The Firebird Flash
December 2 , 2022
NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS
- Principal's Update
- Mark your Calendar
- Need to Report Attendance?
- Reminder about Traffic Pattern
- Tutoring Available at FMS
- EmpowerFZ Updates
- Scholastic Book Fair
- Basketball Information
- Thank you for Supporting the Band
- FHS 8th Grade Showcase
- D49 8th Grade Showcase
- Toys for Tots
- Order your FMS Yearbook
- Firebird Nation Campus Expansion Update
- From Nurse Nelda - Important Tdap Information
- PTSA
- Purchase Firebird Gear
Updates from our Principal
Happy Friday Firebird Nation!
I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving break. It’s hard to believe we are in the final two weeks of fall semester!
This week FMS welcomed our new 7th grade Assistant Principal/Athletic Director, Mr. Geoffrey Green. Mr. Green is coming to us from RMCA. Mr. Green is an experienced dean of students and athletic director. We look forward to him joining our administrative team and helping to support our 7th grade students and teachers. Welcome aboard!
Wrestling season concluded November 19th. Our wrestlers brought home another Championship! Great job to all our wrestlers. The girls’ basketball teams had their first game on Thursday. Great job ladies!
As mentioned in the prior newsletter, teachers and our office staff have been working to either reschedule some mini courses to occur after school or how to refund fees. Thank you to Mrs. Amos and Mrs. Lang for all their hard work as well as the teachers who have been searching for solutions. Today, our SSN and CSN students served our staff yummy Thanksgiving food items. This was part of the Thanksgiving Feast mini course. They did an awesome job filling our bellies. We were definitely grateful!
Over the next two weeks students will be participating in the next round of Star 360 testing to help our staff see how our students are progressing in both literacy and math. Please encourage your students to do their best. This progress monitoring allows our teachers to better plan and support each student.
Our 8th Grade Students will be taking the PSAT next week on Wednesday. This is an opportunity for our students and parents to see how students are performing in English/Language Arts and Math. It also provides an indicator for students and parents to know what score their student is on track to receive on the SAT when they take it in the future. It is a great opportunity for our students to help prepare them for these college readiness assessments in their future.
Falcon Middle School has a number of performing arts performances in the next two weeks. Our after school play performance group will perform this coming Thursday and Friday (December 8th and 9th), Ax of Murder. Students have been working diligently both as performers on stage and as our technical crew for the last couple of months. Our 8th grade theatre class will also have their fall performance on December 12th, Bibbity, Bobbity, Baam. Both choir and band will hold performances December 14th, and 15th. Come support all of our students!
Thank you to our community, staff, teachers, and students for making Falcon Middle School such an amazing place to lead, learn, and work.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Mrs. Elena Forehand
Interim Principal
Falcon Middle School
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Mark your Calendar
December
2-9: Scholastic Book Fair
5: PTSA Meeting @ 5pm
8: FHS 8th Grade Showcase @ 6pm - 8pm
9: D49 High School Showcase @ Skyview MS @ 5pm - 6:30pm
8-9: Fall "Ax of Murder" Play @ 6pm
12: 8th Grade Fall "Bibbity, Bobbity Baam" Play @ 6 pm
14: UPDATE - 6th & 7th Grade Choir Concert @ 6pm; 8th Grade Choir Concert @ 7pm
15: UPDATE - 6th Grade Band Concert @ 6pm; 7th & 8th Grade Band Concert @ 7pm
16: Early Release @ 12:00pm
19- Jan. 3: Holiday Break - No School
Check the FMS website calendar often for the most up-to-date information.
All dates/events are subject to change.
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Need to Report Attendance?
The Attendance Monitor in PowerSchool is not working properly and has been disabled.
PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL THE SCHOOL DIRECTLY TO REPORT ATTENDANCE AT THIS TIME.
We will let you know when the Attendance Monitor has been repaired. Thank you!
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Reminder about our Traffic Pattern at FMS
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Tutoring Available at FMS
We wanted to reach out to all of of our Firebird Families as we continue our way through this 2022-2023 School Year at Falcon Middle School. We are spending more time working with all grade-level Firebirds on the mastery of their core contents. Due to this, FMS will continue to offer after-school tutoring and subject help.
FMS will be offering a 1-hr 15-min tutoring window on Mondays through Thursdays from 3:15-4:30 pm. These times will be used to:
· Master current standards and concepts
· Master former standards and concepts
· Work on current learning plans/Guided Support
If you are interested in attending a tutoring window, please fill out the following Google Form. Once you have signed up, we will look forward to seeing you at the tutoring session!
