Warrior Weekly

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying September! We are rocking and rolling at WMS with all kinds of things happening! Please see below for some information and upcoming events.

A little over a year ago our community was rocked with the loss of one of our seniors to a rip tide. That day triggered something in me that started a beautiful partnership and collaboration with the YMCA and WIS around water safety. We began discussing how we can help educate and hopefully save our students from this ever happening again. It has been a year since this conversation began and I am happy to say that we are now ready to move forward. The YMCA has been able to raise money for the rip tide simulator and the grand opening was last week. The sixth grade students from WIS will begin this year taking a field trip to the YMCA to learn about water safety and experience the rip tide simulator. The students at WMS will be able to have some of the YMCA staff come to our campus to give a refresher about water safety with some hands-on classes. How can we make this happen? DONATIONS! Please see the flyer below to see how you can get in on this opportunity and help our students! Our dream is that this becomes an annual field trip for our 6th graders and an annual refresher course for our 7th and 8th graders. We are excited to bring this to you and want you to partner with us! Can you help?

Study Buddies began on Monday. If a student is failing a core subject they will be required to attend Study Buddies on that core subject’s specific day: Monday= Science, Tuesday= Math, Wednesday=ELA and Thursday- Social Studies. A letter went home on Wednesday of last week to all parents of students that this impacts. If you have any questions please contact me.

September 17th -Early Dismissal Day of School for Students next Wednesday- Students will be released from school at 1:15 on Wednesday, September 17th. Please see the 25/26 WMS Bell Schedule

Early Dismissal

8:30-9:07 - 1st Block

9:10-9:47 - 2nd Block

9:50-10:27 - 3rd Block

10:27-10:33 - Locker Break

10:33-11:40 - 4th Block & Lunch

10:33-11:03 - 7th Lunch

11:03-11:40 - 7th Class

10:33-11:10 - 8th Class

11:10-11:40 - 8th Lunch

11:43-12:20 - 5th Block

12:27-1:00 - 6th Block

1:00-1:15- Staggered Release

School wide writing assessments- At the end of Quarters 1, 2, and 3, WMS will administer a school-wide writing assessment that mimics the SC Ready writing assessment students will take in May. The purpose of the school-wide assessment is to practice completing all steps of the writing process under mock testing conditions to prepare students for the end of the year. The assessment also provides teachers with information on which components of the writing process need to be addressed in more depth to help our students become stronger writers. On September 25,, students will take the school-wide writing assessment for Quarter 1. WMS will operate on a testing schedule that day. Students will test in their Warrior Time classes. Each student will receive a text selection, a copy of the test directions, a South Carolina writing rubric and scratch paper. Students must read and annotate the text, create their own graphic organizer, and write a rough draft to answer the writing prompt question. Once those steps of the writing process are complete, students will then type and submit their final drafts via their ELA Google Classrooms. The ELA teachers will use rubrics to grade students' work. By practicing formal writing in a formal testing environment, the goal is to prepare students to be most successful on state testing and better prepared for the writing requirements down the road.

Thursday, October 16- Vision, Data and iReady Information Night- We want to invite you into the building on Thursday, October 16, 2025 for Waccamaw Middle School’s annual Vision, Data and iReady Information Night! This is a drop in between 5:00-6:30 pm where you will be able to hear the vision and goals of the school year, meet with teachers to receive the SC Ready scores from last year as well as iReady diagnostic reports from this fall, review and give feedback of the SC Report Card, and pick up the Quarter 1 Report Card. Complete the passport and you can feed your family, sponsored by our fabulous PTO! We will also have the cast of BeetleJuice Jr. perform live in the gym at 5:15pm so you don’t want to miss that!! During this night, you will be given the opportunity to give us feedback and truly see the data regarding our school. Your partnership is very important for the success of your child, and WE NEED YOU!

Thursday, September 18th, 2025 - College Funding workshop at WHS. Please see the information in the Community New below.

Upcoming Dates-

September 17- Early Dismissal Day for students

September 23- School pictures AND SIC at 6pm

September 25- Testing Schedule for Q1 TDW

September 26- Fall Pep Rally (activity schedule) AND Pride Cash Extra Recess during WT

October 3- End of Q1

October 6- 10- Fall Break - NO SCHOOL

October 15- PSAT for certain students

October 16- CogAt for certain students during 1st block AND Vision, Data and iReady Information Night from 5-7

October 17- CogAT for certain students during 2nd and 5th blocks AND Q1 Honor Roll Parade and WFC Celebration- Activity Schedule

October 21 and 22- School-wide Field trips

October 24- Red Ribbon Week Presentation- Activity Schedule on Friday

November 11- Early Dismissal Day for Students (Career Day and Veteran's Day Parade)

November 12- Q2 Interims go home

November 17- Annual Canned Food Drive Begins

November 18- SIC at 6pm

November 24- 28- Thanksgiving Break- NO SCHOOL

As always, please let us know if you have any questions or if we can help you in any way and remember, We Just Can’t Hide That Warrior Pride!

