Wayland Middle School
Monday Morning Minute
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Important Dates
8/30 Staff Return
8/31 Rising 6th Grade Orientation (details will be sent to families)
9/1 First Day of Classes (Wednesday schedule- 2:30 dismissal)
9/6 Labor Day- NO SCHOOL
9/7 Rosh Hashanah- NO SCHOOL
9/22 Grade 6 Back to School Night
10/7 Grades 7 & 8 Back to School Night
10/11 Indigenous Peoples' Day- NO SCHOOL
11/11 Veterans' Day- NO SCHOOL
11/24 Thanksgiving Recess begins at 12:20 (no lunch)
WMS SCHOOL HOURS 2021-2020
M, T, Th, F: 8:40- 3:15
Wednesday: 8:40- 2:30
2021-2022 Early Release days:
9/29, 11/17, 11/24, 1/5, 2/9- 12:20 dismissal, no lunch served.
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Dear WMS families,
The week we have been waiting for has finally arrived! Meghan Maines (our new Assistant Principal) and I could not be more excited to welcome our entire community back together for the first time in eighteen months. We are thrilled to have our WRAP students rejoining our hallways and in-building classrooms. Although we will be masked and socially distanced, we will all be together.
As we begin the year we will prioritize social and emotional needs as we work to forge authentic relationships grounded in BERT (Belonging Empathy, Respect, and Trust). We want students to celebrate all facets of their identities as they make new friends, discover different interests, and take risks to try a co-curricular offering (such as joining a club, auditioning for the fall play, trying out for an honors music group, or going out for a sports team). Some students may be worried that they will be “behind” coming out of a non-traditional school year. Please do your best to assuage their concerns. Our highly competent staff will work hard to assess student skills and back-fill any deficits so that students will stay on track with our rigorous, grade-level curriculum.
While much of this was sent in an earlier letter, I thought it might be valuable to see an overview of WMS’ health and safety protocols again(School Committee will revisit these decisions on or after October 1).
- All students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, will wear masks inside the building except when they are eating snack or lunch. Snack break will typically occur outside of the building unless there is extreme weather.
- Families will not be expected to fill out daily health attestations. Students and staff may not come to school, however, if they have COVID-like symptoms.
- Students and staff will have the option of removing masks off when they are outside. Whenever possible we will pass outside from class to class.
- Students will sit at least 3 feet apart facing the same direction in classrooms and in the gym-cafe. The second week of school they will be able to choose their lunch seats to sit near a friend. We maintain seating charts for indoor dining for contact tracing purposes.
- Starting the second week we will also offer an outdoor dining option for up to 100 students at a time, except Thursdays when we conduct pooled testing during lunch.
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WPS strongly encourages all students to participate in safety testing programs this year, even if they are fully vaccinated. Testing is free to all. Consent HERE. More information is available on the WPS COVID-19 Testing Website.
- Bathroom occupancy will be limited to 2 students at a time.
- Regular hand washing and use of hand sanitizer will be strongly encouraged.
- We will have three outdoor tents that will be utilized regularly.
Careful compliance to these guidelines will help us keep the community healthy.
Finally, here is the list of new staff we are welcoming to WMS for the 2021-2022 school year:
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Margaret Burke - 7th & 8th Grade Science Teacher
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Laurie Leavitt - Teaching Assistant
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Shahrayne Litchfield - Teaching Assistant
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Meghan Maines - Assistant Principal
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Joy Snyder - Teaching Assistant
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Bernadette Vanaria - General Music Teacher & Chorus Director
As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions. We appreciate your partnership.
I leave you this Monday morning with an inspiring poem to mark the start of the year.
Hope - By Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Hope has holes
in its pockets.
It leaves little
crumb trails
so that we,
when anxious,
can follow it.
Hope's secret:
it doesn't know the destination --
it knows only
that all roads
begin with one
foot in front
of the other.
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Have a wonderful week.
Respectfully,
Betsy Gavron
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Important links you may have missed
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Middle School Drop-Off and Pick-Up Traffic Flow
∙ Safety is the number one priority in the drop-off/pick-up circle.
∙ Watch for students in the crosswalk as you enter and exit the traffic circle.
∙ Students may only exit/enter cars at the sidewalk (anywhere along the west side of the building -- from the gym to the stop sign). Students should be prepared to exit cars as soon as the car is stopped safely beside the sidewalk and not wait to be closer to the door.
∙ Students may not walk through the traffic circle.
∙ Proceed through the starred (*) handicapped parking spots if space is available beyond them.
∙ Do not jump the line when spaces appear. Be patient as drivers in front of you pull forward.
∙ If the line reaches the parking lot entrance to the old DPW building, parents will form a circular line-up inside the parking lot to get traffic off of Route 27. Students must be picked up on the sidewalk next to the gym, and may not meet rides in the DPW parking lot.
∙ Once you have dropped-off/picked-up your student, you may cautiously pull out, away from the curb and around waiting cars to exit.
∙ Stop at the stop sign as you exit the traffic circle. Oncoming traffic (buses, staff members, and others not turning into the traffic circle) does not have a stop sign and you must yield to this traffic.
Drivers – for safety, no cell phone use while moving through the Traffic Circle!
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REMINDER: WPS Text Messaging OPT IN Campaign
Dear Parents & Guardians,
We are writing to inform you that we will be launching our School Messenger Communication SMS (short message service) text messaging feature for School to Home communication. Important messages can be delivered right to your mobile phone!
Parents and Guardians can participate in this service by texting "Y" (or "yes") to 67587 to OPT IN on each mobile phone you wish to receive text messages on. You can OPT OUT of these text messages at any time by replying "Stop" to one of our messages.
Kind regards,
Wayland IT Department
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BOYS & GIRLS MIDDLE SCHOOL SOCCER TRYOUTS:
(Open to 7th & 8th graders)
Thursday 9/9: 3:45-530
Friday, 9/10: 3:45-5:30
Monday 9/13: 3:45- 545
In order to tryout, please do the following below:
2). Submit an up to date, in person physical to the nurse. You can forward health physicals to Nurse Hojlo - Laurie_Hojlo@waylandps.org
First practices:
Tuesday 9/14: 3:45-5:00
Friday 9/17: 3:45-5:00
An informative meeting for boys and girls will be held during 7th & 8th grade lunch blocks in room 111 on the following dates:
Thursday 9/2: All 7th grade students
Friday 9/3: All 8th grade students
Students can get their lunch, then sign out of the cafeteria to come to the Wellness Classroom 111 (which is in the 6th grade wing).
We will review the requirements, go over what to expect and answer questions.
Time Commitment:
Practice days will be 3:45-5:00. We generally end a home game around 5:00-5:15 and usually come back to the middle school around 6ish from away games.
We usually have 2 practices and 2 games per week. We will never practice on a Wednesday, but in some cases may have to play a game on a Wednesday due to scheduling conflicts and/or a makeup game with other schools. Otherwise it’s mostly a M, T, TH, FR commitment.
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact Natalia Demers and/or Reed Newton.
Best,
Coach Demers and Coach Reed
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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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