Fulton Flier
Week of January 25th
As you are probably aware, Thursday Governor Larry Hogan and Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon announced their clear expectation for all school buildings to reopen in a hybrid format no later than March 1. Dr. Martirano, Central Office, and The BOE will be discussing this mandate today, Monday January 25th and tomorrow, Tuesday, January 26th during the scheduled work sessions. If you are available today at 4:30 or 4:00pm tomorrow, watch the BOE meeting on Comcast 95/Verizon 42 or at https://hcpss.org.
Additionally, as a result of this recent information, Dr. Martirano reversed the earlier announcement regarding schedules (e.g., additional writing time and office hours for Related Arts) for the third quarter of the 2020-2021 school year and announced that no changes are being made to student schedules at this time. We will continue to follow our Fulton Schedule until further notice.
Warmly,
Dr. Burks
Upcoming MAP Testing for Grades 1-5
On Wednesday February 3rd and 10th, students in grades 1-5 will take the Measured Academic Progress (MAP) assessment. The data from the MAP assessment will help our teachers measure your student’s academic progress. The MAP test does not affect grades and the difficulty adjusts depending on how your child responds. It is normal for students to only answer about half the questions correctly. To learn more about the MAP assessment, please visit: https://www.nwea.org/the-map-suite/common-questions-families/
Please mark your calendar and make note that there will be synchronous sessions on
Wednesday, February 3rd and 10th from 9:00-11:00.
- MAP reading will take place on February 3rd from 9-11 am.
- MAP math will take place on February 10th from 9-11 am.
For our students in first grade, who are new to this assessment, their teacher will spend some time prior to February 3rd to review what the assessment looks like and how to come prepared for the testing sessions.
Teachers in grades 1-5 will share more specific information regarding the google meet code and any other testing information regarding these MAP sessions through Canvas as we get closer to the February dates.
If you have any questions, please email our Assistant Principals at molly_caroland@hcpss.org or leslie_brickner@hcpss.org
Yearbook Update
This has proven to be an unprecedented school year! We do not want to miss the opportunity to document such a unique and momentous school year. The Fulton Yearbook Committee is very excited to put together a yearbook unlike any other. The yearbook will capture many candid shots from the school year and class pictures captured online. We are hopeful to include individual pictures this year. In order to accomplish this, we are asking for your interest in whether or not you would purchase the yearbook for school year 2020/2021. Please help us by completing the following 3-question survey.
Fulton Family Spotlight- A message from our Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Team
During the month of January, we are celebrating Influential Leaders. An influential leader can do any job, but their main focus is making the world better for others! We have some amazing parents who are influential leaders right here within our Fulton Community!
We are so excited to share our parent spotlights for this week, such as Ms. Barshook below. Please check out our FES Parent Spotlight on our FES website to see who is spotlighted this week.
If you are interested in sharing a little about yourself with our Fulton Community, please take a minute to complete our Parent survey! This is an awesome way to highlight different ways our families influence their world around them.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs.Gudenius (caitlyn_gudenius@hcpss.org)
Some helpful tips from our Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Team...
Identifying and Expressing Feelings
Young children deal with many of the same emotions adults do. Children get angry, sad, frustrated, nervous, happy, or embarrassed, but they often do not have the words to talk about how they are feeling. Instead, they sometimes act out these emotions in very physical and inappropriate ways. The article, Teaching Your Child to Identify and Express Emotions provides step by step instructions and age appropriate vocabulary for young children.
Here are some additional resources that will help your child to share their emotions:
- Feelings Chart with feelings wheel and relaxation thermometer to help children recognize feelings and ways to calm down.
- Children can easily relate to these photographs of feelings faces.
- I Can Use My Words is a scripted story to teach young children to express feelings verbally.
If you have any questions or would like some support, please don't hesitate to reach out to Ms. Brickley, Mr. Dunagan, Mrs. Shields, or Mrs. Wilson-Carr.
Are you looking for a tutor?
The Goal-Setting Committee in Reservoir's Scholars Leadership Program is planning to offer a tutoring opportunity at the start of the second semester (February). This program will be at no cost to students! Students and families who are interested can fill out this Google Form for more information:
If you have any questions, please reach out to Enny Ayo-Gbenjo, a senior at Reservoir High School and one of the chairpersons of the Goal-Setting Committee e.ayogb1102@gmail.com or denise_thomas@hcpss.org.
The PTA Perch
As a way to provide a fun enrichment activity to all of our students (RECC through 5th), we partnered with the National Aquarium for a virtual field trip. Each grade will virtually “visit” the aquarium on different dates in mid March. There is no fee for this event. More details coming soon.
Upcoming Dates
January 28th: End of 2nd Marking Period (All completed assignments due); 7:00pm FES Fireside Read Aloud
January 29th: Schools Closed for Students- Professional Work Day for Staff; Parent/Teacher Conference Registration Begins
February 2nd: 11:00am- 9:00pm PTA's Galliano Fundraiser
February 3rd 9:00 - 11:00 am - MAP Reading for grades 1-5
February 4th: 7:00pm FES Fireside Read Aloud
February 5th: Quarter 2 Reports Cards available for review in Synergy; Parent/Teacher Conference Registration Window Closes
February 9th: 7:00pm PTA Meeting
February 10th 9:00 - 11:00 am - MAP Reading for grades 1-5; PTA's Chick-Fil-A- Fundraiser; 3-Hour Early Dismissal; Parent-Teacher Conferences
February 11th: 7:00pm FES Fireside Read Aloud; Parent Teacher Conferences
February 12th School Closed for Students - Professional Work Day
February 15th Schools and Offices Closed - Presidents’ Day
February 24th: PTA's River House Pizza Kit Pickup
Worth Repeating!
Upcoming Parent/Teacher Conferences and 2nd Quarter Grading
February Parent/Teacher Conferences
We are excited to hold 15 minute parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday, February 10th and Thursday, February 11th. The content of these conferences will focus on Math. Both days will be early dismissal days for students. As in the fall, our parent/teacher conferences will be held virtually via Google Meet.
Registration Window Opens/Closes:
January 29th - Parent Teacher Conference scheduling window opens
February 5th - Parent Teacher Conference scheduling window closes
Grades
Grades for all classes are a combination of assignments completed synchronously as well as asynchronously, observational data and assessments. Please note, at the elementary level the gradebook may not reflect the final grade for a particular class as teachers collect many data points during class that are not always captured in the Canvas gradebook.
Related Arts -- Please make sure your student(s) has all assignments for all Related Arts completed and submitted before the end of the semester (January 28). Please access the gradebook in Canvas to verify all assignments are turned in. If you have any questions about Related Arts grades or assignments please email or use Canvas Inbox to contact your child’s Related Arts teachers.
Fulton Fireside Read Aloud Series
New Bullying Reporting Form
Acts of bullying can be critically detrimental to the learning environment at our school and has the potential for severely impacting the wellness of our students. We urge every student and family member to use this new tool to report any acts that occur in-person or online that you believe may be bullying. Your information will remain confidential and staff will take every report seriously.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions about our response to bullying and ways we can collaborate to keep our school community a safe and healthy environment for our students.
The new bullying reporting tool can be found online at stopbullying.hcpss.org
Fulton Elementary School
Molly Caroland, Assistant Principal
Leslie Brickner, Assistant Principal
Email: tanisha_burks@hcpss.org
Website: https://fes.hcpss.org/
Location: 11600 Scaggsville Road, Fulton, MD, USA
Phone: 410-880-5957
Twitter: @hcpss_fes