Finish Line In Sight

The majority of our communication this school year has been related to evolving health guidelines and the impact those guidelines have on how we do everything from transporting students, feeding them and providing them with the best possible experience while at school. Everyone has had to be flexible and make adjustments on the fly. This blog isn’t going to be about any changes or updated guidelines, but rather, just a pure celebration of our students (with lots of pictures).

5th Grade Wax Museum
On Thursday of last week, all of our 5th grade students participated in the annual Wax Museum. Each student literally became a character in history! We had every industry and part of history represented, including some of the great influencers and advocates for social justice and human rights. Research, literacy, creativity and FUN all came together for a really special morning. The pictures speak for themselves:

    

     

  

  

Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.

We had over 80 students involved as part of the cast and crew in three amazing performances last week of the musical Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. which is based on the animated musical educational series of short videos that aired during the commercials while I ate Cap'n Crunch cereal watching Saturday morning cartoons. The singing, acting, timing and organization feels more like an off-Broadway production than that of a musical put on by 5th and 6th graders. It was AWESOME!

   

What you don’t see as an audience member at Showtime is the amount of work that went into this on the part of our students and director Christy Knowlton. It’s practice, practice, and more practice. It is at times a series of rehearsals that can look like a mess of poor timing, self-doubt, and bits & pieces that surely will never be connected into anything meaningful. Yet, students continue to work. Students continue to grind, to practice, to persevere. And in time, self-doubt fades into great confidence, and what once seemed impossible to pull off becomes this amazing experience that we see as members of the audience. We should all be impressed with their performance, but we should be even more impressed by what took place to get to that point. 

In many ways, the evolution of this musical is a microcosm of what this school year has been. An evolving work of art on the backs of everyone involved who demonstrated incredible perseverance, flexibility, teamwork and dedication. You can just about see the finish line in the distance!

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Transportation Changes

Starting Monday, April 26th  WGMS will welcome back our students five days per week. With many fully remote students now joining our Group A and Group B students in-person, this will more than double the student population in the building. As a result, the amount of traffic for morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up will drastically increase. Arrival will remain relatively the same, but because of a doubling of the number of buses, our dismissal requires some adjustments. 

Arrival: Student Drop-Off

From 7:35 to 7:55 AM is student drop-off on the front circle for families transporting students. Our homeroom starts promptly at 8:00 AM. We appreciate families getting our students to school on time.

Buses will continue to drop-off students in the back of the building.

Stay single file as you drive through the circle to drop students off.

Make sure student(s) is ready to get out when you come to a stop. (backpack, screening sheet, mask, instrument, etc.)

Pull up as far as possible on the circle to drop students off. 

If you need to stop and help students unload things from your vehicle, please pull up all the way to the front so you don’t hold up the entire line.

Dismissal: Student Pick-Up

1:30 PM     Dismissal of all students riding buses home. Buses will need complete access to the front circle due to the number of buses. The majority of the circle will be blocked off to cars until the buses have left.

1:45 PM     Dismissal of all 6th Grade students getting picked up out front. Do not start arriving prior to 1:35PM.

2:00 PM    Dismissal of all 5th Grade students getting picked up out front. Do not start arriving prior to 1:50 PM.

We hope to be as close to these dismissal times as possible. It is important that people picking up students do not arrive significantly early as it will just slow the dismissal process up for everyone. Given the increase in number of vehicles please understand that dismissal is going to take longer than it currently does. Fifth grade students that need to get picked up earlier with 6th grade students may leave at the 1:45 PM dismissal time as they have throughout the entire school year. Our goal is to have everyone picked up and on their way by 2:10 PM. 

For students who are riding buses, the Ride 360 App has been updated with new route information. If you have any questions about transportation please call the Transportation Department directly at 315-487-4576.

As we work through this new process over the first few weeks we will tighten it up and make adjustments as needed just as we did this fall. We are excited to have our students with us five days per week. Patience and some flexibility on the part of all of us are going to be needed as we work through this transition. Thank you for your cooperation.

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

We Keep Moving Forward

We are excited to announce that our students in both Grade 5 and Grade 6 will return to school five days per week starting on Monday, April 26th. Thank you so much for your patience while we have been working through all of the logistics with scheduling, staffing, transportation and lunch. Regardless of your role - parent, student, teacher, teaching assistant, nurse, bus driver, secretary, aide, Resource Officer, anyone reading this - this year has been a grind with a lot of ups and downs along the way. We are grateful for the support, flexibility and effort on the part of everyone to be at this point. 

