October Newsletter

Dear Families,

Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place on October 7, 8 and 9. Our school goal is to have 100% parent participation in conferences. See the Important Dates section for altered school schedules on these dates.

We want to offer some potential tips and strategies for making the most of your parent-teacher conference. Prior to the conference, ask your child how they feel about school and have them elaborate about why they feel that way. Also, ask your child if there is anything they want you to discuss with the teacher. This information can help to frame the conversation during the conference. It is also helpful to prepare a list of questions to ask your child's teacher. Some sample questions might be:

• What are my child's strongest and weakest areas?
• How is my child doing behaviorally? Does my child regularly follow the Be a Wolf expectations?
• Does my child participate in class?
• Does my child seem happy in school?
• What can I do at home to support my child academically, behaviorally and socially?

Your child's teacher will appreciate the approach of partnering together to support your child. If you haven't yet scheduled your child's parent-teacher conference then we suggest for you to contact the teacher as soon as possible. Teachers will conduct parent-teacher conferences at the school and they can offer in-person or virtual conferences.

Thank you for your support and collaboration!

NMES Home-School Connection - Click HERE to view.

Sincerely,

Dr. Lockard - Principal

Mrs. McGaha - Assistant Principal

FCPS 2024 - 2025 Calendar Handbook

FCPS 2025 - 2026 Calendar

NMES Fall Book Fair: October 7 - 10

• Tuesday, October 1: Grade 1 field trip to LHS Community Show
• Wednesday, October 2: Interims issued
• Thursday, October 3: Schools closed in observance of Rosh Hashanah
• Friday, October 4: PTA Walk to School event
• Monday, October 7 - October 10: Fall Book Fair
• Monday, October 7: Elementary and middle schools open 4 hours late for parent-teacher conferences
• Tuesday, October 8: Elementary and middle schools open 4 hours late for parent-teacher conferences
• Wednesday, October 9: Elementary and middle schools close 3.5 hours early for parent-teacher conferences
• Friday, October 11: Author visit for grades 3 - 5
• Wednesday, October 16: Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Woozley's classes on field trip to Catoctin Mountain
• Thursday, October 17: Mrs. Thuman, Mrs. Kueberth and Ms. Johnson's classes on field trip to Catoctin Mountain
• Friday, October 18: Schools closed for Teacher Professional Learning Day
• Monday, October 21: CogAT testing for grade 2 and 5 students
• Tuesday, October 22: CogAT testing for grade 2 and 5 students
• Wednesday, October 23: CogAT testing for grade 2
• Thursday, October 24: PTA Trunk or Treat event from 5:00 - 6:30
• Friday, October 25: 2-hour early dismissal
• Friday, October 25: Fall Party Day
• Friday, October 25: End of Term 1
• Monday, October 28: Schools closed for Teacher Work Day
• Tuesday, October 29: Term 2 begins
• Tuesday, October 29: CogAT testing for grade 5 students

For all attendance related emails or transportation changes, please email nmes.attendance@fcps.org and include your child's teacher. Transportation changes must be made prior to 3:00pm.

Consistent attendance is important for your child's academic and social success in school. MSDE sets the attendance goal at 96%. Below are the attendance percentages for each grade level and for the school overall as of the end of September:

Pre-Kindergarten: 93.2%

Kindergarten: 94.5%

Grade 1: 94.8%

Grade 2: 94.5%

Grade 3: 95.1%

Grade 4: 94.9%

Grade 5: 95%

Overall School Attendance Percentage: 94.8%

You can support by sending your healthy child to school each day on time. Instruction promptly begins at 9:00 each morning. You can also support by planning vacations around the FCPS calendar. Thank you!

The following students were nominated by their classroom teacher as a "Role Model Monday" nominee. These students demonstrate our Be a Wolf expectations on a regular basis across the school day. These students are recognized on our morning announcements by Dr. Lockard. The students receive a certificate and small prize for being a great Wolf each and every day! Also, the parents receive a Good News Phone Call from Dr. Lockard.

