Friday, April 5, 2013

DC Trip Final Updates

Hello everyone,

  Here are some final updates for our DC Trip next week.

1. Packing List and Trip Information Sheet: Please remember that if you no longer have hard copies of either of these forms they can be downloaded off of my website for viewing or printing. Please remember that the trip information sheet has hotel address and phone numbers, information on departure and arrival times on Amtrak.

2. Drop off times Monday April 8th: Please remember for Wayland Resident Students that drop off at 5:45 AM at the University Ave (Route 128) Station at Exit 13 (Westwood) off of Route 128 South. Please carpool if possible. For Boston Resident students only who are boarding at South Station drop off time is at 5:30AM in front of the Au Bon Pain in the middle of the lobby area. We are taking train #95 Northeast Regional to D.C.

3. Return/Pickup Time Thursday April 11th: We are returning on train #176. The scheduled arrival time back is 7:50PM at the University Ave/Route 128 Station and 8:00 PM at South Station. Please make sure your child is picked up on time.
4. Luggage Tags: On Friday your child will be coming home with two luggage tags with their names on them. One luggage tag is for their suitcase and the other luggage tag is for their backpack. Please ensure that your child puts both luggage tags on their two bags so that in the event they are lost they can be returned to them in a timely fashion.
5. Black clipboards and DC trip Learning Logs: Also on Friday your child will be coming home with a black school plastic clipboard. Inside the clipboard is their DC Learning Log, Poetry Notebook and a few other items. Please ensure that your child packs this clipboard in their backpack and brings it with them on the trip. They can also keep their pencils inside the clipboard as well. Each clipboard has been labeled with a sticker with their name on it. They can return these to their homeroom teacher the Friday after the trip.
6. Healthy Snacks and Food allergies: When packing snacks for your child please keep in mind that we have several children with severe food allergies. Common spaces we will be sharing include the train, bus, and also the hotel rooms. As you pack snacks for your child please avoid snacks which contain nuts in them as this is our most common food allergy. Thank you for this in advance. Also please remember students should not be packing with them energy drinks or caffeinated beverages on the trip. 
7. Labeling items: Please make sure all of your child's items are labeled. This includes electronic devices, bags, cameras, etc. In the event something is lost it is much easier to locate a missing item if their is a name on that particular item.

8. Calling your child on the trip: If you would like to call your child while they are in D.C. we ask that you please do this in the morning only and not during the daytime when we are visiting the monuments, memorials, and hearing from speakers. It can be quite distracting to your child and the rest of the group if they receive a call from home while they are working and reflecting at the sites during the day. Homeroom teachers will allow students to call home or receive calls usually at breakfast time in the morning. Our cell phone policy is that students may have their cell phones on them during the day in the event of an emergency, but should not be used for taking/making calls, texts, or any other social media on it.

9. Washington D.C. Podcasts: Podcasts are available for your child to download onto their portable mp3 personal listening devices. The podcasts were created by Ms. Valdes and volunteer students and contain information about each of the monuments/memorials/sites we will be visiting while we are in D.C. These can be downloaded at home at the following site.

  Wayland Middle School Online Site

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

DC Update:

Below are 2 important pieces of information regarding our trip.  There will be a final blog update on Thursday or Friday with last minute trip instructions.  Keep your fingers crossed for good weather!

 

DC Trip Updates - Medical Drop Off Day

Just a quick reminder that any medications which will be administered by Wayland Middle School staff to your child while on the D.C. trip must be dropped off on Friday April 5th, between 7:30 and 2:20. Your child's homeroom teacher will have coordinated with you this information but we wanted to send one more reminder about it on the cluster blog.

 Please remember that all medications should be in their original bottle, just the medication needed for the trip, your child's name on the bottle, and sealed in a ziploc bag. Your child's homeroom teacher will collect these medications at 2:20 and bring them on the DC trip.

 

Meeting with Rep. John Lewis


Dear 8th grade families,
We are excited to share with you an additional special event that will happen next week on our DC trip.

We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to meet with Rep. John Lewis.  As you may know, Rep. Lewis is a true American icon.  He was one of the key leaders of the Civil Rights Movement - a sit-in organizer, a Freedom Rider, and the leader of the Selma-to-Montgomery March in 1965.  Rep. Lewis is the sole surviving speaker from the March on Washington.  In 2011 he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Rep. Lewis has been in Congress since 1986.  He remains one of our country's most articulate proponents of nonviolence and social justice.

Our grade will have the opportunity to meet with Rep. Lewis Wednesday morning, April 10th.  It is an experience all of us (teachers, staff and students) will surely treasure for years to come.

