Roadrunner's Digest

Good evening Farquhar Families,

I hope you're staying dry on this rainy Sunday! We had an amazing week celebrating our instrumental music students' impressive performances, enjoying our peers during Open ROCK, and counting down the days until winter break. We are finally in the home stretch!

In exciting news, the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has released the 2023 Maryland Report Card for all schools in the state of Maryland, and I am thrilled to share that Farquhar MS continues to be a "four star" school! Read this linked letter to access our report card, learn more about how the state rates schools, and more. Congratulations to all of our Farquhar students, staff, and families who continue to make our school stand out as one of the best middle schools in Maryland! I am truly honored to be a part of this community.

Our next Roadrunner's Digest, published December 31, will be our first using the Remind platform. This requires no action on your end! You will not need to create an account with Remind in order to receive messages, and they will be primarily sent via text message to the mobile number you've provided in Synergy. If you do not have a mobile phone number listed in Synergy, communication will reach your email.

Thank you again for your continued support and partnership. Let's make it a great week!

In this week's newsletter you will find:

• This week's bell schedules
• This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
• NEW: College Week Spirit Days at FMS!
• NEW: Congratulations to our new National Board Certified teachers!
• UPDATED: How you can support Dickens Day for Seventh Grade
• REMINDER: Chromebook Care
• TIMELY: Last week for Early Bird Discount
• Support FMS by shopping at Harris Teeter
• TIMELY: Springbrook POMS Clinic on Thursday

PTA Corner Updates

• TIMELY: Sweet Treats for FMS Staff
• Healthy Minds Initiative
• Support Girl Scouts Silver Award

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/.

We will operate with the main bell schedule December 18-21, then the Open ROCK schedule on December 22 to kick off winter break!

Thank you to the following Roadrunners who have made a positive impact on our learning community!

• Heather Bruns
  
• Dani Affinito
• Patrick McNaboe
• Masel Zegeye
• Jenny Lipford
• Matthew Lichvar

Would you like to recognize a student, community member, or staff member?

Submit a SHOUT-OUT!

This week, we will be celebrating FMS "College Week." The purpose of the week is for students to explore and expand their understanding of college and post-secondary education. Students will participate in a variety of learning opportunities and are invited to participate in the spirit days!

Please join me in Congratulating Mrs. Michelle Moton and Mrs. Rachel Miller who recently earned their National Board Certification. Recognized as the “gold standard” in teacher certification, only 4% of the teacher workforce in the United States has earned this impressive accomplishment. Thank you for your dedication to your craft, your students, and the Farquhar community!

One of Farquhar's cherished traditions, Dickens Day, a day of service for our seventh grade students, is approaching quickly! Please review this linked letter for details about the vision for this event and how you can support. If you would like to donate supplies for this event, you can go directly to the Signup Genius Wish List. If you wish to send a monetary donation, please feel free to write out a check to William H Farquhar Middle School by 12/20 with Dickens' Day Donation in the subject line.

If you want to learn more, take a few moments to see how last year's seventh graders blessed their local community with their service projects! (Watch video)

This is a brief reminder to encourage students to be gentle and responsible with their Chromebooks. This week, eleven out of fourteen chromebooks turned in to the media center resulted in an obligation for a cracked screen or detached trackpad. In multiple cases, students reported that their Chromebooks were broken by a peer. Our Chromebooks are borrowed devices that we hope will last multiple years. Thank you for support in reinforcing this message at home.

This is the last week to purchase your student's yearbook at the discounted rate. They can be purchased at yearbookforever.com. The price is $35 from now until 12/23/24 when they will be $40.

Springbrook Poms will have clinics Thursday, December 21st and Friday, December 22nd from 5-6pm. The cost to participate is $5. Families can pay at the door with cash the day of the event.

An online permission form/emergency form must also be completed for each child participating. This form can be found at:

https://forms.gle/3c85PbX15nBXMucb7

Families should contact Coach S at Nahal_Sojdehei@mcpsmd.org with any questions or concerns. You can also find information with links on our Instagram @Springbrookpoms

We look forward to supporting the Springbrook Community together.

UPDATE: We now have 30 families participating to support FMS via Harris Teeter. Our goal is 50 families! Please consider linking your VIC card to FMS. Passive fundraising greatly supports our students.

The Together In Education program gives schools a chance to earn funds when you link your VIC card and shop Harris Teeter.

Any VIC member can link their card to a school.

Link your VIC card to support Farquhar Middle School. Simply sign in to your account, search for Farquhar, and you're done!

Harris Teeter donated $376 to FMS last year with only 26 families participating. Thank you for helping us reach our goal of 50 families this year!

Help the FMS PTA by sharing some of your favorite holiday treats with our awesome FMS teachers and staff. If you are interested, please sign up here or just drop off your baked goods on Tuesday, 12/19 7:30 am-3:00 p.m. in the front office. The PTA will bring boxes to FMS so that the teachers can select a sample of baked goods to take home with them over the holidays. Thank you for your support.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F4CA4A82BABFC1-46694602-sweet#/

FMS PTA has been selected as a Healthy Minds Grant recipient! We will be hosting an event in the spring, but we would like to design the program around the needs of our students/families. Please complete this survey to help us determine the programming for spring. Please note the questions below are anonymous and will not be shared with others, it will only be used to help the PTA select guest speaker(s) and/or the focus/topic of a spring PTA event.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kvrTlsWV2ARoyiHlQCn_pupNZqpsx2wGpM_d5MwbLT0/edit

jFMS PTA ha sido seleccionada como beneficiaria de la subvencion "Healthy Minds!" (MENTE SALUDABLES) para lo cual, organizaremos un evento en la primavera, para esto, nos gustaria disenar un programa en base a las necesidades de nuestros estudiantes / familias. Por favor, complete esta encuesta para ayudarnos a determinar la programacion a realizarse en primavera. Tenga en cuenta que las preguntas a continuacion son anonimas y no se compartiran con otros, solo se utilizaran para ayudar a los organizadores del PTA a seleccionar oradores invitados y/o en el enfoque/tema del evento que el PTA desea hacer en primavera.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dZY2b-bPKuiAMyqufxzdS1C-IFepEAddSEub2Eqtkcs/edit

The FMS PTA is supporting one of the local Girl Scout Troops as they work toward their Silver Award, the troop is working towards stopping the stigma of periods and collecting products for those who are unable to afford proper products. The troop goal is to collect 1500 products that would be donated to Title 1 Middle Schools in Montgomery County (each grade level would be able to offer 500 products to students for daily use, use over winter break/spring break, and for use over the summer).

Feel free to contact me anytime and follow Farquhar on Twitter!

Email: Angelica_L_Smith@mcpsmd.org
Phone: 240-740-1200
Twitter: @farquharms