March 27 Update

 Dear McCall Parents and Caregivers,

 

I hope this message finds you well.  As you know, the student body submitted a petition advocating to amend the Locker Policy to allow for students to choose between using their lockers or their backpacks to me this week.  I am impressed with the fact that the students are taking the initiative to advocate for themselves and to do so with well thought out arguments.  I do not agree with everything that the students brought forth, but I do see this as an opportunity to make sure their voices are heard and to teach them about how to advocate for their needs in manners that are consistent with our processes, policies, and values

 

My thoughts about the petition are as follows:

 

Most of the concerns that the students raised in the petition are those many past students have experienced when they first transitioned to using lockers.  Those concerns include figuring out how to go to and from lockers to retrieve belongings in a time efficient manner, accidentally dropping belongings in the hallways, fitting large amounts of belongings into their lockers, and securing valuables in the lockers.  It is important for all of us to remember that lockers are new to our 6^th and 7^th graders.  Even our 8^th graders who learned how to use lockers two years ago are now out of practice with those skills.  They will need time to adjust, and they will need the teachers and staff to help them negotiate these challenges.  McCall teachers and staff are experienced with these matters, and I am confident they will assist the students now just like they have done prior to the pandemic.

 

Our Handbook currently includes a policy that requires students to store their belongings in their lockers.  Changes to any Handbook policies require the approval of the School Committee.  The process we follow is to first bring any policy change proposal to the School Council.  The Council determines whether to bring the proposal to the School Committee.  The School Committee will determine whether to bring the question up for discussion and then whether to vote to determine if the policy will be changed. 

 

My plan is to meet with the students who initiated the petition right before April Break.  This will give students enough time to adjust to using lockers and for our teachers and staff to help them overcome the challenges they are currently facing with this transition.  If the students inform me at that time that using lockers remains to be a major problem despite the support adults have provided them during these upcoming weeks, I will invite them to attend the April School Council meeting.  The Council can discuss at that time whether to bring this matter to the School Committee. 

 

The students did bring up some good points that we all should consider.  For example, how do we uphold the dignity of students who are biologically female and help them carry around menstruation products during the school day in a discreet manner if they do not have access to backpacks.  My hope is we can all work together to figure out how to better implement the policies that are currently in place instead of reverting back to the ways we always do things without considering students’ concerns or throwing away the policies only to have to endure the problems that they were designed to address such as hallway and classroom congestion.

 

I have written a response to the student’s petition.  It has been emailed to the students, and you can find it here.

 

I know several students who had trouble adjusting to using lockers had figured out how to use them effectively by the end of last week after a few days of practicing.  I am also certain there will be students who will need more time to sort all of this out.  I recommend you reach out to the teachers or the counselors if your student continue to struggle with managing their belongings with the lockers.  I am sure our staff will help your students as I mentioned earlier in this message.

 

Thank you,

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

March 6 Update

Dear McCall Parents and Caregivers,

 

I hope this message finds you well.  As Superintendent Hackett noted in his update sent out this weekend, the District is currently negotiating with the WEA, the teacher union, on the issue of making masks optional.  The day to make that transition has not come yet, so it is important to remind all students that although masking is no longer required in other schools or in other public indoor settings, it is still required when they are in McCall Middle School.

 

Although the decision about the transition to a mask optional learning environment is yet to be made, it appears the move toward that direction will be coming.  Therefore, I would like to share with you this Boston Globe article that I believe does a great job of outlining the complications about this transition for students and their families that you may or may not have considered (please click here). 

 

As the author of the article noted, many students may have little trouble adjusting to a mask optional environment.  However, some students will struggle adapting to yet another change.  I think it is important for adults to check in with their own students to probe their thinking and feeling about this this matter and not assume every child is feeling okay with this transition.  When the time does come for us to move to a mask optional environment, the message my staff and I will emphasize to the students are the following:

 

·      We all have different needs, and we may not completely know or understand what are driving people’s masking decisions.  Therefore, we should all remind our students to refrain from making judgments about other people’s decisions and pressuring them to take steps they do not feel comfortable taking. 

 

·      Our goal is to create an environment where everyone is free to make their own masking decisions.  Our goal is not to make everyone agree with or even fully understand other people’s decisions.

 

·      I also encourage everyone to remind students about the idea of intent versus impact.  For example, I can foresee situations where behaviors such as asking others about their masking decisions were intended to fulfill feelings of curiosity.  However, the way that the questions are asked and the persistent way those questions are being asked may create a negative impact on those who are receiving the questions.

 

Thank you, and I hope I can count on everyone’s support as we transition to yet another “new normal”.

 

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School