Rep. Lewis' website is here:  http://johnlewis.house.gov/.  You can read more about his life and work here:  http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/lew0bio-1
Just this week, Rep. Lewis was in the news twice.  He was interviewed on the radio show "On Being" [http://www.onbeing.org/program/john-lewis-on-the-art-and-discipline-of-nonviolence/5126] and his forgiveness of one of a Ku Klux Klan member was profiled in a New York Times obituary. [http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/us/elwin-wilson-who-apologized-for-racist-acts-dies-at-76.html?ref=obituaries&_r=0]

Thanks for your continued support of your children, this trip, and our school.

Best wishes,
The Martin Luther King House Staff

Monday, March 25, 2013

8th grade MCAS, 9th Grade Recommendations and DC Updates...

Hello everyone,
  Just a quick reminder that 8th Grade ELA MCAS Testing will be this week on Wednesday and Thursday (3/27 and 3/28). In order to have kids ready for the test taking sessions please help assure that they get a good night's rest both nights and have a healthy breakfast before arriving at school. Homework in all subjects will be light if any at all so that kids may get a good night's sleep before the testing sessions.
   It is also important that students arrive to school on time both testing days as the MCAS test will begin promptly at 7:45 both Wednesday and Thursday. Students should arrive to their testing rooms with a drink and a snack, as well as a paper personal reading book for when they have completed their test. MCAS regulations do not allow students to use any e-readers in the testing session when there test is complete. No homework or other curriculum materials are allowed during the testing sessions.

Thanks in advance for helping prepare your child for the first round of grade 8 MCAS testing. Science and Math testing will follow in May.

DC Behavior Contract: On Monday your child received a D.C. Trip Behavior Contract from their homeroom teacher. The Behavior contract must be signed by students and parents and returned to their homeroom teacher by the end of the week. Thank you for seeing to this.

DC Medications: If your child will be taking any special medications or has any medical concerns your child's homeroom teacher will be in contact with you by Friday March 29th regarding the administration of medications while they are on the trip. Your child's homeroom teachers will be responsible for the administration of the medications or any special considerations due to food allergies or dietary concerns. Please note that we will be supplying the Tylenol and Motrin (non-chewables) and you do not have to provide this.


DC Medications Drop off day: Any medications you will be sending for your child to be administered on the trip must be dropped off to the main office on Friday April 5th by 2:20PM. All medications should be in their original container, with your child's name clearly printed on it, and sealed in a ziploc bag. Please only send the amount needed for the trip. Your child's homeroom teacher will also coordinate this with you if you are sending medications along for your child.


High School Recommendation Forms: These forms were sent home Friday afternoon 3/22. Please review them and help them sign up for electives. The back of the sheet has further information regarding the scheduling and course selection for 9th grade. The sheets should be signed and returned to your child's homeroom teacher by TUESDAY MARCH 26th.

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

SSG Matthew Pucino and the WMS 8th Grade House

Hello everyone,


We wanted to put up a post for you regarding our upcoming visit to Arlington National Cemetery and our most recent focus in TAG and house block with our homerooms:

Over the past four years the 8th grade house has become extremely close with the parents, sisters, nieces, nephews, and fellow soldiers of Staff Sergeant Matthew Pucino. Matthew was a Special Forces Green Beret soldier from Plymouth, MA who was killed in Afghanistan in November of 2009. In TAG and house block we shared with the 8th grade class the story of Matthew, as a soldier, a brother, a son, and an uncle. Matthew's two sisters, Melissa and Lisa have shared with us over the years many photos and stories of their brother which in turn we have shared with the 8th grade students leading up to the D.C. trip. The bond between Matthew's family and the school has grown over the past few years and we are honored to have this bond continue with this year's class and the Pucino Family. Through Matthew and has family we in turn try to teach the students the importance of paying respect, remembering, and honoring our nation's fallen soldiers.

Click here to watch the news clip from NECN regarding the memorial service given to Matthew in Plymouth in 2009


While at Arlington National Cemetery in D.C. we will be visiting Matthew's gravesite and giving the students an opportunity to remember one of many of our nation's fallen heroes.






This year the 8th grade class is especially honored as the entire Pucino family will be visiting the middle school in June. Students and staff will have the opportunity to meet with the Pucino's and pay their respects to Matthew's family as well. Matthew's family, in part inspired by the 8th grade house, recently created the Matthew Pucino Memorial Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to raise funds for the Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund (this fund raises money to help support the families of fallen soldiers from MA) and the Green Beret Foundation (this foundation supports Green Beret soldiers who sustained injuries in combat and their rehabilitation back home).



At D.C. Night as in the past few years it has become a tradition that the 8th grade house honor's Matthew by holding a bake sale fundraiser to make a donation on behalf of the Wayland community to Matthew's foundation. Over the past 3 years we have raised more than $3000.00 for Matthew's foundation with our D.C. night fundraiser bake sale. We also will be selling t-shirts from Matthew's foundation at D.C. Night.



