WMS PTA Newsletter August 25, 2023

UPCOMING EVENTS Aug 28 - First Day Of School Sept 1 & 4 - Holiday - Labor Day Sept 25 - Holiday - Yom Kippur Oct 9 - No School for Students (County-wide trainings)  Oct 13/14 - School Portrait Days (make-up day 11/19)  Oct 20 - Parent/Teacher Conferences Nov 7 - End of First Quarter Welcome Back Wolves! WMS is excited to welcome our new and returning students, teachers and staff back this week! We are looking forward to a wonderful school year ahead! Important Reminder:  School doors open at 7:30. School is out at 2:35 but will be 5 minutes early the first week. 6th grade families, beware that students will be arriving home much earlier than those elementary years.

IMPORTANT INFO Main Phone Line: 703-228-5450 Attendance Line: 703-228-5444 TECH SUPPORT For technical support, call the Family Technology Call Center at 703-228-2570, Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. and Friday from 7 am - 6 pm Parent tech help can be found at https://williamsburg.apsva.us/technology/tech-help/tech-help-parents/ Parentvue Access https://va-arl-psv.edupoint.com/PXP2_Login.aspx

You can prevent morning traffic!

Arrival and Dismissal Protocols Building Entrance/Arrival Time Please do not drop students off before 7:30 am Doors #1 and 14 - upper entrance car riders, walkers & bikers coming from upper Harrison St. Please do not pass cars in the drop off lanes for safety reasons Door #4 - lower entrance, NO CAR RIDERS! Bus riders and walker/bikers from lower Harrison *Please remind your child that Doors #5 and #6 are not entry points.  Dismissal/Exit Procedures Students are dismissed with the bell at 2:35 am Car riders will be picked up at upper loop by doors #1 and #14  No cars are allowed in the bus lane, highlighted in yellow as seen in the picture.

The WMS PTA Needs Your Help! A new school year…sharpened pencils, new backpacks, AND renewed PTA memberships! Please support the WMS PTA by paying dues for the 2023-2024 school year.  Join the PTA and support your child’s social events by paying the grade-level activity fee. The activity fee is what allows the PTA to plan fun events for students so please don't forget to add it when paying to join. These links can make it even easier: Individual Membership - $15 - https://wmsptawolves.memberhub.com/store/items/821835 Family Membership - $30 - https://wmsptawolves.memberhub.com/store/items/822179 Annual Student Activity Fee - $35 per kid - https://wmsptawolves.memberhub.com/store/items/822189 While you're already joining the PTA and online, why not help out the PTA by giving to the No Frills Fundraiser? This helps the PTA pay for the extras the PTA does. Did you know it costs to send out these emails even? (I'm not paid but we do pay for the platform.) Help us, help you by using this link to donate: No Frills Fundraiser - https://wmsptawolves.memberhub.com/store/items/62823 Stay connected via our website: wmspta.org., on Facebook: Williamsburg Middle School PTA, and on Twitter: wmspta_wolves as well.

WMS Activity Fees Did you just read above about activity fees? Well, if not, go back and reread above and come back here. Ok, so this year the T/A with the most students who have paid their activity fees by Sept 30 will win donuts! What is the acitivyt fee? The activity fee is what helps with the fall fest, courtyard chaos, 8th grade end of year celebration, and more. Also, know that the money stays with your student's grade level and rolls over each year. 6th graders are starting at zero so let the game begin! Good luck to each T/A! Here's the link one more time: Annual Student Activity Fee - $35 per kid - https://wmsptawolves.memberhub.com/store/items/822189

WMS PTA Newsletter This week's newsletter is short and sweet. I didn't want to overwhelm anyone, yet. The PALS slide show below can answer most questions too. Newsletters will typically come out on Sunday mornings to help you prepare for the week. If you would like to add anything, please get it to be by Friday morning. 6th grade families, we are getting the link set up for you to sign up. I've had issues changing the old one so I made new and it needs to be posted. You will be notified as soon as it is done but Mr. Boykin will kindly send these out until then.

WMS Yearbook Ordering is Now Open! You can already pre-order your WMS 2023-2024 yearbooks. Last year they sold out so don't wait! Just so you know, this will stop the Josten email reminders too. ;) Order here!

Find those iPads! Don't forget to find and charge iPads! Students will be using them daily. Put them in backpacks and have headphones ready too!

WMS PALS Day Slide Show The WMS PALS day slide show is like your handy, dandy notebook. Most questions can be found by searching in the powerpoint. This is a great resource for both new and returning families. To view, click here.

Link Your Harris Teeter Grocery Card and Raise Money for WMS PTA! 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

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.

Community News

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PTA Executive Board President: Heather Selig VP External: Allison Glatfelter VP Internal: Cristina Pereira VP Communications: Tonya Chiarodo VP Administration: Bryan Boykin Secretary: Rena Cutlip-Mason Treasurer: Melissa Mathews Webmaster: Liz Crescioli

Have content for a future PTA Newsletter? Send it to Tonya Chiarodo by Friday and it will appear in the following week's newsletter.

Williamsburg Middle School PTA | wmspta.org

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