FMS BLAST
November 29th, 2021
Dear Parents,
Today we welcomed back our students to campus after the Thanksgiving Break. We hope that everyone had an enjoyable holiday. We wish a happy Hanukkah to our FMS families who celebrate the Festival of Lights. As we move into the annual holiday season, we hope that all of you find health and happiness as we soon find ourselves in the final month of 2021. What a year it has been!
We are noticing that a lot of our families are planning trips over the next several weeks and have requested independent study for the time away from school. Please note that there must be at least 5 days of notice to the office prior to the independent study work being available. This is important to give the teachers appropriate time to assign the needed work. It is necessary for an independent study contract to be signed and for the dates to match. If the contract is not signed at least 5 days prior to the start of the independent study, the student will not be able to have the days of absence cleared.
Independent study is monitored through the state of California and the requirements are very strict. In order for students to not be marked as an unverified absence, it is essential that they complete all the assigned work. The state requires the equivalency of 4 hours of work a day per each school day missed. The work must be turned in per the contract deadline. The school does get audited by the state and it is essential that the work is completed to meet the requirements to earn school credit. We strongly recommend parents read the contract fully to understand the expectations.
There is no guarantee the work completed will keep the student maintaining the same grade as prior to their absence. The work must be done correctly and must indicate proficiency of expectations. Even though the work is provided, the student still misses important instruction while gone. As students get older, missing several days of instruction can be very detrimental to their academic progress. We understand families have plans and sometimes it is necessary for students to miss school. However, we want to make sure that students do not miss too much school as this can have a negative impact on their academic progress. If you are planning to be gone for a length of time, whether over the holidays or at another time of the year, we ask that your request independent study for your child with plenty of notice. We are here to support you and your child, and our goal is to help them to be able to stay current in their coursework. Thank you so much for your understanding in this matter.
We only have three weeks left before the end of the semester. Our last day of school before Winter Break is Friday December 17th and this is the final day of the semester. Report cards will be mailed home after the break. Have a nice week.
Fondly,
Dr. Terri Daniels
IS IT REALLY BULLYING?
We have all heard it. People say, “Kids can be mean!” Middle school is a time in a child’s life when they are spreading their wings and pushing boundaries. We hope they will make good choices. However, they are learning and sometimes they will make mistakes. The goal for the school is that when students do make a poor choice or a wrong decision, they will learn from it and not do it again. This is also how we approach students when they make the disappointing choice to be mean to another person. We do not support their bad decision, but we approach these situations, when they are brought to our attention, with a restorative approach. We point out to the student what the poor choice was and explain to them why it is unacceptable. We do assign a consequence. We work with them to develop empathy and to take on the responsibility of their poor choice. Yet, it is also important to recognize that just because a student may make a mean or rude comment this is not necessarily the same as being a bully.
Bullying has become a term that is often misunderstood. The definition of bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time.
- An Imbalance of Power: Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.
- Repetition: Bullying behaviors happen more than once or have the potential to happen more than once.
Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.
The school does take bullying very seriously. If a student is experiencing repetitive negative treatment from another student or students, it is important for administration to be made aware. We cannot intervene if we do not know that it is occurring. However, we also want the students to develop positive coping mechanisms when someone may say something unkind to them or about them. Believe us, if we had the power to erase all cruelty in the world we certainly would do so. The reality is that there are some rude people who do say mean things. Even adults can be cruel to other adults. So, we strive to help students to speak up and develop positive ways of dealing with the unkind words or treatment. Developing grit and resiliency is an important aspect in fighting unkindness. Whether it is bullying or a situation of being rude, we work together in partnership with students and families to create a culture of kindness.
HELLO MISTER BROWN AND THE CHOOSE WELL GROUP
FMS continues to work with Mister Brown on character development and building social emotional resiliency. Mister Brown has created a website which houses all the videos that have been created for Folsom Middle School. The students watch a video each week in advisory. If you are interested in viewing the videos we encourage you to visit our FMS Choose Well website:
Folsom Middle School Site Council Meeting Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 3:30 p.m.
All interested in attending the next meeting of site council are encouraged to attend this coming Thursday in Room 106. Thank you.
ATTENTION: Boys Basketball and Wrestling Athletes
The 2021-2022 Wrestling season is just around the corner. Please plan ahead and get your athletes' physicals completed and uploaded to athleticclearance.com before the season begins on Monday, December 6. An up-to-date physical form must be uploaded to athleticclearance.com and all clearances must be completed in order to participate in wrestling. If you have any questions, please contact coach Tom Ward barbertward@gmail.com.
Please see the wrestling website for additional information that includes general information and COVID testing protocol.
TESTING FOR BOYS BASKETBALL AND WRESTLING
COVID Testing for Boys Basketball and Wrestling begins on Wednesday, December 1 at 5:00pm in the gym. Please register online before testing begins. For additional information and the link for registration, please visit the Athletics website. You can also locate the information on the basketball or wrestling websites.
**Girls basketball COVID testing will begin in January.
ATTENTION ALL GIRLS INTERESTED IN BASKETBALL:
There will be an athlete information meeting right after school on Friday, December 10 in Room 207. All athletes must have a current physical form uploaded to athleticclearance.com before you may try out for the teams. Tryouts begin on Monday, January 10. For additional information see the Athletics website.
ATTENTION STUDENTS INTERESTED IN JOINING THE TABLE TENNIS CLUB
Mr. Comarow is excited to announce the start of the Table Tennis Club coming to FMS. The first meeting will be on Monday 12/6/21 after school in the multipurpose room lobby. For more information, please have your child connect with Mr. Comarow in Room 417 or feel free to reach out to him via email at: rcomarow@fcusd.org.
8th grade Hearing and Vision:
· Vision referrals were mailed home on 11/15/2021 to students who did not pass the vision screening at school.
o If you received a vision referral, please let the FMS health office know if you are connected to a local optometrist and if glasses are being prescribed .
o VSP gift certificates are available (for eligible students)- please call health programs at 916-294-9013
· Hearing referrals: if your child did not pass the hearing screenings, a member of the health office will call home to discuss the results with you.
COVID -related reminders:
· Testing locations: https://www.fcusd.org/Page/43819
· Please refer to the FCUSD decision tree prior to sending students to school
· Please report positive COVID in the household to the FMS health office.
FMS Winter Concert: December 14th at 7:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room
Come out and support our orchestra and choir as they perform for the holidays. We hope to see you there.
End of 1st Semester: Friday, 12/17/21…….Minimum Day Schedule
School will be dismissed at 12:50 p.m.
WINTER BREAK: 12/20/21-1/2/22 School will resume on Monday 1/3/22.
JOIN US DEC 7th FOR FAMILY TECH TALK
QR Code to Membership page: Join and Pay online here.
Music Enhancement Opportunity for Students
The Sacramento Valley Symphonic Band Association (SVSBA) ), a local 501c3 nonprofit that supports local community bands, promotes music and music education in the Sacramento Valley and surrounding communities has just opened the Middle School Music Lesson scholarship, geared towards students in 7th and 8th grade who play a traditional band instrument.
The scholarship pays for up to 10 private lessons ($350), and they select 2 students each year. If interested, please access the application on the link below. The deadline for submitting the application is December 31, 2021
FOLSOM MIDDLE SCHOOL
Website: www.fcusd.org/fms
Location: 500 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA, USA
Phone: 916-294-9040
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fms.pto