Interaction ‘Time Is On My Side’

If the enthusiasm and excitement of our staff at our first meeting of the year this morning at WGMS is any indication of things to come, this is going to be an incredible school year. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our students tomorrow to officially kick-off the year.

Ask anyone in education what they need to better meet the needs of students and to manage all of the different responsibilities and initiatives that come our way, the answer is going to be time. Before we start a dialogue about a longer school day or school year, we took a close look at our existing schedule in an effort to find more time for our students and staff. Thanks to the work of our Director of Transportation and the support of the Superintendent and Board of Education, we were able to adjust how we do things to create an Interaction Time at the end of the school day. The concept has been out there for quite some time and our High School has had it for years so it isn’t something coming out of left field. But it did take a collaborative effort and persistence to see it become reality.

The concept is simple: create more time for students to connect with adults and for adults to connect with one another. At the middle level we believe that it is going to have a tremendous positive impact, not just on student achievement, but in general to support our students. At no time during a human’s life, other than infancy, do we develop more physically, psychologically, socially, and cognitively, than during the ages of ten to fourteen. For many kids, this extra ‘TLC’ may be the tipping point for them on a road to success and for our teachers, having this time to make connections with students and colleagues is going to be incredibly beneficial. To be clear, IT isn’t a babysitting service. Rather it is a powerful vehicle for our students and staff to make meaningful connections.

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions I have been asked in regard to Interaction Time:

What will the middle school hours be for the 2013-2014 school year?

The day will begin with homeroom at 7:35 a.m. and end at 2:10 p.m. At that point in time students will be dismissed, those staying for Interaction Time will remain in the building with an adult from 2:15 until 2:50 p.m.

Will Interaction Time occur Monday through Friday?

Students will have IT Tuesdays through Fridays. On Mondays, IT will be used for staff development, and faculty meetings purposes. Only students who participate in modified sports will stay on Mondays and attend a supervised study hall until 2:50 p.m. at which time their practices will start.

How do students arrange to stay for Interaction Time?

Our students have three responsibilities associated with staying for IT:

• Student responsibility to sign-up for a late bus in the main office at some point throughout the day so that we know whether we need additional buses.

• Student responsibility to connect with an adult to stay with during IT. Students may not just stay; they need to be with an adult and accounted for.

• Student responsibility to inform parents that they are staying. They may call from a classroom, main office, or use their phones at the end of the day to call or text.

Like anything new, the implementation of IT at the middle level will take some time for all of us to adjust to. Essentially we are training nearly 700 students, all of their parents and guardians, and our staff of over 100 people on what Interaction Time is and how it is run. Throw in there some major changes in transportation and we have the ‘new normal’ in terms of the middle school scheduling. It’s going to be terrific!

In the end we weren’t able to add any hours to the day to make it longer, but we are excited to think of how the extra time of Interaction Time might help our students and staff. Interaction Time will officially begin on Tuesday, September 10^th for any students that make arrangements to stay. Our sports study hall for our modified student-athletes will begin on Thursday, September 5^th, the first full day of the school year.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. As always, please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. Let’s go WILDCATS!

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

@Sdunhamwgms

Ready to Go

Nothing gets me more energized and excited about the start of the school year than starting to reconnect with our students, parents and teachers. Last night was Locker Night at West Genesee Middle School. Like the arrival of the New York State Fair, Locker Night is a sure sign that summer is coming to a close. We had a tremendous turnout of new and returning students, as well as their parents and families. Everyone on hand was eager to find their locker, practice the combination, connect with their friends and take another step towards the start of school next week. As excited as our students were, words cannot describe the delight on the faces of their parents. The adults are definitely ready for school to start!

Steady flow of students and parents for Locker Night

Locker Night is a great opportunity to talk to students and parents to answer questions, frame the start of the school year, and help to ease the transition to a new building for our incoming 6th graders and new students to the building. We are fortunate to have such an involved, interested and engaged school community. Our PTA was on hand signing up new members and getting volunteers for the many different events that we have throughout the year. I can’t say enough about our PTA and their incredible dedication and commitment to our students and staff. If you are not a member of our PTA, please consider joining and/or getting involved in any way that you can. Use the link below to access the membership form. Let's get 100% participation from our parents and staff!

2013-2014 PTA Membership Form 

The custodial staff has the building and classrooms looking incredible! Our teachers have put in a tremendous amount of time and energy over the summer to learn, grow and prepare for the upcoming school year. The guidance staff has worked tirelessly with building administration to create a master schedule that meets the wide array of needs of our nearly 700 students. We are ready to go! All that we need now are the students to bring this building back to life.

Look for a post early next week about Interaction Time and another with my thoughts on Homework. Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. It’s going to be a great school year!

Continued Success,
Steve Dunham
sdunham@westgenesee.org
@Sdunhamwgms

Summer Groove

Even though the building is extremely quiet without the energy and enthusiasm of our students, it is an exciting time to be back at work preparing for the opening of the 2013-2014 school year. We are poised to build upon all of the many wonderful things we accomplished last year as a building and as a district, in an effort to make this an even better school year than last.

For teachers and administrators, the summer is our offseason. Like an athlete, it is a time to reflect, learn, and grow in an effort to come back stronger and better! Many of our teachers have been involved in Professional Development throughout July and August on continued implementation of the Common Core Learning Standards, vocabulary instruction, writing in the content area, Literature Circles, and a variety of technology workshops. This isn’t mandatory PD, but rather, it is a choice that our teachers make to better themselves and the experiences that we provide our students. The amount of time and effort that they put in to grow professionally both during the school year and over the summer is incredible. As a parent and an educator I am very appreciative of their efforts.

As we move through August and into the new school year I encourage you to stay connected to know what is going on at West Genesee Middle School. Twitter is a tremendous tool for getting a behind the scenes look at what is happening at WGMS, but it is also a great resource to connect with other people and other interests that you may have. Before last year I did not have a Twitter account and it is now the cornerstone of my professional learning and a terrific vehicle to connect with parents and the West Genesee community. For those of you without a twitter account go to http://twitter.com. From the main twitter page you will create a profile which includes your name, e-mail address and a password. Once your account is created go to @connect and enter the account @Sdunhamwgms to follow me. For those of you with a twitter account, from your existing account click on @connect and enter the account @Sdunhamwgms to follow me.

Part of being connected is knowing the important dates of different events and activities that we hope you will be a part of throughout the year. Please note these important dates as we get ready to kick-off the year:

Wednesday, August 28^th is Locker Night from 3-6 PM

Wednesday, September 4^th is the first day of school and it is a half-day for our students with the middle school dismissing at 10:10 AM

Friday, September 20^th is Picture Day at WGMS for all students

Thursday, September 26^th is Open House from 7 to 9 PM

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact any of us here at WGMS. Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff.

Continued Success,

Steve Dunham

sdunham@westgenesee.org

@Sdunhamwgms