Fall Break!

I hope and pray that everyone has a safe and happy Fall Break! It's difficult to conceive that the first quarter of the school year is nearly over, yet here we are! The grading period ends on October 15th, after we return from the break. Report cards go home on the 25th.

Enjoy the break but check in with this blog for updates and announcements!

Autumn Chase Fun Run

On Tuesday, September 28th all students are invited to participate in the Annual Autumn Chase Fun Run! Any child, preschool through eigth grade, may run and receive a T-shirt. The one-mile fun run course is located at the Jaycees Building on the north end of the runway of the Old Huntsville Airport. Participants should enter the area via Airport Road on South Memorial Parkway and exit using Johnson Road and Leeman Ferry Road. There is no registration fee! Middle school boys will run at 6:20pm and girls at 6:30pm. Each runner will receive a T-shirt! On Wednesday, the day following the Fun Run, students may wear their T-shirt to school (with proper uniform bottoms). Students will receive registration forms in their PE classes and the forms should be turned in at the race. Hope to see lots of runners on the 28th! Go Hawks!

Join PTSA!

Earlier this month, we had our PTSA Membership Drive Kickoff meeting! In addition to promoting PTSA membership, we also highlighted our student athletes and coaches. What an exciting time to be a Williams Middle School Hawk! Our first football team went on to win our first game against Davis Hills Middle School! Please be sure to support our student athletes and of course join PTSA. Membership is $6 per person and students are encouraged to join as well. Membership forms are available in our front office.

In other PTSA news, we will begin our fall fundraiser this week. Student and parents are asked to participate as we sell $10 discount cards that may be used at a variety of local restaurants and stores. The PTSA will receive 50% profit! Please look for more information this week. Our goal is to wrap up the fundraiser by Fall Break. Top sellers will be eligible for $200 cash and a variety of other prizes. We appreciate your support! Go Hawks!!

Hawk Time

I believe that learning should be fun and engaging! This is especially true for middle school kids. Last year, we decided that we wanted to find time in our daily schedule for an activity period that would not interfere with instructional time but would allow our students to participate in learning activities/clubs during the school day. Hence, the creation of Hawk Time!

Beginning at 7:55 each morning, all students have to the opportunity for enrichment. Hawk Time classes include Chess Club, Debate Team and Book Club to name a few. Mondays and Wednesdays are reserved for the Hawk Time activity. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we Drop Everything and Read (DEAR Time) and Fridays are reserved for character education.

We look forward to hearing feedback about Hawk Time! Our Hawk Time is intended to provide enrichment activities while also allowing our students and teachers to develop positive relationships. Just another way that we want to "Link Learning to Life!!"

New Team Members

We are off to wonderful start of the New School Year and I am pleased to introduce to you our new WMS Team Members! Dr. Hambrick is our assistant principal and he has enjoyed meeting and greeting many our students this week. Ms. Garrett is our new English teacher and yearbook advisor. She is already actively involved in our school and as a military wife she looks forward to working closely with our children who are military connected. Officer Lehman is our new School Resource Officer. He is a welcomed addition to the WMS team and his top priority is to ensure that our students are safe. Mr. Pierce is our new 8th grade science teacher. He has an interest in forensic science and will certainly do a great job of challenging our students. Ms. Robinson teaches 6th grade science and she too looks forward to working together with the 6th grade team to include Ms. Bock our new 6th grade reading teacher. Our 6th graders are in store for a year of exploring exciting new learning oportunities! Ms. Jerkins is our wonderful new 7th grade math teacher and Ms. Williams is our new choir director. Both are excited to work with the students of Williams Middle School. Finally, Ms. Anderson is an excellent addition to our special education department. She and her team of assistants round our listing of new team members.

We welcome all of our new families as well and look forward to making this school year a success for all. Life's good @ WMS! We're Linking Learning to Life! Go Hawks!!

Welcome Back to School!

Ready or not, the First Day of School is here!! I am so excited about the possibilities that the 2010-2011 school year holds. Last week, we had our Open House and I believe that it was a great start to the year. Thank you to all who attended and we certainly look forward to working with you in the future. On that note, I invite any parent who is interested in serving in our PTSA to please email me your area(s) of interest and I will pass it along to our PTSA officers.

At our Open House, several parents had questions about bus routes. We were able to get some route information. Bus stops are usually at the nearest corner and the bus numbers should be the same as last year. If you are new to us, please let our office know if there is a problem after the first school day.

Students, get plenty of rest and we will see you tomorrow!

Go Hawks!

Greetings! I hope everyone is enjoying their summer break. I certainly enjoyed mine! However, it is now time to prepare for a new year. Our summer office hours are 8:30 to 2:30 pm. We have our PTSA Open House scheduled for August 5th beginning at 5pm for New Student Orientation (in the Lecture Hall) and Open House at 5:30 in the gymnasium. You will have an opportunity to join PTSA and meet our teachers, staff and administrators. Also, as a special treat we will have a performance by our Williams Middle School Lady Hawks Cheerleaders!

As a reminder, all students must be in school uniforms beginning August 9th. Please check our school website for the complete listing of our School Uniform Policy. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer and Go Hawks!!