Flipping To Fully Remote

As we flip to fully remote starting tomorrow there are a few pieces of information that we would like to share. 

Schedule
Students should follow the "bell schedule" for the days that they would typically be in school.  Each 5th grade classroom has a schedule set by the classroom teacher. 6th graders will follow their schedule based on the period times. The zoom portion of their classes will be no longer than 30 minutes in length which will allow students to have a break in between classes and get up and move. Here are what the days look like for our different groups:

Wednesday, 12/16:     
Typical Wednesday for all 5th & 6th Grade students

Thursday, 12/17:        

THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely 

MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments

Friday, 12/18:            

THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely 

MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments

Monday, 12/21:        

MON-TUE students will follow their schedule remotely

THU-FRI students will complete remote assignments

Tuesday, 12/22:        

THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely 
MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments

Wednesday, 12/23:    

Typical Wednesday for all 5th & 6th Grade students

Attendance
Attendance will be taken in Homeroom for students on the days that they are following their schedule. For Wednesdays and remote days students will continue to use Operoo for attendance. 

Zoom Etiquette

Be on time and prepared for class

Charge your Chromebook each night

Dress for Success - wear school appropriate attire

Minimize distractions - put your cell phone away during class

Holiday Food Service Delivery Information
In an effort to better assist our students with nutritional needs, we have modified our delivery schedule for the holidays as follows:

Meals for the week of December 23-25 (5 days)

• Delivered on December 18, 2020

• Delivered on December 23, 2020

Meals for the week of December 28-January 1 (5 days)

All orders must be made from the Remote Learners Bundles menu.  If you need any assistance, please contact us at wgfoodservice@westgenesee.org.

All of us at WGMS wish you a restful and happy holiday season. Let's continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, and be smart. If we all do our part, this flip to fully remote is going to be short term. We are looking forward to having students back in the building and having an amazing 2021! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please email me or give me a call.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Continue To Grind

We talk with our students all the time about how the choices and decisions that they make on a daily basis impact their future. Those actions and behaviors - no matter how big or small - become habits which will follow them throughout their life. I continue to be impressed with what I see from many of our students during a challenging time. Most of our students are showing up and working hard each and every day, even when things aren’t easy. That’s what it’s all about! 

Let’s all continue to encourage, motivate and support our kids as we all work through the ups and downs of school during a pandemic. If you or your child need support for any reason please reach out to us in the Main Office or Guidance Office. We are here to help.

Here are a few items I want everyone to be aware of:

Calls for Commentary

For thirty years, the West Genesee School community has employed Strategic Planning for Educational Improvement. The Plan is the driving force behind every District initiative.

This year the Strategic Planning Committee is utilizing a 3-2-1 format to help inform the team as they look to re-launch some of the work that was begun last year. Lisa Craig, East Hill Principal, and I are facilitating the Strategic Planning process and would greatly appreciate you taking a few minutes to fill out this form as your unique viewpoint and perspective regarding the District's next steps will be a huge help to the team. Here is the link. Thank you for your participation!

Yearbooks

Click here to place your order for your 2020-2021 WGMS Yearbook! Yearbooks are currently $25, but the price will increase to $30 on January 1st. Order your Yearbook now through January 29th to be entered to win a $50 Visa Gift Card.

School Spirit Tastes Great

Join us for a fundraiser to support our WGMS PTA. Come in to the Chipotle at 3600 West Genesee Street on Wednesday, December 16th between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm. We will email out a flyer that you can either bring in, show on your smartphone or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 33% of the proceeds will be donated to the WGMS PTA. 

Week Prior to Holiday Break

Monday, December 21st: Our MON-TUE students will be attending classes in-person

Tuesday, December 22nd: Our THU-FRI students will be attending classes in-person

Wednesday, December 23rd: This is a full day of school with students following their regular Wednesday schedule

 

Fully remote students will also follow this schedule on these days.

 

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up. Happy Holidays!

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Time For Gratitude, Time For Sacrifice

 As we head towards the Thanksgiving Break next week I continually remind people how grateful I am for the opportunity to have students in school, if even only for a few days per week. Thinking back to August, we really didn’t know what the year would bring. We all digested the different models that each District in the area presented based on stringent guidelines that were in front of them. We liked parts of some models and wondered about parts of others. Most were similar, but none were the same. Given the guidelines it was almost like asking for the impossible. 