I want to give a special THANK YOU to our WGMS Custodial Crew who has worked incredibly hard at moving desks, chairs, tables, cabinets, textbooks, boxes, and working to set up barriers in the cafeteria, all while doing their typical workload of cleaning and disinfecting the building. There are a lot of unsung heroes that have helped to get us to this point in time, but our custodians have been absolutely incredible. They show up and get it done each and every day! Thank you.

Schedule

As we bring both groups of students back we are making necessary changes to the schedule to balance out classes and ensure that students continue to have the same opportunities that they had previously. School for 5th and 6th graders has felt and looked like school for quite some time and we intend to keep it that way! Our school counselors will be reaching out to families in situations where a teacher or schedule change is necessary. 

Cafeteria

Our cafeteria is just about ready for students to eat lunch in. Half of each class of students will eat in the cafeteria while the other half continue to eat in the classroom. We will rotate this on a weekly basis so that all students have the opportunity to eat in the cafeteria. Splitting each class in half for lunch will allow us to adhere to distancing guidelines. In classrooms students will continue to eat six feet apart without barriers and in the cafeteria our students will be eating three feet apart with barriers between them. We cannot physically get all students in the cafeteria for lunch at the same time with the three foot distance requirement. 

Transportation

The Transportation Department is finalizing bus routes. With almost double the number of buses and the large number of families transporting students to and from school, there is going to be a significant increase in traffic both in the morning and afternoon. As a result, we are anticipating some potential minor adjustments to our dismissal time and procedures for both arrival and dismissal. Stay tuned for another update as soon as we have that information locked in place. Transportation will share specific busing information with all families that requested school transportation.

New York State Assessments 

The New York State Assessments in ELA and Mathematics for grades 5 and 6 will be given in one session and consist of only multiple choice questions. The assessments are computer-based and will be administered in your child’s regular homeroom class. Any student who is not taking the assessment should still attend school and will be able to read during the administration of the assessment. Fully remote students will not be taking the assessments unless parents choose to send their students into the building on the day of the assessments. Please mark your calendars for the assessment dates: 

April 20th (Tuesday) ELA MON/TUE Group A

April 23rd (Friday) ELA THU/FRI Group B

May 5th (Wednesday) Math All Students

Fine Arts Update

The Fine Arts Department, including our music ensemble teachers, are discussing how best to provide a performance experience for students and their families. We recently learned that New York State has a new Executive Order regarding small and medium scale performing arts venues. We may now host up to 100 attendees indoors and up to 200 attendees outdoors, which may allow our family members of our student performers to attend live performances. We will update you once we know what we can safely accomplish at WGMS. Our school musical has the green light to take place this year which is awesome! We are proud to present Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. on June 10th, 11th and 12th. We will send ticketing information and procedures once we have worked out the details.

As we transition to five days of instruction with all of our students there are going to be some challenges. Our 5th and 6th graders haven't been in school for more than 3 days per week in over a year. Stamina is going to be an issue for some students, as will being in a classroom with double the number of students that they have been used to. These changes are going to be very hard for some of our students. But this amazing staff at WGMS will continue to give everything that they have to take care of our kids and help them with this transition. We appreciate your support and our students and staff will continue to need it during this final stretch of the school year. If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me. Take care and stay healthy!

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

The Power of WE

We consistently talk with our students about being built for others. Being built for others is having concern for the welfare of others, for caring about them, for trying to help them, and giving of yourself in an effort to make a situation or the lives of others better – whether you know them or not. Whatever it is you can do, it’s about giving your time, your effort, and your attention to something bigger than yourself that benefits others with no expectation of getting anything in return. It’s selflessness. It’s powerful. It’s energizing. It’s the greatest untapped renewable resource that we all have available to give.

