A Message from Mrs. Somerville

Dear Watkins Glen Middle School Community:

I want to take this opportunity to welcome you to the 2011-2012 school year. For many of you, it is “welcome back.” For our new students/families, it is a brand new journey filled with excitement and a little anxiety. To all of you, WELCOME!

Our Mission is to provide a safe and orderly environment that fosters positive, lifelong learning experiences and respect for individual differences. We have a number of programs in place for our students. Our staff is very supportive and always has the needs of our students in mind.

Academic preparation and personal development are the two purposes of middle level education. With that being said, middle school should also be a fun place for children to learn and grow. We want your child to be happy and successful at Watkins Glen Middle School and believe that you play a key role. That role is to continually show interest in and support for your child. The child who knows that his or her family is interested in and supports the school program will almost always have fewer problems in school and will enjoy greater success.

Here are a few things we have in place that enhance the educational experiences for our students

We offer a number of electives: History through Film, History of Sports, 3D Art, Graphic Art, Drawing & Painting, The Microscopic World, Band, Chorus and the technology resources are second to no other school in the area.

We have one full computer lab and the library has a small computer lab. Our technology is second to none with our students being the first students in the state to have their own personal handheld computers.

Our After School Program is filled with many activities and fieldtrips for our students. We have eighty students enrolled. This past year, these students had the wonderful opportunity to visit Boston, Massachusetts.

We hope that all parents will be actively involved in our school. We need parent leaders to serve on the Shared Decision Making Team and the PTO. If you are interested, please let me know.

We are looking forward to working with you and your children. Each staff member is deeply committed to providing a well-rounded and instructionally effective educational experience for each student. We sincerely believe that each child WILL succeed and all of our actions will be based on that belief.

As always feel free to contact me at the middle school with any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Kristine Somerville, Principal