Glasgow Community Gazette - January 17

Greetings!

I want to express a sincere thank you for all who reached out throughout the week expressing your appreciation during Virginia Principals Appreciation Week.  I am so grateful for our community.  I cannot do what I do without everyone’s care and support.  We are so lucky to be on this journey together and from the bottom of my heart, I love you all. 

We also are excited for two of our staff members who were selected to represent the Justice Pyramid as Outstanding Employees through the FCPS Outstanding Employees Award program. Steven McFarlane (assistant principal) was selected as the Outstanding School-Based Administrator, and Cat Gamboa (8th grade science teacher) was selected as the Outstanding New Teacher. 

Additionally, we will miss Ms. Kristy Ritchie (assistant principal) who has transitioned to another administrative position in Maryland. We truly will miss her! 

As we observe the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday today (Monday, January 17), we are also watching for any potential impacts the winter weather will have on our schedule this week. We used all of our traditional snow days during last week’s snowstorm. Any future inclement weather days will include virtual learning whenever possible. 

In order to prepare for any potential inclement weather virtual learning day(s) teachers and staff made sure students had their devices and accessories. In the case of a potential virtual learning day students will access their classes (and Zoom links) through their teachers' Schoology pages. Teachers will let students know what to expect for their classes on their Schoology Page.

At home, we ask that you do a few simple things that will make an inclement weather virtual learning day run smoothly (if needed):

• Make sure students bring their device home and be sure the device is charged. 
• Remind your child that the inclement weather virtual learning day schedule includes a two-hour delay so they can check their devices and make sure they are able to log in properly. 
• Remind your child that attendance will be taken on inclement weather virtual learning days.

During weather events, FCPS must consider power outages, technical connection issues, and whether students have access to devices that they may not have taken home the night before. FCPS will announce a virtual learning day in the weather closure announcement on our website and social media channels and through email communications and local media. 

If FCPS announces a virtual learning day, we (Glasgow) will send out a message with more details regarding a bell schedule and other important information.

As always, please let our team know how we can support!

Humbly,

Victor L. Powell, Principal

Contact Information:

Email: vlpowell@fcps.edu

Twitter: @VictorLeonPowe1

Website: http://www.fcps.edu/GlasgowMS/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowMS.FCPS/

Important Dates

1/20 - 2 Hour Early Release & End of Quarter 2

1/21 - Non-Student Day (Teacher Work-Day)

1/24 - Non-Student Day (Staff Development Day)

Reminder - Cell Phone Policy: Last week, we sent out a message to all students and families regarding our Cell Phone Policy. One of our job as educators is to ensure we providing the best environment for learning. Our students did a great job of putting their phones away during class and hallway transitions. Please continue to speak with your student and reinforce our new policy.

Important Information 

Reading Program: Looking to participate in a fun reading competition? Join the Glasgow library’s January reading challenge.  Students can create a 6 word book review, design a bookmark, book recommendation on FlipGrid, write a letter to the next reader, or promote a book on the morning announcements. The January theme for the bookmark contest:  Snow is Falling! Books are Calling!  Titles from the Virginia Readers Choice list earn double points. Winning bookmarks will be given out to students in the library and top point earners for each grade level win a gift card.  See the librarians for more details.  All points due Monday, January 31.

IB, Advanced Academics, and Young Scholars Conference: Glasgow Middle School will host its first annual Spring 2022 IB, Advanced Academics, and Young Scholars conference on March 12, 2022 from 9:00AM to 1:30PM. Our format for this conference will be similar to the fall 2021 conference that was held back in October. We will cap the conference participation off at 300 people. Registration and more information pertaining to session electives will be released soon. Please save the date if you are interested in joining us! For more information pertaining to this event please visit us at https://glasgowms.fcps.edu/event/ib-advanced-academics-and-young-scholars-spring-2022-conference. If you have questions, please reach out to Dr. Randolph at lwrandolph@fcps.edu. 

2nd Quarter Report Cards, SIS ParentVUE and StudentVUE Access: 2nd quarter report cards will go home with students in Panther Time the first week of February. Due to grade preparation for end of quarter marks, SIS will be unavailable to all FCPS parents and students from Thurs, Jan 20, 2022 at 4pm until Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 6am. 

Academic Advising: Glasgow students will begin the academic advising and course selection process in January. In Panther Time students will be learning about course selections and the various electives available for students at Glasgow. Counselors will begin meeting with students for one-on-one academic advising sessions through Panther Time and FIT. Justice HS counselors will be coming to meet with rising 9th grade students in February. See our Glasgow Academic Advising Website here using your child’s fcpsschools.net log-in. 

Rising 6th Grade Curriculum Night: Glasgow’s Rising 6th Grade Curriculum Night has been switched to an entirely virtual format. Details regarding registration will be sent directly to the parents of Rising 6th grade students for the 2022-2023 school year. If you have any questions, please reach out to Joash Chung, Director of Student Services. 

Boys & Girls Club - Culmore Club: The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Washington, Fairfax Region is enrolling students of all ages. The Club Teen Center promotes academic success, character, citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. It is open Monday through Friday from 3pm to 7pm, with a $25 annual membership fee. Transportation is also available from Glasgow. Please reach out to Greg Williams, after school specialist, for more information. 

Reminder: Return to School From COVID-like Illness: Students may return to school when their symptoms have improved and they have not had a fever without fever-reducing medications for at least 24 hours, AND have at least one of the following:

• Proof of a Negative COVID-19 Test

PCR (test result from lab or physician)

Rapid (test result from lab or physician)

Home test (picture of negative home test result and note from parent a) attesting the result is for the specific child and b) attesting to the date the test was administered; actual used tests should not be submitted to the school for health and safety reasons)

• Physician’s Note

Note from a healthcare provider following a clinical evaluation stating the cause of symptoms is not COVID-19 and clearing the student to return to school.

Rising 9th Graders - Annandale High School: Open House changed to “Virtual Course Registration Night” on January 18, 6-8pm. Given the current circumstances, Annandale HS will be postponing Open House. Instead we will be offering Virtual Course Registration Night on the same date and time, January 18 at 6:00pm (link coming soon). This event will provide guidance as students prepare to complete their course request form when they meet with their middle school counselor in the coming weeks. 

In preparation for this event, students and families are encouraged to access all the information needed for course selection on our Academic Advising website. This site has grade level information that will be presented by counselors, videos made by teachers describing elective and IB options, the 9th grade course catalog, and the course selection Google form that will need to be completed by each student. If you have any questions, please contact Erik Healey at ejhealey@fcps.edu.

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