WMS Family Smore

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We hope you are as excited as we are for the first day of school - Tuesday, September 5, suggested 7:35am student arrival for our new 7:45am start time!

Please see this message from our nurse Lisa Gallagher: WMS Nurse S’more - August 28

Student advisory assignments and beginning of year forms are being mailed home tomorrow, and should be in your mailbox by the end of the week. Here is the cover letter with general information, and here is a list of teachers' room number, advisory, and cluster for the year: Advisors 2023-2024. All students will receive their full schedule on the first day of school. For access to the handbook that families are signing off on reading, click the red button above: WMS Family Handbook 2023-2024.

Free Breakfast & Lunch! We are excited to share the news that Massachusetts has now permanently made breakfast and lunch free for all students! This is great news for our school, District, and State! Breakfast will grab-n-go in the cafeteria as students head to Advisory to start their morning each day.

Are you moving? If you are moving out of Watertown, please let us know so that we can plan accordingly by contacting our administrative assistants laurie.brackett@watertown.k12.ma.us and kelsey.johnson@watertown.k12.ma.us.

I want to give a huge shout out to our custodial, technology, and administrative staff who has been working hard this summer to get the WMS building ready to start the school year next week! Please know that we are in continuous communication with the Watertown High School and district administration about the adapting we will all be doing in these coming weeks as we prepare to be good hosts for the next few years. We, along with high school administrators, will be working with teachers to set and maintain appropriate boundaries between 6-8th and 9-12th grade.

All teachers are joining for our opening days of professional development tomorrow. We will be planning to help students next week adjust to our new schedule, and establishing a strong sense of community as we begin our year.

Until next week, encourage your pre-teens to SOAR like a WMS Eagle (Service, Ownership, Achievement, Respect) as we prepare to get back into the routine of school.

Respectfully yours,

Ms. Jennifer Chen Fein, Principal

Ms. Susan Carle, Assistant Principal (Clusters 1, 3, 5)

Ms. Jennifer Sarmiento, Assistant Principal (Clusters 2, 4, 6)

We really enjoyed seeing about 30 families for our August 22nd school tours. Thank you 8th grade leaders for leading our new families around our school!

Coming up tomorrow is a second tour opportunity, and popsicles with the principal on the front Waverly lawn of the middle school.

• August 29: WMS School Tours offered (3-4pm)
  
• August 29: Popsicles with the Principal (4-5pm)

Our School Tours will be led by our 8th grade student leaders, and are an opportunity for students and families to walk through the building and see where some of your classes might be. Teachers, especially in 6th grade, are also really great about helping students understand the layout of the school in the first few days, so if you can't come to the tours, we will make sure you get to where you need to go in the first few weeks of school!

Students and families can join us for school tours by coming in the main entrance on Waverly Avenue and going into the auditorium.

Doors open at 7:30am for students to get free breakfast if they need to, and get to their advisory classroom. We strongly suggest that students plan to arrive by 7:35am every day to give themselves time to prepare for the day.

Regular school day: 7:45am-2:15pm

Half day (see district calendar below in "Upcoming Dates"): 7:45am-11:45am

We will be offering many club and sports opportunities for after school, with more information coming soon.

Families will receive information about bussing from the district in the coming weeks.

This WMS Summer Work website is where students will find ALL summer work (including math and English assignments in addition to OSOB) and a list of school supplies needed for the school year. Students can bookmark this site.

Here is our WMS One School, One Book Reveal Video! Our choice is: Alone by Megan E. Freeman!

The WMS Site Council is a body of students, faculty, parents, and caregivers that plays a strong role in the vision and direction of our school. For example, the WMS School Improvement Plan 2023-2024 was written in collaboration with the Site Council, teacher, and district leaders last year, and will be informing our work as a staff and school this year. We are looking for caregivers, especially those who can be with us for two or more years, to join!

This year, the WMS Site Council will be meeting on the following Tuesdays from 4-5pm, virtually, unless otherwise listed.

• September 27 (in person at WMS)
• October 25
• November 29
• January 3
• January 31
• March 27
• May 1
• May 29 (in person at WMS)

The WMS PTO is starting the year strong by sponsoring the Popsicle Social tomorrow on the WMS Waverley front lawn!

We will likely be meeting on Mondays this year. The PTO focuses on supporting WMS students and teachers in opening days, end of year celebrations, field trips, and spirit throughout the year.

Reach out to our new co-PTO Presidents Elena Poillucci <elenapoillucci@gmail.com> and Melissa Parker <melissapisces@yahoo.com> with any questions or to express interest in joining next year.

Reach out to Sarah Seldomridge at sarah.seldomridge@watertown.k12.ma.us with any questions or to express interest in joining next year.

• August 29: WMS School Tours offered (3-4pm)
  
• August 29: Popsicles with the Principal (4-5pm)
• Late August: Cluster Assignments and beginning of year forms mailed home
• September 5: First Day of School, Trimester 1 begins
• September 20: School Picture Day
• September 21: WMS Open House (6-8pm)
• September 27: Early Release Day (11:45 dismissal, students will see all classes for shorter periods)
• October 1: monthly update from teachers in WMS Smore
• October 2-5: i-ready diagnostic tests for math, reading (Special Schedule)
• October 9: No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day
• October 18: Trimester 1 Progress Reports sent to families
• October 19: Early Release Day (11:45 dismissal, students will see all classes for shorter periods), Teacher-Caregiver Conferences
• October 24: Early Release Day (11:45 dismissal, students will see all classes for shorter periods), Teacher-Caregiver Conferences
• October 30: monthly update from teachers in WMS Smore

• Watertown Public Schools Calendar 2023-2024
  

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Website: https://wms.watertown.k12.ma.us/
Location: 68 Waverley Avenue, Watertown, MA, USA
Phone: 617-926-7783