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!
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
Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms
