Glasgow Community Gazette - November 1

Glasgow Community:

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween weekend and enjoyed your extra hour of sleep. We had a great time with our neighborhood pod with a Halloween decoration scavenger hunt, a chilly backyard movie and a bonfire. 

This past week we welcomed some small cohorts of students back to school. Although a little apprehensive at first, they were all energized - as we were - by being back in the building. On Thursday while it was raining, we did what you can never do in school - run races in the hallways! It was a successful first week welcoming students back in the building. We are currently working on developing our next cohort, who will start in the coming weeks. 

Please join us on Monday evening, November 2 for our Return to School Town Hall. We will hold the English & Arabic Town Hall from 6:00pm - 7:00pm and the Spanish Town Hall from 7:00pm - 8:00pm. As a reminder if you’d like to update your selection for the return to school, please use the following forms: Form ENGLISH, SPANISH, ARABIC. 

As we mark the start of the second quarter, I want to take time to thank you for all of your support for your student and their teachers. I know that this is such a difficult time for all of us, but we love getting to work with your children each day and appreciate all of your support. 

Please reach out with any questions and/or concerns.

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/

Important Dates

November 2 - School Planning Day (No School for Students)

November 2 - Parent Town Hall - Return to School 

November 3 - Teacher Work Day (No School for Students)

November 6 - Deadline to Update Return to School Form ENGLISH, SPANISH, ARABIC

November 11 - Early Release 

November 16 - School Counseling Fall Advisory Council (see below)

November 2 - Parent Town Hall(s) Return to School - We will share a short presentation about the FCPS Return to School plan at our Town Hall meetings and answer as many of your questions as we can to help you make an informed decision as you update your selection by November 6. 

To help us prepare for the town hall, please submit your questions beforehand using this Google Form.

• English & Arabic 6:00pm - 7:00pm
• Spanish 7:00pm - 8:00pm

November 6 - Return to School Selection Update - As we begin planning for the return to school, each family has a chance to update their school setting selection either in person or virtual. Please use the following form if you would like to update your selection. ENGLISH, SPANISH, ARABIC. 

Important Information 

Drive-thru Tuning - Please come to Glasgow on the 2nd or 4th Monday of each month if you need your violin, viola, cello, or bass to be tuned.  Ms. Dizon will be at Glasgow on those two Mondays each month from 9 am-12 noon.  Please set your instrument in the trunk of your car, if possible, before you arrive so that you can open the trunk for Ms. Dizon, instead of getting out and handing it to her.  Students should be able to do tuning at home with their fine tuners, but Ms. Dizon is available on these days for instruments that are VERY out of tune or if the fine tuner is not working any more.

School Counseling Fall Advisory Council - The school counseling team will be holding its fall advisory council on November 16th from 10:30 - 11:15am.  The purpose of the Advisory Council is to provide support, feedback and recommendations for the School Counseling team.  As a team, we serve the entire school, and we will be seeking student, parent/family, staff and community members to serve on our advisory council.  Of critical importance is for us to have diverse voices that represent our wider school community. If you are interested in serving on our Advisory Council, please contact  Greg Frantz (gdfrantz@fcps.edu)  or Emily Wasserman (ebwasserman@fcps.edu) to express your interest.

Virtual Community 5K - Justice High School Athletics is offering a Virtual 5k Community Event and Fundraiser. Cost is just $20 for students and teachers! $25 for parents and relatives! Register at the link below! We would love to see some many of our students, parents and community members exercising and showing their base school and Justice Spirit! All participants will receive a t-shirt, racing bib, and certificate of completion! Questions? Email Dylan Forshay at dtforshay@fcps.edu. Register here: https://hallofjustice.com/turkey-trot/

Building Leaders for Advancing Science and Technology (BLAST) - a FREE educational program of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, designed to ignite a passion in students who already show an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Our hope is that the BLAST 3-day residential, on-campus experience, which is packed with demonstrations and collaborative activities led by college faculty, will inspire students to envision a career in a STEM field and motivate them to expand the number of STEM-related classes they take in higher grade levels.

Beginning of Year Forms: We understand how the beginning of the year can be overwhelming with forms. Here are some you can access now.

• Emergency Care Form: Required for all returning FCPS students to review and update if needed.
• Emergency Care Card: Required for students NEW to FCPS.
• Parental consent for digital resources: These are the apps and programs that our teachers will use to engage our students in the virtual world. Please go here for more information and follow the link to give your consent.
• FCPSOn Computer Opt Out Form: Only for students who are not planning to use a school laptop. We highly recommend you use the FCPS laptop because all software and other applications will be loaded and accessible. Software used by FCPS and Justice HS cannot be loaded on personal devices.
• Students Rights and Responsibilities: Parents and guardians, please review the Students Rights and Responsibilities and related resources at www.fcps.edu/srr. After reviewing the information, fill out the SR&R Parent Acknowledgement Form

Grades in SIS StudentVUE - Students and families are now able to view student grades in SIS StudentVUE and ParentVUE. Please click on this link for more information about gaining a SIS ParentVUE account. For ParentVUE questions, please direct families to reach out to Dana Rivas at dhrivas@fcps.edu. 

SIS Weekly Progress Reports & 1st Quarter Report Cards - Please note that FCPS Weekly Progress Reports generated through SIS will not be sent to parents between now and Tuesday, November 10 while first quarter grading is completed and report cards are generated. Additionally, the Grade Book and Report Card modules in ParentVUE and StudentVUE will be closed for Middle and High School students Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 4 p.m. through Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 6 a.m. 

Report cards will be mailed home the week of November 16th. However, we encourage families to enroll in paperless report cards. To do so, log in to SIS ParentVUE, go to My Account, and check the "Go Paperless" option.

Bus Route Meal Service

Grab and Go Meals (UPDATE) - Did you pick up your grab and go meal today?  FCPS is providing FREE grab and go breakfast and lunch to ALL students Monday through Friday. It is easy to find out where to pick up food by visiting the website: https://www.fcps.edu/return-school/food

****PLEASE CHECK OUT THIS LINK!  There are many schools close to Glasgow that are including afternoon snack and supper meals as well!  Also, the County is expanding the Fairfax Meal Kits program.  Students can pick up 7 breakfast and lunch packets at the same time.  Locations, dates and times are all on the site. 

Opportunities for Students to get  Involved @Glasgow

Each week your students hear about activities and ways to get involved at Glasgow during the morning announcements. Below you will find descriptions of the amazing after school opportunities as well as other ways to get involved in the greater Glasgow community.

After School @Home Opportunities:

Do you like cooking? Are you interested in learning different recipes? In After School Cooking Club, Students will learn to follow recipes, to prepare healthy and tasty treats for themselves and their family. We will start Monday, October 26, 2020 and will meet the following days;

Monday               2:30 – 4:00

Wednesday        3:30 – 5:00

Thursday             2:30 – 4:00

Recipes will be posted ahead of time, so you are able to get the ingredients to follow along and prepare the recipes. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Williams at gwilliams2@fcps.edu 

Girls Basketball at Justice - If you are interested in playing basketball for Justice High School and haven’t joined Junior Justice yet, contact Coach Stuecheli via email and he will add you to the Junior Justice Girls Basketball Google Classroom.  Junior Justice is the longest running club at Glasgow MS. We work on skill development to prepare you for Justice Basketball.  Questions? Contact Coach Stuecheli via email at TASTUECHELI@FCPSSCHOOLS.NET. 

Panthers United - Students will celebrate culture and diversity, develop social-emotional skills, and connect with the school community.

Awesome Blossoms - Female students will engage in dialogue to promote personal development, increase leadership skills, and support their peers. 

Homework Hotspot - Students receive direct support in real-time from staff.

Journalism Club - students write various articles for our online newspaper, the Panther Post. Participants take on different roles: staff writers, website curators, photographers, researchers, editors, and more! This newspaper keeps students and staff informed about relevant events in the world, our community, and our campus. They also engage in learning by exploring the writing process, podcasts, interviews, surveys/research, and will be doing broadcast journalism! If you love to write, seek the truth, and want to share the news with the world, this is the club for you! 

