Feb. 16 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope everyone is enjoying your February Break.  I would like to use this opportunity to share with you some recent photos of the constructions and to update you on the progress made of the McCall expansion project.  These photos are supplied by Flansburgh Architects, the firm that designed both the Phase I and Phase II of expansion.

Exterior photo shows the masonry lifts in place that will be used by the masons to install the brick and precast headers over the windows - similar to the E Wing on the right.

Beige brick used to compliment the cast stone base of the E Wing. This will be used under the arcade only - similar to how the cast stone is used on the E Wing. The brick above will all be red similar to the E Wing.

Corner classroom at the second floor

Ground floor corridor looking back towards the E Wing. There will be lockers filling up each side.

Feb 9 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to thank everyone for making arrangements to take care of your children last Monday afternoon so our staff can have the opportunity to take part in professional development sessions. There were multiple opportunities offered for Winchester educators on a wide variety of topics that afternoon aligned with our district and school goals.  For example, McCall teachers worked on creating Performance Based Assessments (PBA) for science courses and learned about effective ways to give feedback to students through PBA’s. Many other teachers attended sessions related to Social Emotional Learning (SEL). Those topics included a session on helping dysregulated students in the classrooms, supporting stress and anxiety at school, as well as learning about how to implement the RULER approach through its four anchors.

Many of you are familiar with the Charter and the Mood Meter - the first two RULER anchors. The Charter is about helping us think about the feelings we want to experience at a setting and determine what behaviors we should exhibit in order feel those emotions.  The Mood Meter promotes self-awareness by teaching us how to identify our feelings and helps us think about what information those feelings are giving us.

Some of our staff members are now progressing toward the third RULER anchor which is the Meta-Moment.  SEL is not just about helping us be self-aware; it is also about teaching us what to do with the feelings we have and how to regulate our emotions so we can achieve success.

The Meta-Moment anchor includes three important concepts which are Pause, Best Self, and Strategize. Learning how to Pause is critical when we encounter challenging situations that bring out strong emotions so that we do not respond in manners that we will later regret. Best Self helps us visualize the person who we aspire to be and think about how that person would respond to the difficult situation we are currently in.  Lastly, Strategize helps us  access the tools we have learned so that we can be that Best Self we want to be. Those tools can include deep breathing and take a water break.  The diagram below summarizes the key concepts of a Meta-Moment.


 



I am also attaching an article here by Marc Brackett, the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and RULER guru, titled "Feel like you’re about to lose it? It could be a good time for a Meta-Moment".  In it he talks in detail about what it means to take a Meta-Moment.

Lastly, I would like to thank the following parent volunteers Beth Lepore, Jason Paragas, Colleen Tifrhalt, and Reza Jalinous who came to help chaperone Friday night’s 7th and 8th grade dance.   It is always a joy to see students be free of the typical pressures of a middle school day and have fun with their peers.  We could not create these opportunities for our students if we do not have your support.



Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week.




James Lin 
Principal 
McCall Middle School

Feb. 2 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope you are well. The winter months of a school year can feel like a slog for many of us for a variety of reasons. This is a time that we may see an increased level of irritability or incidents of outbursts of emotions from our students.  Many of these behaviors may be manifestations of stress. The word stress is often used in our community, and I find that there are times we are not on the same page about what this term means. Therefore, I would like to take this moment to share with you how we define this word at McCall and what can be done to support students who are overwhelmed with stress.

Stress is a feeling we get when we encounter challenges, demands, or even threats. Stress is often seen as something negative that needs to be reduced or eliminated. However, stress is really a neutral term. How we respond to stress can be positive or negative. For example, stress can help us to focus our energy to overcome challenges. If a person does not feel stress, he or she may be “chilling” all the time, and this approach will prevent them from being a productive individual. Our response to stress can be negative. For example, if stress causes a person to shut down or lash out instead of focusing on the task at hand, he or she will also be an unproductive individual.

Therefore, our goal with students should be helping learn how to manage stress instead of eliminating stress. Our work with Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and RULER speaks to this. Like stress, emotions and feelings can be pleasant or unpleasant.  They are neither good nor bad. Our goal should not be about creating an environment where students have pleasant feelings all the time; instead, we should be teaching them how to interpret the information that their feelings are telling them and how to use that information to adjust their emotions and reach their goals. This is what we mean when we say we are teaching students how to regulate their emotions.

