August 17, 2020

Hello, Waggoner Road Middle School families!

As promised, here is your Back to School Guide! This is a WRMS condensed version of the District’s Parent and Student Guide to Learning. Please read the guide thoroughly and keep it as a reference while we are out for online school. This guide will also be available online at www.reyn.org (under “SCHOOLS” select Waggoner Road Middle School) and on our Facebook page (like us at Waggoner Road Middle School.) The online version of this guide will include clickable links. For those of you who may not know, if a word is underlined and highlighted in blue, you can click on it and it will take you to another page to read. We will update our Facebook page and our school page on www.reyn.org frequently, so please check these on a regular basis.

Below you will find your student’s information. This will be referred to in this guidance document. Your student’s information is on the printed version! If you did not receive a printed Back to School Guide, please call the school (614-501-5600).

Student Name: Student Email: Student ID: Home Phone: Wolfpack/Homeroom Teacher: Team

Please check the phone number. If it is incorrect or if you have not been receiving phone calls AND emails from Waggoner Road Middle School in the last few weeks, please email our Secretary, Miranda Wallace, at mwallace@reyn.org with your child’s name, your name and your updated email address and/or phone number. All communication this year will be via email or phone. We will update the system immediately.

Students are assigned a team and a Wolfpack teacher. Each team includes an English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, a Math teacher and a teacher who teaches both Science and Social Studies. Intervention Specialists and English Language (EL) teachers are also assigned to some teams. Your child’s Wolfpack teacher is their homeroom teacher. Teacher assignments will remain the same all year, even when we transition to a hybrid or all-in model.

What do you need to do before the first day of school (August 24th)?

1) Make sure your Chromebook works and that you can access your team Google Site:

Your Chromebook may need to charge before your first use. They have not been actively charging this summer. After it has charged, please follow these directions:

● Log into your device using your Reynoldsburg credentials ONLY. Never log into the device with personal Google credentials.

● Go to the WRMS Portal (wrms.reyn.org) and locate your team’s Google Site● Your Google Meet information for the first day of school will be posted on your team’s

Google Site and emailed to parents.

If you ever experience technical difficulties, please contact Reynoldsburg IT at 614-501-1031 or email the help desk at helpdesk@reyn.org.

2) Enroll in each of your Google Classrooms (Math, Science, Social Studies, and ELA):

● Sign into your Chromebook with your Reynoldsburg credentials● Go to classroom.google.com (or click the link in the WRMS portal wrms.reyn.org)● Click the plus sign (+) to join your class (top right)● Enter the 1st class code

○ Class codes can be found on your team contact info (attached colored page). Make sure you enter the correct class code.

● Click the blue join button (top right)● Repeat for your other 3 classes.

3) Please make sure you have filled out forms: ALL forms for the school year (Emergency Medical Authorization, Media/Electronic Release form and parent acknowledgement of student handbook form) will be located in your student’s Google Site or can be accessed here. Please note that you must complete the form for EACH of your children who attend WRMS. You must be signed in with your student’s Reynoldsburg login for Google in order to access the form. The complete Student Handbook is here for your reference.

4) Have a Plan for Lunch: Each student day has an hour break scheduled for lunch and downtime. If you need to utilize RCS Food Services for lunch, please check the Food Services website and the Reynoldsburg City Schools Facebook page for the most up to date information. There will be daily meal pickup available at RHS’ Livingston Campus from 10:00am-1:00pm, Monday-Friday. The cost of meals will be based on your child’s meal status. If your child has been approved for free lunch, then these meals will be free. If your child pays for their breakfast and lunch you can still pick up meals and pricing is as follows: ● Breakfast costs $1.00 and lunch costs $2.25 (grades 1-4); $2.75 (grades 5-12). ● Reduced price meals cost $0.30 for breakfast and $0.40 for lunch.

If your family is in need of school meal benefits for 2020-2021, you must complete this application. If you received free or reduced lunch in 2019-2020, you still must complete the application again for this year. You must do so within the first 30 days of school.

What will a typical day look like?The remote learning experience for all RCS students will be different from what we experienced in the spring. We only had a few days to shift to remote learning in March but we have that experience to learn from and the summer to prepare for a more robust educational experience.

While remote, WRMS students will be engaged in their schoolwork from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.. The student day will begin with a class meeting to help get them set for the day, teach social-emotional skills, and establish community among the class. After the class meeting, students will move through 2 blocks of core academic content and 15 minutes of silent reading. All students will have lunch and a break from 12:20-1:20 before their final block of core academic content and 30 minutes of specials (rotating quarterly unless your child is in band, choir, or orchestra). The daily task list (posted on the team Google Site) will help students and parents know what needs to be completed each day but teachers will be going over all of the items in their class block. The day ends with a check-out form so that teachers can make adjustments for the next day. It is important to note that your student will have the same teacher for Science & Social Studies but they will work through a unit in one area at a time rather than having both classes each day. Attendance will be taken at all required log-on times. If your child is unable to attend a day/session, please email the teacher(s) and the office (mwallace@reyn.org).

On Wednesdays, teachers will participate in professional development so students will have an abbreviated day with independent work with teacher check-ins. Please see your student’s schedule (attached colored page) for more specifics.

The first week of school will be our traditional Camp WRMS. We take this week to focus on getting to know each other and building a strong foundation for a successful year. This week will follow a similar schedule but the focus will be on learning how to be successful with remote learning.

All students are expected to log in at 8:30 each morning. While students won’t be logged into Google Meet (our video conferencing tool) for their entire day (8:30 - 3:30), they will be required to log on at specific times for class meetings, lessons, and small group activities (your student’s schedule is the colored page attached to this document). Independent work will be assigned to students to complete.

Instruction may take place in 4 forms: 1) Whole Group Class Time with the Teacher, 2) Small Group Class Time with the Teacher, 3) One-on-One Instruction with the Teacher, and 4) Independent Work without the Teacher.

A typical class will include a warm-up and short lesson with the teacher before being “dismissed” to work on independent work while the teacher works with small groups of students. You can expect your child to work in a small group with each of their academic teachers at least 2 times a week.

Our school supply list can be found by clicking here. We have made some updates so you can see what is needed for virtual learning and what will be needed when we return to school.

What is your role as a parent during remote learning?

We are asking you to support your child’s learning but you should find that you’re able to have a more relaxed role than you did in the spring. We ask that you check out the Daily Task List on the Google Site and review your child’s agenda book each day. If your student is asking you for help on an assignment, encourage them to use the resources in Google Classroom to find the answer. If there are technical issues with the Chromebook, please help your student contact IT for assistance (614-501-1031 or helpdesk@reyn.org). Establish a workspace in your home for each student that has reduced distractions and is comfortable with an outlet nearby for their Chromebook. If you are present during a Google Meet session, remember that this is a special time for the teacher to connect with the students and provide instruction. We appreciate you being a quiet observer. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to the teacher via email.

We believe the following glossary will be helpful to you as we navigate remote learning:

WRMS Portal: By accessing wrms.reyn.org, students can access their team Google Site, Google Classroom, and all other online resources they may need.

Google Site: Every team has a Google Site. This is a website that will be the first place parents should go when they have a question. The Google Site will host the Daily Task List, helpful info and links for parents, contact info for teachers, and the team newsletter.

Daily Task List: The Daily Task List will be posted in the team Google Site by 8:30 a.m.. This provides a helpful overview of the day’s work for students and parents.

Google Classroom: All student work will be posted in Google Classroom. Students will be enrolled in a Google Classroom for: ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Specials. Parents do not need to access Google Classroom but are able to if they would like.

Google Meet: We use Google Meet for video conferencing. All students will be expected to utilize Google Meet daily and to adhere to our expectations for Google Meet Etiquette.

Google Calendar: Teachers will help students use Google Classroom to manage their Google Meet invitations and due dates for their classes.

Power School: Attached you will find a Power School letter. Power School is the program where student grades are located. Follow the directions to make a parent account so you can access your student’s grades at any time. If you have any questions regarding grades, please email the teacher for that class.

Specials: Most students have a quarterly rotation of specials: PE, Art, Music (5th grade), Global Market (6th Grade), and Design. 6th grade students had the opportunity to sign up for Band, Choir, or Orchestra in the spring. These are year-long specials so music students do not go through the quarterly rotation.

Agenda Book: All students are receiving an agenda book at Chromebook distribution. Teachers will work with students to help them track their daily task list, due dates, and to-do lists in their agenda books. We also encourage students to use their agenda books to help them manage any activities in their personal life (church, sports, etc.).

