September 6, 2026
Good afternoon Western Alamance Middle School families,
As a quick reminder, school will be closed for students and staff on Monday, September 7, in observance of Labor Day. I hope you enjoy the long weekend with family and friends!
Chromebook Insurance: Currently, only 9.77% of our students have purchased Chromebook insurance. That leaves just over 90% uninsured. The deadline for the initial purchase has been extended to September 11th. .
We strongly encourage families to consider purchasing this coverage. Please log in to Givebacks and review the information provided below regarding Chromebook insurance and payment.
PTO: Thanks so much for your support of WAMS PTO.
This is the last week to sign up to stock the lounge. Please see the sign up genius link below to sign up to donate items.
Clean out those closets and help us purchase a snow cone machine! We have partnered with Savers Thrift and Two Men and a Truck to collect gently used items. We get paid by the pound for the items. You may drop them off in the front office during office hours. If you use the pledge form below, you can get a 20% off coupon for in-store shopping!
stock the lounge link https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084BACAF2FA3FEC61-50855630-stock
What better way to celebrate your child's special day than with a birthday gram from the PTO? On Tuesday afternoon, students will bring home a flier with all of the details! Proceeds will go to fund snow-cones for the students each nine weeks! See the flier attached.
Yearbooks
8th grade only yearbook recognition valid until 10/30/26:
Show your 8th grade student how proud you are and create an Ad in the 26-27 Western Middle School Yearbook!
All Students - Reduced price of $40 is until 9/18/26:
It's more than a Yearbook, it's a collection of moments that define your year.
Join the Drama Club! WAMS Yearlong Drama club starts 9/17. The club will meet in Ms. BG's room (609 in Parrish Wing) every other Thursday from 4-5. We will learn acting techniques and skills, work on a small tech project and learn short monologues and scenes for a showcase at the end of the year. The club is perfect for anyone who is participating in a sport and can only come part of the time or part of the year! If interested please fill out this Google form
WAMS Theatre Presents auditions for the Musical School House Rock Live Jr
Rehearsals will be Every Tuesday and Weds in room 609 from 4-5:30
Auditions Sept 15 and 16 (you only need to come to one day)
Parent/Interest Meeting Sept 14 at 5:30 in room 609
First Rehearsal Sept 22 in room 609
Performance January 29 and 30th at Western Alamance High School
if interested please fill out this form
Free and Reduced Lunch Forms: Breakfast and lunch are not universally free. It’s time to apply for free and reduced cost breakfast and lunches. Families must reapply each year to receive continued benefits. Complete the electronic free and reduced lunch form for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Weapon Detection Systems: This year, all schools will have Weapon Detection Systems (WDS) in place. This is an added layer of security that will quickly scan students and visitors as they enter the building. We’ve put together some helpful information and a video of what the process looks like for our students. Take a look at our webpage for more information. All students will pass through the Weapon Detection System during the arrival process to school. The following video clip will give you a good idea of what it should look like on a regular basis.
WDS will also be used at athletic events; anyone planning to attend an ABSS athletic event must enter through the main entrance and walk through the WDS.
Here Comes the Bus: Is your student a bus rider? ABSS will be implementing the “Here Comes the Bus” app to help track students as they travel to and from school and get updates on delays and expected arrival times. We anticipate there will be some delays as we account for bus driver shortages. Please be patient as we roll out this new platform. Families can download the free app in the Google or Apple app stores. For directions on how to connect to ABSS, please visit our Back to School webpage.
Finance:Givebacks
We want to make families aware that Givebacks is our new online school payment portal, replacing Online School Payments (OSP).
Please note that lunch accounts remain the same and are completely separate from school fees and payments made through Givebacks.
Families will receive notifications directly from Givebacks when a fee is assigned to their student. These notifications will include a link to make the payment online.
The recent fee notification families received is for our optional Technology Insurance for the 2026–2027 school year. The cost is $25 and covers the first instance of damage to a student's Chromebook.
We strongly encourage families to consider purchasing the Technology Insurance. At only $25, it can provide significant savings should accidental damage occur to your student's Chromebook during the school year.
Thank you for your attention to this new payment process!
Athletics: There are no contests this week.