Glasgow Community Gazette - January 13

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 01/13/2019 10:44 AM EST
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Glasgow Community:

I hope you are enjoying the snow today!

It was exciting to welcome students back to school after a two-week break. In many ways, the return from winter break is more important than the first day of school. This past week, teachers and staff took time to explicitly re-teach classroom procedures and expectations as well as our Panther Principles via the news show and Panther Time.

On Tuesday afternoon, Glasgow faculty and staff came together to recognize the nominees for the FCPS Outstanding Awards, as well as announce our school level winners in the following categories: Outstanding Teacher, Outstanding New Teacher, Outstanding Leader, and Outstanding Support Employee. Thank you to those of you who nominated a staff member back in November/early December. Congratulations to the school level award winners:

Outstanding Teacher - Steven Shook, Orchestra Teacher

Outstanding New Teacher - Nicole Bevenour, 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher

Outstanding Leader - Katie Madigan, Assistant Principal

Outstanding Support Employee - Jayme Harris, Instructional Assistant

On Thursday evening, it was great to see so many students and parents at Justice High School Rising 9th Grade Information & Curriculum Night. The transition from elementary to middle or middle to high school can be difficult and stressful. However, the Justice pyramid of schools take tremendous pride in ensuring the transition is as smooth as possible. No more was that evident than seeing Glasgow administrators and counselors working hand-in-hand with Justice staff this past week to promote the high school course selection process.

Finally, as I mentioned in last week’s Gazette, please keep an eye on possible delays and cancellations tomorrow and beyond. You can learn more about the weather cancellation procedures and sign up for weather schedule alerts here: https://www.fcps.edu/resources/safety-and-transportation/weather-cancellation-procedures.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Shawn DeRose, Principal


Contact Information
Twitter: @ShawnDeRose
Email: spderose@fcps.edu
Website: http://www.fcps.edu/GlasgowMS/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowMS.FCPS/
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Getting Ready For High School

2019-2020 Course Registration for Rising 9th Graders - Starting his past week, counselors began meeting one-on-one with each student to review course options and complete the course selection form. Sometime before January 29, your student will bring home a copy of their selections for you to sign and return within three days. Here is a link to the course descriptions at Justice:  https://goo.gl/u5u8F2. As always, please let us know what questions you may have as we move through the academic advising season!

 

Rising 9th Grade Night at Neighboring High Schools:

Annandale High School - January 16 at 7PM (Corrected from last week)

Falls Church High School - January 10 at 6:30PM

Edison High School - February 26 at 7PM

For more information on these events, please contact Laine O'Donnell at lodonnell@fcps.edu.

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Important Dates

January 14 - Lockdown Drill

January 15 - PTA Meeting 7pm

January 18 - 3HR Early Release Day

January 21 - MLK Holiday (Closed)

January 24 - 2nd Quarter Ends

January 25 - Teacher Workday (No School for Students)

January 30 - Glasgow Rising 6th Grade Night, 6PM

February 4 - Staff Development Day (No School for Students)

 

Lockdown Drill: January 14 - Glasgow will be conducting the required January lockdown drill on Monday, January 14 (weather permitting). A lockdown is necessary to keep students safe when there is a potential threat within the school.

 

Glasgow PTA Meeting: January 15 - The next PTA meeting will be held this Tuesday, January 15, from 7:00 to 8:00PM. The featured topic will be the International Baccalaureate, or IB, program. We will hear information presented by Middle Years Program Coordinator at Glasgow and the IB Coordinator at Justice High School. PTA membership is not required for attendance. Spanish and Arabic interpreters will be present. We hope to see you there!

 

Rising 6th Grade Open House: January 30 - Parents of rising 6th graders, come join us on January 30 from 6-8pm for an Open House to learn more about what middle school at Glasgow is all about! We will offer short (optional) sessions on our various Glasgow programs, and teachers will be in their classrooms throughout the evening to share all about our core and elective courses for 6th Graders.

We hope you leave this event excited about all the opportunities you will have as a Glasgow Panther and prepared to complete your course request form! Breakout Sessions on the following topics will be offered throughout the evening (detailed schedule to come):

  • Welcome to Glasgow!
  • Course Request 101
  • Level IV Advanced Academic Program
  • Spanish Immersion Program
  • English for Speakers of Other Languages Program
  • Special Education Office
  • Math Course Placement and Selection Q&A

If you have any questions, please contact Sarah Beck at sjbeck@fcps.edu. We can’t wait to meet you!