One of the consultants who work with us reminded me that it is important to differentiate between soothing a student and teaching a student to self-regulate. Soothing is a short-term solution to coping with stress. It does not help students learn how to overcome challenges. For example, if a student is feeling stressed about preparing for tomorrow’s test, allowing them to take a break may get them to feel good for a short amount of time, but it does not help them fully prepare for that challenge.

I am attaching an article here about how to help students de-escalate when they are overwhelmed with stress. The strategies the author discusses are about helping students regulate as opposed to just soothing them. I also shared this article with our teachers because the target audience is educators. However, I think parents and guardians will also find the information to be useful when you are helping your children cope with everyday challenges that bring them stress.

On a separate note, I would like to remind everyone that the 7th/8th grade winter dance is scheduled for this Friday from 7:00-9:00 pm in the McCall gym. We are looking for parent volunteers to help chaperone the event. I encourage you to sign up here if you are able to support this effort.

Lastly, I would like to congratulate Mr. Danny Doucette on his retirement. Mr. Doucette is our head custodian, and he has decided to hang them up after thirty plus years of service to McCall Middle School. His last day was this past Friday.  Danny's brother, Mr. Phil Doucette, is also a custodian at our building. When I asked Phil what will be different after Danny leaves, he said, “I will miss talking to him and seeing him every day.” I think we all feel the same way. We all will miss seeing Danny and talking to him every day.

Thank you and enjoy the week!


James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School

Jan. 26 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to begin by wishing everyone who celebrates the Lunar New Year a happy Year of the Rat. The rat, according to the Chinese zodiac, is the first in the rotation of the twelve zodiac animals, so rat years are often seen as a time of new beginnings. Chinese astrology is very much in tune with the elements of the natural world such as Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal. 2020 is associated with the element Metal so this particular year is the year of the metal rat. Metal symbolizes success since it represents production, and rats are often seen as curious and resourceful animals. Therefore, I am looking forward to a new year of trying new things, and one filled with growth and accomplishments.

I also want to thank everyone for making the time to come and attend the parent-teacher conferences this past week. I would like to remind everyone once again that the meeting times are designed to be short and intended to be a time for check-ins with your students’ teachers. It is not designed to be a time to hold in-depth conversations with the teachers about your student’s progress. You may walk away from the conferences with more questions than answers, and if that is the case, I recommend you to reach out to the appropriate staff to set up additional time to conference with them and further discuss your questions or concerns. Please do not forget that Page 15-16 of our Student Handbook provides you with guidance regarding which staff member to contact for the types of questions you have. I recommend you review that information if you are unsure who to contact if you to get the answers you are looking for.

Lastly, I would like to share with you a resource page our guidance counselors have created to support middle school parents. It contains helpful information regarding how to support middle school students with executive functioning and anxiety management. The link to the webpage is included here. I hope you will take a look at it when you have a moment.


Thank you and enjoy the upcoming week!


James Lin
Principal
McCall Middle School

Jan. 19 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well.  It is nice to have a long weekend to be away from our usual work responsibilities, but it is also important for all of us to remember that the main reason that Monday is a national holiday is to give us the opportunity to honor the life and work of Dr.  Martin Luther King, Jr.  McCall Middle School, just as other schools and organizations in Winchester, have used this holiday to teach and reinforce with our students the values such as service and equality that MLK has come to symbolize.  The following are some of the lessons and activities McCall students have taken part in or will continue to participate in during this month.

This past Friday, all 6^th graders assembled in the auditorium to view a video on MLK.  Social studies teachers followed up with a lesson on equity and held discussions with students about how discrimination manifested itself throughout our country’s history.  During their World Language classes, students were asked to think about words that come to mind when they reflect on the work of MLK.  They then were asked to connect those English words with the adjectives and other vocabulary they learned this year to describe themselves and other individuals.  In science classes, students studied the biology of skin color and discussed the fact that even though all of us appear very different on the outside, we are more alike than different in the inside.  

In seventh grade English, students connected the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with the year-long theme of Resilience that they have been studying.  Students read MLK’s Blueprint speech,  viewed the documentary Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot, and reflected on the resilience exhibited by MLK and his colleagues during the Selma march for freedom and other civil rights protests.

