The Firebird Flash
July 29, 2022
NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Principal's Update
- Need to Make-Up Check-In Days?
- School Supply Lists
- The 1st Days of School
- Back to School Night & Athletics Parent Meeting
- Student Handbook Information
- Traffic around FMS - PLEASE WATCH!!!
- Student Schedules
- Interested in Soccer?
- PTSA
- Purchase Firebird Gear
Updates from our Principal
Greetings Firebird Nation Families -
I can't believe there is only one more weekend of summer left; the 22-23 school year starts next week! We are so excited to see all of our Firebirds in our classrooms and hallways as we launch this new year!
Thank you to everyone for their support of our check-in days over the past couple of weeks; we had just about 80% of our students attend! We could absolutely tell that everyone was excited to return, see the building, find their lockers, and receive some initial Firebird RISE points with their new Student ID's. I appreciated all of our staff and student leaders that helped make this process run so smoothly. Way to go, Firebirds!
I also want to thank all of our awesome Firebird Nation Teachers for calling our students yesterday! Relationships with our students and community is always at the forefront at Firebird Nation. We intentionally planned time in our professional learning schedule to connect with each family because it is important to us! It takes a strong partnership to help our students through these challenging years of middle school. We value that partnership we have with you!
This newsletter contains a TON of information below. Please make sure to review this newsletter carefully as it contains information related to our first days of school, processes for this year, upcoming events, and other opportunities available for parents and students.
Our returning students will notice some name changes within the building. The main commons (lunchroom) will now be known as the Cafetorium. Our wrestling room will be known as the Auxiliary Gym. We will keep the Learning Commons in the middle of the school the same. We found that some of the names were confusing to staff and students with the similarities. This will help everyone know where to go exactly.
Make sure to mark your calendars for our Back to School Night on Wednesday, August 10th starting at 5:45pm. This is an opportunity for you to meet your student's teachers and learn about what the year will look like. We will have a variety of food trucks available before the event beginning at 3:45pm if you would like to grab dinner. We will also host our Athletics Parent Meeting immediately after back to school night at 7:15pm in the FMS Cafetorium. We look forward to seeing you there!
I hope everyone enjoys these last days of summer! Rest, relax, and recharge so that we can see that awesome Firebird spirit next week! It's going to be another great year at Firebird Nation; Let's all RISE Together!
Sincerely,
Brian Smith
Executive Principal
Falcon Middle School
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Need to Make-Up Check-In Days?
- Schedules - You can now view your student schedule through the Online Portal. Counselors will also be available in the Learning Commons on your first day of school to assist you if you are having trouble locating your schedule.
- Lockers - Please complete the online form linked within the 22-23 FMS Student Handbook, which also contains the locker agreement. Our office team and grade level administrators will then work with students to assign lockers.
- Yearbook Pictures & Student ID's - We will be taking pictures on August 2nd in the Learning Commons for students that were unable to attend check in. We will also have our picture retake day on September 22nd. We will send out reminders as we get closer to this date. Don't worry if you don't yet have your ID for Firebird RISE Points yet as staff will still be able to reward points until you receive your ID.
- Health Forms & Vaccination Records - If you still need to turn in your Health Information form (included for download below) to our Health room, please send this in with your student on the first day of school. You can also include updated vaccination records as well. Our health room will also be open on the first days of school for your to turn in medications as well.
- Update Contact Information, Assistance with Parent Portal, and Previous year fee payments - Contact our main office at (719)495-5232 or by email at fms@d49.org and let us know how we can assist you with any of these tasks. We would be happy to help.
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School Supply Lists
We have several new teachers who have joined our team. We are also distributing Chromebooks to each student again this year through our 1 to 1 initiative. Knowing this, we want to make sure that our teams are able to give you an accurate supply list on the first day of school.
Additional opportunity for school supplies:
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The First Days of School!
MONDAY, AUGUST 1st
All 6th Grade Students and Brand New 7th & 8th Grade Students need to attend on this day. Students and Parents will make their way to our Cafetorium upon arriving to FMS. Please be aware that parking will be limited. Please also follow our traffic pattern based on our video posted below.
