The Fulton Flier

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Dear Fulton Families,

We had such a wonderful turn out for our Back to School Nights last week. We hope that you found them informative. In the event you were unable to join us, you can access all of the presentations here.

Additionally, If you were not able to attend our Standards Based Instruction and Reporting (SBIR) presentation, you can access our presentation here as well as Q&As that came from our time together. Lastly, you can learn more by visiting the SBIR Parent Canvas page.

Warmly,

FES Admin

To build additional time into the student transportation schedule and prioritize getting every student to school on time, school start and end times will shift effective Wednesday, Sept. 20th.

Please note the following:

• We will be following the same arrival/dismissal procedure
• Staff will be on duty to receive students at 9:10am.
  
• Vehicles should refrain from parking and waiting for dismissal until 3:50pm
  
• Each grade level's instructional schedule will remain in place, but each time block will shift 10 minutes later
• If your child is a bus rider, updated bus schedules, including drop off and pick up times, will be communicated by HCPSS soon. We encourage you to check the HCPSS school bus locator an/or your child's bus pick up and drop off times in Synergy on Tuesday evening. Please allow 10 minutes before and after pick-up times for the first few days of the change.

Students in grades 1-5 will be participating in the Fall administration of the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment between September 19 -October 11. Please see the table below for specific grade level dates.

The MAP assessment is designed to measure a student's academic achievement and growth over time in reading and mathematics. Together with other classroom-based information, MAP results can help teachers make instructional decisions that match the needs of each child.

MAP is an untimed, computer adaptive assessment. As a student responds to questions in a computer adaptive assessment, the test responds to the student, adjusting the difficulty of the questions presented to the student. This creates a personalized assessment for every student.

​​​​​​​You do not need to do anything special to prepare your child for the MAP assessment other than ensure they have a good night’s rest the night before. Make up tests will be scheduled for those who are absent.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Justine Sillers (justine_sillers@hcpss.org) and/or Meaghan Liwosz (meaghan_liwosz@hcpss.org).

Research is clear that showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic and social success, starting from pre-kindergarten and continuing through high school.

• Missing 10% (or about 18 days of a school year or 2 a month) can drastically affect a student’s academic success at each grade level.

• By the 6th grade, absenteeism is one of three signs that can indicate if a student is at risk for dropping out of high school.

• In the 9th grade, regular and high attendance is a better predictor of graduation rates than 8th grade test scores.

Please help us support a culture of showing up to school every day!

Please review Policy 9010: https://policy.hcpss.org/9000/9010/

Parents please report your child's absence through email at FESabsence@hcpss.org and include your child's homeroom teacher. In the email please Include the following information:

• Student first and last name in the subject line
• Grade
• Parent’s full name and phone number.
• Date your child(ren) was absent and the reason.
• Reason for absence (e.g., illness, bereavement, observance of a religious holiday, lack of transportation)
• If there is a health issue you would like the teacher and health office to know about, copy your child’s teacher and the health office (kathleen_wurstner@hcpss.org)

DISCRETIONARY ABSENCE

• For absences of up to 3 days, the principal may determine whether the absences will be lawful/excused or unlawful/unexcused. This is NOT for illness but an elective absence (e.g., family trip, family in town).Please take a moment to complete this form regarding your child's absence.
• Students with unlawful/unexcused absences of 10 consecutive school days or more, will be withdrawn from school and may be allowed to re-enroll, provided they meet enrollment requirements, upon their return.
• Students returning from lawful/excused absences, have an equal number of days to complete make-up work.

Thank you~ Fulton Staff

Welcome to the PTA section of the newsletter! Here we will keep you updated with upcoming PTA events, fundraisers, and relevant news.

The PTA supports, organizes, and funds many events, fundraisers and student enrichments throughout the year. We are a non-profit, volunteer-based organization and can only continue contributing towards these initiatives with your financial support. Please consider joining the PTA. By joining and supporting, you are not making any mandatory obligations or commitments. Please see more information below. Join today: https://fulton.memberhub.com/store!

FALL FEST

Saturday, September 30th from 3 – 6pm @ FES rain or shine FES students and your families, please join us at the annual fall fest!!!! Buy your tickets now for one of Fulton’s biggest events of the year!! Last year we had a huge turnout (despite looming bad weather) and it was SO. MUCH. FUN! Buy your tickets now, you don’t want to miss it. Purchase tickets (all kids must have a ticket, parents & guardians are free): https://app.memberhub.gives/fesfallfest2023/Campaign/Details Can you spare some time? The fall fest is entirely a parent-volunteer run event, for it to actually take place, we need you! Please sign-up to volunteer at the fall fest- lots of different options: FES: Fall Fest 2023 Activity Volunteer Sign Up (Parent) (signupgenius.com). Know a responsible high schooler who needs volunteer hours? We’d love to have them too! They may sign-up here (and a certificate of volunteer will be available on site): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F084DAEAF2FA0FC1-fall1#/.

SAVE ALL THE DATES

See below for all the fall PTA sponsored events. It’s going to be a fun fall!

THANK YOU

We hope everyone had a great back to school night - we loved hearing from our amazing teachers and feeling the positive energy heading into a new school year! Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the PTA Meeting, and especially Dr. Burks, Mrs. Sillers and Mrs. Liwosz for their informative presentation and for soliciting suggestions from parents. We love that you want to collaborate with parents for the good of our children! The meeting minutes will be posted here soon: Fulton Elementary School PTA (fespta.org).

For a complete list of dates and events visit https://fes.hcpss.org/calendar.

September

• 09.20- FES Begins school at 9:25
• 09.25 - Yom Kippur - Schools and Offices closed
• 09.27 Chipotle Restaurant Night (Maple Lawn), 5:00-9:00
• 09. 30- PTA Fall Fest (FES), 3:00-6:00

NAMI Basics is a FREE education program for parents and other caregivers of children and adolescents living with mental illness that provides resources and practical insights for families. The NAMI Basics course is taught by trained parents who have lived similar experiences with their own children

Flyer attached. Nami Basics Flyer Fall 2023 (1).pdf ​​​​​​​

The HCPSS Black Student Achievement Program invites you to attend the upcoming BSAP College and Career Opportunities Night on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at Long Reach High School. This College and Career Opportunities Night invites scholars in grades 8 - 12 countywide to network with working professionals, colleges, and universities, explore post-secondary opportunities, and learn more about HCPSS pathways. The evening will highlight a variety of colleges and universities as well as local businesses and organizations. To register, please complete the Registration Form linked here.

In accordance with Maryland’s Ready to Read Act (2019), COMAR (2021) and the direction from

the Howard County Board of Education, all Howard County Public School System students in

kindergarten to grade 5 will participate in the 2023 - 2024 administration of the Amplify mClass

with DIBELS 8th Edition universal screener to identify potential reading difficulties.

To learn more about our Universal Screener, please view this link.

We are looking forward to having parents, guardians and community members volunteer in our school. Please take some time to visit our website and complete the required trainings.

Interested to know what your child is learning about in their Health Lessons this year? The documents below provide an overview of what your child will be learning in Health at each grade level.

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade

Save the dates: October 17 Flu Vaccine Clinic

November 6 PK, K, 1 hearing and vision screening

More information coming!