With so many moving parts and considerations it sometimes felt like nobody would be able to pull it off. As parents, staff and/or community members all of us either overtly or covertly expressed our satisfaction or displeasure with the different plans. It’s all anyone could talk about. What was good about it? What was bad about it? Is it going to work? Is it safe? The debate raged on in every community leading up to Labor Day. Then we had our first day of school. Then we had a second day and a third and a fourth. The days turned to weeks and the weeks to months. August seems like such a long time ago now, especially as the flurries start to fly in CNY. We are now three months into the school year. It isn’t perfect, but it is school during a pandemic. Our students light up the room with their learning and curiosity just as they did pre-pandemic. Students, staff and families have stepped up to help make our schools as safe as anywhere in the community. In fact, schools are actually doing what the guidelines suggest and we are not taking unnecessary risks. Schools remain a consistent, safe place even as the world around us appears to be losing the battle to the spread of the virus. 

This is the part where I get preachy and I’m ok with any criticism that follows. I want my own kids and your kids to continue to go to school in-person. As a spike in cases across the country and our region surges, we have to make a decision about how the rest of the school year plays out. Believe it or not, this isn’t going to be a decision by a Board of Education, a Superintendent or even the Governor that determines whether schools stay open or not. Our personal behavior ultimately is going to determine whether or not schools stay open. Or whether or not there are winter sports. Or school concerts. Or musicals. Or formals and semi-formals. If we are not willing to make sacrifices in our behavior, if we are not all following the guidelines, then we know that over the next few months the virus is going to spread faster and further than it has since this whole thing started. 

This isn’t about hoping we stay open or wanting activities and events for our kids. We actually control what happens. We need to keep our small bubble of contacts to a minimum. Every social interaction outside of our immediate family or household without a mask and social distancing is a risk for spreading the virus. We need to refrain from unnecessary travel. We need to stay home if we have any symptoms. If we think we may have been exposed to someone positive we need to stay home from school and work. It actually is that simple.

Right now the only thing that is really working is schools. The virus is not being spread in our halls and classrooms. The virus is being spread in the community. What our students and families do outside of school is what leads to students and staff in schools having to quarantine, and it’s the amount of quarantining that ultimately shuts down a building. If the community in general all followed the guidelines as stringently as we are in schools, right now we would not be seeing a surge in the number of cases. 

This is up to us. We all have a responsibility to do the right thing. We all have the power to help stop the spread and bring our schools and community fully back to what we want them to be. Let’s decide to do this together. Let’s make a choice to keep our schools open by making smart choices and making short term sacrifices each and every day. It isn't easy, but it's the right thing to do. The alternative is people doing whatever they want to do in the name of freedom. If we choose that road we know the outcome won't be good and we'll only have ourselves to blame.

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up! 

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

October Treat

It’s scary to think that tomorrow is Halloween! The first few months of the school year have been spooktacular and have absolutely flown by. In addition to picking out your favorite candy this weekend and hiding the wrappers, remember to set your clock back one hour for Daylight Savings Time.

Halloween Fun

We were able to have some fun this week with three different Halloween Costume Contests for our MON-TUE, THU-FRI and Fully Remote students. Winners were recognized at each grade level in the categories of Funniest, Scariest, Most Creative and Best Character. Students and staff brought their Halloween spirit and a lot of CREATIVITY. When you can have fun while being safe and looking out for one another, you can’t ask for anything more! A big shout out to our students who were awesome! Here are a few of the many outstanding costumes we saw this week:

FAST Screening

All of our students in 5th and 6th grade will be taking part in the FAST CBMreading. This is an efficient and effective way to screen and monitor students’ oral reading fluency progress. The CBMreading assessment measures reading rate and accuracy and is expressed in terms of the number of words read correctly per minute. Oral reading fluency has consistently been found to have a high correlation with reading comprehension and the CBMreading measure serves as an accurate and powerful indicator of overall reading competence. Those results will help us to better target student needs as we move through the school year.

Picture Retakes Reminder

• For our MON-TUE in person students Picture retakes are Tuesday, November 3rd during the school day

• For our THU-FRI in person students Picture retakes are Thursday, November 5th during the school day

• For our Fully Remote student Picture Day is either Tuesday, November 3rd or Thursday, November 5th from 3:00 to 5:00 PM

We are very pleased with how our students and staff have handled the health and safety guidelines that are in place at school. From limited movement to wearing masks throughout the day, everyone has been consistently doing their part to protect themselves and others around them. Statistics and tracing throughout the region show that COVID is NOT being spread in schools. The spread that is taking place is in the general community. As we head into the holiday season and cold weather keeps us inside more than we would like, it is essential that we all continue to be smart, to wear masks, to socially distance, and to make good decisions while both IN and OUT of school. Keeping our schools open is the responsibility of all of us. Thank you to our students, staff and families for staying disciplined. Let’s keep it up!

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, and be smart. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please

email me or give me a call. Happy Halloween!

