French Middle School

August 12th-- First Day of School for 6th Grade Only

August 13th-- First Day of School for All students

August 16th-- Picture Day

August 19th-- First Day of Fall Sports

August 21st-- Meet the Teacher Night @ 6:30/ 8th grade high school transition parent meeting begins at 6pm.

Welcome back to another Frenchtastic school year at French MS. Our main office is now open M-F 8am until 3pm. We look forward to seeing new and returning Falcons. Registration information is listed below. Parents can also find Meet the Teacher Night information below as well. Student schedules will be accessible after August 5th through Synergy. First day of school for 6th graders is August 12th. All students will report on August 13th.

Just a few beginning of the year reminders…

• Consistent and regular attendance is crucial for student success. Students are considered truant after 3 consecutive unexcused absences, 5 unexcused absences in a semester and 7 unexcused absences in a school year. Once students reach 10 absences regardless of being excused or unexcused, a doctor’s note is required in order for the absence to be excused. Please be sure to communicate with our front office when your student is absent. Absent students need to check google classroom for assignments and email teachers with questions. Students are responsible for obtaining and completing assignments assigned during their absence.

• All students who walk to school or are car riders enter and exit the building from the front. The back parking lot is for bus drop off and pick up only. In order to keep the traffic in our front drive flowing before and after school, we ask that cars do not stop in the center lane. Car drivers should pull over to either curb to drop off or pick up students. This allows the center lane to remain open for cars to move through. It also allows for students to safely enter and exit their cars.

On behalf of the FMS Faculty, we look forward to a positive and productive school year.

We are giving Mrs. Wagner, former Assistant Principal, a Falcon Farewell. Mrs. Wagner is now the new principal at Landon MS. We thank her for her dedication and time spent at French MS the last 6 years. The Landon Lancers are lucky to have her lead their school community.

Please join me in welcoming back Ms. Tracy Keegan as the new French MS Assistant Principal. Ms. Keegan has 30+ years of service in TPS as an educator and administrator. She served as our AP prior to Mrs. Wagner. We are excited to have Ms. Keegan return to the Falcon Nest!

Online registration for the 2024-2025 school year is now open for students in grades PreK-12! Returning TPS families may register their students at this link or through the ParentVue app on a mobile device. Reserve your spot at French MS early!

Families NEW to Topeka Public Schools will create a new account and register by following these instructions.

Families can view important dates for the 2024-2025 school year, a school supply list, and more at topekapublicschools.net on the Online Registration page.

Students are required to use the locker assigned to them. School locks are distributed and must be used. No personal locks are allowed. School supply list contains basics for all grade levels. PE uniforms are not required. Students no longer dress out for PE class. Students are not allowed to have wireless airpods/headphones. Cell phones and backpacks must be kept in lockers during the instructional day. A chromebook and charger will be checked out to all students on their first day. Please ensure your student charges his/her chromebook each night. School day starts with Advisor Base at 7:50am, with doors opening at 7:30am and dismissal is at 2:45pm.

French MS Website

FMS Student Handbook

We are excited to provide meals to all TPS students free of charge for the 2024-2025 school year!

Families still need to complete the Free & Reduced Meal Application, as this information is vital for the district to receive funding for many programs, technology, and more to ensure student success. Families may qualify for reduced textbook fees per approved meal application as well. Thank you in advance for completing the form.

Plan to join all Falcon Families at Meet the Teacher Night August 21st. The night will begin with a meeting for 8th grade parents regarding high school transition at 6pm in our commons. All families should plan to meet in their student’s AB classroom at 6:30pm for a brief meeting with AB teachers. At 6:50pm families are free to tour the building on their own. We look forward to seeing all Falcon Families!

Back to School Night just got a little bit sweeter! RG's Sweetery, owned and operated by one of our amazing para's at French, Mrs. Westphal, will be at the school selling ice cream novelties and mini ice cream cookie sandwiches for $3.00 each! They can accept cash, tap, or card for your purchase! Each purchase helps raise funds for the PTO, which we use to help sponsor Teacher Appreciation Week and various Falcon activities!

Check out RG's on Facebook. We are glad they could partner with us for this event!

Please help us welcome our new staff that are joining the Falcon family this year. We are so excited to see them in action and creating an environment of success.

6th grade new staff:

Brianna Spence- Ms. Spence will be teaching 6th grade ELA. She comes to us from Northeast Kansas and has several years of experience throughout other small districts. Ms. Spence will be a great addition to our 6th grade team.

7th grade new staff:

Teresa Thrauthwein- Ms. Trauthwein is joining us from Landon Middle School where she taught math for 18 years. She has a wealth of experience in Topeka Public Schools and with the math curriculum. We are excited to have her!

