Nov. 22 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are well.  It seems a little odd to think about giving thanks during a year that is filled with so many challenges.  However, Thanksgiving is ultimately about expressing gratitude, so I feel compelled to reflect on what I am grateful for these past few months.

I am thankful that every day I can see students in the building even though it takes me a moment to figure out who said hi to me because they are all wearing masks.

I am thankful that I am able to be with students and hear the “middle school things” they have to say to me.  For example, there is an 8th grader who enjoys the school lunches so much that he feels compelled to give me in depth descriptions of each meal he has eaten.  There is a sixth grader who somehow always finds me during the day so he can share a fun fact he has read on the internet.  Lastly, I enjoy hearing a 7th grade student describing the system she has put in place to help her determine which mask she would wear each day she is in school.

I am thankful for the resiliency that the remote teachers are exhibiting when they have to manage Zoom and other technical issues that are beyond their control and to figure out on the fly class management issues they never had to contend with during in-person instruction.

I am thankful for all the in-person teachers and staff who have to put aside their worries about contracting the virus and put forth their best efforts to ensure they are delivering the best instruction possible.

I am thankful for members of our administrative team and every teacher and staff member who has volunteered their time to cover classes and take on additional duties because we are short staffed almost every day.

I am thankful for our nurses who are on duty every weekend to help with the contact tracing effort.  I am grateful for the fact they are willing to put themselves at risk every time they have to treat students with COVID symptoms.

I am thankful for our custodial and building services staff for working tirelessly to ensure every inch of our building is clean and disinfected and to maximize the limited amount of space we have to ensure we can accommodate as many in-person students as we can.

I am thankful for all our mental health professionals for supporting all our students and staff and helping them manage the additional levels of stress and anxiety that are created by the pandemic.

I am thankful for the McCall Parent Association and all the parents and guardians out there who continue to provide the school and its staff with financial and emotional support during this difficult school year.

I am thankful for all the parents and guardians out there who are working so hard to support their students during the at home days so they can access the teachers’ remote instructions and the asynchronous work the students have been assigned to do.

I would like to end by sharing this CBS News segment on offering thanks during the pandemic.  In it, a gentleman named Gabriel offered this thought to the reporter:

 

“I'm going to have an amazing Thanksgiving all by myself.  I will sit on a park bench, and I will think about the great Thanksgivings that I've had in my life and be thankful for them. One bad Thanksgiving out of 63 amazing Thanksgivings – that's pretty good odds. Maybe we should be a little more thankful for what we do have than constantly be complaining about what we don't have.”

 

The entire segment is included here. 

 

Given all the reports regarding the increased rate of infections across the country, it is likely our work educating the students will become more challenging before it becomes easier.  I think it is important that we continue to focus on what we are able to accomplish with the limited amount of resources we have as opposed to lamenting what we are not able to do with the resources we wish we have but are not available to us at this moment.

 

Thank you for your continued support, and I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving.

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School  

November 8 Update

Dear McCall Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to begin by wishing all members of the McCall community who are veterans of the United States armed forces and their family members a happy Veteran’s Day. This include McCall teachers Mr. John Gill, Mr. Larry Farelli as well our head custodian Mr. Phil Doucette and our School Resource Officer Officer Dan Perenick - all of whom have served in the US military prior to starting their current career with Winchester Public Schools. On behalf of the entire McCall community, we thank you for the services and sacrifices you have made for our country.

Please don’t forget there is no school this coming Wednesday due to the fact that it is Veteran’s Day. No Zoom sessions will be held that day.

I would like to take this moment to remind everyone of a few things.

• Although we had encountered a few cases where students had tested positive for COVID or were deemed to be close contacts and therefore had to undergo quarantine, the school community as a whole has been able to avoid a schoolwide spread of the disease and remain open. This is largely due to the fact that all staff, parents, guardians, and students have been vigilant in the participation in our mitigation efforts. It is important to remember not to let up on our work as we head into the holiday season when we are all tempted to travel and visit with friends and families. Please remember that the travel order that was put in place by the Governor in August is still in effect. Part of the order includes the requirement to quarantine after you return from higher risk states which include those that neighbor Massachusetts such as Rhode Island and Connecticut. I ask all families to please review the travel information posted on the Department of Health website (please click here) and take all necessary steps to do your part in order to keep all members of the McCall community healthy and safe. 

 

• Many of our teachers and staff members worked very hard this past summer to create Curriculum Overview documents for all the courses that are being taught at McCall Middle School. I would like to make everyone aware that this information is now posted on the WPS COVID website (please click here). These documents include helpful information such as the learning standards and essential questions that teachers plan to teach and include in every course McCall offers. I highly recommend families who plan to withdraw students from McCall for an extended period of time to review this information. 

 

• The holiday season can be a stressful time for families who are in need. I would like everyone to know that the Winchester Gives Back program is here to help all those who need assistance. Please review this letter to learn how to access this resource if you need support (please click here).

 

• Don’t forget that the McCall Spirit Wear sale held by the MPA is now taking place. Please click here if you are interested in purchasing cool clothing with Winchester and McCall logos.

Thank you, and I wish everyone a good week.



James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

 

November 1 Update

 Dear McCall Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are well. I would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of our teachers’ experiences with remote teaching and learning. One of the questions teachers often ask themselves is whether to require students to turn on their cameras while they are on Zoom. We understand some students are reluctant to turn on the cameras because they are conscious about their own appearances or how their background may look to others. However, it is also important to recognize the negative impact to the students’ remote learning experiences if they consistently attend Zoom classes without having their cameras turned on. For example, it is very difficult for some teachers – impossible for others – to properly provide feedback to the students without being able to see them. This is particularly the case for teachers who teach performance-based skills such as those in the music, physical education, and World Language departments. Those teachers have to be able to see the students do what they are being taught to do in real time in order for the instruction to be effective.

The other reason that teachers are encouraging students to turn on cameras during Zoom lessons is because effective instruction is often dependent on the relationship the students have with their teachers. It is very difficult for teachers to develop those relationships if they do not have important information that is conveyed through the facial expressions and body language of the students during instruction.

We are also finding that some students consistently have a hard time following the norms their teachers have set for their remote classes. Some examples of those incidences include students walking away from their Zoom sessions for long periods of time, family pets and younger siblings distracting the students and interrupting the entire remote lesson, and students zooming while in bed dressed in manners that are not appropriate for the school setting.

When establishing classroom rules and norms, I often asked teachers and staff to think carefully about what the underlying reasons are for putting them in place. In a world where it is so important all of us to be flexible, it becomes even more important for all of us to make sure we are not spending time and energy enforcing rules that really do not lead to the students attaining the learning goals we want them to achieve.

I understand the challenges of managing your students’ at-home learning at the same time that you are meeting the demands of your professional and everyday lives. When our teachers reach out to communicate with you about the challenges they are facing with your students’ remote learning, I hope I can count on you to understand what we are asking the students to do during remote lessons is truly important to helping them reach their learning goals. I hope I can also count on you to collaborate with our teachers and problem-solve through the challenges they face so that your students are able to learn as effectively as possible.



Thank you,

 

James Lin

Principal McCall 

Middle School