It’s a Great Day to be a Tiger!
ACADEMIC PROGRAMMING Students and their teachers are working together to achieve mastery of grade level standards. Teaching and learning is hard work which has been made even more difficult by the COVID-19 global pandemic. Students in the state of Mississippi missed the last nine weeks of the 2019-2020 school year. WMCSD students started the 2020-2021 school year in a hybrid schedule which means a student attended in-person classes on Monday and Wednesday or on Tuesday and Thursday with the other days being “virtual” with paper and pencil or computer assignments. After the first nine weeks of that year, WMCSD returned to face-to-face daily instruction with the use of strict COVID-19 protocols. Although there were some small group quarantines, we never had to quarantine a whole building or even a whole grade of students. We thank our students, families, employees, and community members for supporting us in these efforts which have given our students some normalcy in an otherwise uncertain world.
There are two weeks until Thanksgiving Holidays - November 22-26. Students and employees will return to school on Monday, November 29.
OPERATIONS Your Tiger Football team defeated Byhalia in a 52-0 win Friday night. The Tigers are moving on to the second round of the playoffs. This Friday, November 12th at 7:00pm, WMCSD will host the game against Noxubee County at Tiger Field. Tickets will be available at the gate for $8.00. Please come out and support the Tigers.
Your Tiger Basketball teams will play several times this week. Junior High will play Monday at East Webster. The High School Teams will host Water Valley Tuesday, before going to Ethel on Thursday and North Panola on Saturday. The Winona High School Cross Country team won the Division last week and competed in the State Meet on Monday November 8th.
Two news buses were delivered last week. We are excited about being able to put more new buses in the fleet for the comfort and safety of our students and drivers. These buses release fewer emissions and are better for the environment.
COMMUNICATIONS WMCSD welcomes parents and values their input in their child’s education. If you are having an issue that you think you and your child’s teacher can work on to help your child be more successful in school, please contact your child’s teacher. To get the most out of a parent/teacher conference, the National Education Association and National Parent Teacher Association recommend these steps:
Talk to your child before you go. Ask what issues he/she would like you to address. Or, if the concern is yours, explain why you're going and get his/her feedback.
Prepare questions in advance to help use your time wisely. You'll probably want to know how well your child gets along with others, if he/she participates in class, what his/her mood is like throughout the day, and what his/her best and worst subjects are.
Dress appropriately. Casual workplace attire is best.
Be on time. The teacher probably has meetings before and after yours.
Stay calm even if you're nervous about your child or angry about something that happened during class. You don't want to assign blame before you get all the information, and you don't want to put the teacher on the defensive. Rather than say, "I think your homework policy is misguided," try saying, "My son is having a problem with your homework policy. I'm afraid we don't understand its purpose. How can we solve this problem?"
Be forthcoming about what's happening at home that could affect your child at school. Let the teacher know about any medical conditions (such as ear infections or chronic asthma), emotional difficulties (a grandparent's death or the birth of a sibling), or sensitive information (an impending divorce or financial problems – though you can certainly ask the teacher to keep this information confidential).
Be prepared to talk honestly about your child. The teacher might want to discuss your child's behavior, personality, and interests at home. If the questions seem intrusive or personal, ask the teacher to explain why he/she's asking for the information. He/she probably just wants to better understand your child.
Make a follow-up plan. If you're meeting with the teacher to solve a problem, ask for specific suggestions on how to help at home. If your child is complaining about difficult work, for example, the teacher might offer ways you can help him/her catch up.
Don't stay past the scheduled meeting time. If you have concerns that you weren't able to address during the conference, schedule a follow-up meeting at your mutual convenience.
If you're unsatisfied with the meeting, tell the teacher you'd like to meet again with him/her and his/her immediate supervisor. If you'd rather meet with his/her supervisor alone, let the teacher know that's what you plan to do. Being open and diplomatic about your intentions will go a long way toward building good will.
HEALTH AND SAFETY WMCSD currently has no students or teachers quarantined. This is outstanding news. We have surveyed WMCSD employees and parents to gather opinions regarding any changes to COVID-19 protocols. Changes may be phased in or start immediately upon announcement and changes back to the original protocols may occur without advanced notice. Decisions are based on MSDH and CDC guidance and local data.
*Keep in mind that the protocols for quarantine and/or exclusion from the school setting will remain the same.
TECHNOLOGY With the use of technology comes great responsibility that many students and parents are not prepared for. We encourage parents to monitor their children’s devices regularly.
Stay healthy and choose joy! We are TIGERStrong!