FMS Parent Information SMORE

SEPTEMBER

9/13 EARLY RELEASE - students go home at 12:30pm

9/19 BOE visit to FMS (will be in classrooms)

9/19 HOME GAMES Football (Football field) vs. Butner Stem MS, Volleyball (Gym) & Soccer (Franklinton Park) vs. Hawley MS

9/25-9/29 Mid-quarter - grade alert forms go out this week

9/25 HOME Volleyball and Soccer vs Cross Creek MS

9/26 FCS Semi-Annual Parent Summit (by invitation only)

9/26 HOME Football bs. Terrell Lane MS

9/27 AWAY Volleyball/Soccer vs. Butner Stem

9/28 HOME Volleyball/Soccer vs. Vance MS

OCTOBER

10/2 School Custodian Appreciation Day

10/3 AWAY Volleyball/Soccer N. Granville MS

10/4 FOOTBALL FMS vs. Cedar Creek at FHS football field

10/5 HOME Volleyball/Soccer vs. Bunn MS

10/10 FALL PICTURE DAY

10/10 Volleyball/Soccer AWAY Cedar Creek MS

10/11 Football HOME vs. N. Granville MS, Volleyball/Soccer AWAY vs. Wake Prep

10/12 EARLY RELEASE

10/13 TEACHER WORKDAY - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

10/17 Volleyball/Soccer HOME vs Terrell Lane

10/19 SPORTS PICTURE DAY

10/25 NC CHECK-IN #1: SCIENCE (grade 8 only)

10/25 Football AWAY vs. Bunn MS

10/26 NC CHECK-IN #1: READING (grades 6-8) *testing schedule

10/27 Assembly at the end of the day with the National Theater

10/31 LAST DAY OF QUARTER ONE

10/31 Football HOME vs. Hawley MS

10/31 Halloween - stay safe!

NOVEMBER

11/5 Daylight Saving Time Ends

11/7 Election Day - go vote!

11/7 Football AWAY vs. Wake Prep

11/10 NO SCHOOL VETERAN'S DAY

11/13 Fall Picture Day Makeups

11/13-11/17 School Psychologists Appreciation Week

11/14 Football AWAY vs. Vance MS

11/15 NC CHECK-IN #1: MATH (grades 6 & 7 only)

11/22-11/24 THANKSGIVING VACATION - NO SCHOOL

11/27 NC CHECK-IN #1: MATH I only

DECEMBER

12/4 CHECK-IN #1: MATH (grade 8 only)

12/6 EARLY RELEASE

12/18-1/1 WINTER BREAK - ENJOY THE HOLIDAYS!

CLICK HERE TO PRINT THE FORM

• or come into the main office and sign while you are right there
• or ask your child to request a form in the main office, sign it, and tell your child to drop it off in the main office

John Watkins donated personal hygiene products

The Franklinton Women's club donated various school supplies

Expectations are the same school-wide. This poster will be in every classroom.

Ms. Gilbert's Virtual Office

Helpful Resources

NC211.org (or call 211)

Food Finder (FoodBank of Central NC)

Hope4NC (or call 1-855-587-3463)

TransitionsLifeCare.org (or call the Grief Line 919-719-7199)

National Domestic Violence Hotline (or call 800-799-7233)

SuicideCrisisLifeline.org (or call 988)

National Alliance of Mental Illness/NC (or call 800-451-9682)

Vaya Health (or call their Behavioral Health Crisis Line at 800-849-6127)

How to Contact Ms. Gilbert:

Complete and submit this form: Counselor Request Form

Or send email to: marygilbert@fcschools.net

Or call FMS at 919-494-2971 ext. 298

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

All month, mental health advocates, prevention organizations, survivors, allies, and community members unite to promote suicide prevention awareness. There is no single cause for suicide, but there are risk factors and warning signs which may increase likelihood of an attempt. Learning them can save lives. Please click here for more information about risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs.