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Rolling Into October

As we turn the calendar to October, we are just finishing our third full week of school. In some ways it feels like we have been back in school for months, but the reality is that for our hybrid MON-TUES students, they have only had six days physically in school (and our THU-FRI kids have had eight days physically in school). It is early, but everyone is starting to hit their stride, becoming familiar with the schedule, expectations and how to manage the variability that the week provides. 

Whether you have a student who is fully remote or a student coming into school two days per week, the current framework for school certainly brings with it some challenges. One of the things that we know about young adolescents, and certainly 5th and 6th graders, is that most of them are just developing the skills of self-regulation, time management and the executive functioning skills that help them to learn, work and manage their daily lives. All of those are skills that are essential when you are trying to manage a combination of offline and online learning environments and a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities. But all of those skills take time, instruction, and practice in order to develop. The overused analogy of building the plane while it’s in the air certainly applies to this situation. The skills that our students need to thrive in the current framework are the same skills that they are just starting to develop. We know that it can be frustrating at times, especially when seeing our kids struggle. We want them to be organized, to know what assignments are due, to know when the Zoom meeting is, to be self-directed and more independent, but they aren’t. A lot of young adults in college aren’t there yet. Right now we are asking and expecting our 5th and 6th graders to be there. They aren’t (yet). With that in mind, know that we are going to provide them with the guidance and support that they need to help them navigate through whichever learning environment they are in, to develop those necessary skills, and grow. It’s not going to be pretty at times and it isn’t always going to be easy. But that’s ok. That’s why we all have such an important role in this. Our kids need us to support and encourage them when they struggle, celebrate with them when they succeed, and pick them up when they fall.  

Virtual Planners

Because of the many different teachers our 6th grade students have, Teams have created Virtual Student Planners. The planners list all assignments that students will work on both while in school and while at home during each week. This is a terrific tool for students to use to plan and manage their own time, and for adults at home to help students manage what they should be working on for different classes. In addition to using the planners, students should check their Google Classroom Streams and email daily to review additional supporting information posted by their teachers, including text to read and related videos to watch. 

The Virtual Student Planners can be found on the WGMS homepage under ‘School Links.’

https://www.westgenesee.org/west-genesee-middle-school/wgms-virtual-planners/

Open House/Title I Curriculum Night

The WGMS Open House/Title I Curriculum Night is Thursday, October 15th at 6:30 PM. This will be a virtual Open House with 5th grade teachers connecting with parents live and 6th grade Teams posting videos taking parents through all of their different classrooms. Additional information about accessing those live links and posted videos will be sent to parents and caregivers over the next two weeks.

Half-Day Schedule

On October 16th we have a scheduled half-day for students as part of our Teacher Workshop Day. Arrival time is the same, but dismissal for students will be as following:

10:00 AM dismissal for all 6th grade students getting picked up

10:00 AM dismissal for all 5th and 6th graders riding the bus

10:10 AM dismissal for all 5th grade students getting picked up

Link to Nurses Blog

If you did not see the update from West Genesee Nurses earlier this week I encourage you to read it. With changing guidance relative to COVID-19 symptoms, as well as the availability and timing of testing, it’s important that all of us have an understanding of the most up to date information.

https://www.westgenesee.org/note-from-west-genesee-nurses-to-families/

We don’t know what the rest of the year is going to bring. Perhaps we get the opportunity to bring more students into school more often, or perhaps we are in a situation where we have to all be fully remote for a period of time. Regardless of what comes our way, we know that the relationships our kids develop with teachers and other adults in school are critically important to how well students learn. The academic expectations, rigor and pace will start to increase, but we will continue to take the time to make connections and build those relationships along the way. Every day we have our students in the building is a gift and we will continue to do our part to keep this year rolling along.

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or email me.

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Early Stages of the Marathon

The school year is off to a good start. It is so incredibly energizing to have our students and staff in the building. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a whole lot better than how we ended last school year. Yes, we are missing things. We all would like sports to be in full swing. We all want concerts. We all would like our kids to be in school five days a week. We all want a lot of things, but we need to remember that we are still in a pandemic. Right now we need to go slow. We just got students back in the building after 6 months. This school year and working our way through this health crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We are not even at mile one yet. Speeding things up and jumping back into "business as usual" is a sure fire way to go backwards. What we may WANT to happen and what we NEED to happen in order to stay safe & open are two very different things. It may not be fair, but what part of a worldwide pandemic has been fair? If we all continue to stick together, continue to be patient and continue to look out for one another this year has the chance to be extraordinary. Let's hope that in another 6 months we can look back and be proud of the patience and sacrifices that we made in order to be in a better place.

Here are a few updates on attendance and food:

Daily Attendance

Starting today, all students in 5th and 6th grade will be creating/activating their Operoo “Care Monkey” account if they have not done so already. This account will be used for attendance taking purposes for our remote students; as well as our hybrid students on the days they are not in the building. Here are the parameters:

100% Remote:

• They will receive a survey Monday-Friday.

