I hope this newsletter finds you well, despite the rainy weather that seems to have taken over our skies. While the weather may be a bit dreary, the importance of being present in school remains as bright as ever. So, let's not let a little rain deter us from our educational goals. After all, knowledge is power, and with great power comes great responsibility... to attend school!

Speaking of educational goals, we will be starting the Math MCAS testing in the first few weeks of May. So, let's gear up our calculators, sharpen our pencils, and put our math skills to the test. But don't worry, our students are well-prepared and ready to show off their mathematical prowess. The full MCAS schedule for all grade-levels are below.

Don't forget to check out below the activities coming up at Wang School and a number of summer opportunities to help keep your child learning this summer.

Whomever scheduled Teacher Appreciation Day and Teacher Appreciation Week for 2023 REALLY threw us a curveball! They made Teacher Appreciation Day on Tuesday, May 2nd and Teacher Appreciation Week from May 8th through May 12th. Why they wouldn't put them in the same week this year...no idea!

So, we celebrated our teachers and ALL of our staff this week in school. Whether it was from the PTO sponsored Chinese/Japanese food luncheon on Tuesday (served to them by Ms. Omayra), the little "treats" we gave them each morning, the "themed" surprises we had for them each day in the teachers' room, or the gift card the PTO gave to the staff...we hope our staff knows how much we appreciate them.

It's important to reflect on the hard work and resilience of school staff not just this year, bit over the past few years. They have faced countless challenges, but have shown incredible strength and perseverance. Together, they have weathered the storm and continued to provide our students with the best possible education, no matter what obstacles came their way.

As parents, you don't need to make a grand gesture, but you can show your appreciation and gratitude for our staff by sending them some good vibes. You can use our "Good Vibes Jar" where you can leave a message of support and encouragement for your child's teacher or ANYONE in the building who you want to thank for their work or impact on your child. Your kind words can go a long way in brightening their day and reminding them of the positive impact they have on our children's lives and are often more special to teachers than anything you could give them anyhow. The Good Vibes Jar is available every week in this newsletter, but it is also at the button below this blurb.

Let's take this opportunity to celebrate and appreciate our staff for all that they do for our school community...because Wang School

It's important to start planning now for the summer months ahead to keep your student active and learning all summer long. We encourage all families to keep their students active and engaged both mentally and physically.

We are excited to offer a variety of summer programs for our students, including academic summer school and enrichment programs during the month of July. These programs will provide opportunities for students to continue learning and exploring, while also having fun and making new friends.

If you are interested in enrolling your child in any of our summer programs, please fill out the application form at the link below. We encourage you to apply early, as space is limited and applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis.

We believe that summer is a valuable time for students to grow, learn, and explore new interests. We look forward to offering these opportunities and supporting our students in their continued education...so sign your student up now before all the spots are gone! A full menu of options will be made available very soon, but in order to save a seat in the summer programs, parents MUST complete the application below.

All of the information is on the application link below, but this program has a VERY limited number of seats available and will be working with students in grades 3 through 6 during the second week of August.

Camp Invention is ALWAYS a ton of fun, hands-on learning for the students...so grab a seat now before they are all gone!

Is your 8th grader not keeping you informed about the end-of-year activities? We're SHOCKED! OK...we're not shocked.

Check out the newsletter below that has all of the details for the 8th grade end-of-year activities.

We're all well aware of the increased mental health issues and anxiety within our young people since the pandemic, which means we still have a lot of work to do moving forward. As we have said for years (even before the pandemic), parents and schools will need to do this work together to help our children overcome any obstacles...and that is more true now than ever.

To that end, we are reminding parents to talk to your students regularly to try to help them navigate the complicated world of middle school effectively. Monitoring social media and helping students steer clear of vapes and know what to do when they are being peer pressured into bad decisions is so important, but you can't help them if you don't know what is going on with them.

Don't get us wrong, talking to our children about these things and monitoring their social media can sometimes be challenging...especially middle schoolers...but it is so important. Here are some simple tips to help your middle schooler with regard to healthy social/emotional growth;

