Fulton Flier
Week of November 23rd
Thank you for participating in American Education Week with us last week. It was nice to see some of you joining your child in class on Tuesday, and helping us celebrate our staff throughout the week.
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we wish all of our students and families a very safe and joyful Thanksgiving! During this time of year, we hope you look to those things that we have to be thankful for especially during these challenging times. Our family, friends and FES community are among the blessings that I am so thankful for. Thank you for all the support you continue to provide our FES community throughout the year.
At this time, we would also like to share our thankful thoughts with our Phenomenal FES Staff. We know they are working hard to make sure each child at Fulton is getting what they need during virtual learning. Please take a minute to thank a staff member by filling out this form.
Hearing from families and students is an amazing token of gratitude. Thank you for taking the time to make our staff feel appreciated.
Lastly, during this upcoming Thanksgiving break for students, we encourage you to find ways to help your child rest from screen time. Need ideas? Check out this article- 50 Things to Do Instead of Screen Time.
Warmly,
Dr. Burks
Virtual Learning Week for the week of November 23
As a reminder, November 23rd and 24th are early dismissal days for parent teacher conferences. School will end at 12:45 on each of these days. Review the grade level schedules here. Schools are closed on November 25, 26, 27 for the Thanksgiving break.
There will be NO asynchronous assignments assigned to students during the week of November 23.
Conferences are this week!
We hope you were able to sign up for a conference with your child’s teacher for this week. If you have registered for a Parent Teacher Conference you should have received a confirmation email from noreply@hcpss.org that includes the scheduled time, date, and Google Meet link for your conference. The conference link will be different than the link students use for classroom instruction. If you need to cancel your appointment or make any changes to the time, please contact your child's teacher directly via email.
If you need support joining your conference, to know the date/time, or to know the conference link for your child(ren)’s teacher, please call our Front Office between 8:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. at 410-880-5957 on Monday and Tuesday. In addition, we will also offer virtual support on Monday and Tuesday between 1:00 - 7:00 p.m. at this link. A FES Staff member will be in this GoogleMeet to help guide you to your conference. Please make sure to log in using your child’s HCPSS credentials to visit our Virtual Front Office.
There are some helpful tips for parents and guardians at the HCPSS website, including how to log in for conferences.
As a reminder,
- Teachers will be using Google Meet security features to prevent “overlap” of conferences.
- Once the conference link is clicked, you may have to wait to be admitted into the Google Meet. Please wait on this screen for the teacher to admit you to the Meet at your scheduled time.
EXTENDED PARENT SUPPORT HOURS & ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS
- meet with our Bully Busters (e.g., School Counselors and School Psychologist),
- access logins for your child to engage in playdates with their grade level peers,
- have your questions answered by Related Arts teachers, and
- receive support from our front office,
Welcome Ms. Jenner!
We are so excited to share that Lori Jenner will be working at FES while Mrs. Beth Shields, one of our school counselors, is on maternity leave!
Mrs. Jenner is no stranger to HCPSS. Her two adult children were once students in Howard County, and she is an experienced school counselor who worked at Longfellow Elementary School for 15 years.
After her 2020 retirement, Mrs. Jenner decided to move to Florida to begin her next chapter amidst sunshine and palm trees, however, she is thrilled to be working virtually as a long-term counseling substitute!
Mrs. Jenner shared that her wish for her time spent as a Fulton Falcon is to bring a sense of consistency to students and families. She plans to be available during virtual office hours and meet with students for lunch bunches. She will also be available to help support the Fulton community. Mrs. Jenner will work primarily with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th grades.
Mrs. Jenner can be reached by email: lori_jenner@hcpss.org
Toy drive coming to you
Riley Macon, is the founder and chair of Reservoir High School's Young Activists club. Beginning November 20th, they will be hosting a toy drive with bins set up at high schools all around the county.
They are hoping to collect a large number of toys to donate to children this holiday season who won't be receiving any. In a time of such financial instability for so many families, they feel this toy drive may offer both parents and children a sense of normalcy and support.
HCPSS to Remain Virtual Through Third Quarter
During the Board's work session on Monday, November 16, 2020, the Howard County Board of Education voted to continue HCPSS in a virtual instructional model through the third academic quarter, which ends April 14, 2021.