8th grade new staff:

Haley Kuenzi- Mrs. Kuenzi will begin her first year teaching with the Falcons. We are excited to have her on staff and look forward to seeing her in action.

Special Education new staff:

Sarah Anderson- Ms. Anderson is joining us from the Seaman school district and comes with several years of experience. A fun fact about Ms. Anderson- she absolutely loves the outdoors. Hiking, biking, kayaking, hammocking, etc. Her son and her spent last summer in Colorado, living in a camper for a couple of months. They loved it and can't wait to go back! Welcome Ms. Anderson!

Karen Hay- Ms. Hay joins us from the Auburn Washburn School district where she has spent a few years at the high school level co-teaching math as well as special education math classes. Ms. Hay has an infectious laugh and sparkling personality that will light up her classroom and French Middle School.

Robin Cortout- Ms. Courtot has taught for 21 years. She is a returning TPS 501 teacher. She taught at Jardine Middle School for 14 years before accepting an opportunity to work with students in a correctional facility. Her favorite vacations include roller coasters and beaches. Welcome Ms. Courtot!

Support Staff:

We would like to welcome all of our new support staff. Each will support students in multiple locations and capacities throughout the day. Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Parsel are eager to start the school year. Mr. Nicholson comes to us from Highland Park High School and Mr. Parsel is a former French Falcon and Topeka West graduate!

School photos will be August 16, 2024. The following link will take you directly to the Strawbridge website where you can view the packages and purchase what you would like. Click order pictures and enter the following code: FM440229. There are paper copies of the order form available in the front office and will be sent home with students on the first day of school. Please make sure payment is made prior to picture day or send the order form and exact money amount with your student the day of pictures, change can not be made. All students will have their pictures taken regardless of purchasing a package for school records and badge purposes.

The French Falcon PTO is looking for new members! Join us as a supporter of the Topeka French Falcon staff and students. We plan teacher appreciation events, light fundraising, and sell spirit wear. We are a small but mighty group, and we would love to welcome some new members! We meet on the second Thursday of every month at 5:45 pm at the school, our meetings are typically under an hour! If you have any questions, contact the PTO president Tracy Gallaway at tracy.gallaway81@gmail.com!

Join the PTO and be part of supporting our Falcons. Our first meeting this year is on September 12 at 5:45 PM in the commons!

The transportation department serves the students of Topeka Public Schools by ensuring they are safely transported to school every day.

Students must be at least 1.75 miles from their home school address to receive transportation. The eligibility for bus services is determined by the student's home address, not a relative or a daycare provider.

Bus routing information can be found by logging on to Synergy and clicking the “other info” tab. By scrolling down to the section “Transportation”, it will show route number/bus stop/pickup and drop of times. This information is usually available 2-3 days before the first day of school. If you have a question regarding transportation, please contact

Topeka Public Schools Transportation Office

Students should always be at their assigned bus stop 15 minutes prior to their pickup time.

Topeka Public Schools U.S.D. #501 is committed to excellence in its transportation program and considers appropriate bus conduct essential to the safe transportation of students to and from school and on activity trips.

The district believes that all students can behave on the bus, and have a responsibility to behave in a manner which allows the driver to concentrate on operating the bus in the safest possible manner.

The district believes student conduct should be maintained with procedures that will advance the purposes of safety while remaining consistent with applicable state law and established

Board of Education school policy.

Parents can assist a great deal in maintaining proper discipline on the school bus by insisting that their children seat themselves promptly in their assigned seat, stay seated while on the

bus and conduct themselves in such a manner that the school bus driver can devote his or her time to the task of driving a bus.

If a student is not following the rules and directions from the bus driver, the following steps are taken:

Step 1- Student will receive a warning that details the inappropriate behavior. The student will meet with the assistant principal to discuss the writeup and a phone call home will be made.

Step 2-Upon a second writeup, the student will meet with the assistant principal to discuss the behavior, a phone call to home and 1 day suspension on the bus.

Step 3-Should a student receive a third bus discipline writeup, they will be removed from the bus for 2 weeks. Contact with home will be made by the school administrator.

Step 4- Student will be removed from the school bus for the remainder of the semester.

Step 5-Student will be removed from the bus for the remainder of the school year.

If your student is issued a discipline referral from the bus, the steps above may be expedited depending on the severity of the infraction.

Calling all Falcons! Help out PTO and local community resources by adopting Duck at the Sertoma Duck Race. French MS PTO will receive 50% of the proceeds raised in purchasing ducks. The rest will go back to the community sponsoring Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Club, Capper Foundation, TARC, Meals on Wheels, Topeka Rescue Mission and more.

Duck adopters have a chance to win great prizes and even a car! Prizes will be listed on website: https://www.duckrace.com/topeka

Online adoptions continue up to the race. Just click on https://www.duckrace.com/topeka

And look for French MS PTO.

• Ducks are adopted for $5 each

• Family of 5 ducks for $20

• Flock of 12 ducks for $50

• Oodle of ducks (27) for $100

Remember, FMS gets 50% of profits & you can purchase up to 10 am the day of the duck race. Adopt now through Sept. 14, 2024. The duck race will take place at Lake Shawnee!

Fall sports begin on Monday August 19. Fall sports include Football, Volleyball, Cross Country and Girls Tennis. Information will be sent home the first day of school for those interested in going out for a sport. It is important that you have a physical completed by a doctor before the first day of practice.

Head Coaches

Football- Mr. Mellen

Volleyball- Mrs. Hirt

Cross Country- Ms. Ryan

Girls Tennis- Mr. Renfro

Reminders:

-Sports are only offered to eligible 7th and 8th graders.

-Students wishing to participate in athletics need to have passed 5 classes from the previous quarter, that would be their grades from the 4th quarter, not final overall grade. Summer school does not count for this rule. If students did not pass 5 classes, they are not eligible to participate.

-Students will need to have a sports physical signed by a doctor dated after May 1st 2024 in order to be allowed to play for that school year. Forms and information can be found at http://www.topekapublicschools.net/ Or http://kshsaa.org/

Physicals need to be ready for the first practice to minimize any loss time by athletes. The first practice for all fall sports (cross country, volleyball, football and girls tennis) is Monday August 19th 2024.

Please note-You are not able to play on a team in the same sport outside of school while playing for a school team during the season of that same sport. This pertains to all sports whether club or rec. Before and after the season is allowed.

Parents please contact YMCA and/or Boys & /Girls Club for after school care. The YMCA is a short walk for students from French MS. The Boys & Girls Club has a bus that picks up students and transports to the teen center after school. See contact information below for each location.

YMCA (Terry Jones); (785) 435-8651 & email: terryj@ymcatopeka.org

The Club-Teen Center (785) 234-5601

6th Grade Students: Students who will be entering 7th grade in the 2024/2025 school year are required to have updated immunizations including: Tdap (tetanus booster) and MCV (meningococcal). Students will be required to provide proof of immunizations within 30 days of the start of school in the fall. Letters were mailed home in May for the students who need to provide proof of immunization to the school nurse.

Health &/or Medical forms are required to be completed each school year. This includes Crisis Plans, Medication forms and Health History forms. Forms may be found on the district website https://www.topekapublicschools.net/departments/health_services or you may contact the nurse at the beginning of the school year to discuss student health history or current conditions to determine which forms may be needed.

French Middle School

Kendra Besenyi, LPN

PH: (785) 438-4156

Fax; (785) 271-3609

Email: kbesenyi@tps501.org

French Middle School will not tolerate bullying of any kind. Bullying is defined as any ongoing verbal or physical mistreatment where there is an imbalance of power, and the target/victim is exposed repeatedly to negative actions by one or more students. Bullying can be direct (physical or verbal), or indirect (exclusion, cyber-bullying, emotional). In order for everyone to feel safe and secure at school, every Topeka Public School has adopted the following rules against bullying. “I will not bully others. I will try to help students who are bullied. I will do my best to include students who are easily left out. When I know somebody is being bullied, I will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.” Students, staff, and parents should report any bullying that they are aware of to administration through the on-line bully report link on the French website. Students who bully others will receive consequences. Our counselors will be visiting 6th, 7th and 8th grade classes in August and September to remind students what bullying is, what we can do to prevent bullying, and what students should do if they or someone else is being bullied.

The Topeka Public Schools, Unified School District No. 501 is committed to affirmative action and equal opportunity. No person shall, on the basis of age, race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, disability, national origin or ancestry be denied lawful access to any appropriate educational service, program or activity provided by the school district. The Title VI and Title IX compliance coordinator is the Assistant Superintendent for Teaching/Learning/Administration. The Section 504/Title II compliance coordinator is the Coordinator of College and Career Ready Services. For employment, the EEO/AA officer is the General Director of Human Resources. All compliance coordinators may be contacted at 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294, (785) 295-3000. The clerk of the Board of Education has been designated to receive and redirect or handle inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, regulations and procedures. The clerk may be contacted by calling (785) 295-3045 or by writing to 624 SW 24th Street, Topeka, KS 66611-1294.