Monday, September 22, 2014

And We're Off!

The start of the school year is like the beginning of a new sports season; everyone is undefeated and optimism is at an all-time high for what we all hope, and expect, to be a great year. We are just about three weeks into this school year and there are two things I know about our school already: we have great kids and we have an amazing group of caring adults that are champions for our students. Optimism is high for what I know is going to be a great year.

 
School Culture
A positive school culture is the foundation for everything that we do. An important part of our positive culture is our continuous Olweus classroom meetings; ensuring that we all speak the same language and that the expectations for how we interact and treat one another are clear and reinforced throughout the year.  Last week we had our first classroom meeting of the school year and we focused on our theme of opening our eyes and taking notice of people around us:  
“We are all unique individuals. Let’s not just respect and accept one another. We can do better. We can truly celebrate our diversity. To do this we must open our eyes and take notice of one another.”
In this fast paced world that often has our faces glued to screens; we need to look up, connect, and engage with others. One of the goals of our Olweus Team is to build opportunities within our classroom meetings and throughout the year to get students and adults interacting with one another in positive ways. We cannot underestimate how powerful the connections that we have with one another and the relationships we build are, particularly for this age group. We will continue to make those human connections a priority and build in opportunities as often as possible. Make an effort every now and then to turn off your device, look up and make connections with fellow humans.

6th Graders Dancing the Afternoon Away

Playing some bball at 6th Grade Dance
Another event tied to building a positive school culture that took place last week is our PTA sponsored 6th grade dance. This has become an annual event that allows our 6th graders to ‘own the building’ and connect with our staff in a fun and relaxing way. There was music and dancing in the cafeteria, basketball in the gym, and if my math is correct we had nearly 200 of our 6th grade students stay after school to participate. It was a terrific way for our 6th graders to jumpstart their middle school years!

Open House
This Thursday, September 25th is our WGMS Open House from 6:30 PM until 8:30 PM. Parents and guardians will follow their student’s schedule and have a chance to get an overview of the different classes that they are in and the teachers that they are working with. This is a big night at WGMS so please plan on arriving early. Parking will get tight and we do start promptly at 6:30. We look forward to seeing all of our WGMS families on Thursday night!!
Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. I will have a few blogs coming out over the next week focused on our First Lego League team and the importance of everyone making a commitment to reading.  

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms