6 - District Closed
• 11/11 & 11/12 - Picture Days
• 11/11 & 11/12 - Remote Student Tours (during pictures)
• 11/25 - Early Dismissal
• 11/26 & 27 - District Closed

This week's schedule:

• Monday, 11/2: A Day, Group 1 in-person, periods 1-5, lunch, 6-7

• Tuesday, 11/3: B Day, school-wide remote, periods 1-5, lunch, 6-7 (follow hybrid bell schedule)
• Wednesday, 11/4: A Day, Group 2 in-person, periods 7-3, lunch, 2-1
• Thursday, 11/5: No School
• Friday, 11/6: No School

Email: shelley.laforgia@wwrsd.org
Website: http://www.wwrsd.org/westwoodrms
Location: 23 3rd Ave, Westwood, NJ, United States
Phone: 201-664-5560
Facebook: facebook.com/WRMiddleSchool
Twitter: @wrmscardinals