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

• Coffee Hour - 3/24
• Senior Ball - 3/24
  
• Spring Musical - 3/31 & 4/1
• Midnight Madness - Thursday, April 6, 2023 - 6:00pm-12:00am

Parents of seniors! Your assistance is STILL needed!

• We are preparing for your senior’s end of year activities. Yes! Believe it or not - it is fast approaching!!! Please send us a picture of your senior. Share it with Mrs. MacMillan in Guidance at jmacmillan@wbridgewater.com at your earliest convenience. Thank you so much!

• The Senior Ball is scheduled for Friday, March 24th at 6:00 p.m. This year it is being held at the LeBaron Country Club in Lakeville. Price for a senior to attend is $45 and $55 for their guest.

Scholarship aid is provided chiefly through three Town/School organizations: Trustees for the Howard Funds, the WB Community Scholarship Foundation Inc., and the Class of 2023 Scholarship Fund. Applicants for scholarship aid from the Howard Fund and CSF Fund must be West Bridgewater residents. Applicants for the Class of 2023 fund must attend WBHS. Other scholarship sources, with their own criteria, may also use this application.

CRITERIA: The criteria for selecting recipients include a blend of academic achievement, financial need, extra-curricular activities, and community involvement. It is important for you to be thorough and accurately complete this application to provide a complete picture of your achievements and financial need. Copies of this application may be provided to the CSF and Howard Trustees.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Applicants must be attending a post-secondary undergraduate school FULL-TIME in the fall of 2023.

2. All applicants must participate in a minimum of one hour of service at this year’s Scholarship Fundraiser: Saturday, May 6, 2023, if not otherwise authorized.

3. The documents required to be eligible for an award are listed below.

4. The deadlines listed below are firm. Your application will be declared ineligible for consideration if the deadlines are not met. Deadlines are 2:30 PM on the day listed. You are encouraged to pass in your documents well in advance of the deadlines so that you have time to fulfill any deficiencies before the deadline. Must be hand delivered to the Guidance office at the High School.

5. All applicants or a representative of the applicant must sign the application receipt and volunteer requirement acknowledgment/assignment before the application is considered officially delivered.

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED:

Deadline 2:30 PM on Thursday, April 6, 2023

• Completed Application

• Grade Point Average (GPA) – An official copy of your most recent GPA from your High School. (HS Seniors only.)

• Transcripts - High school or college (for postgraduates) transcripts. All applicants who are not currently seniors at West Bridgewater High School must provide transcripts of ALL work completed, not just the previous semester.

• College Choice – Your final decision on the college of your choice. If your choice of college changes you must notify the guidance department immediately.

• Expected Family Contribution (EFC) - A copy of the student’s FAFSA SAR (Student Aid Report) page showing EFC – or the FAFSA printout page showing EFC. The student’s name must be included in the printout. WWW.FAFSA.ED.GOV/

• SAT Test Results - HS Seniors only. NOT APPLICABLE THIS YEAR

• Institutional Aid - A copy of your college financial aid letter. Post Graduates should substitute a copy of their financial aid award letter from the previous academic year if the current award letter has not yet been issued.

• Other Financial Aid- A copy of any other financial aid and scholarship award letters received from all other sources. Seniors attending High Schools other than West Bridgewater must disclose any actual or anticipated scholarship(s) awarded through their own High School.

Failure to disclose any or all awards from outside sources will jeopardize or negate the receipt of local scholarships awarded through this application process.

Non-West Bridgewater High seniors & postgraduates must contact the high school at 508-894-1220 after the May 26th graduation ceremony to check on their award status. All award letters must be picked up at the West Bridgewater High School by June 9, 2023

Scholarship awards may be modified or withdrawn if the information provided on the application changes. Changes that may require modification of an award include but are not limited to a change in financial need, a change of schools, or an incomplete or inaccurate answer to an application question.

Congratulations to the new inductees of the French & Spanish Honor Societies as well as the seniors who received their cords.

Guidance held their first Career Fair for students in Grades 9-12. The event was held on Wednesday, March 15th. Thank you to the following companies and people that assisted in our day. We could not have done this without you.

A&A Metro Transportation - Pam Arrighi

Matt Calvani - Graduate of Mass Maritime and currently a Merchant Marine

Coast Guard

Marines

South Shore fireplaces

Dan Carlino - Nurse

Southeastern Technical Institute

Concannon Plumbing

Eric Diedrichsen - Entrepreneur

WB Fire Department

WB Police Department

Electrical Union

***We also had some former graduates, Colleen O’Toole, Regan Mullins and Samantha Driscoll talk to seniors about “What they wish they knew after graduation.”

Minot Building Corporation - Rich Burchill

Bruce and Sam Raphel - Lawyer

Audra Roberts - Athletic Trainer

Mitch Roberts - Pilot

Suzy Cosgrove - Entertainment Producer

Counselors will be going into all Junior History classes for a presentation for College and Careers in the next 2 weeks.

The Guidance Counselors are taking Juniors on a field trip to check out some colleges, Bridgewater State University (open campus) and Stonehill (closed campus). Juniors interested in attending should pick up a copy of the permission slip in Guidance. The date is Monday, April 3rd. Cost is $20/student. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

This March, our school’s health staff, including the Guidance Department, started administering a state mandated health screening called SBIRT for students in grades 7 and 9. SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. SBIRT is used to screen for alcohol, nicotine, tobacco, and other drug use in teens. Early intervention and psychoeducation are key strategies to prevent teens from the dangers of substances and addiction. For more resources on how to talk to your teen about this topic, here are some helpful websites:

• https://drugfree.org/

• https://helplinema.org/for-parents/

• https://handholdma.org/

Thanks to all those who attended Inclusion Matters' webinar earlier this week as we learned how to support our children's healthy sexual development.

In case you missed it or attended but wanted to review the information again, you'll find Tiffany Goffer-Fitz's slides attached to this email.

In addition, you can view the recording of the webinar online here.

Our final webinar for the school year will be on Thursday, May 18. Join us as we learn how to support our children with dyslexia with Dr. Joanna Christodoulou, Associate Professor within the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at MGH. We'll send more details as we get closer to that date, or you can find more info on our website or Facebook page.

Seniors in Mrs. Mischley’s and Ms. Silva’s English classes are reading Macbeth and getting ready to play Running Man Macbeth - a game where a senior is secretly chosen to be Macbeth, and through a series of games, students win clues to uncover the identity of Macbeth.

The National Honor Society is having its annual canned food drive to support the West Bridgewater food pantry. Donations will be accepted in WBMSHS front office through March 24th.

The Photoclub is running its second annual photo contest. All middle school and high school students and staff are encouraged to participate. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will receive a gift card of their choosing. There is a $5 submission fee to cover the printing of the photos and prizes. Winners will be chosen from school wide voting. Email submissions to Mr. Ennis at zennis@wbridgwater.com now through March 17th. One submission per person.

Mr. Stanfa’s puppetry class has been busy wrapping up work on their sock/glove puppets and preparing for a two-character performance sketch to end the term. Prior to this current project the students were busy completing felted finger puppets and performing three psa/commercials with their creations. Performance with the puppets is a major aspect and goal for each of the puppetry assignments. In addition to constructing the puppet. Students are responsible for writing, filming, and performing a skit or sketch with their puppet, that includes a created voice/voiceover, proper use of lighting, and proper execution of puppet during the performance, and post production video. To end the year the class will be working and developing characters for both a Rod Puppet and Shadow puppet.

Amelia Chew and Shealyn Doherty participated at The Model United Nations Meet at Boston College High School on March 4, 2023. Each wrote a position paper for their delegate role serving on the Latin American Economic and Social Affairs Committee. Both made excellent contributions to a robust debate representing their positions and moving beyond with others towards formulating resolutions. Congratulations Girls!

A huge thank you to all who participated in our World Culture Night this week! The night was filled with food, dancing, music, and most importantly culture. Families and students shared their love of language and heritage through various workshops as well. The evening concluded with Induction Ceremonies for both our French and Spanish Honor Societies, along with honor cord recognition for our seniors. It was a true representation of the diversity and goodness that the West Bridgewater community has to offer! We look forward to seeing you again next year. In the meantime, please support these local businesses or artists who took time to donate their goods and services to our event.

Niko Bar and Grill

Zorba’s Pizza

Crystal’s Kitchen

Lawadessa

Mediterranean Bar and Grill

Not Just Thaboule

Freda’s

Boston Tavern

Johnny Macaroni’s

Chipotle (Raynham)

Catarina Teves Hambly

Simba African Dance Academy

Mr. Neno’s Drum Circle

Angela Fougere- Zumba

Dorothea McGrath -Martial Arts

Natalia MacLean Henna Tattoos

Students in Mrs. Warnock's class used their critical thinking to create the fastest roller coaster possible. Great job all!

The Unified Basketball team kicked the season off with their first away and home game, both against Pembroke Middle School. The away game was a great start to the season with an impressive effort from Abby Kellogg, Giovanti Viera, Colby Grenon, Brady Grenon, Jazz Kilcoyne, Vincent DeLuca, and Allie Edgerly. Brianna Miller and Jaxon Boyd were top scorers and Jordan McMahon drained a beautiful 3-pointer.

The Wildcats first home game showed off great contributions from Kevin Kearton, Chase Dreystadt, Alyssa Caldeira, Zeid Itani, Sam Bell, and Brianna DePalma. The Wildcats won in the last minute of the game with a three-pointer from Matt Navin making the final score 50-48! Brendan Hulme went 3 for 3 shots from the outside and high scorers were Hunter Smith and Shane Nolen!

The team has received really great support from the community and are looking forward to the rest of the season! T-shirts will be on sale for $15 for the remainder of the season and proceeds will support the team’s banquet and end of season gifts. Please email

nmaloney@wbridgewater.com if you are unable to make it to a game but would like to

purchase either a maroon Unified basketball shirt or an Inclusion matters shirt (pink or blue)!

Another ski and ride season comes to a successful end! We had a great group of 63 kids representing all grades and abilities. It was a crazy season: 2 nights where snow was falling, a night of rain on our arrival, and a couple of warmer nights. We saw everything but super cold temps and deep snow but everyone made the best of it.

Mr. Cray is proud of the students that tried something new, fell many times and got back up to go again. Students were so excited to get their first green run or first blue run!

Lastly, a lot of credit goes to the senior members of Ski Club. You all represented positive behavior and that means a lot so thank you.

See you in January of ‘24!

The dance club performed for their friends and families on Wednesday evening. They did a great job and we look forward to seeing this new club grow next year.

High School Dates

Grade 10

March 28, 2023 - ELA Session I

March 29, 2023 - ELA Session II

May 16, 2023 - Math Session I

May 17, 2023 - Math Session II

Grade 9

June 6, 2023 - STE Session I

June 7, 2023 - STE Session II

Middle School Dates

April 4, 2023 - ELA Session I

April 6, 2023 - ELA Session II

May 9, 2023 - Math Session I

May 10, 2023 - Math Session II

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

Greetings from the MSHS Wildcat Café!

Just a reminder that both breakfast and lunch are free this school year! The WB Food Services link has more info and menus.

Each student is offered 1 free breakfast and 1 free lunch per day. Extra entrées are $2.00 and additional a la carte items such as bottled water, cookies, crackers and ice cream can also be purchased but a student must have money on their lunch account for these extras. All items served meet strict state and federal nutrition standards. Money can be added to a student’s account two ways:

· Cash or a check can be brought to the cashier at arrival or towards the end of a meal. To keep the line moving as quickly as possible, we no longer accept money in the line.

· Electronic payments using MySchoolBucks. You will need your student’s 10-digit student ID (SASID#) to set up an account. Even if you don’t add money using MySchoolBucks, it allows you to monitor cafeteria transactions until they graduate!

We are looking to hire additional cafeteria substitutes. Interested individuals can contact me at agrinder@wbridgewater.com or at (508)894-1220.

Thank you,

Ann Marie Grinder, Food Service Director

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