Reaching out for help has been made easier. Just call 988 and you’ll be connected with a mental health professional at the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

SCIENCE: MS. DOWNUM

Welcome to the 23-24 school year! I am so excited to be teaching your young scientists. We have covered a lot in the past weeks. We covered expectations and the basics for science. The basics we covered were the scientific method and Lab Safety. Please make sure to ask your student for my syllabus if you haven’t already seen it. I gave each of them a copy to share with you. Please make sure to sign and return it to me. If your student lost it I put it on my canvas page which each student can access on their chromebooks and sign an alternate slip. This is important so that I know you have seen it and talked with your student about it.

We set up our science notebooks as well in the first few weeks. If a student didn’t have one I supplied it. I will not be able to give them a second notebook if they lose it. Please check with your student to see if they still have their science notebook.

We also completed our first lab and the students did amazing! They followed expectations beautifully and it was a success. The lab was called Penny Lab and the students worked with the scientific method while showing their understanding of lab safety. They had to guess how many drops of water they could get on a penny. Enjoy some photos I took from that lab below.

We started our first official unit which is called Structures and Functions of Living Organisms. I refer to this as Plants as it is easier to say and write for the students. We will be talking about pollination and photosynthesis to name a few of the topics. I will always let the students know the test date as soon as I know it however things happen and so the date is subject to change. It doesn’t change too much though. Our first test date is set for September 26th.

SOCIAL STUDIES: MR. CALDERON

Hello, and Welcome to the 2023-2024 School Year! If we didn't have the opportunity to meet at Open House. I am Mr. Calderón, your child's Social Studies teacher. I'm extremely excited to teach your children the history of the Ancient World. This year we will be using a new curriculum that will be based on the program Studies Weekly, which will make their learning experience more fun and focused on keeping them on track. In the first week of school, I gave your child a copy of my Syllabus to give you for your signature. Please make sure that it is signed and sent back to me at your earliest convenience. I will also post it on Canvas if you do in the next couple of days.

We already got up and running on learning Ancient History by talking about Geography, maps, and the Continental Drift Theory. Your children have been able to quickly understand the concept of how the Continents formed and how maps were created. Will already have some classwork done these last two weeks and will have our first quiz on Wednesday.

Finally, I will be posting in Canvas a supplies list for some things we will be using in class. I apologize for the lateness of this request. If you have any questions or concerns about how your child is doing in my class please let me know, and I will do everything I can to respond as promptly as possible.

MATH: MR. MITCHELL

Hello families and thank you for reading! I’ve broken up the material into a couple different sections so please see the information below:

Content:

We are currently in Unit 1! This unit deals with finding the surface area of three-dimensional figures. Please pay attention to some of the work on your student’s Canvas page. The more they work at home, the easier the work in class gets.

As we work towards EOGs, students are given about 12 questions from last year’s 6th grade EOG to take home and study at the end of each week. Please ask your students about these papers. They are called ‘From the Jump’ assignments and all students should be taking them home to study. The better they get at these questions, and questions similar to those, the better they will do on the EOGS.

Grades:

Students need to be completing iReady minutes and lessons. 60 minutes and 2 lessons passed are required each week.

Behaviors:

Please encourage your students to come into class focused and ready to learn. The slightest distractions can throw the whole class off and the students that are guilty of distractions will need to be removed. The rest of the class must continue to move forward and it is not fair to keep disruptions around when students are intent on making it through the EOGs.

As always, thank you for all of your support and please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions at brandonmitchell@fcschools.net

Thank you for reading!

ELA: MS. CRUDUP

Hello, 6th Grade ELA is off to a great start. Students dived right into instruction on Day 2 and we have been rolling ever since. The Novel Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief seems to be a big hit. The students are engaged and my ELA teacher's heart is loving it. Students can:

• make inferences about Percy citing evidence from the text.

• use context clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in Chapters 1 and 2 of The Lightning Thief.

• cite evidence from the text when answering questions and discussing Percy’s character in The Lightning Thief

• follow our Triad Talk Expectations when I participate in a discussion.

Mid Unit assessment will be coming this next week. Please remind your student that it is very important to have a charged chromebook in class daily. Assignments will be done both on paper and Canvas. When reading at home the students who are reading from Sora can do so without Internet, all they have to do is download the book while at school. Those who are traveling here or there after school hours and only have their phones can download Sora on their phones.🙂 Independent reading is important for class to run smoothly.

