Sunday, August 26, 2018

August 26 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope all of you are doing well.  I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to three new members of the McCall staff with whom you may interact during the school year.  They are Mr. Terry Sheehan (Assistant Principal), Ms. Mary Ellen Madden (Middle School Special Education Supervisor), and Ms. Lynn Vozzella (School Nurse).  Below are some information about these three colleagues to help you to get to know them.



I am Terry Sheehan and I grew up in Melrose.  I went to UMass Amherst where I majored in History.  During the summers in college, I worked as a deckhand for tour boats.  I was able to work full time on the boats in Boston while I was at UMass Boston getting my Master Degree in Education.  After teaching Social Studies for 11 years at East Middle School in Braintree, and completing a Master Of Education in Administration at Boston College, I joined the staff at Wilmington Middle School as an Assistant Principal in 2008.  I worked last year as an Assistant Principal at Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School.  When a similar position opened up at Winchester, I jumped at the opportunity to become part of the McCall staff.  I am looking forward to working with everyone as we get started this Fall.

I live in Medford with my wife, Debbie, and my two daughters, Aine, who will be starting 7th grade, and Julia, who will begin 5th grade.  I am a runner, albeit a slow one, and a die hard Red Sox fan.  

I can be reached at tsheehan@winchesterps.org if you need to contact me.





  

I am Mary Ellen Madden and I have been the Special Education Supervisor for Lynch and Lincoln Elementary Schools for the past 2 years.  Prior to working in Winchester, I worked in the Wilmington Public Schools for 13 years as the Special Education Team Chairperson. I bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise to my new role and is enthusiastic to be part of the McCall community. 

I can be reached at mmadden@winchesterps.org if you need to contact me.






My name is Lynn Vozzella and I will be the full time school nurse at McCall this year.  I am very excited and honored to have the opportunity to care for and support all McCall students.  I have been the Lincoln school nurse for the past ten years.  I can't wait to reunite with my former Lincoln students.  Before Lincoln I worked at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for 17 years on a medical floor.   I hope you all had a restful summer and look forward to a great year.  

If you need to contact me regarding any health issues with your child my email is lvozzella@winchesterps.org or you may call the health office at 781-721-7026.




In addition to these three new staff members, I would also like to welcome Ms. Allyson Hayden and Ms. Karen Coppola whose hiring was finalized this past week.  Ms. Hayden will be joining the faculty as the ELA Teacher on the 7th grade Marathoner Team.  Ms. Coppola will be the Science Teacher for the 6th grade Titans Team.  I would also like to congratulate Ms. Ann Marie Tan who was recently named the district's Service Learning Coordinator; therefore, she will be leaving her position as the Social Studies Teacher on the 6th grade Gemini Team.  We are in the process of finalizing the hiring of a new teacher to succeed her.

Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week!

James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School


Sunday, August 19, 2018

August 19 Update


Dear Parents and Guardians,



I hope this message finds you well.  I know your students are eagerly waiting for their team and homeroom assignments, and the time for them to access that information has arrived.  This year we will be disseminating this information through the Aspen Family Portal instead of sending home snail mail letters.  The instructions on how to use the Portal to access your students’ team assignments can be located by clicking here.  Many of the answers to frequently asked questions about the start of the school year can be found in this document as well.  I highly suggest you review it before September 5th.


If you have not taken the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) survey to let us know of your students’ device needs, please do so before next Saturday, August 25th.  The survey can be found here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DeviceNeeds.  Please also note that much of the information pertaining to the school’s BYOD Program can be found in the BYOD Letter which is posted on the school website.



Lastly, please note that we are offering the following three ChromeBook pick up times for families who wish to use school devices during the upcoming school year.  All ChromeBook pick ups will take place at McCall Middle School.  Please mark your calendars.



Thursday, Aug. 30 – 9:00-11:30 am

Thursday, Aug. 30 – 12:30-2:30 pm

Tuesday, Sept. 4 – 1:00-3:00 pm



Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week!





James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

Sunday, August 12, 2018

August 12 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope everyone is faring well through this stormy weekend.  So far the days at McCall have been busy but quiet given that students are not around.  Therefore, I am looking forward to having the incoming 6th graders at school for the next two weeks as the Great Expectations Programs will be taking place.  Please do not forget that I am holding Meet and Greet sessions tomorrow and next Monday at the end of the Great Expectations Program.  So I invite all incoming 6th grade families to come by and chat with me during those times.
I would also like to take this moment to fill you in on how I communicate with McCall families.  I maintain a Principal's Blog (http://mccallprincipal.blogspot.com/) which can be accessed through the school website.  I update it weekly to communicate updates, reminders, and other McCall happenings to the families.  I will send out direct emails to all of you to communicate need-to-know information.  I am hoping this communication practice will prevent your inboxes from being inundated by emails from the school or the district and help you separate “good to know” from “need to know” information.  Please note that you can subscribe to the Principal’s Blog by entering your email in the subscription box located in the right column of the Blog.  You will receive email notifications alerting you that the Blog has been updated.  Also, my Twitter handle is @jlin_principal for those of you who tweet.  You are invited to follow me to receive McCall updates through that medium.


Here are some more updates and reminders for the week:

Team and Homeroom Assignments – We will be sending home this information during the week of August 20th.  During the middle of last week, the Aspen Portal was opened briefly while we were getting it ready for the new school year.  Some students and families inadvertently accessed their team and homeroom information during that time.  Please know that the information they were able to retrieve during that window may not be accurate since our staff is still in the process of finalizing the students’ schedules.  At this moment, no students or families are able to access the Aspen Portal and you will receive an error message if you attempt to log in.  I ask everyone to exercise patience and wait until we formally notify you to access your homeroom and team assignment information.

