Wayland Middle School  November Newsletter

MARK YOUR CALENDAR! All Grades: 11/13 - Q2 Begins 11/16 - Q1 Report Cards (viewable on HAC at 2:30 pm) 11/20 - MS/HS Jazz Concert, 7:30 pm (at the High School) 11/21 - Early Release for Thanksgiving ( 11:15 AM / No Lunch ) 11/22 & 11/23 - Thanksgiving Recess 7th & 8th Grades: 11/15 - Pause Francaise, 2:40-3:15pm (details in Current News section)

Message from Principal Gavron

You have heard me say that students make hurtful mistakes all too regularly during their middle school years. Impulsivity, combined with lack of awareness of others’ perspectives, plus a dash of limit testing can be a recipe for adolescent unkindness. As an educator who processes missteps with tweens, I’ve been aghast at how unkind students’ words and actions can be. I’ve wondered how students can seem to blatantly disregard their classmates’ feelings. At times, when I’ve asked a student what he or she was thinking in the moment of the mistake, I’ve learned that “I wasn’t thinking,” is often the most honest response. Despite incessant coaching to “think before you speak or post,” we know that developmentally, they are not always able to comply. Time and time again students fail to pause to contemplate until the damage has been done, and they see first hand the distress it has caused a classmate. Intent vs. impact is a regular theme Mr. Benzie and I explore with students as we unpack hurtful events. Here, education is always the primary goal, so that lasting learning and change can come out of the mistakes. Additionally, appropriate consequences are consistently issued and served. Finally, students are often brought together to hear one another’s perspectives (unless there is a pattern of bullying and it would be harmful). Still, the resulting impact of meanness erodes BERT- the Belonging, Empathy, Respect, and Trust - that we work so hard to nurture. It takes time and hard work to begin to heal the wounds, yet time and time again we see that our students want that work to be done. They want to make things better between themselves and the classmate or friend they have hurt. The effects of mean behavior are amplified when racially insensitive, racially charged, or outright racial slurs are at the heart of the mistake, and picking up the pieces to repair the damage is exponentially more difficult. Some racial slurs tap into an ugly history of our nation, which was born out of slavery. Words that have historically been used to dehumanize people of color in order to justify and maintain race-based power structures in our country can’t be spoken in any context without leaving a wake of significant damage. Even today, despite change and progress, systems of entrenched, institutionalized racism remain at play in our world and have continued to create opportunity gaps and an unequal playing field. While race is a social construct rather than a biological reality, thinking race does not impact one’s experience of the world would be naive. Given this reality, the misuse of racially charged language can evoke generational pain for families and students of color. As a white woman, I can and do empathize with this pain, but I can’t fully feel how deeply it cuts. Anyone who questions that a racially charged mistake causes damage however, need only to have been present at the school committee meeting in Boston on Monday evening, November 5th. While the primary discussion agenda of the evening was proposed start time changes for next year, the conversation took a painful tangent when a frustrated parent opened up about her child’s recent experience at Wayland Middle School. Unfathomably, in the past two weeks, her son had been on the receiving end of insulting comments with racial connotations in class, at two different times, by two different peers. Additionally, her son had been called upon to console a friend who was outraged when he heard a racial slur spoken aloud at his lunchroom table. Even though the epithet was not directed at anyone, hearing about it spoken at all contributed to him feeling unsafe and unwelcome at Wayland Middle School. The mother’s tears, anger, and incredulity at how this could happen in a district committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion left all in attendance unsettled. How can we create more safe spaces to talk openly about race and identity, where questions can be asked and multiple perspectives considered? How can we help all students understand the nuances and power of language? How do references in pop culture and music make knowing what is and is acceptable hard for students to navigate? At the middle school, our METCO Coordinator JaNae Hood is an invaluable resource to all of our students in working towards equity and inclusion day in and day out. She is on the front lines and serves as a wonderful thinking partner. She is incredibly skillful in bridging the two communities who make up our school. Just recently Ms. Hood participated in a panel with World Language Curriculum leader Klara Sands and former student Andrew Pilkington (who is a movie director who also has Cerebral Palsy). Together, they told their personal stories to the 8th grade class, focusing on the theme of perseverance in the face of adversity. Through sharing stories we find commonalities, and they enable us to better understand and celebrate our differences. Additionally, I wanted to offer a snapshot of a range of ways we have sought to help students and staff in our learning community grow around diversity and equity in recent years. Staff PD - Annual staff professional development for the full faculty around advancing along cultural proficiency continuum has been a priority in recent years. Themes have included unconscious bias, creating safe spaces for courageous conversations, and understanding and responding to microaggressions - “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating (hurtful) messages to certain individuals because of their group membership." We always look to have teachers walk away with new strategies for their work with students. Whole school student work in TAG - We conduct multiple sessions through TAG at every grade around identifying and responding to microaggressions. We teach our students that how we treat one another matters. Whole grade assemblies - Revisions to our anti-bullying assemblies include work around harassment - explicitly clarifying our policy that “Harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability for any reason or in any form is prohibited and will not be tolerated.” Small group work - Dr. Parker has led a diverse Global Citizens leadership team of students who dove deeply into issues of race, racism, bias, privilege identity, and culture - over a two year period. Members built leadership skills and students powerfully shared experiences directly to staff as part of our professional development. Grade-wide work through our curriculum - In social studies, we study and honor religions and cultures of various regions. Throughout the 8th grade year, students study Dr. King and social justice (Civil Rights, the women’s movement, we and they thinking, etc.). World language classes develop understanding of language and culture every day. We hold a week long world language celebration that includes parent presentations around various cultures. Small group curricular invitations - Our 8th grade Stories Matter - Book Groups explore facets of identity through monthly reads and the 6th grade Windows and Mirrors Book Club discusses books with characters from diverse backgrounds. Clubs that promote inclusion - Our GSAs, Wayland Cares, and Community service clubs all work to promote safety and inclusion. They sponsor events like Kindness Matters around a national No Name Calling Week. This is far from an exhaustive list. Through all of our efforts, BERT remains our cornerstone that captures our values. BERT anchors TAG and our social emotional learning and informs our academic endeavors as well. We know BERT is the foundation of feeling safe and secure in school. Under the umbrella of BERT, we aim to be proactive as well as reactive to meanness in a comprehensive fashion. Clearly there is still more work to do, and we can’t be complacent. In the wake of this sudden spate of racial incidents, we would like to convene a diverse focus group of parents who are interested in helping us reflect on our practice and are able to offer fresh ideas around ways in which we can improve our efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion. Please email me if you would be interested in participating in such a group - [email protected] ma.us and indicate what time of day works best. (For parents who have work/home responsibilities that would make it challenging to come to Wayland Middle School for a meeting, we can discuss having a meeting in Boston as well as Wayland.) We want to capitalize on the wealth of knowledge throughout our parent community. After 25 years of working with middle schoolers and knowing the science of adolescent brain development, I cannot promise another incident of mean behavior and even racially charged mean behavior won’t occur at WMS. I can promise however, that we will be tireless in our efforts to try to get out in front to reduce incidents, and if/when it happens, we will be there to work through it head on with our students. Respectfully, Betsy Gavron ‌