Our school community has been coming together since 2014 to get involved in a transcendent cause. On St. Patrick's Day we hosted our 8th consecutive St. Baldrick’s event at West Genesee Middle School. This is a special event for a few reasons. The first is that this was student-initiated in 2014 as a result of some students looking for a way to support and stand with fellow students and members of our community who have been impacted by childhood cancer. Whenever you have students step up in an effort to make the world a better place and to help others, we need to listen, support them as needed and step aside. The results are usually incredible. Secondly, this event involves our entire school community: staff, students, parents, alumni and community members all involved in some way, whether it be shaving their head, donating, spreading the word or showing up to support our efforts with great enthusiasm. This is a true example of “The Power of WE.” Finally, we have all lost dear friends and family to cancer, and there are many others we know that have survived or continue to battle the disease. Most of us are not scientists or researchers so we are not going to be directly involved in finding a cure for this horrific disease. But that doesn’t mean we are helpless. St. Baldrick’s has been an avenue for us to do something positive and try to be part of what will hopefully be a significant breakthrough in helping to fight not only childhood cancers, but all cancers. That need to do something and to be part of the solution is what drives us.

For our St. Baldrick’s event this year we had 20 individuals step up to ‘brave the shave’ as part of #TeamWildcat, raising over $15,000 and counting. Nine of our shavees were students from both WGMS and CMS who collectively raised over $7,000 as a group. Unbelievable! We had local barbers from Saving Face Barber Shop volunteer their time and expertise to shave heads and be a part of our event as well. All in all, a lot of people giving of themselves for a cause bigger than themselves. All in all, a community stepping up and coming together, even during a Pandemic!

When we talk to students about being ‘built for others’ this event is exactly the type of thing we are talking about; to take part in something bigger than yourself and to work for impacting others in a positive way. It is energizing, inspiring, moving and incredibly powerful. The entire West Genesee community has been a part of this whether you shaved your head, made a donation, promoted the event, forwarded our link or supported and cheered on colleagues, students and friends who braved the shave. I can’t thank everyone enough for their involvement, encouragement, generosity and support. We are making a difference.

The world needs more people stepping up for transcendent causes, thinking about others first and living their lives to be truly built for others. We all have it in us. We just need to continue stepping up.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

Opportunity to Get Involved

We find ourselves in challenging times for many reasons. The fabric of our society has been altered in ways that we could have never imagined. The COVID-19 crisis, coupled with the long overdue social and racial reckoning our society is facing, has impacted all of us in profound and challenging ways. The separation between educators, students, families, and school environments has been nothing short of devastating. The scramble to adapt has been exhausting, and, at times, seemingly insurmountable. However, there is a beauty in the way our creativity has risen to this terrible, challenging, and oftentimes isolating occasion. Compassion, empathy, and clear communication must be at the forefront of our decision making and action steps as a school district and community. 

As you may have read in the Superintendent’s Message from February 26th, there is an opportunity for all members of our community to come together as members of the West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. We recognize that we need to listen to the voices, experiences, and perspectives of people from diverse backgrounds in order to advance our mission and help all members of our community achieve success. 

If you are interested in joining our West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, please read the mission statement below: 

The West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council embraces and honors each individual and the diversity of our collective community. We believe we all have a responsibility to educate ourselves and our community members about injustice and discrimination in all its forms.

The West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is committed to empowering all members of our community to have a say in our future as we work collectively to discover the richness and complexity of the cultural world we inhabit. We actively seek to understand the differences that make us stronger and to lean into topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. This pursuit and belief prepares our students to be contributing members of a diverse world.

This council is open to all members of our community. Please fill out this Google form and a member of our team will contact you directly. 

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or one of our other co-chairs: 

Steve Dunham, West Genesee Middle School Principal, Director of Secondary Education SDunham@westgenesee.org 

Kathryn Ta, Stonehedge Elementary School Music,  KTa@westgenesee.org 

Keith Newvine, West Genesee High School English, KNewvine@westgenesee.org 

Gigina Long, West Genesee High School Art, GYLong@westgenesee.org 

Thank you for your ongoing support of our students and staff. We have been able to evolve and offer more opportunities for our students as the school year has progressed because everyone - students, staff, families - has done a terrific job following guidelines and adjusting to to the changes along the way. We will continue to evaluate what is possible and make decisions that are safe and in the best interest of our students. Thank you.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

WGMS Wednesdays

As we enter the second full week in February we continue to reflect on our practices and where possible, adjust what we are able to offer and provide our students. We know so much more about the transmission of COVID-19 now than we did earlier in the school year. We know that schools are safe and we know that the different protocols that students and staff are following are working. From the start, it has been our intention to bring our younger students in school as often as possible. With that said, West Genesee Middle School will bring students into school on Wednesdays starting on March 3rd. 

