3/20/26

Dear Western families,

Well, it seems that sending my SMORE twice to families led to the most views I have had since early December! I may be onto something here…. If I don’t get the amount of views I want, then I should just send it twice to you the next week. I know you don’t want more emails from me, and I don’t like the idea of having to send it twice. So, just keep taking a peak at my SMORE after my first email, and I won’t flood your inbox. I promise that you will smile a few times while reading it and walk away learning something important that you wouldn’t want to miss.

We are two weeks away from spring break, and I am going to pray to the weather gods that they show us some mercy and we have warm sunny weather all week. We really deserve it and the kids need to get outside for recess to get their energy out! Our kids have really done a great job handling being inside pretty much every day for the last 3 months, which is not an easy thing to do. My least favorite part of the day is emailing to say the students can’t go outside for recess, so hoping I don’t have to do that much more.

The last afternoon of our parent-teacher conferences is on Tuesday. Our teachers have been working very hard in preparation for the conferences to provide information to make the conferences meaningful and productive. It really takes a lot of time, and the feedback we have received from parents is that the conferences have been very informative and helpful. Our teachers really deserve a spring break with nice weather!

Big things are happening over the next few weeks leading up to our break…the district art show, SpongeBob Musical performances (see below for ticket information) and our 7th grade trip to see The Outsiders on Broadway. It is a great way to lead up to a school break!

I hope you all have a nice weekend.

Sincerely,

Suzanne

Monday, March 23rd: GPS District Art Show Open Reception WMS, 5:30pm-7pm

Monday, March 23rd- Friday, April 24: Dental Hygiene Screenings
Tuesday, March 24th : K-8 Conferences 1:15pm-3:15pm, Early Release at 1:00pm
Friday, March 27th - Saturday, March 28th: SpongeBob Musical, Friday, 7:00pm; Saturday, 2:00pm and 7:00pm
Thursday, April 2nd : 7th grade field trip to The Outsiders on Broadway
Friday, April 3rd : NO SCHOOL- Good Friday
Monday, April 6- Friday, April 10 : NO SCHOOL- Spring Recess

Western’s Kindness Week

Kindness was felt all week at Western. While our students did not reach the 1,000 acts of kindness goal (maybe our expectations were a bit high), they showed many acts of kindness to others. We ended the week with Rock Your Socks day to honor World Down Syndrome Day. Below are some examples of ways our students showed their gratitude to our custodians, cafeteria workers, office staff and nurse. Even our crossing guard got some notes!

Big Wins at the CT Science Fair!

Laila McQueen and Victoria Shkabarnya, had great success at this year’s CT Science and Engineering Fair. Laila led all Greenwich middle school participants, earning two 1st-place awards, one 2nd-place award, and a $30,000 scholarship to Quinnipiac University. Victoria also excelled, earning 2nd- and 3rd-place awards along with several additional honors. We are incredibly proud of both students and look forward to their continued success.

Laila McQueen: Creating a Crab Trap That Uses Computer Vision To Detect and Capture the Invasive

European Green Crab

1st place in Physical Sciences & invitation to compete in Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator’s Challenge

1st place Women in Science & Engineering Awards

2nd Place Environmental Sciences Awards

Quinnipiac University Scholarships $30,000,

3 additional awards for Student Research, Imagination, Innovative Engineering.

Victoria Shkabarnya: Comparative analysis of CO2 Reduction by Common Houseplants Using an

Arduino-Based Environmental Monitoring System

2nd place in Physical Sciences

3rd place in Engineering

3 additional awards special awards for Women in Science & Engineering, Creative or innovative project in engineering, Computer science or mathematics by female students, and Best Use of Electronic Circuitry

Upcoming Parent workshops at Western

We will be holding a 2-part series of Parent Workshops on topics that will help you better support your child at home with their work. These will all take place in person and will have parents rotate through different topics. A translator will be present. Below are the details:

Tuesday, March 31st from 6:00-7:15 pm, Media Center: Understanding Tools & Resources to Support Homework

Understanding Google Classroom/Homework Hubs/Aspen
Understanding Big Ideas Math & IXL(Using the Diagnostic Assessments and Skill Practice to Support Student Needs)
Supporting Independent Reading at Home

Wednesday, April 29th: AVID Strategies and Routines for the Home to support Homework

AVID strategies (more information to come)
Routines to support HW completion and helpful Aspen parent notifications

Please complete this Google Form only if you will be attending the workshop for the March 31st workshop by Friday, March 27th.

SpongeBob Musical Tickets

Tickets go on sale to the general public Tuesday, March 24th. Below are all the details around when and how you can purchase tickets and the cost. Please contact Jillian Corey, jillan_corey@greenwich.k12.ct.us with any questions.

Where do we buy tickets? In the Main Office

When can we buy tickets?

March 24th: “Before school” 7:45 am - 8:15 am

March 25th-March 27th: Before School, 7:45 am - 8:15 am

March 25th-March 27th: After school, 3:05pm - 3:35 pm

March 27th & 28th: At the door before a performance

How much are tickets? $10 per person

How can we pay? Cash or Check (Made out to Western Middle School)

Is there a limit to how many tickets we can buy?

