Happy New Year Newsletter

For another language, click "Translate Newsletter" tab and select the language of choice in the upper right-hand corner.

Spanish

Para otros idiomas, haga clic en Traducir Newsletter y elija el idioma que prefiera.

Korean

다른 언어의 경우 뉴스 레터 번역을 클릭하고 원하는 언어를 선택합니다.

Chinese

对于其他语言，请单击翻译新闻通讯，然后选择所需的语言。

Urdu

دوسری زبانوں کے لئے ، نیوزلیٹر کا ترجمہ کریں پر کلک کریں اور اپنی پسند کی زبان کا انتخاب کریں۔

Good morning Fulton Families,

We are looking forward to a great week at Fulton! We look forward to seeing you and your family at our Family Literacy Night this Thursday! Come on out and join our Winter Wonderland!

Dear Fulton Community,

I’ve made the decision to continue my maternity leave indefinitely to stay at home with my 2 children. While I’m looking forward to spending more time with my own family, I can’t help but also feel sad that I won’t be able to spend more time with your children at Fulton. It’s been an absolute pleasure getting to know the students, staff, and families over the past 9 years and I’m proud of the contributions I’ve made to the school counseling program.

I will miss the kind, supportive, generous Fulton community and the relationships I’ve built.

Thank you for your understanding and I wish the entire school community the best in the future!

With gratitude,

Beth Shields

School Counselor

It is time to begin thinking about parent/teacher conferences with your child's math teacher! This is a great opportunity to learn about what your child has been learning about in math, how they are progressing with the taught curriculum and how we can partner together to your child excel.

A couple of reminders regarding February Parent/Teacher Conferences:

• HCPSS elementary schools will close 3-hours early on Wednesday, 2/7 and Thursday, 2/8, for parent teacher conferences. FES will begin dismissal at 12:55 on 2/7 & 2/8.

  • HCPSS schools are closed on Friday, 2/9.

• Conferences can be scheduled in 15-minute blocks with your child’s math teacher.

  • Families of fifth grade GT Math students can sign up for a conference with Mrs. Cassara or Mrs. Gainer-Lee.

  • Fourth grade families met with GT math teachers at the end of quarter one.

• Families wishing to conference with any of our related arts teachers can email the teacher(s) directly to set up a mutually agreeable time during the conference window. Staff contact information is on our website: https://fes.hcpss.org/school-staff

• The scheduling window opens in Synergy on Thursday, 1/22, and closes on Friday, 2/2.

  • Click here for directions to schedule a parent teacher conference

• Wednesday, 2/7 - all afternoon conferences (1:20-4:00) will be in person only.

  • Teachers will host afternoon conferences in person at FES and parents may only attend their scheduled conferences from 1:20-4:00 in person on this day.

• Wednesday, 2/7, all evening conferences (starting with the 4:15 time slot) will be virtual only via google meet if teachers choose to host conferences on Wednesday evening.

  • Please check teacher schedules in Synergy.

• On Thursday, 2/8, afternoon conferences (1:20-4:00) will be virtual only if teachers choose to host conferences on Thursday afternoon.

  • Please check individual teacher schedules in Synergy.

• Due to the winter conference window being shorter than the fall window, there may not be as many time slots for you to sign up to meet with your child's math teacher. As such, we encourage you to sign up early. If you are unable to sign-up with your child's math teacher during the parent/teacher conference window and would still like to meet with him/her, please reach out to your child's math teacher. It is important for us to partner with you on your child's progress.
  

• The HCPSS Family Engagement Committee has developed a Parent-Teacher Conference Tip Sheet (English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean) to support families in preparation for February conferences.

• Once the scheduling window opens, please email your child’s teacher or call 410-880-5957 for assistance.

Last week the belonging committee sent out a presentation containing some information about New Year's and resolutions. In the presentation, we asked staff to encourage their students to develop ONE WORD for 2024. Fulton Elementary has chosen their word:

What does learning mean to us? Learning is engaging and adapting by gaining and sharing diverse knowledge.

Talk to your child(ren) at home and ask them what word they would choose to describe what they want or are looking forward to during 2024!

Skate Nights

Back by popular demand, we are hosting skate nights at Columbia Association's Supreme Sports Club, with the PTA subsidizing ticket prices for this night out!

Since space is limited, we ask that only FES students in the specified grades sign up for skate night along with 1 adult chaperone. (If tickets are still available 1 week before the Skate Night, we will open registration to include additional family members.) To ensure we adhere to capacity, everyone must purchase tickets, including chaperones. We will also have snacks and drinks available for purchase during the event.

Recc through 2nd grade

January 28, 2024 @ 04:00pm – 6:00pm EST

https://app.memberhub.gives/fes-skatenight-jan28/Campaign/Details

3rd through 5th grades

February 04, 2024 @ 04:00pm – 6:00pm EST

https://app.memberhub.gives/fes-skatenight-feb4/Campaign/Details

DEI Committee Launches with Art Contest

The DEI Committee is relaunching and will be seeking input to help! In the meantime, they are kicking off with an art contest!