Any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out at sharondaperry@fcschools.net .

MATH: MS. JENKINS

Our seventh-grade students are off to a wonderful start to the 23-24 school year. After introductions and reviewing the school and classroom rules, the students are adjusting well. This year began with a review of basic skills and concepts learned in sixth grade that will carry over to the seventh-grade curriculum. We are currently working on Unit 1 - Proportional Relationships. The students are learning to identify and create scaled copies of figures. They are also learning how to determine a scale factor or use a scale factor to create a scaled copy. Next week, we will learn to use scales and scale drawings to calculate actual and scaled distances of objects. Most of our students have taken their initial math I-Ready diagnostic and will begin work on their learning pathways next week.

Remember to

Bring your materials (Chromebooks(charged), notebooks, and pencils) to class daily.

Get a good night's rest and come to class prepared to learn.

Math I-Ready assignments are important. Beginning next week, students will be expected to complete 45 minutes of study time with two passing lessons each week.

Believe in yourself, you can do it!

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at litishajenkins@fcschools.net.

SCIENCE: MS. BRACKETT

Wow! Seventh grade science is learning about the Structures and Functions of Living Organisms this quarter. There will be opportunities to work in the lab and have fun learning about the beauty and complexity of living organisms. We will be completing a district pre-assessment test this week to gauge where students are in their learning so we can reach our goal of everyone doing well in science.

SOCIAL STUDIES: MR. JONES

Greetings parents and guardians! This year in social studies has started off great with learning about the religions and governments of the world. Your students were assigned a project that is due on September 29th which focuses on one of the 5 major world religions. We will soon be discussing the different types of economies around the world and how they impact governments. If there are any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me at hunterjones@fcschools.net

ELA: MS. BAECHLE

Welcome students and families to the 2023-2024 school year! We’re off to a great start to the school year with a strong focus on Rigor. Student focus, consistency, and accountability of their work will ensure a year full of growth and obtaining several academic skill-sets. We began the year with expectations, academic goal setting, a writing sample, key vocabulary, and an introduction to our first text “Lyddie.”

Syllabus/Expectations: Students were introduced to classroom/school expectations both academically and behaviorally. As a result students should be fully aware of how they should act and what work is required of them on a daily basis. Additional guidelines are linked below in my syllabus, as well as my make-up/missed work policy. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xSPXqCGT-eRwFetl5G4LwMO_Lf-gkuBjNAL5V310PxY/edit?usp=drive_link

Curriculum: As mentioned prior, our first text is “Lyddie,” which focuses on the “Industrial Revolution,” and the evolution of farm life to cities and the business industry (factory life). This informational text follows a young girl “Lyddie” who is forced to work at a factory in order to provide for her family and pay off their debts. Along the way she discovers her true identity that comes with several challenges, in this coming of age novel. Topics discussed includeL poor working conditions, survival, unfair wages, poverty, and child labor. Today, students partook in a “Gallery Walk” activity and had to: infer context in several passages/images, identify related topics, and draw a symbol that was present within the text.

Students are currently working on: annotation color-coding skills, analyzing text, and content anchor charts. Students are expected to read the text both in class and at home on the Sora app, which can be located on the fcschools bookmarks and in Classlink with other helpful apps. Reading at home will be expected and need to occur in order to be successful with activities in class.

Homework: Students should expect homework two to three times weekly in order to continue to develop their skill-sets and to see growth. Please ask your child what work they have for homework, or have not completed on a regular basis to help keep them on track. Work will also be updated regularly for access on Canvas.

Grades: Student grades will be present on both Powerschool and Canvas in the future. Students are expected to check their grades on a regular basis and reach out to their teacher for make-up work or additional time to complete an assignment if they have been absent. I allow a one week timeframe to make up work before an assignment becomes a zero. In addition, I will take any late work until the week before the end of a quarter in order to allow ample time for grading and feedback.

I-Ready: Is a proven and resourceful data-driven program that allows teachers to see tri-annually where a student is at in their comprehension level by grade lexile. It also allows teachers to view the data and see where students have mastered a skill, and what areas need additional practice. It is significant that starting next Monday, September 18th, students are completing two passing lessons and 60 minutes of their I-Ready pathway for both Reading and Math each week, as it will count as a graded assignment.

