We met our mentees for the first time on Friday. The first graders were so excited to meet their mentors! The smiles on their faces said it all. We hope to meet with our mentees again in the next two weeks. Following tradition, we will walk with our mentees during the Halloween parade.

Independent Study is an open block during which students can spend time working in small groups or independently on homework and projects or prepare for upcoming tests & quizzes. It is designed and scheduled as a time for students to get organized and reground themselves by reviewing their Google classroom and RenWeb to ensure they are feeling comfortable and confident across all classroom spaces. The Wednesday block is also commonly used to connect with their teachers to gain clarity, get extra support or connect as needed.

For the first trimester 6th, grade will have Independent Study twice a week:

Tuesdays: 2:15 - 3:05

Wednesdays: 1:20 - 2:10

After the first trimester, 6th grade will join the 7th and 8th grade schedule and have Independent Study once per week on Wednesdays.

The Middle School advisory program nurtures kindness, responsibility, respect, honesty, and adaptability across all our sixth through eighth grade students--our core values at Westerly. The goal of the middle school advisors is build strong personal connections with our students beyond the traditional classroom setting to help guide, provide perspective, balance, and build each student's independence, personal identity, and sense of belonging within an environment of empathy and trust.

Each Friday morning we meet in small groups to connect, share whats on our mind, play games, get organized, provide advice, organize projects, and more. 6th and 7th graders will be mixed in groups, while 8th grade groups remains with their class for their small groups. Each advisory group is different, as we aim to address the specific needs of each advisory group.

The advisors meet every 4-6 weeks to discuss our upcoming "themes" and share resources and activities to support our collective goals.

September & October we are focused on Community Building.

Advisory groups are posted in Google Classroom.

Independent Study is an open block during which students can spend time working in small groups or independently on homework and projects or prepare for upcoming tests & quizzes. It is designed and scheduled as a time for students to get organized and reground themselves by reviewing their Google classroom and RenWeb to ensure they are feeling comfortable and confident across all classroom spaces. The Wednesday block is also commonly used to connect with their teachers to gain clarity, get extra support or connect as needed.

For the first trimester 6th, grade will have Independent Study twice a week:

Tuesdays: 2:15 - 3:05

Wednesdays: 1:20 - 2:10

After the first trimester, 6th grade will join the 7th and 8th grade schedule and have Independent Study once per week on Wednesdays.

We start each Tuesday-Thursday morning with a RULER time block. RULER, which stands for "Recognizing; Understanding; Labeling; Expressing; Regulating," is a systemic approach to SEL developed at the Center for Emotional Intelligence. RULER aims to infuse the principles of emotional intelligence across all partners within a school community, informing how leaders lead, teachers teach, students learn, and families support students. Utilizing and building upon core tools including: the Charter, Mood Meter, Meta-Moment, and Blueprint, the RULER period is designed as an important space and time to check in on the emotional climate of the class and take small steps to building the 5 skills of emotional intelligence.

• Recognizing emotions in oneself and others

• Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions

• Labeling emotions with nuanced vocabulary

• Expressing emotions in accordance with cultural norms and social context

• Regulating emotions with helpful strategies

Fun fact: We use the same tools as a faculty and staff to measure and manage our own emotional climate and well-being!

Service Learning challenges middle school students to be innovators in their community. This new framework enables students to identify their personal passions and interests and then apply research, engineering, entrepreneurship, and collaboration skills to positively impact their greater community. Through focus on the humanities and science, the PREP Program (Passion, Research, Engineer, Present) requires students beginning in sixth grade to identify a social outcome about which they are impassioned, research the community’s needs, design and engineer solutions to the social challenges they have identified and researched, then reflect and present their findings.

Specifically in 6th Grade, students begin their work in identifying their personal passions and through writing, reading, reflection, initial research, students will ultimately identify a social issue to which they connect and learn more.