tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45978137624384997632024-02-18T22:52:24.656-08:00Notes from Principal DunhamThis page provides thoughts and commentary from the Principal of West Genesee Middle School in the West Genesee Central School District. (To subscribe to this link as a RSS feed, please click on the link "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" located at the bottom of the postings.)Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-87561655267673212582021-06-14T06:28:00.001-07:002021-06-14T06:30:20.008-07:00Finish Line In Sight<div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; white-space: pre-wrap;">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).</span></div><div style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab5f3072-7fff-60bf-4585-82b64ddf6fb2"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5th Grade Wax Museum<br /></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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:</span></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-ab5f3072-7fff-60bf-4585-82b64ddf6fb2"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANaG3imoVY5nY8R2M2Uh2MptckbOffF7VUjWlsHDIBQMWGnsAdRDBSUyDl8mwALBzCgbIMNqt7y2HFtEVJ1sSfaagyGH9nGCDPpxNpD61FXUTc1qXSHm4N0lSWeAE25SCXSEE0Xt92t4/s1024/Julia+Childs.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANaG3imoVY5nY8R2M2Uh2MptckbOffF7VUjWlsHDIBQMWGnsAdRDBSUyDl8mwALBzCgbIMNqt7y2HFtEVJ1sSfaagyGH9nGCDPpxNpD61FXUTc1qXSHm4N0lSWeAE25SCXSEE0Xt92t4/w150-h200/Julia+Childs.jpg" width="150" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirVRc_ln3S6BQB65-s3WuxzZzPdS95n8RUUNTW6WxY6L72LNOcOvkKk3b_15riopmW9RtXOF07f5Pym102bvZnthgAx6iCCVUaZPKXemRz0h3cLSheHWQDiaB_tRDkwiwEsMcKqac1gSY/s640/Neil+Armstrong.jpg" style="clear: left; 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text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: 700; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VMdj3Ip-F0zfWk91-ebDGGcgU9Yb2EEXNZx9vmxjzUl5_1MU8o9hlgvD4i1yEAwqgBkzmx6z4_5giovHHIbHJIgvvqx-AgaArimmo1vrK32SqzgkdquBPCz7Pmd5N3GezYouGCBUlyA/s1024/1sc.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VMdj3Ip-F0zfWk91-ebDGGcgU9Yb2EEXNZx9vmxjzUl5_1MU8o9hlgvD4i1yEAwqgBkzmx6z4_5giovHHIbHJIgvvqx-AgaArimmo1vrK32SqzgkdquBPCz7Pmd5N3GezYouGCBUlyA/w150-h200/1sc.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>We had over 80 students involved as part of the cast and crew in three amazing performances last week of the musical <i>Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr.</i> 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!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; white-space: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujlGj4WNoac1iIOrlzUQA8NHmALw1qXvv_hYnszge37zDi4sU_EdwrpDu5gFCoEASqKZ9tsfZd-fv9nfuHrB17CRZ0IBBtV7_J_bKPwce10AH-oM9XDTrtbp8HYeeR0UrGwQVQFYkkVo/s640/1elvis.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjujlGj4WNoac1iIOrlzUQA8NHmALw1qXvv_hYnszge37zDi4sU_EdwrpDu5gFCoEASqKZ9tsfZd-fv9nfuHrB17CRZ0IBBtV7_J_bKPwce10AH-oM9XDTrtbp8HYeeR0UrGwQVQFYkkVo/w200-h150/1elvis.png" width="200" /> </a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5U_Vqs3hh_80YcPerDlknStx-f8bK28ZaxdM1IOO9OGlBok1Mxa48Po1SP6_UvFN97HekqA5fC6yYDY4wT6LtcMFn6aa7TDUJv4-w0MxDS-7AOIpV6FEwI22Z0hZnTnMFoZHVUYABwg/s640/1scc.png" style="clear: left; display: inline; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA5U_Vqs3hh_80YcPerDlknStx-f8bK28ZaxdM1IOO9OGlBok1Mxa48Po1SP6_UvFN97HekqA5fC6yYDY4wT6LtcMFn6aa7TDUJv4-w0MxDS-7AOIpV6FEwI22Z0hZnTnMFoZHVUYABwg/w200-h150/1scc.png" width="200" /></a></div><br />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. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">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!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="white-space: normal;"><span style="background: white; letter-spacing: 0.1pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><p dir="ltr" style="letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p></span></div></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-51042561453668012092021-04-20T05:53:00.003-07:002021-04-20T06:01:36.089-07:00Transportation Changes<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Starting </span><span style="color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday, April 26th</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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. </span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3b63c028-7fff-0ad8-6ae1-bd1182b987c5"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Arrival: Student Drop-Off</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Buses will continue to drop-off students in the back of the building.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Stay single file as you drive through the circle to drop students off.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Make sure student(s) is ready to get out when you come to a stop. (backpack, screening sheet, mask, instrument, etc.)</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Pull up as far as possible on the circle to drop students off. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Dismissal: Student Pick-Up</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>1:30 PM</b> <span> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dismissal of all students riding buses home. </span><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Buses will need complete access </span><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to</span><span style="color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the front circle due to the number of buses.</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The majority of the circle will be blocked off to cars until the buses have left. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>1:45 PM</b> <span> </span></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dismissal of all 6th Grade students getting picked up out front. Do not start </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">arriving prior to 1:35PM.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>2:00 PM<span> </span></b></span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dismissal of all 5th Grade students getting picked up out front. Do not start </span><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">arriving prior to 1:50 PM.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">For students who are riding buses, the <i>Ride 360 App</i> has been updated with new route information. If you have any questions about transportation please call the Transportation Department directly at 315-487-4576.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-15692577085021647952021-04-09T09:29:00.001-07:002021-04-09T09:32:55.815-07:00We Keep Moving Forward<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday, April 26th</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. 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. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-fa9d0fed-7fff-2ad1-ee65-562789553cc2"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to give a special <b>THANK YOU</b> to our <i><span style="color: red;">WGMS Custodial Crew</span></i> 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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><b>Schedule </b></u></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><u>Cafeteria</u></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><u>Transportation</u></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York State Assessments</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 20th (Tuesday)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ELA</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">MON/TUE Group A</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">April 23rd (Friday)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ELA</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THU/FRI Group B</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 5th (Wednesday)</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Math</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All Students</span></p><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fine Arts Update</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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 </span><span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">on June 10th, 11th and 12th. We will send ticketing information and procedures once we have worked out the details.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> it during this final stretch of the school year. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to me. Take care and stay healthy!</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-52278172571604750062021-03-19T07:21:00.001-07:002021-03-19T07:30:53.559-07:00The Power of WE<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #333333; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></div><span id="docs-internal-guid-97f0aafd-7fff-3418-4041-cf0810b83d46"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmfwbFP5glu8G36JOapDoHk1VEq2FABbpLLFeRzijg64BBTlgkei-Khyphenhyphen4nVUqBQ17olkUmt32gmCWdxD22ig_qsg3wnQokWzaMpU2zHvbImP2_vwyMTsdHXD97IgxaPSWRW4E01yPOy0/s640/baldricks+2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgmfwbFP5glu8G36JOapDoHk1VEq2FABbpLLFeRzijg64BBTlgkei-Khyphenhyphen4nVUqBQ17olkUmt32gmCWdxD22ig_qsg3wnQokWzaMpU2zHvbImP2_vwyMTsdHXD97IgxaPSWRW4E01yPOy0/w200-h150/baldricks+2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR-5nUsbprwmrwkhD1bmDKEgyUTs2cEg07VyTxX4jvHdzxERcLUojInEgrHJaNGwJVVuIfsjmOmRO1jE7r2AvlPlrLrxv8DQnDtJ8JJFsVp6hp9oCH3LVOSDvWIfyYEgV2g9N9pKJ0TA/s640/baldricks+5.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR-5nUsbprwmrwkhD1bmDKEgyUTs2cEg07VyTxX4jvHdzxERcLUojInEgrHJaNGwJVVuIfsjmOmRO1jE7r2AvlPlrLrxv8DQnDtJ8JJFsVp6hp9oCH3LVOSDvWIfyYEgV2g9N9pKJ0TA/w150-h200/baldricks+5.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia;">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!</span><p></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoh5FaXyfY-DNGTqG-3CvMLO9BLpidksUV8NvEFP7YcckBdscSln907LtKZ4cZyMX4ZCbzoEMo8tUt9G6Eosu61Ic12GdU2NRNp96cw9dyEDY3EFZH2PAJapVkvjEcB7uw6fc7Q-0fwTw/s640/baldricks+6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MjN32tLaKv98NZW-ZfMwYeKoaddJXOXIPmb2uF0B-AHXeKJtJlx6KCMGwghTEPXfamrfLnWb4Li4XgFdW99oTsTPb-syOSTPhz-iq3f7aLPVlrkWNdLShmhVFeCxBI2lazwTTM41Jeo/s640/baldricks+3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_MjN32tLaKv98NZW-ZfMwYeKoaddJXOXIPmb2uF0B-AHXeKJtJlx6KCMGwghTEPXfamrfLnWb4Li4XgFdW99oTsTPb-syOSTPhz-iq3f7aLPVlrkWNdLShmhVFeCxBI2lazwTTM41Jeo/w150-h200/baldricks+3.jpg" width="150" /></a><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoh5FaXyfY-DNGTqG-3CvMLO9BLpidksUV8NvEFP7YcckBdscSln907LtKZ4cZyMX4ZCbzoEMo8tUt9G6Eosu61Ic12GdU2NRNp96cw9dyEDY3EFZH2PAJapVkvjEcB7uw6fc7Q-0fwTw/w150-h200/baldricks+6.jpg" width="150" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoh5FaXyfY-DNGTqG-3CvMLO9BLpidksUV8NvEFP7YcckBdscSln907LtKZ4cZyMX4ZCbzoEMo8tUt9G6Eosu61Ic12GdU2NRNp96cw9dyEDY3EFZH2PAJapVkvjEcB7uw6fc7Q-0fwTw/s640/baldricks+6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgxR420hjcz1Az2JVZqy-RibaTdMEcG5MixuH2DJE2jxsC1N1tyZDRN871HVs0hz5NVGD0LXwC6Kv9P4TT3TCuDmnyCQhomVPjaLg9PquxMG99oIAgLM9tZXDw4htS4JRc34ATH0f8NA/s640/baldricks+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; font-size: 11pt; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgxR420hjcz1Az2JVZqy-RibaTdMEcG5MixuH2DJE2jxsC1N1tyZDRN871HVs0hz5NVGD0LXwC6Kv9P4TT3TCuDmnyCQhomVPjaLg9PquxMG99oIAgLM9tZXDw4htS4JRc34ATH0f8NA/w150-h200/baldricks+1.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2fl9kxwYtYU1N_OTGno4kUUu9ap8A2QtbJ3aCTB1VOvZC1B1kmUe4S57ao7glzwKhwxuITGyIxpwXgZjQRkKEif9cwS549EJvjOsKD1Ydmpbh1gN5MbXjUAz_IfSDeAeQcQNEdv13zk/s640/baldricks+8.jpg" style="font-size: 11pt; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2fl9kxwYtYU1N_OTGno4kUUu9ap8A2QtbJ3aCTB1VOvZC1B1kmUe4S57ao7glzwKhwxuITGyIxpwXgZjQRkKEif9cwS549EJvjOsKD1Ydmpbh1gN5MbXjUAz_IfSDeAeQcQNEdv13zk/w150-h200/baldricks+8.jpg" width="150" /><br /></a><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span><p></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Continued Success,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><div><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-72281092029482994352021-03-12T10:23:00.000-08:002021-03-12T10:23:15.261-08:00Opportunity to Get Involved<p><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-755fcc3a-7fff-53a0-fc39-53d0ee115aad"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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 </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are interested in joining our West Genesee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, please read the mission statement below: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This council is open to all members of our community. Please fill out this Google </span><a href="https://forms.gle/kKDwvM5kRqzgig5aA" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">form</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and a member of our team will contact you directly. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or one of our other co-chairs: </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Dunham, West Genesee Middle School Principal, Director of Secondary Education </span><a href="mailto:SDunham@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline;">SDunham@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kathryn Ta, Stonehedge Elementary School Music, </span><a href="mailto:KTa@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KTa@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Keith Newvine, West Genesee High School English, </span><a href="mailto:KNewvine@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">KNewvine@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gigina Long, West Genesee High School Art, </span><a href="mailto:GYLong@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GYLong@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-18502439538549207372021-02-10T08:14:00.001-08:002021-02-10T08:14:59.208-08:00WGMS Wednesdays<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-194cf34b-7fff-9ddf-8bb7-7635008ac89f"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wednesday will become an alternating third day of school for students who attend in-person. For example, our </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Group A MON-TUE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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 </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Group B THU-FRI</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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 </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Group A MON-TUE</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> students attending school in-person on Monday and Tuesday, and the </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Group B THU-FRI</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are hopeful that both students and families are as excited as our staff about the opportunity </span><span face="Roboto, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thank you for your ongoing support of our students and staff.</span> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">Principal & Director of Secondary Education</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Email: sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-74214642824177382722021-01-25T08:51:00.002-08:002021-01-25T08:51:42.578-08:00New Semester, New Beginnings<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c1b46fb7-7fff-4b7c-7009-b4a23cd00078"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkI5ABmgXv843gBB3somY4fbfzEbVXki6PtpYZm9H4k1xa32EWGjb3srImK5LeASBHU5fB6GieGuc1pl5jrCBo74UZp80w3-trQuJvR6NlCBwNnLXDwnH-_02ir0A8_oy34M71FBPCVw/s1024/pingpong.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-size: 11pt; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjkI5ABmgXv843gBB3somY4fbfzEbVXki6PtpYZm9H4k1xa32EWGjb3srImK5LeASBHU5fB6GieGuc1pl5jrCBo74UZp80w3-trQuJvR6NlCBwNnLXDwnH-_02ir0A8_oy34M71FBPCVw/w200-h150/pingpong.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Recess options in the cafeteria</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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:</span></span><br /><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">5th Grade Changes</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7cn9hk4XRKzKEhIFJtFvTLbpbdHje9duZ3l0iFTbFyPXHmW1ln3KgpOaflv6UYXcNtxHeInzboF7R_kfaQ5-2C-wREXmCIcQdCogZ-yChPGm_M27MPr5KSwqF_AaGHt24vprYR4Jaz4/s640/sledding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7cn9hk4XRKzKEhIFJtFvTLbpbdHje9duZ3l0iFTbFyPXHmW1ln3KgpOaflv6UYXcNtxHeInzboF7R_kfaQ5-2C-wREXmCIcQdCogZ-yChPGm_M27MPr5KSwqF_AaGHt24vprYR4Jaz4/w320-h240/sledding.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5th graders on "The Hill"</td></tr></tbody></table></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">6th Grade Changes</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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! </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the semester changes, 6th graders will have completed the course </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘Digital Literacy’ </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and will now take</span><span style="font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ‘Family And Consumer Science’</span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (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. </span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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.</span></span></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">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. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Continued Success,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/8185417993464858448#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-18986273598302412882020-12-15T12:04:00.002-08:002020-12-15T12:16:22.036-08:00Flipping To Fully Remote<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As we flip to fully remote starting tomorrow there are a few pieces of information that we would like to share. </span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><u><span>Schedule<br /></span></u></b><span>Students should follow the "bell schedule" for the days that they would typically be in school. Each 5th grade classroom has a schedule set by the classroom teacher. 6th graders will follow their schedule based on the period times. The zoom portion of their classes will be no longer than 30 minutes in length which will allow students to have a break in between classes and get up and move. Here are what the days look like for our different groups:</span></span></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><b>Wednesday, 12/16:</b> <span> <br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;">Typical Wednesday for all 5th & 6th Grade students</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Thursday, 12/17:</b> <span> <span> </span></span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely </span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;">MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments</span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b>Friday, 12/18:</b><b> </b> </span></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent;">THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely </span></span></div><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments</span></span><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><b>Monday, 12/21:</b><span> <span> </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span></span></span><span style="color: #222222;">MON-TUE students will follow their schedule remotely</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">THU-FRI students will complete remote assignments</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><b>Tuesday, 12/22:</b><span> </span><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #222222;">THU-FRI students will follow their schedule remotely </span><span style="color: #222222;"><span><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222;">MON-TUE students will complete remote assignments</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: georgia;"><b>Wednesday, 12/23:</b><span> </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: #222222;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Typical Wednesday for all 5th & 6th Grade students</span></span><div><b><u><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></u></b></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b><u><span>Attendance<br /></span></u></b><span>Attendance will be taken in Homeroom for students on the days that they are following their schedule. For Wednesdays and remote days students will continue to use Operoo for attendance. </span></span></div><div><u style="font-family: georgia; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></u></div><div><u style="font-family: georgia; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Zoom Etiquette</u></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Be on time and prepared for class</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charge your Chromebook each night</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dress for Success - wear school appropriate attire</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minimize distractions - put your cell phone away during class</span></div><div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3bb3919d-7fff-fdec-15f6-34db124d15ab"><p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Holiday Food Service Delivery Information<br /></u></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">In an effort to better assist our students with nutritional needs, we have modified our delivery schedule for the holidays as follows:</span></span></p><div style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meals for the week of December 23-25 (5 days)</span></span><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Delivered on December 18, 2020</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Delivered on December 23, 2020</span></li></ul><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Meals for the week of December 28-January 1 (5 days)</span></span></div><p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 14pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All orders must be made from the Remote Learners Bundles menu. If you need any assistance, please contact us at </span><a href="mailto:wgfoodservice@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">wgfoodservice@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>All of us at WGMS wish you a restful and happy holiday season. Let's continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, and be smart. If we all do our part, this flip to fully remote is going to be short term. We are looking forward to having students back in the building and having an amazing 2021! As always, if you have any questions or concerns please email me or give me a call. </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br /></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Continued Success,</span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></span></span></p><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p></span><p style="color: black; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-50e20fd5-7fff-fc2d-ae41-e05266a88302"></span></p></div></div></div>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-59334030994216212072020-12-11T06:40:00.001-08:002020-12-11T07:14:41.018-08:00Continue To Grind<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We talk with our students all the time about how the choices and decisions that they make on a daily basis impact their future. Those actions and behaviors - no matter how big or small - become habits which will follow them throughout their life. I continue to be impressed with what I see from many of our students during a challenging time. Most of our students are showing up and working hard each and every day, even when things aren’t easy. That’s what it’s all about! </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnq62MqQxtKds9uz7fYSSb7QwuOwtpsz92EsBxAE2-pU4VQr24gVaJVedCqc5avq1wO9Bbn8JSRSqLNVqnzvrnTMz5yzMYwELSn-HbTlZ2XIarRLCt7IM9z_DvxkoRH8pnpYs-vcO5dQ/s431/decisions.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="423" data-original-width="431" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivnq62MqQxtKds9uz7fYSSb7QwuOwtpsz92EsBxAE2-pU4VQr24gVaJVedCqc5avq1wO9Bbn8JSRSqLNVqnzvrnTMz5yzMYwELSn-HbTlZ2XIarRLCt7IM9z_DvxkoRH8pnpYs-vcO5dQ/w200-h196/decisions.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Let’s all continue to encourage, motivate and support our kids as we all work through the ups and downs of school during a pandemic. If you or your child need support for any reason please reach out to us in the Main Office or Guidance Office. We are here to help.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here are a few items I want everyone to be aware of:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Calls for Commentary</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #212121; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For thirty years, the West Genesee School community has employed Strategic Planning for Educational Improvement. The Plan is the driving force behind every District initiative.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This year the Strategic Planning Committee is utilizing a 3-2-1 format to help inform the team as they look to re-launch some of the work that was begun last year. Lisa Craig, East Hill Principal, and I are facilitating the Strategic Planning process and would greatly appreciate you taking a few minutes to fill out this form as your unique viewpoint and perspective regarding the District's next steps will be a huge help to the team. </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfwAMb66EC5KLSEBgDYE9XeCBl0K6of6MaSbxNX40iqZatPTA/viewform" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here is the link</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Thank you for your participation!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Yearbooks</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.balfour.com/student-info?smi=53114" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Click here</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to place your order for your 2020-2021 WGMS Yearbook! Yearbooks are currently $25, but the price will increase to $30 on January 1st. Order your Yearbook now through January 29th to be entered to win a $50 Visa Gift Card.