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Dear Holmes Families:
Well, here we are in the last week of the 2nd quarter already! How is it possible the half of the school year has passed? As you know, 2nd quarter ends on Friday, February 3rd, when we will have a 2-hour early release followed by a student holiday on Monday, February 6th.
This past week, we celebrated students who have "leveled up" in the 50 Books Challenge. To date, we have had 43 students reach the white level (10 books), 19 students reach the blue level (20 books), and 7 students reach the bronze level (30 books). Based on my conversations with students in passing, I think that there are many more, so please remind your students to record their books in the 50 Books Challenge Google Classroom! Our next celebration will be at the end of 3rd quarter (late March/early April).
This past week, we also celebrated 8th grade students in their quarterly awards ceremony when teachers recognize students they have selected as outstanding for the quarter. In addition, 180 students who were recommended to apply for the AVID program attended an information session during ER-8 this past Thursday. More about AVID below along with this week's schedule, the link to our updated After School Program website, and updates about Service Learning.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Margaret Barnes
mfbarnes@fcps.edu
Mr. Cabezas and Mr. Hutto have done a great job updating the After School Program portion of our school website! Take a look at this link when you have a chance; we will continue to update it in the coming weeks. This week's after school schedule is here.
A reminder for students interested in the Capital One Coders program:
Capital One Coders is a special 8-10-week coding curriculum for middle school students. The Capital One Coders Middle School Initiative supports students as they learn how to develop apps for mobile devices using App Inventor blocks-based programming language. Led by Capital One volunteers, hundreds of young students across the country gain exposure to software engineering principles and practices.
20 Holmes students will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience learning software development, problem-solving, and even develop their own app. If students are interested and committed to meet every Wednesday from 2:30-4:00 PM for the entire program (from mid-February through mid-May...dates TBD), they should sign into their fcpsschools.net email accounts and fill out the application linked below. The deadline for submissions is 3 PM on Friday, February 3rd.
Capital One Coders Program Application
 This past Thursday, 180 students (pictured above) who had been recommended by their teachers learned more about the AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program and were invited to apply. Explore more about what the AVID program is here.
AVID
applications are available for students in the Office of Student Services. The
AVID class is designed to provide motivated students with the skills
necessary to be successful in rigorous courses, with the eventual goal of college
acceptance. In the AVID class, students work to develop a variety of academic
skills, including writing, reading, and organization. Trained tutors work with students to help them explore their
challenging course material more deeply and to help them develop higher-order
thinking and college-level independent study skills. AVID students also hear a number
of guest speakers and participate in college and cultural field trips. In order to be considered for the AVID program, your
student must return the application materials to the Office of Student
Services by February 9th, 2017. After applications have been
reviewed, we will contact selected students to participate in an interview, the
next step in the AVID selection process. For more information, please contact
Megan Neforos at 703-658-6941 or mcneforos@fcps.edu.
I am excited to announce that we are almost halfway to our goal of 50 Acts of Service this school year! The next time you are at Holmes, take a look at all of the feathers and pictures on our Hawk celebrating all of the great work that our students and staff members are doing to support the community. See below for pictures of Ms. Cheatham's ER-8 class, and our Band of Brothers and ABCD Girls' Group members working with students at Weyanoke Elementary School
During the second semester,
Holmes students will be registering for a new online system (x2VOL) aimed to
guide students in searching for and keeping track of Service Learning hours.
Students have already been introduced to x2VOL through their ER-8 classes;
however, teachers will be working hard in the coming weeks to get our students
signed up for an x2VOL accounts. Check out this
great video to understand why we’ll be using x2VOL!
As a reminder, the required
number of Service Learning hours per grade at Holmes Middle School are as
follows:
Grade 6 – 5 hours (through
Social Studies classes)
Grade 7 – 10 hours (through
Science classes)
Grade 8 – 15 hours (through
Civics classes)
Click here if you’d
like more information about Service Learning, or x2VOL.
- Friday, 2/3: End of 2nd quarter / 2-hour early release / Odd Block Day
- Monday, 2/6: Teacher Workday / NO SCHOOL
- Monday, January 30th: 7-period day
- Tuesday, January 31st: Even Block Day (with ER 1 & 2)
- Wednesday, February 1st: Odd Block Day
- Thursday, February 2nd: Even Block Day (with ER 3 & 4)
- Friday, February 3rd: Odd Block Day / 2-hour early release
A note about inclement weather and short weeks:
For the most part (with very few exceptions), our bell schedule remains the same regardless of short weeks, early release days, or snow days:
- Mondays are 7-period days
- Tuesdays & Thursdays are even block days with ER periods
- Wednesday & Fridays are odd block days
For example, if we have classes on Tuesday (an even block day), and snow day on Wednesday (an odd block day), we would not make up the odd block day if we came back on Thursday; Thursday would remain an even block day with ER. If we have multiple snow days over time and notice an imbalance in odd vs. even days, then we will make adjustments to balance out instruction and announce them with as much notice as we can.
This upcoming week, we will have an exception with Tuesday as a 7-period day to balance out the week. When we can anticipate an imbalance in the schedule, we do make adjustments, and we will let students and parents know in advance.
Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:
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