Schools and Offices Closed on January 15

In observance of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, Fairfax County public schools and offices will be closed on Monday, January 15.

Middle School Transition Information for 6th Grade Families

Franklin Middle School

AAP Parent Night: January 11, 2018 at 6:30pm

FMS Counselor visits BKES students with course selection sheets:  TBD

Parent Curriculum Night: February 1, 2018

Students Visit FMS: February 2, 2018  

Rocky Run Middle School

Curriculum Night & Electives Fair: January 30, 2018

Students Visit RRMS: January 18, 2018

Pay for Student Fees Online  

As of yesterday (1/10) parents and families have an additional way to pay for school fees such as field trips, library fines, recorders, etc. - MySchoolBucks!  Many of you already use the MySchoolBucks program to add money to your student’s lunch account.  Now you will be able to do so much more. The MySchoolBucks payment service is quick and easy!

MySchoolBucks provides:

• Convenience - Available 24/7 on the web 

• Efficiency - Eliminates the need to write checks or have your student to bring money to school 

• Flexibility - Make payments using credit/debit cards and/or electronic checks 

• Security - MySchoolBucks adheres to the highest security standards, including PCI and CISP 

Enrollment is easy!  (If you currently do not already have an account)

Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com or, to the MySchoolBucks link located on your school’s homepage to establish an account.

1. Add your student(s) using the name of the school they are attending and either their student ID or birthdate

2. You will receive a confirmation email that your account has been established

3. Make purchases with your credit/debit card or electronic checks

4. There are no convenience fees for using the online payment system

Customer Service: 

• parentsupport@myschoolbucks.com 

• 1-855-832-5226

• Visit www.MySchoolBucks.com and click on Help/FAQ’s  

2018-19 School Year Calendar

The School Board voted on the calendar for next school year and school will start for students on Tuesday, August  28th.  Please read more at https://www.fcps.edu/news/fairfax-county-school-board-adopts-2018-19-standard-school-year-calendar?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_name=&utm_source=govdelivery&utm_term=

Please be sure to refer to the calendar when making plans for the 2018 summer and into the school year.  

Advanced Academic Services - Important Deadline Information

A reminder that the deadline to turn in referrals and additional documentation for consideration for Level IV is Friday, January 12th.  The link to find information and the referral form is:

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/advanced-academics

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, Sheri Reed, at shreed@fcps.edu

Join the driving force in education and become an FCPS bus driver!

Driver pay starts at $18.82 an hour, plus benefits!

Drivers are eligible for annual step increases plus cost-of-living increases based upon School Board approval. Top of scale is more than $31.00 an hour, plus benefits

More information can be found on the FCPS website.

60 Minutes to Better Health

This month, our health focus is about the importance of physical activity. Exercising makes you feel better and gives you more energy. Growing kids need 60 minutes of exercise each day. You can help students stay active all day — even shorter 10-15 minute bursts of exercise count. It doesn’t matter what you do, just be active at least 60 minutes every day!

Get one hour of play every day!

New Electronic Device?

If you purchased a device for your child this holiday season, FCPS wants to help you support your child in the online world.  If the device is internet-enabled, please consider the following tips and resources:

Teach your child to assess risks and make good choices

Online communication is public and permanent. Talk with your children regularly and remind them that what they do online can impact future opportunities. Their online reputation can also affect their relationships in the face to face world.

Give your child action steps

Discuss potential situations that may arise before they happen and give your child action steps. Do they know what to they can do if cyber bullied, harassed, or if someone sends them something they don’t want to see? Every difficult situation is an opportunity to help prepare them for life beyond your home. These short parent advice videos, which can be filtered by topic and age, can help you identify action steps you can share with your child.  

Discuss privacy settings and accounts

Teach your child to protect their personal information and model the use of privacy settings.  Discuss why these settings are important and teach them how to make privacy setting choices for every app and service they use.  This resource can help you get started.

Help your child monitor and manage their screen time

It’s easy to spend hours on a device, especially when it's new.  Use these guidelines and strategies to help your children learn to monitor and manage their screen time.

Educate yourself and your children

Digital citizenship is learning process and your child will need sustained support from parents and teachers. Visit bit.ly/fairfaxdigcit for a fun and interactive parent-child course that can help your family start conversations about navigating the online world.

Establish rules and expectations.

Have you thought about the rules you want to establish with your child for setting up accounts and the privacy settings you expect your child to use?  What are your expectations and how will you monitor your child’s online activities?  Not sure where to start? Try these tip sheets, media agreements, and device contracts.