How will communication work?Expect frequent communication from your child’s teachers. If you have questions about academics, please contact the teachers directly for assistance. We have provided you with a page to hang on your refrigerator or keep handy somewhere which has contact information for your team of teachers as well as your student’s schedule. Please know that we welcome two-way communication as you are a partner in your child’s education!

Email: It is vital that we have a correct email address on file. If you haven’t been receiving updates this summer, please call the office or email mwallace@reyn.org to update your email.

Phone: Our teachers will spend most of their day on Google Meet with their classes and in small groups so they are not available to speak on the phone at all times during the school day. If you wish to speak to them on the phone, we encourage you to email them to set that up or you can call our office at 614-501-5600 to leave a message for them.

Text: Many of our teachers utilize a text messaging system through Google to reach out to individual parents as we understand this may be more convenient for some.

Class Dojo: We use Class Dojo to encourage important skills of students and communicate with families. Once we are back in the building, we have a Dojo Store where students can redeem their points for items. We will get you connected to your child at Meet the Teacher Night on August 20th as well as give you more information on how Class Dojo works.

Facebook: Follow us on Facebook for frequent schoolwide updates. You can like us at Waggoner Road Middle School.

Newsletters: Team newsletters will be posted every other week on your team’s Google Site and it will also be emailed. This newsletter will also contain updates from the office. You can expect your first newsletter on Friday, August 28th.

Podcast: Subscribe to our podcast, Waggoner Stories, to hear more about what is going on with our WRMS Wolves. Our podcast is a great way to stay connected. It is available on all major podcast platforms or you can subscribe by using the QR Code:

Social Emotional Assistance Form: Does your child need support with a social or emotional need? Does your family need assistance with food or clothing? Contact our Social Worker, Mrs. Taylor Dietrich, by completing this form. This form will also be located on your student’s Google Site.

Attendance and Participation: Students are expected to participate in instructional activities every day that school is in session. If a student does not participate in instructional activities, a non-participation protocol (Appendix D of the Parent and Student Guide to Learning) will be initiated. Attendance will be taken and documented each day as if your child were onsite.

If your child is going to be absent, you will need to call the school office and ❏provide any necessary documentation via email as you normally would. Teachers will assign makeup work as needed.

Have a conversation with your child daily about how they are participating in ❏their learning.

Be aware of potential communication coming to you in regard to your child’s ❏participation.

Student login and participation in online activities will be monitored closely ❏for attendance purposes.

Conduct During Participation: When participating in online activities, school policies and restrictions are to be followed related to use of appropriate language and dress code.

Report Absences to the Office:

Email: mwallace@reyn.orgCall: 614-501-5600Text: 614-642-8744Include the student’s first and last name along with the reason for the absence. If you do not report your child’s absence, we will call your contact number on file. If we do not receive a response after multiple attempts in a week, a home visit may be made. We know there may still be questions regarding what virtual school will look like. Please put your questions in this document by Thursday, August 20th at noon. Mrs. McCloud and Mrs. Snyder will address your questions in a video that will be part of Meet the Teacher Night.

Please join us for VIRTUAL Meet the Teacher Night on Thursday, August 20th at 7pm (login info below ↓).

Each team of teachers will host a Google Meet session with an interactive presentation beginning at 7pm to be followed by a meet and greet/question & answer session. This presentation will help answer the questions you have about expectations for remote learning and the 2020-2021 school year. If you have students on 2 teams, we will record all sessions for later review but you can also leave one session to join another. The content of the presentation will be very similar from team to team.

Each team has unique login info for Google Meet for Meet the Teacher Night. Please check Facebook for the links.

To Join: Tap the meeting link from the invite, enter the meeting code from your host here, or call into the meeting using the dial-in number and PIN in the invite.

Please mute your microphone once you are in the meeting and keep it muted during the presentation/until the teachers give more directions.

Reminder: Your Google Meet link for the 1st Day of School Class Meeting will post on your team’s Google Site. Be ready to log on at 8:30am on Monday, August 24th!

We are confident that even though this year is going to be different, we are ready to welcome, love, and teach your student! Please do not hesitate to reach out with questions throughout the year.

We look forward to a wonderful year!

Sincerely,

Dawn McCloud Katie Snyder

Dawn McCloud Katie SnyderPrincipal Assistant Principal