• Koda Weidman, first-grade student in Mrs. Kocher's classroom. Mrs. Kocher shared the following about Koda: "Although Koda is a quiet friend he is always setting a good example for the friends around him. He is on task and engaged during instruction. Koda often has thoughtful ideas that he shares during instruction; showing his friends how to be ready to learn. Koda is a great Wolf!"
• Isaac Lee, fourth-grade student in Mrs. Woozley's classroom: Mrs. Woozley shared the following about Isaac: "Isaac is always ready to learn. He works hard and shows good effort on his classroom assignments. Isaac demonstrates all the Be a Wolf expectations and is a good example of what it means to be a NMES role model."
• Quinnley Altice, kindergarten student in Mrs. Heller's classroom: Mrs. Heller shared the following about Quinnley: "Quinnley is always ready to help others in our class. She listens carefully to directions and then is quick to help others. She works hard and tries her best each and every day. Quinnley is a great New Market Wolf!"
• Mollie Knight, second-grade student in Mrs. Dwyer's classroom: "Mollie always comes to school ready to learn. She follows our classroom routines and leads by example by showing excellent listening skills in class. Mollie always tries her best, even when something is tricky at first. Mollie is a great example of an awesome NMES Wolf!"

Book Fair

The Fall Book Fair will be held in the media center from October 7th-10th! Fliers with information about the book fair is coming home this week! For more information, please contact Mrs. Siderius at jennifer.siderius@fcps.org or visit our book fair website at https://secure.smore.com/n/s0wu3.

Book Fair Volunteers

Interested in volunteering at the book fair? You can sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4FABAF2AAAF58-51384671-fall#/. All book fair and media center volunteers save 10% on their book fair purchases!

Author Visit

NMES is excited to have an upcoming author visit for grades 3-5! On Friday, October 11th, authors Colleen Venable and Stephanie Yue are presenting about their new graphic novel, Katie the Catsitter: The Purrfect Plan, to our students. We thank the Curious Iguana for sponsoring this visit for us!

Book Pumpkin Contest

Our annual book character pumpkin contest is fast approaching! Fliers will be sent home soon but you can start planning now by reading this document! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S94ez4qoi0RtBObFM6RiMYdTWLGhRyIOSB8-crWYalQ/edit?usp=sharing

Media Center Volunteers

Mrs. Siderius welcomes parents, grandparents and family members to volunteer in the media center! You can sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0B4FABAF2AAAF58-50891918-20242025#/. Thank you for considering to help out!

Nothing Bundt Cakes has a reading incentive program called Books & Bundts. PreK through Elementary students can receive a free bundtlet for each month they read 400+ minutes! Most likely you and your child are already reading a little each day and this is a great way to motivate your child to keep reading!

The Nothing Bundt Cakes' tracker will need to be used to keep track of the minutes read and there is a coupon barcode at the bottom that will need to be scanned in order to receive the free bundtlet.

For more information, click to view the flier Books and Bundts - 2024 - 2025.PDF and print out the B&B Tracking.PDF.pdf

If you don’t have access to a printer, please email Mrs. Tortolani at angela.tortolani@fcps.org and she will make sure one gets sent home with your child so you can start tracking those reading minutes!

FCPS requires all students in grades 2 and 5 to take the CogAT assessment. In early October, parent letters will be sent to all students in grades 2 and 5 explaining the CogAT assessment. To support your child, please ensure their attendance on testing days. Thank you!

Grade 2 CogAT administration dates/times:

• Monday, October 21 at 9:10
• Tuesday, October 22 at 9:10
• Wednesday, October 23 at 9:10

Grade 5 CogAT administration dates/times:

• Monday, October 21 at 1:15
• Tuesday, October 22 at 1:15
• Tuesday, October 29 at 1:15

Students in grades 3 and 4 who are new to FCPS and do not have a prior CogAT score will also take the assessment on Monday, October 14 and Tuesday, October 15. If your child is one of the students who needs to take the CogAT assessment then you will receive a parent letter in early October.

October is full of fun holidays! Learn more at our optional choice board at https://bit.ly/NMESOct24Board!

Not a member yet?!?! IT’S NOT TOO LATE!! Click HERE to make it happen! By becoming a member, you not only support the NMES PTA but you receive perks at our events and have early access to the latest updates. It’s a WIN-WIN!

