Coyote Connection
Volume 1 Issue 6
Principal's Message
It has been wonderful having our Coyotes back in the building. During lunches on Thursday, we asked dozens of students if they were glad to be back at school or if they would prefer to be at home learning. We were so excited to hear the majority of our kids say they would much rather be at Forest Creek! We successfully launched our Forest Creek Remembers 9-11 project under the direction of our literacy specialist, Mrs. Grupp. Students watched a videography of our FC family members (and extended family members) who along with a very special guest, Mr. Mele, a retired NYPD officer, shared their personal 9-11 stories with us. Our students also participated in the Anniversary in Schools project in Social Studies classes. Many of our students wore our school colors on our school spirit Friday.
We implemented our Thankful Thursday program this week in which our students and families get to nominate a teacher or staff member who has made a positive impact thus far for the student. You are invited to vote weekly using this link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScliWxX-w9OfX4Q5TkG1IIK3bDWtoJyba8CAHRGVE4_WOiWcg/viewform which can also be found on our FCMS webpage. Next, we will be sharing our peer nomination form for Students of the Month where we encourage our students to vote for one another based on the month's character trait and lessons provided by our school counselors. September's theme is "Respect." Teachers and staff members will be recognizing students AND our students will be able to recognize each other for demonstrating the character trait of the month. At the end of each month, we will celebrate our staff and student winners! Our PTO is graciously helping us with some special treats for these winners- students and staff! We are so excited to be able to recognize the outstanding humans we have at FCMS!
This upcoming week, we will be introducing Character Strong to our students. Character Strong is a character education & social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum that focuses on the five themes listed below. We are Character Strong at Forest Creek!
- Emotion Understanding & Regulation: How We Feel & How We Act
- Empathy & Compassion: What We Understand & How We Care
- Values & Purpose: Who We Are & What We Do
- Goals & Habits: The Dreams We Have & The Actions To Get There
- Leadership & Teamwork: Developing Agency & Working Together
Thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. The kind and thoughtful words many of you have shared with our teachers are more meaningful than you will ever know. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we work through COVID protocols to keep our Coyotes healthy and happy!
Yours In Education,
Christine V. McNeil
Progress Reporting Date - September 15
Progress Grades are Due Wednesday, the 15th! Access Parent Portal to Check Your Student's Grades.
https://fortmill.powerschool.com/public/home.html
New to Parent Portal? Access the link below to learn how to use this tool.
http://fortmill.ss11.sharpschool.com/parents_summary_from_fmsd/parent_portal
If you are having any issues with Parent Portal, please notify Madeleine Madsen @ madsenm@fortmillschools.org.
Please note that we do not send home written progress reports. Please contact your student's teacher(s) if you have concerns once you have reviewed grades in the Parent Portal. All grades should be updated by 4:00pm on Wednesday with the exception of any long-term/larger projects that may still be in progress. Please reach out directly to your student's teacher if you have any questions about missing grades AFTER you have discussed these issues with your student. Your student should have a minimum of 4 grades published in Parent Portal for each class. If you see fewer grades than that, please email your student's teacher directly.
Students at FCMS have been shown how to access Powerschool to check grades as part of our daily PACK check. Be sure to ask your student about the PACK check!
Have you seen our FCMS Weekly Plan Template on your student's teacher's webpage? Every teacher and/or team will have this template published weekly by 6pm on Sunday evening. Having a consistent and simple method of communication like this contributes to the success of our Coyotes. Please email your student's teacher if you have trouble finding this template on his/her webpage.
Thank you for sending your student with a refillable water bottle each day!
Parent Support Tech Site
Interested in the FCMS PTO?
Counselor's Corner
Nurse's News
Looking for Athletics Information? Please use our FCMS Athletics Website.
Go 'Yotes!
Christine V. McNeil, Principal
Website: https://fcms.fortmillschools.org/
Location: 2212 White Road Fort Mill SC 29715
Phone: 803-396-3450
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forestcreekmiddleschool