Glasgow Community Gazette - June 14

Glasgow Community:

Thank you for all your support over the course of the past few months. We are so proud of our students for transitioning into distance learning so well. Your feedback, questions, and emails with kudos for our staff were incredibly thoughtful and helpful. 

Take the summer to rest and rejuvenate when possible. As we hear more about what the upcoming school year will look like, I will send out information. 

Have a great summer! And as always, please reach out with 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/

Rising 9th Grade News

Request to Expunge High School Course Taken in Middle School - Parents of students who take a high school credit-bearing course in middle school may request that the grade be omitted from the student’s high school transcript and the student not earn high school credit for the course. Parents must make this request no later than the end of the first nine weeks of the school year following completion of the course. For all students taking a credit bearing class including rising freshmen at Justice, parents must make the request no later than the end of the first quarter. Once expunged, a course cannot be reinstated. The Request to Expunge form must be completed to make this request. Please contact your child’s school counselor if you would like to discuss expunging a course.

2020-2021 Justice HS Course Registration Information - A special message from Justice HS for rising freshmen. Students and parents may access student course requests through their SIS Account. Please review the courses your child selected and contact your child’s counselor if you notice any errors. Justice HS staff spends considerable time assisting students with their selection of appropriate courses. All decisions regarding staffing, instructional supplies, etc. are made based on those selections and classes without sufficient enrollment will not be offered. We will try to accommodate changes up until June 1st but that may not always be possible due to space availability. Schedule changes in the new school year will not be made during the first weeks of school unless there is an error on the schedule. Students may be placed in support classes or general education classes based on end of year progress and assessments. Students who start the year in honors and IB courses will be required to stay in the course through October 1st. Courses dropped after 1st quarter will receive a “WP” or “WF”. The course offering catalog, where you can review information on course prerequisites, descriptions, fee requirements, and general FCPS information is available on the Justice HS website under Academics. Please contact your child’s school counselor if you would like to discuss your child’s course requests.

Justice High School Athletics Fall Sports Information - Glasgow 8th Graders!!! You are a little more than a month away from become official Justice High School 9th graders. We are excited to see you in August. www.justicesports.com

Interested in a fall sport??? Please fill out the below google form by clicking the embedded link. Contact information will be routed to the appropriate coach so that we can make sure you are included in any of their upcoming communication. Fall Interest Google Form.  In order to be eligible for tryouts, athletes must have the below items completed prior to the start dates: 2020-2021 Physical Form (must be dated after 5/1/2020), Emergency Care Card and Concussion Education (New Online Platform Under Construction). Golf starts July 30 and all other fall sports (Cross Country, Cheerleading, Field Hockey, Football and Volleyball) on August 3rd.

Coaches Contact Information

• Cross Country - Ron Kronlage - rkronlage@fcps.edu 
• Cheer-leading - Deborah O'Rourke - dworourke@fcps.edu 
• Field Hockey - Stefanie Vestal - slvestal@fcps.edu 
• Football - Greg Weisbecker - gpweisbecker@fcps.edu 
• Golf - Ryan Kenna - rhkenna@fcps.edu 
• Volleyball - Sharon Ponton - sponton@fcps.edu 

Falls Church High School Sports Information

Looking for information about Falls Church High School Sports, look no further, everything you need to know is housed on this Google Site: 

https://sites.google.com/view/fchs-activities-information/home

Summer Programs

Summer Learning Opportunities - FCPS recently sent out a message regarding summer learning opportunities. Please click here to see the message.  For more information about summer learning programs, please visit the FCPS website.

We will continue to update our Glasgow MS website with new information as it comes available. https://glasgowms.fcps.edu/

Continuity of Learning: Students across FCPS will have the opportunity to participate in Continuity of Learning over the summer. English and Math packets will be mailed home in June and a number of teachers will be available in the summer for scheduled office hours. More information to come - be on the look out for this in the coming weeks. This program is open to all - register here if you are interested in having your child participate.Register here

Algebra I: Students who took Algebra I for the 2019-2020 school year have two opportunities for the summer--Virtual Credit Recovery and Algebra Intervention. Students who took Algebra 1 this school year may take the Virtual Credit Recovery course to repeat the class for a higher grade this summer through a self-directed online class.  Students who do not wish to retake Algebra I for a grade over the summer but wish to work on their skills and review course materials may choose to take a self-directed, online Algebra Intervention course. Note: While expunging grades is an option for middle school students, high school credit bearing classes taken during the summer between the 8th and 9th grade may not be expunged.

