Dear WMS Families,

Let’s kick off Read Across America Day!

We are excited to begin our One School, One Book initiative today at WMS featuring When We Flew Away by Alice Hoffman. This novel explores the life of Anne Frank and her family before they went into hiding, and it gives our students a meaningful opportunity to connect personally with history, identity, and the importance of standing up to injustice.

Our goal is for students to read the book together as a school community. To help students stay on track, we are asking them to read about 60 pages per week, which will allow everyone to finish the book by April break. A reading calendar is provided below to help families follow along at home.

We encourage families to support this experience in any way you can. Some ways to participate include:

• Asking your child about what they are reading each week 

• Reading along together or listening to sections at home

• Talking about family history, stories, or connections to World War II or the Holocaust

• Sharing photographs, memories, or reflections that your child would be comfortable bringing in or writing about

• Visit the Anne Frank traveling exhibit on Community Night: May 19th from 6:00-8:30 

• Using the resources we will share to learn more about Anne Frank, World War II, and the time period

Throughout the project, staff, students and families are invited to contribute notes, pictures, or short stories that help us create a school display showing how history connects to our own lives.  If you would like to share your family's story please add it to the OSOB - Family & Community Stories folder

This book helps students understand that the people in history were real individuals not much older than they are today. By reading together as a school community, we hope to create meaningful conversations both in the classroom and at home. In May, all middle school students will also visit the high school to tour the Anne Frank exhibit, giving them the opportunity to connect what they read to real historical images, stories, and artifacts.  

Thank you for your support in making this a powerful learning experience for our students.

We would also like to thank Weston Education Fund (WEF), Weston Middle School and Weston High School PTO for their financial support in this initiative.

Sincerely,

Jason Bluestein

Principal 

When We Flew Away.pdf