Booktastic Panthers - Students with a passion for reading can join others to take a journey through Virginia Readers’ Choice selections and other popular YA titles that celebrate diversity. They will review the books through the lens of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King award, and Pura Belpre award evaluators and put these stories to the test. Students will tap into their artistic and creative side creating book tastings, book reviews, book trailers, and other digital products to promote these books to other readers.

Rotary Interact Club - Are you interested in making a difference in your community and building your leadership skills? If so, the Rotary Club sponsored Interact club is the place for you. This club will meet after school. Glasgow students who are 12 and older are encouraged to apply. Develop leadership skills while also discovering the power of Service Above Self. Leadership can be so much fun! Contact Stef Vestal slvestal@fcps.edu for more information. Please select the sign-up form in the language you’d prefer. English, Spanish, or Arabic. For additional questions or concerns, please contact Ms. Vestal at slvestal@fcps.edu.

GEMS - Hey Glasgow! Are you interested in STEM? Do you want to work with TJ students to do fun experiments and lessons? Come to GEMS on Wednesdays during the academic block to learn more about STEM-related topics. Some of our past lessons include airbags, density, as well as math games. We will be learning about chemical reactions this week! We also offer homework help in all school subjects. Feel free to stop by and get help in math, science, English, and another language (if we have a tutor available).

Creative Writing - Do you love expressing yourself through writing? Would you like to have the freedom to explore different types of creative writing? The creative writing workshop gives writers the opportunity to entertain, and express ideas through poetry, nonfiction, playwriting, and much more!

LGBTQ+ Support & Advocacy Group - The mission of the group is to work towards a more accepting environment for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity through education, support, social action, and advocacy.  This club is for students who are LGBTQ+ or for students whose family and/or friends are LGBTQ+.  The club meets on Tuesdays from 2:30pm - 3:30pm synchronously.  Contact Mrs. Durgavich at adurgavich@fcpsschools.net to get a link to our Google classroom! 

National Junior Honors Society - Are you an 8th grader interested in leadership opportunities?? Do you have an impressive academic record? If you answered “yes,” you should apply for membership in Glasgow’s chapter of the National Junior Honor Society! Membership in the National Junior Honor Society is based on scholarship, leadership, character, citizenship, and service. In order to apply, you’ll need to first sign in to Google Classroom with the code: YQFZWWO. We are looking forward to meeting you soon!

Math Agility Club - Meets Wednesday, 4:00 – 5:30 pm. For all levels. Being good at math is about more than practicing and knowing a lot of math facts. It is about seeing relationships between numbers and shapes. It is about thinking in different ways. In this club, we will play with math to develop math reasoning skills. We will use puzzles, number sequences, fractions, ratios, as well as visual and 3D spatial skills to solve problems. Both individual and group problem solving will be emphasized. Come with any level of math skills and learn to enjoy math more

Algebra Explorers Club - Meets Tuesday and Thursday 3:30 – 5:00. This club meets twice a week to explore math in different settings. We will have a variety of problems of different levels related to the theme of the week. Topics may include cooking, track and field, math at the aquarium, math in archaeology and ancient times, elementary astronomy and math in art. We will do individual puzzles that make you think in different ways and solve group problems that involve planning and communication. This club is for students who are currently taking algebra or have an interest in learning and practicing algebra skills.

Math Homework Club - Meets Thursday 7:30pm – 9 pm. Come every week or come when you have questions. We will work on individual problems related to homework. Sometimes you just need a hint to get you through a problem. Sometimes you need to review strategies that can help you become a better problem solver. We will experiment with ways to work on multiple homework problems at the same time, using chat, email messaging and group discussion.

Glasgow PTA News

NOVA District PTA Antiracism Seminar - "You Can Do More" - Join the NOVA District PTA for a free seminar on Saturday, November 14 from 1:00pm - 5:30pm virtually. See the flyer above for more information. Register HERE.

Check out the Glasgow PTA website to find out how you can help at Glasgow!  http://www.glasgowpta.org/participate/volunteer/

To stay in touch and in the know, sign up for the PTA listserv by sending a request to  glasgowms.pta@gmail.com. Or join the PTA it’s only $10! http://www.glasgowpta.org/participate/membership/