• August 10-- First day for 6th grade
• August 11-- All Students
• August 15-- First day for Fall Sports Practice
• August 18-- Meet the Teacher Night @ 6pm
• September 5-- Labor Day No School
• September 9-- School Picture Day
• September 9-- PTO Meeting @ 5:45pm

Approved students who live 1.75 miles from the school qualify for busing services. Only students who qualify for busing will be allowed to ride the bus. Friends are not allowed to ride with regular bus riders. Bus riders must use the bus stops provided by the transportation department. Bus routes will be posted in TylerSIS after August 1st under the transportation link located under the Daily Student Activity link. Please remember busing services are a privilege for students who qualify and students are expected to follow all bus expectations in our student handbook. Masks are encouraged but not required. Questions regarding busing can be answered by TPS transportation department at 295-3910 or Kansas Central Bus Service @ 233-2009

School hours are 7:50 am to 2:45 pm. Our front doors open to all students at 7:30am. Students who walk or who are car riders use our front drive and doors. Bus riders and bike riders enter through the back parking lot and back doors. Bike racks are located in the back parking lot by back doors near tennis courts. Students who are not involved in supervised after school activities need to be off campus by 3:10 pm.

We also email a monthly newsletter to all families. Staff mail home Falcongrams periodically throughout the year to highlight student progress and success. All staff can be contacted via email. Staff email addresses can be found on our school website and in TylerSIS. Finally parents can sign up to view Google Classroom activities by signing up through the classroom teacher. Staying connected to FMS and classroom teachers is critical to your student’s success.

All students will be issued a chromebook & charger to use throughout the school year. All textbooks are online so chromebooks are vital and utilized everyday. Students are responsible for charging their chromebooks at home each night and bringing them to school each day. Students are responsible for keeping their chromebook & charger clean and in good working condition just like any textbook. Families are responsible for any damage or repair costs that may occur. All classrooms have headphones available for student use. However students are allowed to bring their own headphones. All wireless and bluetooth headphones are NOT allowed at school! We would also like to remind students and parents that all cell phones and other non school issued electronic devices are to be off and out of sight during the instructional day. The safest place for them, if brought to school, is in student lockers. We do not investigate lost/stolen personal electronic devices brought to school. We appreciate your support and assistance in keeping these distractions out of our classrooms.

We would like to welcome the new staff members to French Middle School. We are very excited they have chosen to join our Falcon family.

We will start back with our after school program the week of September 20, 2022. The program meets on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:00-4:30pm in the commons. Session 1 will be Sept 20-Oct 20. Students will attend a tutoring session followed by various activities such as: arts and crafts, science/coding and robotics, art, theater, and swimming at the YMCA. Each session will run about 6 weeks with a 2 week break between sessions. Watch for the registration link in our September newsletter.

Students can receive a free library card through our ongoing partnership with the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, all Topeka Public Schools families will be able to opt-in for a free library card through TylerSis.

Being a student in Topeka Public Schools means you have access to all resources at the public library, including online databases, e-books, digital audio books and streaming videos, as well as all of the physical items at the library or bookmobiles.

Apply for your free library card in the Parent Portal under E-Forms.

Fall sports begin on Monday August 15. Fall sports include Football, Volleyball, Cross Country and Girls Tennis. Information will be sent home the first day of school for those interested in going out for a sport. It is important that you have a physical completed by a doctor before the first day of practice.

Head Coaches

Football- Mr. Mellen

Volleyball- Mrs. Hirt

Cross Country- Ms. Ryan

Girls Tennis- TBD

Reminders:

-Sports are only offered to eligible 7th and 8th graders.

-Students wishing to participate in athletics need to have passed 5 classes from the previous quarter, that would be their grades from the 4th quarter, not final overall grade. Summer school does not count for this rule. If you did not pass 5 classes, you are not eligible to participate.

-Students will need to have a sports physical signed by a doctor dated after May 1st 2022 in order to be allowed to play for that school year. Forms and information can be found at http://www.topekapublicschools.net/

Or

http://kshsaa.org/

Physicals need to be ready for the first practice to minimize any loss time by athletes. The first practice for all fall sports (cross country, volleyball, football and girls tennis) is Monday August 15th 2022.

What is Bullying?

It is considered bullying when the person is being hurt, harmed, or humiliated with words or behavior.The behavior is repeated, and it is done intentionally.

Types of Bullying include:

Non-Physical Bullying-This is name-calling, insulting, or other behavior that would hurt others’ feelings or make them feel bad about themselves. This also includes “exclusion” such as starting rumors, telling others not to be friends with someone, or other actions that would cause someone to be without friends, etc.

Physical Bullying – This is pushing, slapping, grabbing, flicking, poking, pinching, tripping, or other violations of personal space.

Severe Physical Bullying/Violence – This is punching, kicking, biting, pulling hair, spitting, or any similar behavior that could result in injury to others.

Harassment – This is racial, ethnic, or sexual name-calling or other severe harassment.

At French Middle School bullying is not tolerated. If it is determined that someone is bullying they will receive consequences that are listed on our bullying rubric.

All students receive bullying and sexual harassment training during our first week of school during a presentation by our counselors. Students also will participate in bully prevention lessons during AB as part of our Second Step (SEL) Social Emotional Learning program.

To report bullying students, staff and parents may use the on-line report system on the French website.

French Middle School will not tolerate bullying of any kind. Bullying is defined as any ongoing verbal or physical mistreatment where there is an imbalance of power, and the target/victim is exposed repeatedly to negative actions by one or more students. Bullying can be direct (physical or verbal), or indirect (exclusion, cyber-bullying, emotional). In order for everyone to feel safe and secure at school, every Topeka Public School has adopted the following rules against bullying. “I will not bully others. I will try to help students who are bullied. I will do my best to include students who are easily left out. When I know somebody is being bullied, I will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.” Students, staff, and parents should report any bullying that they are aware of to administration through the on-line bully report link on the French website. Students who bully others will receive consequences. Our counselors will be visiting 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes in August and September to remind students what bullying is, what we can do to prevent bullying, and what students should do if they or someone else is being bullied.

The Topeka Public Schools, Unified School District No. 501 is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin or ancestry be denied lawful access to any appropriate educational service, program or activity provided by the school district. The Title VI and Title IX compliance coordinator is the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching/Learning/Administration. The Section 504/Title II compliance coordinator is the Coordinator of College and Career Ready Services. For employment, the EEO/AA officer is the General Director of Human Resources. All compliance coordinators may be contacted at 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294, (785) 295-3000. The clerk of the Board of Education has been designated to receive and redirect or handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, regulations and procedures. The clerk may be contacted by calling (785) 295-3045 or by writing to 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294.