Here is our latest WB Wildcat Weekly Newsletter. We hope that it will provide you with information as well as insight into what is going on in the West Bridgewater Public Schools. There are so many great things going on and it is our pleasure to share information with you.

Reminders - Last Day of School

June 16th - Spring Street School, Howard School and MSHS

June 17th - Rose L MacDonald School

**Both June 16th and June 17th are half days of school

Most likely this will be the last WB Wildcat Weekly for this school year. We will most definitely be sending them out again for the next school year!

We hope all of our students, staff and families have an enjoyable summer break!

As Superintendent, I want to provide you with an opportunity to give the district and our administrative team feedback on the 2021-2022 school year. THIS SURVEY IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. As a district, we find it very important to reflect on feedback made by our families. As educators, we all work to improve each year by reflecting on our past experiences and taking what we have learned to adjust our thinking and practices for the future. It is important for us to hear your feedback on what has been positive and areas we can look to improve. We will do our best to incorporate your ideas and suggestions into our planning for the future. Check out link below for more information and to complete the survey. Thank you for your help!

In each of our schools, we are talking about Wildcat PRIDE. The PRIDE acronym stands for

• Passion
• Respect
• Ingenuity
• Determination
• Empathy

This started at the MSHS as part of the NEASC Decennial Visit as we talked about integrating our core values throughout our school programs. We have also integrated our Academic Expectations into our Wildcat PRIDE. It is great to see Wildcat PRIDE being talked about and part of the culture in each of our schools. Below is the latest and final video on Empathy. Thank you to all the students who volunteered to be on camera and thank you Mr. Cray and all the students who created the videos!

Check out the information for CATS (Cops And Teens Sports Camp) for students in grades 3-8. The camp runs at the MSHS July 5- July 28th on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11am. The camp is also looking for HS volunteers. If you are an HS student looking to volunteer go to the MSHS main office for more information.

Check out the flyer for all the other great things that go on during CATS Camp. Thank you to Lt. Nixon and the WBPD officers who make this program an annual success!

As the end of the school year approaches we want to thank all of our staff and students for their hard work and dedication this year. We hope everyone is able to relax and enjoy their summer. Spend time with your families and enjoy your time away from school. We will be sending emails and posting on social media sometime in July as to important dates for 7th grade and new student orientations and sports registrations for August.

We had a beautiful night on May 27th at Graduation honoring the Class of 2022. We are so proud of all of our graduates and wish them well (picture taken at Friendship Park across from the Howard School during Grad Walk)

Hello Howard Community,

I want to say thank you for your collaboration this year. It has been great getting to know your children. I believe the school year was full of learning opportunities, collaborative moments, and relationships were established. Over the summer, I will communicate through the Howard School webpage, Twitter, and Facebook for next year's opening month events and other information pertinent to school. Our end-of-the-year survey will be sent at the end of June. I appreciate your feedback and will use it for future planning. I hope you have a great summer!

Some important dates coming up are:

6th Grade Celebration - Monday, June 13th @ 11:30

5th Grade Picnic - Tuesday, June 14th

Last Day of School - Thursday, June 16th, Dismissal is at 11:30

Thanks to the PTO, students in grade 3 have taken their coding skills to the next level using Dash Robots. Dash is a responsive robot packed full of capabilities that allow it to interact with students, their environment, and each other. Kids can watch their virtual coding turn into tangible learning experiences in real time as Dash interacts with and responds to its surroundings. Students can program Dash to do anything from reacting to the sound of a clap to performing a victory dance to detecting and avoiding obstacles. Dash encourages students to continue building critical thinking, creativity, communication, and collaboration skills.

Parents, Starting July 1, you will have limited access to Aspen as we work on transitioning to the new school year. Be sure you download copies of report cards before this date. If you need assistance logging into Aspen, please email jcollins@wbridgewater.com

Congratulations to third graders Isobel Dwyer, Henry Flynn, and Leilani Vallee-Hollister who won the Rotary Club Essay Contest. Students were asked to describe how they meet the expectations of a Rotarian. Rotarians define themselves as truthful and fair, builders of goodwill and friendships, and willing to do good deeds for others.

