Carson MS Weekly Updates-September 15, 2020


RCMS Photo - New

Important Upcoming Events

September 17 - PTA Meeting, virtual, 6:00-7:00PM

September 21 - After School Program begins

September 21 - Materials Pick Up Day

September 23 - Back to School Night

October 12 - School Planning Day (Student holiday)


2020-2021 Virtual Bell Schedule

Back to School Night

Wednesday, September 23

Carson MS will host Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 23.  This will be a virtual event and will offer families a series of live and recorded sessions in which to participate.

Live sessions:

The Administrative Team will host two live drop-in sessions for parents in BBCU.  This is a chance to hear a presentation about the start of the school year and more details about the cumulative gradebook.  

7th Grade Session:  6:00-6:30PM

8th Grade Session:  6:30-7:00PM

Teacher videos:

All teachers will have a recorded video available for viewing.  Parents may choose to view these videos during the BTSN evening, or you may come back at a later time that is more convenient..  Through these recordings, families will learn more about their child's teacher, and about the course content.  

On Monday, September 21, parents will receive an email invitation to sign up for their child's grade level Administrative Team presentation.  This link will also include a question submission form so that questions can be submitted in advance. The links to attend these sessions will be provided to registered parents on Wednesday, September 23.


Who to Contact

If you have a question or concern, please visit our website for a full listing of  Who to Contact.  This listing includes all of our administrators, our counselors, and who to speak to regarding a specific content area or class. Contact information for all staff members is listed on our website - just click on the name of the person you wish to contact  to be redirected to their email address: RCMS Staff Directory.


Parents, We Need Your Consent for Select Digital Resources

At Rachel Carson, our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: https://carsonms.fcps.edu/adopteddigitalresources

Included on this page is also a link to a form where the enrolling parent or guardian will need to indicate whether or not their student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval and why we must request your consent before using certain tools. We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible, as your child will not be able to use the digital resources until we have received your permission. Please reach out to our School Based Technology Specialist, Megan Carr, if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.


Student Rights and Responsibilities

Parents and Guardians:  On our Website is the information you will need to complete for SRR (Student Rights and Responsibilities) this year. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to Sybil Terry @ sdterry3@fcps.edu.

Please review the Student Rights and Responsibilities and related resources at www.fcps.edu/srr.  After reviewing the information, fill out the SR&R Parent Acknowledgement Form using this link: SR&R Acknowledgement Form  The form must be filled out one time per student.


Materials Pick Up Day

Throughout the year, while students are attending school virtually, we plan to have scheduled Materials Pick Up Days for distribution of important supplies needed for classwork.  Our first such day will be Monday, September 21, from 3:00-7:00PM.  More information will be coming in a separate News You Choose later this week.


RCMS Library Curbside Checkout

Curbside Library Book Checkout began on Monday, September 14.  This service will be held every Monday, unless otherwise noted.  Please check the Library page on our website for further details:  RCMS Library

Questions? Contact one of your librarians: Mr. Treakle or Ms. Donovan

We look forward to seeing you at curbside checkout!


Important Information About Receiving Communication from
Fairfax County Public Schools

How can I make sure I receive emergency information from Fairfax County Public Schools? Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) communicates all emergency and essential information to parents via email. The information is also translated into eight languages: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Information communicated via email includes:

• School closings and delays
• Attendance
• Emergencies at school
• Low lunch balance
• Power, phone, or internet outages at school
• Bus delays
• Testing dates

When providing an e-mail address to FCPS, please avoid using an educational (.edu-including fcps.edu), military (.mil) or government (.gov) email address. The security settings on government servers often block messages from FCPS. It is a best practice to not use work related email addresses; therefore, it is important to use an email address from another internet service provider such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.

How do I receive text messages from FCPS? Parents can receive text messages for emergencies and essential information. Please make sure your parent cell phone numbers are listed in the “cell telephone” fields in the parent/guardian contact information section on the emergency care information form for each of your children.