Additionally, the Board instructed the Superintendent and staff to explore possibilities for expanding and enhancing in-person small group program offerings, with consideration for staff preferences regarding participation. Small group in-person programs serve the needs of students who most benefit from face-to-face instruction and support.
On October 22, the Board adopted the health metrics that would indicate when students and staff could safely begin to return to school buildings in a hybrid format. After extended discussion during yesterday’s work session, the Board elected not to approve the proposed hybrid model, which had been targeted for implementation for the second semester, pending acceptable health metrics at that time.
Additional information can be found on the HCPSS website at www.hcpss.org.
Virtual student lunch bunches with Admin!
Join in the fun with PTA!
Also, our PTA has scheduled a whole month of fun activities for our students with a Countdown to Winter Break. Check out the calendar so you and your child can join in on the Fulton Falcon Fun!
Dates to Remember
- November 23rd: 3 hour Early Dismissal (Parent/Teacher Conferences)
- November 24th: 3 hour Early Dismissal (Parent/Teacher Conferences)
- November 25th: Schools closed for students (Parent/Teacher Conferences)
- November 26th-27th: Schools and offices closed (Thanksgiving Holiday)
- November 30th: RECC Lunch Bunch w/ Admin
- December 1st: K Lunch Bunch w/ Admin
- December 2nd: FES Coffee House Open 8:00-9:00am; 1st Lunch Bunch w/ Admin
- December 3rd: 2nd Lunch Bunch w/Admin
- December 4th: 3rd Lunch Bunch w/Admin
- December 6th: PTA's I’m the Chef, Too! fundraiser.
December 8th: PTA Ledo's Fundraiser 4:00pm-8:00pm; Virtual PTA Meeting 7:00pm
- December 9th: 4th Lunch Bunch w/Admin; PTA's Food Drive 4:00-6:00pm
- December 11th: 5th Lunch Bunch w/Admin
December 13th: PTA's Art Fundraiser with Mrs. Wasilewski.
December 24th: Winter Break begins
Information Worth Repeating
GOOGLE PLAY PARENT OPT-IN
In an effort to continue expanding our authorized set of digital tools for virtual instruction, HCPSS has curated a new set of supplemental digital tools that are available only through Google’s menu of additional services. These supplemental digital tools are approved by HCPSS and comply with federal, state and Howard County Board of Education student data privacy policies. Due to Google’s settings, students must access this set of tools by utilizing Google’s menu of additional services, which requires consent by a parent or guardian.
To provide consent:
Log in to HCPSS Connect.
Select More Options from the left panel.
Select HCPSS Google Menu from the middle of the page.
Click the check box to provide consent. Changes are saved automatically.
A parent or guardian must provide consent for each student by selecting the student’s name at the top of the page.
The digital tools currently included are: Book Room, Word Work, Scratch BluBot, Scratch JR, Sketch-Up, Collector Classic, JamBoard, Google Earth and Minecraft: Education. After a parent/guardian provides consent, students using a HCPSS Chromebook can access the tools through the Google Play Store icon on the Chromebook when logged in with an HCPSS account. There may be a delay of up to three days before the apps appear in the Google menu and some tools may automatically appear on the Chromebook once consent is provided by a parent or guardian without the need to install them. If your child has not been issued a Chromebook, please make the request following the information found online.
Please note:
HCPSS cannot guarantee that apps are available on devices other than HCPSS Chromebooks.
Teachers may or may not choose to use any or all of these apps during instruction. Students will be notified when a particular app will be used for instruction.
If you do not provide consent for your student’s access to these digital tools, your student’s teacher will provide alternative enrichment activities.
In addition to these Google tools, HCPSS has approved a robust set of supplemental digital tools. Your child’s teacher will notify you of the particular supplemental digital tools being used in each class via email or on their Canvas course page.
For more information, please contact our Tech Support Team by emailing Mrs. Cerand (liz_cerand@hcpss.org), Mrs. Ciliberti (amy_ciliberti@hcpss.org), or Mrs. Fischer (margaret_fischer@hcpss.org).
Please click on the language below for a translated version of this message:
FULTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Molly Caroland, Assistant Principal
Leslie Brickner, Assistant Principal
Email: tanisha_burks@hcpss.org
Website: http://fes.hcpss.org/
Location: 11600 Scaggsville Road, Fulton, MD, USA
Phone: 410-880-5957
Twitter: @hcpss_fes