Glasgow Community Gazette - February 17

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Glasgow Community:

Happy Presidents’ Day! I hope you are enjoying the long weekend with family and friends.

This week, I had the pleasure of participating in our quarterly classroom walkthroughs. Each quarter, administrators and instructional coaches visit classrooms and gather evidence of student learning and teacher impact. We then work collaboratively with teachers to determine a goal or action in the classroom, that is high-leverage, that will further impact teaching and learning. We then follow-up again with each teacher to provide support and feedback. What I love most about this process is that while we always have room to grow, there is so much to celebrate. Another highlight of our walkthroughs, is when speaking to students, they can clearly articulate what they are learning and why they are learning it. It’s just another example of how we work collaboratively to ensure high levels of learning for all students.  

We had a great turnout at our PTA meeting last Tuesday! Our topic was “Course Selection Roundtable,” and it was an opportunity for families to learn about our upcoming course registration for the 2020-2021 school year. Thank you to all the families who were able to come and participate. If you have any further questions about your child’s upcoming course registration, please feel free to reach out to our Student Services team; they are always there to answer questions and provide assistance.

We also held the annual Glasgow Spelling Bee this past Wednesday after school. Congratulations to Sofi Hemmens, who will represent our school at the Fairfax County Spelling Bee later this month. Shout out to our first runner-up Ayesha Gulzar (6th Grade) and second runners-up, Tomas Wayar (7th) and Nadira Ga'al (8th), who finished in a tie. We had over 26 spellers compete - way to go!

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

Katie Madigan, Acting Principal

 

Contact Information
Twitter: @ktmadigan
Email: kemadigan@fcps.edu
Website: http://www.fcps.edu/GlasgowMS/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowMS.FCPS/

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Getting Ready for High School

2020-2021 Course Registration for Rising 9th Graders - Glasgow Student Services is excited to meet with your 8th graders to register them for next year’s courses! Glasgow counselors are meeting with students one-on-one during their Health & Physical Education classes for academic advising and reviewing course selections. After meeting with their counselor, 8th graders will be bringing home the course selection sheet for your review. 

New for this year, students are now able to enter their course selections on their own through SIS StudentVue prior to meeting with counselors. Parents will also be able to view their student’s course selections in ParentVUE when they are entered. You may help your student through this process by using the “How To” guide.  

In order to make changes to course requests, parents of rising 9th graders will need to contact the student services team at Justice HS no later than March 1.

Helpful Links: Online Course Selection - “How To” Guide 

Justice HS Course Catalog for Rising 9th Graders

 

High School Transition Events at Neighboring High Schools

Edison High School - February 25 at 7PM


Volunteer 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:  http://www.glasgowpta.org/participate/volunteer/

 

Civics Lobby Day on March 5 & 6 – Volunteers Needed! - On March 5 and 6, 8th grade students will be doing a presentation of learning about state and local government. They will identify problems in their school, state or local communities and create an advocacy plan in order to lobby a legislator or decision maker about the issue. To give students an authentic audience for this task we are asking community members to volunteer to visit Glasgow for one hour and interact with students. In addition to Glasgow community members, we’d also love to have elected officials volunteer, as well as anyone with a direct connection to public service. Thank you in advance for supporting our students! To sign-up, visit this link. Email Tina Takach at cptakach@fcps.edu with any questions! 


Important Dates

February 17 - Presidents' Day, No School

February 18 - All “A” Honor Roll Celebration (6th and 7th Grade) during FIT

February 21 - All “A” Honor Roll Celebration (8th Grade) during FIT

February 24 - A&B Honor Roll Certificates Distributed during PT

February 25 - Pre-Assessment Band Concert, Justice, 7:00pm

February 25 - New Principal Search Meeting, Glasgow Middle School, 6:00pm

February 27 - Justice Pyramid Art Show, Justice, 6:00pm - 8:00pm

 

New Principal Search - February 26, 6:00pm - An important step in the new principal search is gathering input both in person and written.  All Glasgow Middle School parents, staff, and community members are invited to attend an important meeting on Tuesday, February 25, at 6:00 p.m. at Glasgow Middle School, with Dr. Fabio Zuluaga, Assistant Superintendent for Region 2,  Dr. Brendan Menuey, Executive Principal for Region 2, Dr. Anderson, Mason District School Board member, and members of our Department of Human Resources.  

