Fulton Flier
Week of February 8th
I hope that you had a great weekend and enjoyed the Super Bowl!
Our next PTA meeting will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, February 9th at 7:00pm. Administration will be presenting on our Hybrid model. Please join us via Google Meet @ meet.google.com/ftr-kiya-ery If you are unable to attend, will send the Q&As out by the end of the week.
Warmly,
Dr. Burks
Fulton's Hours Starting March 1st
Starting March 1st, Fulton Elementary's school hours will be 9:45-4:15. These hours are for the remainder of this school year. The change is necessary for the hybrid program, but all students will be following these hours whether hybrid or virtual.
Kindergarten Registration begins soon!!!
Kindergarten Registration kicks off the week of March 8-12, 2021.
Families are encouraged to visit the Grade K Family and Community Resources page for more information about the kindergarten instructional program and ways families can support their children at home.
We Need Your Baby Picture for the Yearbook!: Grade 5 FES
Hey Fifth Graders, the Yearbook Team needs your help to make the Fifth-Grade section of the 2020-2021 Yearbook special!
Here’s what we need…
Baby Pictures: The Yearbook Team would like to include a baby picture of each fifth grader in this year’s yearbook. Because this is an unprecedented school year, we are asking for digital copies only of the baby photos. Please email a high resolution copy (JPEG format) labeled with students name to photos@fespta.org.
The deadline for baby pictures to be emailed is Friday, February 26, 2021. No exceptions.
No Meal Service on February 12th and 15th
Lightspeed Platform Support Tool Information
Beginning this week, our school is participating in the use of Lightspeed, a platform and instructional support tool that helps teachers keep students on track and safe as they navigate online learning.
Lightspeed enables teachers to link students’ HCPSS or personal Chromebooks and HCPSS Dell laptops into a single virtual classroom for synchronous lessons, giving teachers the ability to monitor students’ screens and share resources.
Lightspeed allows teachers to:
- Assist students with using the technology
- Monitor live independent work
- Lock screen to transition between live whole group activities and live independent work
- Close browser tabs and automatically navigate to websites
Teachers will only have access to Lightspeed during regularly scheduled class time.
Teachers do not have the ability to control computer screens, including clicking buttons and changing settings. However, teachers can direct and lock a student’s computer to specific websites. If the website turns on the student’s camera and/or microphone, the teacher would be able to observe the video and audio the web camera picks up. For example, if a student was on a site viewing their own image via the web camera the teacher would be able to see that content.
Additionally, to comply with the Children’s Internet Protection Act, HCPSS uses Lightspeed to filter inappropriate content and monitor general usage of the Chromebooks, during and beyond the school day.
There will be no opt-out option for Lightspeed. HCPSS-issued devices and accounts are governed primarily by HCPSS Board policies: 8080 Responsible Use of Technology, Digital Tools and Social Media, 3040 Technology Security, and 3060 Student Data Governance and Privacy.
We’re looking forward to offering this additional platform for our teachers to better provide support for our students. Thank you as always for being our educational partner during this unprecedented time of virtual learning.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Leslie Brickner at leslie_brickner@hcpss.org or you may call her at 410-880-5957.
Quarter 2 Report Cards Available In Synergy
Parents/guardians may view/download report cards by taking the following steps:
Log in to HCPSS Connect Synergy
Select More Options from the left panel
Select Report Cards from the middle
Select the report card you wish to access
Parents of students receiving special education services can expect to receive their child's IEP progress report no later than Friday, February 12 through email. If you have any questions about your child's progress or what to expect as we fulfill requirements for progress reporting, you may contact your child's case manager.
Update on Digital Tools
The purpose of this message is to update you on the availability of digital tools on HCPSS Chromebooks. Recently an Opt-In letter was sent home requesting parent/guardian consent in order for students to have access to the HCPSS authorized set of digital tools used for virtual instruction.
Update:
The following digital tools do not require consent because they are already available to students in HCPSS computer labs: Book Room, Word Work, Scratch BluBot, Scratch JR, Sketch-Up, Collector Classic, JamBoard, and Google Earth.