Opportunities

Get Involved, Volunteer Today! - The Glasgow PTA needs YOU! See volunteer opportunities at Glasgow Middle School, supporting our teachers and staff, throughout the year: https://bit.ly/2VA0orc

 

Seeking Volunteers/Donations for the PTA Sponsored Potato/Salad Bar! - Help the Glasgow PTA provide the very popular Potato/Salad Bar Lunch for teachers/staff on January 25 (a teacher workday). Sign up to volunteer or donate here: https://bit.ly/2ADHxT2

 

AVID Guest Speakers Needed - Do you have an interest in sharing your college or career experience? Then sign up to be an AVID speaker! Many Glasgow students possess a desire to go to college and the willingness to work hard, but many of them do not truly have the opportunity to be college-ready. These are often the students who will be the first in their families to attend college and are from groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education. Glasgow AVID classes help these students succeed on a path to college and career success. If you are interested in being a guest speaker, please email Steve D'Adamo at svdadamo@fcps.edu.

Important Information

2019-2020 Course Registration for Rising 8th and 7th Graders - Glasgow Student Services is excited to begin meeting with your students to register them for next year’s courses! Beginning this Friday, counselors will meet one-on-one with each student to review course options and complete the course selection form. Sometime before March 15, your student will bring home a copy of their selections for you to sign and return within three days. Here is a link to the Glasgow course descriptions: https://insys.fcps.edu/CourseCatOnline/#/frontPanel/360/nocourselist/1/1/1

In addition, 6th and 7th grade students will learn all about academic advising in Panther Time this upcoming week. Students will explore the kinds of classes they can take, the difference between general education and honors classes, and what choices they have for electives. After reviewing the information students will complete a “think sheet” to practice selecting their classes. We hope to empower students to feel confident about their educational choices and continue these conversations at home.

Please note that all course request changes are due by April 12, 2019. Finalizing requests by this date allows us to invest in staffing and resources based on students’ needs and interests. We will be finalizing schedules and placements throughout the late Spring and summer months.

 

VDOE Student School Climate Survey Cancelled - Before the winter break, I notified you that your child would be taking a statewide Student School Climate Survey mandated by the Virginia Department of Education. This survey was scheduled to be conducted from Monday, January 14, 2019 to Friday, February 8, 2019. Based on feedback from principals and school administrators, Dr. Brabrand, in collaboration and consultation with State Superintendent, has granted an exemption of the VDOE Student School Climate Survey for this year. Therefore, the VDOE Student School Climate survey will not be administered.

 

TJHSST Invitational Science Fair 2019 - The TJ Mythvestigations Club would like to cordially invite any interested students at your school to participate in our sixth annual Invitational Science Fair. Participants will complete a research project and prepare a presentation for our science fair on March 16, 2019. Now is the time to register for the event and start work on projects! The final pool of approximately 40 entrants will be chosen first come, first serve from all registrants on January 10, 2019. Students may register at http://bit.ly/isf2019. If you have any questions, email the TJ Mythvestigations Team at tjhsstsciencefair@gmail.com.

 

Yearbook On-line Store is Now Available - Families who still have not paid for their 2018-2019 yearbook can now pre-order on-line. The website is: https://www.balfour.com/virginia/alexandria/glasgow-middle-school. Students may continue to bring in money and turn in to the front office. The price of the yearbook is only $25, but will increase to $30 in early February. Extra items will be available until March: name stamping ($5), clear plastic cover ($3), autograph sheets ($2), arrow stickies ($6), jewel pack ($6) and pen signing set ($4.99).
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Glasgow Goodies!

Thank You for the Gift Card Donations - Thank you to those of you who donated gift cards. We will be conducting a 'Panther Card for Staff Members' drawing this week. Earlier this year, students wrote Panther Cards to recognize a staff member who demonstrates our Panther Principles.  Teachers who revived Panther Cards submitted them into a drawing to win a donated gift card.

It is amazing how much a $5 gift card is appreciated. If you would still like to donate gift cards, please feel free to drop them off at the main office or drop them in the mail to my attention. I will share the love with staff throughout the school year. Thank you so much! (It can be for any business you want to support, in any amount. Nothing is too small!)

 

Glasgow Students Selected to the District 10 Honors Orchestra - Congratulations to the District 10 Honors Orchestra for their wonderful concert on Saturday, January 12, conducted by David Pope. Glasgow orchestra students participating were Sasha Traub, Karen Tran, Lauren Lai, Christine Pham, Catherine Felix, Maddox Shreve, Shalini Vlcan, and Hank Cornette.
Glasgow Middle School Panther Mascot, image

Be Informed, Stay Involved!