6th Grade Students and Families
- 8:00am - Students will be released to the Gym to participate in our WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) program assembly.
- 8:00am - 8:30am - Parents will remain in the Cafetorium for a welcome reception with our School Administrators and 6th Grade Counselor.
- 8:30am - 9:00am - 6th Grade Teacher teams will host an introduction with their parents in one of their team classrooms.
- During the day, 6th Grade Students will participate in the WEB Program, have lunch, attend their explore classes, meet their core teachers, and learn about how Firebirds RISE each day at FMS.
- 6th Graders will depart at 3:00pm. Normal transportation routes will be running on this day.
- 6th Grade students only need to bring a water bottle, lunch (either to buy in the cafeteria or bring a sack lunch), and wear comfortable clothing. They do NOT need to bring any school supplies nor their Chromebook on Monday.
Brand New 7th and 8th Grade Students and Families
- 8:00am - 10:00am - All new 7th and 8th Grade Students will have orientation in our Learning Commons with our grade level counselors, JS2S (Junior Student to Student) Leaders, and Student Council.
- 8:00am - 8:30am - Parents and Family members may join us in the Cafetorium for a welcome reception. You will be able to meet our administrators and learn about Falcon Middle School.
- 8:30am - 9:00am - New 7th and 8th grade parents will have an opportunity to meet their child's teachers in their classrooms if they wish.
- 10:00am - Students should have rides arranged for pick up at this time.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 2nd
First official day of school for ALL FMS Students!
We will be on an Assembly Schedule today - NO ADVISORY CLASS
Please watch our traffic pattern video below for information on how our drop off and pick up works around Falcon Middle School. It usually takes a few days for everyone to get used to the traffic flow. It works very well as long as we all work together to follow the process.
6th Grade
- Report to the Softball Field directly south of the school behind the staff parking lot once you arrive.
- If there is ever inclement weather, 6th Grade students will report to the Gym (Athletic Hallway side) in the morning
- 6th Grade Students will begin entering the school at 7:40am. WEB Leaders and staff will be available throughout the hallways to help students find their classrooms as needed.
- 6th Grade will be dismissed at 2:58pm and should gather belongings and make their way either to the busses (behind the school) or their rides (out front of the school).
7th Grade
- Report to the Baseball field behind the school near the bus loop.
- If there is ever inclement weather, 7th Grade students will report to the Gym (Music Hallway side) in the morning.
- 7th Grade Students will be released to enter the school at 7:43am. Staff will be available to assist with students finding room locations.
- 7th Grade will be dismissed at 3:00pm and should gather belongings and make their way either to the busses (behind the school) or their rides (out front of the school).
8th Grade
- Report to the Gaga Ball Pits/Basketball courts located behind the building.
- If there is ever inclement weather, 8th Grade students will report to the Cafetorium in the morning.
- 8th Grade Students will be released to enter the school at 7:46am. Staff will be available to assist with students finding room locations.
- 8th Grade will be dismissed at 3:02pm and should gather belongings and make their way either to the busses (behind the school) or their rides (out front of the school).
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Back to School Night!
We will have Food Trucks available beginning at 3:45pm if you would like to have dinner ahead of the event!
Wednesday, Aug 10, 2022, 05:30 PM
Falcon Middle School, Towner Avenue, Peyton, CO, USA
Athletics Parent Meeting
Wednesday, Aug 10, 2022, 07:15 PM
Falcon Middle School, Towner Avenue, Peyton, CO, USA
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Each Grade Level Administrator will be conducting an assembly with their grade level to review our expectations within the first couple of weeks of school as well. Major topics include:
- No Electronic Device Policy
- Dress Code
- Appropriate Language
- PDA (Public Display of Affection)
- Timeliness to Class
- Appropriate Firebird Behaviors
- Consequences for poor choices
Each Grade Level Counselor will be meeting with the grade level teams to discuss our No Tolerance on Bullying policy and protocols for students to report any instances of bullying within the first several days of school as well. Counselors work to teach students the difference between peer conflict and bullying along with what to do in either of these situations. It is vital that students talk with a teacher, administrator, or counselor immediately if any instance of bullying has occurred to ensure that it is addressed right away. Students can also report situations through Safe2Tell with the information on the back of their Student ID or at Safe2Tell.org.
