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WMS PTA
Newsletter
April 9, 2023
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REMINDER-NO SCHOOL, TOMORROW, MONDAY, APRIL 10. | |
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April 3-10 - Spring Break (Monday 4/10 is a teacher work day)
April 19 - mark your calendars for a PTA night
April 21 - no school for Eid
May 3 - early release (12:05)
May 29 - no school for Memorial Day
June 14 - 8th grade graduation at 8:15 am in the WMS Gym
June 15 - last day for WMS
View the full calendar for the school year online.
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The WMS PTA invites all students and their families for a spring open house in the lower parking lot on April 19th from 5:30-7:30pm We hope to have multiple food trucks so families can enjoy a dinner and get to meet some new families, see old friends, and meet the PTA board. | | | |
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Reminder to Charge those Ipads | Be sure iPads are ready for school on Tuesday and plug them up now! It's probably (hopefully) been at least a week since they've been used. | | | |
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April Gifted Services Information | Happy spring everyone! Ready to learn about some amazing opportunities for your child(ren)? Check out our monthly gifted newsletter! This month’s newsletter includes: a link to local camps just in case you still need enriching summer activities, She Can STEAM Camp, a New York Times Podcast contest, Listen to a Life Story Contest, Games for Change Competition, and a parent SENGINAR about executive functioning. You can also find resources such as articles about giftedness and stress, learning, and the potential for drug use. There is also a neurodiversity podcast! Please visit our website by going to the WMS homepage->Teachers/Departments->Gifted Services->Monthly Newsletter or by selecting this link:https://williamsburg.apsva.us/newsletter-current-monthly-opportunities-and-resources/ | | | |
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Information for 8th Grade Families | |
Please save all these dates! It's going to be a fun and busy time of year as they prepare to become high schoolers!
- Boardwalk Beach Carnival and Dance at WMS - Friday, June 9, 2023, from 7 - 9 pm, parents to drop off/pick up at the school, children to dress in boardwalk/beach attire (no swimsuits);
- Kings Dominion Day Trip - Monday, June 12, 2023, from 8 am - 6 pm, buses transport children to/from school;
- Graduation/Promotion Rehearsal at WMS - Tuesday, June 13, 2023 at 7:50 am, parents to drop off at school; and,
- Graduation/Promotion Ceremony at WMS - Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at 8:15 am, children and parents to attend.
For our Boardwalk Beach Carnival and Dance, we will reach out closer to the event with a Sign Up Genius to recruit a few parent volunteers and obtain donations to make the event fun and fabulous for our 8th Graders! For the other events, the school administration is mainly involved and organizing them, but as soon as we know more, we will contact everyone!
***In the meantime, if you have not donated to the 8th Grade Activity Fund yet but plan to do so, please do so now! Our budgets for the above events come directly from the activity fund for our class. We'd like to be able to solicit few donated items so that our children AND their parents can enjoy these events as stress-free as possible! There is a video on our PTA website that shows how we use the Class Funds for our fall and spring festivals as well as for our 8th Grade events.
Here is the link for your contribution if you plan to donate and have not done so, please make sure to mark your donation for 8th Grade
- PTA Membership
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Ramadan is March 22-April 21 | |
The observance of Ramadan began last week. APS is supporting our students who are participating in the month-long practice of prayer and fasting which will end with the celebration of Eid. Ramadan Kareem!
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WMS families, we have magnets available for purchase. We are in the process of setting up a store but in the mean time, send me an email at president@wmspta.org to pay and schedule a pick up.
$5 cash or check (for now)
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PTA Membership and Activity Fee Reminder | |
Activity fees are what fund the fun events at WMS. If you haven’t already, please consider donating today and joining the PTA. We are below 40% participation and would love to go well over that if possible. PS your grade level funds roll over and stick with your grade as well.