Project(s): Students will receive a project per quarter that directly connects to what they are learning the the ELA curriculum, and what text we are reading. I will provide this project to them for the first nine weeks by this Friday, The project will be due October 27th. The project rubric is linked below: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ey4PRCrPqOy3T2Dm-2oCVhLqjM_vI6rFVXFqaKHPnF0/edit?usp=sharing

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me at any time at: kimberlybaechle@fcschools.net. I look forward to a successful and rewarding school year!

SCIENCE: MS. HEAD

Welcome! We are starting the year off well with a review of class expectations, the scientific method, and social/ emotional learning lessons from Second Step. For science we have reviewed observation/inferences, the scientific method and measures, and scientific theory vs law. We had our first vocabulary quiz Monday 9/11 with some finishing up Today. We also took a pre-test for our first unit on matter (chemistry). In the first few lessons of Second Step we will look at class norms, what makes us unique, and important aspects of our identities. Thank you for your support. Please let me know if any questions come up. My email is nadinehead@fcschools.net

SOCIAL STUDIES: MR. DOWNUM

Welcome back to the 2023-2024 school year, we have missed the kids and are excited to have them return to the classroom. We have been working on a lot of skill based activities that the kids will need to be successful in this class. We have been looking at primary and secondary sources that help us see the importance of reliability and bias. We all have our biases and we need to know what they are in order to be historically objective. This week and part of next week the students are working on a project on Native American tribes to get them used to the researching skills they will need. Next week we will start with the early explorers and the first unit of the past. Please know that all quizzes in this class are written and I have no multiple choice questions. I will try and send the exam via email to all parents. I think this is going to be a great year and so far the kids have been great.

MATH: MS. CUNNINGHAM

Wow! What a great start to the 2023-2024 school year. I am so glad to be teaching your students in math this year. We have been working on Reasoning with Real Numbers. In this unit, students learn and use definitions for rational numbers and irrational numbers. They plot rational numbers and square/cube roots on the number line. Lastly, students work with decimal representations of rational numbers and decimal approximations of irrational numbers. In grade 7, they used long division in order to write fractions as decimals and learned that such decimals either repeat or terminate. They build on their understanding of decimals to make successive decimal approximations of

2 and which they plot on number lines. We will be testing on this unit at the end of the week, 9/19th and moving into our next unit of Reasoning with Exponents/Scientific Notation, where students will use exponent properties to identify and create equivalent expressions involving positive, negative, and zero exponents. Secondly, they use scientific notation to express and perform operations with very large or very small quantities using powers of 10 and scientific notation. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. My email is michellecunningham@fcschools.net

English Language Arts: Ms. Frost

Week at a Glance… Numbered Heads (Writing / Speaking and Listening) & Group Work

We are off to a great start to the new school year. As a team, we have established team expectations that apply to all four classes (ELA, Math, Social Studies, and Science). Expectations will continue to be revisited in each classroom to ensure all students are on the same page thus avoiding disruptions in and outside the classroom. I am proud of adherence to the expectations overall with areas of improvement.

Click on Picture to View Expectations…

This past week, we focused on email etiquette, a very important skill to acquire in school and in preparation for college and the workforce. Please encourage your child to practice the 20 tips when composing emails to maintain professionalism.

Click on Pic to Review the 20 Tips With Your Child…

I-Ready Weekly Expectations: Students have also taken the I-Ready Reading Diagnostic Assessment to determine placement on your child’s learning pathway. Data will be shared with both students and parents. Remember… Your child should work on Learning Pathway for 45+ minutes per week with a 75% or higher average. As an 8th grade team, let’s aim for 100% participation. At the end of each week if goals are met, students will earn 100%.

Upcoming: This week, we are shifting to reading both informational and literary texts with a focus on citing text evidence, annotation skills, and making inferences.

Pic is Linked… Novel Study: We are beginning our first novel study. It is based on a true story titled, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. “In this captivating and lavishly illustrated young adult edition of her award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of a former Olympian's courage, cunning, and fortitude following his plane crash in enemy territory. This adaptation of Unbroken introduces a new generation to one of history's most thrilling survival epics.”

