Gator Parent Newsletter
January 2025
Gator Families
Be on the lookout for information pertaining to some before school and after school programming for students. Based on the parent meetings and surveys conducted last school year it was indicated that families would like to have some opportunities for their child to participate in clubs, activities, and extra learning opportunities throughout the school year. We listened and have some new partnerships beginning in January and will be offering some school based options for parents to sign their child up for. Communication regarding these programs will be sent through School Messenger and in your child's Thursday folder.
Please reach out with any questions or concerns.
Happy New Year!
Week of December 30th
Monday - Wednesday: No School
Week of January 6th
Wednesday: WiDA testing begins for ML students
Week of January 13th
Tuesday: 7:00 - 8:30pm GTJHS: MLK Awards Program
Wednesday: 5:30 - 7:00 Parent Encouragement Night
Thursday: No School (Report Card Prep. Day)
Friday: No School (Professional Learning Day)
Week of January 20th
Monday: No School: MLK Day
Tuesday: Spelling Bee
Wednesday: Spelling Bee Make-Up Day
Week of January 27th
Friday: Alice McReynolds' last day (retiring)
Morning Drop Off
–Begins at 8:45am, when the bell rings.
–Drop off before 9:13 am. If staff no longer on the sidewalk, drive to the front office for a late slip (students need to be in class by 9:15 am).
Drop off on the sidewalk only. Do Not drop off students on grass. First car will be prompted to move to the first line on the sidewalk to allow more cars to drop off their children.
–We are encouraging the independence of our students so please help them learn to unbuckle their car seats when pulled up to the sidewalk. If you need assistance with unbuckling your child, please turn on your flashers, stay in your car, and staff will help to safely get your child out. This will save time and speed up our process as parents won’t leave their car, unbuckle, return to car, etc.
–Please do not pull in the middle and park unless directed by staff. Students who are car riders must be dropped off in the line and exit their car on the sidewalk. Pull all the way forward. This ensures a SAFE process for all of our students.
-Never drive around a car in line unless directed by staff
–If you need to enter a building, you will need to come through the front of the building.
Afternoon Pick Up
–Dismissal Begins at 3:35 pm from the gym
–Students will be dismissed from the gym to a designated number on the sidewalk. This is based on your location in line. Students and cars will need to pull to that spot and be loaded from the sidewalk.
-Please stay in your car. Staff will assist students if necessary.
–If your child is running late, you will be asked to pull into the middle and then directed by staff to rejoin the line to exit the parking lot.
Volunteers play a crucial role in the success of our school and truly help to build a strong home-school partnership. Mr. Fowlkes will be coordinating volunteer efforts this year and connecting interested parents with teachers in order to support within and outside of the classroom. If interested in volunteering; please follow the steps below.
In addition, field trips are an important part of our students' learning experiences. In order for us to go on field trips we need chaperones. Chaperones must also complete the volunteer training as indicated below. If you may want to chaperone this year, please complete the steps below so that we can have enough chaperones to attend field trips. Please consider doing this well in advance of a field trip as it will take 72 hours to process after completion of your training. We don't want to be put in a situation because we don't have enough chaperones for trips 3 days in advance.
Steps:
Click here for for directions to complete volunteer training (Spanish directions at bottom after English)
Complete volunteer training through Unified Talent Platform (approximately 1 hour)
After training is completed; you will receive an email with the next steps
Complete 72 hours prior to volunteering or chaperoning (earlier the better)
Mr. Fowlkes or the classroom teacher will be in contact to coordinate volunteering or chaperoning field trips
Occasionally, inclement weather and other safety or health conditions require FCPS to close, delay opening or dismiss early.
Closing and delay decisions involve careful evaluation of a variety of factors in a short time period. Whenever possible, decisions are made by 5 a.m. for morning closings and delays (with communications by 5:30 a.m. posted on the web, FCPS TV channel 18, and via FindOutFirst to Facebook and Twitter) and by 10 a.m. for early closings, announced soon after.
