Warrior Weekly

Welcome to the 2025-2026 school year, the BEST YEAR YET!! We have had a very successful start to the year. Below are the policies and procedures that we have at WMS to ensure success for all of our well rounded student Warriors in every way possible!

Transportation-

The seventh grade car loop is located in front of the cafeteria and will be open for drop off at 7:30am. The eighth grade car loop is located in the front of the school’s main entrance and will be open for drop off at 8:00am. If any eighth grader is dropped off before 8:00am, they will need to use the 7th grade loop or cafeteria entrance. All students will need to be picked up by 4:00pm each day. If you have any questions in regards to your student's bus route or other transportation concerns, contact the Waccamaw Area Bus Depot at 843-979-0234 or contact the district office at 843-436-7000.

Please see the transportation layout map: WMS Transportation Map for Car and Bus

If a student is planning to ride the athletic bus to WHS for any after school practice, those students will need to report to the bus loop at the end of the day.

Students are not allowed to be picked up on the road or in the faculty parking lot. The waiting lines will begin to level out, please give it time and thank you for your patience!

Please know that our students that walk to Retreat Park or other areas are no longer monitored once they are off the WMS campus. We have adults that are working the car rider lines and bus drive off the 7th grade car rider loop but once a student hits the corner of the parking lot and the road, they are on their own. Please know that WMS is not responsible for monitoring Retreat Park. If your student walks to Retreat Park, you assume responsibility for the safety and well-being of your child. Thank you for keeping us posted about concerns in regard to that area after school and we will continue to stay in touch with law enforcement, but I want you to be aware so we can all be vigilant and monitor all of our students as much as we can together.

Metal Detectors-

All students will go through the Open Gate metal detectors everyday. Please remind your child to pull their Chromebook, binders and pouches out of their backpacks for search before they enter the building. All items brought onto campus are eligible to be searched at any time. Thank you for supporting the safety of our students and school through this process.

iReady Testing- We will conduct the iReady Diagnostic testing on Wednesday, August 13 and Thursday. August 14. We will be on a testing schedule these two days. It is very important that students are on time for school.

Student Expectations Meeting- We will conduct our small group expectations meeting next week during the school hours. At this time we will review once again the expectations for WMS. Please see the presentation here and let me know if you have any questions. 25/26 Expectations Review Presentation

WMS Zero Policy- If at any time a student is absent and misses an assignment or test, a zero will be entered in the gradebook for those items. The zero will act as a placeholder for the grade until the assignments are made up. This helps the student and parent as a reminder to get the grade updated by completing the missing work. It also avoids providing a false grade with holes in the gradebook. The student will be given three academic days to make up missing work when absent. Students should initiate the discussion with the teacher upon return about make-ups.

Retake Policy- In order to improve student learning and increase mastery of state standards, students will have the opportunity to retake major summative assessments by correcting errors on the attempted original test. The retake assessment can be determined by the teacher at their discretion. The retake policy does not apply to projects or formal writing assessments that include multiple checkpoints and/or rubrics. All students who score below 70% will be allowed to complete test corrections, and the highest possible score a student can receive from a retake is 70%. Retakes must be completed within five instructional days after the original test took place*.

*Each Wednesday, the school will provide an opportunity for students to schedule test retakes during the Warrior Time/lunch blocks as a school-designated time and location. Teachers may also choose to have students complete test retakes during the academic block (so long as the retake is completed within the five days following the original assessment).

High Impact Tutoring- We will begin before-school High Impact Tutoring on Monday for Math and ELA. There will be morning sessions on Monday and Wednesday for ELA and Tuesday and Thursday for Math. The morning sessions will be held from 7:45 am-8:23 am in the Celebration Room on campus. There will be a teacher in the tutoring session to help with on grade level standards and/or school work. You must arrive on time and come through the cafeteria doors.

Restart (School-Wide Book)- We will begin reading Restart, by Gordon Korman, as a school-wide read starting on Monday through October, which is anti-bullying month. This novel is middle-school appropriate and based on bullying. Each middle school student can relate to the situations within this text. In Gordon Korman's "Restart", a boy named Chase Ambrose experiences a fall that wipes out his memory, forcing him to rebuild his life from scratch. Upon returning to school, he encounters a mix of reactions: some treat him like a hero, while others are wary or even hostile, especially after he learns about his past as a bully. The story explores themes of identity, redemption, and the possibility of change as Chase grapples with his past and tries to figure out who he wants to be.