The NMES PTA will be providing the staff meals and snacks during conference days October 7th, 8th, and 9th. We are seeking donations from our wonderful NMES families! Please consider signing up to bring in an item or help set up dinner one evening! Short on time? You can also sponsor a meal, and we will take care of the rest! Click here to sign-up to help. THANK YOU!

Chick-fil-A Fundraising Nights!! Join us on October 22nd and 23rd at Chick-fil-A in Mount Airy to support the NMES PTA. These nights are always a hit and great fun. Thank you for participating and making them successful!

Who doesn’t LOVE a good TRUNK OR TREAT?! The PTA is planning a fantastic and spooky good time on Thursday, October 24th. Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

National Hispanic Heritage Month is annually celebrated from September 15 to October 15 in the United States for recognizing the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Mrs. Blake, a School Counselor at NMES, created a bookshelf of read alouds in honor of Hispanic Heritage month. Click HERE to view and listen to the wide variety of read alouds. We encourage you to enjoy these read alouds as a family.

Click HERE to read October updates and information from Mrs. Carl and Mrs. Blake, our NMES school counselors. Highlights include:

• information about an upcoming food drive
• information about bullying
• tips for parents

October 4, 2024 is NMES Walk to School Day!

All NMES students and families are invited to join our Walk to School Day on Friday, October 4th. This event is co-sponsored by the New Market Green Team. Students may choose to walk from home or designated park and walk locations. Families not within walking distance are encouraged to join friends in the surrounding neighborhoods or join a group at a park and walk location.

Neighborhood routes include New Market West, The Orchard, Brinkley Manor, and Royal Oaks. Families may also choose to park and walk these neighborhood routes. Parking is available at New Market West Park, LOUYAA park, and in the Brinkley Manor neighborhood.

All routes will gather at approximately 8:15am to have ample time to arrive at school.

Students will participate in charting how they arrived at school that morning. The grade level with the highest participation rate will win the Golden Sneaker! Special guests will also join NMES families on their walk to school - to be announced on our Facebook event page!

Parents are responsible for ensuring their students arrive at NMES safely. Be prepared for all types of weather, the event will only be canceled in cases of extreme weather.

If your child(ren) will be a car rider on Friday, October 4th, please do not use neighborhood cul-de-sacs to drop off/pick up your child(ren). For the safety of the participants, all vehicles should use the schools’ designated car lines and keep vehicles to a minimum on our pedestrian routes to school.

For more details about the event, look for information in your child’s red folder and follow along on our Facebook Event page: NMES Walk to School Day

The month of October, National School Principals month recognizes the essential role that principals play in making a school great. We encourage our parents and students to recognize the stellar leadership that Dr. Lockard provides our school. Let's celebrate and recognize his daily effort and ongoing commitment to making NMES a great place to learn and grow!

If you plan to volunteer in the school, serve as a chaperone, help with a class event and more then you must complete the FCPS Volunteer Training. We highly recommend that you complete the training now. FCPS has updated the required Volunteer Training. The volunteer training process has been enhanced to prioritize the safety and security of our students, staff and community. Updates include:

• Adding 2 new training modules to the onboarding process to be completed via Unified Talent after creating an account on that platform.
• Increasing the processing approval time to 48-72 business hours to allow for thorough completion of the training and registration processes.
• Reclassifying of volunteer functions to customize training requirements. Family/ Community Volunteers will only include functions that are supervised and controlled by FCPS staff.

To access the training please visit the FCPS Volunteer Webpage and follow the new onboarding process (please note, training must be completed before registering to become a volunteer). Please note, this is an annual process and must be completed every school year. If you have any technical issues with completing the required volunteer trainings, please email unifiedtalent@fcps.org

The FCPS Code of Conduct can be found on the system website. Click HERE to view the Code of Conduct and accompanying resources.

When school is in session, you can reach the front office from 8:30 - 4:00 at 227-203-1460.

FCPS has a link for families to know when a bus is running late: https://apps.fcps.org/transportation/status

The FCPS Transportation Department appreciates everyone's patience during the beginning of the school year until bus routes are firmly established. Expect delays in these beginning weeks.