Glasgow Community Gazette - March 24

Glasgow Community:

We are headed into another full and exciting week here at Glasgow Middle School! Students and staff are encouraged to celebrate Student Government Association (SGA) Spirit Week.  Below are the daily themes for the week:

Monday: Crazy Hair Day

Tuesday: Twin Day

Wednesday: Sports Day

Thursday: Tacky Day

Friday: Pajama Day

The Hunger Games is in full swing at Glasgow Middle School! The Glasgow Hunger Games, a school-wide service learning project where students compete in districts as they learn more about hunger as a global and local issue is in full swing! As part of the Hunger Games, students collect and donate non-perishable food items to a local food bank. The Hunger Games is a great way to build community while teaching students about ways they can positively impact a real need in our community.

Students are encouraged to show school spirit and represent their district by buying a Hunger Games t-shirt or wearing their district colors. Hunger Games shirts are sold during ALL lunches every day. If you have any questions regarding the Hunger Games please email Brittany Nicolich, Health and Physical Education teacher at blnicolich@fcps.edu.       

Last Thursday, we hosted our the 6th grade dance, our first dance of the school year. It was awesome to watch students enjoy hanging out, eating pizza and dancing, especially considering many of these students met each other for the first time just 8 months ago. The 7th grade dance will be on April 11.

Finally, our annual Hoop It Up Night is this Friday beginning at 6pm. Glasgow students from each grade will play Glasgow teachers for fun and bragging rights. I hope to see you there! 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/

Important Dates

April 4 - End of Third Quarter

April 5 - Teacher Workday

April 9 - PTA Meeting, 7pm

April 11 - 7th Grade Dance

April 12 - Panther Store

April 12 - Hunger Games Pep Rally

April 15-19 - Spring Break

April 23-25 - Open Campus

April 26, 27 - Spring Play

SGA Spirit Week: March 25-29 - Celebrate Student Government Association Spirit Week. Below are the daily themes for the week: Monday: Crazy Hair Day; Tuesday: Twin Day; Wednesday: Sports Day; Thursday: Tacky Day; Friday: Pajama Day. Note: For crazy hair day that students cannot fix their hair in school. They must come to school with their hair ready to go.  Sprays and hair dyes will be taken.

Hoop It Up: March 29, 6-9pm - Volunteers are needed at Glasgow’s annual basketball extravaganza!  This is a fabulous event for the whole community, coordinated by dedicated Glasgow staff and the PTA. Glasgow students from each grade will play Glasgow teachers for fun and bragging rights.  

The PTA is looking for volunteers to make this huge event a success. Sign up to help: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084aa4a92da0fc1-hoop3. The PTA is also looking for two volunteers to learn the ropes this year and then help coordinate the event next year. Interested in learning more? Contact the PTA at www.glasgowms.pta@gmail.com.

PTA Meeting: April 9, 7-8pm - A brief PTA meeting followed by a special information session on vaping and other substance abuse concerns, lead by the FCPS Office of Student Safety and Wellness will be held on April 9. All are welcome.  PTA membership not required for attendance. Spanish and Arabic interpreters will be present.

Glasgow Goodies

Congrats Will Hemmens! Congratulations to eighth-grader Will Hemmens for finishing tied for second runner-up at the Fairfax County Spelling Bee! The Bee was held on March 17 at Lake Braddock Secondary School. Seventy-three 73 school champions took the stage for a 15-word written test, followed by oral spelling rounds. Will also finished tied for 6th at the 2018 Fairfax County Bee.

Glasgow Students Win Regional Wind Turbine Competition - On Friday, March 15, Arthur Prudius, Darren Nugyen, and Dylan Cronin, students at Glasgow Middle School attended the Northern Regional Dominion Energy KidWind Challenge. They qualified to attend the national competition by winning second place in their category. They also won the “Geek Award” for scoring the highest on the middle school division knowledge test.