The kindergartners had a great visit to RLM! They visited the grade 1 teachers, saw the specialist classrooms, played a quick game with Ms. Roberts and Ms. Maloney in the gym, and had snacks in the cafeteria.

Kindergartners were excited to walk to the Public Library last week to receive a new book thanks to the West Bridgewater Reading is Fundamental program (RIF).

This summer there will be Orientation Programs at different schools. Families will be contacted with specific information. As of now, we have the following scheduled:

• August 25th for the 4th and 7th-grade orientation programs (timing will avoid conflicts).
• Preschool orientation is on August 31st
• Kindergarten orientation program will be on September 1st.

Much more information will be sent out over the summer! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to reach out to the schools.

Congratulations and best wishes to our retirees! Thank you for all your dedicated years of service to the students and the entire West Bridgewater community. Our students have been so fortunate to work with you. We will miss you and wish you the best in the future!

• Francine Sheedy - Spring Street School
• Laurie Howard - Middle/Senior High School
• Al Pina - Middle/Senior High School

Check out the flyer for the WB Athletic Boosters Golf Tournament scheduled for Monday, June 20th at the West Bridgewater Country Club (formerly River Bend) There is still time to register to play, as well as to become a tee sponsor or donate a raffle item. This is always a great event and it raises a lot of money for the WB Athletics program.

Wow, I can't believe we are finishing up another school year! I want to wish everyone a fun and restful summer!

Congrats to our Spring Sport teams! Below are some highlights from the season!

The girls tennis team had a great spring season. We had many new girls learning and improving every day. The highlight of the season was our win against a tough Norton team on our Senior Night. I'm very proud of all our girls and can't wait for next season!

The boys tennis team has had a phenomenal season so far as they won the MAC with an undefeated conference record and qualified for the state tournament as the 7 seed for the division 4 state wide tournament. We played a very challenging non conference schedule including Mansfield, Apponequet, Dighton Rehoboth, Dartmouth, and Silver Lake. The boys played in the round of 32 today at WB and beat Joseph Case High School. They advanced to the round of 16 which will be played Friday, June 10th, 4:00 PM at the WBMSHS tennis courts. Good Luck!

The girls track and field team finished 6-1-1 on the season and tied for second overall in the league. We had 10 League All-Stars and sent 9 girls to the D6 Championship Meet.

The boys track and field team went 6-2 overall, finishing 3rd in the league. We had 2 League All-Stars, sent 5 boys to the D6 Championships, and set 2 school records this year.

The Varsity baseball team finished its season with a final record of 8-12. We managed a 6-2 record within our Mayflower League Comprehensive division making us Co-League Champs. We were a young team, composed of mostly Sophomores along with (2) 8th grade starters so the future looks bright for our program going forward.

The JV Baseball team had a fantastic season. The group has shown great growth over this year offensively, defensively and as a team. They have key wins over tough Westport and Tri-County teams. While they have also answered the bell when playing very strong Southeastern and St. John Paul II teams. It is great to see their support of each other grow throughout the season whether they are up or down in the game.

The varsity and JV softball team came into this season with some questions about pitching. 7th grader McKenzie Craig offered some great pitching to the varsity team while 7th graders Haylee Krawkowski and Brianna LaGrange provided some great pitching for the JV team. The JV team was full of energy and dedicated themselves to getting better every game and practice. The varsity team was defined by never giving up. In the final playoff game, they were down 0-5, but they scored 3 runs over the last 3 innings to put a scare into the 4th rated team in their division. Both teams give a great amount of hope to the future of West Bridgewater softball.

As one season/year comes to an end another begins!

For those students entering grades 7-12 (2022-2023 school year), below is some important information regarding WB Athletics for this coming school year:

**ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS MUST ATTEND: Athletic Informational Night on August 30th. This is for ALL seasons, not just fall sports. More information to follow.

