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Greetings Frost MS Families,
This week has been extremely exciting as we welcomed our students back from Spring Break to the new Falcon Scrape! The 32 classrooms outside were accessed by our students with relative ease! A special thank you to Mr. Berret for his coordination efforts and to all of the staff who made the transition seamless! I am learning, when it comes to renovations, count all your successes!
You may have noticed that our in-person students are now able to access their Falcon Focus teachers for office hours during the day as the bandwidth has been increased! In addition, students will be able to pick their seats at lunch time so they can be closer to friends and we will begin to allow students to eat outside now that the weather is nice in the courtyards and on school grounds, supervised and six feet socially distanced of course!
Yesterday you received an email from Fairfax County Public Schools regarding the most updated guidance that secondary schools are able to transition to the 3’ distancing standard for in-person learning. As it relates to Frost specifically, here is where we stand:
- Through the MTSS process, we have invited many students to begin attending in-person learning four days a week, starting next Tuesday. This process will continue through the following week as we invite even more families in as well.
- At this point, we are able to begin the process of gauging interest to offer additional students the option to attend four days a week beginning the week of April 27th.
- Current in-person families have received a separate email from me earlier today to gauge interest so we can assess capacity vs. demand.
- It is not a requirement for students who are currently attending 2 days a week to switch to four days a week.
- For our students who are currently virtual only, we are not able to offer an in-person option.
- No additional changes will be made after April.
- The transition process will look different at each school.
I recognize how challenging this has been for your children and families. As always, I am so appreciative of your continued support. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions.
Did you know that April is Month of the Military Child? Frost has over 130 military connected students – that’s over 10% of our students! If your family is military connected - please help us create a special way to celebrate your child. Frost counselors are posting the following information to their Google Classrooms for your student’s as well. Your help is appreciated! We are hoping to have at least one of these three tasks completed per student to get all of our students represented. Please contact your student’s counselor with any questions!
- Padlet - please complete our Padlet with all the places you have lived - one post per location - so we can create a visual representation of where all of our military families have lived around the world. If there’s already a post at that location - add another! https://frostms.padlet.org/lrgibas/58gxt9xpyiauzn52
- Submit a photo - please upload a family photo to the counselor’s Google Classroom assignment.
- Flipgrid - we are asking for military students and/or parents to please record a FlipGrid video introducing themselves, what it means to them to be a military child and/or the parent of a military child, favorite places lived, anything they are comfortable sharing. https://flipgrid.com/c52a7a5c
- April 14th – Frost celebrates Purple UP for military kids! Wear your purple to show support for our military students. Upload a picture to your counselor’s Google Classroom!
We will compile all of this to showcase our amazing military students at Frost in April. Thank you for your help in making this extra special this year!
I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! As always, “We are #ONEFrost!”
All the best.
Anthony
April 9 SOL Testing Preference Due
April 12 English Class Book Drop-Off and Pick-Up
April 13 4-day In-Person Preference Due/PTA Meeting- Renovation Updates
- The calendar will be updated with additional dates for parent/community events as they become available.
Next Week- Renovation Update
The April PTA meeting will be held on April 13th at 7:30 pm. The renovation team from FCPS Design and Construction will be presenting information to the community on this new date. Please mark your calendars if you would like to hear the presentation. The meeting will be recorded.
Action Required: SOL Testing
Please submit your preference for your child’s SOL tests using this link by COB today, Friday April 9th. Frost SOL Intent Form
Detailed information concerning SOL testing can be found in the email that was sent out last week and more general information can be found below:
Across Virginia, students will be taking SOL tests in-person this spring. Federal and state education departments have decided that SOL assessments will proceed as usual for reading, mathematics, and science. More information is available about SOL assessments at each grade level. For students attending school 100% virtually, school staff will work with families to schedule an appointment for in-person SOL testing.
Caregivers have the right to refuse SOL assessments if they have concerns about participation related to the pandemic, including health, social-emotional, and instructional time concerns. For questions about SOL testing or to refuse testing, contact your student’s school. A remote non-SOL test option is in development, and information will be provided for families of qualifying students in the coming weeks.
Monday, April 12 - English Class Book Drop-Off and Pick-Up
The next school supply pick up/drop off day will be on Monday April 12 from 8-10AM and 4-6PM. This is for ALL students, but ONLY for their English class. Students are not required to be present during this activity.
- All 8th grade students will only be dropping off Semester 1 English books
- All 7th grade students will be dropping off Semester 1 English books and picking up Semester 2 English books.
For drop-off, please place a piece of paper with your child’s name and English teacher in the front flap of the book. Bins will be outside for book deposit. This will allow for contact-less drop off.
For 7th grade students who need to also pick up a new novel, you will need to bring a piece of paper with your child’s name (first and last), teacher name, and period number. Students who already own the class novel or prefer to access the book digitally may do so and are not required to receive a copy from Frost.
All drivers & passengers must remain in their vehicle at all times.