Email and text message delivery typically take longer than the FOF posts to Facebook and Twitter take, though the FCPS FindOutFirst service publishes them all--email, texts, Facebook and Twitter content--at the same time. Notification on other media's stations may be later; always check to see that the reference on other media is to FCPS MARYLAND, as there is also a Frederick County Public Schools district in Virginia!
Because weather can change quickly and forecasts aren't always certain, it's rarely possible to determine delays or closings the night before. But we always make the decision as soon as we can be sure of the weather and travel conditions, and we begin communicating the decision right away.
FCPS doesn't usually announce that schools are open or operating on schedule, only that they are closed, delayed or dismissing early. If we haven't announced otherwise, schools are open on time.
Regardless of what FCPS decides, if you believe weather conditions are hazardous or unsafe, you have the right to keep your child home from school. Student absences because of hazardous weather conditions are lawful and excused.
How to Find Out
FCPS notifies about 30 local and regional TV and radio stations plus our own media outlets about systemwide school delays and closings. It is not possible to guarantee that the news media will announce this information promptly or accurately. For the fastest, most reliable information, check the following:
- www.fcps.org
- Social Media: FCPS on Twitter and FCPS on Facebook (usually posted via FindOutFirst)
- Email/Text Messages: email and emergency-only text messages (published the same time as the Facebook and Twitter notices)
- FCPS TV: Comcast Channel 18 (Frederick area)
Note: FCPS social media and fcps.org are the fastest ways to get emergency notices. Email and text notices can take longer because of the volume of messages that require acceptance from a wide variety of Internet Service Providers.
All emergency notices come from FCPS Public Affairs Department. Emergencies include schools closing due to weather, power outages or the like. SMS text messages are sent only when schools are unexpectedly closing. [Public Affairs does not typically send immediate email about lockdowns, most of which are precautionary and brief.]
Based on recent legislation, the Maryland State Department of Education has issued new guidelines that changed the parameters for virtual education during inclement weather, starting in the 2024-25 school year. As a result, Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) does not intend to use virtual education days in place of traditional “snow days” or to respond to other emergency weather events in the 2024-25 school year. As background, the changes now in place include:
Use of Virtual Days: School systems in Maryland can only use virtual education days if they have exhausted all the regular snow days incorporated into the school calendar. FCPS has five snow days built into the school calendar.
Instructional Requirements: Any plan for virtual education days must include at least four hours of live, virtual instruction. Before these changes, schools could use fully asynchronous virtual education days, in which students could work at their own pace without live lessons.
Device and Wi-Fi Access: Schools must ensure all students and staff have the necessary devices and Wi-Fi for live instruction at home. Right now, younger students (Grades K-2) do not have one device each, and Wi-Fi access is inconsistent throughout the county.
Because of these new requirements, FCPS will not move forward with the option of virtual education days during inclement weather in 2024-25. Instead, FCPS will use the snow days already incorporated into the school calendar. If FCPS needs to use more than the five allocated snow days, we will revert to the traditional approach of adjusting the school year calendar to make up any school days as needed.
For more information about FCPS’s plans for inclement weather, please visit: FCPS Closings and Delays.
- If a family has an unexpected financial change, in their income, they can apply for FARM (Free/Reduced Meals) any time throughout the year at https://linqconnect.com/main
- In order to help get lost coats/jackets back to the students, please practice putting your child's name on an inside tag so they can be returned to them.
- Please refrain from picking up your child from the front office after 3:15. Classes are preparing for dismissal and busses are arriving after 3:15. After that time please use the car rider line, around back, for pick up.
- Dismissal Changes: Please call before 3:00, when possible, to make changes your child's normal dismissal routine.
- Our doors open at 8:45am and students should be in their classroom by 9:15 when the bell rings. Being in the classroom before the bell rings allows the students to prepare themselves for the day, eat breakfast if they choose to and socialize with their classmates.