Wednesday will become an alternating third day of school for students who attend in-person. For example, our Group A MON-TUE students will attend school in-person on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday the week of March 1st and have their remote days on Thursday and Friday. The Group B THU-FRI students will attend in-person on Thursday and Friday of that week, and have their remote days on Monday through Wednesday as they typically do. The following week the Wednesday would alternate with our Group A MON-TUE students attending school in-person on Monday and Tuesday, and the Group B THU-FRI students attending in-person on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The alternating Wednesdays will continue throughout the second semester and will provide each group with eight additional days of in-person instruction.

The flexibility of our families in transporting students to and from school throughout the year has allowed us to make this hybrid model work. As we add Wednesdays into the schedule, we need to rely on our families to transport their child(ren) on the alternating Wednesday. If you currently transport your child(ren), but are not able to do so on the alternating Wednesday, contact West Genesee Middle School at 315-487-4615. Anyone currently utilizing District transportation will have transportation provided on the alternating Wednesday.

We are hopeful that both students and families are as excited as our staff about the opportunity to increase in-person instruction and experiences. An additional in-person opportunity to meet the academic and social-emotional needs of our 5th and 6th grade students is essential.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our students and staff. 

Steve Dunham

Principal & Director of Secondary Education

Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms

New Semester, New Beginnings

 As we enter the final week in January and prepare for the start of the second semester next week I wanted to provide an update on some changes to our schedule that we are making in an effort to provide our students with as many opportunities as possible.

Recess options in the cafeteria

We know so much more about the transmission of COVID-19 now than we did earlier in the school year. We know that schools are safe and we know that the different protocols that students and staff are following are working. As a result, we have been able to evolve as the year has progressed. With a little creativity and sweat equity we were able to move some furniture and make part of our cafeteria available as a recess spot for students. We have also been able to open up our lunch lines so students can come from their classrooms to get a school lunch. That’s allowed our incredible cafeteria staff to broaden the menu offerings for students. As we look to next week, the start and end times of the school day remain the same, but we have made some adjustments to when things take place during the day to create some additional opportunities for students. Here are how the schedule changes impact students:

5th Grade Changes

Fifth graders are still in self-contained classrooms so the overall impact on their daily schedule is pretty minimal. Their lunch time will be pushed back by 20 minutes to an 11:01 AM lunch rather than 10:41 AM. Fifth grade special area classes of Music, Art, & Physical Education will shift times, but still remain in the schedule on a rotating basis. Because we are trying to fit three different specials into a schedule that has students only here two days per week, the focus for these classes is on providing students with as many fun and engaging opportunities as possible. 

Whether an in-person or fully remote student, we are not going to “grade” students in these three special area classes on their report cards moving forward. To try to assess someone that you only see twice over a three week period of time on specific standards isn’t reasonable and with everything else students are trying to navigate, it just doesn’t make sense. Just being able to provide our students the opportunity to participate in Art, Music & PE classes this year is awesome! Teachers will push out a monthly overview to parents of the skills and activities that students are focusing on in each of those classes. 

5th graders on "The Hill"

Recess will continue to be a piece of the 5th grade day. Students will now be able to tackle the amazing sledding hill behind the school while we have snow and they have the opportunity to utilize some of the different recess spaces we have created for them in the building. 

6th Grade Changes

6th graders follow a traditional “bell schedule” so the adjusted schedule actually adds a period to their day. The newly created period will become Physical Education in their schedule and will take place each day they are in school in-person. Giving 6th graders the opportunity to move and have some fun in PE in a safe manner is outstanding! 

As the semester changes, 6th graders will have completed the course ‘Digital Literacy’ and will now take ‘Family And Consumer Science’ (FACS) over the second half of the school year. FACS is a course designed to introduce students to the qualities and behaviors necessary to become happy and productive adults. The course teaches students how to meet their present and future responsibilities as family members, community members, consumers, home managers, and wage earners. Our goal is to educate students to think constructively, make sound decisions, solve problems, and manage their resources.  We would like our students to learn who they are, what they are good at, and understand how they can apply this knowledge into their lives. FACS is a terrific course and along with PE, our 6th grade students are going to have a really nice daily schedule. 

Everything that we have been able to do here at school is a result of our students and staff adhering to the guidelines we have in place. These second semester adjustments will hopefully make the experience for our students even better. We continue to be open to adding more opportunities and will do so whenever possible in a strategic and safe manner.

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. 

 

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms