Wayland Middle School
Monday Morning Minute
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Important Dates
5/27 Rising 6th Grade parent Zoom
5/31 Memorial Day - No School
6/17 Tentative last day for students
WMS MCAS Dates
6th Grade
ELA 5/24
Math 5/25
7th Grade
ELA 5/27
Math 5/28
8th Grade
ELA 6/1
Math 6/3
STE 6/4
WRAP MCAS Dates
-6th grade (June 7 & 8)
-7th grade (June 7 & 8)
-8th grade (June 7, 8 & 9)
Help us help you!
EARLY DISMISSALS:
- Please send a written note to school with your child with date and time you wish to pick up.
- Instruct your child to bring the note to the office upon arriving to school.
- Your child will be given a blue dismissal pass to give to the teacher whose class they will be leaving.
- At the indicated time, your child can leave class to come up to the office/lobby and wait for you to pull up by the front entrance.
This protocol allows us to avoid calling classrooms and minimize interruptions to teaching. It also helps to foster independence in students by asking them to be responsible for their part in the dismissal routine. Thank you!
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Dear WMS families,
It is hard to believe the end of May is already upon us. Temperatures are shooting up making our outdoor lunch dining option more desirable in grades 6-8. We are so appreciative of the PTO volunteers supporting us in helping to oversee lunch outside. Here is the latest on the news front at WMS.
Changes to Mask Guidelines:
We are excited to transition to a greater sense of normalcy as DESE and the CDC have begun to relax some COVID restrictions. Dr. Unobskey and the school committee last week announced the mask guidelines for Wayland students have changed. Students are able to remove face coverings while outside the building. Some students have expressed unease with the change in protocol. Know that we continue to support any student who wants to continue wearing a mask outside in doing so. Staff, you may notice, are not permitted to have their face coverings off unless they are able to have six feet of distance from others, at which point they can remove their mask as well. Masks inside continue to be worn with consistency (unless eating or drinking - 6 feet apart).
End of Year:
House leaders are working to design end of year experiences to bring closure to this unique year in each grade. Our WRAP students are invited to join us in person or Zoom in remotely where possible if they would feel more comfortable doing so. We are grateful to the PTO who is eager to support and enhance our year-end events. For example, our 8th graders will enjoy a special PTO organized breakfast by cluster. We will be able to hold our in-house graduation certificate ceremony by cluster in the auditorium. Our 8th grade staff have planned an outdoor “carnival,” full of engaging stations (think spike ball and giant Jenga). There will be some special food options the PTO is funding. We will close the day with our annual speeches offered by 8th graders reflecting on their three year journey at WMS and some musical selections. All students will view the end of year ceremony virtually, in HR rather than in the auditorium due to COVID spacing and gathering guidelines.
Wayland Vaccination Clinic - This Wednesday:
Over the weekend Dr. Unobskey sent out information about Wayland’s Vaccination clinic at WHS from 1:30 to 4:30 this Wednesday, May 26. Watch for sign-up forms - coming as soon as they are available. Please be sure to send a dismissal note in with your student if they plan to leave school early for a vaccination appointment.
Hope you have a wonderful week leading into the Memorial Day weekend.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron
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WAYLAND SUMMER BAND!
Mark your calendars for this FREE in-person band camp led by Tristie Keenan and Rebecca Pagano! We will build on skills from the school year through small group lessons, ensembles, and music games!
June 21-25 at Wayland High School
- Rising 5th grade 9:00-10:00
- Rising 6th grade 10:00-11:00
- Rising 7-8 grade 11:00-12:00
Students must have at least 1 year of playing experience to participate. Students who opted out of playing during COVID are welcome to return and take advantage of this free week of instruction to get playing again!
COVID-19 safety guidelines will be followed.
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WMS Drama News:
8th grader wins Honorable Mention in Monologue Contest
WMS Drama is very excited to announce that 8th grader Alex Irwin received an honorable mention for his monologue entered into the METG's (Massachusetts Educational Theatre Guild) Monologue Writing Contest. There were two middle school winners and Alex's work was one of three honorable mentions. Alex has been invited to perform his monologue and submit his video to the online METG festival in early June. Congrats to Alex!
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Healthy Relationship Task Force
In April, we sent out information about opportunities to participate in Focus Groups led by members of the Wayland Healthy Relationships Task Force. These Focus Groups are aimed at helping us better understand what prevents students and families from accessing support if they’ve experienced sexual harassment, assault, and/or dating/domestic violence. We hope to learn from you to help us identify the current barriers so that we may help the schools, and Wayland community as a whole, address these barriers so that every and any student who experiences sexual or domestic violence- and those who care about them- can access the support they deserve. We hope to hear as many voices and perspectives as possible, to help us identify next steps and continue to work to do and be better for our students and families.
We also know that this is an incredibly busy time of year, and while many folks may have wanted to participate in the April Focus groups, with the transitions of April Break and returning to full-time in-person learning for the first time in over a year, the timing may have made it impossible to participate. We want to do better on this, too. We wanted to offer a few different ways that you can share your perspectives and experiences so that we may learn from you.
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If you would like to meet with one of the Focus Group leaders- Jessica Teperow from REACH Beyond Domestic Violence and/or Jason Verhoosky from Wayland Youth and Family Services- they are happy to schedule one on one meetings that fit your schedule. You can reach them at Jessica@reachma.org and Jason_verhoosky@waylandps.org
- If you have a group that you’d like to participate in a Focus Group, we can come to a regular scheduled meeting time and run a Focus Group during that time.
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If you are a student and you are a member of a club or team, we’re happy to join your meeting and/or practice
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If you are a faculty or staff member and you have a meeting you’d like us to join
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If you are a parent and you’d like to gather a group of parents that are also interested, we’re happy to meet when it works best for you
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f you feel most comfortable participating completely anonymously, everyone is welcome and encouraged to fill out this survey.
If you have other suggestions and/or feedback on how we can learn from you, please e-mail Jessica and Jason.
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Did you know that your Gift Your Child donations are used to refresh the English classroom libraries?
This is one of the PTO’s favorite grants to give each year and according to the WMS English teachers, your donations help “sustain a wildly successful program that distinguishes our school in the best kind of way. We would never be able to build and grow a culture of readers without you.”
Here are some titles of high-demand books that have been purchased this year:
The English Department & PTO appreciate your support of this program!
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PTO Open Positions:
Come Join Us!
Several open PTO Board and Committee positions for the 2021-22 school year. Read more about them by clicking THIS LINK.
- Vice President
- Parent Enrichment
- School Pictures
- Parent Reps (6th, 7th, 8th)
- Gardening (maintaining entrance garden & planters)
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Artist: Miriam Qureshi
Grade: 7
Medium: Polymer clay & Toothpicks
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Reminders from Previous Weeks |
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MASK RULES & GUIDELINES
In accordance with MA Department of Public Health and CDC guidelines face coverings must:
- Cover the nose and mouth
- Fit securely and comfortably against the side of the face
- Be secured with ties or ear loops
- Allow for breathing without restriction
- Be able to be laundered without damage or change of shape
- Be made of at least 2 layers of material
- Face coverings may not have an exhalation valve or vent
The following are not allowed: Gaiters, bandanas, scarves, and face masks that have a ventilation valve. They are not considered effective face coverings and will not be allowed.
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Dear Parents/Guardians
If your child routinely experiences springtime allergy symptoms- we are asking you to please give them their allergy medication before they come to school. As allergy symptoms can mimic the symptoms of the Covid virus infection- if your child comes to the health room with these symptoms, we will need to ask you to pick up your child and have them tested for Covid before they can return to school, or alternatively have your child’s physician write us a letter indicating that your child’s symptoms are due to springtime allergies.Your child will have to remain at home until we receive either the test results or the physician’s letter. Our goal is to keep each child in school as many days as possible!
Thank you for your attention to this
Laurie Hojlo, RN
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The Orange and Black - Our Student Run Newspaper
Be sure to check out our student run newspaper featuring news, stories, poems and other work! The Orange and Black
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Wayland Middle School
Phone: 508.358.3801 Fax: 508.358.3802
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