French Middle School
August 2021 Newsletter
Upcoming Events
- Aug. 11-- 1st Day 6th Grade Only
- Aug. 12-- 1st Day All Students
- Aug 16-- 1st Day of Practice for Fall Sports
- Aug 16-- 6th Grade-- Meet the Teacher Night
- Aug 17-- 7th Grade-- Meet the Teacher Night
- Aug 18-- 8th Grade-- Meet the Teacher Night
- Sept 6-- Labor Day- No School
- Sept 8-- School Picture Day
- Sept 9-- PTO Meeting
- Sept 10-- Quarter 1 Midterms
Note from the Principal
On behalf of the French MS Faculty I would like to welcome back all returning Falcon Families. I want to extend a special welcome to all new Falcon Families. We are excited to begin the 2021-22 school year at French MS. We are happy to announce that all classes this year will be in person classes. Families interested in online classes will need to enroll at Avondale Academy. If you have questions or need assistance please contact our main office at 438-4150.
Be sure to watch for district communication regarding any covid protocol requirements for schools and students. The TPS Board of Education will make final covid reopening decisions at the August 5th meeting. This will include any masks/PPE requirements. We will also keep you informed through social media. Until then we continue to require masks to enter the building and we are limiting patrons in the building.
Topeka Public Schools and French MS have a new website interface. Our school website is still under construction as we are learning how to edit it. Our calendar is up to date. We appreciate your patience as we continue to get our site up and running. We also have a few new faces joining our staff. We look forward to greeting all families at our Meet the Teacher Night in August.
Mark your calendars for the first day of school. All 6th graders report to school for our Falcon Camp on Wednesday, August 11th. All students in grades 6-8 report for school on Thursday, August 12th. Student schedules will be finalized and posted in TylerSIS after August 9th. Again welcome back to another Frenchtastic year at French Middle School! We can’t wait to see you and your student. Below are some helpful links to get the school year started.
~Mrs. Hoffman
Transportation
Topeka Public Schools will begin the year with existing covid protocols in place as last year. Students will sit one per seat unless with a sibling. Masks will be required to ride. Approved students who live 1.75 miles from the school qualify for busing services. Only students who qualify for busing will be allowed to ride the bus. Friends are not allowed to ride with regular bus riders. Bus riders must use the bus stops provided by the transportation department. Bus routes will be posted in TylerSIS approximately a week before school starts under the transportation link located under the Daily Student Activity link. Please remember busing services are a privilege for students who qualify and students are expected to follow all bus expectations in our student handbook. Questions regarding busing can be answered by TPS transportation department at 295-3910 or Kansas Central Bus Service @ 233-2009
School Hours
School hours are 7:50 am to 2:45 pm. Our front doors open to all students at 7:30 am. Students who walk or who are car riders use our front drive and doors. Bus riders and bike riders enter through the back parking lot and back doors. Bike racks are located in the back parking lot by back doors near the tennis courts. Students who are not involved in supervised after school activities need to be off campus by 3:10 pm.
Drop Off and Pick Up
We need your help this year when dropping off/picking up your children. As you know, Falcon Drive can become incredibly congested in front of the school at times. To better accommodate and avoid bottle necking, please follow the mandatory traffic plan as detailed below:
---Do not use the middle lane of Falcon Drive to drop off your children. You should never be stopped in this lane. It's purpose is for general traffic flow eastbound exiting off the property.
--The far right-hand lane closet to the curb and building is the lane you will use to drop off your child.
The flow of traffic will remain faster and the roadway will be less clogged if we follow these rules. When we all work together and follow this plan, you will have a faster commute in and out of French. Thank you for your cooperation.
Immunizations Information
6th Grade Students:
Students who will be entering 7th grade in the 2021/2022 school year are required to have updated immunizations including: Tdap (tetanus booster) and MCV (meningococcal). If your student has already received these immunizations, please send documentation to the nurse at this time. Students will be required to provide proof of immunization within 30 days of the start of school in the fall.
7th and 8th Grade Students:
If you have not yet provided documentation of your students' most current immunizations, please do so as soon as possible. If your student has not had the required immunizations, please contact the nurse with a schedule as to when youve them done. You may email or fax records to the school nurse: Email: kbesenyi@tps501.org or Fax: (785) 271-3609.
Medication at School
Students taking medications of any kind must have proper paperwork on file with the school nurse. All medications prescription and over the counter are to be stored in the nurse's office. Contact Nurse Besenyi if you have any questions or need medication forms. 785-438-4156 or kbesenyi@tps501.org
School Communication
Stay connected to French Middle School in a variety of ways. Utilize our school website. Follow the Falcons on social media:
We also email a monthly newsletter to all families. Staff mail home Falcongrams periodically throughout the year to highlight student progress and success. All staff can be contacted via email. Staff email addresses can be found on our school website and in TylerSIS. Finally parents can sign up to view Google Classroom activities by signing up through the classroom teacher. Staying connected to FMS and classroom teachers is critical to your student’s success.
