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Williamsburg Middle School PTA Newsletter
August 13, 2024
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From the Williamsburg Middle School PTA
Greetings Williamsburg Families!
We are less than two weeks from the first day of school, and the PTA has already begun planning events to welcome our teachers, staff, and families back to school. We still need volunteers to help with our PTA-sponsored Teacher Luncheon on 8/21, and we would love your help. Please take a look at our sign up and volunteer by clicking here.
We look forward to welcoming those of you who are new to APS at the New Family Orientation on 8/14, and welcoming 6th grade families at PALS Day on 8/22.
In the event you are unable to attend, please know that our PTA is committed to providing a safe, enriching educational environment for our students by supporting WMS families, teachers, and staff.
There are several ways you can support the PTA:
1. Join the PTA; membership dues begin at $15 and are optional.
2. Student Activity Fees are optional, and begin at $40 per student. These fees help fund grade-level activities like Fall Fest, Courtyard Chaos for the 6th and 7th graders, school dances, and end-of-year activities for the 8th graders.
3. Donations to No Frills is also optional and is used to help fund PTA-sponsored programs like teacher classroom grants, which enhance the classroom learning experience. This fund also supports the beloved Wolf Paw Program.
4. We will regularly post volunteer opportunities with WMS PTA in this weekly newsletter, as well as on the Williamsburg Middle School PTA page on Facebook and the Williamsburg MS Parents page on Facebook. We always need volunteers who can donate their time to plan and support PTA events like our Book Fair, School Picture Day, Wolfchella, and Teacher Appreciation Week.
All WMS PTA supported activities are open to EVERY student, regardless of a family’s ability to pay dues, pay activity fees, or donate, and since the PTA is a non-profit, your donations are tax deductible.
Please consider joining the PTA today. PTA meetings are open to all families, even if you are not a current PTA member. Attending meetings is a great way to stay informed on the ongoing and planned events at WMS and APS. This year we will be hosting quarterly PTA meetings and will announce those dates in upcoming newsletters.
Note that membership is required for our volunteer coordinators.
I also invite you to connect with the PTA through our website and Facebook.
Please feel free to contact me at any time at president@wmspta.org.
Jill Gaspar
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6th and 7th Grade Parents!
Hello Parents!
We have yet to start school, but we are seeking 6th and 7th grade parent volunteers for our Graduation Hospitality Committee.
This is a one-time volunteer event and can be shared with other parent volunteers. The 2-3 person committee will organize and manage a sign up to arrange for food donations, and volunteers to provide light refreshments outside the main entrance following the 8th grade promotion ceremony.
-8th Grade Activity Committee, Kelly, Leigh, Melanie and Courtney
If interested, please email 8thactivities@wmspta.org.
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Volunteers needed for PTA Back to School sponsored events
Please click on the event links below to view the sign up lists to donate food and other needed items.
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WMS PTA Volunteer Open Positions
- 6th Grade Parent Activity Coordinator(s)
- Fundraising Coordinator(s)
- CCPTA Liaison
- Teacher Appreciation Week Co-Chair(s)
- Back to School Night Teacher Dinner Coordinator(s)
- Book Fair Coordinator
- Science Fair Coordinator
- Website Administrator
- Volunteer Coordinator
If you would like to volunteer please email president@wmspta.org.
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National PTA's Reflections
Start creating your Reflections entry in response to the 2024-2025 program theme, Accepting Imperfection! Think about what the theme means to you and respond - Draw or paint a picture, take a photo, make music, make a movie, create a dance, write a story or poem – the choice is yours! Visit https://wmspta.org/national-pta-reflections-program/ (link coming soon) get started today!
Students of all grades and abilities are encouraged to participate and submit entries and student entry forms online by Friday, November 22, 2024.
Quick Links
Questions? Please contact Amy Weinberg, WMS Reflections Chairs, at ReflectionsWMSPTA@gmail.com or 443-927-6638.
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APS & Community Announcements and Events | |
Arlington County Council of PTAs On Friday, August 2, 2024, the CCPTA sent the following" Advocacy Brief - Student Cell Phone is Changing to members of the Arlington PTA".
- Expect changes to student cell phone and smartwatch restrictions for next school year
- You have two weeks to provide input before initial changes are implemented by APS
- Parents have contrasting views on defining the problem and the appropriate solutions
- The status quo isn't working well for many teachers and families
Hope you are having a nice summer break! You are receiving this email as a member of an Arlington school PTA. The Arlington County Council of PTAs (CCPTA) is an official part of the PTA structure, supported by a portion of your member dues, and works with all 35 local school PTAs in Arlington on issues that impact our student community.
This Advocacy Brief is designed to provide information on a particular issue and provide engagement opportunities for you to share your feedback.
In this edition we are calling attention to the imminent adoption by APS of changes to school practices regarding student use of personal devices, which is to be followed by the School Board's adoption of their policies by the end of the year.