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">School Spirit Tastes Great</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Join us for a fundraiser to support our WGMS PTA. Come in to the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chipotle</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> at 3600 West Genesee Street on Wednesday, December 16th between 5:00 pm and 9:00 pm. We will email out a flyer that you can either bring in, show on your smartphone or tell the cashier you’re supporting the cause to make sure that 33% of the proceeds will be donated to the WGMS PTA. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Week Prior to Holiday Break</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Monday, December 21st:</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Our MON-TUE students will be attending classes in-person</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Tuesday, December 22nd:</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Our THU-FRI students will be attending classes in-person</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Wednesday, December 23rd:</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This is a full day of school with students following their regular Wednesday schedule</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fully remote students will also follow this schedule on these days.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up. Happy Holidays!</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Continued Success,</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/7303671611081398694#" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 12pt;"><br /></p>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-73036716110813986942020-11-19T08:16:00.000-08:002020-11-19T08:16:03.749-08:00Time For Gratitude, Time For Sacrifice<p> <span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we head towards the Thanksgiving Break next week I continually remind people how grateful I am for the opportunity to have students in school, if even only for a few days per week. Thinking back to August, we really didn’t know what the year would bring. We all digested the different models that each District in the area presented based on stringent guidelines that were in front of them. We liked parts of some models and wondered about parts of others. Most were similar, but none were the same. Given the guidelines it was almost like asking for the impossible. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5f655df3-7fff-4634-fee7-3442fb4bd3f5"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">With so many moving parts and considerations it sometimes felt like nobody would be able to pull it off. As parents, staff and/or community members all of us either overtly or covertly expressed our satisfaction or displeasure with the different plans. It’s all anyone could talk about. What was good about it? What was bad about it? Is it going to work? Is it safe? The debate raged on in every community leading up to Labor Day. Then we had our first day of school. Then we had a second day and a third and a fourth. The days turned to weeks and the weeks to months. August seems like such a long time ago now, especially as the flurries start to fly in CNY. We are now three months into the school year. It isn’t perfect, but it is school during a pandemic. Our students light up the room with their learning and curiosity just as they did pre-pandemic. Students, staff and families have stepped up to help make our schools as safe as anywhere in the community. In fact, schools are actually doing what the guidelines suggest and we are not taking unnecessary risks. Schools remain a consistent, safe place even as the world around us appears to be losing the battle to the spread of the virus. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is the part where I get preachy and I’m ok with any criticism that follows. I want my own kids and your kids to continue to go to school in-person. As a spike in cases across the country and our region surges, we have to make a decision about how the rest of the school year plays out. Believe it or not, this isn’t going to be a decision by a Board of Education, a Superintendent or even the Governor that determines whether schools stay open or not. Our personal behavior ultimately is going to determine whether or not schools stay open. Or whether or not there are winter sports. Or school concerts. Or musicals. Or formals and semi-formals. If we are not willing to make sacrifices in our behavior, if we are not all following the guidelines, then we know that over the next few months the virus is going to spread faster and further than it has since this whole thing started. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This isn’t about hoping we stay open or wanting activities and events for our kids. We actually control what happens. We need to keep our small bubble of contacts to a minimum. Every social interaction outside of our immediate family or household without a mask and social distancing is a risk for spreading the virus. We need to refrain from unnecessary travel. We need to stay home if we have any symptoms. If we think we may have been exposed to someone positive we need to stay home from school and work. It actually is that simple.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Right now the only thing that is really working is schools. The virus is not being spread in our halls and classrooms. The virus is being spread in the community. What our students and families do outside of school is what leads to students and staff in schools having to quarantine, and it’s the amount of quarantining that ultimately shuts down a building. If the community in general all followed the guidelines as stringently as we are in schools, right now we would not be seeing a surge in the number of cases. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is up to us. We all have a responsibility to do the right thing. We all have the power to help stop the spread and bring our schools and community fully back to what we want them to be.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Let’s decide to do this together. Let’s make a choice to keep our schools open by making smart choices and making short term sacrifices each and every day. It isn't easy, but it's the right thing to do. The alternative is people doing whatever they want to do in the name of freedom. If we choose that road we know the outcome won't be good and we'll only have ourselves to blame.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, be smart and mask up! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/2808262466450203094#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-81854179934648584482020-10-30T09:56:00.003-07:002020-10-30T10:30:30.176-07:00October Treat <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s scary to think that tomorrow is Halloween! The first few months of the school year have been spooktacular and have absolutely flown by. In addition to picking out your favorite candy this weekend and hiding the wrappers, remember to set your clock back one hour for Daylight Savings Time.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0cfb28c8-7fff-25ae-f96b-27c70c68853b"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Halloween Fun</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were able to have some fun this week with three different Halloween Costume Contests for our MON-TUE, THU-FRI and Fully Remote students. Winners were recognized at each grade level in the categories of </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Funniest, Scariest, Most Creative and Best Character</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Students and staff brought their Halloween spirit and a lot of CREATIVITY. When you can have fun while being safe and looking out for one another, you can’t ask for anything more! A big shout out to our students who were awesome! Here are a few of the many outstanding costumes we saw this week:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgcbdpR-puBu8vUsGX4j78aW371iNQwKHcJ5WCveMJ4JIhQh_r-PV_4vPPyNmfAanghfUlE4210lzRKpMmezzCW2YDeYA17ivu8nA9D_RDEJPqis0Bqa1GBFVjGsoOIcCFJjF0kXwku0/s640/halloween+1.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgcbdpR-puBu8vUsGX4j78aW371iNQwKHcJ5WCveMJ4JIhQh_r-PV_4vPPyNmfAanghfUlE4210lzRKpMmezzCW2YDeYA17ivu8nA9D_RDEJPqis0Bqa1GBFVjGsoOIcCFJjF0kXwku0/w150-h200/halloween+1.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVjV-xBj7aG8RAK5TK-cw2qM2F6nv11vDeBpAyC9KxqDzA7elL8mvLFrPVu_ev7bqljXKEcGMMG9NIKtNBC6kRZheuomvdyRneGd4AqEejt5u4NDM-cGCSzNNmjM2kh1oKwAZnovfVfc/s640/Halloween+2.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheVjV-xBj7aG8RAK5TK-cw2qM2F6nv11vDeBpAyC9KxqDzA7elL8mvLFrPVu_ev7bqljXKEcGMMG9NIKtNBC6kRZheuomvdyRneGd4AqEejt5u4NDM-cGCSzNNmjM2kh1oKwAZnovfVfc/w150-h200/Halloween+2.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAnS4WzfMNK_hBRgxllm1FQOPlQrxtyePkk-50EN75PsLVphxXZZ9uiH_2Ycechx93qothKSELMjUxHjaI5I4r2WszPXMGMscISHWWd_-uk6pVkmdfotqrPI0DWmunLyXnoRg-_tcgmM/s1024/Halloween+3.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="910" data-original-width="1024" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAnS4WzfMNK_hBRgxllm1FQOPlQrxtyePkk-50EN75PsLVphxXZZ9uiH_2Ycechx93qothKSELMjUxHjaI5I4r2WszPXMGMscISHWWd_-uk6pVkmdfotqrPI0DWmunLyXnoRg-_tcgmM/w200-h178/Halloween+3.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ViQqmWqzCPCw2ZkAMjIAs62Vc5JnTIonNGRsOQ56VR3HfS09cNW0lti9_jXP4_PDkADoTNSHXFcBSPAbFyNZ4qBaSomAnBUoKX96k7Vb-j9NugQ0hMNH9fARtrZlVh4fDLgA0oXQc5k/s640/Halloween+4.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ViQqmWqzCPCw2ZkAMjIAs62Vc5JnTIonNGRsOQ56VR3HfS09cNW0lti9_jXP4_PDkADoTNSHXFcBSPAbFyNZ4qBaSomAnBUoKX96k7Vb-j9NugQ0hMNH9fARtrZlVh4fDLgA0oXQc5k/w150-h200/Halloween+4.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeBE5e_U6zWJbu8WV8KWnu1l0l9_4aT8Oo4_3CcEnKKjQPT4SEGaTM6o7MZuO8XUASWg86PJUyZYhmawMavfUPCsKgx-OnjkBqzZv-5EyWQ_dnl4A8Fi0EICtVyuAOL0urmyiXs3pwd4/s1023/Halloween+7.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1023" data-original-width="537" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKeBE5e_U6zWJbu8WV8KWnu1l0l9_4aT8Oo4_3CcEnKKjQPT4SEGaTM6o7MZuO8XUASWg86PJUyZYhmawMavfUPCsKgx-OnjkBqzZv-5EyWQ_dnl4A8Fi0EICtVyuAOL0urmyiXs3pwd4/w105-h200/Halloween+7.JPG" width="105" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUisXvzz-n9week1RnQfwdvnZYYqhVpvekBJErPoxZ-5vorrpKY_UL1Ak8phn7bi2VB4AO9Vu8bcMRn8LDg7XCbrctOaZW7uoQhwzi5cN46MoV27CCoOgarb6HXJmAhaDCJds6sxfFda0/s640/Halloween+6.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUisXvzz-n9week1RnQfwdvnZYYqhVpvekBJErPoxZ-5vorrpKY_UL1Ak8phn7bi2VB4AO9Vu8bcMRn8LDg7XCbrctOaZW7uoQhwzi5cN46MoV27CCoOgarb6HXJmAhaDCJds6sxfFda0/w150-h200/Halloween+6.jpg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jouc40E9pLBO9s4iTexJ4aHHCv3F7hFsdCA5qXsnYV0JLnDUwiYzuG2zfGJk6bGcBltgvm0p9BL_0ExKqmqZ70ZJI4WAvo9YGC5SWhgmJJkCuY_XDUecMD_QdipX5Xa_8VGXK3RVWfM/s640/Halloween+5.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0jouc40E9pLBO9s4iTexJ4aHHCv3F7hFsdCA5qXsnYV0JLnDUwiYzuG2zfGJk6bGcBltgvm0p9BL_0ExKqmqZ70ZJI4WAvo9YGC5SWhgmJJkCuY_XDUecMD_QdipX5Xa_8VGXK3RVWfM/w150-h200/Halloween+5.jpg" width="150" /></a><br /></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FAST Screening</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All of our students in 5th and 6th grade will be taking part in the FAST CBMreading. This is an efficient and effective way to screen and monitor students’ oral reading fluency progress. The CBMreading assessment measures reading rate and accuracy and is expressed in terms of the number of words read correctly per minute. Oral reading fluency has consistently been found to have a high correlation with reading comprehension and the CBMreading measure serves as an accurate and powerful indicator of overall reading competence. Those results will help us to better target student needs as we move through the school year.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Picture Retakes Reminder</span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For our MON-TUE in person students Picture retakes are Tuesday, November 3rd during the school day</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For our THU-FRI in person students Picture retakes are Thursday, November 5th during the school day</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For our Fully Remote student Picture Day is either Tuesday, November 3rd or Thursday, November 5th from 3:00 to 5:00 PM</span></p></li></ul><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are very pleased with how our students and staff have handled the health and safety guidelines that are in place at school. From limited movement to wearing masks throughout the day, everyone has been consistently doing their part to protect themselves and others around them. Statistics and tracing throughout the region show that COVID is NOT being spread in schools. The spread that is taking place is in the general community. As we head into the holiday season and cold weather keeps us inside more than we would like, it is essential that we all continue to be smart, to wear masks, to socially distance, and to make good decisions while both IN and OUT of school. Keeping our schools open is the responsibility of all of us. Thank you to our students, staff and families for staying disciplined. Let’s keep it up! </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Let’s continue to take care of one another, stay healthy, and be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">smart. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">email me or give me a call. Happy Halloween!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Steve Dunham</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/2432902231089586058#" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-50e20fd5-7fff-fc2d-ae41-e05266a88302"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-24329022310895860582020-10-02T11:18:00.002-07:002020-10-02T12:21:00.210-07:00Rolling Into October<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">As we turn the calendar to October, we are just finishing our third full week of school. In some ways it feels like we have been back in school for months, but the reality is that for our hybrid MON-TUES students, they have only had six days physically in school (and our THU-FRI kids have had eight days physically in school). It is early, but everyone is starting to hit their stride, becoming familiar with the schedule, expectations and how to manage the variability that the week provides. </span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Whether you have a student who is fully remote or a student coming into school two days per week, the current framework for school certainly brings with it some challenges. One of the things that we know about young adolescents, and certainly 5th and 6th graders, is that most of them are just developing the skills of self-regulation, time management and the executive functioning skills that help them to learn, work and manage their daily lives. All of those are skills that are essential when you are trying to manage a combination of offline and online learning environments and a mix of synchronous and asynchronous activities. But all of those skills take time, instruction, and practice in order to develop. The overused analogy of building the plane while it’s in the air certainly applies to this situation. The skills that our students need to thrive in the current framework are the same skills that they are just starting to develop. We know that it can be frustrating at times, especially when seeing our kids struggle. We want them to be organized, to know what assignments are due, to know when the Zoom meeting is, to be self-directed and more independent, but they aren’t. A lot of young adults in college aren’t there yet. Right now we are asking and expecting our 5th and 6th graders to be there. They aren’t (yet). With that in mind, know that we are going to provide them with the guidance and support that they need to help them navigate through whichever learning environment they are in, to develop those necessary skills, and grow. It’s not going to be pretty at times and it isn’t always going to be easy. But that’s ok. That’s why we all have such an important role in this. Our kids need us to support and encourage them when they struggle, celebrate with them when they succeed, and pick them up when they fall. </span></span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6175729d-7fff-4fbe-80d6-0c367448e45e"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Virtual Planners</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Because of the many different teachers our 6th grade students have, Teams have created Virtual Student Planners. The planners list all assignments that students will work on both while in school and while at home during each week. This is a terrific tool for students to use to plan and manage their own time, and for adults at home to help students manage what they should be working on for different classes. In addition to using the planners, students should check their Google Classroom Streams and email daily to review additional supporting information posted by their teachers, including text to read and related videos to watch. </span></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Virtual Student Planners can be found on the WGMS homepage under ‘School Links.’</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #800180;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/west-genesee-middle-school/wgms-virtual-planners/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.westgenesee.org/west-genesee-middle-school/wgms-virtual-planners/</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><br /></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Open House/Title I Curriculum Night</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="color: blue; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WGMS Open House/Title I Curriculum Night </span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is Thursday, October 15th at 6:30 PM. This will be a virtual Open House with 5th grade teachers connecting with parents live and 6th grade Teams posting videos taking parents through all of their different classrooms. Additional information about accessing those live links and posted videos will be sent to parents and caregivers over the next two weeks.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Half-Day Schedule</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>On October 16th we have a scheduled half-day for students as part of our Teacher Workshop Day. Arrival time is the same, but dismissal for students will be as following:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>10:00 AM dismissal for all 6th grade students getting picked up</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>10:00 AM dismissal for all 5th and 6th graders riding the bus</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>10:10 AM dismissal for all 5th grade students getting picked up</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="text-indent: 36pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><br /></span></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>Link to Nurses Blog</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span>If you did not see the update from West Genesee Nurses earlier this week I encourage you to read it. With changing guidance relative to COVID-19 symptoms, as well as the availability and timing of testing, it’s important that all of us have an understanding of the most up to date information.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/note-from-west-genesee-nurses-to-families/" style="text-decoration-line: none;">https://www.westgenesee.org/note-from-west-genesee-nurses-to-families/</a></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></span></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">We don’t know what the rest of the year is going to bring. Perhaps we get the opportunity to bring more students into school more often, or perhaps we are in a situation where we have to all be fully remote for a period of time. Regardless of what comes our way, we know that the relationships our kids develop with teachers and other adults in school are critically important to how well students learn. The academic expectations, rigor and pace will start to increase, but we will continue to take the time to make connections and build those relationships along the way. Every day we have our students in the building is a gift and we will continue to do our part to keep this year rolling along.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/2808262466450203094#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><div><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-91595571251147772722020-09-21T05:13:00.001-07:002020-09-21T05:18:27.293-07:00Early Stages of the Marathon<p><span style="font-family: georgia;">The school year is off to a good start. It is so incredibly energizing to have our students and staff in the building. It's not perfect by any means, but it is a whole lot better than how we ended last school year. Yes, we are missing things. We all would like sports to be in full swing. We all want concerts. We all would like our kids to be in school five days a week. We all want a lot of things, but we need to remember that we are still in a pandemic. Right now we need to go slow. We just got students back in the building after 6 months. This school year and working our way through this health crisis is a marathon, not a sprint. We are not even at mile one yet. Speeding things up and jumping back into "business as usual" is a sure fire way to go backwards. What we may WANT to happen and what we NEED to happen in order to stay safe & open are two very different things. It may not be fair, but what part of a worldwide pandemic has been fair? If we all continue to stick together, continue to be patient and continue to look out for one another this year has the chance to be extraordinary. Let's hope that in another 6 months we can look back and be proud of the patience and sacrifices that we made in order to be in a better place.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Here are a few updates on attendance and food:</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f12c3b37-7fff-f759-b407-d7cd5dfed1bd"><h2 dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #222222; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5IS81SSxKXVdfyLogSibrvj0Ps60alwZ8pCWkTV4p1S0XEUtXzuo78jOueJ11LYEX7dheJXVZWa5JqVvIcq0zjXn6b-tlnb9rridA7tvip5slkpuZdvQI3_gjMIQkZyCLRBNhs8DFA8/s570/opperoo.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="570" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5IS81SSxKXVdfyLogSibrvj0Ps60alwZ8pCWkTV4p1S0XEUtXzuo78jOueJ11LYEX7dheJXVZWa5JqVvIcq0zjXn6b-tlnb9rridA7tvip5slkpuZdvQI3_gjMIQkZyCLRBNhs8DFA8/w127-h127/opperoo.png" width="127" /></a></div><span style="color: red;">Daily Attendance</span></span></span></h2><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Starting today, all students in 5th and 6th grade will be creating/activating their Operoo “Care Monkey” account if they have not done so already. This account will be used for attendance taking purposes for our remote students; as well as our hybrid students on the days they are not in the building. Here are the parameters:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 10pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">100% Remote:</span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They will receive a survey Monday-Friday.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will close at 10 a.m. If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Official daily attendance will start on Monday, September 21, 2020. </span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hybrid Monday-Tuesday:</span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They will receive a survey Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will close at 10 a.m. If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Monday and Tuesday, classroom teachers will submit attendance using Schooltool.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Official daily attendance will start on September 23, 2020.</span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Hybrid Thursday-Friday:</span></span></p><ul style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">They will receive a survey Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will be emailed to them at 7 a.m.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The survey will close at 10 a.m. If students have not checked in, they will be marked absent.</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Thursday or Friday, classroom teachers will submit attendance using Schooltool. </span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Official daily attendance will start on Monday, September 21, 2020. </span></span></p></li></ul><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">After students create their account, they will receive a survey that asks them the following questions for each of the days they are working from home:</span></span></p><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I am working on school work from home today. Yes or No</span></span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 13pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I attend school in-person on (Check all that apply) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, None (100% Remote)</span></span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 10pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 10pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We will help any students in school that still need to set their accounts up. If you or your child have any questions about this program or the process, please contact the Central Registrar Office at </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">centralregistrar@westgenesee.org</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 1pt 0pt 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia;">Breakfast & Lunch Reminders</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; padding: 0pt 0pt 14pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Breakfast and lunches must be pre-ordered on the Nutrislice system. You can access a description of the app and how to use it by </span><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/current-food-service-information/" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">clicking here</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Starting this Friday, we will be serving our first hot lunch of the year: <b>PIZZA!