Roadrunner Rundown

 

Roadrunner Rundown

8/3/20

Topic

Description/Date

Principal Message 

Principal’s Message

School Events 

Registration continues.  Email Ms. Koshuta (mmarcumkoshu@fcps.edu) for more information.

Laptop and MiFi Distribution.  We will begin laptop and MiFi distribution to families who have expressed a need the week of August 24th.  If you need a laptop or MiFi, please complete this form.  Our Schoolbased Technology Specialist will be in contact with you.

Dr. Brabrand is expected to continue having Town Hall meetings through August.  More details should be available from the Superintendent’s office soon.

We are excited that teachers will return on August 14th.  That will begin three weeks of preparation for our school opening date of September 8th.  

Our theme this school year 2020-2021 is “Roadrunner Stories.”  We are excited to hear what’s been happening in our children’s lives this summer.  

The bell schedule for this year will follow closely with our bell schedule from last year.  Our current version has classes starting between 9:00 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and ending by 3:00 p.m. to 3:15 p.m., Tuesday to Friday.  On Mondays, teachers will be providing small group opportunities for intervention and/or enrichment.  Students in grades K to 2 will be from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  Students in grades 3 to 6 will be from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

PTA 

The PTA is excited to welcome everyone to the new school year.  If you are interested in a volunteer or leadership role, please email Annemarie at president@marshallroadpta.org to learn more! 

FAQs

(Bi-weekly)

FCPS has been collecting and publishing  “Return to School - Frequently Asked Questions for Families” since the school closure.  Additionally, the PTA is collecting Marshall Road specific parent questions.  For a current list of questions and answers, please see our Parent FAQ document on our website.  Here are some highlights from this week’s questions:

  1. Will direct instruction look like instruction in the spring?  No. The fall schedule mirrors a regular school day.
  2. What will the bell schedule be?  We will follow a similar bell schedule to last year.  A more detailed schedule will be provided for families as soon as it is available. 
  3. What criteria will be used to determine whether/when it is safe to begin the hybrid in-school learning?  Dr. Brabrand is expected to communicate this in the coming weeks.
  4. What provisions will be made for special education students?  Services for a variety of needs will be provided either on Mondays or throughout the instructional week as they are during a typical school year.  As these are individualized needs, service providers will coordinate with families so they are aware of the schedule for service delivery.  Case managers will be reaching out to families before school begins.
  5. Can I just listen to recording to help my child in the evening since I work during the day?  FCPS is in the process of drafting attendance guidelines.  At this time, MRES's understanding is that attendance is mandatory for live sessions.  We are awaiting guidance from FCPS.  Additionally, unlike in the spring there will be 3-3.5 hours of instruction offered across a 5-6 hour time frame so it will be harder to take all that information in as compared to last spring. 
  6. What platform will we use for virtual learning?  More details are being provided to schools over the next week.  We are considering making a change at MRES to Google Meets based on information we should receive over the next few weeks.  However, we will not make this change if Google Meets does not reach the threshold for security and virtual tools available through the platform.

Learning Highlight

(Bi-weekly)

Teachers have been busy at work this summer preparing for the fall thanks to the generosity of our PTA.  Their learning included attendance at Teachers College that focuses on the science of reading, the Washington International School Summer Institute for Teachers which focuses on creating a culture of thinking in the classroom, LETRS, FCPS Equity Symposium and International Society for Technology Education’s Summer Learning Academy. 

FCPS Communications

FCPS will be communicating more details to families this week.  MRES specific communications will continue on Mondays through our Roadrunner Rundown.

For more information on the county’s Return to School plan, click here.

Pyramid Happenings

(Bi-weekly)

Madison Pyramid principals have been meeting weekly since the beginning of the pandemic.  They have been working together to ensure consistency in practice between schools and sharing resources.  They are committed to continued collaboration for the benefit of all our school communities.  We are ….. One School. One Community.  One World.

Parent (Resource) Corner 

FCPS is creating resources for families that will be rolled out over the month of August.  Additionally, we will provide specific MRES information to support families as we reopen school.  

Once school begins, teachers will continue providing families the Parent Weekly Learning Guides.