When you arrive at Frost:
- Use the map, attached below, to follow the traffic pattern and go to the appropriate station
- For pick up only, show the staff member your paper with the above information
- The staff member will place a new novel in your vehicle
- Exit station/parking lot carefully!
Supply Traffic Map April-English only.docx
Please note that 8th grade students or those not checking out library books will use Exit 1 to leave the parking lot.
To help traffic flow, cars will be able to move around other cars that are stopped for supplies. Drivers will need to move slowly at all times in the parking lot and check for other vehicles while moving between stations. Some Frost Staff will be on site to assist with traffic, but we ask for slow driving at all times for their safety and yours.
As always, masks are required.
Questions? Please email Mr. Berret at jberret@fcps.edu.
Student Intention Form
For students who will NOT be attending Frost, Woodson, or a boundary FCPS high school next year, please complete the Student Intention for the Next School Year form, https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/it110.pdf, and return it to Emily Cheng in the Frost Student Services office, or via email ECheng@fcps.edu.
This includes students who are transferring to:
- Another FCPS school other than Frost or Woodson or boundary HS
- A private school in Virginia or out of Virginia
- Another Virginia public school division outside FCPS
- Another state public school outside of Virginia
- A school outside of the United States
In Person Summer Learning Opportunity
There will be a local school based in-person opportunity for Frost MS students this summer. The program will be called IMAGINE. The goal of the summer program is to address expected student learning needs in math and literacy through increased summer programming opportunities. We are excited to be able to provide fun and engaging learning activities for our students this summer. More information concerning the number of students for whom we can provide this service will be forthcoming. I wanted to put this on your radar in case you were wondering. At this time the program is scheduled to run from July 12th through July 30th. The program will run for four hours a day and there will be still be health and safety mitigation strategies in place. Once again, if this is something you may be interested in, mark your calendars and more information to come.
Student Services Quarter 3 Newsletter
School Counselors are an important resource to students, families, and staff. Check out Frost’s Quarter 3 Newsletter to see what our counselors have been up to. Additional resources are also available on the Student Services Google Site.
Frost Quarter 3 Newsletter.pdf
Connection Opportunities
Virtual Table: In lieu of traditional lunchtime socialization, Frost counselors have been offering various virtual tables to give students the chance to make connections in the virtual environment. Starting 4th quarter, the virtual tables offerings will be combined into one new Google Classroom (code: 4gglvvu). Students that participate can expect an array of games and music, with chat open to connect with others. Both virtual and in-person students are encouraged to attend. Schedule: A Lunch on Tuesday-Friday and D Lunch on Friday.
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Walk & Talk: Frost counselors invite students to the blacktop behind Frost before school on Wednesdays and Fridays for safe socializing from 7:10-7:25AM. Students will have the opportunity to meet up with peers and make new connections, in an outdoor setting. Walk & Talk will be offered starting 4th quarter, weather permitting, every Wednesday and Friday, for in-person students. Students will be expected to maintain FCPS Covid-19 mitigating measures and arrive to class on-time by 7:30AM.
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April 7 Town Hall Recap
Did you miss the superintendent’s Town Hall last night? Dr. Brabrand, along with Dr. Michael Martin, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Dr. Michelle Boyd, assistant superintendent for Special Services, answered questions from the community regarding the CDC’s guidance allowing schools to transition from 6 feet to 3 feet social distancing in some circumstances, and within certain community transmission rates. They also discussed the social-emotional impact the pandemic has had on children and the importance of returning all students to in-person learning. Watch the video.
Diversity in STEM Talk - TJHSST
The PTSA Diversity Committee of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will hold its next Diversity in STEM Talk in April! This series is especially for elementary and middle school students in grades 4-8.
Join us Monday, April 12, at 6 p.m. to hear from Julie Ann Sosa, MD, Leon Goldman MD Distinguished Professor of Surgery and Chair of the Department of Surgery at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Sosa was born in Montreal and raised in upstate New York. She received her AB at Princeton, MA at Oxford, and MD at Johns Hopkins, where she also completed the Halsted residency in general surgery and a fellowship. She previously practiced medicine and taught at Duke University Medical School and Yale University Medical School. She is published in numerous medical journals and books. Dr. Sosa’s research interests include outcomes research, health care delivery, hyperparathyroidism, and thyroid cancer, with a focus on clinical trials. Join us to hear more about a career in medicine and her experience as a surgeon, professor, and now administrator in a large teaching hospital.
- What sparked her interest in medicine?
- What does she enjoy most about practicing medicine?
- What would she recommend to students who want to pursue a medical career?
- What else would you like to know?
Parents, register at this Zoom link*: http://bit.ly/TJStemTalk4
*To ensure you receive the Zoom link, do not use an FCPS schools student email account!
Submit questions in advance here: https://bit.ly/tjdiversitytalks
Information and recordings from past Diversity in STEM Talks can be found on the TJ PTSA Diversity Committee webpage: https://tjptsa.com/committees/diversity/
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