January 26-30, 2026 Dear Weston Middle School Community, Happy Friday! We wanted to introduce a new Week Ahead digital format for you today. As we continue to work to create the most user friendly communication we can, we hope this format is easy to read and provides you with important information about our school. February is a busy and enriching month at our school. We anticipate celebrating Black History Month with a special assembly for students on February 12th, and we have our second No Place for Hate Activity on February 24th. In the middle of the month is winter break. We are also going to get in the habit of including articles, tips, book study texts, videos, etc. for parents monthly in our newsletter issues. Some articles will be specifically geared to raising adolescent students and some may be geared to the academic and community work we are doing as a school. For this month, there is a short article with practical tips for parenting in the digital age. It's called Kids & Tech: 12 Tips for Parents in the Digital Age. Some framing questions you can use to read the article include: - What are our family’s expectations around screen time, device locations, and online behavior? Are these expectations clear and consistent for our child? - What messages do our own phone or screen habits send? Are there times we can intentionally unplug together as a family? - Does our child feel comfortable talking to us if something online feels confusing, upsetting, or unsafe? How can we respond in ways that support honesty rather than fear of consequences? Kids & Tech: 12 Tips for Parents in the Digital Age Kids & Tech: 12 Tips for Parents in the Digital Age In a world where children are "growing up digital," it's important to help them learn healthy concepts of digital use and citizenship. Parents play an important role in teaching these skills. Outgoing link icon healthychildren.org Important Upcoming Dates January 27 -Holocaust Remembrance Day January 28, 29 - NWEA Math Assessment January 30 - Report Cards Available January 30- February 1 - Short Wharf Musical February 4th - Eighth Grade Transition Night for Students and Parents at WHS 7:00 PM (Snow Date: February 5th) February 6 - Early Dismissal 11:45 February 12 - Grade Level Assemblies, Black History Month February 16-20 - Winter Break, No School February 24 - No Place for Hate, Activity 2 Ninth Grade Transition Information The following LINK contains information from WMS administration to eighth grade parents about the transition process. It contains important dates and a timeline of the process. Bricks and Mortar Bricks and Mortar is a newsletter from Superintendent Erica Forti that contains updates and important information about Weston's facilities. Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 27th Students in grades 6,7, and 8 will be participating in special events on Tuesday, January 27th to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. Grade 6: Students will be meeting with Marc Fontaine, a Weston resident, and learning about stories of survivors. Grade 7: Rabbi Michael Friedman will meet with students and share the importance of symbols. Grade 8: Students from the Weston High School Jewish Student Union will share a documentary that they created from an interview with a Holocaust survivor, and what Holocaust Remembrance Day means to their generation. Short Wharf Theater - The Addams Family Musical - January 30-February 1 The Weston Middle School Short Wharf Theater is bringing the not-so-spooky, but very kooky, production of "The Addams Family" (Young@Part®) musical to the stage later this month. Fun for all ages, the show features beloved characters Gomez, Morticia, Pugsley, Wednesday, Uncle Fester, Lurch, and Thing - along with new characters who are outsiders to the Addams and their values. Students have been hard at work on the show since October, and it's nearly show time. Performances will take place in the auditorium at Weston High School on - Friday, January 30th at 7:00 PM - Saturday, January 31st at 3:00 PM - Sunday, February 1st at 3:00 PM The show runs approximately 90 minutes, with an intermission. Tickets go on sale shortly and can be pre-purchased online or at the door. We have very talented students. This is a great family friendly opportunity to come and support them. Parent Talk Join us for this special talk on helping your child with Executive Functioning Skills. It's co-sponsored by the WMS and WHS PTOs and will occur in the WMS library. Yearbook Reminder The last day to order a WMS Yearbook is Tuesday, January 27th. Click HERE to order the yearbook. Don't remember if you ordered one. Click HERE and then click "Already Placed an Order?" and enter your email address. Team Landing Pages This link is to team landing pages for each of our six teams. It is a great hub for team based information about homework and team news. Reminders Chromebooks We will not be loaning out Chromebooks to students who forget their Chromebook at home anymore. This is due to a lack of extra Chromebooks. Please remind your child that they should be bringing their Chromebook back and forth between school and home every day and should be fully charging their Chromebook each night. Drop Off / Pick Up Please remember to use the drop off/pick up line in the back of the school at arrival and dismissal. The parking lot across the street from the front of WMS is for juniors at the high school to park. Scenes from WMS English Eighth grade Trailblazers engaging in a character to character competition for the book The Outsiders. Transitioning to High School Eighth grade students learning more about English classes at WHS with English CIL Amy Holmes. Social Studies Sixth grade inventors participating in their civilization simulation. Robotics in Action Click to play: IMG 1011 Click to play: IMG 1013 Jason Bluestein's picture Jason Bluestein Jason is using Smore to create beautiful newsletters