• Monitor their social media: Social media serves a wonderful purpose of connecting people, but it can also be extremely unhealthy for our young people when used improperly and unsupervised. Monitoring your child's social media accounts or at least talking to them about how to use it in a healthy way will help them learn to use it effectively. One suggestion (and it may not be easy)...don't let them take their phones or computers to bed with them at night. Staying up all night on social media sites or texting is extremely unhealthy for our young people.
• Talk to them about vaping and other temptations: My wife and I were stunned when we found a vape in our daughter's room (twice actually) and we wished we had talked to her about them BEFORE we found them in her room. Open up conversations with your student about vaping, what to do if another kid offers or pressures them to vape or do something else that is unhealthy, and let them know that you know that they may make mistakes but you want them to always talk to you. (If you're wondering...yes...my daughter was grounded for QUITE awhile.)
• Don't wait for something to happen or a crisis: Be proactive and talk to your student before something happens. It is always much healthier to prepare your children than it is to help them put things back together.
• Let them know that making a mistake is not the end of the world: Acknowledge with your child that making mistakes is part of growing up and learning, and it's not the end of the world. This will help them open up to you more if/when they may make a mistake.
• Know your child's circle of friends...both in person and online: Parents sometimes feel "nosey" asking about their child's friends or who they are talking to online, but it is so important for parents to know who their children are communicating with and who may be influencing them.
• Find a trusted adult at school too: Encourage your child to find an adult at school they trust and want to talk to when needed. It can be a teacher, tutor, social worker, paraprofessional, custodian, clerk, administrator, or anyone that they trust and feel connected to at school...just so that they have someone to give them another adult voice of guidance in their lives.

Below are some articles that are quick and easy reads, but they also give some good insight and advice on how to navigate the VERY challenging task of talking to a middle schooler!

We are in the process of collecting all of our Student Emergency Forms and updating our database. There are paper copies of the Student Emergency Forms that went home at the beginning of the school year, but they are also available in the main office.

These forms and updated contact information are absolutely ESSENTIAL for us to have from EVERY student. In addition to contacting you about school events and/or updates on how your child is doing in school, having accurate contact information is essential in the event that there is some kind of emergency at the school that impacts your student.

If you have not done so already, please complete and return your child's Emergency Form to their teacher. Starting this week, we will be calling and emailing any and all families who have not completed the Emergency Forms until we have 100% of our forms completed.

Thank you for your help in making sure we have the most updated and accurate contact information on file for your child this year. If there are any changes as the year progresses, you can always contact the school to update your file.

Social media has been one of the most impactful changes to society over the last decade...in both a positive and a negative sense. The ability to connect and stay connected with people is such an amazing gift we get from social media, but for many of our children social media is not a healthy environment. There are several ways social media can impact your child and it is something we are hoping you can help us with at home, because we often deal with the fallout at school.

First of all, speak to your child about how mostly everything they see on social media is not truly a reflection or reality. In essence, people most often post the "highlight reels" of their lives in order to portray an image that essentially is not real. In some cases, people blatantly lie or manipulate the truth in their posts to seem "more important" or "better off" than they actually are in real life. Many of our students are comparing themselves and their lives to these "highlight reels" or even "blatant lies" being posted by other people. Talk to your child about how mostly everything they see or read on social media is absolutely NOT reality. Everyone has problems and struggles...so don't let them believe that social media posts that portray a perfect body or face through filters or ones that brag about amazing lives are reality. Everyone has problems and struggles, but they use exaggerated of fake social media posts to hide them.

Secondly, monitor your child's access and interactions on social media. There is absolutely value in honoring your child's privacy and letting them maintain their own identity in these social media platforms, but to be completely oblivious to what they are doing on their phones and/or computers is simply not a good idea as a parent. We cannot and will not "police" the social media interactions of all of our almost 700 students...it simply is not possible. We will try to mediate things as best we can and support our students when there are issues, but it needs to be the parents who are truly "policing" their child's interactions on social media and communication platforms. It isn't being "nosey" to ask your child about their social media life...it's parenting. Never be afraid to look into your child's online activity or their communication via chat rooms, texts, or messaging platforms because then you can help educate your child on how to truly navigate the world of social media in a safe and healthy way.

We will be putting together some workshops for parents on the different social media and messaging platforms that students are using and also on how parents can stay on top of what their child is doing on these platforms; what they are saying, who they are communicating with, if they are being bullied, or if they are the ones doing the bullying. Remember, staying involved with and aware of your child's social media identity and what they are doing online is NOT being nosey...it's parenting.

Keep an eye out for our upcoming Social Media Parenting workshops...we hope to have them put together some time in October.

School Site Council (SSC) and the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) are two great ways to get involved and make your voice heard. Wang School is lucky to have such incredibly active and supportive SSC and PTO members and they have made a tremendously positive impact on our school community.

Below are the dates for the SSC/PTO meetings this year and they will be hybrid, meaning you can attend in person or via Zoom. Please feel free to drop in, listen to what is happening at the school, ask any questions you may have, and find out how we can work together more effectively to keep our school moving forward during these crazy times! We hope to see you at our meetings this year.

• Monday, May 1st @ 5:30PM
  
• Monday, June 5th @ 5:30PM
  

Wang School SSC/PTO Google Meets Meetings

• To join the meeting by video, click this link: Wang School SSC/PTO Meetings
• Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 570-415-1140 and enter this PIN: 347 973 276#

With your student, please review all of the policies provided and complete the sign-off form below...this MUST BE DONE BY ALL FAMILIES because students will be held to these policies this year at Wang School:

• LPS Student Handbook
• Wang School Dress Code 2022-23
• Wang School Technology Policy 2022-23

We appreciate your support in enforcing our dress code moving forward...we have put the rationale for each element of the dress code below.

• No obscene/inappropriate images or words on clothing

• Fairly self-explanatory

• No hats or hoods in school

• This does NOT include religious items and the only other exception is hoods INSIDE a teacher's classroom if allowed by that teacher (some rooms are chilly sometimes)

• The reason for this rule is it is a safety issue in the hallways for identification purposes in the case of emergencies

• No pajama pants

• • Helping students learn how to dress for a professional environment

  • Helping instill proper morning routine and hygiene practices (not just rolling out of bed and coming to school in the same clothes they slept in the night before)

• Ripped jeans are allowed...AS LONG AS...no underwear or pockets are exposed

• Shorts fall into the same category as rips...AS LONG AS...no underwear or pockets are exposed

• No sagging pants

• Underwear or undershorts cannot be exposed

• Shirts

• Must have straps...doesn’t matter how thick
  

• No underwear or inappropriate body parts exposed above or below shirt line

We want to remind parents and students of the technology policy within the Lowell Public Schools, but also specifically at Wang School. Please make sure you and your student are familiar with the policies and reach out to your child's HR teacher or the school administration if you have any questions.

Prohibited Items based on LPS policy: The following items are considered disruptive to the educational process in Lowell Public Schools and are not allowed in school:

• Cell Phones and communication devices such as Apple watch

• Video Games

• Radios, iPods and other Walkman Type Devices

• Hand Held Laser Pointers

• Playing Cards

• Tobacco Products (including hookahs)

• E-Cigarettes (vape)

• Lighter/Matches (possession will lead to immediate suspension)

• Skateboards/Scooters/Roller Blades/Heelys/Hoverboards

• Other Items or Devices deemed inappropriate by the Principal or his designee

Wang School Policy has made some "flexible" accommodations for our students, but we must remind families that based on current LPS Policy:

• Students displaying and/or using any of these prohibited items will have the item confiscated and may receive disciplinary action including suspension. Though the school will secure the device, the ultimate responsibility for any loss or damage remains with the student who brought the prohibited item to school. A parent or guardian must come into school to pick up the item.

• Earbuds/Headphones: Students must be able to hear the intercom and directives from staff at all times to ensure safety. For this reason students are not allowed to wear earbuds in school. Ear buds will be confiscated and not returned until the end of the school year or until a parent/guardian comes in to collect the article. The only exception to this prohibition applies to teachers who allow the use of earbuds in the classroom for educational purposes, but the earbuds must be put away before exiting the classroom.

While we will be allowing students to bring phones to and from school, the Wang School Policy is that they must be turned in to the HR teacher or the main office each morning. Devices like cell phones or Smart Watches should not be in the school hallways or used during the school day UNLESS there is an academic reason. Phones are always available to students in the main office, there is no need in school for a student to have a cell phone or Smart Watch.

On the other hand, wireless earbuds, bluetooth connected headphones or AirPods ARE NO LONGER ALLOWED at Wang School for any reason. We have wired earphones the students can borrow if needed or they can bring their own wired earbuds for use at school when allowed/appropriate. Wireless earbuds, bluetooth connected headphones, and/or AirPods are not allowed for any reason.

In the event a student does not follow these policies, the image below diagrams how the school will respond and if confiscated too many times the student's phone or device may be locked in the school's safe and returned to the parents at the end of the school year.

Want to send some GOOD VIBES to someone at the school? Use our virtual GOOD VIBES Jar...just remember...GOOD VIBES ONLY!

• Thursday, May 4th: Volleyball Games @ Wang
• Thursday, May 4th: Allied Arts Night @ 5PM
• Tuesday, May 16th: Final MANDATORY 8th Grade Washington DC Trip Meeting
• May 24th-26th: 8th Grade Camping Trip
• Thursday, May 25th: Wang & P'ville Carnival Concert...more details coming soon!

Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter where we post important updates, event information, and pictures of our students and teachers in action!

Email: mstahl@lowell.k12.ma.us
Website: https://www.lowell.k12.ma.us/Page/25
Location: 365 West Meadow Road, Lowell, MA, USA
Phone: (978) 937-7683
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lpsdwang
Twitter: @WangLPS