Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year! We are thrilled to welcome back our returning 7th and 8th graders, and we extend a very warm, enthusiastic welcome to our incoming 6th graders as they join the middle school family. This is going to be an incredible year of growth, discovery, and new experiences for everyone.

Empowering Student Success: Policy Refinements

To ensure a supportive, clear, and highly focused learning environment, we have refined several key academic guidelines for the upcoming school year. We view these updates as fantastic tools to help your child thrive. Here is a quick look at how we are setting our students up for success, with further details available in the policy document located in the quick links.

• Celebrating Mastery in Grading: Final grades will now shine a bright spotlight on what students truly know and can achieve. Summative Assessments (such as projects, essays, presentations, and tests) will make up 90% to 100% of the final grade, giving students excellent opportunities to showcase their hard work. Formative Assessments (like daily practice and homework) will serve as a low-stakes, supportive space to learn and make mistakes, accounting for just 0% to 10% of the grade.
• Proactive Credit Recovery: We are deeply committed to ensuring no student falls behind. If a student experiences a challenging nine-week period, fails to make academic progress, and thus earns a failing grade on a report card, we will temporarily swap an elective course for an immediate, dedicated credit recovery program. This ensures they receive the focused, personalized attention they need to get right back on track.
• Inspiring Originality & Digital Integrity: To help students develop genuine critical thinking and pride in their own voice, all digital assignments will be safely housed directly within Google Classroom and Google Docs. While generative AI tools are wonderful tools to help spark brainstorming, we are encouraging students to let their own unique creativity shine through by ensuring all final work is beautifully original.
• Tailored Support & Advanced Opportunities: Our dynamic Flex Period continues to offer fantastic, targeted small-group intervals to boost math and reading confidence. Simultaneously, we have streamlined our pathways into Honors and Accelerated courses, making it easier and more automatic for students to step into beautifully challenging environments based on their strengths and achievements.

If you have any questions regarding how these updates will benefit your child, please reach out anytime at [email protected].

Strengthening Our Partnership

One of our primary goals this school year is to communicate better with parents and guardians. We know that student success relies on a strong, seamless bridge between home and school. To make communication more collaborative, streamlined, and accessible, we will be utilizing Parent Square this year! Keep an eye out for onboarding details so you can easily stay connected with daily celebrations, teacher updates, and exciting school events.

Every Day Counts: The Gift of Attendance

As we strive for academic excellence, regular attendance is the absolute foundation of your child’s success. We want to remind both parents and students that “Chronic Absenteeism” works out to just about 2 absences a month. Missing even a couple of days a month quickly adds up, and we don’t want your student to miss a single moment of the wonderful community and learning happening in our classrooms. Let’s work together to build strong, consistent habits that set them up for a lifetime of success!

We are incredibly optimistic about the journey ahead. Together, as a dedicated community of students, parents, and educators, we will make the 2026-2027 school year our brightest and most rewarding one yet!

Go Knights!

Sincerely,

West Holmes Middle School Administration