Fulton Flier
Week of April 26th
Last week, was another wonderful week with your children in-person and virtually! We had some fun with Freddy the Falcon dropping in and saying hi! We were also excited to celebrate our 1st and 5th graders with Kono Ice's Reading Challenge.
Please remember our 3rd Quarter Report Cards are now available and you can access them by following the steps below:
1. Login in to HCPSS Connect
2. Select More Options from the left panel
3. Select Report Cards in the middle
4. Select the report card you wish to access
If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher.
We are so excited to partner with Nothing Bundt Cakes to have a fundraiser on Monday, May 3rd. 20% of the proceeds will go to FES to help us refresh our front office and staff lounge. Be sure to pick up a sweet treat!
Lastly, I apologize I neglected to share the link for resources that you can access to help discuss the Cicadas with your children at home. Please view this link for helpful resources.
Warmly,
Dr. Burks
Parent Consideration Form
We are already preparing for your students’ transition to his/her next grade level and would like to give you the opportunity to share some information that you would like for us to consider as we make class groupings for the 2021-2022 school year. This Consideration Form is for you, as parents/guardians, to relay specific student information or concerns about your child that you feel would be beneficial as our teachers meet to determine next year’s academic placement.
When placing students, the staff and administration take into account several factors to help develop heterogenous classes that result in classes that are academically, socially, culturally, and by gender balanced. Some of these criteria include, but are not limited to:
- the personality of the child
- the gender balance in each classroom
- math strengths and needs
- written output
- test results
- reading strengths and needs
- special education requirements; IEP goals
- structured versus non-structured needs
- information from previous teachers and school counselor.
There are certain concerns that we cannot consider as part of this Consideration Form, therefore, we ask that you not use this form to propose the following:
- specific teacher requests
- grouping based on siblings’ experience
- grouping based on friends
- grouping based on hearsay.
Your input on this form will be used in our planning for your child rather than a letter requesting a specific teacher. Your response is OPTIONAL but is a very valuable source of information to the school staff and to the next teacher.
The form is embedded in this newsletter program below. If you cannot see the form below, you may need to use a computer.
The form closes on May 7th. Thank you for your help.
Howard County Bee City Dandelion Contest
Howard County has earned a "Bee City" designation, and the Elementary Science Coordinator serves on a county workgroup to support the environmental/pollinator initiatives as part of this. Collaboratively, they are hosting a Dandelion Contest. Please see below for more information and you can submit your child's artwork using this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCEkgozZ1HXHrnRVUzF-QU9yOx6rara3lO9MjzbGkFfudkig/viewform
Parents/Guardians Can Now Provide Consent for Voluntary Student COVID-19 Testing
HCPSS now offers a voluntary K-12 COVID-19 Testing Program that will provide free COVID-19 tests for students and school-based staff who develop COVID-like symptoms or are identified as close contacts while they are in a school building. Parents/guardians should not send their children to school, and staff should not report to work if they are presenting COVID-like symptoms.
The program includes two components:
- Administration of two types of COVID-19 tests - rapid antigen point-of-care (POC) and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) specimen collection - as needed, and
- Sharing test results with the Maryland Department of Health and Howard County Health Department for contact tracing purposes. Disclosure of this information is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act* and requires your consent before it can be shared.
How to provide consent:
- Visit www.hcpss.connect
- Select More Options from the left panel
- Select COVID Testing Permission
- Complete the question in the form
In addition, HCPSS will offer free weekly self-collection, saliva-based PCR tests to students participating in organized school sports or club activities for surveillance testing. The program is voluntary and consent is required. Answers to frequently asked questions about the COVID-19 Testing Program are available online.
The PTA Perch
Here are some friendly reminders from our PTA...
- The final PTA meeting of the year is on May 4th at 7pm. Google Code: https://meet.google.com/ijv-tvba-whg Or dial: (US) +1 252-484-3025 PIN: 120 653 122# This meeting we will be voting on:
- 2021-2022 - President (one year term to sync with the rest of the board positions) - If you are interested in running for President, email nomination@fespta.org
- 2021 Summer carry over budget - This is for items that PTA would have to fund over the summer, like Welcome Back Staff Breakfast and other things that occur prior to the 1st PTA meeting where the 21/22 Budget is voted on and adopted.
- Review of PTA Chair Positions - current chairs, please contact Ms. Donna Cruz ASAP with your intent for 21/22 school year.
