Nov. 19th: Last day to take the School Survey for Parents

Nov. 26th: 2 Hour Early Dismissal

Nov. 27th-29th: No School - Thanksgiving Break
Dec. 13th: Carson Scholarship Applications due(8th grade)
Dec. 20th: 8th grade Hearing and Vision Screening

Dec. 23- Jan 2nd: No School -Winter Break

With winter break quickly approaching we want to make sure our UMS families have what they need this holiday season. If your family is in need of resources for holiday meals or assistance with gifts, please reach out to your child’s grade level counselor for support by Friday November 29th. Limited assistance is available so support will be provided on a first come, first serve basis.

6th Grade Samantha.Kreiner@fcps.org

7th Grade Dawn.Williams@fcps.org

8th Grade Jillian.Farrell@fcps.org

- UMS Counseling Department

Every year UMS is able to nominate one of our 8th grade students for the Carson Scholarship. Our UMS nominee is then entered for a chance to win a $1,000 scholarship from the Carson Scholar Fund, founded by Dr. Benjamin Carson and his wife. In order to be considered for nomination a student must have the following:

• A 3.75 GPA or higher for Term 1.
• Demonstrate humanitarian qualities in their schools and communities through volunteer work and/or community service.
• A completed essay of between 450-500 words. Students should choose one of the following essay prompts:

1. Imagine you have the opportunity to create a new club or organization in your school or community. What would it focus on, and how would it benefit others?

2. Think of someone who inspires you to reach for the stars. How has that person influenced you to achieve more?

8th grade students / families:

The UHS IB program is currently accepting application for next year. Visit https://sites.google.com/fcps.org/international-baccalaureate-pr/home/application-information for application information, forms and important deadlines. All applications must be submitted to UHS before 2:30pm on December 6th.

Please notify Ms. Farrell or Mrs. Cook if you are applying so that we may submit your grades and test scores.

Hearing and Vision Screening will take place at UMS on December 20, 2024 for 8th grade and new enterers to the Maryland public school system. Rescreens are scheduled for January 14, 2025. Parents/guardians who have an objection to this screening must submit a written request for their child to be exempt, to the health room by December 13, 2024.

Maryland State Law mandates these screenings. If your child wears glasses or contacts, please be sure they have them on the screening days. If you have any questions, please contact the health room at 227-203-2609.

Your feedback is very important to us. Your responses will remain anonymous and will be combined with the responses of our other families. Please click here to fill out the survey.

If you would be willing to donate prizes (no more than $20 in value) that we could use for our Turkey Trot/1 mile fun run please let us know, drop it off at the office, or send it in with your student. The fun run will take place November 25. We are looking for prizes to award top runners, best dressed costumes for each of the 7 periods, and grade level raffles. Any donations would be greatly appreciated. Any questions please reach out to melanie.boyer@fcps.org and james.herbold@fcps.org

Does your student like to be creative? Does your child enjoy the arts? Participate in this year's Reflections program! Students create artwork in response to the theme of "Accepting Imperfections." Students can enter into one or more categories: Visual Arts, Photography, Musical Composition, Dance Choreography, Film, and Literature. Students can earn recognition and prizes at the local, county, state, and national level! Entries are due through email to Jaime Stevenson (JSteve616@gmail.com) by November 15. Click here to visit our website with all necessary information.

Looking for a previous version of a Tales From the Nest Newsletter, check out our website under the News tab. You can visit the link directly here.