Courtney Rowley, Interim Principal
Rachel Scott, Interim Assistant Principal
Rebecca Speicher, Assistant Principal of Student Services
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“Everyone has genius…people are naturally genius and naturally joyful. We just need to create the space for it to exist. what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” — Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad
This week, we had the wonderful privilege of welcoming our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders back to school and laying out our shared vision for the year ahead. Our central priority this year is unearthing joy and celebrating humanity alongside rigorous academics. We re-grounded our middle schoolers in our core values of BERT—Belonging, Empathy, Respect, and Trust—while challenging our 8th graders to step up as the cultural leaders of our building. Across all grade levels, we empowered students to practice everyday kindness, care for one another, and set ambitious personal and academic goals. Most importantly, we emphasized to every student that their voice matters, their unique genius is valued, and our entire staff is dedicated to supporting them every step of the way. We look forward to partnering with you to make this a school year full of deep growth, discovery, and joy for your children.
In partnership,
Courtney Rowley
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Our community extends our deepest appreciation to Kevin MacNeil and our entire custodial team for their extraordinary hard work preparing our building for the new school year. Kevin went above and beyond all summer long, leading his team with relentless dedication to ensure every classroom, hallway, and shared space was in top shape. The pride they take in their work was immediately obvious the moment staff and students walked into a school that truly sparkled. Thank you for creating such a clean, bright, and welcoming environment for our entire community as we kick off a fantastic year together. |
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Friday, September 4th: NO SCHOOL
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Monday, September 7th: NO SCHOOL
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Monday, September 21st: NO SCHOOL
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Thursday, October 1st: Back to School Night from 6:30-8:30 PM
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Wednesday, October 7th: Super Wednesday, EARLY RELEASE at 12:20 PM
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Wednesday, October 21st: Fall Caregiver Conferences - by appointment
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Wednesday, October 28th: Fall Caregiver Conferences - by appointment
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Thursday, September 24th & Friday, September 25th: 8th Grade NY Cave Trip
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Monday, October 5th & Tuesday, October 6th: 6th Grade Walden Trip
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Thursday, October 15th & Friday, October 16th: 7th Grade Sense of Wonder Days
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Click here for the school bus routes from our transportation department. Please advise your student to be at the bus stop at least 15 minutes before the scheduled pick up time. |
Arriving at school by 8:35 AM so you are on time is a priority at WMS. If you arrive late, you must check-in at the office for a late pass before proceeding to class. If you are absent or would like to send notification of an early dismissal, please email ms_attendance@waylandps.org. In lieu of an email, your caregiver may provide a signed note to give to the front office staff before school and the office will issue you a dismissal pass. The notification to the office must include the reason for the absence or early dismissal. If you are hurt or sick and it is necessary for you to go home, you must visit the nurse, who will call your caregiver and arrange for you to be picked up. |
Please sign in to the PowerSchool Parent Portal and select Returning Student Registration to complete your forms as soon as possible.
These forms are required for all students attending Wayland Public Schools. These forms provide schools with current contact, emergency, and health information for the start of the year.
Additionally, the forms confirm you have read and agreed to the terms of the Student Handbook, Technology Responsible Use Guidelines and Student Data Privacy.
New to Wayland? Families new to the district should have received an email on 8/19 with instructions for accessing their PowerSchool Parent Portal accounts.
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Hello WMS caregivers,
My name is Ryan Watts and I am the new full-time drama teacher at Wayland Middle School. Some of you may remember me as a guest director (WHS and WMS) or from my previous job as a 5th grade TA at Happy Hollow. I look forward to connecting/reconnecting with you all this fall!
I am reaching out on behalf of Wayland Middle School Extracurricular Ensemble (WMSEE), aka the after school drama club, to share some details about this year’s productions.
The fall play this year is Alice in Wonderland adapted by Jason Pizzarello, with performances November 5th and 6th. There are info sessions for students during lunch this week where audition information will be shared. If your student is interested in participating, please encourage them to attend. Those sessions are as follows:
7th grade Tuesday 9/1 11:50-12:15
8th grade Wednesday 9/2 12:30-12:50
6th grade Thursday 9/3 10:55-11:15
If your student misses it, no worries! I have linked the SLIDESHOW HERE, you can find audition information on slide 8. I will send out the audition materials for preparation on Thursday, along with the registration form. To get on that email list, please fill out the registration form linked below.
I will also post the audition documents to our NEW WEBSITE on Thursday, which is incomplete as of now. Standby!
All students who are interested in participating (performers or design/tech) must fill out this REGISTRATION FORM by Thursday (9/10) at 3:25 at the latest.
(I cannot emphasize the importance of this form enough. Please fill it out WITH your student.)
Auditions will take place on Tuesday 9/8 OR Thursday 9/10 from 3:25-5:30. Students will pick a day to attend in the REGISTRATION FORM.
If needed, there will be an invite-only callback on Friday 9/11 3:25-5:30.