The KidWind Challenge gives middle and high school students around the country a chance to explore wind energy through the hands-on, investigative. Teams of up to five students are challenged to build a functional wind turbine that demonstrates their understanding of wind energy technology by withstanding the winds inside the of the challenge wind tunnel. This year’s National qualification represents the first time the team and their coach, Angela DeHart, have participated in the competition. For further information contact Aaron Cannon at acannon@fcps.edu or Angela DeHart at adjeterjones@fcps.edu.                

Jayme Harris, Region 2 Outstanding School-Based Support Employee of the Year - I am excited to share with you that Jayme Harris, Instructional Assistant here at Glasgow has been named the Region 2 Outstanding School-Based Support Employee of the Year. Here is an excerpt from her nomination packet:

"There are few individuals who have such a deep and lasting impact on the lives of Glasgow students as Jayme Harris. As an alum of the Justice HS pyramid, Jayme draws upon her own experiences to connect with and motivate Glasgow students in a way that is truly outstanding. She builds exceptionally strong relationships with all students, and especially those who tend to have the least trust in adults. Through her calm, caring and humorous personality, she makes everyone around her feel comfortable. By telling her story, she draws students out and learns about their lives and interests. Jayme is truly a role model for the students, which allows her to set high expectations for them."

EL Innovation Networked Improvement Community - Glasgow teachers, Kaitlyn Marmarou, Kiki Theodorou, Emily Castor, and Sarah Clark participated this year in the EL Innovation Networked Improvement Community with four other schools across the county. Through this experience, our team developed and implemented a new FIT course, Support FIT for English Learners. The curriculum includes elements of AVID, Academic Language building, and structures to help students gain confidence and self-advocacy skills as they transition into General Education classes from sheltered ESOL classes.

Opportunities

Get Involved, Volunteer Today! - The Glasgow PTA needs YOU! We can use your help in supporting March Madness, our annual basketball extravaganza, on March 29. See this, and other volunteer opportunities at Glasgow Middle School throughout the year: https://bit.ly/2VA0orc

Join the PTA Executive Board! - Interested in serving on next year's PTA Executive Board?  Position descriptions and timeline/process are posted on the PTA website.

Join the Glasgow PTA Listserve - If you would like to join the PTA listserv to receive current announcements, send a request to glasgowms.pta@gmail.com. If you would like to join the PTA or make a donation, go to www.glasgowpta.org. Thank you for your continued support.

Important Information

Family Engagement Survey - Fairfax County Public Schools is conducting a survey March 24 - April 12, 2019 to gather information about family engagement in our schools. Relationships are important to us, and your opinion is critical to help us support your engagement in your child’s education. Your feedback will also help us determine how well we are reaching the goals for Caring Culture we have set in our Strategic Plan. Survey translations will be made available, and the survey can be taken on electronic devices, including smartphones.

2019-2020 Course Registration for Rising 7th Graders - Glasgow Student Services has met with most 7th grade students to register them for next year’s courses! Counselors met one-on-one with each student to review course options and complete the course selection form. Your student should have brought 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, students learned about course options in Panther Time. Students explored 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 completed a “think sheet” to practice selecting their classes.

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.

Celebrating Kindness at Glasgow - As a school we are celebrating Kindness Month in the upcoming weeks for the rest of the month of February and March. Teachers and staff are encouraged to pass out as many Kindness panther cards as possible to our deserving KIND students. As per usual, students will be able to trade in their panther cards to our Panther Stores for a prize but in addition they will also be entered into a raffle to win a special kindness prize. Only Panther Cards with the ‘Kindness’ Panther quality circled will be entered into this raffle.

Join the Fun!

Justice HS Volleyball Weekend Camps: March 30 - Justice High School volleyball program is excited to be offering Volleyball Clinics for boys and girls in grades Kindergarten through 6th grade on March 30 and 30. New this year, parents have the option to pay online. For more information check out the following link: https://bit.ly/2wgGmWC.

Be Informed, Stay Involved!

• Sign up for News You Choose.
• Visit the Glasgow Middle School website.
• Follow Glasgow on Twitter.
• Visit Glasgow Middle School on Facebook.
• Monitor your students academics with a SIS Parent Account.
• Join the Glasgow Middle School PTA and attend meetings.
• Keep your contact information up-to-date.