Message from the Principal
I hope you're staying dry this weekend! This week is Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you to all the families who are supporting the PTA in showing gratitude to our amazing staff. We are incredibly blessed to have the best teachers in the Farquhar community. This would be a perfect time to submit a shout out for the teachers who have made a difference for your student or family.
I hope you had the opportunity to come out and see our amazing Dear Edwina, Jr. production this weekend! Bravo to Ms. Lipford, Ms. Clipper, and our drama club students! Their singing, dancing, and comedic timing was top tier. We are so proud of their hard work! Thank you also to the families who supported the drama program throughout rehearsals and helped make the show a success.
We have an action-packed week ahead, especially for our 8th graders who are taking the Social Studies MCAP and preparing for promotion. I highly encourage all of you to attend STEAM night this Thursday, May 9. It's one of our most attended events all year with an awesome variety of activities to spark our Roadrunners' interest in STEAM fields.
This is the last full week before quarter 4 interims! Please continue checking grades and missing assignments in ParentVUE. If you aren't seeing updates in your child's grades, please reach out to any teacher directly for more information.
Thank you for your support and partnership, and have an excellent week!
In this week's newsletter you will find:
- This week's schedules
- This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
- TIMELY: MCAP Social Studies 8
- NEW: MCAP Math (Whole School) May 15-16
- DUE TOMORROW: 8th Grade Promotion & Ticket Info
- THIS WEEK: Come to FMS STEAM Night May 9!
- NEW: Counseling Resources Update
- NEW: Earn Gold Tickets for IXL Day June 7
- Bake for Good @ FMS
- Share your expertise @ Career Day May 23!
- NEW: Free Summer Coding Camp for Middle School Students
PTA Corner Update:
- We have our board nominations!
- Sherwood HS Gear
- Parent Support for the IXL Initiative
Need to get back to an previous edition of the Digest? Find them in the archive on our school's website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/farquharms/.
Thank you to the following Roadrunners who have made a positive impact on our learning community!
- Angelica Smith
- Bryan Rodriguez
- Matt Green
- Heather Bruns
- Ms. Custer
- Mrs. Hussain
- Mr. Vukovich
- Mrs. Steadman
- Natalia Villegas
- Mrs. Gramkow
- Ava Hart
Would you like to recognize a student, community member, or staff member?
Attention 8th grade students and families! MCAP Social Studies (SS) 8 will take place on Tuesday, May 7, 2024 and Wednesday, May 8, 2024. We appreciate you prioritizing student attendance for both of these days in order to complete the assessment.
We also remind all students to bring a charged Chromebook to school each day. It is a best practice to also ensure students have a good night's sleep and eat breakfast before all assessment days.
Please review the MCAP SS 8 Test Group List prior to testing so your student knows where to report for testing. This list will also be posted in the 8th grade hallway for reference. The schedule for MCAP SS 8 is below. (Note: All 6th and 7th grade students will follow a regular bell schedule)
If you have any questions, please contact Alyssa Cunneen at alyssa_d_cunneen@mcpsmd.org.
Our last scheduled day for Open ROCK, June 7, will be extended to one hour and will be a celebration of all the hard work our students have poured into mastering their Math and ELA skills on IXL! While all students will enjoy the extended Open ROCK that afternoon, any student who has earned a Gold Ticket by mastering 60 skills on either the Math or ELA platforms by June 5, 2024 will earn access to outdoor inflatable attractions!
Want to know how many skills your student has mastered this year? Ask them to show you on the IXL platform directly, or email your student's Math and/or English teacher. We'd love to get as many students as possible to earn access on IXL day!
We will do our first ever “Bake for Good” bread baking event after school on May 8th and 9th. Bake for the Good is a program created by the King Arthur Baking Company to teach students how to positively engage in their community while also learning the basics of baking bread! Students will work in teams to create loafs of bread that will be given to a local food pantry and should also be able to walk away with some bread to nosh on themselves. Sign up by completing this Google Form.
Questions?
Please contact Mr. Green @ Matthew_D_Green@mcpsmd.org
Montgomery Can Code's FREE, weeklong summer camp is open to rising sixth, seventh and eighth-grade students. Kids will learn how to code with a programming language that creates world-class apps!
In-person camps start during the weeks of July 15–19 or July 22–26. A third week, available from July 29–Aug. 2, will be offered virtually.
Attention families of future Sherwood Warriors!
Prepare your rising 9th grader with their own SHS gear!
Shop our online store at https://www.promoplace.com/sherwoodclassof28popup and have gear in hand before their 8th grade promotion. Sale ends on Monday, May 13th; orders can be picked up at Sherwood HS on May 30th or shipped to your home. Go Warriors!
If you are a Blake family and know about any gear that our rising Blake students can purchase, please contact kjharrison96@msn.com and we can promote it in our upcoming newsletters.
At FMS, teachers utilize the IXL learning platform to provide students with practice opportunities in math and literacy that is tailored to their needs and meets them at their level. FMS has instituted an incentive program that is very popular with students. The students look forward to trading in their earned tickets for fun merchandise. As we begin the new year, the school is planning to restock the store and could use our help. Please consider purchasing incentive supplies for the IXL store through the Amazon Wish List: Amazon.com
Contact Mrs. Rivas-Smith
Email: Angelica_L_Smith@mcpsmd.org
Phone: 240-740-1200
Twitter: @farquharms