Coyote Connection
Volume 1, Issue 21
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - January 17th, 2022
source: https://nationaltoday.com/martin-luther-king-jr-day/
A Note From Mrs. McNeil
It's been a busy few weeks since Winter break. Our Student Council met after school Monday and are already brainstorming ways to show appreciation to our bus drivers during Bus Driver Appreciation Week (February 14-18) as well as planning Heart Gram Sales during lunches January 31-February 4. Over the past few weeks, we have shared with our students our January Student of the Month Character Trait - "selflessness." This means having more concern with the needs and wishes of others than with one's own. We are excited to celebrate our January students of the month soon and see which student's have been recognized for this outstanding character trait! Our Academic Challenge team had it's first match Wednesday against Fairfield Middle School and took home the win with a score of 22 to 5. Earlier this week, we recognized several students who made All-Region Honor Band as well as the ones who placed high enough to audition for SC All-State Honor Band in a few weeks. We are so proud of our band program! We are getting ready to fall into IGP season for our 8th graders. Information related to IGP's was sent home earlier this past week and a flyer with information is at the bottom of this newsletter. We had an impromptu fire evacuation earlier this week related to maintenance being done in our cafeteria. Our staff and students did a wonderful job of following our fire evacuation plan. We currently have a Lock-Down Drill planned for January 27. As usual, we will send out more information related to that drill but do want you to be aware that it is coming up. Our Thursday night home basketball games have currently been rescheduled for Saturday, January 22. Stay tuned to your FMSD webpage and emails related to potential inclement weather and eLearning directions Monday night, January 17. I hope you and your families stay healthy and safe.
Yours In Education,
Christine V. McNeil
- 64% of our 6th grade class achieved honor roll this quarter.
- 67% of our 7th grade class achieved honor roll this quarter.
- 58% of our 8th grade class achieved honor roll this quarter.
- 63% of our FMVA students achieved honor roll this quarter.
January 17-21 Flexible Learning Experience
Monday - NO SCHOOL
Tuesday - FLEX
Wednesday - Character Strong #17
Thursday - FLEX / Coyote Crew Mtg (gym)
Friday - FLEX
Student COVID Vaccine Cards and Return to School Form
Per the School Exclusion List, students must remain out of the school setting following a positive COVID-19 test, a close/household exposure, and/or after displaying symptoms of COVID-19. When a student is eligible to return to the school setting, please complete the form below to let the school staff know your student has met all criteria.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCaL-Hbgp-X8YkVebxmJmJrovZrm3Tf4eb9jVkk3iMwxeXGQ/viewform
PTO Announcements
Save the date: Our next spirit night is at Toppers Pizza on Tuesday, Jan 18th.
Thank you to Murdock Orthodontics for sponsoring our December Teacher of the Month, Mrs. DePaola. We appreciate all you do to support our teachers!
Current Physicals Required - Need to be on Planet High School
Students and parents need to have an account set up.
Baseball Information
Boys Soccer Information
If we are out of school Tuesday due to inclement weather, practices/conditioning to begin Monday, January 24.
Ready for Track Season?
Parent meeting is scheduled for February 24th.
Lacrosse Club for Students in Grades 6-8
Forest Creek Lacrosse Club (not affiliated with FCMS Athletics). Open to all 6-8 grade FCMS and future Catawba Ridge student athletes. Registration closes on Jan 21.
Questions? Email fcmsboosterclubpresident@gmail.com
Registration: https://forms.gle/qngGVjGvUhNWtBUy9
Classroom Concerns and Channels of Communication
Dear FC Families,
When your student reports something of concern to you that occurs in a classroom or with a specific staff member, I kindly and respectfully ask that you discuss the issue in detail with your student to get as much of the facts as possible. We are all on the same team and definitely want our students and our staff to have a positive experience here at Forest Creek. The next step is to reach out directly to the staff member involved. Please do this via email or phone call. You are more than welcome to "cc" the email to the administrator who works with your student's grade level to keep them informed. Mrs. Rhodes works with 6th grade girls and all of 7th grade. Mr. Cook works with 6th grade boys and all of 8th grade. Please note that our teachers do have weekly meetings during their planning periods and are often being pulled to cover other classes during their planning due to sub shortages throughout the district. A reasonable response time from a teacher/staff member would be 24-36 hours from the time you first left an email or message. If more than 48 hours happens to occur before you hear back from an inquiry, please feel free to send a quick email reminder to the staff member. Please do not go to your neighbors, friends, or social media to air your grievances or address something that the teacher or staff member has not had an opportunity to discuss directly and privately with you. We teach our students that everyone has a voice and that everyone deserves to be treated with respect, even if you disagree with them. This is the same behavior we expect from our parents/guardians. If you do not get a response within 48 hours, please contact your student's administrator directly. At that time, s/he will be sure to check in with the teacher/staff member to arrange a time for you to connect or will reach back out to you directly so that the concern can be addressed. It is important that everyone has the opportunity to be heard. Our administrative team believes in the power of best intentions and we believe that our students, our staff, and our families are all on the same team and share a common purpose: seeing every child succeed at FCMS. We are in this together.
Respectfully,
Christine McNeil