Through Matthew's family's willingness to share their fallen hero's story with our students we have been able to teach them the importance of honoring and remembering the sacrifices that our men and women in uniform make as they serve our country. We have also been able to share with them the importance of paying respect to our nation's fallen soldiers as well. While in D.C. we will be honored to visit Matthew at Arlington National Cemetery along with all of our other fallen military heroes.


Sunday, March 10, 2013

Q3 Progress Reports and DC Trip Forms Reminders

Hello everyone,

Just a quick update regarding progress reports and DC forms,


3rd Quarter Progress Reports: By now, we are sure that you have received and reviewed your child's progress report which was sent home on Friday.   If not, please ask/look for them in your child's binder and review their performance so far this quarter. Students who are missing work should consult with their teacher regarding missing work and come up with a plan for making up any work that can be completed. Please sign the front sheet stating you have seen the progress report and send it through your child to their homeroom teacher on Monday.

DC Forms: A reminder that DC forms should be returned to your child's homeroom teacher as soon as possible. Medical Consent forms for those students who have inhalers, epipens, or take prescription medication should be returned by Wednesday March 13th. Please read our previous, more detailed post regarding DC forms if you have any questions.

Thanks

Thursday, February 28, 2013

DC Trip Forms Coming Home Friday March 1st

Hello everyone,

  Please read the following important update regarding the DC trip forms for your child. The trip is fast approaching and more news will be following in the coming weeks!


DC TRIP FORMS: The DC trip packet will be coming home with your child on Friday March 1st. Please look/ask for it when your child comes home Friday and begin reviewing and filling out the information required for your child to attend the trip as soon as possible.


DUE DATES (also on the cover letter)

FRIDAY MARCH 8th: Legal Form, Emergency Contact Info, and Medical Form due back to your child's homeroom teacher

WEDNESDAY MARCH 13th: Medical Consent Form due back if applicable to your child


Cover Letter: The cover letter can be removed from the packet and kept for you to refer back to. It includes all of the different dates forms are due back to your child's homeroom teacher. It also includes dates for drop offs of any medications that will need to be administered to your child while they are on the trip.

Legal Form: This form is required by Wayland Public Schools for your child to attend the trip. Please read and sign the form.

Emergency Contact Information: Please fill this form out completely. In the event of an emergency staff members may need to contact you regarding your child and will refer to this form. Please note at the bottom you should also include your child's health insurance information (or include a copy of their health insurance card stapled to this form)

Medical Information form (2-sided): Please fill out this form completely so we have the most up to date medical information and health status of your child. Please note that if you answered "Yes" to either #'s 1, 2, or 3 on this form then the Medical Consent Form must also be filled out by your child's pediatrician and sent back to the school (unless there is an up to date medical consent form on file with the school nurse). Staff will not administer any prescription medication, epipen, or inhaler unless the medical consent form has been filled out. If your child will be taking an allergy medication while in D.C. please make sure to indicate the type of medication and amount to be administered at the bottom of the 2nd side of this form. Your child's homeroom teacher may contact you regarding any information on this form/questions they may have during the weeks leading up to the trip.

Medical Consent Form (2-sided): This form must be filled out by your child's pediatrician if they will be taking any prescription medication, have and carry an epipen, or inhaler while on the D.C. Trip. Please remember that staff members cannot administer epipens, inhalers, or prescription medication unless given consent by having this form filled out and returned. If you already have an up to date form filled out with the school nurse then you do not need to have this form filled out.

Packing List and Trip Information Sheet: Please REMOVE THIS SHEET from the packet and keep at home. This sheet has what needs to be packed for your child and also all the important information regarding the trip.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out all of these forms and return them back to your child's homeroom teacher so promptly. The safety of the kids is the top priority while on the trip and we want to ensure that staff are prepared to keep all the kids safe and healthy while in D.C.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Final DC Payment Due Monday 2/11

Hi all,

  Just a quick note about the DC Trip and payments to Worldstrides:

1. Final Payment for trip: The final payment due date for the trip is Monday February 11. If you have been paying in installments the final amount comes to $266.00. Please remember that the balance for your child must be paid in full in order for them to participate in the trip (coverage for hotel room, travel, food, etc.).

2. Making Payments and checking balances: You can check the balance of your trip online by logging in to the Worldstrides website to view your account. You can also make the final payment and your remaining balance online by credit or directly through your bank account through the website.

WORLDSTRIDES LINK (Click "Log in to My trip" in the top right corner to access your account)
 
If you have any questions, please let us know.  Enjoy the snow!

Rob Reddington and Kevin Farley