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Dear Holmes Families:
Good evening, everyone! Another great week at Holmes is in the books! Even though we started the week feeling nervous about the threatening posts online referring to clowns and various schools in the DC Metro Area, we stayed focused on our learning and ended the week on a positive note with our 2nd Service Learning lesson with our students. We appreciate how our students, staff, and parents have made it a priority to make us aware of concerning information that they see and hear; it helps us to ensure that we keep everyone in our school community safe. All reports of threats are taken very seriously, and we collaborate closely with our School Resource Officer, Officer Rebecca Gray, and FCPS' Office of Safety and Security to investigate all reports.
This week, we also had our first PTA meeting with Sandy Evans, our School Board Representative and Chair, as our guest speaker! Thank you to those parents who joined us for the evening, volunteered for various activities, and helped us to approve the budget for the year. Please put the next PTA meeting on your calendars - Monday, November 14th - when we will discuss the IB MYP Program at Holmes
Thank you! Enjoy the long weekend!
Sincerely,
Margaret Barnes
mfbarnes@fcps.edu
Online payment for student fees and
school store items will be available through the MySchoolBucks School Store on Wednesday, October 12, 2016. This
online payment service provides a quick and easy way to pay for school-related
purchases. You will be able to pay for a variety of school fees using
credit/debit cards or electronic checks. MySchoolBucks
provides:
-
Convenience -
Available 24/7 on the web
-
Efficiency -
Eliminate the need to write checks and for students to bring money to
school
-
Flexibility -
Make payments using credit/debit cards and electronic checks
-
Security - MySchoolBucks
adheres to the highest security standards, including PCI and CISP
Enrollment
is easy!
- Go
to www.MySchoolBucks.com or, to the MySchoolBucks link located on
your school’s homepage to establish an
account
- Add
your students using the name of the school they are attending, and either
their student ID or birthdate
- You
will receive a confirmation email that your account has been established
- Make
purchases with your credit/debit card or electronic checks
- There
are no convenience fees for using the online payment system
Customer
Service:
If you receive a MySchoolBucks
obligation email for a course fee you have already paid, please disregard it.
This week, all students participated in their second lesson on Service Learning in ER-8 (pictured below). They developed some of the ideas that they brainstormed in the last ER-8 lesson and began to think about how to follow through with those ideas to action. Students also learned about how service learning opportunities will be advertised and celebrated at a special display in the main hall!
Groups of students participated in two acts of service this past week: a small group of students made staff appreciation gifts, and 30 students showed up at Bren Mar Park Elementary School to volunteer at the Family Market! The opportunity to volunteer at Bren Mar's Family Market will be available every first Thursday of the month between 2:30 and 7:30. Service learning opportunities will be advertised in school, through parent updates, and on the school website. Stay tuned!
- Monday, 10/10: Columbus Day / No school
- Friday, 10/14: 8th Grade Band Night, 5:30 PM, Annandale HS
- Thursday, 10/20: Hispanic Parent Night (conducted in Spanish), 6:30 PM
- Friday, 10/21: Hispanic Parent Coffee (conducted in Spanish), 8:30 AM
- Monday, 10/24: Fall Preview Concert, Music Department, 7:30 PM, HMS Gym
- Saturday, 10/29: 3rd Annual Mental Health & Wellness Conference, 8 AM-1:30 PM, Fairfax HS
- Friday, 11/4: 2-hour early release / End of 1st quarter
- Monday, 11/7 & Tuesday, 11/8: No school for students (School Planning Day & Teacher Workday/Election Day)
- Saturday, 11/12: Holmes MS Turkey Trot / Canned Food Drive
- Monday, 11/14: PTA Meeting, Topic: International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP)
- Thursday, 11/17: Mini-parent conferences (all grades), 5:30-7:30 PM
Please see below for the after school program schedule for next week. I'll have more information for you in next week's update of a more complete listing of after school activities that will be offered during the year.
Other important information:
- Late buses available Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Hawk Club - Mondays through Fridays until 5:30 PM for those students picked up by their parents
Upcoming Dates:
- 10/23: Holmes MS Family Dine Out Chipotle Fundraiser (Merrifield/Mosaic Location). Just mention you're there to support Holmes!
- 11/14: PTA Meeting, 7 PM (Topic: IB MYP)
- 12/19: Wicked (Kennedy Center) - Fundraiser
To Stay Informed
& Get Involved, visit the Holmes MS PTA webpage to Join, Donate, Volunteer, Shop, and more.
Stay in touch with us on Facebook and Twitter @HolmesMSPTA. For more
information, contact us at HolmesPTA@gmail.com.
EF Education
First, an approved FCPS vendor, is again offering International Study Travel
Programs (ISTP) and International Service Learning Programs (ISLP) customized
for the division during 2016-2017. The focus of these programs is to
provide students and staff meaningful global experiences to develop 21st
century skills. Programs are tuition-based with some scholarships available.
High school
students will have the opportunity to select from opportunities focusing on
environmental sustainability, international service learning, and language
immersion. Middle school students will be able to choose from
opportunities with a focus on history and international service
learning. ISTP/ISLP opportunities will take place during spring break or
summer 2017.
A parent interest
meeting to provide information on 2016 ISTP/ISLP opportunities will be held on
Wednesday, October 12, 2016, Gatehouse Administrative Center Café, 6:30-7:30
PM.
Parents of eligible
students will be notified about the ISTP/ISLP Parent Interest Meeting through
News You Choose and FCPS social media.
More information about
the program is available on : https://www.fcps.edu/activities-enrichment/international-study-travel-service-learning-program
The 2016 Credit Exam
for World Languages will be administered on November 15, 16, and 17. Twenty-six
languages will be included: American Sign Language,
Amharic, Arabic, Bengali/Bangla, Chinese/Mandarin, Farsi/Persian, French,
German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Russian,
Sanskrit/Samskritam, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog/Pilipino, Tamil, Telugu,
Tigrinia, Twi, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
Registration opens on
Monday, September 19, 2016, at 8 a.m. and closes on Wednesday, October 19,
2016, at 4 p.m. Late registrations will not be accepted.
School counselors will
register students at their individual schools.
Credit exam information
can be accessed at: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high-school-academics-9-12/world-languages/credit-exam-world-languages
Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:
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