**The FamilyID Registration Portal is OPEN! Attached is the Flyer that has been sent out to all students and families entering grades 7-12.

**Link to register for a WB Athletic team:

https://www.familyid.com/west-bridgewater-middle-senior-hs-activities-and-fees/west-bridgewater-2022-2023-west-bridgewater-athletics-registration

Start date of the 22-23 Fall/Winter/Spring Athletic Seasons:

*Tryouts/practices for the FALL season will begin on August 19, 2022 for Football and Golf. All other sports begin on August 22, 2022.

*Tryouts/practices for the WINTER season will begin on November 28th, 2022.

*Tryouts/practices for the SPRING season will begin on March 20, 2023.

Again, I hope everyone has a wonderful summer and I will see you in the fall! Please feel free to email me with any questions, jhammel@wbridgewater.com

Take Care and Go Wildcats!!

Ms. Hammel

School is out, free meals are in, summer is on!

Summer Eats livens up every kid’s summer by filling their bellies and filling their days with activities that get them out, up, and moving.

Administered by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Summer Eats sites across the state provide free meals to all kids and teens, no identification or registration required. Caregivers can rest easier knowing meals are off their hands, and use that time and energy to focus on everything else on their to-do list. There are no sites in WB but several in surrounding towns and more sites will be added over the next couple of weeks.

Summer Eats

Will breakfast and lunch be free for all students next year? The Massachusetts House Ways and Means Committee came out with their FY23 budget proposal a few weeks ago and it included support for universal free school meals in Massachusetts for School Year 2022-2023. However there is a long process to go as the Senate will be coming out with their FY23 budget version later this month and it remains to be seen if it will also include funding for universal free school meals. A final state budget will not be signed until July after the legislature decides on a final budget and the Governor has submitted vetoes.

Please check out the Wildcat Write Up Newsletters below for more information. These newsletters are full of great information for WB Families!

As West Bridgewater’s Special Education Parent Advisory Council, we had an incredibly successful school year! In September, we kicked off the year by hosting tables at all four curriculum nights to spread word about our mission of building inclusive schools and communities. In October, we welcomed Angela Ferrera for our first workshop of the year: Special Education Basic Rights & Meaningful Parent Participation and we continued our parent workshops into November with Inclusive Friendships: A Workshop for Families with and without Special Needs with inclusion consultant, Lisa Drennan. We rounded out 2021 by celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities with our annual Inclusion Matters’ Rock Your Socks fundraiser on December 3rd.

In January, we hosted IEP and 504 Chats and February brought more focus on IEP participation with Nothing about Us, Without Us: Designing On-Ramps for Our Kids’ Inclusion in IEP Team Meetings. We welcomed Brennan Srisirkul in March and Rue Kream, Rowan Kream, and DJ Young in April with two workshops focused on the importance of diversity and embracing different abilities. In May, we provided support and funding for the West Bridgewater Public Schools Literacy Night and we called on the Inclusion Matters community to nominate West Bridgewater’s inclusive educators with our annual Grant of Gratitude. Congratulations Mrs. Reed and Ms. Maloney.

Now in June, we’re calling on you… If you’d like to help make Inclusion Matters the best it can be, contact us for ways to get involved!

The next Coffee Hour with Mr. Bodwell will be in September 2022. Thank you to all who were able to attend any of the meetings this year. If you were not able to attend we hope to see you next year. Next year we plan on having in-person meetings. The location is TBA

Sydney Craven Memorial Fund in East Bridgewater. We are 1 month away for our 6th Annual Tutu Run and SparkleFest on June 18th at the Commercial Club in East Bridgewater.
There are funding scholarships for students within the Bridgewater communities.

Mark Bodwell, Superintendent of Schools

Email: mbodwell@wbridgewater.com
Website: www.wbridgewaterschools.org
Location: 2 Spring Street, West Bridgewater, MA, USA
Phone: (508) 894-1230
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wbridgewaterschools
Twitter: @WBPSwildcats