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Dear Holmes Families:
Good morning, everyone! It's a beautiful day to go out and vote!
Staff Update
I wanted to let you all know that Mrs. Britton, our 7th grade Assistant Principal, will be out on extended leave starting tomorrow through Winter Break. She will return in January. If you have any 7th grade concerns, please contact Mrs. Murphy (kwmurphy@fcps.edu), the 7th grade counselor, or Mr. Kamar (cskamar@fcps.edu), our Acting Assistant Principal.
Mini-Conference Night
Please mark your calendars and join us on Thursday, November 17th for our mini-conference night from 5:30-7:30 PM for all grades. More information will be provided in next weekend's parent update. Between now and then, you should receive your student's 1st quarter report card in the mail. We will also have a special "Early Bird" session on the After School Program at 5:00 PM in the library.
Please read below for more details about:
- Literacy at Holmes MS
- The After School Program
- The 2016 FCPS Youth Survey
- The Holmes MS Turkey Trot 5K on Saturday, 11/12
- Federal Impact Aid Survey Forms
- Outstanding Employee Nominations
- Student Volunteer Opportunity
- PTA Membership and our upcoming meeting on 11/14
- My School Bucks
Thank you and have a great week!
Sincerely,
Margaret Barnes
mfbarnes@fcps.edu
- Wednesday, 11/9: 7-period day
- Wednesday, 11/9: FCPS Youth Survey given to all 6th & 8th grade students
- Thursday, 11/10: Students receive Federal Impact Aid forms in 2nd period
- Saturday, 11/12: Holmes MS Turkey Trot / Canned Food Drive
- Monday, 11/14: Makeup Picture Day (for students and staff who missed the original date)
- Monday, 11/14: 6th Grade Field Trip to Mount Vernon (for lottery winners)
- Monday, 11/14: PTA Meeting, Topic: International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IB MYP), 7 PM, Lecture Hall
- Tuesday, 11/15: Due date for Federal Impact
- Thursday, 11/17: Mini-parent conferences (all grades), 5:30-7:30 PM
- Friday, 11/18: Deadline for Outstanding Holmes MS Employee Nominations
- Wednesday, 11/23: 2-hour early release
- Thursday, 11/24 & Friday, 11/25: NO SCHOOL
- Thursday, 12/1: Literacy Night
As many of you may know, our instructional focus at Holmes this year is literacy. In the first quarter, we encouraged all students to read as many books as they could this year by kicking off the 50 Books Challenge. We just recognized 17 students who have already 10 books or more! We know that there are more students at Holmes who are reading everything they can get their hands on! Remind your students to log all of the books they have completed in the 50 Books Challenge Google Classroom in order to be recognized! We will award prizes for each level that students reach (every 10 books)! Here are a few other things that we are doing to promote literacy at Holmes:
- Providing professional development to all of our teachers about choosing nonfiction text for their classrooms for students to engage in the subject area and about annotating text for students to pay attention to their understanding of the reading as they do it.
- All students took the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) in September to provide us with information about their reading levels. Soon, you will receive a letter at home informing you about your student's SRI level, what it means, and how to support literacy at home.
- Hosting a Literacy Night for all families on Thursday, December 1st (see flyer below).
- Hosting a Scholastic Book Fair the week of December 5th!
Thank you for helping us to promote literacy at home and school!
Please see below for the after school program schedule for next week.
- Late buses available Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Hawk Club (Study Hall & Recreation) - Mondays through Fridays until 5:30 PM for those students picked up by their parents
On Wednesday, November 9, 2016 Holmes 8th
and 6th graders will complete the 2016 FCPS Youth Survey through
their Civics and Social Studies classes, respectively. The survey is anonymous
and no individual information is reported. Parent letters went home
October 4th-6th explaining the rationale for the survey.
A copy of the actual survey, as well as the survey fact sheet, is available to
parents and/or guardians and community members online at https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/youth-survey.
If you did not wish your child to participate in the survey, the parent letter
provided an opt out form on the back of the letter that should have been
completed and returned to the school no later than November 4, 2016. If you
have further questions about the survey, contact Stefan Mascoll, coordinator,
Student Safety and Wellness Office, at 571-423-4270.
This Saturday, November 12th, at 9 AM, we will kick off our 2016 Turkey Trot 5K Race. All Holmes students and their families are invited to participate. All students were given registration forms in their Health & PE classes. If they lost their copy, they can get another one from their PE teacher and turn it into the main office. The only cost of admission is a canned good for our Thanksgiving Food Drive! If you don't want to participate in the run/walk, we would also love volunteers to help with set-up, clean-up, and the finish line. Snacks and drinks will be available, and a food truck will be onsite if you would like to purchase additional items.
The Impact Aid Program is a federal program designed to directly
compensate local school districts that have been financially impacted by
federal activities. The program's mission is to reimburse local school
districts for local revenues lost due to the presence of federally owned, and
therefore tax-exempt, property.
Your child will receive his/her form from his/her 2nd
period teacher on Thursday, November 10, and we ask that you
complete the form, sign and date it at the bottom, and have your child return
it to the same teacher by Tuesday, November 15. If
you do not have any federal connection, there is a box to check at the bottom
of the form to indicate that. You may direct any questions you have to
Christopher Kamar, Assistant Principal, at cskamar@fcps.edu
or (703) 658-5900.
The FCPS employee awards season
is almost here, and there are some exciting changes to this year’s
program. One major change is that ALL schools in FCPS will have an
Outstanding Teacher!
The Outstanding teachers from
every school will go on to the pyramid level where a Pyramid Outstanding
Teacher will be selected. Then each of the five Regions will select their
Region Outstanding Teacher, who will serve as the finalists for the coveted
FCPS Outstanding Teacher Award.
Schools will also select an
Outstanding New Teacher (a teacher within their first three years of teaching)
and will submit nominees for the other school-based award categories:
Outstanding Principal/New Principal, Outstanding Leader, Outstanding Support
and Outstanding Hourly employee. More details about these categories are
available on the nomination page.
In order to nominate an employee
for any of these award categories, simply nominate them at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HolmesAwards between now and November 18. Type their name and a brief
description about why you think they are outstanding. This is open to
faculty, staff, parents and students. After all nominations have been
submitted, a link to a voting page will be sent.
We are excited about the new
process and that we can recognize so many Outstanding Employees at Holmes
Middle School. If you have any questions or would like more information,
please contact the Holmes Awards Liaison, Karli Eddinger at kreddinger@fcps.edu.
Upcoming Dates:
- 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.
Our students had a great time volunteering at Bren Mar Park Elementary School's Family Market again this month! This service learning opportunity will be offered the first Thursday of each month with volunteer hours available between 3:00 and 7:30 PM. (NOTE: Parents must provide transportation if student does not live within safe walking distance of Bren Mar Park ES.) We will make announcements and post sign-up sheets and permission slips up at school a week before each date. Please contact Dawn Azennar for more information.
Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:
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