- Events:
- Adult Classes with &Running 4/26 at 7:15pm and 4/28 at 7:15pm. Intro class is $15 and supports the PTA. Click here to register As part of Staff Appreciation Week, FES Staff are eligible for a free class on May 6th!
- Staff Appreciation Week: We still need donations and volunteers. Click here for Sign Up Genius. Everything will be outside. The school is still limited to staff and students only. Volunteers will be required to wear a mask and practice social distancing.
- Touchstone Crystals Jewelry Fundraiser. Ends 4/25. Gifts will arrive in time for Mother's Day. All commission will go direct to the PTA. Click here to visit the online store.
- Free shipping on all orders, no minimum, from the Spirit Wear store ends 4/26.
Summer Opportunities
Upcoming Dates
May 3rd-7th: Teacher Appreciation Week
May 4th: PTA Fundraiser w/ Sidamo Coffee
May 11th & 14th: Make-Up Picture Day
May 13th: Schools closed for Students; PTA Fundraiser w/Kona Ice
May 21st: PTA Fundraiser w/Mike's Gelato
May 31st: Schools and Offices Closed- Memorial Day
June 8th: PTA Fundraiser w/Ledo's Pizza
June 15th: PTA Fundraiser w/Kona Ice
June 10th-14th: 3 hour early dismissal
June 15h: Last day of School for Students
Worth Repeating
It's April and We are Celebrating heroes and other unique jobs! A Message from our Diversity, Inclusion, & Equity Team!
We are so excited that our students were able to learn about Irish American history and Women’s history!
We did not get any community submissions for the month of March, but we know we have some spectacular women in our school building who support us every day and we enjoyed celebrating Irish heritage this month, especially on St. Patrick’s Day!
During the month of April, we will be celebrating heroes and other unique jobs!
Enjoy the resources below:
1. Interactive Slides featuring Irish American Heritage and Women’s History!
Click present and click on any symbol or photograph to find information!
2. Extra resources featuring books, read aloud, and games!
Do you work as a firefighter, police officer, EMT, soldier, or another heroic job? Do you have a unique job like a barber, cosmetologist, etc.? Share about your job!
Lastly, in the last year, we have documented an increase in hate bias incidents and crimes targeting AAPI groups. To that end, the members of the newly formed Howard County AAPI Workgroup, with the full support of Dr. Calvin Ball's office would like to invite our students to participate in an opportunity to submit narratives, performances, or art pieces celebrating their heritage. We want to highlight the wonderful ways in which our AAPI community has made Howard County their home.
Please contact Kai-Lin Yu (President of ASU Atholton High School) with all questions. The deadline for submissions is Monday May 10, 2021."
A Message from our Bully Busters!
Kindergarten and Pre-K Registration
Kindergarten and Pre-K registration is now open! Please continue to advertise in your community via newsletter, school marquee, and/or social media. Registration fliers have been provided to schools and are also available on the Early Childhood Enrollment and Registration Canvas page. Registration will continue to take place online and finalization will occur virtually. Grade-specific information is as follows:
Kindergarten: please direct incoming kindergarten parents to the updated information on the Enrollment and Registration page.
Pre-K: families of prospective students have two options for submitting the Pre-K application. More information is available on the HCPSS Pre-K program page. Please note, MSDE requires that Pre-K be made available first to students who meet first-priority criteria. When space allows, families that meet second priority criteria will be considered. School staff are directed to keep a waitlist of these applicants and will be contacted directly by the Office of Early Childhood Programs.
Do you have a child who is joining us for in-person learning?
Please remember to conduct a daily symptom check every morning prior to sending them to FES.
Parent/guardians will assess their children for symptoms of COVID-19 illness and refrain from sending/transporting them to school until after they have been symptom-free at least 10 days after the onset of symptoms, have no fever for at least 24 hours without the aid of fever-reducing medication, and have continued improvement of symptoms and/or medical consult with their primary care physician.
If your child has any health conditions that need to be updated, please contact Ms. Christina Toler christina_toler@hcpss.org or Mrs. Kathleen Wurstner kathleen_wurstner@hcpss.org.
Commit to the HCPSS Digital Education Center for 21-22 by May 5th
Fulton Elementary School
Molly Caroland, Assistant Principal, molly_caroland@hcpss.org
Leslie Brickner, Assistant Principal, leslie_brickner@hcpss.org
Email: tanisha_burks@hcpss.org
Website: https://fes.hcpss.org/
Location: 11600 Scaggsville Road, Fulton, MD, USA
Phone: 410-880-5957
Twitter: @hcpss_fes