Our chocolate fundraiser is in full force and continues through October 3rd. When your child finishes selling a box, please have them turn in their money to Mr. Bonser so he can prepare another box to sell. We've already had some lucky students find a Golden Ticket in their boxes. Will your student be next and get their own one pound chocolate bar?

Remember that any student who sells a minimum of 1 box of chocolate will participate in the Warriors Celebration on Friday, October 17th and have the opportunity to win prizes. For more information see the form below:

Consent forms will be distributed to students by Nurse McDill. Please complete and return to her as soon as possible.

Saturday, September 13th

Boys and Girls Cross Country Warrior Invitational @ Stables Park at 8:30 am

Girls Golf Palmetto Tournament at Tradition - Time: TBD

Swim Team vs St. James at Pepper Geddings - Time: TBA

Tuesday, September 16th

Girls Golf vs Conway at Glen Domoch @ 4:30 pm

Girls Tennis vs Aynor @ 5:30 pm

B Team & JV Girls Volleyball vs Aynor @ 5:30 pm

Varsity Girls Volleyball vs Aynor @ 6:00 pm

Wednesday, September 17th

B Team & JV Girls Volleyball at St. James @ 6:00 pm

B Team Football vs Scotts Branch @ 6:00 pm

Varsity Girls Volleyball at St. James @ 7:00 pm

Thursday, September 18th

JV Girls Volleyball at Marlboro County @ 5:30 pm

JV Football vs Andrews @ 6:00 pm

Varsity Girls Volleyball at Marlboro County @ 6:30 pm

Girls Golf vs Georgetown at Tradition - Time:TBA

Friday, September 19th

Varsity Football at Andrews @ 7:30 pm

WMS Chorus is still selling Waccamaw Warrior Apparel to help fundraise for Disney! There is a variety of music apparel, perfect for Chorus OR Band students!! There are also options that include the Waccamaw logo and are not music related for our general Warrior population. Apparel ships directly to your home within 10 days of purchase. To purchase apparel, please visit this link or see the flyer for the QR Code: https://instaraise.com/wmschorus23/apparel

Our yearbook staff wants you to BUY A YEARBOOK! Make sure to order your yearbook before the price increases!

https://www.jostens.com/yearbooks

Help PTO sell and distribute items to students at the WMS School Store! Please review the available slots by click on the image at the right to sign up. Also, please make sure you've completed and submitted a GCSD Volunteer form before your arrival. Forms can be found on the GCSD website (https://core-docs.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/3896/GCSD/3154167/Volunteer_Form.pdf) or in the WMS Front Office.

Get your Warrior Gear here and be ready for those Spirit Days and Sporting Events! We Just Can't Hide That Warrior Pride!

On September 18th at 6:00pm at Waccamaw High School, in collaboration with Waccamaw Schools, Mike Russell of The College Funding Coach® will be presenting a workshop on The Little-Known Secrets of Paying for College. There is no cost (except your time) to attend. All parents of preschoolers through seniors in high school will benefit from learning from The College Funding Coach®.

As a parent, the reality of paying for college becomes more and more real. Currently, the College Board reports that a "moderate" college budget for an in-state public college averaged $24,061 per year. A moderate budget at a private college averaged $47,831 per year. Wowzers!

Whether you have a preschool student or a senior in high school, you will learn valuable information that is timely for you. Feel free to invite other parents to attend, too. We'd love to welcome you and them to this event! Register by clicking on the following link:

Waccamaw Schools – Little Known Secrets of Paying for College

While the workshop is free of charge, registration is appreciated. We hope to see you there!

The Falk-Griffin Foundation is a private foundation that awards grants to charitable causes throughout our community. We sincerely appreciate their support of Waccamaw Middle.

Thank you to The Falk-Griffin Foundation for your continued partnership with Waccamaw Middle School at the PLATINUM level!

Email: radams@gcsd.k12.sc.us
Website: https://www.gcsd.k12.sc.us/o/wms
Location: 247 Wildcat Way, Pawleys Island, SC, USA
Phone: 843-237-0106
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Waccamawmiddleschool/