These supplemental digital tools are approved by HCPSS and comply with federal, state and Howard County Board of Education student data privacy policies.
Please note that your student(s) will have access to these digital tools when the second semester starts through the Google Play Store icon on the Chromebook when logged in with an HCPSS account.
If your elementary school aged child has not been issued a Chromebook, one can be picked up at a Technology Support Center.
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.
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 Mrs. Maggie Fischer margaret_fischer@hcpss.org, Mrs. Amy Ciliberti amy_ciliberti@hcpss.org, or Mrs. Liz Cerand.
The PTA Perch
Our next PTA meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 9th at 7:00pm. We hope to see you there!
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.
PTA is also hosting a fundraiser on Saturday, March 6 from 10-11am with KidzArt.
Join Ms. Ebbie and your friends and classmates again for a virtual art class! We had SO much fun together last time!
One lucky winner will win a cupcake decorating kit from Decadent Dessert! It will include 4 cupcakes, icing, and sprinkles. Thank you Decadent for donating this delicious prize!! We will pick a name during the live class. 🧁💕
Register using this link: www.KidzArtMD.com and click on “Register Now”
Upcoming Dates
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
Kindness Calendar Challenge
Fulton will be participating in a Kindness Calendar Challenge during the month of February. Our goal as a school is to complete 5,000 kindness challenges.
Your child's teacher will be asking who was able to complete that challenge for the day or days prior during SEL time. If we can reach our goal, and I KNOW we can, Dr. Burks, Mrs. Caroland and Mrs. Brickner will get a PIE IN THE FACE.
Link to calendar: Kindness Calendar
Let's spread that kindness, Fulton!
Happenings occurring February 10th and 11th.
It's February and we are celebrating African American History & Empathy- A message from our Diversity, Inclusion & Equity Team
We were excited that our students were able to learn about influential leaders last month! We have so many influential leaders in our community! Thank you to Mrs. Shuttleworth, Mrs. Schuman, Mrs. Ro, Mr. Johnson, Mrs. Mundy, Mrs. Mull, and Mrs. Barshook for sharing your influential work! Click here to see their spotlight if you missed it!
During the month of February, we will be celebrating African American History and Empathy. Please enjoy grade specific resources below:
RECC - 3
1. Interactive Slides featuring African American History and Empathy!
Click present and click on any symbol or photograph to find information!
2. Extra resources featuring books, read aloud, and games!
You should have received the Kindness Calendar from Mrs. Shields! To extend on our empathy focus, please check out the calendar and complete as many acts of kindness as you can!
4. Naming It: Helping Parents Talk About Racism
Check out this resource created by one of our paraprofessionals at FES: Wendy Usher, Licensed Master Social Worker.
4-5
1. Interactive Slides featuring African American History and Empathy!
Click present and click on any symbol or photograph to find information!
2. Extra resources featuring books, read aloud, and games!
You should have received the Kindness Calendar from Mrs. Shields! To extend on our empathy focus, please check out the calendar and complete as many acts of kindness as you can!
4. Naming It: Helping Parents Talk About Racism
Check out this resource created by one of our paraprofessionals at FES: Wendy Usher, Licensed Master Social Worker
Last but not least, we are asking all Fulton Community members... How do you honor and celebrate African American history and heritage? What activities have you completed or plan to complete from the kindness calendar? Share your family’s traditions and acts of kindness by completing our Parent survey.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Caitlyn Gudenius at caitlyn_gudenius@hcpss.org.
Are you looking for a great way to motivate your children to read?
We are partnering with Nothing Bundt Cakes in Columbia to provide a SWEET incentive for our students to read. All you have to do is print out the Reading Tracker and use it to have your child/ren log their daily reading time. Once your child has read for at least 400 minutes, you and your child/re can bring the tracker the bakery and Nothing Bundt Cakes will reward them with their flavor choice Bundtlet.
Please review the Parent Letter for more information and you can print out the Reading Tracker here.
We will be partnering with Nothing Bundt Cakes for the month of February and March.
Upcoming MAP Testing for Grades 1-5
This Wednesday, February 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, 10th from 9:00-11:00.
- 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
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