The Faubion Lion Pride Press

Please enjoy this week's edition of the Faubion Lion Pride Press. Mark your calendar for this upcoming weekend to attend one of the four showings of the Faubion Musical, Annie, Jr. Our football team closes out their season this Tuesday night as well!

Aristotle once said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." At Faubion Middle School, we make excellence a habit, and we are kind. Parents, thank you for partnering with us in helping your children build quality habits so they will become the leaders of our future.

Go Lions!

- Mr. Boom

This past week, our PALS program held their first annual New Student breakfast, welcoming those who joined us after the start of the school year. We are grateful for Coach Gann and her PALS students for creating a family atmosphere for everyone, regardless of when they started with us.

Our Faubion Lions Coders did an amazing job on CoderZ this year. They came in 1st place in our region which was composed of 48 schools throughout the United States. The competition timeline was from September 11th through October 24th. The coding task consisted of four levels of coding that needed to be navigated to reach a given destination, (via coding). Each level brought its own unique challenges. Faubion kept battling with Dowell for weeks they would take 1st at times but our Lions would roar back and take 1st. Faubion should be very proud of our Lion coders! Go Lions!!

The McKinney ISD paraprofessional of the month award goes to our Office Manager, Judy Chamorro! Ms. Chamorro works tirelessly in taking care of our building and our staff. She has a wonderful spirit, always going the extra mile to take work off others' plate. Judy is an incredibly versatile employee with knowledge of all processes from registration to facilities to staffing to instruction. She is an incredible asset to McKinney ISD and is a cherished member of the Faubion Family! Pictured is Ms. Chamorro with some members of her Faubion Family.

Friday, November 10 is the final day the yearbook will be $45 and the last day we are accepting 8th Grade Recognition Ads. Please see below for the links to purchase a yearbook or purchase an 8th grade recognition ad:

Yearbook Purchase Link

8th Grade Recognition Ad

McKinney ISD is excited to provide an opportunity for 8th grade students to sample all of the Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs they have to offer. On the morning of Friday, November 10th, Faubion 8th graders will head over to the MISD Community Event Center to learn more about the various CTE programs available, and how they can participate in those programs during high school. Our hope is that this tour will provide valuable information regarding the requirements to participate in the CTE programs, so students can plan accordingly when they register for their High School courses in the Spring.

Parents/Guardians must sign the Field Trip Permission Slip in order for their student to attend the CTE Tour. Permission Slips were sent out October 27th. Please make sure your student returns the signed Permission Slip to their 1st period teacher by Friday, November 3rd.

8th graders will prepare for these tours by using SSO Naviance to take a Career Inventory (assessment) and exploring which of the 16 Career Clusters best match the individual student.

We have two days left in our memorable Red Ribbon Week! Monday is Pajama day, and Tuesday is Costume day! We look forward to sharing photos from all the theme days in next week's edition.

The Faubion PTO silent auction is always a big hit! We have set a goal of $10,000 this year to support campus upgrades and teacher and student events. Please visit this website and start placing bids today! This is a great opportunity to do some holiday shopping while supporting the best middle school in the state of Texas. We even had a very generous family donate tickets to the Mavs-Spurs game on Valentine's Day! If you have anything you would like to donate or to advertise your business, please email pschaefervillarreal@mckinneyisd.net. Thank you!

During the month of October, Counselors are presenting a guidance lesson on self-awareness. Students are learning about the importance of self-awareness and ways to be more self-aware of things both inside and outside their body. Learning how to identify their emotions; knowing what makes them angry, frustrated or sad; and identifying how their body responds to stress are just a few ways students can be more self-aware. Students were also taught how and why it is important to reach out to a trusted adult right away if they or someone they know were having thoughts of self-harm.

We are needing volunteers to help our fabulous Faubion teachers by making copies for them! You are welcome to come at any time during the school day on the date you signed up. There are multiple opportunities to help, so click on the link to find a time that works for you! We appreciate you!

Link for Copy Room SignUp: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4AACA62AAAF8C16-copy#/

Link to MISD Background Check: https://www.mckinneyisd.net/human-resources/volunteer/

Stanford University professor Carol Dweck conducted a study to determine the impact of recognition. She found that applauding effort is more beneficial for students in building a growth mindset than recognizing positive outcomes. Since we want our students to do their best every day, we celebrate effort by acknowledging students both in the classroom and throughout the entire school. We hold random drawings every Wednesday to select winners. So far this year, over 5,600 positive student actions have been acknowledged by teachers!!

