A Message from the WMS Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee |
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is dedicated to encouraging and empowering us to participate in community service. In past years, we have had opportunities for families to donate items or participate in service on this day.
This year, despite not being able to gather as we’d like, we encourage families to visit the Doing Good Together website. Once there, if you look under “Good Stuff,” there is a link for “Kindness from a Distance,” which offers some thoughts and projects that will allow your family to be of service to others in your community while staying safe during the pandemic.
As Dr. King said, “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve.”
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Thank you for helping us prevent in-school spread of COVID-19! |
Thank you, from all of us at WMS, for your support as we navigate the current surge in COVID-19 cases.
Because of your efforts - keeping your children home when they are sick, participating in weekly COVID-19 testing, adjusting drop-off/pick-up procedures, supplying well-fitting masks for your children and so much more - we are able to say that while we have had positive COVID cases in our school, they have all originated outside of our building and we have had no in-school spread since returning to campus in June 2020!
Our mitigation efforts are working - weekly testing has identified cases that we would not have been aware of, perhaps for several days, until symptoms appeared. This allows us to remove these positive cases from the classroom more quickly in order to prevent the spread of illness. By notifying families in the classroom and school-wide, we hope that families will continue to monitor their children in case of mild symptoms.
Again, we couldn't be more grateful for your support - we couldn't do this without you!
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COVID-19 Testing Update: Next Results Due Tuesday, January 18
On-Site Testing with Quidel
If you haven't already registered your child for on-site testing, we highly recommend that you do so! It is currently extremely difficult to schedule off-site testing due to test shortages! Sign up here
Next Testing Deadline - Tuesday, January 18 - Please read the information below carefully:
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On-site: Quidel will be on-site for testing on January 18. All registered students will be tested on that day. Results will be sent to parents that afternoon and must be forwarded to covidresults@wmsde.org. WMS does not automatically receive copies of each child's results on the day of testing. These results must be forwarded by 4:30 p.m. in order for your child to attend school on Wednesday, January 19.
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Families that choose NOT to participate in Quidel testing must test off-site each week and submit results to covidresults@wmsde.org by NOON each Tuesday. If you are submitting a screenshot, please include the date tested.
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If your child misses testing due to an absence or lateness to school, your child must get tested off-site to attend school on Wednesday. Solv Health offers a directory of locations that provide rapid and PCR tests daily. Please plan to arrive on time on testing days - testing begins immediately after drop-off.
- Please Note: If your child will not allow Quidel staff to conduct the test on a particular week, you will be called and asked to pick up your child to be tested elsewhere in order to adhere to our testing deadline.
Off-site testing options:
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CLASSROOM NEWS - As Seen on Bloomz |
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Transferring Objects Across the Midline
Alyssa Ross, Lead Toddler Teacher (Room 4)
In December, we incorporated some pouring and transferring work into our classroom. This Practical Life work encourages our toddlers to move their arms across their midline. Crossing the midline happens when your child moves their hand or foot across the center of their body to work on the opposite side, requiring use of both sides of the brain to control the movement. These activities also encourage concentration and strengthening of fine motor skills, as well as hand/eye coordination.
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What's the News?
Sarah Williams, Assistant Head of School
At Morning Meeting on Mondays, the students in Room 18 share with one another the things they did over the weekend. This sets the stage for journal-writing, which takes place directly after the meeting. We have heard about family celebrations, grandparents being in town, swimming pools at new houses and more.
Writing at this level includes illustrations and drawings in addition to letters and words. Scribbling matters, too, as it is the first step a young writer takes in recognizing they have the ability to make intentional marks on paper.
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Lower Elementary (6-9) Program |
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Heifer International's Read to Feed Program
Both 6-9 classrooms are participating in Heifer International's Read to Feed Program, which invites students to ask family members and friends to make fundraising pledges based on the number of books the student reads or amount of time spent reading. Students completed their reading and collected pledges during winter break.
Update from Melissa Connelly, Room 22 Lead Teacher:
This week, we are beginning to research and practice some note-taking skills as we learn about some of the animals we could donate to families in need around the world using the Read to Feed donations that we will pool together at the end of the month.
What makes a cow, chicken, alpaca, water buffalo or hive of bees valuable? Do they produce something that is healthy for a family? Could the family create a business by selling some of these products or offspring? Are animals able to do work that would be challenging for a person, such as pulling a plow? Are there other assets we normally wouldn’t think of, such as using manure as a fertilizer, fuel source or part of a building material? On the other hand, what are the challenges and costs associated with receiving a cow or alpaca as a gift? What would be needed to care for that animal and allow it to thrive, produce, and stay healthy and protected? Does it cost a lot to feed the animal? Provide shelter? Medical care? Does geographical location matter? And how could a community work together to share any gifts and challenges around farm animal ownership in a mutually helpful way?
Conversations around animals make sense to children. It is a lot of fun helping the children think critically about these topics that are important to them.
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Writer's Workshop Update
Allie Colflesh, 9-12 Lead Teacher
We are starting our argumentative essay unit in writer's workshop. We are working through the different parts of the essay by coloring coding each part, including hooks, the thesis statement, and topic and supporting sentences. The counterclaim, which serves as a rebuttal of the thesis statement, is what makes these essays argumentative. We look forward to sharing the completed essays!
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Middle School (7th & 8th Grades) |
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A Busy December in the Middle School Program
The Middle School class had a busy December! They continued their preparations for the Montessori Model UN conference (coming up next month), led the school in a successful coat drive, opened a holiday shop where they fulfilled numerous orders for items created in the Maker Studio, designed and built a gingerbread house as a team, and more - all while continuing their flipped math lessons, book club discussions and other academic work.
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The Wednesday Weekly shares WMS news and events that are relevant to the families in our community.
Please send submissions to wednesday-weekly@wmsde.org by 4:30 p.m. on the Friday prior to the issue in which you wish to include your information. Content may be edited for length and style and may be held for a future issue due to space constraints.
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WILMINGTON MONTESSORI SCHOOL
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