In eighth grade English, the lessons on social justice and equity students have been taking part in while studying literary works such as Warriors Don’t Cry, Blended, and All American Boys, naturally connects to the values exhibited by MLK that we want all students to learn.  Our eighth graders will continue to study the roles young people played during the civil rights movement by watching clips from Eyes on the Prize and taking part in group discussions and journaling.

Lastly, I would like to wish our 8th grader Adam Lubomirski the best while he represents McCall Middle School and Winchester and serves as our Ambassador in the Launch and Service Day organized by Project 351 this weekend in Boston.  Project 351 is an independent, nonprofit organization created to promote youth leadership and service.  Each year Project 351 asks each of the 351 Massachusetts cities and towns to nominate an 8^th grade student to take part in an one-day celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  This weekend Adam will join state leaders such as Governor Baker and other 8^th graders from all across the state to participate in various community service activities.  I am looking forward to finding out what Adam will be learning and how he will bring back what he has learned about service learning to McCall.

There are many 8^th graders who exhibits qualities to be this year’s Project 351 Ambassador.  I thank Ms. Edenhofer, the district’s Service Learning Coordinator, and our 8^th grade staff for putting together a selection process and making the difficult final decision of selecting one Ambassador out of the many qualified 8th grade 8^th grades.

Thank you and I wish you all a great weekend!

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

Jan. 12 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope everyone had a good first week back from vacation.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that we will be holding parent conferences on the afternoons of January 21 - 24.  All four days are student half days with dismissal scheduled for noon.  There is no school on January 20.

Ms. Lavoie sent out an email to all parents and guardians detailing the conference sign up process as well as other logistic matters related to those four conference days.  I am attaching that letter here in case you missed it.  I would like to reiterate that the conferences are meant as a time for you to check in with your student’s teachers about his or her progress.  It is not meant for you and the teachers to hold an in-depth discussion about your child.  Therefore, the amount of time allocated for each conference is short, and the teachers will not be able to extend their conference time slot with you during those afternoons.

If you find that you are unable to get all your questions answered or all your concerned addressed within the allocated conference time, we ask you to schedule a follow up discussion with the teachers for a later date.  Please know that not all teachers will be available to schedule a face-to-face meeting time with you shortly after the conferences, therefore, I ask you to consider options like scheduling a phone call or use email to communicate with the teachers.

Please also remember that the four parent conference days are not the only time for you to connect with the teachers.  You can reach out to them to schedule a meeting at any time.  You can check in on your students’ progress by scheduling a conference call or email each teacher as I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

I thank all of you for your cooperation with this matter and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School

Dec. 15 Update

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well.  I would like to begin by thanking the MPA for organizing the annual Holiday Cookie Bash for the McCall staff this Wednesday morning.  Thank you to everyone who contributed goodies to this event.  We really appreciate the treat and the holiday spirit this event brought to the entire McCall building.

I would also like to thank everyone who wrote to show support for the school and me in light of the most recent graffiti incident.  It is important to remember that these acts of hate are not just words painted on a wall or comments that were made in jest.  They cause harm to people who have faces, names, and feelings.  However, it is also important for us to remember that this act is not just about me and my race.  We must reckon with the difficult question of why racist behaviors and all forms of bigotry are happening at all.

This past week I met with our Team Leaders, members of the Student Wellness and Acceptance and Inclusion Committees about how we can effectively address these issues with our colleagues and our students.  We are working on creating an approach that would help our students grapple with the complicated issues of equity, social justice, and activism in a manner that is proactive and consistent.  We have to make sure we are not always responding to acts of bigotry, and that we are not relying only on “one off” activities that may lead students to think that racism is over and dealt with after they take part in that one activity.  Instead we are working on figuring out how to actively teach all our students about what prejudice is and how to respond to all acts of hate.  I see racism and all forms of prejudice as cancer.  The treatment has to be consistently delivered and we have to follow up on it from all angles.

Just like many of you, McCall faculty and I are appalled that racist behaviors like the one we experienced last week is still happening in today’s world.  However, it also is motivating us to improve and expand our practices so we are ready to help our students grapple with these complicated challenges.

Thank you for your continued support.

James Lin

Principal

McCall Middle School