Roll With The Changes

As we prepare for a new school year, regardless of your role, it always has the feeling of “I’ve done this before,” and in many ways we have. There is certainly a Circle of Life to a school year; the way it moves and flows, the repetition that comes and goes like the change of the seasons. From the outside looking in the jump to a new school year might appear to be as easy as simply changing the dates and off we go. The reality is that each year, although strewn with some year to year consistency, is nothing like the year before. Education is in practice, an exercise in “Roll with The Changes”. Students change, practices change, standards change, and society and the world around us continues to change for better or worse. And as much as we may fight it, we all get a year older year after year which changes how we look at and respond to things. For a twenty year veteran it isn’t doing one year twenty times, it’s doing twenty different years one year at a time. Roll with the Changes.

This year is no exception. As we send approximately 210 rising 9^th graders to the High School, we welcome a fresh new group of 205 incoming 6^th graders to WGMS. A new year with new students, and some new staff. It feels like previous years in many ways, but it will be very different. The one underlying constant is the idea of continuous improvement in what we do and how we do it in an effort to maximize student learning and achievement. That has to be our focus.

In one week we have the pleasure to open our doors to our students and get the 2018-2019 school year officially started. It feels familiar, but it will be like no other year we have ever had. We are excited to have these hallways and classrooms once again filled with the energy and excitement of our students. 

In the meantime, here are some important dates to make note of in the month ahead:

Locker Night, Wednesday, August 28^th from 3:00 to 6:00 PM.

Picture Day, Thursday, September 13^th

6^th Grade Dance, Friday, September 14^th from 2:15-4:00 PM

Kick-off PTA Meeting, Tuesday, September 25^th at 6:30 PM

Open House/Title I Night, Thursday, September 27^th from 6:30 to 8:30 PM

In the next few weeks look for a blog outlining two very successful summer programs that we held at WGMS to support some of our students and an overview of bringing the Positivity Project to the middle school. Thank you for your ongoing support of our students and staff. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please give me a call or send me an email.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms