Glasgow Community Gazette - January 18

Glasgow Community:

Today we honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a life dedicated to creating a more just world and to pushing our country to live up to its ideals of equality and freedom. As educators, this year has presented many challenges politically, socially, and pandemic-driven. Glasgow’s commitment to our community is to ensure we provide the highest quality education for every student in a safe community where they feel seen, valued and heard. To support our staff in this work, this year our faculty meetings have focused around on-going anti-racism work. We are leaning into uncomfortable yet necessary conversations and question our biases together. Our commitment to our diverse community makes Glasgow a special place for our students to learn and grow. 

As we move into the second semester, we will continue to navigate - and help your students navigate - the ever-changing landscape of our community and nation together. As teachers at Glasgow begin to receive the vaccination, there is hope and a sense of optimism on the horizon. Through all of this, our school’s commitment to providing your students with access to high levels of learning remains at the center of what we do. With this commitment, I am humbled to know that I do it surrounded by a dedicated staff, the most eager learners in FCPS, and a strong community - and together we will empower our students to embody the IB Learner Profile. 

We can only succeed in our work together through open dialogue, partnership and feedback as an entire Glasgow Community. Our upcoming PTA meeting, on Tuesday, January 26, 7pm, will feature a principal’s update as well as time for questions and feedback - I hope you are able to attend, but if not, always feel free to reach out.

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

January 18 - No School - MLK Day

January 20 - No School - Inauguration Day

January 22 - End of 2nd Quarter - Early Release

January 25 - Teacher Workday, No School for Students

January 26 - Second Semester Begins

February 2 - Rising 6th Grade Open House & Curriculum Night

January 22 - Early Release - We will follow our early release schedule on January 22. Students will attend periods 2, 6, and 8. There is on period 4 on Early Release days. See below for the schedule.

January 25 - Teacher Workday - No School for Students - There will be no live Panther Time on Monday, January 25.

February 2 - Rising 6th Grade Curriculum Night at Glasgow from 6 to 8:45pmCurriculum Night is an evening for all rising 6th graders and students new to Glasgow to learn about Glasgow academics and curriculum. This year we will offer both asynchronous and synchronous components, similar to Back to School Night. On February 1st, we will be publishing on our Glasgow homepage a series of videos about Glasgow and our curriculum offerings. Parents and students will be invited to explore our website and learn about everything that makes us Glasgow. On February 2nd, we will be hosting three town-hall style Q&A sessions for families. Links to come soon.

Rising 9th Grade Info

As our Academic Advising season begins soon, for 8th grade students this means learning about their transition to high school. Here is some helpful information for families about high school:

Justice High School: On February 2, 3, and 4, Justice will be hosting a Curriculum 3-Night Extravaganza for both rising 9th graders and current Justice students. Each night will feature four departments with breakout rooms representing specific courses. There will be a quick overview presentation with time for a Q&A. More details to come. Take a look at the 9th grade course options!

Annandale High School: Annandale High School held their high school information night on Thursday, January 14th from 7:00-8:30PM. Students and parents can also view the Annandale Academic Advising Page here. 

Falls Church High School: The Rising 9th grade Curriculum Night was on January 6th at 6:30pm and a link will be sent to Falls Church families. Take a look at the 9th grade course options!

Edison High School: The Rising 9th grade Curriculum Night is set for February 24th. Take a look at the 9th grade course options!

Oakton High School:  Take a look at the 9th grade course options!

Hayfield High School: Take a look at the 9th grade course options!

Fairfax Academy: Open House February 2nd 6:30-7:30 PM  BBCU GUEST LINK: Academy Google Site for Students

TJ Admissions Updates - Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) - The application window will begin on February 1 at 8:00 am and close on February 26 at 4:00 pm. The TJ Admissions Office anticipates that additional information for current 8th grade students will be posted beginning next week on their website www.tjadmissions.org  Please contact the TJ Admissions Office tjadmissions@fcps.edu or Glasgow TJ Liaison Counselor Gregory Frantz gdfrantz@fcps.edu with questions.

Important Information 

Academic Advising at Glasgow - Academic Advising season is officially here! In Panther Time on January 6, 8, and 13, students will learn about the academic advising process, complete course selection sheets, and learn how to sign up for classes in SIS StudentVUE. Starting on January 25, counselors will start meeting with students individually through Panther Time and History/Civics classes for academic advising and course selection. 

School Counselors are offering Office Hours for students on Monday, January 11th and Friday, January 15th from 7:30am-2:15pm. If your child has any questions from the Panther Time lessons or would like to learn more about their classes for next year, please have them join our Office Hours by going to this Google Classroom and clicking on the Google Meet link! Parents are welcome to join with their children.

GMS Parent Academy - Thank you to all who were able to attend our January Parent Academy session on Academic Excellence , led by our very own Dr. Nonye Oladimeji, IBMYP & Advance Academic Specialist, Kelly Greenshields, AVID teacher & Coordinator, and Jenn Pallotto, School Counselor & Behavior Support Specialist. During the session, we explored the programs offered at Glasgow and the course selection process. Here are the recordings for those who were unable to attend. We hope to see you again for our next Parent Academy on February 11th.Parent Academy 1/14/21 (English/Arabic)  Parent Academy 1/14/21 (Spanish)

Yearbook Looking for Photos - The Yearbook Staff is looking for pictures of Glasgow students working or sitting in their virtual classrooms.  The staff cannot walk around the school to take pictures so we thought this would be an exciting way to see our students in their working environments.

Parents and Students can submit pictures one of 3 ways:

1. Balfour EZPix website:  https://studio.balfour.com/ezpix/ Yearbook Project Number:117803, Upload Code:  Please leave blank (no code necessary), Login, Scroll down, accept terms & conditions, Fill out the requested information and begin uploading.  You can upload 10 pictures at a time, so if you have more, just start over again after the first 10 are uploaded.
2. Balfour ImageShare: Go to your app store and do a search for Balfour ImageShare, Download the app, Create an Account: Use Project Number 117803, Click box to accept Terms & Conditions, Click Next, Locate the Confirmation Code sent to your email address and enter on the line, Click Next, Enter a Username and Password, Click Take Me To ImageShare, Begin uploading by clicking on SAVE (No Upload Code Required)
3. Submit Pictures to Google Form: Students can click on this form to upload pictures: https://forms.gle/TyeLcvNt9gnec3XPA, Please make sure to include name, grade, and description of what is happening in the picture.

ParentVUE  - If you have not done so already, please sign up for a SIS ParentVUE account. Parents who selected in-person enrollment for their child will need to complete a health screening commitment form before their child begins in-person instruction. Glasgow students will start the academic advising process in January. Students will be signing up for classes through SIS StudentVUE. ParentVUE will also allow parents to see the courses their child is requesting for the upcoming school year. Please contact Dana Rivas, registrar, for a ParentVUE activation key to use here when registering for an account.

Family Guide for Return to School - Fairfax County Public Schools is partnering with families to ensure we keep students and staff safe and healthy as we return to school buildings for learning. Working together, we will follow recommended health guidance that focuses on student and staff health, safety, and emotional well-being. The FCPS Family Guide for Return to School has a wealth of information on topics like concurrent instruction, lunch, the mandatory mask policy, recess, laptops, health protocols, and more.

Technology Support @Glasgow - We continue to encourage all families who are having issues with your Glasgow issued laptop to call the Parent/Student Tech Support Hotline at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS).  The hotline is staffed 7 days a week from 7am to 11pm and multiple languages are available.  Alternatively, you can submit a support ticket online at https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/.  If it is deemed that the problem cannot be fixed virtually, we will set up a time for you to come to Glasgow for a repair or exchange between the hours of 10am – 2pm, Monday through Friday.  If you show up outside of those hours or without an appointment, we cannot guarantee a tech will be able to service your laptop in a timely fashion.  Also, to keep the student laptops running well, encourage your child to “restart” the laptop at least once a week.  A restart is in the power options and is not the same as turning the laptop off, then turning it back on.  Restarts are vital in making sure the laptop receives and installs the most current updates to ensure optimal performance.

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. 

Community Food Distribution - Food for Others’ P3 Power Pack Program is back in 2021! The P3 Program is biweekly on Fridays from 3pm-5pm at Bailey's Community Center. The next P3 dates are Jan 22, Feb 5 and Feb 19 . Students must provide an ID number and are encouraged to bring a bag to pick-up their snack. Please contact Destiny Delaware at ddelaware@fcps.edu for more information.

After School Spotlight

This week, Glasgow After School @Home would like to share new and upcoming Clubs. We’re proud to highlight the following two.  For updates and program descriptions, please visit Glasgow Middle School @Home (Link).

Cooking Club - The cooking club with Ms. Massman and Ms. Concaugh takes place on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Students can follow along with the teacher, preparing healthy and tasty treats for themselves or family members. This class promotes independence and confidence while learning kitchen safety and food prep. If this is the club for you, please contact Mr. Williams gwilliams2@fcps.edu, for sign up information.

Virtual Gaming Club - Are you a gamer? Do you like playing and competing against other gamers like yourself? The Virtual Gaming Club is the Club for you. The Virtual Gaming Club meets on Tuesdays and Fridays from 2:30-4:30 p.m. If this is the club for you, please contact Mr. Williams gwilliams2@fcps.edu, for sign up information.

Digital Art Club Spotlight - On Thursday, December 3rd, 2020, the Digital Art Club offered its first session. On day one, 49 students attended and were actively engaged. It was amazing to see. The Digital Art club teaches students the various forms of digital art and media to our students and how to differentiate between the multiple forms. If you're interested in joining, please contact me at gwilliams2@fcps.edu , Ms. Otoyo at ajotoyo@fcps.edu, or Ms. Campbell at cjcampbell1@fcps.edu.

Dates: Thursdays - Every two weeks on

Time: 2:30 – 3:30pm

Grades: 6th – 8th.

Start Date: Thursday, December 3rd

Glasgow PTA News

Fairfax County Council PTA (FCCPTA) Student Technology Mini-Grant Program - Through a generous donation from the Fairfax County NAACP, FCCPTA is offering Fairfax County Public School students (in grades 3-11) an opportunity to obtain a $500 mini-grant for the purchase of computer or a technology-related device or equipment. There are six (6) $500 mini-grants available. In order to apply, the students or their parent/guardian MUST be a member of a PTA/PTSA. Go to https://www.fccpta.org/2020/12/14/student-mini-grants/ for more information.

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/