In addition, individual, written input (preferably via email) regarding the skills, experience, and leadership characteristics needed and/or  any challenges or issues that a new principal will need to address for Glasgow Middle School is also welcomed. Input is confidential and will not be discussed at the meeting.  Please e-mail your ideas to AEHicks@fcps.edu or mail your suggestions to Ashley Hicks in Human Resources, 8115 Gatehouse Road, Falls Church, VA 22042-1203 by Monday, March 2.  

 

Upcoming Performing Arts Pre-Assessment Concerts - The Glasgow Music Department is deeply involved in the District Band, Chorus and Orchestra Assessment season. All of our ensembles will be performing in front of professional adjudicators at various FCPS locations during the month of March. The adjudicators rate us on our performance and our stage presence. For performing ensembles, this is an opportunity to show the music community what we have learned throughout the year.

All ensembles also present “Pre-Assessment Concerts” to prepare for the big events. Our concerts are all at Justice HS on the following days:

Band Pre-Assessment - Tuesday, February 25, 7:00 PM

Orchestra Pre-Assessment I - Wednesday, March 4, 7:00 PM

Orchestra Pre-Assessment II - Thursday, March 5, 7:00 PM

Chorus Pre-Assessment, Wednesday, March 11, 7:00 PM 

 

Justice Pyramid Art Show - February 27 from 6-8pm - The Justice Pyramid Art Show Opening Night will be held on February 27 from 6-8pm at Justice High School. Come see the amazing work of past, present and future Glasgow students. The show will offer an art-making table for visitors.

 

Justice HS Volleyball Weekend Camps in March: Sign Up Today! - Justice High School volleyball program is excited to be offering Volleyball Clinics for boys and girls in grades 6 through 9 grade every Saturday in March. For more information check out the following link: https://www.justicehssports.com/page/3095


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Glasgow Goodies

Spelling Bee A Huge Success! - We had 26 spellers--almost twice the number from last year--including a lot of first-time bee participants. This was directly due to the organizational efforts of PTA rep Amina Khan and ESOL teacher Julie Rogers. Ms. Rogers encouraged her English-language learners to participate in the Bee, and Ms. Khan organized the "mock bee" we held last week to support those students and other new participants.

Many thanks to Ms. Stapula (pronouncer), Ms. Mullin and Ms. Bernardo (judges) for giving their time and enery to the Bee. Thanks also to Ms. Madigan, Mr. Williams, the rest of the Glasgow admin team, and the Glasgow PTA for their support.  

Without further ado:  the 2020 Glasgow Spelling Bee Champion is Sofi Hemmens (7th Grade). Sofi will go on to compete in the Fairfax County Bee on March 15. The first runner-up was Ayesha Gulzar (6th Grade); second runners-up were Tomas Wayar (7th) and Nadira Ga'al (8th), who finished in a tie.

The championship word was "diplopia," which is defined as "a disorder of vision in which two images of a single object are seen (as from unequal action of the eye muscles); double-vision."

Spelling Bee Participants: Darwin Landaverde (6th), Nathan Tran (6th), Rudaina Ahmed (8th), Nathan Schwartz (6th), Boisseau Woltz (7th), Sierra Clements (6th), Samuel Clements (8th), Kami Albright (6th), Marieme Ba (6th), Danya Osman (8th), Muaweth Gizaw (6th), Sidi Mouatassim (7th), Sofia Hemmens (7th), Eleni Kapelos (7th), Ayesha Gulzar (6th), Rewan Farag (7th), Tomas Wayar (7th), Jarius Farraj (7th), Ali Siha Faqirzaad (6th), Rashad Rafin (6th), Mohammed Zaku (6th), Maazaa Abdalla (7th), Ruth Abebe (8th), Nadira Ga’al (8th), Abigail Aquino (6th)


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Important Information

Update on Internal Cameras: Great news, we have begun the implementation process of internal cameras. Currently we are reviewing the blueprints for the installation of 48 interior cameras at Glasgow. There have been two technicians here all week working on the installation of the wiring. We are hopeful that installation will begin in the next month or two.  Stay tuned for more information as we upgrade our safety and security system at Glasgow.

 

Yearbook Class Needs Photos of Your Child Outside of School! - The yearbook staff wants to see our students and staff engaged in an activity outside of school.  If you traveled to an exciting location (includes vacation destinations) or play sports outside of school, we want a picture! You can also include pictures of helping the community or attending a play, movie, evening school event, etc. Be creative and send those pictures to the yearbook staff!

