Back Pocket
October 2021
Calendar
Oct 1 – WKMS Spirit Day: Wear Your Favorite College Gear
Oct 4 – Wolverine Time Begins
Oct 8 – WKMS Spirit Day: Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness
Oct 12 – Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences (students arrive 4 hours late)
Oct 13 – Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences (students arrive 4 hours late)
Oct 14 – Afternoon Parent-Teacher Conferences (students dismiss 3.5 hours early)
Oct 15 – School Closed: Teacher Professional Development Day
Oct 20 – PTSA Meeting (6:30)
Oct 22 – WKMS Spirit Day: Twin Day
Oct 25 – Term 1 Ends
Oct 26 – School Closed: Teacher Work Session
Oct 27 – Term 2 Begins
Oct 27 – Zombie Fun Run (3:00 – 4:00)
OCT 29 – WKMS Spirit Day: Wear Your School-Appropriate Costume
Oct 29 – PTSA Dance
Nov 4 – School Picture Make-Ups & Retakes
Nov 5 – Report Cards Issued
Principal's Message
October is a very important month in our school community. During the week of October 11, WKMS staff will be hosting parent-teacher conferences. The opportunity for parents and teachers to meet brings with it a chance to foster relationships and develop partnerships to further support the academic growth and social/emotional well-being of our students. If you haven’t already done so, please make sure you register for conferences with your child’s teachers (see below for more information). This year, in-person and virtual conferences will be offered in an attempt to accommodate everyone’s needs and schedules. If you are still not able to meet with your child’s teachers, please never hesitate to call or email them with any questions or concerns. We look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks for parent-teacher conferences!
Social Media Challenges
As you are aware, the social media challenge called “Devious Licks” resulted in a significant amount of vandalism and property damage at WKMS, particularly in the bathrooms. Thank you to everyone who had a conversation with their child about the importance of making good choices, respecting school property, and not getting caught-up in viral social media challenges. Unfortunately, this is not the first social media challenge that has been issued and may not be the last. In fact, there are rumors floating around that other monthly challenges are being planned and shared through social media. Unfortunately, these challenges seem to be disruptive, abusive, and actually unlawful in many cases. These challenges will not be tolerated at WKMS. Students committing unlawful acts will also be referred to our School Resource Officer. Please take a moment to reinforce with your child the importance of making good choices, respecting others, and doing what is right.
Wolverine Time
Wolverine Time is a tutoring program that will be used to support students academically, particularly in ELA and Math. Beginning October 4, WKMS staff will offer Wolverine time 4 days per week at a variety of times in the evening in order to create flexibility for our students and families, Wolverine Time will be offered synchronously. Initially, students will have the opportunity to drop-in to the tutoring sessions in order to receive support with homework, feedback on assignments, and help with studying for assessments. Please click here for the Wolverine Time schedule and links.
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences will be held on October 12 - October 14. Windsor Knolls Middle School will be utilizing an online system, PTCFast.com, for parents and guardians to sign up for conferences with their student’s teachers. The conference slots are limited for each teacher. Please utilize conferences if you have specific questions or concerns about your child.
Conferences will be offered both virtually and in-person. Teachers will be sending out an email with a Google Meet link to all parents who sign up for virtual conferences. Please call the school at 240-236-5000 if you have any questions.
Conference Information:
- Tuesday, October 12, IN-PERSON conferences
- Wednesday, October 13, VIRTUAL conferences
- Thursday, October 14, IN-PERSON from 12:00 - 1:30
- Thursday, October 14, VIRTUAL from 2:00 - 3:00
School Hours on Conference Days:
- October 12 - opening 4 hours late for students
- October 13 - opening 4 hours late for students
- October 14 - Dismissed 3 ½ hours early
Steps for Parents to Sign-Up for Conferences:
- Please click on the link below to see the list of WKMS teachers. The link below will be live on September 27th and will be open until October 4th.
- Select all the teachers you would like to have a conference with.
- PTCFast will ask you for your students name and your email address.
- The PTCFast system will then send you an email for you to select specific appointment times. (Make sure you check your spam for the link)
Odds & Ends
Lost or Damaged Instructional Materials – The student shall be held responsible for the careful use and protection of the books, materials, and equipment loaned or assigned to him. Upon the request of the principal, the student shall return these items in good condition, allowing for normal usage.
Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation Reporting Forms may be submitted by a student, parent, close adult relative, or staff member to school administration. A student may request assistance from a staff member to complete the form if the student wishes. The Bullying, Harassment, or Intimidation Reporting Forms may be obtained in the school’s main (front) office and counselor’s office. The forms may also be obtained electronically from the school system’s web site.
Grading & Reporting - The purpose of grades is to provide feedback to students, parents, and educators about student performance and achievement in the standards. Grades help inform teachers, students, and parents about the academic areas in which students approach, meet or exceed expectations.
To support students in meeting or exceeding expectations, classroom teachers organize and structure learning activities to evaluate evidence of student learning in the standards. A variety of options are available to support students to master the standards, as referenced in the Multi-tiered System of Supports.
Finally, school leaders, teacher, other staff, and parents work as partners to ensure students get any needed supports. Grades (letters, numbers or symbols) are assigned during the report card term for assignments, projects, quizzes, and tests. They are also assigned at the end of the report card term as a formal grade on the report card to represent achievement for the entire marking term.
Team News & Updates
Each month, WKMS grade level teams will provide updates on curriculum standards, assessments, and upcoming events. In addition to Schoology, this information will hopefully help keep parents abreast of important school and classroom information.
Zombie Fun Run
Mark your calendars for the 1st annual WKMS Zombie Fun Run after school on Wednesday, October 27th from 3:00 – 4:00. This year’s running event will be the 1-mile Zombie Fun Run around the WKMS campus. We are looking for volunteers to help with donations, setting up, and take down. Additional information will be coming out soon. If you’re interested in helping with the event, please contact Christine.Donohue@fcps.org
Health Room News
As the registered nurse for Windsor Knolls Middle School, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am employed by the Frederick County Health Department, School Health Program. I am also the registered nurse at Kemptown Elementary and Green Valley Elementary Schools.
My responsibilities include health assessment, health counseling, communicable disease prevention, crisis intervention, health education and referrals for health needs. I work closely with school administration, faculty, medical providers and parents/guardians to develop plans of care for students with medical needs. I am responsible for ensuring that medications and treatments can be safely administered during the school day.
Your child’s Health Room is staffed by Rebecca Fritz, Health Room Technician (HRT). The HRT is a certified nursing assistant and certified medication technician who is trained in first aid and CPR. The health room technician works under my supervision. I delegate nursing tasks such as, medication administration in accordance with the Maryland Nurse Practice Act.
If your child requires a medication or medical treatment during the school day, his/her health care provider must complete the appropriate forms. These forms may be obtained from the Health Room and at www.fcps.org
School Health staff are not able to test for or diagnose COVID-19. Listed below are criteria of COVID-19 symptoms per MDH/MSDE guidance. If your child complains of ONE of the following symptoms, please keep them home and follow the criteria below. Students exhibiting any ONE of the following symptoms, while at school, will be sent home from the health room.
- Fever 100.4 or higher
- Sore throat
- Difficulty breathing
- Diarrhea
- Cough
- Vomiting
- New onset of severe headache
- New loss of taste or smell
The student will need to be isolated for 10 days pending:
- Alternate diagnosis from a healthcare provide
or
- Negative PCR or Rapid Antigen COVID-19 test result
Household members of the symptomatic student should not attend or work in a child care, school, or youth camp until the person with symptoms is able to return except those who are fully vaccinated OR have been infected with COVID-19 in the past 90 days AND are asymptomatic.
Please contact the health room, at 240-236-4974, if you have any questions or concerns about the health care of your child. I look forward to meeting you and wish you and your child a healthy and successful school year.
Sincerely,
Cathy Thren BSN, RN
Registered NurseCounselors' Corner
October is World Bullying Prevention Month. One of the best ways to reduce bullying is to build connections and foster belonging between people and their communities. To that end, the WKMS Counseling Department is sponsoring a Kindness Spirit Week starting October 11.
- Monday, October 11 – Never too tired to Stand Up for Others Day
Wear your PJ’s (school appropriate/no slippers) to show that you’re never too tired to support each other!
- Tuesday, October 12 – Let Kindness Shine Day
Wear sparkles, shiny things, or neon and give someone a sincere compliment!
- Wednesday, October 13 – Wear Blue Wednesday
Wear blue to show that you want to stand up for others and stomp out bullying.
- Thursday, October 14 – Team Kindness Day
Wear your favorite sports attire to show that you are a good sport!
KINDNESS CHALLENGE We are also encouraging students - and families can help! - to take part in the Kindness Challenge (socially distanced version). Copies will also be available at school during the October 11 week.
IS KINDNESS CONTAGIOUS? Check out this article entitled How Kindness Spreads in a Community to see what research shows about witnessing kindness.
IN NEED OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES? Please contact the counseling office at 240-236-4958 if we can help your child with any needed materials.
Media Center Update
The BOOK FAIR is coming in October! We will continue this tradition during parent teacher conferences. The goal is for students to decide what books they'd like to get during the school day and they'll share their requests with you. Please do not send students with large bills to school.
Brand new books are continuing to arrive to our library! This is a great opportunity for your child to enhance their learning by reading for about 20 minutes a night. You can support their literacy and comprehension by asking questions about what they are reading. Students are celebrating the right to read this week as we discuss censorship and freedom of choice in 7th in 8th grade lessons as well as books written by Latinx authors to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Awareness. Please contact me with any questions.
Follow us on Instagram at the WKMSLibrary handle to be updated on all things related to the LMC!
English/Language Arts
Greetings from the English Language Arts Department! Students have been working diligently on the first quarter ELA standards, and the term ends on Monday, October 25. Students in Mrs. Buckner's Read180 classes are continuing their work in small group, independent reading, and software rotations. All students completed the Performance Series Reading Assessment, and Language Arts teachers discussed assessment results with their students. As a department, we look forward to meeting with many of you during Parent-Teacher Conferences the week of October 11. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your student's ELA teacher or to the WKMS Literacy Specialist, Ginny Hines, with any questions or concerns.
Math
As we move into the second month of school students have all reengaged their math minds. All students can do math, all students can be successful in math. Math is an applied academic; students must practice it daily to become more fluent in their skill. As we move through this month we hope that students are practicing their math and reviewing their skills daily. Our first unit assessments will be happening and students will be using the Performance Matters platform to show what they know in math. Please remind your students to check Schoology for their current assignments and term grade progress. As we approach parent conferences we invite you to bring your students to them. Your students are an important part of the conversation about their progress in math class and with only ten-minute-long conference sessions it is very helpful to have your students present with us.
In October we will also begin our MathCounts club. MathCounts is a club that meets every after school in room 230 until 4:10. Students will participate in engaging and dynamic math exercises building up to the competitions in late winter. If any student is interested in joining Math Counts, have them ask their math teacher for a club form or see the information board outside of Mrs. Wurster’s room (right by the art rooms). We will begin meeting the week of October 18th and hope to see you there.