• The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.

• The survey will close at 10 a.m. If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.

• Official daily attendance will start on Monday, September 21, 2020. 

Hybrid Monday-Tuesday:

• They will receive a survey Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

• The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.

• The survey will close at 10 a.m. If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.

• On Monday and Tuesday, classroom teachers will submit attendance using Schooltool.

• Official daily attendance will start on September 23, 2020.

Hybrid Thursday-Friday:

• They will receive a survey Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

• The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.

• The survey will close at 10 a.m.  If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.

• On Thursday or Friday, classroom teachers will submit attendance using Schooltool. 

• Official daily attendance will start on Monday, September 21, 2020. 

After students create their account, they will receive a survey that asks them the following questions for each of the days they are working from home:

1. I am working on school work from home today. Yes or No

2. I attend school in-person on (Check all that apply) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, None (100% Remote)

We will help any students in school that still need to set their accounts up. If you or your child have any questions about this program or the process, please contact the Central Registrar Office at centralregistrar@westgenesee.org.

Breakfast & Lunch Reminders

Breakfast and lunches must be pre-ordered on the Nutrislice system. You can access a description of the app and how to use it by clicking here. 

Starting this Friday, we will be serving our first hot lunch of the year: PIZZA! Students will be able to safely walk through the lunch line and bring their lunch back to the classroom. Like any other movement in the building, students will need to wear a mask and we will socially distance them while in line. We are hoping to offer a hot lunch on Tuesday as well. 

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or email me.

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Off and Running

The first two days of school for our hybrid Thursday-Friday group of students are behind us and we are looking forward to getting our Monday-Tuesday group in here next week for their first days of school. More so than any other school opening I have been a part of, there are a lot of moving parts and a lot of limitations on what we can do and what things need to look like. In spite of the many nuances of this plan we are trying to implement and the amount of "first time" things we are all experiencing, the first two days of school went really well. We are off and running!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who plays a part in making this happen: whether you are a Bus Driver, Secretary, Food Service Worker, Teaching Assistant, Aide, Teacher, Administrator, Custodian, Maintenance Worker, Parent or Student, you play a vital role in making a successful school year possible. Nobody is more important than anyone else, we are all Wildcats and we all have the incredible responsibility to positively impact the lives of our students. Thank you for doing your part!

The first few days of school saw a lot of engaging activities in classrooms throughout the building with a focus on building relationships and getting familiar with new procedures and expectations. At no time during a human’s life, other than infancy, do we develop more physically, psychologically, socially, and cognitively, that during the ages of ten to fourteen. Often referred to as “The Wonder Years”, Middle School is a unique and important period of time in a student’s development. Those relationships that we build with students are critical as they maneuver these years, even more so during a global pandemic!

In addition to our efforts to build relationships with students, we have three overarching expectations for our students that we talk about and celebrate each and every day:

Be Nice. Work Hard. Think Big.

1. BE NICE: If you are nice to people you quickly realize that people will be nice back to you. We can’t control how others act or what they say, but we do have total control over how we treat other people. Hit them with kindness! At WGMS we hold doors for others, we say good  morning, we smile (even under our masks), we help people when they need help, we include others as much as we can, and we apologize and take ownership for our mistakes when we need to. It's pretty simple: Be Nice!

2. WORK HARD: Working hard is about doing your best. Your best doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does involve you working, trying, struggling, learning by making mistakes and sometimes dealing with things not going well for you. It’s not giving up just because things get difficult. Learn to work through struggle and learn to persevere. You’ll find that the harder you work, the harder it is to quit. We don’t say “I can’t”, we say “I’m struggling with…”. “Can’t” implies you’ll never be able to do it, “I’m struggling” implies that it isn’t easy, but I’m working and I’m going to get this! 

3. THINK BIG: Have big dreams about what you want to do with this life. Hold onto those dreams and do everything in your power to make them come true. Take some risks, take some chances, and get out of your comfort zone. You’ve got one shot - don’t settle for mediocrity!

If our students and all of us as the adults in their lives hold ourselves to those three big ideas our school and community in general would be a much better place. Let's step up and expect all of those things from our kids and from one another.

We are excited about the year ahead of us and we look forward to the possibility to do more and offer more to our students as the school year evolves. Here are some important dates to make sure you are aware of over the next few weeks:

WGMS Picture Days:

Friday, September 18th for our Thursday-Friday group

Monday, September 21st for our Monday-Tuesday group

Fully Remote Students, Date To Be Determined

WGMS Virtual Open House/Title I Night: Mid-October, more details to follow

Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or email me.

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms