Good Afternoon Walton Families,
We have had a wonderful start to the school year. We thank you for the preparing your students for a great year and for sending them to us daily.
The first week of school is often filled with going over the details of procedures and protocols and we have done much of this, but we have also dedicated time to building strong relationships within our community through games and activities designed to break-down hesitation and to help get to know each other better.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:
School supplies will be available at tonight’s Monticello High School Football game versus Chavez Charter School. The game starts at 7:00 PM and school supplies will be available at the gate. Even if you are not attending the game you can stop in for some school supplies.
We did want to make you aware of some procedures and expectations that we have reviewed with students this week:
The Walton Way-We are Safe, Responsible, Respectful, and Learning: We have framed our discussions with students around these concepts, which we believe are essential for developing middle schoolers into the adults that they will eventually blossom into after high school. We also believe these are essential elements of our community. These concepts have been shared with students, reinforced with examples and through practice opportunities, and will be reviewed often. We will continue to reinforce these by giving students Paws, which they can earn for demonstrating community values in an extraordinary way or through consistent positive behavior. Students started earning these this week and will be able to redeem them for prizes each month. We look forward to reinforcing the Walton Way throughout the year.
Laptop Bootcamp-Students started working through Laptop Bootcamp this year, which takes them through lessons around procedures with their laptops, internet safety, laptop care, organization, and leveraging their laptops for learning. Students should complete these sometime next week and will be able to take their laptops home at this time, provided they have their technology agreement signed by a parent or guardian and themselves and have submitted this to the office.
Transportation: Since day two our buses have generally been running on time. We would like to remind you to continue to allow five minutes before and or after the posted bust stop times to account for traffic or other situations on the road.
Dress Code: The dress code here at Walton Middle School is meant to keep everyone focused on learning. Our aim is to have a dress code that allows students some freedom and choice, without distractions. The dress code is as follows:
Students who do not follow the dress code will be asked to change or will stay in FOCUS until a parent/guardian can bring a change of clothing. In general. Students are asked to wear clothing that is respectful of the fact that they are in a public setting.
- Shorts, skirts, and dresses should fully cover student buttocks, when standing and sitting.
- No plunging necklines, backless tops, or vests without shirts will be permitted.
- Clothing should cover up students’ undergarments, this includes camisoles being worn as undershirts, as they cannot be easily distinguished from other under garments.
- Hats, visors, head coverings are permitted in school. A teacher may, however, request that students not wear hats in his or her classroom. Fish hooks are not permitted.
- Pajamas and bedroom slippers are permitted only on organized, school-sponsored “Spirit Days”. Otherwise, students should not wear these items to school.
- ·Clothing or buttons with words, pictures, or innuendos imprinted that suggest vulgarity, racial slurs, obscenity, and gang symbols or gun/alcohol/drug/tobacco use are not permitted.
Join the PTO!
We would like to remind parents that there is an open invitation to the Walton Parent Teacher Organization (PTO). PTO meetings will occur five to six times throughout the year and are a great way to connect with other parents while working to serve the greater Walton community. Additionally, PTO will send representatives to Parent Council, which meets monthly and is a district committee of parents, school administrators, school staff, and district administrators. This is a great way to learn more about what is happening across ACPS, while serving the Walton community. We currently have one parent serving on parent-council, but we are looking for one or two more to serve on a rotational basis. If you are interested in the PTO or Parent Council please contact Josh Walton at jwalton@k12albemarle.org.
Upcoming Dates:
August 30 and 31-MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) Testing in Math classes
September 5-Labor Day Holiday-NO SCHOOL
September 6-9-MAP Testing in Language Arts classes (Reading and Language Usage)
September 9-Dance 4-6 p.m.
September 15-Back-to-School Night 6:30 p.m.-8 p.m.
If you should have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.
Have a great weekend!
The WMS Administrative Team
Josh Walton, Principal
Sherica Jones-Lewis, Assistant Principal
