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 |
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| 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