The Committee invites FES students to create 2-D and 3-D artwork that honors the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Please see flier for details and happy creating!

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

January

• 1.10 7:00PM PTA Meeting, Virtual
• 1.11 FES Literacy Night
• 1.15: Schools & Offices Closed
• 1.17: Schools close 3 hours early. No half-day PreK/RECC
• 1.18: No half-day/PreK/RECC; LKMS Rising 6th grade Parent Orientation
• 1.19: No half-day/PreK/RECC; End of Second Marking Period
• 1.22: Schools Closed for Students/Professional Work Day
• 1.23: 6:00PM Winter Instrumental Concert
• 1.30: 6:30PM 4th & 5th Winter Concern; Report Cards Issued

Save the date if you have a current 5th grader. LKMS will have their rising 6th grade student Parent Orientation on January 18 from 6:00-7:00 PM (January 25 snow date). Families can learn about middle school, the academic schedule, and the Gifted and Talented program.

HCPSS and The Council of Elders (TCOE) Community Academy - Processes for Parent Empowerment:The next HCPSS and The Council of Elders (TCOE) Community Academy will take place on January 27 from 9:00 – 10:30 a.m. Parents and families are invited to attend a virtual session regarding parent advocacy topics include: Bullying, Parent Concerns, Special Education, Advanced Placement. Representatives from HCPSS will provide resources. This session is for families of students at the elementary, middle, or high school levels and will be held virtually. To register, please complete the registration form linked hereLinks to an external site.. More information can be found in the TCOE Processes for Parent Empowerment FlyerLinks to an external site.. If you have any questions, please contact Sheree Tilley at sheree_tilley@hcpss.org.

National Pan-Hellenic Council of Howard County Black History Expo 2024: The annual Black History Expo sponsored by the National Panhellenic Council of Howard County and the Howard County Public School System will be held on February 17 at Long Reach HS from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The theme of this year’s event is “African Americans and the Arts.”

HCPSS student organizations are invited to participate with exhibits that speak to the theme"African Americans and the Arts" (exhibit fee is waived), as assistants in various areas, or provide program performances. Students can receive community service hours for their participation. Registration forms for exhibitors, vendors and program performances are included in the Black History Expo packet. The deadline to register to participate is January 20,

For more information please contact Muriel G. Mitchell, Black History Expo Coordinator at (410) 461-4717 or blackhistoryexpo@gmail.com.

Check out the Winter 2024 Howard County Recreation & Parks Before/After School classes for students at Fulton ES. They fill up fast, so sign up today! 👇

Please partner with us at to keep everyone safe by refraining from U-turns.

Happy New Year Fulton Family! We hope you had a restful break!

This month at Fulton, students will be thinking about what the new year means to them through the lens of one of our values: learning. At Fulton, we define learning as engaging and adapting by gaining and sharing diverse knowledge. How does your family kick off the new year? What other customs or traditions do you or your family participate in? What does the beginning of the year mean to your family? https://forms.gle/cDGDxSNpo17sdRkAA

~Belonging Committee

As you may know every year Maryland releases the Maryland Report Card. This year, they released them in December.

Schools receive ratings based on:

• Academic Achievement (Proficiency in Math and English Language Arts as measured by MCAP.)

• Academic Progress (Growth)

• Progress in Achieving English Language Proficiency (the amount of English Learners on track to achieving proficiency in English Language)

• School Quality and Student Success which includes Attendance, School Surveys both students and educators, access to a well rounded curriculum

We are so excited to announce that Fulton Elementary School earned a star rating of 5... 5 out of 5 stars with 94th% rank!!!!!

To learn more about our Star rating, please visit the Maryland Report Card.

Do you have a child who will be 5 years old by September 1, 2024? Please save the date and join HCPSS for an upcoming Road to Kindergarten parent information session. All sessions will run 6:30-7:30 p.m. and cover the same content.

At this session you will learn:

• Expectations for school readiness (and receive a Ready for Kindergarten toolkit);
• Details about the HCPSS kindergarten program;
• Information about HCPSS kindergarten registration and website;
• Ways that families and children can be supported during the transition to kindergarten.

Information sessions will be offered at the following times:

• Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, Centennial High School**
• Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, Hammond High School*
• Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024 Wilde Lake High School*
• SNOW DATE: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, Hammond High School**

* Spanish interpreter will be present at these sites.
** Chinese, Korean, and Spanish interpreters will be present at these sites

If Howard County Public Schools are closed for inclement weather, the session is canceled.

Child care is available at each session for children ages 2 and older; the session is designed for adults only. Please note, the session will include information regarding Kindergarten readiness, program components, and registration that is applicable to all HCPSS schools; specific school information will be shared by schools after registration is finalized.

Large crowds are anticipated; please allow ample time for parking, childcare drop off, and check in. Doors open at 6pm.

For more information, visit www.hcpss.org/enroll/kindergarten/ or call 410-313-5693.