Morning Quiet Time

In an effort to provide options for our students as they arrive to school each morning, we will now offer Quiet Time in our Lecture Hall. Instead of going into the gym, students who are not eating breakfast may bring a book to read or material to study and take advantage of Quiet Time. We hope that this will encourage students to not only read more but also to better prepare for their academic day. A teacher will be available in the Lecture Hall and will serve as a monitor. We must emphasize that this is Quiet Time so disruptive students will not be allowed to remain. We hope that many of our students will take advantage of this special time and use it to ease into their day! Our wonderful new library is now open for student use, so please encourage your child to check out a book and join other readers for Morning Quiet Time.

Williams Middle School PTSA

I hope to see everyone on Thursday for our PTSA meeting! We will meet at 6:00 pm in the middle school library. The meeting will feature "Math Night" where our math teachers will share some of the engaging activities from their classes. They will also address math skills needed for various classes and answer any questions that you may have.

Additionally, we will be accepting nominations for our 2010-2011 PTSA officers. Please be present if you are interested in holding an office next year. Elections will take place in March. Hope to see you all on Thursday!

School Safety

Today I met with all students in grade-level assemblies to review our safety procedures and to address the issue of bullying. The students were quite receptive. I appreciate that several parents attended the meetings as well.

It is unfortuate that we have a number of students who engage in bullying and harassing behaviors. This was addressed during the assemblies. Our guidance counselor, Dr. Grimaud advised students of their options if when they feel uncomfortable with the way other students treated them. We encouraged students to treat others as they would like to be treated and to not take matters into their own hands.

Keeping our school safe requires all of us working together. Soon, students will begin working with teachers and myself in our School-Wide Attention to Tolerance program. Look for more information about this in the coming weeks and months. As always, please let me know if you have any concerns about safety or other issues.