October Message

TOMORROW is picture retake day! If you missed picture day back in September or if you were unhappy with your first photo shoot, our photographer will be back in the building tomorrow Wednesday, October 25th. Please bring your old photos to exchange at the retake session. 

Our Halloween Dance and Open Gym will be this Friday, October 27th, from 6:00-8:00 PM. Tickets are $5 at the door and all proceeds benefit our PTO. Students may wear a costume (school appropriate) if they choose. Come celebrate the holiday with your favorite friends and ghouls!!

The ordering link for our yearbook is currently open. Online ordering is preferred. If you need to pay by check please make it out to WGSCDSAF in the amount of $30. The deadline for ordering is February 1, 2018. Please contact Mr. Keida at dkeida@westgenesee.org or Mrs. Clift at kclift@westgenesee.org if you have any questions.

Our next PTO Meeting will be on Wednesday, November 1st at 6:00 pm in the CMS Library. Our

guest speaker will be School Resource Officer Anthony Gucciardi from the Camillus Police Department. He will be sharing resources and tips for parents on how to monitor and support our students as they interact with others on social media. You won’t want to miss his very informative presentation.

Our school musical this year is a special one…Damn Yankees. Come hear everyone’s favorite number, Heart, and cheer on the Senators during our two performances, November 3rd at 7:00 pm and November 4th matinee at 2:00 pm. Tickets are available at the door for $8.00.

Principal’s Message

In all my years here at CMS, I don’t think I have seen such a sustained streak of outside recess as we have had this year. Our students are enjoying their time outside the school building as much as inside!

Speaking of inside the building, you might remember hearing from our ELA teachers on Curriculum Night that we have adopted the use of what is known as the Modules as our core curricula to support the Next Generation ELA Standards. This is a pivotal and critical change for us at West Genesee because the new Standards are a clear call for us to prepare students with advanced mastery of reading, writing, speaking, listening and presenting skills. After a careful analysis of the Standards, we came to the conclusion that the Modules provided the rigor, relevance and breadth necessary to provide students with lifelong literacy habits. You can read more about the Next Generation Standards here.

One of the practices highlighted in the reading standards is the ability for students to read often and widely from a range of global and diverse text. One of the shifts you will notice at home is the amount of independent reading students will have to complete at home to be prepared for each day’s lesson. You can help us by monitoring nightly the completion of assigned reading from the class novels and supporting activities. Please reach out to your child’s ELA teacher if you ever have any questions.

I hope to see you at the PTO Meeting on November 1st.
We Celebrate Learning!

Beth
Follow us on Twitter @camillusmiddle

November 1st – PTO Meeting in Library at 6:00 PM
November 3rd - Wildcat Friday
November 3rd – Damn Yankees – 7:00 PM
November 4th – Damn Yankees – 2:00 PM
November 7th – Early Dismissal (10:10 AM)

Thought Exchange

October 3, 2017

Dear CMS Community,

Every year, the West Genesee Strategic Planning Team asks all stakeholders (students, staff, parents, and the community at-large) to provide feedback on areas of strength and areas for potential growth.  This year, Dr. Brown has partnered with Thought Exchange - a web-based organization that will help us reach more of the community to maximize your direct input.

Using the email you have shared with us already for SchoolTool, you will be given a link to take part in the first stage of this survey, the Share Stage. You can tell us what we are doing well and what can we improve. This step will take approximately 5 - 10 minutes. A few weeks after that, you will be asked to take part in the Star phase where you will see others’ responses.  You have the opportunity to “rate” the comments that resonate with you. The final stage, Discover, is where you will have a chance to see what concepts are most important to all participants.

Please know that your submissions are confidential, but not anonymous to Thought Exchange. Thought Exchange will not share the authors of comments with the District. Your name will not appear on your submissions. This allows you to answer fairly and honestly. However, responses that are demeaning to any individuals will be removed by Thought Exchange.  

The members of the Strategic Planning Team will use this information in evaluating our successes as well as our areas in need of improvement when we begin planning for 2018 - 2019 school year.

Please take the time to complete the survey when it is sent to you. Although the link can not be forwarded, there are directions on how to get other community members on the list if they don’t receive an invitation. We truly want to hear from as many people connected to West Genesee as possible.

Sincerely,

Beth Lozier

Building Principal