To submit pictures you can submit to Mr. Perella in F226 (please put your picture in an envelope with name and Panther Time teacher)or click on the link below.  Please be sure to write a brief description of when and where the picture was taken. The deadline is March 2, 2020. Pictures can be submitted to this Google form: https://forms.gle/d5mimbsdHKLFZxYa6

 

8th Grade Baby or Toddler Pictures Needed! - It's that time again! The yearbook staff would like 8th graders to bring in pictures when you were a baby or toddler.  To submit pictures, you can give them to a yearbook staff member or drop them off to Mr. Perella in room F226 (please put your picture in an envelope with name and Panther Time teacher) or click on the link below.

The deadline is March 2, 2020. Pictures can be submitted to this Google form: https://forms.gle/Weyk8wpSh8rDMXh28 or emailed to Mr. Perella: maperella@fcps.edu or maperella@fcpsschools.net.

*Please note, not all pictures will be may be used based on image content, image quality, or size. The yearbook staff will try their best to get all submitted photos into the yearbook.

 

2020-2021 Course Registration for Rising 7th and 8th Graders: On Monday, February 3 our 6th and 7th graders will learn how to complete their course selection sheet. Counselors will start meeting with 6th and 7th graders in February for academic advising and reviewing course selections. After meeting with their counselor, 6th and 7th graders will be bringing home the course selection sheet. 

New for this year, students are now able to enter their course selections on their own through SIS StudentVue prior to meeting with counselors. Parents will also be able to view their student’s course selections is ParentVUE when they are entered. You may help your student through this process by using the “How To” guide below.  

NOTE: All course request changes are due by April 17, 2020. 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.

Helpful Links:

Online Course Selection - “How To” Guide 

Glasgow MS Course Catalog for Rising 7th Graders

Glasgow MS Course Catalog for Rising 8th Graders

 

Attention 8th Graders (rising 9th graders) CPP is Now Recruiting: The College Partnership Program (CPP) assist students who are traditionally underrepresented in higher education; explore, apply and enroll in college. CPP offers academic counseling, college visits, assistance with completing college and scholarship applications, monthly meetings, parent education sessions, SAT preparation classes, a summer overnight experience on a college campus, news and information related to colleges and careers via FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard) site.

Online application: https://tinyurl.com/CPPapp2020. Students will need to log in to their G Suite account (FCPS Google Apps in Education) to complete the online application. Paper applications are available in Student Services.  Please email Ms. Otoyo at ajotoyo@fcps.edu. Deadline is March 18

 

Sign Up for Weekly Progress Reports: All parents/guardians of middle and high school students who have registered for a SIS ParentVUE Account and have a primary email address recorded in SIS ParentVUE can receive Weekly Progress Reports via email. This report provides a summary of your student(s) grades for the current quarter. 

To activate the Weekly Progress Reports via email, login to your SIS ParentVUE Account and first verify that you have a primary email address within the system. It is listed under the “My Account” tab. If it is blank, enter the email address where you would like to receive the progress reports and click on update account. Once confirmed, parents/guardians are able to activate and select their preferences for receiving these reports within the SIS ParentVUE “My Account” tab.

Weekly progress reports for middle and high school students will be included in one email. FCPS Elementary Schools do not use the SIS grade book and therefore are not included in these reports. For questions about a specific progress report or grade you can login into your SIS ParentVUE Account to find detailed grade book information. Additionally, your student’s teacher is always the best resource to answer any grade book questions that you may have. Weekly Progress Report Parent Quick Reference Guide.

 

Yearbooks on Sale Now! - Parents encouraged to purchase a yearbook today! The cost is $30. You can purchase your yearbook on-line at https://www.balfour.com/virginia/alexandria/glasgow-middle-school or bring in cash/check to the office. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Perella at maperella@fcps.edu. Please note, yearbooks will be distributed to students at Glasgow during the last week of school.


After School Program News

The after-school program is going great! Students are enjoying the different clubs and activities that are being offered. Late buses are available for students every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. 

Club Spotlight - Glasgow Anime Society - The Glasgow Anime Society is a place where students of all age groups can come and discuss the characters in popular anime series, social issues, and upcoming watching trending series and movies. The club is open to students of all age groups and allows students to show and chat about their love of anime. This is also a place to meet like-minded individuals and cultivate lasting friendships. Even if you are a veteran anime watcher or new to the medium, all are welcome!

To learn more about Glasgow’s After School Program, check out our website, email Greg Williams, After School Coordinator at gwilliams2@fcps.edu or call 703-813-8885.


Glasgow Middle School Panther Mascot, image

Be Informed, Stay Involved!