Williamsburg - Grizzlies/Coyotes

[Anonymous]

I can’t believe there are only 2 teams! I think there were 4 when my kid was there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I work there. It is solely a student numbers game and staffing issue. APS did not provide staffing for three teams, so there is one regular team and one larger team. Some teachers are split subjects to accommodate the enrollment. That’s it. Don’t read too much into it. This has happened in the past. We have too many students for two regular teams but not enough for three.

What do you mean teachers split subjects? The same teacher teaches both math and science?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a rising 6th grader at Williamsburg.

At the orientation, we were told 6th grade class broken up into Grizzlies and Coyotes. But it was not an even split of 150-150.

We asked how the grade is broken down into the two groups, but the answer was vague.

Why is one group planned bigger than the other? What factors are considered?

Get used to poor communication from the WMS Administration. That’s the issue that you should be worried about, not the team your kid is on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is new to the school and doesn’t know how the school divides kids, since it isn’t half and half.

The school was not clear.

PPs seem not to know either but still criticizes a parent for wanting to understand a new school.

She can ask the school.

[Anonymous]

I opened this because of the title. The content of the thread is really disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I opened this because of the title. The content of the thread is really disappointing.

Same. I thought it was like Next Door and I thought someone saw a coyote again. I was getting ready to get agitated that there were Grizzly Bears wandering around the neighborhood, LOL.

[Anonymous]

The other middle schools have these groups, too. They are just as vague, other than that they try to truly balance these groups to make them equal in composition and numbers.

We did not hear that one group was only going to have the pre-algebra kids - this does not seem realistic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I opened this because of the title. The content of the thread is really disappointing.

Same. I thought it was like Next Door and I thought someone saw a coyote again. I was getting ready to get agitated that there were Grizzly Bears wandering around the neighborhood, LOL.

+1. I truly thought people are worried about the actual animals (some time back there were sightings), lol!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I opened this because of the title. The content of the thread is really disappointing.

Same. I thought it was like Next Door and I thought someone saw a coyote again. I was getting ready to get agitated that there were Grizzly Bears wandering around the neighborhood, LOL.

You are quoting me and these were my exact thoughts. We have had a bunch of black bears and some coyotes. I wanted to see what was up with grizzly bears. I love the next door posts of random animal sightings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The other middle schools have these groups, too. They are just as vague, other than that they try to truly balance these groups to make them equal in composition and numbers.

We did not hear that one group was only going to have the pre-algebra kids - this does not seem realistic?

They gave up on teams altogether for 8th grade. It became undoable with the new advanced classes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is new to the school and doesn’t know how the school divides kids, since it isn’t half and half.

The school was not clear.

PPs seem not to know either but still criticizes a parent for wanting to understand a new school.

She can ask the school.

What’s so bad about asking other parents?

Also OP there’s a WMS parent FB group, suggest you join.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It really comes down to how many kids are in different math classes (e.g. taking alg vs pre-alg vs math 6). You can't possibly get an even number.

It's not some hidden method.

Perhaps not hidden but definitely not explained at all since the vague WMS answer did not include any mention of math.

Does that mean all the pre-algebra kids are placed together as either a Grizzly or a Coyote?

No, each team has at least one section of pre algebra. No clue why the teams aren’t the sane size. Might have to do with sped as they need those kids grouped together for small groups, etc. I’d think that they are roughly the same size and a lot bigger than last year’s 6th grade class. 270 vs 240, I think. I didn’t see any new teachers added, so expect close to 30 kids in each classroom except TA which is around 15 and PE which is 1/2 the 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a rising 6th grader at Williamsburg.

At the orientation, we were told 6th grade class broken up into Grizzlies and Coyotes. But it was not an even split of 150-150.

We asked how the grade is broken down into the two groups, but the answer was vague.

Why is one group planned bigger than the other? What factors are considered?

Get used to poor communication from the WMS Administration. That’s the issue that you should be worried about, not the team your kid is on.

What exactly do we need communication about?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is new to the school and doesn’t know how the school divides kids, since it isn’t half and half.

The school was not clear.

PPs seem not to know either but still criticizes a parent for wanting to understand a new school.

She can ask the school.

It really doesn’t matter. Coyotes have core classes with coyotes, etc. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP is new to the school and doesn’t know how the school divides kids, since it isn’t half and half.

The school was not clear.

PPs seem not to know either but still criticizes a parent for wanting to understand a new school.

She can ask the school.

What’s so bad about asking other parents?

Also OP there’s a WMS parent FB group, suggest you join.

Nothing,other than people commenting that the parents don't seem to know for sure.
The school should know, right?
Besides, teams in MS are the norm across the County and they are generally teams of the same components. It isn't so much about kids being grouped as teachers being on teams and working/coordinating together.
Parent can ask for the explanation - a better of one she will receive than from here- at BTS night or via a phone call or email to the administration. No mixed messages or snarky comments from DCUM to sort through and still end up wondering what their kid's team assignment "really" means.