</b> Students will be able to safely walk through the lunch line and bring their lunch back to the classroom. Like any other movement in the building, students will need to wear a mask and we will socially distance them while in line. We are hoping to offer a hot lunch on Tuesday as well. </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/2808262466450203094#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 14pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-45431314336222874302020-09-11T09:53:00.003-07:002020-09-11T11:10:35.868-07:00Off and Running<p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the first two days of school went really well. We are off and running!</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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!</span></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9dc4c515-7fff-c9fe-632d-cb96b483c8f0"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: century, serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ay8B4HfW0yBzo-ANLiIZA6nO-ulIkTqd2KZHy72LKRT_XG_d4t7K_w-etn1QkCQQ8ZvqTIyqYxrizAqm9s8cHt2VS8w0t9KEAvE0Vcpqnvze355QB1z4xrSxnduQ-qYTUH1aA3Vgl9o/s2048/blog+sept2.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ay8B4HfW0yBzo-ANLiIZA6nO-ulIkTqd2KZHy72LKRT_XG_d4t7K_w-etn1QkCQQ8ZvqTIyqYxrizAqm9s8cHt2VS8w0t9KEAvE0Vcpqnvze355QB1z4xrSxnduQ-qYTUH1aA3Vgl9o/w205-h136/blog+sept2.JPG" width="205" /></a></div></span><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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!</span></span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p><p></p><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Be Nice. Work Hard. Think Big.</span></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: century, serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlfxaSq1X578rNw1f1gmzP3dRGVOBO_ufsEhmg6g7S_WEM8vcgko87GZfTFBRH9Ss2FbeHpLvgr-YN694bm3XHmRcz9K651oDFnOelzGPI7k6CBC6sYsC6bfQeXMrUcFTpEfltFXM1UQ/s2048/sept+blog+3.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXlfxaSq1X578rNw1f1gmzP3dRGVOBO_ufsEhmg6g7S_WEM8vcgko87GZfTFBRH9Ss2FbeHpLvgr-YN694bm3XHmRcz9K651oDFnOelzGPI7k6CBC6sYsC6bfQeXMrUcFTpEfltFXM1UQ/w205-h136/sept+blog+3.JPG" width="205" /></a></div><p style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">1. </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;">BE NICE: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;">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!</span></span></p></span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: century, serif; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjde22kqZE08kvFS-ixr1XQKBbtH7iRVt9Weg8DRHMQY1G93XZGnznQmlBkzLuBlPl-56bJwFRA8vO_BcmngfAJabMCTmg0zlphr0jFiJPUxUprkC81mol2IuALytzGx2-RCbhspAaVe10/s2048/no+mask.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjde22kqZE08kvFS-ixr1XQKBbtH7iRVt9Weg8DRHMQY1G93XZGnznQmlBkzLuBlPl-56bJwFRA8vO_BcmngfAJabMCTmg0zlphr0jFiJPUxUprkC81mol2IuALytzGx2-RCbhspAaVe10/w256-h170/no+mask.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>2. </span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WORK HARD: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Working hard is about doing your best. Your best doesn’t have to be perfect, but it does involve you working, trying, struggling, learning by making mistakes and sometimes dealing with things not going well for you. It’s not giving up just because things get difficult. Learn to work through struggle and learn to persevere. You’ll find that the harder you work, the harder it is to quit. We don’t say “I can’t”, we say “I’m struggling with…”. “Can’t” implies you’ll never be able to do it, “I’m struggling” implies that it isn’t easy, but I’m working and I’m going to get this! </span></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: century, serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUyg2_ZJNUPilljIgZL4X3yXB7EFnR7zfjyVEozgT-lEUrXKIxRKaSPEbr0OOFkIJ24keTFFQCumZzCWtbA2lZSBY34SllphHsKURc3_I2lzM1zBj7t32DR3R0eN_LZ7vaBMA4VKGC7Q/s2048/blog+sept+4.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="2048" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYUyg2_ZJNUPilljIgZL4X3yXB7EFnR7zfjyVEozgT-lEUrXKIxRKaSPEbr0OOFkIJ24keTFFQCumZzCWtbA2lZSBY34SllphHsKURc3_I2lzM1zBj7t32DR3R0eN_LZ7vaBMA4VKGC7Q/w205-h136/blog+sept+4.JPG" width="205" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">3. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">THINK BIG:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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!</span></span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><span><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><p></p><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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:</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WGMS Picture Days:</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Friday, September 18th for our Thursday-Friday group</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Monday, September 21st for our Monday-Tuesday group</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Fully Remote Students, Date To Be Determined</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">WGMS Virtual Open House/Title I Night:</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Mid-October, more details to follow</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p></span><span><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">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.</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: georgia; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Steve Dunham</span></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/4597813762438499763/2808262466450203094#" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span></p><div><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Century, serif; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span></div>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-34746187653249278592020-08-13T06:18:00.002-07:002020-08-13T07:04:21.659-07:00Welcome to WGMS<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-c481b81b-7fff-2a05-3957-bf2361fff6d3"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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 </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">668</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here are a few specifics that I can update you on:</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Orientation</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cohorts & Scheduling</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supply Lists</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reopening Plan & Masks</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A reminder that a copy of the </span><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/WGCSD-Re-Opening-Plan-2020-2021.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">District School Reopening Plan</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">District Q&A</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">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.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></p><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span>Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-53845552121281821712020-06-19T10:53:00.000-07:002020-06-19T10:53:07.058-07:00School's Out<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">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! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">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.</span></span></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">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.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br /><u style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Summer Reading Lists</b> </u><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: #222222;">The</span><b><span style="color: blue;"> </span></b></span><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/academics/west-genesee-libraries/high-school-library/high-school-summer-reading-program-2020-2021/summer-reading-list-for-students-going-into-ninth-grade/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">grade 9 reading list</span></b></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> is available for our rising freshmen.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">The </span><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/academics/west-genesee-libraries/middle-school-summer-reading-lists/" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">grade 6 through grade 8 reading list</span></b></a><span style="background-color: white;"><b style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">available</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"> for our middle school students.</span></span><br /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">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 <a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org" target="_blank">sdunham@westgenesee.org </a>or our School Librarian, Mrs. Chemotti, at<a href="mailto:%20jchemotti@westgenesee.org" target="_blank"> jchemotti@westgenesee.org</a> and we will arrange to either drop it off to your house or for you to pick it up at school. </span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><u>School Supply Drive</u></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">For 11 years the West Genesee District Council has been providing school </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">supplies to students in need. Please see the </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h9tUB5SD6z8zOlrE5x9LdSjjmlnQKUjj/view?usp=sharing" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" target="_blank"><b><span style="color: blue;">flyer</span></b></a> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">for more information to register your student.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b><u>West Genesee Facilities Study</u></b></span></span></span><br />
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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: <em>"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?"</em></div>
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Meetings are monthly and open to the public. For more information, <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.westgenesee.org/west-genesee-is-conducting-a-facilities-study/&source=gmail&ust=1592667822778000&usg=AFQjCNGA4tU1OlqGGo0FNOMJ8dZsHWF6Gg" href="https://www.westgenesee.org/west-genesee-is-conducting-a-facilities-study/" rel="noopener" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">click here</a>!</div>
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<b><u>Looking Ahead</u></b></div>
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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!</div>
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Continued Success,</div>
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Steve Dunham</div>
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<a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></div>
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Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</div>
Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-78590813893418702852020-06-01T07:07:00.001-07:002020-06-01T07:10:58.929-07:00History Has Its Eyes On UsIf 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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Here are my thoughts that I want to share:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"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? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">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. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We talk a lot about ‘The Power of WE.’ </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WE means all of us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">WE have a lot of work to do."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Steve Dunham</span></div>
Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-74382050574094716842020-05-29T07:47:00.001-07:002020-05-29T07:47:10.289-07:00Closing Out The Academic Year 2020<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dear WGMS Families: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope this message finds you healthy and doing well. As we finish the month of May and head into June I would like to update you regarding some important information on how we will be finishing the school year regarding grading and classroom assignments. </span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week of class assignments:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers will assign the final assignments for the school year the week of </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 8th.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last day of on-line classes:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last day of on-line classes for middle level will be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 15th. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> All assignments must be submitted by this date. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marking Period 4 (Pass or Fail):</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Students will receive a Pass (P) on their report card for the 4th Marking Period if 50% or more of the assignments have earned a “Complete.” Students will receive a Fail (F) if less than 50% of the assignments have earned a “Complete,” which means they were scored as “Missing” or “Incomplete.”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Course Averages:</span><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">For full year courses, the average of Marking Periods 1-3 will determine the Final Average for the course. For 2nd semester courses, Marking Period 3 will be used as the final average. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">High School Course Credit</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(CFM, DDP, Studio, Algebra 1, World Languages):</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There are no final examinations. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">For these credit bearing courses only, if a student’s average for Marking Periods 1 - 3 for full-year courses or the Marking Period 3 average for a second semester course is between a 58 and 64, the Principal will review the student’s marking period averages and performance in Marking Period 4 to make a decision about awarding course credit. If, after review of the marking periods, the Principal determines that a student will be denied course credit, recovery may occur through the completion of work based on essential Standards for which a student has not attained. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Final Report Card:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The final report card will be available for viewing in Schooltool on </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">June 26th.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">As always, thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. If you need any support of any kind as we wrap-up the school year and head into summer, please reach out and we will help. We are here to help not only with the academic achievement and growth of our students, but also their social-emotional well-being. Please contact me should you have any questions or need anything at all. </span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Stay healthy. Stay positive. Finish strong.</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Continued Success,</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Dunham</span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/Sdunhamwgms" target="_blank">@Sdunhamwgms</a></span></span></div>
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Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-75744936872245449262020-05-20T08:25:00.000-07:002020-05-20T08:25:54.998-07:00Retrieval of Items From WGMS<h4 style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">We have developed a plan for students to safely retrieve items from their lockers and return school issued materials. This will take place on </span><b>June 9th for Grade 6</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span><b>June 10th for Grade 7</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> and </span><b>June 11th for Grade 8</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Please see below for arrival times. When you arrive, please park in the bus loop. Social distancing points will be clearly marked and masks are required. Students should bring any items that they need to return to school including </span><b>textbooks, school issued calculators, library books and any school issued musical instruments that are <u><i>in need of repair</i></u></b><span style="font-weight: normal;">. There will be tables clearly marked for each of those items. <u>There will be no entry to the school building by students.</u> Staff members will take students' names and bring them any belongings from their gym and homeroom lockers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Our School Nurse will be on site for anyone who needs to retrieve any medications still remaining in the Health Office.</span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">If you are unable to make the assigned time slot pleas email me at <a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a> or call the office and leave a message at 315-487-4615 so that we can make another arrangement.</span></div>
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<b><u>June 9th - Grade 6</u></b></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;">Last Name A-H 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM</span></div>
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Last Name I-P 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM</div>
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Last Name Q-Z 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM</div>
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<b><u>June 10th - Grade 7</u></b></div>
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Last Name A-H 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM</div>
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Last Name I-P 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM</div>
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Last Name Q-Z 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM</div>
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<b><u>June 11th - Grade 8</u></b></div>
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Last Name A-H 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM</div>
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Last Name I-P 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM</div>
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Last Name Q-Z 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM</div>
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<b>Bags from all grade levels will be available all three days for families with students in multiple grades.</b></div>
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<b><u><span style="color: blue;">8th Grade Recognition - June 11th</span></u></b></div>
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We would like the opportunity to recognize our 8th graders when they pick up their belongings from their lockers on June 11th. On this day we will have a few surprises reserved just for them. Please park in the bus loop and have your child come to the tables by the main entrance to retrieve their belongings and receive their class gift from the PTA.</div>
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<b><u>Yearbooks</u></b></div>
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The WGMS yearbook will not be shipped to us until later this summer. We will let you know the plan for distribution once we physically have the yearbooks.</div>
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We are looking forward to seeing our students, if even only for a few brief moments. Stay healthy, stay positive and let's continue to stay together!</div>
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Continued Success,</div>
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Steve Dunham </div>
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<a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></div>
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Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</div>
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Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-14276660169339934762020-05-08T08:15:00.001-07:002020-05-08T08:41:53.290-07:00Staying Together in May<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I hope this message finds all of you healthy and doing well. It is so important that we are all taking care of ourselves and taking care of each other. Let’s continue to ‘check-in’ with our neighbors, colleagues, friends & family and make sure that everyone is doing well physically, mentally and emotionally. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wildcat Wellness Week: “PAUSE Week” (May 11th-15th)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Next week will be another opportunity for students to complete and/or make-up any assignments still open from the first few weeks of the 4th marking period. Any assignments that are missing (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) or incomplete (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) in Schooltool can be submitted for teacher review and feedback. Not every student will have work to submit this week. This is a chance for everyone to catch their breath and gear up for the final five weeks of the school year. This is also a great opportunity to take part in our </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r3gkgpliOb2tBJ2qAqORikJv1K4KveaaN7pBMQDgmLA/view" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Virtual Wellness Spirit Week!</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> We are encouraging students and teachers to have a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Technology Free Friday”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> on May 15th to give everyone a needed brain break. Finally, please check out our </span><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AlJpY1b5m1ym11eJyXadtmv5lLnO4vsxNb9qj6brpYY/edit" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well-being Choice Boards</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for some additional ways to take a pause and have some fun.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Five Week Reports</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Five week reports for Marking Period 4 will be available to view through Schooltool on Friday, May 22nd. Students will be receiving comments in the following categories: </span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">attendance & participation</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">progress during MP4</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-style: italic; white-space: pre-wrap;">predicting successful course completion</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You can access the report by logging into Schooltool and following the step by step directions posted there. If you need any help please give our Guidance Office a call and leave a message at 315-487-4622.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: blue; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Student Belongings In Lockers</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are finalizing a plan for you to pick up the contents of your student’s locker. This will likely take place after Memorial Day in a manner that is safe for everyone and respects our continued need for social distancing. We will communicate the plan as soon as we have it finalized. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. Please stay connected with us by checking out our <i>'Morning Announcements'</i> through Twitter or on the school website. We ask that students continue do their best and stay engaged as we head into the home stretch of the school year. As always, reach out if you have any questions or need help with anything.</span></span><br />
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<b style="background-color: transparent; color: red; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u>Happy Mother's Day!</u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4npMyR9gHTFojBLN7Z1dg_aYkVZZOHHm9LaGNbPk7K0mIMYGBmeSSF-A3uCctf_ySI4MFUwftxlScEamLhBftyPM9epU-0jnHo2qO1hYu94WorkZgld0uMV17wicC9GdHDDd6FpSd9s/s1600/A-Mother-Is-A-Person-Who.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib4npMyR9gHTFojBLN7Z1dg_aYkVZZOHHm9LaGNbPk7K0mIMYGBmeSSF-A3uCctf_ySI4MFUwftxlScEamLhBftyPM9epU-0jnHo2qO1hYu94WorkZgld0uMV17wicC9GdHDDd6FpSd9s/s200/A-Mother-Is-A-Person-Who.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stay Healthy. Stay Positive. Stay Together. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are stronger together as <b>WILDCATS</b>!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Steve Dunham</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration: none;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></div>
Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-81083919128977885222020-04-24T06:10:00.002-07:002020-04-24T06:10:44.650-07:00April Update<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dear WGMS Families, </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope that all of you are safe and healthy. As we work our way through April I wanted to send a reminder regarding some important information as we continue our virtual </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">learning journey.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marking Period 3 Report Cards</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Report cards are now available to view in Schooltool. The grade has been calculated from assignments handed in prior to the March 16th school closure and any made up assignments a student submitted during the week of April 6th. Here are the directions to view the report card: </span></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Login to Schooltool from the West Genesee web site</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Click on “Grades” tab </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Select ‘Marking Period Grades’</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make sure you have ‘Marking Period 3’ selected</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Click on the printer icon to see the entire report card</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If you have difficulty logging into Schooltool please contact Peter Tarkulich at <a href="mailto:ptarkulich@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ptarkulich@westgenesee.org</span></a><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marking Period 4</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Marking period 4 began on April 13th and will continue through June 25th. Teachers will no longer be giving numerical grades. In addition to teacher feedback, students will receive a </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">C (complete), I (incomplete) or M (missing) </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for each assignment.</span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is so important that our students stay engaged with us and do their very best on the assignments and activities being pushed-out to them. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all recognize that these are not ideal circumstances, but we are all trying to make the most of them. I</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">f you are struggling with keeping up, or have questions related to a specific assignment, please reach out to your teachers so that they can help you. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Online Learning Portal</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The Online Learning Portal is a terrific one-stop shop for remote learning support which includes helpful links and short Google Classroom video tutorials for families. Here is the link to WG Online Learning Portal: </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/wg-online-learning-portal/home?authuser=0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/wg-online-learning-portal/home?authuser=0</span></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Please remind your child to routinely check their email. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;">Virtual Student Planner</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have started pushing-out </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Virtual Planners</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by grade level with an overview of assignments for each class so that parents can better support students in staying organized, staying engaged, and working through their weekly assignments. These files will be emailed to all parents and will be available through the WGMS website by going to 'Virtual Planners' under the 'School Links' section. These will be posted and emailed on Mondays of each week by 1:00 PM.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">We continue to send you our best and we are grateful for all you are doing to support our efforts to maintain teaching and learning during this time. Stay healthy. Stay positive. Stay together. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions at all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Steve Dunham</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org" style="text-decoration: none;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></div>
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Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-88032739303928107892020-04-03T10:27:00.000-07:002020-04-03T10:27:34.483-07:00School Closure Grading Information<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Dear WGMS Families - </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">I hope that all of you are safe and healthy. As we all adapt to
how we experience school, I wanted to share some information about how teaching
and learning will continue in the weeks and months ahead. Given all of the
unknowns, we have looked beyond Governor Cuomo’s school closures through April
15th. We will adjust our plan as he updates his guidance to the State. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Week of April 6-10 (previously April
Break)</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">We will utilize the extra week of instruction for students to
complete and/or make-up any assignments still open during the 3rd marking
period. Teachers will reach out to individual students regarding what
assignments they are looking for that most closely measure the learning
standards for their courses. Not every student may have make-up work that they
are responsible for completing.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Closure of 3rd Marking Period</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Teachers will finalize the 3rd marking period grades on April
21st. Report cards will be available for viewing in Schooltool on April
24th. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Marking Period 4 (April 13-June 25)</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Teachers will begin to deliver new content through Google
Classroom beginning on April 13. We will continue to follow these
guidelines: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">Core Subject Area (ELA, Math,
Science, </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">Social Studies, World Languages)-</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">2 assignments per week, approximately
a 40 minute </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">completion time each</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">Electives and All Special Area
Classes-</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">1 assignment per week, approximately
a 40 minute </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">completion time</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">New Grading Guidelines for Marking
Period 4</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Teachers will no longer be giving numerical grades for submitted
assignments in marking period 4. In addition to teacher feedback, we will be
using the following criteria for each assignment: </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Complete</span><span style="color: black;"> = </span></b><span style="color: black;">Student has executed the task to the </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">course or grade level
standard</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Incomplete</span><span style="color: black;"> = </span></b><span style="color: black;">Student has executed the task, but it
is not yet to the course or grade level standard</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: blue;">Missing</span><span style="color: black;"> = </span></b><span style="color: black;">Student has not yet submitted the assignment</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Parents and students will be able to view individual student
progress through Schooltool for marking period 4 as assignments will be posted
as they were previously. In place of grades, you will see a <b>C</b>,<b> I</b>
or <b>M</b> representing <b>Complete</b>,<b> Incomplete</b>, or <b>Missing</b>.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">At the end of Marking Period 4, students will be given a final
quarter grade of <b>Pass or Fail </b>based on their ability to demonstrate
their learning of course specific learning standards. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">The calculation of the final cumulative (4 marking periods) average
has not yet been decided. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">All of us at WGMS are thinking of all of you each day. We so
deeply miss all of our students and hope that we will all be together again
soon. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">As always, thank you for your continued support of our students
and staff.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Continued Success,</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Steve Dunham</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org"><span style="color: #1155cc;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-52253240997960649022020-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:002020-03-19T11:07:16.427-07:00Extended School Closure<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-top: 12pt;">
</div>
<div style="margin: 12pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I hope this message finds everyone doing well!</span><br />
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">As we start to make the transition to virtual learning, our teachers and staff have been working to develop remote learning opportunities for our students during this extended school closure. Counselors, social workers, and teachers will be engaging with students through Google Classroom, email, and/or virtual office hours. Contact information for our teachers and professional staff is provided <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1I878Ly50Uah_G7md99GAUOHpxkXbWuJtmODYN9nPO54/edit"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink: none;">here</span></span></a> organized by department. Any questions or concerns relating to online instruction should be directed to the teacher of the course. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 12pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">While we know that many of our teachers are already checking in with students, starting on </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Monday, March 23rd, students will receive lessons/activities in their Google Classroom accounts. We know that families are dealing with numerous challenges, so students should expect only one to two 40 minute lessons/activities each week per class at this time. Teachers will be providing instructional feedback to all students on each assignment. Our primary goal is to maintain our connections with students and to continue developing their secondary academic skills and proficiency. Participation is expected, as teachers will be monitoring student involvement via comments, emails, and Google Classroom activity. Participation is the key to success! An overview and link to the WG Online Learning Portal can be found </span><a href="https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/wg-online-learning-portal/home" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink: none;">here</span></span></a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 12pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">We ask that you continue to look for updates in the following ways: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div role="presentation" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 12.0pt; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">West Genesee School District website</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div role="presentation" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><a href="https://wgmsprincipal.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">WGMS Principal Blog</span></span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div role="presentation" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Student and/or parent or guardian emails<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div role="presentation" style="margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span>Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms and @MJMcGrathjr<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 12pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">In addition, we would like to recognize all of the WGCSD staff who have been working tirelessly to organize and deliver meals and technology. Also, our incredible custodial staff who continue to work to keep all of our staff and volunteers safe. Thank you to our District Level PTA/PTO’s for arranging for volunteers and creating our first <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UbfmJTqpAlGNhAJK-kuqmMhttEQmE-45/view" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">virtual spirit week</span></a>. We start that with Pajama Day on Monday!</span><br />
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Our current plan of distance learning is based on a return to school on April 14, 2020. Due to the </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">unforeseen nature of this virus and the caution that we will exercise to protect the </span><span style="background: white; white-space: pre-wrap;">West Genesee family, our plans may change. These changes will be guided by both New York State and Onondaga County. Any updates, should we need to make them, will be communicated on our district website, through my blog, Twitter and through email. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Take care and take care of one another.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 12pt -40.5pt 12pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Continued Success,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in -40.5pt 0.0001pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Steve Dunham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in -40.5pt 0.0001pt 0in;">
<span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="text-decoration-skip-ink: none; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in -40.5pt 0.0001pt 0in;">
<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">@Sdunhamwgms</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in -40.5pt 0.0001pt 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-47597060622775278442020-02-04T06:17:00.000-08:002020-02-04T06:23:37.953-08:00Energized for the Second Half<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Just like that January is in the rearview mirror, the
Kansas City Chiefs (from Missouri) won the Super Bowl and Puxatony Phil did
not see his shadow so we are optimistically looking forward to an early spring.