Any attending students ARE REQUIRED to have a plan for being picked up at 4:30 pm.
Please feel free to reach out to either of us or your child's teachers if you have any concerns or questions,
Corey A. Bates
8th Grade Gold Math Teacher
Falcon Middle School
cabates@d49.org
Carrie Clay
8th Grade Counselor
Falcon Middle School
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Our goal when implementing Empower FZ is to personalize learning for students by providing them more choices and to help them take ownership of their learning.
6th grade students in Mr. Power's class are in the process of completing a Thermal Energy Learning Plan. Students start by taking a pre-assessment to see what they already know. Those that need more background knowledge begin their learning plan by learning about the standard with videos and mini-lessons, then they move onto the Practice It activities, and finally they move onto a post-assessment or evidence of learning project.
To show their knowledge of the thermal energy standard, Mr. Power's students completed a lab of their choice. Options included an oil/water temperature lab and the creation of a homemade insulated freezer. Through these projects, students were able to provide evidence that they understand and can apply the concepts related to thermal energy.
Here is 6th grade student Cayden, explaining his thermal energy learning plan.
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Scholastic Book Fair!
Our Book Fair starts FRIDAY, December 2nd and runs through December 9th.
Please click here to read a letter from our Principal about the Book Fair details!
Students will have the opportunity to visit the book fair with their reading classes. In addition to sending cash, families can create an eWallet account online which allows students to purchase books without cash. Shopping is also available after school until 3:30pm. Your support of the book fair allows us to purchase new books for our school library. We were able to purchase over $3,000 worth of books from the proceeds of last spring's fair!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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Basketball Information
Girls Basketball:
Check out the FMS Girls Basketball webpage see a calendar of events and practice times.
No practice over Winter Break.
Boys Basketball:
Check out the FMS Boys Basketball webpage to see important announcements.
*** OPEN GYM DATES/TIMES ***
December 19th, 20th, & 21st @ 10am - 11:30am.
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THANK YOU for Supporting the Firebird Band Program!
6th Grade Band
7th Grade Band
8th Grade Band
The band program's DonorsChoose project was fully funded November 29!
The bands and Mr. Smart would like to thank all those who helped with our project to get chimes for our program - those who shared our project with family, friends, and coworkers, the staff of Falcon Middle, and especially those who donated to the project. We were overwhelmed with the response on Tuesday when over $1300 was donated in under 2 hours to complete the necessary funding! Thank you for supporting these wonderful students in their musical endeavors. We look forward to sharing this new instrument with you all soon (we've already got the music picked out!).
J Braden Smart
FMS Band & Choir
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Yearbooks may be ordered at www.jostensyearbooks.com or by calling 1-877-767-5217.
Supplies are limited, so order and secure your 22-23 FMS Yearbook Today!
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Firebird Nation Campus Expansion
Our construction has made great progress this past week. You can see some of the exterior work is now blending into the original building. Interior finish crews are getting ready to start up a bulk of their work as the dry wall work completes. Exterior paint has begun on the completed stucco work and you can see some of this in the picture. Teams selected the final gym floor finishes this week so that this work can begin soon!
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from Nurse Nelda
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Your Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) has close to 100 members and is looking to engage additional families in our awesome organization!
Don't miss out! Join now for only $10 using the following links or get a form from the office to use cash or check:
Parent/Guardian: https://falconmsptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/105273
Staff: https://falconmsptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/104029
Student: https://falconmsptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/105101
Community: https://falconmsptsa.memberhub.com/store/items/104034
PTSA Meeting Schedule
Volunteer Help Needed
We are looking for volunteers on Fridays to help with the PBIS store during lunches at the school. Use this link to sign up.
Wanting to Volunteer for Concessions?
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Looking for Firebird Gear for the Holidays?
Looking for a holiday gift? How about Firebird Nation spirit wear?
Click the link below to purchase online!
You will be contacted when the order is filled!!
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Falcon Middle School
6th Grade Assistant Principal: Joy Kovanda
7th Grade Assistant Principal/Athletic Director: TBD
8th Grade Assistant Principal: Tim Scheck
Dean of Students: Patricia Kelly
6th Grade Counselor: Amber Villani
7th Grade Counselor: Lisa Murdock
8th Grade Counselor: Carrie Clay
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FMS Office Hours
7:15am-3:30pm
Email: fms@d49.org
Website: https://www.d49.org/fms
Location: 9755 Towner Avenue, Peyton, CO, USA
Phone: 719-495-5232
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FalconMiddleD49
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