Glasgow Parents and Community:
Greetings on this week before Winter Break! Our students have make-up days for the Winter VGA testing this week on Tuesday and Wednesday, for those students who missed the testing dates from the previous weeks. You are also invited to a Zoom webinar. When: Dec 13, 2022 08:30 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: Virtual Parent Coffee - Tutor.Com. Register in advance for this webinar:
https://myfcpsk12.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_G5XlN3hOSJyEQs02NF6Q2Q
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Family Panel. Would you like to share your voice, your cultural background, and your school expectations with us? The Equity Team is organizing a Family Panel and an interactive CT event for January 26th from 9 -11 AM at Glasgow Middle School. We want to flip the dashboard and amplify your (parents’ and guardians’) voices at Glasgow. The goal is to listen to your perspectives around educational experiences, cultural backgrounds, and school expectations.
This two hour event will have two parts. The first hour will be a Family Panel, in which parents/guardians on the panel will be invited to volunteer to share with teachers and staff their educational experiences, cultural backgrounds, and school expectations. The discussion will be facilitated by a moderator. We are looking for six parents/guardians to volunteer for this panel.
For the second hour, we plan to have an additional fourteen parents/guardians volunteers to work alongside Teacher Teams to develop next steps to ensure that we are creating learning environments that are equitable and respectful of our students’ diverse cultures.
To make this happen, we need you. Please complete THIS Google Form if you would like to participate in the Family Panel, work alongside a team of teachers of a specific content area, or suggest topics or questions for the parent panel.
If you have any questions about this event or want to volunteer, you can also contact Lauren Herr at lmherr@fcps.ed.
Parent Partnership Video #1
Parent Partnership Video #2
Parent Partnership Video #3
Humbly,
Victor L. Powell, Principal
Contact Information:
Email: vlpowell@fcps.edu
Twitter: @VictorLeonPowe1
Website: http://www.fcps.edu/GlasgowMS/
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CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS!
On January 3rd-5th and 9th-10th our 8th Grade Civics classes will attend Finance Park near Irving Middle School. Finance Park is a simulation where students learn about making informed decisions to ensure lifelong success by having the opportunity to:
- Align the realities of life – and personal choices – with financial stability
- Connect education and career decisions with income expectations
- Experience first-hand what it takes to make it
You can read more about this amazing program here.
We need approximately 25 volunteers each day our school attends to run the full program. We are reaching out to the entire GMS community and asking for help! (you do not need to have an 8th grade student to volunteer!) If you can spare a day to support this amazing opportunity for our 8th graders, please contact Carmen Andersen at ncandersen@fcps.edu.
After-School Program Reminder
Glasgow Families! As a reminder, the After School program will not convene the week of December 12th-16th, 2022! We will resume the After School program on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023! If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Williams gwilliams2@fcps.edu.
GMS Parent Academy
Glasgow MS families are invited to attend our Parent Academy session on Academic Excellence Tuesday, January 17, 2023, at 6 PM (English/Arabic) and 7 PM (Spanish)! During the session, you will learn more about the programs offered at Glasgow and course selection. You will also learn more about our upcoming Parent Academy sessions. Our session will be led by Nonye Oladimeji, IBMYP & Advance Academic Specialist, Kelly Greenshields, AVID teacher, and Jenn Pallotto, Director of Student Services. Select your preferred language to sign up for the session. English, Arabic, or Spanish. You will receive a session link on the day of the event. We hope to see you on January 17th.
Student Vue and Parent Vue
All FCPS students have a Student Vue account. All student schedules are active and up to date in SIS Student Vue and SIS Parent Vue. If you do not have a SIS Parent Vue account, we strongly encourage you to sign up for an account. You can find directions on how to do so at this link: https://www.fcps.edu/resources/technology/student-information-system-sis-fcps/sis-parent-account-registration. Once you have signed up for an account, you’ll need an activation code - which we will work as quickly as we can to provide to you. You can find a video that provides information on how to use SIS Parent Vue and all that you will be able to access with your account here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLwkkemipws.
Parent Partnership Video #1
Parent Partnership Video #2
Parent Partnership Video #3
Reviewing The Glasgow MS Parent Survey Data
When we return in January 2023, we will be doing a “Reset” with our students and staff. Reviewing our expectations and any changes based on parent and teacher feedback. We are treating this like the first week of school all over again. We have had many new students and staff join our school since August and they did not get all those opportunities that happen at the beginning of school.
Our team has reviewed and responded to feedback from families around systems and practices at our school. We very much appreciate the feedback and opportunities for growth! It was great to hear feedback from parents and what is working well, such as:
- “Working with the staff and teachers to learn new things each day”
- “Great teachers and the new cell phone policy is great”
- “My child seems engaged and challenged by his classes”
- “Diverse program options and support from my child’s teachers”
Here are a few items that the Glasgow MS Administration has focused our attention on within the 2nd quarter. We have ensured that all administrators and staff are in the hallways during transitions to ensure student traffic is moving to class smoothly. We have also alerted and communicated more with families of students who are tardy to class through our daily e-notifies and our random tardy sweeps to ensure school tardies are decreasing; which that have throughout this quarter. We will continue to follow the FCPS Students Rights and Responsibilities for responding to any student behavior that is inappropriate for school. Anytime we see behavior that is intentionally aggressive behavior designed to inflict harm, repetitive behavior planned into the future and Interpersonal relationship marked by an imbalance of power; we will address those behaviors in partnership with Student Service and School Administration.
Our team has reviewed the differences in the recess numbers between our FIT & Panther Time days and have put in additional structures to spread those classes out within the grade level recess periods. We also have given teachers more specific zones because of the large numbers we have in our building, to accommodate for better supervision. We are also working with Region 2 leadership to fund additional Safety and Security positions at our school, to align with our size and need. This would assist with hallway, bathroom and modular supervision; which is needed.
Mental Health, Coping & Addiction
One in four Americans suffers from a mental illness. Almost 3 in 5 people with mental illness will receive no treatment or medication. In 2019, an estimated 47.6 million adults (19% of the country) had a mental illness, but only 43% received any kind of mental health care (Johns Hopkins). There are many reasons why a person may turn to drugs or alcohol initially, including using these mind-altering substances as a coping mechanism for stress, difficult emotions, physical ailments, and other issues. Drugs and alcohol can provide a temporary respite from reality and everyday life. They can enhance pleasure and decrease inhibitions and anxiety. Drug use can be an unhealthy coping mechanism. Coping mechanisms are habits formed over time that serve to help a person manage situations or stress levels. Not all coping mechanisms are maladaptive or destructive; however, addiction is both.
Before using drugs as a coping strategy, here are some recommendations for a healthier mindset. The goal is to identify the “void” or issue and work towards healing. In the meantime, experts recommend diet and exercise as great places to start. See your Primary Care Physician and a therapist if needed. Quality sleep is also a major factor in a healthy mind. Surround yourself with good people and don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.
For general questions about the FCPS Substance Abuse Prevention Program, please contact the Office of Student Safety & Wellness at: (571) 423-4270.
Resources:
Substance Use Disorder info
FCPS Social Work
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