The Mustang Weekly - September 16th, 2019

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 09/16/2019 06:15 PM EDT

THE MUSTANG WEEKLY

September 16th, 2019

 

A note from Principal Kownacki:

Dear Mustang Community:

I write to you with celebratory, yet sad news. Heather Bousman-Stanczak, our 8th grade assistant principal, has accepted the position of assistant principal at Lanier Middle School, effective September 23, 2019. As many of you know, Heather was a founding member of South County Secondary School, serving in the role of special education department chair. She is also a founding member of the South County Middle School administrative team. She has worked diligently to support and growth the culture and climate of the entire South County pyramid. She will be greatly missed, but her impact will continue to be felt for years to come.

While we engage in the interview and hiring process for a permanent replacement, we will have a substitute assistant principal in the building to fulfill Ms. Bousman-Stanczak’s responsibilities. I will share more details with you as they become available.

I welcome your feedback, questions and suggestions. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time.  I hope to see you at South County Middle School very soon.

Sincerely,

Peter Kownacki

pakownacki@fcps.edu

@PAKownacki

703-690-5500

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • 9/23/19 – PTSO Meeting. Monday. 7:00 p.m. in the SCMS Library. See below.
  • 9/26 and 9/27/19 – Picture Day. Fall pictures will be taken in PE classes. See below.
  • 9/27/19 – SCMS vs. SCHS Staff Basketball Game. See below.

 

PTSO INFORMATION:

  • Join us at our first  PTSO meeting on September 23rd at 7pm in the Library!  Come hear from the PTSO, staff, admin and students about the ways you can make a difference at SCMS this year.
  • Find out all about the PTSO and join at www.scmsptso.org.  All funds from PTSO memberships go DIRECTLY towards your students and teachers.  Did you know the PTSO funds 100% of teacher appreciation events, the back to school breakfast, teacher and club instructional grants, 7th grade author visit and 8th grade end of year celebration?  Please consider joining and/or making a tax deductible donation.

 

PICTURE DAYS:

Lifetouch photographers will be at SCMS on September 26th and 27th to take school pictures during our PE classes. Students were given order forms in their PE classes this past week. Students can bring the order forms with them on picture day OR you can place an online order at mylifetouch.com using our picture day ID: MJ819602Q0

 

SCMS VS. SCHS BASKETBALL GAME:

The rivalry is back! On September 27th, South County Middle School staff will be competing against South County High School staff in a friendly basketball game for bragging rights!  The game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at SCHS. Students are welcome to attend to cheer on their favorite teachers. Tickets will be sold during lunches for $7 starting September 23rd through the 27th. The basketball game is a fundraiser for the MS afterschool program as well as the HS Theatre program. Please come out and support our South County Community and teachers. For more information you may contact Chris Woodby at cwwoodby@fcps.edu.

 

CAREER DAY:

If you're interested in being part of SCMS's 2019-20 Career Day, please fill out the form below and tell us about your career. We are looking for presenters from a wide variety of fields to expose our Mustangs to the world of work.  Whether you're involved in real estate, architecture, engineering, photography, computer science, marketing, technology, or something wildly different, we want to hear from you!  SAVE THE DATE- Wednesday, December 4, 2019. More details will follow from Ms. Brodie!

 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0tHAWAvvyKhuMCCfqNKSmIbIpSW7q25AD7LF9CzcWudJaug/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

 

MINORITY ACHIEVEMENT COMMITTEE:

The South County Minority Achievement Committee (MAC) is excited to kick off our fifth year.

The goal of the program is to create well rounded and balanced students through a variety of engaging extracurricular academic activities. We want to encourage you to register your student to participate now by completing the registration form. Our first tutoring session will be September 28th.. For additional information regarding the MAC or the MAC Scholars Program, please contact us at SouthCountyMAC@gmail.com.

 

 

FREE AND REDUCED LUNCH APPLICATIONS:  

The Free and Reduced Meals application is now online.  Families must re-apply every year to receive this service.  More information and a link to the application can be found at:  https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/food-and-nutrition-programs/free-and-reduced-price-meals.  Please also complete the consent to share information (section 4 of the application) as this can allow the school to waive course fees and receive reduced fees for other activities.  If families do not re-apply their number will be inactivated in early October.

 

CELL PHONE POLICY:  

In response to a request from the Fairfax County Council of PTA’s (and others) to implement consistent student cell phone restrictions in or schools, we are following FCPS guidelines for cell phone usage.

In Middle Schools, phones must be kept silenced and kept put away for the duration of the school day. Storage may be in a locker, backpack, pencil bag, etc. during the day. Teachers may allow cell phone usage in their classrooms at their discretion. Students are allowed to use cell phones UNTIL 7:25 a.m. (warning bell) in the morning and AFTER 2:15 p.m. in the afternoon. This information will be shared with our students in upcoming Learning Seminars.

FCPS and SCMS are not responsible for the loss of personal devices including cell phones, tablets or personal computers.

 

 

We encourage you to visit our school website frequently for updates and announcements. For more detailed information on all school matters, please visit our website at http://www.fcps.edu/southcountyms/

 

For further information on planning and events sponsored by the PTSO, please visit their website at http://www.scmsptso.org/

 

Parents of FCPS students may update contact information online through weCare@School http://www.fcps.edu/news/wecare.shtml, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) or by contacting the student information officer at their child’s school to have the contact information updated in the student information system.