Parents and guardians can view and update emergency contact information online using the weCare@school feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning. Standard message and data charges may apply for text messages depending on their cell phone service plan. More information


Student Attendance for the 2020-21 School Year

FCPS welcomes new and returning families for the 2020-21 school year. Our September 8 virtual opening poses some interesting challenges, so we hope this will help families understand the new attendance routines.

In Virginia, public school students aged 5-18 are required to attend school regularly. That is true whether FCPS is offering distance learning or in-person instruction. Teachers will take attendance during learning sessions and ensure that all students are counted. Parents can assist with this process by doing the following:

  • Ensuring that their student(s) logs in to classes on time, and throughout the day.
  • Calling or emailing the RCMS school attendance line if their student(s) are unable to participate:
  • Returning phone calls or emails when notified that their student(s) did not participate that day.
  • Ensuring that your student(s) submit activity logs as directed.

If your child is unable to login to live, face-to-face online instruction with their teacher, the teacher will be recording the class and posting the video within Blackboard/Google Classroom so it can be viewed at a different time. The video can also be used to provide review for all students.

If a parent calls and indicates their student will not be there for a certain class period, they are excused for the class period. Accessing the material later will not change the status of the absence.

If there is no parent contact, and the student failed to log in, the student is unverified for that class period. FCPS bases attendance for secondary students on “present” one or more periods of the day, and reports which periods a student did not appear in class.

FCPS staff members will work with parents to ensure that the transition to virtual learning is as smooth as possible. Help us to help you set your students up for success.

Difficulty logging into FCPS? The Parent Technology help desk may be able to assist: 833-921-3277 or https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/ Communicating any concerns to the school, such as difficulty logging in or having access to FCPS classes.

More information about attendance is available online


2019-2020 Yearbooks Available for

Rising 8th and 9th Graders

We have a limited number of surplus 2019-2020 yearbooks available for sale on a first come-first served basis. Yearbooks are $35.00. We will have one drive up/pick up day on September 21, from 2:00-6:00PM. 

To ensure you receive a yearbook, please order online. If you choose to pay by check, please write checks out to Rachel Carson Middle School in the amount of $35.00 with your students name in the subject line. Online sales will get first priority, if online sales sell out there will be no checks accepted at distribution day.

No cash will be accepted on drive by distribution day.

Current 8th grade students who have not purchased a yearbook, may purchase one through www.MySchoolBucks.com

Current 9th grade students may purchase a yearbook from MySchoolBucks by accessing the link below. Please bring the invoice provided by MySchoolBucks at the time of pickup.

9th Graders 2019-2020 Yearbook Purchase

 


School Lunch Information

Free and Reduced Lunch and Consent to Share

Students who may qualify for assistance through the Free or Reduced Meals program must apply each year. If your student was eligible last year and you have not yet reapplied, benefits from last school will expire at the end of September.

If you either need to reapply, or if you believe your family may be eligible this year, click here to learn more.

At the bottom of the webpage there are links to the application in English and Spanish. It is also available in Arabic, Chinese, Tagalog, French and Vietnamese.

Consent to Share Information form

It is very important that families also complete the Consent to Share Information form so that students may also receive free or reduced fees for several programs (e.g. course fees). Without this form, students will not be eligible for free/reduced fees in a number of programs even if they are eligible for the meals program.

The form is available in nine languages on the same webpage. Please scroll to the bottom of the webpage to find the form.

If you have already completed the Free/Reduced Meals application but did not do the Consent to Share Information form, you can still do so.


Thomas Jefferson HS Admissions Update

The application window for current eighth-grade students has changed. The TJ Admissions Office will post the updated window as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and know that students and families look forward to beginning the process that will hopefully provide them with an opportunity to attend TJHSST. We anticipate that the Admissions Office will update this information after September 15th. 

More information can be found HERE


PTA Spiritwear Flyer

Forms Turn-In

Due to the virtual start for this school year, all forms, required and optional, will have to be completed and submitted electronically.  All forms can be found on our website: Required Forms. It is more important than ever that parents have their own Parent SIS Account. If you do not yet have an account, you can learn more about how to obtain one at ParentVue New Account Registration