The Fulton Flier

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We will send another form out out in the latter part of November for the month of December.

Please complete this form by Friday, September 29th.

A new contact form is available for families to report route concerns so HCPSS' Office of Student Transportation staff can review, respond and adjust the routes where appropriate. The form also can be found on the HCPSS Transportation webpage.

We now have a Planet Aid dropbox on campus. If you have any clothes or shoes that you need to donate, drop them off in the bright yellow drop box. Not only will you be donating to a great cause, a donation is provided to FES for each pound of clothes/shoes donated.

The Board of Education did not approve the 2023-2024 Inclement Weather Asynchronous Day Plan. As a result, HCPSS will not use asynchronous days this school year. Any days that schools are closed for inclement weather will be made up at the end of the school year.

We want to hear about what you celebrate in the month of October! Feel free to share using this form. If it is easier to just shoot me an email-- that works as well (kaitlyn_i_quinn@hcpss.org)! We look forward to sharing your celebrations with our Fulton Family!

Students who participated in the 2023 Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program (MCAP) for grades 3-5 in the 2022-2023 school year will be hand carrying individual score reports home on Thursday, September 28th. For additional information on how to interpret the reports, please visit https://support.mdassessments.com/reporting/ and click on the Parent Score Interpretation Guide menu.

These results will be used in combination with other assessments and class work to gauge overall student performance.

Please see the flyer below for information on FES clubs being offered to our students. There is a QR code for the permission slip or you can click this link. Specific dates and times will be communicated by club hosts (staff members). Please also direct club questions to the club hosts.

If your child is registered for bus service, you now have access to use the Zum App, which will allow you to track your child’s bus and receive notifications.

Zum App
Using the app will allow you to track your child’s bus in real-time, receive pick-up notifications if you choose, and view the driver for each ride.

To start using the Zum app, please follow these instructions:

1. Download the app
2. Log in to your account with the phone number or email address you have listed on your child’s record in Family File in HCPSS Connect
3. Verify your access by entering the one-time code sent to your device
4. Check the notification settings to ensure you’re receiving Zum notifications, if desired, so you’ll know when the bus is approaching and when your child has arrived at school

Additionally, HCPSS will continue to work with Zum to improve the parent/guardian app experience as needed.

Bus Delay Notifications
Effective Monday, Sept. 11, bus delays will no longer be posted to the HCPSS website. Parents/guardians with a child served by Zum may utilize the app to receive push notifications when their child’s bus is running more than 10 minutes late. These notifications will be sent only via in-app notifications if enabled to the parent/guardian who has downloaded and logged in to the app. Parents/guardians are encouraged to use the app in real-time to monitor their child’s bus status during school arrival and dismissal. Due to the larger than usual volume of delayed buses each day, it is likely that school-level email and texts may be delayed and the Zum application will provide the most up-to-date information.

Data Privacy
In order to create routes, issue timely notifications and updates, and provide the level of service HCPSS expects of our transportation contractors, some student/family data is shared with the contractors. This information sharing is vetted through our Office of Data Privacy, and a data privacy agreement is signed to require that contractors do not use this information for any reason beyond what is agreed upon.

This is not uncommon and occurs with contracted companies who provide services related to transportation, food and nutrition services, and other student and family supports. Only the necessary information to adequately provide the expected services is provided.

Answers to frequently asked questions related to the Zum app are posted on the HCPSS website and will be updated regularly.

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 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).

CHIPOTLE NIGHT
Wednesday, September 27th
Join us at Chipotle in Maple Lawn – dine in or carry out and use code 6EF6R7H or show flyer below and Chipotle will generously donate 33% of the proceeds to FES PTA!

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

September

• 09.27 Chipotle Restaurant Night (Maple Lawn), 5:00-9:00
• 09. 30- PTA Fall Fest (FES), 3:00-6:00

October

• PTA Pumpkin Patch (More Details coming soon)
• 10.03 PTA Ledo Pizza Restaurant Night (Fulton), 4:00-9:00
• 10.09 No School for Students, Professional Learning Day
• 10.13 Fall Picture Day
• 10.20 No School for Students, Professional Learning Day
• 10.31 3 Hour Early Dismissal/End of 1st Quarter

HCPSS and The Council of Elders of the Black Community of Howard County (TCOE) have partnered to sponsor the following parent workshops series:

• October 14: Navigating the Howard County Public School System
• December 16: Social Emotional Well-Being and Substance Abuse
• January 27: Processes for Parent Empowerment
• March 9: Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships

Each engaging session is held virtually on Saturdays from 9-10:30 a.m. Please see the save the date flyer for more information.

Free Parenting Classes - As educators, we are well aware of the ever-increasing pressures placed on students. The academic demands, social challenges, and rapidly changing world can be overwhelming. Our Guiding Good Choices parenting classes can equip parents and/or grandparents with the knowledge and skills to reduce the risk that their children will use drugs and alcohol or engage in other dangerous behaviors. These classes are for families with children 9 - 14 yrs. old and held over Zoom.

Medication and Sharps Disposal Take Back Day - October 28 in the Wilde Lake Village Center Parking Lot from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Safely dispose of prescription medication, over-the-counter meds, sharps, vitamins, pet meds, vape devices, inhalers, and more! Also, 100 medication lockboxes purchased by HCPSS will be given away for FREE!

HCPSS’ Multilingual Parent Leadership Program will begin on October 5. The six-week program is designed to help multilingual parents navigate the school system and develop the confidence to serve as advocates for their children. The program also provides training for multilingual parents to assume leadership roles in schools and the community. The program is held on Thursdays on the dates listed below and runs from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Participants must attend all sessions.

• October 5
• October 12
• October 19
• October 26
• November 2
• November 9

Interested participants must complete an applicationLinks to an external site. by September 28. Completed applications must be returned to:

Office of Multilingual Family Services
Old Cedar Lane
5451 Beaverkill Road
Columbia, MD 21044

For more information, please contact Min Woo.

• Library for Kindergarten Ready Awareness for parents of African American Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers at the Howard County Library East Columbia Branch on Saturday, September 23, 2023. See Flyer for full details.
• Library for Kindergarten Ready Awareness for parents of African American Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers at the Howard County Library Central Branch on Saturday, September 30, 2023. See Flyer for full details.
• Biz Kidz Academy's FREE Shark Tank Competition

Registration is now open for Biz Kidz Academy’s FREE Shark Tank Competition! Competing young entrepreneurs, fashion designers, models, artists, performers, creative writers, and other competitors are encouraged to enter a creative written or video entry. Attached are the competition guidelines.

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.

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

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.

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).