Weekly Update 12/9/23
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WRMS Staff
Hello West Rocks! It was a jam-packed week with concerts, the book fair, family STEM night, PAWS cards earned extra recess, and Norwalk High School visiting our grade 8 students! Huge shout out to Dr. Maria Fox for facilitating our first ever Family STEM Night in the Verizon Lab. Students and families worked on projects, used virtual reality, the 3D printers, tried coding…and more! Also, a special holiday shout out to Ms. Jean and the grade 7-8 bands. Ms. Jean passes along her thanks to the families that contributed snacks and other support to the events this week. They were amazing at their SONO Collection performance! Check out the YouTube video: https://youtu.be/6JIv9WL35hw?si=lK1G-80RGkIPQrao Don’t worry…next week is just as busy as we approach winter break! Continue to reference our school calendar that is being updated on our school website. In ELA classes, students are reading texts in and outside of school. Please support by holding your student accountable for reading at home. Teachers are building lessons counting on students coming to class prepared with the reading complete. In math classes, students are being assigned practice problems on paper as well as online using IXL. Please ask your student which nights they have homework and whether they have completed it. We are not asking you to teach, just reinforce practicing! We need your support to help our students improve their math skills. 10 more school days before holiday break! Please remember Friday, December 22 is a full day of school. Adam Reynolds Principal, West Rocks Middle School
EVENTS AND GROUPS
Chorus Concert
Students from all grade levels have been working hard with chorus director Ms. Golding to prepare for their performances! We are looking forward to the Chorus Holiday Concert this Wednesday, Dec. 13th at 7:00pm. A reminder that students must arrive at 6:30 PM. Please refer to Ms. Golding's ParentSquare announcement for details about concert dress expectations. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns. Also, our PTA will have an in-person meeting on this night (Wednesday, 12/13) at 6:00 pm in the West Rocks Library Learning Commons. Come out to the meeting before going to the concert!
Intramural, Try-outs, and Schedule Tryouts for the West Rocks Travel Girls and Boys Basketball teams will begin next week. Tryouts for the boys' team will be on Tuesday and Thursday from 3-4pm. Tryouts for the girls team will be on Wednesday from 3-4pm. Any students interested in trying out must submit a permission slip before the first day of tryouts. Please see Ms. Cammarota or Mr. Voytek for a slip or if you have any questions. Can the boys team defend their championship?! In an effort to improve communication around our after-school programming, there is a link on our website under “Activities” that lists the after-school sports and activities throughout the year. We are updating as we add/remove activities, but this will help provide information to families. Our athletic director Ms. Holly Cammarota is the contact person for all information (cammarotah@norwalkps.org).
Please note: Ski & Snowboard information will be out this week. There is a new registration process at Mt. Southington due to the electronic lift tickets (rechargeable cards) that families will need to sign up on their website. The process was just recently communicated. Sorry about the delay. There will be 3 Fridays in January to Mt. Southington and Saturday, February 3 to Mohawk Mountain in Cornwall, CT.
Holiday Movie Night (Friday, Dec 15) The Class of 2024 is sponsoring a movie night on Friday, Dec. 15th. All Grade 6, 7, and 8 students are welcome to attend with a signed permission slip. Permission slips and tickets will be available at lunch beginning on Monday. Tickets are $10. All proceeds benefit the end of year activities. We need donations for concessions from the 8th Grade families. Please sign-up here.
ACADEMICS, PROGRAMS, AND CAMPAIGNS
School Bus Ride Along Initiative Our dean of students, Mr. Rodgers has worked with the transportation department and our staff to begin the WRMS Ride Along Initiative, which has our staff members riding school buses in the afternoon on a rotating bases throughout the week. There is a rotation of buses and staff that will ride in the afternoon to provide additional supervision and an opportunity for staff to build relationships with students. This started on Tuesday, December 5 and so far, we are receiving positive feedback!
Cranbury Market Fundraiser The Class of 2024 is hosting a fundraiser at Cranbury Market on Saturday, Dec. 16th. We need 8th Graders to volunteer to solicit donations from shoppers. Students can earn service hours. To sign up, please use this link.
PTA UPDATES AND UPCOMING EVENTS
- See you at the in-person PTA meeting on Wednesday, December 13 at 6:00 pm in the WRMS Library Learning Commons. Come for the meeting, stay for the Chorus Concert!
- West Rocks at the Bridgeport Islanders on Jan. 27th. Each ticket purchased by Jan. 10th gets you entered into a raffle to win a gift card to Don Carmello's or The Adventure Park!
- Order your West Rocks Spirit Wear!
Important Upcoming Dates December 12 Magnet Schools (including CGS) visits grade 8 students December 13 PTA in-person meeting 6:00 pm; Chorus concert @ 7pm, Advisory lesson in extended homeroom December 14 Locker clean-out December 15 Pizza Parties at Lunch for Sport-a-Thon and Food Drive Winners; Holiday movie night @ 6:30pm December 18-22 Door Decorating Contest! December 18 Grade 8 Students in Music Department to NHS for Candlelight December 19 Awards Assembly (parents invited) for Grade 7 @ 8:30am December 20 Awards Assembly (parents invited) for Grade 6 @ 8:30am December 21 Awards Assembly (parents invited) for Grade 8 @ 8:30am December 22 Full day of school for students (2:50 pm dismissal)