Welcome to WGMS

I hope that this message finds everyone well and enjoying this wonderful summer. I want to welcome all of our new students and families to West Genesee Middle School. This is a special school community that I have been very fortunate to be a part of as a student, a teacher and coach, a parent, and as an administrator. We are all counting the days until we can welcome our students back to class and bring the building back to life. I want you to know that I will be communicating important information as it becomes available and ready for publication. You will receive an email notification as I send out each message.

As you know, this is going to be an incredibly unique start to the school year for all of us. At WGMS, all of our 668 incoming 5th and 6th grade students are new to the building. In addition, many of our staff members are also new this year as some of them are moving to WGMS from the four elementary schools with our 5th graders, and some are moving to WGMS from Camillus Middle School with our 6th graders. Together we will navigate all of these changes and work to support one another as we move through the 2020-2021 school year.

Here are a few specifics that I can update you on:

Orientation

We typically do a thorough in-school orientation for both students and parents as they make the transition to middle school. We are planning to cover all of those typical topics on the first few days of school which will be dedicated to orienting all of our students to the building and new procedures. I will schedule a zoom meeting for parents and guardians later this month so that you have the opportunity to connect with me directly. If possible, we hope to have some type of in person orientation for students to help them to become as familiar with the building as possible. 

Cohorts & Scheduling

Over the next week will be working on creating cohort groups in each grade level based on the parent survey and creating schedules for students in 5th and 6th grade for both the hybrid and fully remote learning. Each cohort will have approximately 14 students. Students will not be moving to different classes. Teachers will rotate into each individual cohort’s classroom. Student cohort room numbers and schedules should be available to view through Schooltool later this month and we will push out a notification when they are available.

Supply Lists

Updated supply lists for grades 5 and 6 will be posted on the website the week of August 17th. Students will not be using lockers to start the school year so students will be bringing their backpacks with them into their classroom. With that said, our supply lists will be minimal so that students are not carrying loaded backpacks back and forth to school each day.

Reopening Plan & Masks

A reminder that a copy of the District School Reopening Plan is available on the District site outlining a range of topics including some very specific information tied to health & safety. One area that I want to highlight and make sure that everyone understands is the expectation around masks. Students and staff will be expected to wear their masks throughout the day with the exception of brief teacher guided breaks. Even when socially distanced in classrooms, the expectation is that students will wear their masks.

District Q&A

Mark your calendars for the District Council PTA and PTO  panel discussion with Mr. Bills and other administrators on August 19th and 20th at 6:00 pm. A link for signing up to attend this meeting will be going out shortly so please be on the lookout for that.

We know that September 2020 will look very different from September 2019. What we all may WANT school to look like and what it NEEDS to look like in order to keep students and staff as safe as possible are two very different things. But with that said, we are going to make this the best experience as we possibly can for our students to support their social, emotional and academic growth. Hopefully as the year evolves and Central New York continues to do well with our infection rate, we will be able to expand on what the school day will look like, and we can provide more opportunities for our students.

I am looking forward to meeting all of you and am looking forward to what is going to be an outstanding 2020-2021 school year. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns. Stay safe and be well.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

School's Out

We have made it to summer! In addition to hopefully having some opportunities to reconnect with family and friends, the summer is the best time to dive into some good books. I am happy to share with you our annual “Summer Reading” information. There is no project or assignment attached to a summer reading book. We simply ask students to just read at least one title over the course of the summer. But it would be outstanding for students to read all of them! And then read some more! 

We know that the most significant factor related to student achievement is reading. Nothing else can take its place. Time with text (books, magazine, newspapers) does two important things which play essential roles in developing students who possess advanced literacy. The first is that reading builds vocabulary and word knowledge. Because students gain new vocabulary over time, it is important to read something every day. The goal is for students to have an extensive bank of words available for speaking, listening, and writing. This becomes especially important as they head to the high school.

Building background knowledge is the second important role reading plays. When students read across genres (fiction, non-fiction, autobiography, poetry, human interest stories, science articles, current events) they have a strong foundation on which to make connections to new learning. In fact, overall reading comprehension depends on a student’s background knowledge. The more you know, the more connections you can make.