Dress Code
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Learn about our Traffic Pattern at FMS
We ask that everyone please use extra caution when traveling around Falcon Middle School. Slower speeds are necessary around the school and through our parking lots at all times. We want to ensure all of our students and families get to and from school safely.
Students should only exit and enter vehicles when they are pulled up against the sidewalk at the front of Falcon Middle School. For families walking to and from the school or parking in our lots, please make sure to ONLY cross at the designated crossing walks where staff members are present to help you cross.
Deputy Murphy, our School Resource Officer and an El Paso County Sheriff Deputy, will again be patrolling our area periodically to ensure everyone is following all of the safety procedures.
We must also make sure we are being respectful to the neighborhoods bordering our school. Please do NOT block any entrances and exits to any community. Please also do NOT block any driveways or crossing areas within these neighborhoods.
Thank you for making sure all of our Firebirds get to and from school safely each day!
Student Schedules
Schedules are available for download or view a copy through your PowerSchool Student Portal or Parent Portal at this time. Counselors spend a great deal of time their first few days back looking over each student's schedule to ensure they are scheduled in classes that will best meet their academic needs.
Please double check your schedule prior to the first day of school through the portal. It is possible that some advisory classes or class periods were adjusted based on some new teachers joining the team.
Please remember that students are all assigned a grade level team. This year, we will have 2 teams at each grade level (Red and Gold). Teams are assigned randomly. For our incoming 6th grade students, we work to jumble all students from all four of our elementary feeder schools onto the these teams to help students meet many new people. It is our goal that we bring all four schools together as one new Firebird class of 6th grade students.
Teams have a Reading, Writing, Math, Science, and Social Studies teacher that all share the same group of students. Teams work to plan interdisciplinary units and develop common classroom policies to help students get used to expectations. Due to our limitations toward balancing class sizes and meeting student needs, we are not able to accommodate team switches at this time. Remember that grade level teams share a common lunch time and our Explore classes are composed of students from both teams. This helps students to be able to meet lots of new people, while also having some time to see friends from past years as well.
Explore classes are classes like Art, Music, PE, Spanish, etc. In 6th grade and during the first two quarters of 7th grade, our counselors work to help students take all of the different offerings so that they can see what classes they like. Band is an exception to this as this class is a full year long class in all three grade levels. After students have an opportunity to experience all of the different offerings in 6th and the first part of 7th grades, they will then be able to choose which Explore classes they would like to take for an entire semester. Counselors work with students during the later part of 7th grade and all of 8th grade to determine which specialized explore classes would best enrich their future academic study.
For Advisory, students will be assigned a class with a teacher for the entire year. This class serves as a "homeroom" and focuses their time on relationship building and social-emotional health. Students participate in activities geared towards developing resilience, solving problems, and supporting others.
If you have any questions about your schedule, please talk with your grade level counselor.
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Interested in Soccer being offered as a Sport?
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PTSA (Parent, Teacher, Student Association)
We want everyone to get involved! PTSA is a great way to help out the Firebird Nation Community. Would you like to volunteer at the school? Would you like to help out at athletic or special events? Want to help problem solve issues that arise or create new programs at the school? If you answered yes to any of the questions and/or you just want to know what all is happening at FMS...then PTSA is for you! Our Principal really values the partnership with our PTSA and wants to continue to network with this group to continue to improve FMS. We hope you will join this important community group at our school.
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Looking for Firebird Gear?
Falcon Middle School
6th Grade Assistant Principal: Joy Kovanda
7th Grade Assistant Principal/Athletic Director: Elena Forehand
8th Grade Assistant Principal: Tim Scheck
6th Grade Counselor: Amber Villani
7th Grade Counselor: Lisa Murdock
8th Grade Counselor: Carrie Clay
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FMS Office Hours
7:15am-3:30pm
Email: fms@d49.org
Website: https://www.d49.org/fms
Location: 9755 Towner Avenue, Peyton, CO, USA
Phone: 719-495-5232