Students will read informational texts to build background knowledge, annotation skills, and comprehension strategies specific to nonfiction texts. Students will read excerpts of the novel Unbroken at home using Sora (our online library). Students do not need internet access to read the book online. It is downloadable.

Please contact me at annafrost@fcschools.net

ART: Mrs. CLIFTON

Your artist has been working so hard since the start of school. They had some collaborative fun working together to draw a building. They finished their collaborative tessellation, where they drew and colored things about themselves. They also wrote a radio announcement about themselves to go along with the tessellation. As we move forward your artist will work on training their eye to draw the details. This will be done by drawing pictures upside down, practicing contour drawing of a vase, a still life, their hand, and so much more. I am so excited to see their finished drawings.

Please contact me at angelaclifton@fcschools.net

PE/HEALTH: MR. HARTSFIELD

Students have started their Physical Fitness Test. These tests give the students and teacher a good assessment of their physical ability. During this week we will complete the following: Pushup, planks, shuttle run, 30/40 dash, vertical jump and mile run. 6th, 7th and 8th students are expected to do their best and complete each test.

Please remind students to bring proper clothing and additional drinks (ie. water) to class.

CTE: MS. SMITH

What a great start to the year we are having! Students are learning how to effectively collaborate and communicate. We have begun identifying parts of the computer and how to perform basic computer operations. We discuss how CTE and business relates to everyday life and different career fields.

8th Grade: Students will review the problem solving process. Then we will begin problem solving through games and animations. Students will act as animation and games designers to create and recommend apps to potential clients. Students will complete these activities using Code.org.

7th Grade: Students will begin learning the problem solving process. Students will also learn how to collaborate, design, refine and decompose algorithms to effectively solve complex problems. Students will begin using activities in Code.org to break down and solve complex problems.

6th Grade: Will begin learning the importance of effectively implementing keyboarding techniques when keying using the alphabetic keyboard. Students will also explore the history of the keyboard, beginning with the typewriter. We will discuss why keyboarding is an important skill to have and use. Students will also research why learning the proper way to key will be important in their future career.

DRAMA: MS. HATTEN

What a great start to the year we are having! Students are working on completing a Vision Board for the 2023-2024 school year. We have class specific goals, long term goals for after graduation from middle school or high school, and at least one short term personal goal. I look forward to working with my classes to evaluate and achieve their goals.

8th grade will begin a design unit when they finish their Vision Boards. We will be making life size mannequins and dressing them for holidays and events throughout the school year. Look for them in the auditorium when we have our Holiday Concert!

7th grade will begin a unit on script and character analysis. I hope to begin working on some fun projects with them soon.

6th grade will begin a design unit based on a short story we read in class. I look forward to the creativity that I am sure will accompany this unit! Students will be creating some small costumes… more to come soon!

BAND: MS. BROWN

It is hard to believe that we just completed our second week of school! It has been such a pleasure getting to work with your students and seeing their passion and love for music.

6th grade is currently in the process of trying out instruments. This is such an exciting time for them and they can’t wait to start playing! Remember parents of 6th graders, learning an instrument takes time so don’t forget to encourage them and I hope you will start to see progress in no time!

7th graders have been getting instruments back into their hands and starting to play as a group. We have a wide variety of experience within our 7th grade band so it has been great to see students who are “veteran” players lending a hand to those who are brand new. These kids have been working hard and I know they are going to shine this year!

8th grade has been getting instruments as well and playing together. The exciting thing about 8th grade is that they are looking ahead to the high school band, which comes with a lot of opportunities and exciting endeavors! October 13th is 8th grade Marching night where 8th graders get to participate with the Franklinton High School Marching Band during a football game at FHS. It will be such a fun experience and more information will be following very soon.

There are some exciting things coming up for your student in band, such as FHS 8th Grade Night, All County Band, and our winter concert! More information will be coming out soon regarding these things but I hope you are excited for all the amazing opportunities your student is going to have this year in band! Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at annabrown@fcschools.net with any questions you may have!