Williamsburg Middle School PTA Newsletter

January 27, 2025

IN THIS ISSUE

- Upcoming events

- PTA Message

- Support the PTA

- PTA announcements

- WMS Announcements

- Social Networking Opportunities

- APS & Community Announcements and Events

UPCOMING EVENTS

Jan. 28: PTA General Meeting, 7-8:30 p.m. (virtual)

Jan. 30: APS Teen Health Fair - Click to Register

Jan. 30-31: No School

Feb. 3-7: 7th & 8th Grade Sneaker Ball Spirit Week

Feb. 5: Early Release

Feb. 7: 7th & 8th Grade Sneaker Ball - Click to Volunteer

Feb. 15: Middle School Robotics Workshop

Feb. 17: President's Day - No School

Find the APS school calendar here!

From the Williamsburg Middle School PTA


Greetings Williamsburg Families,


Tomorrow, the PTA will host the January general meeting via Zoom at 7 p.m. We will send out the meeting link and agenda tomorrow.



As always, please feel free to contact me at president@wmspta.org.


Jill Gaspar



 

Support the Williamsburg Middle School PTA


  • Join the PTA:
  1. Individual Membership, $15
  2. Dual/Family Membership, $30


  • Class Activity Fund, beginning at $40 per student. Pay this annually and the funds will remain with your student's Class year.




Did you know the WMS PTA is a 501(c)3 organization and your donations are tax-deductible?

Visit our Givebacks Store
 

PTA Announcements

WMS PTA Volunteer Open Positions


  • Teacher Appreciation Week Co-Chair(s)
  • Nomination Committee Volunteers to seek/nominate PTA Board



If you would like to volunteer please email president@wmspta.org.

Next Week is Sneaker Ball Spirit Week


Monday, Feb. 3rd: PJ Day


Tuesday, Feb. 4th: Tie Day

 

Wednesday, Feb. 5th: Favorite Celebrity (attire must be school appropriate)


Thursday, Feb. 6th: Class Colors (6th - Blue, 7th -White, & 8th - Black)


Friday, Feb. 7th: Flashy Friday (wear your Hollywood bling)


*EVERYDAY IS A SNEAKER DAY…WEAR SNEAKERS ALL WEEK!


A Message for 8th Grade Families


Hello 8th Grade Parents!


 This year is flying by and our kids will be moving onto high school before we know it!  

 Please SAVE-THE-DATES on your calendars for the following 8th Grade events:


  • Boardwalk Beach Carnival at WMS - Friday, June 6, 2025, from 6 pm – 8 pm, parents to drop off/pick up at the school, children to dress in boardwalk/beach attire (no swimsuits);
  • Kings Dominion Day Trip - Thursday, June 12, 2025, from 8 am - 6 pm, buses transport children to/from school;
  • Graduation/Promotion Rehearsal at WMS - Monday, June 16, 2025 at 7:50 am, parents to drop off at school; and,
  • Graduation/Promotion Ceremony at WMS - Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 8:15 am, parents to attend. Families receive 2 tickets only!


For our Boardwalk Beach Carnival, we will reach out closer to the event with a Sign Up to recruit 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


8th Grade Activity Coordinators,

Kelly Jones, Leigh Taylor, Courtney Holmes, Melanie Mickelson

 


Order Valentine's Day Cards and Support WMS


Enjoy 20% off all Valentine's Day orders on Minted.com plus FREE shipping with the code FUNDRAISEWMSPTA.


15% of each sale goes directly back to you! So far we've raised $748.16 from holiday card sales!



Visit Minted.com

Middle School Robotics Workshop - Feb. 15


The Virginia Robotics Education Foundation is hosting a free robotics workshop for 7th and 8th graders.


Saturday, Feb. 15

8:30-12:30

Langley High School in McLean


Youth Ultimate League of Arlington (YULA) - Middle School League - Spring


This program is open to Arlington middle schoolers of all ability levels. Spring league will aim to teach Ultimate to new players and enhance the skills of returning players.