• If you are interested in signing up your student for these classes, please complete the following Google form: Algebra I Virtual Credit Recovery and Algebra I Intervention Registration The deadline is Friday, June 12 at 5pm. 
• For more information about the Virtual Credit Recovery Academy, please visit the following website: https://www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning/summer-learning-credit-recovery-academy

Middle School VIP Program - The Middle School VIP program will be going virtual for the summer!  During these unprecedented times of social distancing and virtual learning, we want to offer your child a summer experience that is safe and full of fitness, friends, fun and enrichment. FCPS and Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services (DNCS) have teamed up to offer a 5- week virtual program for rising 7^th and 8^th graders in Fairfax County. We will also be extending this invitation to our rising 9th graders to help keep them connected this summer. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in virtual activities in the arts, music, STEM, physical fitness, cooking, games, puzzles, literature, and more – things students can do at home. The program is led by FCPS After-School Specialists and DNCS Teen/Community Center Staff. Both synchronous and asynchronous activities included. VIP runs Monday - Thursday, June 29th - July 30th. It is virtual and free! The Online Registration will be available by the beginning of June.  You will be sent another "News You Choose" email with a link to the application.  Participants will receive further details/instructions in mid-June. 

**Middle schools with 6^th graders – please add rising 6^th to the 1^st paragraph and then delete this note and highlights!*

Teens Transforming Technology - This summer Teens Transforming Technology will be offering a Foundations of Java webinar series. In this program, some of the key foundational concepts in Java (Arrays, Objects, For/While Loops) that are building blocks to further study in computer science will be covered. The webinar series is open to all middle school students and our goal is for this webinar series, along with our other summer programming, to provide virtual enrichment opportunities for students over the summer. Registration Form: https://forms.gle/1VeJ5v7aDaTSC4jYA and for more information: https://www.teenstransformingtechnology.org/programs.html

Jump Start - Our summer transition program for rising 6th graders will take place virtually this summer the first full week in August. Be on the look out for more information coming soon.

STEM/Coding Classes - Glasgow will be able to offer an online STEM/Coding class. The cost will be $25 for a coding kit. Be on the lookout for more information about this summer opportunity.

English Language Development Classes at Glasgow - More information coming in soon to help our English language learners get a jump start on the year. 

Grading Update

4th Quarter & Final Mark Grading Update - Students will be assigned a “no mark” for 4th quarter, with assignments submitted being allowed to positively influence the student’s overall grade for the year based on mastery of learning concepts. 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. 

Per FCPS grading policy for Distance Learning, a student’s final mark for year long courses will be the highest of the following:

• Avg of Qtrs 1, 2, & 3
• Avg of Qtrs 1, 2, & 3 w/ 1 grade distribution increase (if applicable)
• 1st Semester Grade
• 1st Semester Grade w/1 distribution increase (if applicable)

For semester long courses, a student’s final mark will be the highest of the following: 

• Qtr 3 Average
• Qtr 3 Average (w/up to a two grade distribution increase if applicable)

Library News

Glasgow MS Library Site -  The Glasgow LIbrary site http://bit.ly/GlasgowMSLibrary 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.

Library Books and Resources - Please enjoy your school library books at home. No books are overdue and they can be returned when school buildings re-open in summer or fall. Please check out our audiobooks and eBooks available on MackinVIA.  See this video that will help you access MackinVIA. Students can also check out books from MyON, here is a video that shows you how to access that resource. Feel free to email, Tara Sanz, Glasgow MS librarian and avid reader of middle grade & YA fiction, if you need any recommendations or help with accessing online library resources. tmsanz@fcps.edu Happy reading!

Important Information 

Yearbook Distribution - There are only 31 yearbooks left!  The online store will close once they are all gone.  If you haven’t preordered your yearbook and want to reserve a copy of the 2019-2020 yearbook, go to this web site now and place your order:  https://www.balfour.com/virginia/alexandria/glasgow-middle-school

Please note:  in the past there have been extra yearbooks sent to the school that we can sell.  There is no guarantee that we will have extras, so order today to reserve a book.

Yearbooks still have not been delivered to the school.  The plant in Dallas, Texas has reopened only 4 weeks ago and has been printing yearbooks 24/7.  Our yearbooks should arrive at the school in the near future.  During this pandemic, Glasgow has been following the strict guidelines of the Governor and County. We will continue to adhere to their recommendations before we decide how to distribute the yearbooks to students and staff.  We will communicate this information via KIT and Gazette messages.  If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Perella at maperella@fcps.edu.

Academic and Career Plan – For Parents/Guardians of 8th Grade Students - In order to support our students’ academic and career development we’re asking our 8th grade students to use time during the last week of school, and possibly over the summer, to update their Naviance Student accounts. The Glasgow Academic and Career Grid walks them through accessing their Naviance plan, that includes:

• Results of the strengths and career surveys
• Goals
• Resume Builder
• Draft course plans for high school

Once you have talked with your student and reviewed your child’s plan in Naviance Student use this link to access a Google Form to complete the parents/guardian verification form. The completion of this form will serve as your signature. This must be completed by Wednesday, July 10, 2020. Note: students will need to be signed into their fcpsschools.net account to access the Academic and Career Grid.  For more information about your child’s ACP, visit https://www.fcps.edu/academics/graduation-requirements-and-course-planning/ or the ACP website. You may also contact Glasgow Counselor Gregory Frantz gdfrantz@fcps.edu with any questions.