Current News & Announcements

Pause Francaise Thursday, November 15, 2:40 - 3:15 WMS Cafeteria Enjoy French music, culture and food! See the hard work of 7th and 8th grade French students displaying their research projects on French-speaking countries and the regions of France.

WMS Calendar Drive - The Calendars are Here! November 13 - December 7 Our annual calendar fundraiser begins this week and will run from Tuesday, November 13th through Friday, December 7th. The Gift Calendar Drive is our annual effort to raise scholarship funds for our school field trips. With the money raised we are able to ensure that all students are able to attend all school trips. When someone buys a gift calendar, they are entered into 31 gift card drawings, one each day during the month of January. The suggested donation in exchange for a calendar is $10, but participants may donate any amount they wish. Prizes for Students: 10 calendars: T-shirt or water bottle 25 calendars: Sweatshirt (this is in addition to the first prize already won!) Top 3 overall fundraisers: WMS Jacket In addition, eighth graders will receive a $10 credit off their DC Trip Fee for every 10 calendar donations they receive. Thank you for all your efforts in support of this fundraiser!

PTO News

Contact: [email protected]

A note from your President: Those that know me will tell you that I am driven and results-oriented. One of my primary reasons for running for WMS PTO President was to unleash the opportunity to increase participation in Gift Your Child, our only fundraiser. I was surprised to learn that we had only 25% participation in the fundraiser. The PTO contributes in so many ways to the experience at WMS that we can confidently say that your child is sure to have benefited.   I set an aspirational goal for 100% participation in Gift Your Child. Whether you give our suggested donation of $100 per child, more, or less, we aim for community-wide participation. Together, we can do more.  Recognizing a significant gap between historical and aspirational rates, I set a Goal of 45% participation , 300 donations. We are so close! 40%, or 89% to Goal! Let’s do this.

