Franklin MS Weekly Update - April 9

Franklin Families and Students, 

Good Afternoon! We had a wonderful week at Franklin MS and it was great to reconnect with our virtual and in-person students after Spring Break. 

I wanted to take this opportunity to address some of the communication you have received from Dr. Brabrand and FCPS this week about expanded opportunities for in-person learning and how that will impact us at Franklin MS. 

FCPS has shared that due to the drop in community transmission rates for the week ending 4/7/21, middle and high schools are able to join elementary schools in considering a 3 feet social distancing strategy in classrooms where mask use is universal. 

The ability to move to 3 feet social distancing means that middle and high schools may be able to return more students to four days of in-person instruction for the remainder of the school year, if space and staffing allow.

At FMS, we are considering this new guidance alongside the following criteria to determine how many of our current in-person students can participate in four days of in-person instruction each week. 

  • Identifying students using the MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) process focused on specific student needs for four days of instruction.
  • Space constraints including current occupancy, size of classrooms, and available lunchroom space based on the 6 ft. social distancing expectation for secondary schools that cannot maintain cohorts (students not changing groups throughout the day).
  • Maintaining sufficient space for ALL students to eat lunch without a mask, 6’ apart, and all facing the same direction. 
  • Minimizing changes to student and teacher schedules for the fourth quarter. 

As we consider all of this information, we will complete the following by Tuesday, April 13:

  • Assess each classroom's capacity for adding students and determine how many seats are available by class and by period.
  • As capacity allows, invite students who are currently attending two days a week to attend four days a week.
  • Franklin MS will reach out to families directly if there is capacity for a current in-person student to attend four days each week. There is no need for you to contact the school to request your preference. 

It will be our goal to include as many of our current in-person students in school four days a week as we can, while keeping our safety and health protocols as a priority. Thank you again for your continued support as we work through this together as a school community. Please feel free to reach out to me at any time at dpwright@fcps.edu with any questions. 

Best wishes for a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. 

Sincerely, 

Dustin Wright

Principal

 

Upcoming Events

April 12 - Spanish Language SOL Information Night at 6:30 PM

May 31 - Memorial Day Holiday - No School or Check-In

 

Spanish Language SOL Information Night on April 12

Please join us for a Spanish Language SOL Information Night on Monday, April 12 at 6:30 PM on Google Meet. A link to the meeting will be sent on Monday.

Los invitamos a una sesión informativa en español acerca de los exámenes de SOL el lunes 12 de abril a las 6:30 en Google Meet. Les mandaremos el enlace el lunes.

 

Library Updates

April is National Poetry Month. The entire Franklin community can access poetry from our library with these links: April is Poetry Month and Novels in Verse or by searching “poetry” in Destiny Discover. If you need more suggestions, please contact Sheri Ruffle.

 

Franklin MS Yearbook

Franklin MS 2021 yearbooks are on sale through April 19, 2021. The cost of the yearbook is $25. Families may order online by clicking here. Our school order number is 5330. Please contact Kelly Barlow with any questions.

 

Middle School Value in Prevention (VIP) Program - Save the Date

Rocky Run MS will be the site for this year’s VIP summer program for the Western Fairfax schools (presented by FCPS and Fairfax County Neighborhood & Community Services). The dates of the program are June 28 - July 29. Rocky Run MS VIP site will serve rising and current middle school students from: Franklin, Lanier, Liberty, Rocky Run and Stone Middle Schools. Applications and more information coming soon. Please contact Courtney Mollé for more information.

 

Franklin MS Virtual After School Program

New Clubs Beginning This Month:

  • Journalism Club – Students will investigate stories and learn how to write and think like a journalist. Journalism Club meets on Mondays at 2:30 PM.
  • Scratch Programming – This is an entry level course for students who are interested in learning coding. Class meets on Tuesdays at 2:30 PM.
  • American Sign Language Club – Did you know that you can get college credits for Sign Language? In ASL Club, students will learn the basics of signing. ASL Club meets on Thursdays at 2:30 PM.
  • Fremont Debate Academy – Students will learn argumentation and research skills, which they will then apply in tournaments. Debate Academy meets on Thursdays at 4:30 PM.

For more details or to enroll in these activities, students should visit the Google After School site. If you have any questions about the After School Program, please feel free to contact Mrs. White.

 

Virtual After School Activities - April 12 - 16

Molle 4.9.2021

 

Family Life Education Instructional Information

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides a comprehensive, sequential Family Life Education (FLE) program for students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve. Instruction is seen as a partnership among parents and guardians, the school, and the community in supporting the learning essential to the development of strong families, positive relationships, and a healthy community.

Franklin Middle School will be teaching the Human, Growth and Development (HGD) Lessons on the following dates:

  • 7th graders April 13 to 16
  • 8th graders April 20 to 23 

All lessons are designed to be gender-specific, and students will be receiving a new gender-specific BBCU link.

Parents/guardians may choose to opt their child out of all or part of the Family Life Education program. Students who opt-out are provided with age-appropriate, nonpunitive alternative health instruction, and every effort is made to foster respect for family choices. If you wish to opt your child out of all or part of FLE for this school year, opt-out forms are available online for Middle School (7-8) https://www.fcps.edu/academics/middle-school-academics-7-8/family-life-education-fle. Parents/guardians wishing to opt their child out of instruction may complete and return the opt-out form or scan and email a copy of the completed form. An opt-out request can also be made in an email which indicates the lesson(s) the child will be opted out of. The actual opt-out form is not required. Opt-out emails should be addressed to Mr. Howes at srhowes@fcps.edu with the subject line FLE opt-out: Student last name

Detailed grade-level program descriptions are available online at Middle School (7-8). FLE grade level-specific lessons and media that FCPS has streaming rights for are available for parents online in FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard) Parent Vue https://www.fcps.blackboard.com. Account information is available at your local school or online at http://www.fcps.edu/in/instructionaltechnology/247help/parents.shtml. Grade level-specific lessons are also available at the Fairfax County Regional Library in the City of Fairfax (this location does not have media). Grade level-specific lessons and media that is not streamed online are available for review at your child’s school library. Due to copyright permissions, we are unable to stream all media online. 

Program questions may be addressed by contacting Instructional Services at 571-423-4550 or by contacting Carrie Reynolds, Health and Physical Education Coordinator at cfreynolds@fcps.edu.

 

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