Glasgow Community Gazette - May 10

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Glasgow Community:

It was great getting to hear from and talk with several of you at our May PTA meeting on Tuesday. I really love hearing your questions, feedback, and concerns, as well as seeing how you all support each other and us. I have always strongly believed that school means so much more than serving students from 7:30-2:15; that the best schools create strong connections and collaboration with families and the community in order to support students. Our vision at Glasgow is “We are a community empowered by diversity, inspired by our success, and committed to lifelong learning.” I have shared with our staff that it is in times of greatest challenge when we lean the most into our vision and collective beliefs--and I am so proud to be a part of an entire community that does this. 

Many of you have asked about our students who are struggling to gain access to learning and have asked how you can help. Our Glasgow staff--administrators, counselors, social workers, teachers, instructional assistants, and parent liaisons--are working hard to reach every family, ask what they need and how we can help, and provide guidance on everything from technology and distance learning to access to meals and social services. We are always working on ways to continue to connect families and school. 

Something that many of you have also asked is how you can support your students’ distance learning at home. Learning how to support your student at home is not easy, nor is it intuitive. With an elementary student as well as two middle-schoolers, even as an educator, I am also learning how to provide the right amount of support and structure that helps balance my and my husband’s work with supporting our children’s learning. So I thought it might be helpful to share a few strategies, which you’ll find below. I’d also love to hear from you what is working!

Finally, thank you all so much for all of your thank yous to our teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week! Our staff loved and were uplifted by all of the videos, notes, pictures, and emails that you and your students shared. 

We appreciate all you are doing to support your students’ distance learning. As always, please reach out if you have any questions or feedback.

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/


Distance Learning

Distance Learning will continue throughout FCPS this week. Glasgow students and families will be able to access asynchronous lessons in all content areas through the glasgowms.fcps.edu website or the schedule that was mailed directly to your student three weeks ago. 

Here is the link to the FCPS Distance Learning website that will provide you detailed information.

Our Glasgow Website has been updated with many important links for distance learning. In the announcements section, there are two banners that will take you to the Distance Learning Hub and to the Distance Learning Resources section. Students can access their course homepages and asynchronous grids through the Distance Learning Hub and many of your questions can be answered in the Distance Learning Resources section.  In addition, like all FCPS websites, they can be translated into many different languages.


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Tips for Supporting Student's Learning at Home 

Work with your child to develop a daily schedule that is consistent and balances work time with breaks.

Help your child fill out this Synchronous Sessions Link Organizer with links to all of their synchronous sessions using the Blackboard Collaborate links in their fcpsschools.net email.

At the start of work time, have your child skim their packets or the Glasgow Weekly Lesson Grids to make a general daily To Do list that they can check off as they complete tasks.

Throughout the week (or daily), have your child show you their packets or open the Weekly Lesson Grids. Look together at the Academic Task sections; use this as guidance to ask specific questions about their work.

Schedule periodic Check In times with your child. Ask:

  • Questions about completion: What have you finished so far? What do you have left? 
  • Open-ended questions: Tell me about this assignment--what were some of the ideas you were working on? How’s it going? What made you think that? Tell me more about that. What else? 
  • Questions about ease or challenge: What was the easiest to work on today? Why? What was trickier? Why? 
  • Questions about likes or dislikes: What assignments did you like best? Why? What assignments weren’t so great? Why? How do you think it could be made better? 
  • Questions about support: Is there anything I can help with? Have you reached out to your teacher to ask for help? Would you like to stop by your teacher’s office hours for support? What about a friend, can they help?
  • Questions about feedback: What are ways you know how you are doing on your work? Let's take a look at SIS together? Let's check your email and see if you've gotten any feedback? Show me your Google Classroom, let's see what feedback is there. What might you need to spend a little more time on?

Like I said above, learning how to support your student at home is not easy, nor is it intuitive. I hope that you find these tips and guiding questions helpful and I’d also love to hear from you what is working!


Grading Update

4th Quarter Grading Update - Middle school and high school students will be assigned a “no mark” for the fourth quarter, with assignments submitted being allowed to positively influence the student’s overall grade for the year based on mastery of learning concepts, in accordance with FCPS grading policy. You may see some “feedback” entered into the grade-book already. Each of these assignments are “Not for Grading” and can only have a positive impact on your students final mark. Only final grades will be shown on transcripts; a “no mark” will not show on a student’s final transcript.