Donate here to Gift Your Child In the coming weeks, we will start our grant process with WMS teachers and staff. We can’t wait to share our pot of gold for the benefit of our children! Check out our Donations in Action here. Cultural enrichment, learning materials, student clubs, inclusive classrooms, parent seminars, staff appreciation and so much more!   Don’t forget about your employer’s matching gift program.  -Sejal T. Srinivasan

Staff Appreciation: Relaxation Station November 5 - 16

‌ WMS PTO set up a chair massage relaxation station for our staff. They sure look like they are enjoying it! The staff work hard every day for our children, so let’s give them a moment to catch their breath and relax!  Thank you for your hard work, passion and dedication, WMS Staff!

Middle & More Coffee: Parent Seminars

6th Grade Parent Check-In with Cluster Leaders   Nov. 29, 8:45 - 9:45 am Location TBD We will be joined by the Cluster Leaders and Ms. Gavron. Topics can include curriculum overview for the 6th grade year, school-sponsored trips, social adjustment and academic expectations. We will have time for parent Q & A. Heading Here ‌

Save the Date! 7th & 8th Grade Parent Check-In with Cluster Leaders                                  Dec. 11, 8:45 - 9:45 am Location TBD

PTO Thanks….  6th Grade Parent Reps , Cathy Davies, Bakul Wadgaonkar, Michelle Coppola and Erin Gibbons for organizing the teacher dinner and ice cream bar for students, and to all those who donated items for 6th Grade Math Night. Teacher Appreciation Team , Vicky Sin, Nan Li and Melissa Davis-Bell for organizing a Staff Relaxation Station for WMS staff. Also thank you to members of our immediate and extended community for lending their chair massage pads: David Schmeltzer, Kathy Cleaver, Purvi Tailor and Savithri Srinivasan!

Artist of the Week

Artist: Alyssa Ao Grade: 6 Medium: Mixed

Information from Last Week's eBlast...

Lego Robotics Club First Meeting: Monday, November 19, 2:30-3:30 WMS Library Interested in building and engineering? Like to use Legos and technology? Curious about how to use Lego Robotics and Lego Mindstorm kits? Lego Robotics Club will begin Monday November 19th from 2:30 until 3:30 in the library. All students are welcome to join, no experience is necessary.   Lego Robotics will run every Monday except the first Mondays of each month. ‌

WMS Boys and Girls Basketball (7th & 8th Grade) There will be an informational meeting during 7th and 8th grade lunches on Tuesday, November 6th. Tryouts will take place Monday, December 3rd to Friday, December 7th.  In order to participate (BEFORE tryouts) students : Must be registered through FamilyID.com, and Must have a current Physical Exam record on file with the school nurse. Girls Tryouts: Mon. 12/3 (2:30-4:45), Tues. 12/4 (2:30-4:45), Weds. 12/5 (1:30-3:00) Boys Tryouts: Weds. 12/5 (3:00-4:30 * ), Thurs. 12/6 (2:30-4:45), Fri. 12/7 (2:30-4:45) ( * Athletes will have supervised study hall after school until their evaluations begin ) ‌

C O L O R C Y C L E - TURN MARKERS INTO ENERGY

Dear Families, I’m excited to tell you about a very special program I’m coordinating at our school in conjunction with Crayola. It’s called Crayola ColorCycle – an amazing new program devised to turn used markers into energy! All around Wayland Middle School students and teachers will be collecting used markers that are ready to be discarded. The markers will be sent to a facility where they will be converted into clean fuel. This fuel can be used to power vehicles, heat homes, cook meals and more! Please help support our efforts by sending your kids in with any used markers or highlighters you may have around the house – even non-Crayola brands. Drop-off boxes will be located around the school for your child to deposit the markers. Thank you in advance for participating! With your help the Crayola ColorCycle program can keep tons of plastic out of landfills each year. Remember, don’t throw out that used marker - ColorCycle it! Sincerely, Pam Riddle, Wellness Teacher ‌

Private School Application Process While we hope you are enjoying your experiences with Wayland Public Schools, we also know that some families will choose to apply to private schools as an alternative educational option. Please be sure to carefully follow the process outlined HERE to ensure a timely, quality processing of your child’s application to private school.

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