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BACKGROUND
By August 15th, Superintendent Durán is expected to approve a Policy Implementation Procedure (PIP) on Student Use of Personal Electronic Devices. We were able to obtain a draft of this PIP document (which is likely to change). APS plans to implement this staff-level document prior to the start of the school year, before it has had the chance to engage the public and receive feedback on it. Instead, public engagement will only occur under a new Policy J-30 this fall (after the PIP that implements changes is already operational). There is a current draft Policy J-30 available.
Despite APS’s decision to skip over public engagement, the CCPTA is encouraging you to speak up at this time anyway by sharing your views (both what you support and what is concerning to you) with the School Board and the Superintendent on student use of personal devices.
Nationwide, communities are wrestling with the fact that students widely own and bring to school personal devices, and at increasingly younger ages. Phones, tablets and smartwatches enable easy communication between parent and child when they’re separated, help students manage their medical conditions and support learning accommodations, and connect students with outside resources. Like all technology, there are tradeoffs. Students who inappropriately use personal cellular devices during instructional time can undermine classroom engagement and marginalize teacher effectiveness. The reality of frequent device notifications and near-infinite options for a student’s attention increases the potential for distractions. School administrators, teachers, and support personnel have expressed the need for a policy to help communicate clear personal device management expectations and enforce consistent consequences prior to the start of the 2024-2025 school year. Also, on July 9, 2024, Governor Youngkin released an Executive Order establishing a process calling for local school districts to have in place, by January 1, 2025, policies and procedures that govern student use of personal cellular devices.
NEXT STEPS: SHARE YOUR FEEDBACK
Student cell phone use is a topic on which many parents, teachers, and students hold strong (and contrasting) views. For example, some students and families cite safety concerns in support of restricting student access to cell phones (because of cyberbullying), while others likewise cite safety concerns in opposition to restrictions (because cell phones can be used to document evidence of physical bullying). Both groups have valid concerns that should be addressed early in the process. Although the School Board states that they intend to follow a normal engagement process in the fall, we know from experience that once a course of action is chosen on August 15, it will be much harder to reverse or change later.
Many parents already have heard of phrases such as, “Away for the Day” or “Off and Away” regarding student cell phone use restrictions. These catch-phrases don’t convey all the detailed decisions that a school district needs to make regarding the merits and costs of managing student personal device use – and that’s where community engagement can help inform them.
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National PTA recognizes that parenting in the digital age is complex, and has provided resources for families and PTA communities to discuss best practices under their PTA Connected program.
You may want to consider some of the following issues in providing feedback:
- How should inappropriate vs. appropriate personal device usage be defined?
- Do cell phones have a legitimate utility function during the school day, and if so, what qualifies as a functional use, and who qualifies for such use?
- Why do some students and families want students to have access to their cell phones during the day? If there is a safety concern, how will APS address that concern? If there is a need for brief (silent) communication during the day, how can that be addressed?
- Should students at different developmental stages be restricted differently? How are student-assisted personal devices included in these definitions, particularly for students with special needs?
- What are incentives for student compliance? What are the consequences?
2.How are behavioral management interventions regarding personal cellular devices tracked, monitored, and resolved?
- Which schools, grades, and classes have the most incidents and why?
- How many school resources (class time / staff and administrator time / investments in new storage) should be devoted towards restricting student access to cell phones?
- How damaging is it to a student to have access to a cell phone during the school day?
- How disruptive is it for a student to be exposed to other students’ cell phone use during the school day?
3.How is each school teaching Digital Literacy Integration (which is a required component of Virginia’s Standards of Learning (SOL)), especially at the secondary level, and what feedback are school administrators receiving from teachers regarding the efficacy of current instructional delivery methods and content? Could DLI instruction help mitigate against students’ inappropriate use of personal devices by supporting skill development?
4.How can we engage families and communities at each school to ensure that local constituents and stakeholders have a clear voice in the solution?
- What is the role of parents in determining the level of restrictions that are appropriate for each student?
- How much can a student exercise self-control to regulate their own use, versus needing external constraints (such as physical obstacles to access, penalties for unauthorized use, longer times between permitted use, etc.)?
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No Public Engagement? Not Okay, APS
Normally, policies are made at the School Board level, after public notice and comment, and the Superintendent adopts a PIP that implements the goals of the policy. However, the School Board is using a loophole under their Policy B-6 to get around these requirements, so that this process can be rushed through sooner -- without advance public engagement. Instead, they will solicit public opinion later this fall on a new Board Policy J-30, but after the staff-directed changes have already been implemented.
The executive board of the CCPTA thinks this approach sets a terrible precedent – one that is contrary to the spirit of their slogan, “Your Voice Matters.” Please also tell the School Board to close the loophole and don't bypass prior public engagement on important topics.
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Have content for a future PTA Newsletter? Send it to President by Thursday and it will appear in the following week's newsletter. | | | | |
