West Genesee Intermediate School

Dear WGIS Families,

Wow! The 2024-2025 school year was great for all of our WGIS Wildcats! As I was walking up the sidewalk during arrival on Thursday morning, I was trying to remember doing the same thing on the first day and the first thought that came to mind was how much all of these faces I was greeting have changed (and have grown taller!) over the past 10 months. The most consistent aspect, thinking back to September, are the smiling faces and laughing with friends.

As the school year closes, we enter a brief period of reflection before jumping into preparing for next school year. Next years preparations have actually already started with our staff meeting in committees during June to discuss and brainstorm ways to make our WGIS student experience even better. We have focused on 4 key areas: WIN time and academic interventions and extensions, making the most of our dedicated recess time next year for each team, finding new ways to celebrate our students through Positivity Paws and our Wildcat Weeks, and finally creating more family engagement opportunities for students to bring families into the building to show off their hard work! These are all initiatives that are being driven by our staff who collectively want the very best for every single student at WGIS!

For now, I leave you with a congratulations. Congratulations to all of our outgoing 6th graders for 2 fantastic years and WGIS and for helping shape our building and make it a community. Congratulations to all of our 5th grade students for a great first year and for being up for the challenge of being our leaders next year when our new class comes in to be part of WGIS - they are going to be great partners in this building!

And finally, congratulations to all of our WGIS families for another successful year of growth with their children. Our students cannot be successful without support from home. That is not always easy and it is often difficult whether students are working through academic or social problems. I hope you can all take a moment and celebrate the hard work you have done collectively as families to support each other through this school year. We made it and we are all stronger now than we were in September!

Thank you as always for your continued support for all students at WGIS. Best of luck to our 6th grade families at CMS next year and we look forward to seeing our 5th grade families back in the fall! As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Have a great summer!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

One week left and it is going to be hot! Luckily, with air conditioning in our building, we will be ready to finish strong! The "real feel" temperature is forecasted to be well above 95 degrees on Monday and Tuesday which will force our 6th grade celebration inside on Tuesday afternoon. That will not stop the fun or celebration for our 6th grade students as we send them off in style to Camillus Middle School!

A reminder that next week we have full days of school on Monday and Tuesday with half days on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday June 26 is the last day of school for students. It seems like this school year has truly flown by and it was indeed a great year for our WGIS Wildcats!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

The countdown has begun! Our teachers and students have had a phenomenal year and while we are not quite finished, the end of another special school year is coming into focus! Students and teachers have much to accomplish in our final days and will be working on skills right until the end.

Next week, we have a 4 day week. There is No School on Thursday in observance of Juneteenth. The following week, we have full days on Monday and Tuesday (June 23-24) and then half days on Wednesday and Thursday (June 25-26). We have many celebrations sprinkled through these final week to recognize and acknowledge all of the students hard work this year!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Another great week at WGIS! We had our 6th Grade Greek Olympics event on Wednesday and ended with Team 5-1 and 5-2 having their Wax Museum today! Our 6th grade string students will be having a recital tonight (June 6) at 6pm at WGIS to officially close out the week.

Now that we are in June, it can seem like it is a race to the end, but I would like to reinforce that we are still covering important topics and skills in class each day and ensuring that our students are ready to move on, whether that be to 6th grade here next year, or move on to CMS as 7th graders. Attendance each day is still of the highest priority to ensure our WGIS students continue to learn and grow.

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Our Wildcats had a great week full of our PTA Book Swap (make sure to ask your child about their new book!), Wildcat Olympics and ending it with our Team 5-5 Wax Museum! Students and staff alike are ready to enter the final month of the school year and finish strong!

Next week, we will wrap up our evacuation/fire drills for the school year. The weather looks good and we are going to take advantage of it! Another important event that comes to our school this month is a partnership with the McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy center. They will be coming into the building over the course of June to discuss important safety topics with students in team presentations. Parents have an opportunity to join a zoom session on June 2, 2025, provided by McMahon Ryan to best support entire families. Please find the information for that below.

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

WGIS had a lot going on this week! We welcomed 4th grade classrooms into the building to ask our current students questions and get a tour of the building. At the same time we had our 5th grade Wax Museums start up with Team 5-3 and 5-4! On Wednesday, our 6th Grade travelled to watch the Syracuse Mets game. Everyone had a great time and represented WGIS well with kindness and enthusiasm!

The fun for us is just beginning! When we get back from the 4 day weekend, we will be enjoying the PTA Sponsored Book Swap, more Wax Museums (Team 5-5 on Friday 5/10) and WG WIldcat Olympics! There is something for everyone here in the building and our students are doing some fantastic work!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Things continue to move faster and faster towards the end of the year! All of our WGIS students are showing up every day, putting in the work and making progress with their learning. Our goal is to maintain that momentum all the way through June!