Market Street of McKinney, Jeremiah's in McKinney, CUTX, New York Life, and our PTO are contributing to the cause. If you know of a local for-profit or non-profit business or individual that would like to donate items or money, please let us know. We would love to highlight those who impact our work in building the leaders of our future!

Qualifying for Free and Reduced Lunch allows your child to receive benefits to support them in their education, including meals and discounted fees. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress authorized spending that allowed schools to serve free meals for all students. Those funds are not authorized to continue for this school year. As a result, McKinney ISD must return to charging for school meals and offering free and reduced-price meals based on student eligibility. Please follow this link to complete your application: http://www.mckinneyisd.schoollunchapp.com/.

Our students have been stopping by the library to check out books! In August our students checked out almost 3000 books! Ask your student what they are reading, and please have your child show you through their SSO if they are missing books from last year or before and take care of these books/fines as soon as possible. We can get the books or money back to any MISD school if they give them to us here at Faubion! We also have digital books available through the Sora App. This can be accessed on a mobile device with the app or on a computer by navigating to soraapp.com or clicking the link in SSO. The login information is the same as logging on to their computer or into SSO.

We have wrapped up our computer deployment. Students have been instructed in caring for the laptop, but we could use your help in emphasizing the importance of taking care of this device. Students should always close the laptop when carrying it, and should never grab it by the screen. They should be careful to make sure nothing is on the keyboard before closing the laptop-not even a set of papers! Students should also not eat or drink near their laptops. Here’s a link to the information we shared with students about this. The cost of using one of the MISD laptops is $74 for the year. This yearly fee should be paid in cash or check to our bookkeeper or online at payschoolscentral.com. When this fee is paid, the first incident (damage) is charged at $50 rather than the full cost of fixing the device. (Subsequent fees are $125.) Please help your child to remember to charge their device and bring it to school. If your child is having an issue with their laptop, they need to enter a help ticket and bring the device to the library so that we can get it to technology to be fixed.

Every child at Faubion has a MacBook to use at school and to take home for educational use. There are expectations for use of these devices and use of the MISD wireless network. Please stress to your children that MacBook are property of MISD and are not to be used for personal matters, such as video games. Graduating seniors may elect to purchase their device from the district. All students will receive their MacBook on August 23 and will have direct training from our staff. Please set up firm parameters with your children about where, when, and how laptops are to be used at home as well. Please view the McKinney ISD laptop assurance document, which you signed when you completed student enrollment. https://sites.google.com/mckinneyisd.net/1toworldmisd/home

Calling all scholars! Academic excellence at Faubion is part of what makes us great. Please consider joining our Academic UIL team. For more information, please visit tinyurl.com/fmsuil.

Our PTO goes above and beyond time and time again. From showing love to teachers to organizing school dances to helping with school programming, our PTO is the best! Parents, if you have not contributed/joined the PTO, please go to the Faubion PTO website and join! We also need parent volunteers to come help this fabulous team of hard-working and organized parents. Please visit www.faubionpto.com for all of the latest and greatest information! Our PTO meets the second Tuesday of every month at FMS, so please help contribute to our school community.

Cell Phone Policy - At your convenience, please listen to the Simon Sinek video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNgQOHwsIbg) about the harmful effects of cell phones and the importance of interpersonal communication. We do not allow cell phones or ear buds to be out during classroom periods. We also do not allow cell phones in restrooms. Please help us reinforce this expectation, as we want to engage your child in high-quality instruction from bell-to-bell in every class, every day.

All students in McKinney ISD are to follow the rules set in the student handbook. Please visit https://www.mckinneyisd.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/2023-2024-Student-Handbook-Final-Revised-080323.pdf for the handbook that you signed for your student as part of registration.

As you are planning for picking up your child after school, here are FMS expectations:

1) Adhere to the "No Parking" signs, which means no parking/stopping/standing. Streets affected are southbound Paula, northbound Isola, northbound Hollis, and southbound Duvall.

2) Do not enter the McKinney ISD Central Office parking lot or the FMS gym parking lot.

3) You may use parking in front of Ron Poe stadium, where there is ample parking and access to go north, east, or south after picking up your child.

4) Duvall is one-way street (southbound only) on the south side of Josephine.

5) Dropping off children in front of the cafeteria is not allowed in the mornings.

Note: The speed limit for the entirety of the one-mile block surrounding Faubion, Central Office, and Al Alford Field has a speed limit of 20 miles per hour during drop-off and pick-up hours. Please adhere strictly to this law, as there are several school buildings in the vicinity.

We are focused on making sure that all students are an active member in at least one club/organization in order to become more engrained in our school community and also help with academic performance.

We have several well established clubs and organizations on campus, including Academic UIL, Student Council, Youth and Government, the Kindness Club, and more. All clubs are student-led and guided by a faculty sponsor. Please follow this LINK for a listing of our clubs.

The Faubion orchestra students competed at the District Solo Festival last Saturday and walked away with 110 superior ratings! In addition, the following students were named outstanding soloists: Carrissa Chiu, York Bryson, Garrett Machuca, Mya Shirley, Justin Lee, McCoy Box, Krish Gupta, Ruben Solis, Brooke Aguillard, and Olivia Alejos. Congratulations to all!

Keep Talking: Mental Health Awareness for Parents https://tinyurl.com/misdcares

We invite you to explore our self-guided course to learn about common mental health conditions, resources for assistance, and wellness practices that will support your family. You’ll be empowered to teach your child positive coping strategies and resiliency skills. This course can be accessed on-demand from the privacy of your home.

Staying current on information is easy, if you know where to look! For school-wide information, you can visit us at:

School website - schools.mckinneyisd.net/faubion;

Twitter - twitter.com/faubionmiddle; and

Facebook - facebook.com/faubionms.

Our counselor webpage is https://fmscounselors.weebly.com/, and our PTO website is faubionpto.com.

Please visit all of these sites regularly to stay updated. Make sure to check your child's grade regularly in Home Access Center (HAC) at https://hac.mckinneyisd.net and view coursework in Canvas at https://canvas.mckinneyisd.net.

You may monitor your child's grades and attendance by using the Home Access Center.

Here are the steps to follow:

1) Please make sure that you are using Google Chrome as your browser.

2) Go to https://sso.mckinneyisd.net

3) Enter your login credentials. If you need assistance with your login information, please reach out to your child's house secretary:

A-G: Mrs. Olvera - dolvera@mckinneyisd.net or 469-302-7005

H-O: Mrs. Perea - lperea@mckinneyisd.net or 469-302-6911

P-Z: Mrs. Dedman - odedman@mckinneyisd.net or 469-302-6917

Drug Use Prevention: McKinney ISD offers a Canvas course called "Talk it up! Prevention resources for parents," which is full of drug prevention resources. Please visit the following LINK, bookmark it, and review it at your convenience. Our district truly embodies the "Live Kind" mindset in taking care of the entire child. Our district Substance Use Prevention Committee works hard to make the content relevant, engaging, and timely. Our counselors are also equipped with lots of resources to assist you, so if you need anything please reach out to us.

McKinney ISD provides a district-wide standard, called the Model of Instruction, which guides teacher teams in planning, instruction, and classroom culture. With input from our extended leadership team, we created a standard for scholarly behavior in every classroom. Our teachers use the Model of Learning, guiding students on how to behave and think as a scholar. This model reinforces the characteristics of a McKinney ISD graduate.

October 23 - October 31

Red Ribbon Week Dress Theme Days

Tuesday, October 31

Football v. Cockrill Middle School

Wednesday, November 1

Individual Picture Retake and Club Pictures

Thursday, November 2

Annie Jr., the Musical - 7 p.m. in the Faubion Auditorium

Silent Auction Begins - runs until November 30

Friday, November 3

Annie Jr., the Musical - 7 p.m. in the Faubion Auditorium

Saturday, November 4

Annie Jr., the Musical - 2 p.m. in the Faubion Auditorium

Annie Jr., the Musical - 7 p.m. in the Faubion Auditorium

Friday, November 10

Pep Rally for Veterans Day and Fall Sports

8th grade CTE Tours at the high schools

Final day to buy yearbook at a discount and final day for 8th recognition ads

Friday, January 19

Lion's Pride / Merit Scholar Awards Ceremony for Quarter Two

*Merit Scholars must have a 93% or higher in all classes at the end of the quarter *

Thursday, March 28

Lion's Pride / Merit Scholar Awards Ceremony for Quarter Three

*Merit Scholars must have a 93% or higher in all classes at the end of the quarter *

"We make excellence a habit, and we are kind."

Email: mvandenboom@mckinneyisd.net
Website: schools.mckinneyisd.net/faubion
Location: 2000 Rollins Street, McKinney, TX 75069
Phone: 469) 302-6900
Facebook: facebook.com/faubionms
Twitter: @FaubionMiddle