The Mustang Weekly - October 21st, 2019

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 10/21/2019 06:15 PM EDT

THE MUSTANG WEEKLY

October 21st, 2019

 

A note from Principal Kownacki:

Dear Mustang Community:

 I am thrilled to announce that Miranda Hendershot has accepted the assistant principal position at South County Middle School. For the past 4 years, Ms. Hendershot served as the assistant principal at Sandburg Middle School where she collaborated with various content departments. Through her work as an AP, she has focused on building the capacity of Collaborative Teams, facilitating meaningful professional development, and collaborating with students and their families to educate the whole student.

Prior to becoming an AP, Ms. Hendershot served in various capacities at Marshall High School, including Dean of Students, Algebra 1 Team leader and Assistant Math Department Chair. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Boston University, Master’s Degree in Secondary Education from The George Washington University and Educational Leadership from Virginia Tech. Ms. Hendershot will officially start at SCMS in early November. Please join me in welcoming Ms. Hendershot to the Mustang Community.

Lastly, I encourage you to join the PTSO, or at least attend the events sponsored by the PTSO. One opportunity will take place on October 22, where the PTSO is sponsoring a screening of the documentary “Screenagers”. The content covered in the documentary is particularly applicable to middle school aged students and their families and particularly relevant as the FCPS School Board considers expanding the FCPSOn initiative to middle schools in the future.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions. I look forward to seeing you at SCMS soon.

Sincerely,

Peter Kownacki

pakownacki@fcps.edu

@PAKownacki

703-690-5500

 

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • Anti-bullying Spirit Week: 10/21/19–10/25/19 See below under UNITY DAY.
  • 10/22/19 – Screenagers – 7:00 showing. Interested in learning more about social media, the internet and how it affects our students? See more details below in the PTSO section.
  • 10/23/19 – Unity Day – see below

 

STUDENT-PARENT SURVEY FOR FEDERAL IMPACT AID:

Beginning on October 21, FCPS will be asking all families to fill out a Student-Parent Survey for Federal Impact Aid. Returning this form is important because information from this survey results in an additional $3 million in grants each year from the U.S. Department of Education. These funds are used to support all Fairfax County public schools and centers.

SCMS students will receive the Federal Impact Aid form from their 3rd period Learning Seminar teacher on Thursday, October 24th. For each school-aged child in your household, please complete, sign, date, and return the survey to your child's school. If sections 1 and 2 of the survey do not apply to you, just check the box in Section 3.  All forms must be signed, dated, and returned by October 30. All results are CONFIDENTIAL.

Video link - https://youtu.be/uPqC3BLf3Ow

 

UNITY DAY AND SPIRIT WEEK: UNITY DAY:

  • Tuesday – 10/22 Knock the socks off bullying. Wear crazy socks.
  • Wednesday-10/23 Unity DAY - Unity Day is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month which has been recognized in the US since 2011. To participate in Unity Day, schools, communities, and businesses wear or display orange to raise awareness and show support for students who have been bullied.
  • Thursday-10/24 Sports Day. Team up against bullying. Wear a sports jersey.
  • Friday-10/25 Be a Hero. Dress like a superhero.

 

 PTSO INFORMATION:

Please consider joining the PTSO.  Memberships can be purchased at www.scmsptso.org.  All funds go directly back into programs at the school, teacher appreciation, instructional grants, and more!

  • On Tuesday, October 22nd at 7:00 p.m., the PTSO is proud to present a screening of the acclaimed film "Screenagers".  Tickets are only $5 and pizza is available for pre-order.  For more information on the film, visit https://www.screenagersmovie.com/. To purchase tickets and dinner, visit www.scmsptso.org.  This film is brought to you by the generous sponsorship of Reem Trahan and the team at Compass. 

 

 THE MUSTANG 3 X 4 CHALLENGE:

The Mustang 3x4 Reading Challenge is underway! Students are challenged to read three books between September 30th and November 1st. Read three books, turn in a book log, and celebrate your accomplishment at the exclusive Mustang 3x4 Celebration. To learn more about the challenge, click here.

 

CAREER DAY:

If you are 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 (MAC):

Accelerate your academic success this year by becoming a MAC Scholar. Join fellow SoCo MS and HS students for FREE one-on-one and group tutoring on select Saturdays in the South County High School library from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. MAC Scholars promotes academic enrichment by offering workshops on study habits, time management, learning styles, self-advocacy, college application prep, financial aid awareness, and other life skills to help your student succeed.

The next South County MAC Scholar session is October 26th from 10 am to 1 pm in the SCHS Library.  We will have a representative from NOVA Community College to discuss the NOVA Pathways Program. We welcome all students and parents to attend these sessions. We want to encourage you to register your student to participate by completing the registration form. For additional information regarding the MAC or the MAC Scholars Program, please contact us at SouthCountyMAC@gmail.com.

South County MAC events are open to ALL SCHS and SCMS students and parents. We welcome all to attend. For additional information regarding MAC or the MAC Scholars Program please contact us at SouthCountyMAC@gmail.com.

 

 

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.