  • Play on a team of 12-14 players


  • Teams formed based on the middle school you attend


  • Open to middle schoolers of all ability levels


  • Games on Sundays: March 16 to June 15


  • Practices on weekday evenings




A message from the Arlington Outdoor Lab


Have your students recently participated in an Outdoor Lab field trip and returned raving about their adventures? Or maybe they’re already looking forward to their spring overnight trip.


Did you know that the Outdoor Lab is supported by a non-profit, the Arlington Outdoor Education Association (AOEA)? The AOEA owns and stewards the 226 acres of land students visit during 3rd, 5th, and 7th grades. We also build and maintain the buildings – including the Animal Lab. We are thrilled that generations of Arlington students have benefitted from this strong partnership. 


At the Outdoor Lab, students engage in hands-on STEM applications by applying what they learn in the traditional classroom to real life situations. The Outdoor Lab welcomes all APS families to visit and experience the Lab at our twice-yearly Open Houses. 


To find out about our Spring 2025 Open House, and stay informed on other happenings and ways to support the Lab, please join our Lab Notes email list or visit www.OutdoorLab.org. See our calendar here: Calendar - Arlington Outdoor Lab.


You can also find us on Facebook (Outdoor.Lab) and Instagram (@arlingtonoutdoorlab).

Williamsburg MS - Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) Food Bus Program - UPDATE


The WMS community has been incredibly generous with their time supporting the Food Bus to transport donated, unopened food every week to AFAC.
There are a few remaining openings to help deliver food to AFAC at the end of the week in January and in the Spring. Parent volunteers can sign up here!
This partnership provides for our community's food insecure, diverts food waste, and promotes a culture of giving among the entire student body. Last school year, we donated more than 1,500 lbs of food to AFAC that would have otherwise been thrown away! It is SUPER easy, a great lesson for our children, and it feels good to help our community! 
AFAC is located at 2708 S Nelson St, Arlington, VA 22206.

WMS Announcements

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/edtech/staff-tech-help/


ParentVue Access

https://va-arl-psv.edupoint.com/PXP2_Login.aspx


Morning Announcements Blog

here

WMS Year Books on Sale Now!


Start the school year off right by ordering the 2024-2025 Williamsburg Middle School yearbook. Click here to buy

Sixth Grade Families


Sixth grade parents have been coordinating get togethers for the sixth graders and their parents and would love to connect with any additional parents of sixth graders. If you have a sixth grader but are not currently on the google spreadsheet directory, please reach out to Liz Milans at pehickam@yahoo.com to be added. The spreadsheet is used to send the communications about upcoming gatherings.


So far the group has enjoyed a meet up at Ocean Dunes, moms lunch at Lebanese Taverna, ice skating, a mother/daughter dinner and a movie at Arlington Drafthouse, and a girls snow tubing trip (picture above)! We look forward to the next activity! Thanks!  

APS & Community Announcements and Events

A reminder that APS Community Engagement Opportunities are available online with automatic translation into: Español  Монгол   አማርኛ   العربية  (Other languages)

Events are updated online throughout the month so check our website for the most updated information.


Upcoming APS Community Engagement Opportunities:


Thu. Jan 30 APS Teen Health Fair. Wakefield High School, 1325 S. Dinwiddie Street, Arlington, VA 22206. The health fair will offer: Free Health Exams Teen Immunizations Resource Fair for Teens and their Families Register online or contact your school nurse.


Arlington Parks & Rec Announces 2025 Summer Camp Registration Dates


Arlington Parks & Rec is excited to announce the registration dates for 2025 Summer Camps in Arlington County!


 • Feb. 3—Early registration for those who are enrolled in DPR’s fee reduction program

• Feb. 12—Registration for camps led by our partners

 • Feb. 19—Registration for Parks & Rec Camps


Registration starts at noon each day.


Visit our summer camps webpage to sign up for our Camps Updates newsletter to get notified when the catalog is ready and stay informed on other important announcements!

PTA Executive Board

Principal: Bryan Boykin

President: Jill Gaspar

Vice President: Michael O'Leary

VP Communications: Cristina Marcus

Secretary: Rena Cutlip-Mason

Treasurer: Teresa Jones

Website Administrator: VACANT

Have content for a future PTA Newsletter? Send it to our Communications VP by Thursday and it will appear in the following week's newsletter.