There is a lot going on as we jump into February and head into the second half of the school year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Scheduling<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Earlier in January we had our 8th Grade
Parent Night to start the scheduling process for our 8th graders moving to the
High School next year. If anyone is interested in what the presentation entails
you can check it out by going to the West Genesee Middle homepage, scroll down
to ‘School Links’, click on the ‘Counseling/Students Services’ link and select
“<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">8<sup></sup></i></span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">th</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> Grade Parent Night: High School Planning & Scheduling Process</span></i>” presentation. 8<sup>th</sup>
Grade students have started meeting individually with their School Counselor to
make course selections for next year. Those course selections should be available
to view on Schooltool by the end of the month.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6<sup>th</sup> and 7<sup>th</sup> grade students
also have some decisions to make about their schedule for the 2020-2021 school
year. All of them should have received a scheduling letter and course selection
sheet in the mail in January. Those course selection sheets should be returned
to student’s homeroom teacher by Friday, February 7<sup>th</sup>. If you have any
questions regarding scheduling please give our Guidance Office a call at
315-487-4622.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Information
for Parents<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a pretty good article that
outlines <a href="https://kappanonline.org/childhood-changed-tweens-technology-mental-health-identity-fagell/" target="_blank">How Childhood Has Changed for Tweens:</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <span style="background: white;">“In some ways, kids are growing up
faster today. Parents can no longer shield their children from bad news,
particularly if they’re carrying a computer in their pocket. In other ways,
they’re growing up slower. As they spend more time communicating online,
they’re spending less time together experimenting, taking risks, playing, and
dating.”</span></i><span style="background: white;"> </span>What our kids are
experiencing growing up today is so significantly different than what any of us
experienced. <span style="background: white;">The more informed we are as parents
the better we can help to guide and support our kids. </span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "sina-nova" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "sina-nova" , "serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Students of
the Month<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As a building we
celebrate those that carry themselves in a way that we can all be proud of.
Last week we recognized our ‘Students of the Month’ for January. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">We continue have students, who through their
actions and character, help to create a positive school environment. Choosing
‘Students of the Month’ isn’t about grades and athletic or musical prowess,
it’s about demonstrating all of the qualities that we value and celebrate -
exemplary work ethic, citizenship, character, compassion, honesty,
trustworthiness, responsibility, optimism and/or leadership in creating a
positive school environment. As a school community we are extremely grateful
for students who day in and day out show up, work hard, do their best, and make
our school a better place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">This month we
recognized</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> 6th graders Eliana Freeman, Lena Kent, David Bosak and Will
Madden; 7th graders McKenzie Pomplas, Bella Vallely, Evan Powers and William
Schneid ; and 8th graders Camille Bohli, Hannah Kenna, Luke Calkins and Dillon
Collier.</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIxWaJ4ND2BM305aXyCz6Ae62PUfBww8jZPso1jcX6QGbC2xfxRfh0FnFv4TBsPP7LH7CHCP3qRDy4Z07sXKWeXO7wMm4-mRnTuLmfSSvLXJKmG25Ykk-S42tBurRF7qncf3aPY22uYQ/s1600/6th+grade.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOIxWaJ4ND2BM305aXyCz6Ae62PUfBww8jZPso1jcX6QGbC2xfxRfh0FnFv4TBsPP7LH7CHCP3qRDy4Z07sXKWeXO7wMm4-mRnTuLmfSSvLXJKmG25Ykk-S42tBurRF7qncf3aPY22uYQ/s200/6th+grade.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">6th Grade Students of the Month</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8ud5Dp4q7Mq3o3W_M7TaHcbWUnHPVRaRQTnyVqTpKgbBYHhTICvUVOGfDdE1cHSdawx-GwBBcY0NfoBN4QAqkYqBJc8sj9t9L9KQutwIvK0ZK1ASlXHl9MSlHGwNZMapSl6hv4HilJU/s1600/7th+grade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS8ud5Dp4q7Mq3o3W_M7TaHcbWUnHPVRaRQTnyVqTpKgbBYHhTICvUVOGfDdE1cHSdawx-GwBBcY0NfoBN4QAqkYqBJc8sj9t9L9KQutwIvK0ZK1ASlXHl9MSlHGwNZMapSl6hv4HilJU/s200/7th+grade.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7th Grade Students of the Month</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHYyPVahgiAQXrFYf61klXphOCetSqi3UynSGx0J_XGWlddIiTXZTzsQf7wf-zAA-ILFB8aNeZ_zfto_QVwms77D-CtjJSWOM9IUF3LA8l7NMuLOlXLHjgweYsZC7GKr4eZLfwxmtsXo/s1600/will.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHYyPVahgiAQXrFYf61klXphOCetSqi3UynSGx0J_XGWlddIiTXZTzsQf7wf-zAA-ILFB8aNeZ_zfto_QVwms77D-CtjJSWOM9IUF3LA8l7NMuLOlXLHjgweYsZC7GKr4eZLfwxmtsXo/s200/will.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">7th Grade Student of Month</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wHvuMpMNWgYbLFkm4Lbx-9wVUjl_xYd3ALI8J-y4X80TYuCmxew5QkFHDki4PNXIC9oDH8z14c6lLDcyCXRB9OPEjABo3d86LkkVAFwudedllv-QcmqNibXIwWIyg-kkBYydJejg1Dk/s1600/IMG_3842+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5wHvuMpMNWgYbLFkm4Lbx-9wVUjl_xYd3ALI8J-y4X80TYuCmxew5QkFHDki4PNXIC9oDH8z14c6lLDcyCXRB9OPEjABo3d86LkkVAFwudedllv-QcmqNibXIwWIyg-kkBYydJejg1Dk/s200/IMG_3842+%25282%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8th Grade Students of the Month</td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Important Upcoming
Dates <o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Wednesday, February 12<sup>th</sup> - WGMS Science Fair (Public
Viewing 6:00 PM)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Friday, February 14<sup>th</sup> - </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Valentine’s Day</b></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">: No Interaction
Time<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Monday, February 17<sup>th</sup>- Friday, February, 21<sup>st</sup> - Winter Recess<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Thank you for your continued 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. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Continued Success,</span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Steve Dunham </span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">sdunham@westgenesee.org</span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4597813762438499763.post-81169316007100496672020-01-10T07:35:00.000-08:002020-01-10T07:35:12.527-08:00Jumping Into 2020<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">As
hard as it is to believe that we have turned the calendar to 2020, it’s just as
hard to believe that we are two weeks away from the first semester of the
school year coming to an end. The second Winter sports season has started for many
of our middle school student-athletes and many students will be completing any half-year
courses in their schedule and starting new courses later this month. Please be
on the lookout for scheduling information to be mailed home to all parents in
early February as we are beginning to plan for the 2020-2021 school year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Strategic
Planning Calls for Commentary </span></b><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">For many years the West Genesee Central School District has
engaged in a reflective and goal-oriented review process which culminates in a
Strategic Plan for Educational Improvement. You can view the </span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://www.westgenesee.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/WGCSD-Strategic-Plan-2019_2020.pdf" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">2019-20 Strategic Plan here</span></a></span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. <span style="color: #222222;">A critical component in the
development of this plan comes from the feedback we receive from all stakeholders:
our staff, students, community members, and parents. The Strategic Planning
Team would appreciate a few moments of your time to tell them about our areas
of strength and where we need to grow and improve. </span></span></span><span style="color: #0070c0;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCK5e7OJ1v51iim0Ucntb0J-NvWzMkcT6RFGXW3doc5Ci6cA/viewform" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Please click here</span></a></span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> to complete the brief survey by January 24th.</span>
Your feedback and input is greatly appreciated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Transitions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of the most important
moments in a student’s journey from Kindergarten through graduation are the
transitions that take place when they move from one building to another. At
West Genesee we currently have two transition points that take place as our 5<sup>th</sup>
graders move to middle school and our 8<sup>th</sup> graders move to the high
school. In both instances, we have spent a lot of time working between the
different buildings to ensure highly effective and smooth transitions for students.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJfL03mJ3_5NEbYFQ5hRmT6aPMVz9yLlZGnULQH8Ee_GcmeD_RzU3xKQCoKP-2KP-jfpT1M9lVa52icLMC-G1PdcclwdNLWZFS5_DCyQJzF_Z2GHak-5JsQU0tJQGOq-IY_sEfQrMaGo/s1600/IMG_3659.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1024" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJfL03mJ3_5NEbYFQ5hRmT6aPMVz9yLlZGnULQH8Ee_GcmeD_RzU3xKQCoKP-2KP-jfpT1M9lVa52icLMC-G1PdcclwdNLWZFS5_DCyQJzF_Z2GHak-5JsQU0tJQGOq-IY_sEfQrMaGo/s200/IMG_3659.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">8th Grade Parent Night</td></tr>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Last night both middle
schools held an 8<sup>th</sup> Grade Parent Night to start the process of
getting our 8<sup>th</sup> graders ready for the high school. There was a standing-room-only turnout of highly engaged and involved parents who had great questions and want to be a partner in the process. The purpose of
the evening was to explain the scheduling process, develop and understanding of
graduation requirements, and build an awareness of the different course
offerings that our High School has. You can access the presentation by going to
the West Genesee Middle School homepage, scroll down to ‘School Links’, click
on the ‘Counseling/Students Services’ link and select “8<sup>th</sup> Grade
Parent Night: High School Planning & Scheduling Process” presentation. If
you have any questions relative to this process please give our Guidance Office
a call at 315-487-4622.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As always, if you have any
general questions or concerns please give me call or send me an email. Thank
you for your continued support of our students and staff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Continued Success,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Steve Dunham<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="mailto:sdunham@westgenesee.org">sdunham@westgenesee.org</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter: @Sdunhamwgms<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Steve Dunhamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11130542469732326857noreply@blogger.com