WMS Incoming Grade 6 Information

May 13, 2022

Dear Fifth Grade Families,

The school year is going by rapidly and it is time to begin planning for next year, as students will be transitioning from the Cunniff, Hosmer, and Lowell schools to Watertown Middle School this coming fall. Middle school is full of fun and engaging experiences, but the fifth to sixth grade transition can be a difficult one for students, and we want to work as closely as possible with you to ensure your children have positive experiences as they enter Watertown Middle School. This year, as well as last year, has been one filled with uncertainty and change, and I want to reassure you that we all will be working carefully to make your children’s transition to Watertown Middle School as smooth and anxiety-free as possible.

Ms. Susan Carle, WMS Assistant Principal, Ms. Ashley Cohen, Grade 5 School Counselor, and I will be meeting the 5th graders when we visit the elementary schools in upcoming weeks. I know many of the students are somewhat familiar with WMS from siblings, sports, and our recent musical, but we are also planning tours in the late summer when the building has fewer occupants. Additionally, we hope to see all Grade 5 Parents and Caregivers at our Information Night on Wednesday, May 25th at 6:30 pm. Here is the Zoom Invitation. Curriculum Coordinators will be joining us on the Zoom Meeting as well to discuss the Grade 5 curriculum. We also invite all Grade 5 Parents/Caregivers to our PTO meeting on June 8th at 7:00 pm to ask questions and hear all about the middle school from WMS Parents/Caregivers! I will send a Zoom invitation out for that event soon.

Next year your child will be placed in one of our two sixth grade clusters: Cluster 1 or Cluster 2. A cluster is a team of common teachers and students - 5-6 teachers and approximately 95 students - that work together to make sure students are supported academically and socially in school. We are very careful when we place students in clusters; we get input from your child’s fifth-grade teachers, we account for the educational needs of individual students, and we make sure the clusters are evenly balanced. Counselors will be working on cluster placements this month, so if you have information that may impact your child’s cluster placement for next year, such as learning needs or students you would like them placed with or apart from, please share this information with us in the Google form at the end of the letter. (This is the same Google Form I sent out a few weeks ago). We do not honor requests for teachers or clusters. Making changes once the schedules are complete may not be possible, so please get this information to us as soon as possible.

**Please fill out this GOOGLE FORM for Placement** (if you have not already)

Sixth grade students take English, math, science, and history as their core classes. Sixth-grade students will also be taking a world language (Arabic, Italian, or Spanish).

Please use this GOOGLE FORM to choose Arabic, Italian, or Spanish for your child’s world language selection for next year.

Fifth grade teachers across the district are currently analyzing their class data and making recommendations for students to be placed in appropriate classes. If your child needs literacy support in addition to taking a world language, we are fortunate to have three reading teachers and a literacy coach at WMS, and many students will benefit from the support of our reading staff in their core classes and during WIN blocks.

In addition to core academic classes, sixth-grade students take specialties classes. These classes include physical education, health, music, art, and technology engineering. If your son or daughter plays a musical instrument and has been involved with Band or Orchestra at the elementary school, we hope that he or she chooses to be in Band, Percussion, or Orchestra at WMS. If your child was in Chorus at the elementary school, or wishes to start singing, we hope that he or she chooses to be in Chorus at the middle school. Please fill out the appropriate section of the Google Form to indicate in which ensembles your child wishes to participate. **It is important to note that students who sign up for Band, Orchestra, and Chorus cannot drop them from their schedules during the school year.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child moving up to sixth grade, please email Ms. Cohen, the grade 6 school counselor, at ashley.cohen@watertown.k12.ma.us. We hope to see all Grade 5 Parents and Caregivers at our Information Night on Wednesday, May 25th at 6:30 pm. Here is the Zoom Invitation. Thank you very much and we are looking forward to welcoming you into the middle school community!

With warm regards,

Donna K. Martin

Donna K. Martin