In addition to the fall play, WMSEE will present a winter musical and a spring one-act. Here are all the performance details:
Fall play: Alice in Wonderland - November 5th and 6th
Winter musical: Title TBA - February 4th, 5th, and 6th
Spring one-act: Title TBA - April 29th, 30th, and May 1st
It is important to note that the fall play and spring one-act have limited spots, while the winter musical will accept everyone. It is likely that not everyone will be cast in the fall play and spring one-act. This is for two main reasons: 1) there are only so many plays that accommodate 70+ students with speaking parts and 2) there are limits to the number of students I can accommodate while still developing relationships and getting a show performance ready. That being said, inclusion is very important to me and I will do my best to make space for everyone who wants to be involved.
Thank you for reading this all the way through! Let me know if you have any questions.
Best,
Ryan
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Boys Soccer - Reed Newton - coach_reed@waylandps.org
Girls Soccer - Nora Galletta - nora_galletta@waylandps.org
Field Hockey - TBD
Cross Country - Charlene Bishop - charlene_bishop@waylandps.org;
Erin Lehmann - erin_lehmann@waylandps.org
Joining the team:
- Sign up through Arbiter. Registration will open Friday July 31st and will close Thursday September 3rd.
- Submit a current physical to the school nurse or SNAP Portal.
- Athletic fees are not due until tryouts are completed. (Cross country does not have tryouts - fees should be paid at the time of registration). Fees are $125 per student athlete and should be paid via UniPay.
Tryouts:
Tryouts for soccer and field hockey will begin on Tuesday 9/8. Students should get changed and head out to the fields. Cross Country will also begin its season on Tuesday 9/8.
If a student does not make the soccer/field hockey team at the conclusion of tryouts, they may join the cross country team. No running experience is required but it is a great opportunity to be active and part of a team.
Practice:
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday typically from 3:30-5:30pm (subject to specific sports updates to be communicated by coaches).
- Always bring water and necessary equipment (cleats, sticks, mouthguards, goggles, etc).
- Dress for variable outdoor weather (from sunscreen to gloves and hats).
- Attendance will be taken at all practices. Please communicate with the coaches if you will be unable to attend a practice or game as soon as you can.
- Repeatedly missing practices may result in being removed from the team.
- Weather cancellations will be communicated by noon and announcements will be made to ensure all athletes are notified. There are rare occasions when sudden changes in weather will require later notification but we will do our best to minimize those occurrences.
- WMS Sports do not run on non-school days including weekends, holidays and vacations.
- Students who are absent from school, go home ill or miss a class for an unexcused reason are not eligible to participate in practices or games on that day.
Game Day Expectations:
- All athletes should report to the front of the school to meet the coaches for the bus.
- The expectation is that all athletes will ride the bus to and from away contests with the team. It is understood that things come up that require athletes to leave directly from an away event.
- Given travel times and game start times, it is unlikely that teams will return to WMS in time for the late bus to Boston. As such, families should make arrangements to pick their child up at WMS after games or directly from the opponent school.
- If a parent will be taking their own child directly from an opponent school, the parents should communicate with the coaches in advance of the game (as practicable) and ensure that the student or the parent touches base with the coaches before leaving the premises.
- If a student will be leaving an opponent school with another student’s parent, an email
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Students can begin to attend AM Wellness on Tuesday, September 9th. Am Wellness is an opportunity for students to play sports with peers in the gym each morning from 8:00-8:25 before the school doors open to students at 8:25 AM. |
Artist: Lea Knourenko
Grade: 7
Medium: Polymer Clay & Acrylic
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Communication channels: Welcome back! Check out these new tools to help you stay informed throughout the year. Reach out to waylandmiddleschoolpto@gmail.com with any questions or to get involved, and stay tuned for more details about the first PTO meeting coming up in October.
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School + PTO calendar: Click here to subscribe to this new calendar so that important school and PTO dates are automatically added to your calendar, so you don’t have to manually add them!
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PTO social media: You can join the PTO Facebook Group and/or the new PTO Instagram account for reminders about upcoming school and PTO events and initiatives.
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Welcome back, WMS families! Gift Your Child (GYC), the PTO’s annual fall fundraiser, is officially underway!
Your donations help fund the programs and extras that enrich the WMS experience—from classroom materials and field trips to student events, club support, cultural enrichment, and staff appreciation. See your Gift Your Child donations in action.
Every donation, at any amount, makes a difference. We hope every WMS family will participate in Gift Your Child this fall.
Support WMS — make your Gift Your Child donation today!
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A special thank you to Lindsay Hanson, Amanda Harpole, Theresa Lovejoy, Jen Lux and Heather Grimmett for organizing a TA lunch and full staff luncheon to welcome WMS staff back last week! We are also incredibly appreciative of the generous donations from local businesses: Stop & Shop, Jersey Mikes and Roche Brothers! |
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