8th grade families, our students didn't get a big end of elementary school celebration. If more families don't participate, we won't be able to have a middle school ones as well. Currently only 102 of 267 families have paid. That's only 38%. I encourage you to contribute if you can. Unsure if you've already paid? Please feel to email Melissa Mathews. Did you also see the promotion is scheduled already?!
Activity fees are what fund the fun events at WMS. If you haven’t already, please consider donating today and joining the PTA. We are below 40% participation and would love to go well over that if possible. PS your grade level funds roll over and stick with your grade as well.
http://wmspta.org/pta-membership/
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Link Your Harris Teeter Grocery Card | |
Don't forget to link your grocery card numbers! Harris Teeter requires re-linking with your school each year. Our linked numbers are low so you may not have re-linked your cards for this year. It's easy and a great way for WMS to earn extra money. Learn how below:
Harris Teeter - VIC Card Shoppers:
Go to Harris Teeter's Together in Education website and sign into your HT account. Click on "Link Your School Today." Then enter the Williamsburg Middle School ID: 4926.
Don't have your VIC card number? Call 800-432-6111
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WMS Box Tops Program - Now An Easy-to-Use App! |
The Box Tops for Education program is now mobile. This makes it so much easier for families to increase our school earnings. WMS has earned over $12K from Box Tops, funding much-needed programs within our school. Please click here for more information on how to download the app and start sending Box Tops dollars to WMS.
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New Content Filter for APS Devices Coming Soon | As part of a two-phase rollout, APS is launching the Lightspeed Content Filter on student devices over Spring Break. Next week, the program will be activated on student devices which provides at-home network controls for internet usage automatically applied to APS student devices. Phase 2 of the rollout in September includes a Parent Portal that will allow parents to pause internet access on student devices for 1 hour, 3 hours, or until 6 a.m. the following day. More information will be shared over the summer. This system replaces Global Protect. | | | |
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Resources for Speaking with Children about Violence | |
Below are some resources below to assist with speaking to children about violence at school. Sadly this topic needs to be covered all too often.
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APS will relaunch the enhanced website in July 2023. The developers are nearing the end of building the new functionality so that they can move into user testing. To that end, they need your help! If you would like to help test the site, please fill out this form to sign up to be a website tester.
- In-Person User Test: There will be an in-person event on Thu, April 13 at the Arlington Career Center. This is a drop-in event; you may come at any time from 4-7 p.m. to complete the approximately 15-minute user test.
- Online User Test: The user test will also be available as an online activity from April 13-21, if you prefer to complete it at your convenience.
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Summer School Registration Open | |
The 2023 Summer School Program will provide in-person strengthening math and language arts support, credit recovery and Extended School Year services for students meeting specific eligibility criteria.
- Eligibility is based on critical needs in literacy, math, or both.
- Eligibility will be communicated during upcoming Parent-Teacher Conferences.
- Registration closes May 1 for elementary and June 2 for middle and high school students.
Additional summer learning opportunities for grade-eligible students include New Work for Credit (virtual, fee-based) open to all rising 9th – 12th graders, and Boost Courses (virtual, free) for rising 6th – 12th graders. Learn about programs offered, eligibility and more.
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The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will host Community Conversations on the Equity Profile Dashboard. The dashboard provides data and transparency related to student opportunity, access, and achievement. The community conversations will include key takeaways Your Voice Matters Survey (YVMS), social-emotional learning (SEL), school climate, and an engaged workforce. The community conversations will also allow the community to provide feedback on the dashboard.
The community conversations will be held virtually on the following dates:
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Wed., April 12, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
- Wed., May 31, 2023 at 6:30 p.m.
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Academic Help Online at No Cost! | |
NEW Academic Support for Middle and High School Students: the new academic support available for secondary students called PAPER. PAPER provides 24/7 on-demand virtual tutors available to students for assistance with homework, essay review and other academic support in multiple subjects and languages. Teachers have been promoting this service directly to students. Details online. It is a great resource!
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Have content for a future PTA Newsletter? Send it to Tonya Chiarodo by Friday and it will appear in the following week's newsletter. | | | | |