Dress Code- Student dress and grooming should be neat, clean, and appropriate for the school environment. The Board reserves the right to bar from school those students whose personal appearance is disruptive to the educational process and orderly operation of the school or presents a health or safety concern. As long as clothes are not disruptive to the educational process, as judged by the administrative team of a school, the attire will be acceptable. Clothing must be worn as the manufacturer intended. In complying with the above, the following guidelines are suggested:

1. Belts should be buckled, sashes tied, and buttons buttoned, except at the neck. Pants should be worn at the waist.

2. Shoe laces should be tied, buckled or worn as the manufacturer intended. Shoes that cause undue attention or a health and safety hazard should be avoided.

3. Clothing, buttons, signs or other adornments which display pictures or language of an obscene nature or are related to the use or consumption of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances should not be worn.

4. Hats, caps or head scarves should not be worn inside the building. This includes hoodies.

5. Sunglasses should not be worn inside the school, unless they are necessary for correction of medical problems.

6. Students’ hair, including any facial hair, should be neat, clean and well groomed.

7. Clothes must fit appropriately and should be worn with appropriate undergarments. Undershirts customarily worn as undergarments should not be worn without shirts or blouses. Undergarments should be covered by outerwear. Tank tops, sheer blouses or shirts that cause attention should be avoided.

8. Combs (except for barrette-style combs), hair curlers and picks should not be worn in the hair.

If a girl's shorts are too short where their behind can be seen, they will be asked to change or a phone call will be made home to bring more clothes. The second time a student is addressed for the same dress code violation, a referral will be written.

Food and Drink- Breakfast and lunch are free for all students this year in GCSD. Food and drink are restricted to the lunchroom and commons areas unless otherwise designated by the administration or teacher. Drinks and water bottles outside of the cafeteria must have a sealable/spill-proof lid in a transparent bottle. Energy drinks are strictly prohibited. Outside food services are not permitted to be delivered to the front office. No snacks or drinks are to be consumed in any classroom without direct permission from the teacher. Students are expected to clean up after themselves in the classroom and in the cafeteria. Students who fail to do so will face administrative consequences.

WMS students will only be allowed to bring in transparent plastic water bottles. These transparent plastic water bottles must not exceed 32 oz in capacity and must have a screw on/ water-tight cap. Students are encouraged to have a reusable water bottle to cut down on unnecessary waste. Any water bottle that does not fit this requirement will be taken and students can pick it up at the end of the day.

Communication- The best way to communicate with teachers is via email as they are unavailable by phone throughout most of the day due to classroom instruction. Please allow 24 to 36 hours for a response.

Tech Connections- Look for The Warrior Weekly newsletter in your inbox each Friday. It will be sent out through the emails that were put into PowerSchool at registration. Please be sure to follow us on social media to stay in touch with all the awesome things we are doing! Social Media

Dear Potential SIC Members,

I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every parent, teacher, and community member that are expressing an interest in serving on the Waccamaw Middle School Improvement Council for the 2025-2026 school year. In South Carolina, a School Improvement Council is an advisory council to the principal and school on issues related to school improvement. The WMS SIC will serve a very important role in assisting with the development and progression of WMS improvement and innovation as the field of education continues to grow and change. Last year, our SIC’s goal was to increase awareness and write grants for library curriculum and books. We succeeded in helping bring attention to the needs of our library and applied for two grants and this year will receive district funds to assist with updating the library curriculum and books. I would like to share my sincere appreciation to each of you for possibly volunteering your time and energy on behalf of Waccamaw Middle School. Please join us at our first meeting of the year on Tuesday, August, 19 2025 at 6pm in the WMS Celebration Room. At this time we will review the SIC report from last year, look at the school-wide data and discuss the elected positions.

I thank you so much for your effort to support WMS this year in the hopes that we can be most successful! We look forward to a very productive school year with the help of all of our members.

With Warrior Pride,

Ginny S Haynes, Principal

SIC Meeting dates for the year:

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Tuesday, September 23, 2025

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

WMS Chorus is raising funds for their 2026 Disney Chorus Trip! For the next two weeks, they are selling popcorn with a goal of raising $15,000. Anyone in the US can buy popcorn and have it shipped directly to their home. You may also put to ship the popcorn to the school if you live locally. To purchase popcorn, visit this link or see the flyer for the QR code: https://instaraise.com/wmschorus23/popcorn2025

WMS Chorus is also 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

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/