Next week, we will have some special visitors with 4th grade students coming up to visit WGIS, take a tour and ask questions of some current students. This is a great opportunity to gain a "sneak peak" at all the great things happening in this building. Our 6th grade students are also ready to go see the Syracuse Mets play on Wednesday! We have 5th grade wax museums, and Greek Olympics happening in the next few weeks as well! With all of these events going on, I encourage you to keep an eye out on ParentSquare for team and building updates.

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Thank you to our awesome WGIS PTA for capping off teacher appreciation week with a delicious lunch and different gift baskets for our teachers and staff! Our staff at WGIS is so committed to our communities students and your acts of support and kindness are very much appreciated!

We are hoping that our weather dries out over the weekend so we can get students back outside next week. We were unable to hold our fire drill this week due to the weather but we will try again next week if the weather cooperates!

Also, report cards have been released and have been available for review. My apologies for not mentioning that in my correspondence home but if you have not already, please login to SchoolTool to view your students report card. If you have any questions regarding their progress, please reach out to their classroom teachers.

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Spring break has arrived! I hope everyone is able to enjoy our week off to recharge and prepare for the "homestretch" of the school year! What a year this has been so far and we are excited to keep up our momentum through April, May and June!

This week, our students were hard at work with our NYS ELA tests. Students did a fantastic job coming in and taking the test, and were then able to enjoy the rest of their day! Today (friday), we had a celebration of everyone's learning with different stationed activities in our special area classrooms and fun activities in their teams! We promise to work hard every day, but we also know how to have a great time celebrating our accomplishments!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Message from the Principal-April 4, 2025

Dear WGIS Families,

Today, we had our 3rd lockdown drill of the school year. The students all did a fantastic job following our safety protocols and making sure that all would be safe in the case of a true emergency. Please take the opportunity to ask your student about their experience. We stress to students that the most important thing to remember is to remain calm and quiet so they can hear directions from the adult in their space.

We have one more week until we hit Spring Break! Next week also brings our NYS ELA testing on Wednesday and Thursday. Students will take that test in the morning both days and then run a modified schedule the remainder of the day. Once we finish our testing on Thursday, we have a fun day planned for Friday to celebrate our achievements and get ready for Spring Break!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

We had a great week at WGIS this week! We had students competing with other schools with our Battle of the Books and earning a spot in the next round, our 3v3 basketball tournament after school as well as gains in the classroom! We are getting closer to Spring Break with just two more weeks of classes.

Next week, students do not have school on Monday. Teachers will be working on professional development topics to prepare for the remainder of the school year. After that we have NYS ELA testing the following week on April 9th and 10th. We will also hold another lock-down drill next week to review these important protocols with staff and students. More on that below in the newsletter.

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Another exciting week at WGIS! This week ended with our Genny Palooza for 6th Grade on Thursday and 5th Grade on Friday. What an event of fun for all of our students! I want to thank our PTA for putting this great event together and especially all of our volunteers! We could not do all of these great kids events without their help! It is never to late to join the PTA so if you would like to join and contribute to the events left later this year, see below and reach out!

Next week we have a 3v3 basketball tournament happening, and the following weeks contain a Superintendent's Conference Day (no school for students 3/31), NYS ELA testing and in 3 short weeks, we will be on Spring Break! It is amazing how fast this time of year goes by!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

Dear WGIS Families,

Things are starting to pick up momentum here at WGIS! We have an action packed March which is a perfect way to bring in Spring in a few weeks! We know this time of year is full of exciting snow thaws only to be followed by a new coating of snow, but we are getting closer to warmer weather! With that, please make sure students are appropriately dressed for the cold so we can get outside as soon as possible!

Coming up next week, we have our St. Baldrick's event on Friday during lunch periods. We have several students as well as staff preparing to "Brave the Shave" for a great cause. WGIS has already met and surpassed our goal of fundraising $10,000! We cannot wait to celebrate as a building and share with you all after next Friday's festivities!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum

We have one week left in our first semester! As we wrap up our first semester next week, we will be focused on looking at data from our universal screening that all students have participated in over the last 2 weeks to plan out how we can best support all students the second half of the school year.

At home, the best support you can give is encouraging students to pick up a book and read, as well as encouraging them to do their best everyday, and making sure they are attending school every day. All families were provided with their child's attendance status so far this school year and will continue to receive updates throughout the year.

While being present everyday is our goal, we know that missing 10% or more of our school days is considered being "chronically absent" and has a significant impact on a students ability to be successful in school. This is something we frequently remind our students about here in the building but it takes the full partnership of home and school to make sure all students reach their full potential. If you are struggling at all at home with attendance, please reach out so we can help!

Thank you for your continued support for all students at WGIS. As always, please reach out if you need anything.

Be Kind-Work Hard-Think BIG!

It's a great day to be a wildcat!

Mr. MacCollum