New Staff
Please welcome our newest French Falcon Staff members! We are excited to have them join our French family and look forward to all the great things they will do!
Melissa Campbell is our new PE teacher. She is coming to us from Topeka High School where she taught PE for a number of years. Mrs. Campbell is excited to teach middle school and to begin building relationships with her students and colleagues.
Megan Maness- Ms. Maness is a graduate of Kansas State University and will be starting her first year with us as a special education teacher. Ms. Maness has always known she wanted to work with special education students and brings a strong passion and commitment to her students.
Wendy McCoy- Ms. McCoy is joining us from the Atchinson, KS area. She will also serve as one of our special education teachers and looks forward to meeting her students and getting to know their families. Ms. McCoy has family in Topeka so being closer to them made becoming a Falcon even more exciting.
Jocelyn Mueller- Mrs. Mueller is a former math teacher in the TPS school district and moved out of state for a couple years. When the opportunity came up to move back to the Topeka area, there was no question she wanted to return to TPS. French Middle School happens to be the lucky school to receive her! Mrs. Mueller will teach 8th grade math.
Eric Conner- Mr. Conner brings a passion for science and sports to TPS and French Middle School. While he has an extensive background in coaching he will also bring much excitement and knowledge to our science department. Mr. Conner is recently gotten engaged. He is excited to be a part of our French family.
Maria Galicia- Ms. Galicia comes to us from Scott Dual Magnet School. She is looking forward to working with middle school students and learning all the fun that happens in middle school! Ms. Galicia’s skills including being bilingual will be a great asset for our students.
Damian Avila-Munoz-Over 10 years ago, Mr. Avila-Munoz walked the halls of French Middle School as a student. This year he will walk the halls as a staff member! Mr. Avila-Munoz is a TPS graduate and what an honor it is that he chose to return to his district to serve. Mr. Avila-Munoz will be our ELL para and serve our ELL students and families.
Welcome to all our new staff. There is no doubt they will make an immediate impact on our students. Please help us give them a “Frenchtastic” welcome!!
After-School Program
We will run an afterschool program again this year but it will look very different than last year. Students will join a session for 5 weeks at a time, with 2 weeks off before the next. Snacks and supplies will be provided. All students will participate in homework or tutoring centers, in addition to enrichment clubs. Examples of some of the clubs students can join:
*Art
*Technology
*Science
*Music
*Fitness
*Yearbook
*Talent Show
Watch for more information about our new after school program. We hope to begin shortly after Labor Day. This will be an amazing opportunity for our all students!
PTO Information
At our April PTO meeting, we elected a new slate of officers for the 2021-2022 school year.
President-Lisa Collette
Vice-President-Kelly Conroy
Secretary-Nicola Babcock
Treasurer-Christie Green
We welcome all French families to our monthly PTO meetings. They are typically held the second Thursday of each month at 5:45pm. All meetings are well organized and last under an hour. Our first PTO meeting of the year will September 9th at 5:45pm. We hope to see you there.
Fall sports begin on Monday August 16. Fall sports include Football, Volleyball, Cross Country and Girls tennis. Information will be sent home the first day of school for those interested in going out for a sport. It is important that you have a physical completed by a doctor before the first day of practice.
Head Coaches
Football- Mr. Mellen
Volleyball- Mrs. Hirt(formerly Ms. Light)
Cross Country- Ms. Ryan
Girls Tennis- Mr. Ritter
Reminders:
-Sports are only offered to eligible 7th and 8th graders.
-Students wishing to participate in athletics need to have passed 5 classes from the previous quarter, that would be their grades from the 4th quarter, not final overall grade. Summer school does not count for this rule.
-Students will need to have a sports physical signed by a doctor dated after May 1, 2021 in order to be allowed to play for the current school year. Forms and information can be found at http://www.topekapublicschools.net/
Or
Physicals need to be ready for the first practice to minimize any lost practice time by athletes. The first practice for all fall sports (cross country, volleyball, football and girls tennis) is Monday August 16th 2021.
Please note-You are not able to play on a team in the same sport outside of school while playing for a school team during the season of that same sport. This pertains to all sports whether club or rec. Before and after the season is allowed.
If you have any sports related questions contact our Activity Coordinator, Mr. Wilson at 785-438-4162 or twilson@tps501.org