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Volunteer Opportunities

Get Involved, Run for the PTA Board - The PTA is looking for interested parties to serve on the board, there are a number of opportunities available. Some positions are easily performed remotely. Please email the PTA if interested: glasgowms.pta@gmail.com

 

Food Donation - Fortunately our feeder neighborhoods have several pre-existing food truck delivery programs through Food For Others. If you are interested in donating food, we recommend that families donate using information from the website: https://www.foodforothers.org/


Important Dates

May 1 - May 14 - Virtual Book Fair

May 13 - Synchronous Sessions - Odd Day

May 15 - Synchronous Session - Even Day

May 1 - May 14 - Virtual Spring Book Fair - It’s time for the Glasgow MS Spring Book Fair!  We invite you to shop our Book Fair online from May 1 - May14, 2020! Even though our school is closed, we still want to make the Book Fair available for our entire school community. See below for more information. Scholastic Book Fair link.

May 13 & May 15 - Synchronous Sessions - Following your students regular class schedule and the distance learning schedule synchronous schedule. Students can continue to engage in synchronous learning on Wednesday and Friday this week. The links are the same each week, if your student needs a new link have them email their teacher.


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Library News

Virtual Book FairIt’s time for the Glasgow MS Spring Book Fair!  We invite you to shop our Book Fair online from May 1 - May14, 2020! Even though our school is closed, we still want to make the Book Fair available for our entire school community. Scholastic Book Fair link. Take advantage of free shipping on book-only orders over $25. If you choose a non-book item free shipping is NOT available. Plus, all purchases benefit our school. Click the SHOP NOW button to start shopping and show your support. The SHOP NOW button will not appear until the fair opens on May 1. See these links for a small sampling of books that will be offered: Pre-K Booklist , K-6 Booklist , Middle School Booklist  Please contact Tara Sanz, Glasgow MS librarian, at tmsanz@fcps.edu if you have any questions. Thanks for supporting the Glasgow MS library!

 

Glasgow MS Library Site -  at http://bit.ly/GlasgowMSLibrary It has been created for both teachers and students and can be included in Google Classroom. There are plenty of resources that will help you use databases, Collections, find Virginia Reader’s Choice books, and the library catalog. The librarians will host Lunch in the Library office hours on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11am – 12pm. Please join our Google Classroom (code: u74n5km) to attend our office hours on Google Meet. We will discuss books, help you access resources, take recommendations, and answer questions to assist with your school assignments.


important information

Important Information 

Yearbooks Still on Sale! - Parents are 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. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Perella at maperella@fcps.edu. We will update you on how yearbooks will be distributed with the closure of school as we get closer to the distribution date.

 

Student Services - Counselors Available If you have concerns regarding your child’s socio-emotional health or mental well-being, please contact your child’s counselor for support. Counselors are available to check in with your child through email or the voice-dial feature on Google Meets. Unless your child has been opted out of counseling services, counselors may be reaching out to your child if they have requested an appointment or if staff members have noticed concerns that may prompt a check in. As always, counselors will stay in communication with parents whenever necessary. 

*Note* When counselors are calling during Distance Learning, they may be calling from a blocked caller ID number or a number starting with (347) which is the area code for Google Meets.

  • A – C: Akon Otoyo - ajotoyo@fcps.edu
  • D – J: Curtiss Barnes - crbarnes@fcps.edu
  • K – Ph: Cynthia Pareja - cspareja@fcps.edu
  • Pi - Z: Greg Frantz - gdfrantz@fcps.edu
  • ESOL Level 1 &2: Irania Escalante - ivescalante@fcps.edu  
  • TEAM 7&8: Jenn Pallotto (lead) - jkpallotto@fcps.edu

Support for Parents during COVID-19 Closures - We recognize that these extended closures are an unprecedented time for all members of our school community including staff, students, and also parents. Here is a guide for parents as to how you can continue to support your child at home to ensure their socio-emotional health and wellness. How to Support Your Child During COVID-19 Closures

 

Food Services Meal Distribution Sites - FCPS will continue to provide grab and go breakfasts and lunches at no cost for students at multiple sites to students, with breakfast from 8:00-10:30am and lunch from 10:30am to 2:00pm. School-age students are welcome to come to any of the nearest sites listed below to pick up a lunch during that time period. Other sites are also available on the FCPS homepage. All meals are available at no cost to children 18 years and under. Adult lunches are available for purchase for $2.

  • Annandale Terrace, 7604 Herald St., Annandale
  • Braddock Elementary,  7825 Heritage Dr., Annandale
  • Bailey’s Elementary School, 6111 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church
  • Crestwood ES, 6010 Hanover Ave., Springfield
  • Glen Forest ES, 5829 Glen Forest Dr., Falls Church
  • Parklawn ES, 4116 Braddock Road, Alexandria
  • Bailey’s Community Center, 10-10:30 a.m., 5920 Summers Ln, Falls Church

Click here for a list of local organizations that are providing food for students and families.


FCPS Cares

FCPS Cares

Do you know a Glasgow Middle School staff member who went beyond what is expected? If so, then click here to submit a brief description so we can all acknowledge the good work of Glasgow faculty and staff members.


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     Be Informed, Stay Involved!