Staffing Updates – We have quite a few teachers who will not return to McCall due to retirement or to accept opportunities outside of McCall.  I would like to introduce the following staff members will be joining us in September to replace the outgoing teachers.  Please join me in welcoming the follow faculty members:

Grade 8 Science Teacher (Gold Team) – Corinne Herlihy
Grade 8 Science Teacher (Silver Team) – Stephanie Noble
Grade 8 Science Teacher (Platinum Team) – Katherine Little
Grade 8 English/Social Studies Teacher (Diamond Team) – Lilly Benham
Grades 6-8 Special Education Teacher (Partnership Program) – Hannah Bjornson
Grades 6-8 Special Education Teacher (Connections Program) – Joie Vaughan
Grade 7 Guidance Counselor (Maternity Leave for Ms. Ashley LeBlanc - Olympians & Marathoners Teams) – Elena Pizzotti
Grade 6 Special Education Teacher (Titans Team) – Elizabeth Conlin
Grade 7 Special Education Teacher (Globetrotters Team) – Sarah Mutter
Psychologist (Leave of Absence for Ms. Alexis Cabral) – Rachel Cameron
Chorus/Music Teacher - Emily Sebastian
Part Time Technology/Engineering Teacher – Donna Giangregorio
Part Time Italian Teacher - Romina Crociani
Grade 8 Special Education Teacher - Sarah Chambers

In addition, Mr. Terry Sheehan will be joining the staff as the new Assistant Principal and Ms. Mary Ellen Madden will be transferring to McCall as the Special Education Supervisor after working the past two years in the same capacity at Lynch and Lincoln.  Lastly, I welcome Ms. Lynn Vozzella who will be replacing Ms. LaMuraglia as our full time school nurse.  Ms. Vozzella was the long time school nurse at Lincoln.

We are still in the process of hiring a 7th Grade ELA teacher for the Marathoners Team, a 6th Grade Science teacher for the Titans Team, and a couple of Teaching Assistants.  I am confident we will be able to fill all our openings with excellent candidates before the school year starts.


Thank you and enjoy next week!


James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School

Friday, August 10, 2018

Introduction

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather of August.  My name is James Lin and I am the new principal of McCall Middle School.  With the help of Mr. Goncalves, Ms. Lavoie, and all the McCall Staff members who are around during the summer, I have been spending the last four weeks getting myself settled into this new position.  I am proud to say I can now navigate from the school’s new BB wing to the third floor without getting lost, and I can also get myself to school and back home with limited use of my GPS.  Learning everything I need to know about McCall will be a long process, but it is one I am happy to take on with all of your support.

Before I provide you with some reminders about the upcoming school year, please allow me to introduce myself to you.  Prior to working as a school administrator, I was an 8th grade science teacher at Clarke Middle School in Lexington, MA.  I also taught math during my first three years at that school.  I left Lexington after ten years to become the Assistant Principal of Concord Middle School in Concord, MA.  After six years on that job, I decided to pursue my first principalship at Groton-Dunstable Regional Middle School in Groton, MA.  I served in that role for three years, and now I feel very fortunate to be given the opportunity to serve as McCall’s next principal.

I have three children.  The oldest one just finished middle school and will enter the high school in the fall.  My son is entering middle school age and will be a sixth grader in September.  My younger daughter will enter 2nd grade and is excited that she will be joining the big kids on the second floor of her elementary school.  My wife, like me, is a long time middle school educator.  She taught ELA for many years and now she is an 8th grade special education teacher.

The increase of Back to School sale ads we are all seeing on TV and print media tells us we should start thinking about the 18-19 school year.  Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to provide everyone with a couple of friendly reminders about the upcoming school year.

Change in Start Time – I am sure you are all aware that the McCall start time will be changing in the fall.  The official school day will now commence at 8:30 am, and the building will be opening for students at 8:00 am.  Please make sure you plan accordingly since the school will not be able to supervise your students if they are on school grounds before 8:00 am unless they make arrangements with a staff member ahead of time.  Please note that the Winchester Public School calendar is now posted on the school website and you can access it by clickinghere.  Along with holidays, early release days, and other notable dates, the document includes McCall’s regular and early release school hours.  Please take a moment to review it.

Summer Reading List and School Supplies Lists – Please remember that the Summer Reading List and the School Supplies List are also posted on our school website.  You can access that information by clicking here.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) – McCall Middle School will continue our BYOD program this coming school year.  Please make sure you review the BYOD Letter to Families sent out by Mr. Goncalves at the end of last school year if you have not done so yet.  Please note that in the letter we asked all families to indicate your willingness or your ability to provide your students with devices by completing a quick survey.  We ask all families to enter your information by August 25 so our staff has enough time to plan for our students’ needs accordingly.  You can access the Device Needs Survey by clicking here.  I will be sending out information before the end of the month about the Chromebook sign out process for those students who wish to use school devices for the year.

The Big Reveal – We are on course to mail home the Welcome letters, which will include your students’ Team and Homeroom assignments, during the week of August 20.  I will email you again with the exact date of the mailing.

Meet-and-Greet – I would like to invite all incoming middle school parents and students to come by McCall during the following times to visit with me.  I would love to have the opportunity to meet as many of you as I can before the school year starts.  If you are not available during the following times, please feel free to reach out any time to introduce yourself to me.

  • Incoming 6th GradeMonday, August 13, 11:20-11:45 am (at the end of the Great Expectations Program)
  • Incoming 6th – Monday, August 20, 11:20-11:45 am (at the end of the Great Expectations Program)
  • Incoming 7th and 8th – Tuesday August 21, 11:30-12:00 pm


Thank you and I will be communicating with you again once we get closer to the start of the school year.  I hope all of you will continue to enjoy your summer vacation!


Sincerely,


James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School