Good Morning Parents and Families:
It was a great week at Stone as our students and staff continue to engage in creative and meaningful learning experiences. We welcomed Mr. Jeremiah Davis, our staff development assistant principal, who will join us full-time beginning on Monday. Mr. Davis enjoyed getting to meet students and staff this week and looks forward to kicking off this third week of October with us.
In addition to welcoming Mr. Davis, we celebrate and honor Mrs. Alison Costanza, our school-based technology specialist (SBTS). Along with five of her colleagues, Mrs. Costanza received an FCPS Excellence award for commitment, dedication and collaboration to support the Schoology pilot, as well as all she does to enhance opportunities for staff, students and families each day. I am very grateful for the many ways Mrs. Costanza contributes to our school community.
Below you will find information about our upcoming Digital Citizenship Spirit Week. While we will highlight different messages and activities throughout the week, I encourage you to take a look at the additional resources to further conversations with your child(ren) surrounding the importance of positive digital habits. It certainly is a collective effort and partnership to ensure our students are using their devices to support our Stone expectations of respect, kindness and honesty.
Next week, I will share more information regarding our Family Engagement Center, as well as our new family engagement liaison, as we work to develop programs to support all families on a variety of topics beginning in November. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions, suggestions or feedback.
As always, I am grateful for your continued support. Hope you and your families have a great weekend!
Thank you,
Meredith Norris
Principal
Stone Middle School
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Digital Citizenship Week Feature
October 18-22 is Digital Citizenship Week. This year’s theme brings together digital citizenship and social emotional learning as students explore Social Emotional Learning in Digital Life.
Students are online more than ever before, so teaching them how to use technology thoughtfully and responsibly is an essential part of their social and emotional development and academic success.
It's not just one person's job to teach digital citizenship to our students, but everyone's shared responsibility. Family tips and communication ideas to support our lessons can be found here.
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Portrait of a Panther Week of October 11
This week's Portrait of a Panther winners did an excellent job communicating and collaborating with one another, demonstrated some great critical thinking and writing skills and overall active and engaged participation in their classes.
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Moe's Night: Tuesday October 19 4-7 PM
Join the PTSA for a night out at Moes on Tuesday October 19 from 4-7 PM. Be sure to present this flyer, where 20% of all proceeds go to support Stone PTSA!
Are you getting ready to order holiday cards or gifts? What if we told you you could support the school while getting your holiday shopping done??
If so, follow these simple steps and the Stone MS PTSA will earn 8% from your purchase!
* Click on “SHOP SHUTTERFLY”
* Log into your regular Shutterfly account (or create one if you are a new customer)
* Shop!!
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Student Services Information
This school year, school staff are working to teach students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. We are using a prevention program called SOS Signs of Suicide. The program teaches students about this difficult topic and encourages them to seek help.
SOS has been used by thousands of schools over the past few decades. Studies have shown that it effectively teaches students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts.
Here are the Outcomes of the SOS program:
- Student will learn that depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help
- Student will learn how to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend
- Student will learn to ACT (Acknowledge, Care and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or a friend
- Student will learn who they can turn to at school for help, if they need it
On November 16th & 17th in Health & PE, all 7th grade students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend. Following the video, students will complete a brief depression screening tool. This tool cannot provide a diagnosis of depression, but does indicate whether a young person should be referred for evaluation by a mental health professional. Students will also be asked to complete a response slip which asks if they would like to talk to an adult about any concerns. School staff will conduct brief meetings with any student asking to talk.
We encourage you to visit www.sossignsofsuicide.org/parent for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn. Please also view this Parent Information Video as a resource.
If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s participation in this program, please contact me at 703-631-5527 or TLStubblefie@fcps.edu or your child’s school counselor. If you would like to opt your child out of participating in this lesson, please click here to complete the form.
Student Safety
This time of year, it is dark when our students arrive at school in the morning. Our crossing guards would like students who bike to school in the morning to make sure they have a light on their bicycle (as it’s the law) and wear some type of reflective gear so that they can be seen.
The law states that:
- Every bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, personal delivery device, electric power-assisted bicycle, moped, and motorized skateboard or scooter with handlebars when in use between sunset and sunrise shall be equipped with a headlight on the front emitting a white light visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the front and a red reflector visible from a distance of at least 600 feet to the rear when directly in front of lawful lower beams of headlights on a motor vehicle.
In addition to the foregoing provisions of this section, a bicycle or its rider may be equipped with lights or reflectors. These lights may be steady burning or blinking.
- Every bicycle, or its rider, shall be equipped with a taillight on the rear emitting a red light plainly visible in clear weather from a distance of at least 500 feet to the rear when in use between sunset and sunrise and operating on any highway with a speed limit of 35 mph or greater.
 Mrs. Costanza (far left) with her colleagues after receiving an FCPS Excellence Award!
 Students in Math 7 did an excellent job working together to solve a variety of word problems!
 Mr. Davis getting to know some students!
 Students in Science 8 were excited by the egg drop-- several students' eggs remained uncracked!
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