Summer Reading Lists 
The grade 9 reading list is available for our rising freshmen.

The grade 6 through grade 8 reading list is available for our middle school students.

If you would like to borrow a hard copy of one of the summer reading books at any point this summer, we have all of them available. Please email me at sdunham@westgenesee.org or our School Librarian, Mrs. Chemotti, at jchemotti@westgenesee.org and we will arrange to either drop it off to your house or for you to pick it up at school.  

School Supply Drive

For 11 years the West Genesee District Council has been providing school supplies to students in need. Please see the flyer for more information to register your student.

West Genesee Facilities Study

West Genesee's Strategic Planning Committee has begun working with the consulting firm of Castallo and Silky, LLC to conduct a facilities study. The purpose is to answer this question: "How can the District maintain and enhance the educational opportunities for West Genesee students in its tradition of excellence while continuing to ensure efficient and effective utilization of staff and facilities as well as fiscal responsibility for the District's taxpayers?"

Meetings are monthly and open to the public. For more information, click here!

Looking Ahead

Nothing would be better than to to have these halls filled with our students again in September. We will certainly know more about what the fall looks like in the coming months. In the meantime, continue to check your email and the West Genesee homepage for any updates throughout the summer. Be safe. Stay healthy. Have a wonderful summer!

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

History Has Its Eyes On Us

If you're like me, you are not only thinking about what school might look like in the fall, but what our country will look like in the fall. This is an unbelievable period of significant turmoil, loss, stress, anxiety and division. You can't possibly read or watch the news and not realize that the seeds of change are taking root.

This is obviously a very emotional time tied to a long history of racial injustice in our country. Like any other social issue in our community we are either part of the solution, or part of the problem. As a parent and an educator I have been too quiet and too passive in relation to racial injustice in our country. I need to be more vocal and more out front. We all need to be more vocal and more aware. Our students are depending on it. And if anyone doesn't think we have an obligation to learn more and be more engaged then they are out of touch with what's happening.

Here are my thoughts that I want to share:

"I’m a white male. I’m a parent & an educator with the incredible privilege & power to influence young minds. I don’t know what it’s like to experience racism. But I do know injustice when I see it. I know discrimination when I see it.  I can’t watch the video of George Floyd being killed and not think about what is going through the minds of every black student, and every other person in the world who sees themself or their son, father, brother or friend lying on the ground with a knee on their neck. How can you not feel outrage? 

Right now I’m at a loss because I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make things better. There is nothing worse than feeling helpless. I do know that I have an obligation to my own children and my community to be a part of positive change. I do know that we need  to be having open & honest conversations with our students, staff and school community about racism, about bias, and about discrimination. We don’t do that enough. Often, we don’t do it at all. That’s part of the problem. 

I know that this incident and the others that have received national attention over the last few months have been traumatic for many people and for many of our students. They are confused. They are worried. They are scared. They are reaching out to us. We need to support them. To listen to them. To hear them. 

It’s not enough to just send sympathy. It’s not enough to ‬just see the injustice. It’s not enough to just feel outraged. It’s not enough to say or think, “I’m not racist” or “that’s not my community.” It’s all of our communities. When racism and injustice happens to anyone it happens to everyone. Our society is diminished as a result. It’s time for us to be loud with our actions and words to call racism out when we see it & hear it. Inaction at this point is support for a system that allows racism to perpetuate. Backing leaders that promote and legislate intolerance is support for a system that allows racism to perpetuate. 

It’s time for us as educators to do our part. We need to clearly define the action steps needed for schools across the country to take in order to elicit positive change. Hatred and racism are learned behaviors fueled by ignorance. We  need to fight that ignorance. We need to do more to explicitly and overtly teach acceptance and educate children that differences do not make you right or wrong. Our differences make us stronger together. 

We talk a lot about ‘The Power of WE.’ 

WE means all of us. 

WE have a lot of work to do."

Steve Dunham