No, there is no limit but tickets cannot be held without payment.

Are seats assigned?

Yes, the seating is assigned so know where you want to have your tickets

located prior to purchasing.

Upcoming Wear Blue Day to support the Make a Wish Foundation

Wear Blue Day will take place on April 23rd in an effort to support the Make a Wish foundation. As I have shared before, Make A Wish is special to Western, as they sent our former student, Steven Sudell and his family on a dream vacation as he was battling terminal cancer. We are selling blue shirts with Make a Wish Logo made especially for Western students to wear on Wear Blue Day and to help raise money for the foundation. The last day to order is April 14, using the link below.

https://logosgreenwich.com/westernms/shop/home

Make A Wish also made a site for Western to make donations.

https://secure2.wish.org/site/TR/WishYourWay/Make-A-WishConnecticut?pg=personal&px=11442958&fr_id=7442

Dental Hygienist visits

As I sent in an email earlier this week, the Town of Greenwich Dental Hygienist will be visiting Western starting Monday to complete dental screening with our students. If you do not wish your child to participate in this preventive dental screening, please send an email to Amanda Ladanza at Amanda.Iadanza@greenwichct.gov by the end of today.

Registration for WMS SPRING SPORTS Closes Friday!

There is only one more week to register for Spring sports in Final Forms. NO registration will be accepted after March 27th.

Even if you have previously registered for Final Forms, you MUST log in and choose a Spring sport and make sure that your child's physical forms are updated prior to March 27th. The only form accepted is the CT-HAR.

For those who are new to Final Forms, click on the Parent Playbook for directions on how to register in FinalForms. This guide will walk you through each step, making it easy to register your student-athlete for winter sports. If you require any support during the process, scroll to the page bottom in FinalForms and click “Use Support.”

A parent or legal guardian must create an account first and then add your children. When adding your children, you must use their Greenwich Public School email. Once this is done and verified, and a sport is selected, then both parent and student must log in to fill and sign their document. If you have any questions or encounter issues during the registration process, there is a “Get Help” button at the bottom of the page.

If you have any questions regarding registration, please email sportsphysicalwms@greenwich.k12.ct.us

MANDATORY D.C. PARENT MEETING

Parents of 8th graders attending the DC trip this May are required to attend our VIRTUAL parent meeting on Wednesday April 15th at 6:30pm. You will receive a separate email from Ms. Traina with the Google Meet link.

This meeting will include information on medical forms, what to pack, itinerary updates, and more!"

Theater Club Candy Grams

Candy Grams for actors/actresses/crew members in the The SpongeBob musical will be available for pre-sale starting Monday March 16th and will continue until Friday March 27th by the front entrance of the school from 7:30-8:00. Each candy gram will include a small treat and a personalized message written by you! They will cost $2.00 each and will also be available for purchase before each of the three performances on March 27th and 28th.

Camp Scholarships for Greenwich Children

Greenwich Department of Human Services Fund has a Campership Program, which provides summer camp scholarships to income-eligible Greenwich children. It helps Income-eligible Greenwich children attend one of 10 local day camps or a Connecticut sleepaway camp.

Learn more or donate Here

Greenwich Youth Conservation Project Employment Opportunity for 8th graders

The GYCP Application Link was sent out this morning to all GPS students in Grades 8, 9 and 10. Students can earn $275 this summer working on town properties across 2 weeks ( Session 1: June 22-July 2 | Session 2: July 6-July 16| Session 3: July 20-July 30| Session 4: August 3-August 13). GYCP offers teens their first job opportunity where they learn teamwork and practical life skills, while enhancing the town’s environment and making new friends from all over town. GYCP is a 2-week work session spent digging, planting and maintaining Greenwich parks and properties. This program is overseen by the Greenwich Department of Human Services and Parks and Recreation.

Students have the entire month of March (deadline March 30th) to apply. Group interviews will take place in April. Families will receive the decision in late April or very early May. They will accept applications for their waitlist beyond March for students who did not get them in on time, as they do remove many many students every year from the waitlist due to change in summer plans.

Nominate a Western Difference Maker

A reminder that this year only one staff member from each school will receive the Difference Maker Award each month. I am asking for our staff and parents to help in nominating staff for this award. If you or your child believe one or more staff members make a difference in our school community or in your own lives, please use this link to nominate them and explain why they are deserving of this award.

Parent Community Resources

Here is the Parent Community Resource document we created with MANY, MANY community resources to support parents and students at Western. Please take the time to review it in case you find yourself in need of some support for you, your child or family.

English

Spanish

After school activities

Here is our after-school Club Catalog. Take a look with your child to see what they may want to get involved in. Remember, they are FREE!

Homework Hubs

Below are the Homework Hubs for each grade-level team and World Language teachers.

8th grade: Orange Green

7th grade: Purple Yellow

6th grade: Red Blue

World Language

What's Happening at Western