Roadrunner's Digest

Good evening Farquhar Families,

Congratulations to all of our Roadrunners for finishing the first marking period strong. It's typically around this time when we ask students to reflect on how they managed their time and engaged in practices that contributed to their progress. Adam Osborne said, “The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake. You can’t learn anything from being perfect.” As we embark on the second marking period, we'll be encouraging our Roadrunners to apply lessons learned from last quarter into this quarter to minimize end-of-quarter stress and prepare them for the academic responsibilities of high school.

We enjoyed a smooth and safe Open ROCK schedule on Friday! The Instructional Leadership Team (ILT) will be reviewing your feedback on Thursday, November 9 to consider revisions based on feedback from students, staff, and families. Next steps will be announced in next Sunday's Roadrunner's Digest.

Thanks to those of you who have already shared your feedback with us. If you have not yet completed the parent voice survey, please do so today! The survey closes on Monday, November 6. Take the survey here.

In this week's newsletter you will find:

• This week's bell schedules
• This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
• DEADLINE EXTENSION*: Eighth Grade High School Applications due November 8
  
• DEADLINE EXTENSION*: NEC Choice Form due November 8
• Open Rock and Bell Schedule Details
• TIMELY: Musical Theatre Club Permission Slips due tomorrow
• NEW: Media Center Top Patrons!
• NEW: Highlighting Mental Health Awareness Week
• NEW: 8th Grade English Narratives
• National Junior Honors Society (NJHS) Info
• Support FMS by shopping at Harris Teeter

PTA Corner Updates

• Join the PTA!
• Order your FMS Spirit Wear by November 13!
• Upcoming November 14 PTA Meeting

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 regular bell schedules this week. The Instructional Leadership Team will be reviewing voice data from students, families, and staff on Thursday, November 9 to determine next steps regarding the improved bell schedule proposal.

• Monday: Academic ROCK
• Tuesday: Academic ROCK
• Wednesday: Advisory
• Thursday: Academic ROCK
• Friday: Academic ROCK

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

• Ms. Mason
• Ms. Hunzelmann
• Ms. Lazaris
• Ms. Payne
• Ms. Bronstein
• Ms. Affinito
• Mr. McNaboe

Would you like to recognize a student or staff member?

Submit a SHOUT-OUT!

As promised, the dedicated staff on our Instructional Leadership Team evaluated the safety and supervision plan for Open ROCK after listening to preliminary student and parent voice. We are excited to re-introduce Open ROCK to the student experience at Farquhar with an improved main bell schedule and a special Open ROCK schedule. Here are some details to put the improvements in context:

The three-lunch model:

In order to free up more staff members to support/supervise Open ROCK, Academic ROCK was separated from lunchtime. This allows for each grade level to have their own lunchtime (three-lunches) in the Main Bell schedule, which opens the door for an Open ROCK schedule (both pictured below) with adequate supervision.

What are the benefits of the Regular Bell Schedule?

• In separating students by grade level, they have more room to eat inside and play outside. They also have more access to limited playtime resources (i.e. balls) and the media center (limited capacity).
• Lunch is extended to 35 minutes to allow for more wellness time on a daily basis after students eat inside.
• Scheduling Academic ROCK at the same time for all students allows for teachers of multiple grade levels to be available for all students regardless of the teacher's schedule.

What are the benefits of the Open ROCK Schedule?

• Separating Open ROCK from lunch allows all students to have 30+ minutes of wellness time with safe supervision. This model allows supervision to increase from 6 staff members to approximately 20 staff members.
• Wellness time is in addition to lunch, eaten inside, affording two mental breaks for students on these days.
• The Open ROCK schedule will operate after interims and at the end of each marking period to honor and recognize academic milestones. If inclement weather prevents us from going outside, we move to a "rain date" or move inside as appropriate.

When is this starting?

After we've heard all voices! We are collecting student, staff, and community feedback on the Main and Open ROCK schedules as they are designed here. We piloted the Open ROCK schedule on Friday, November 3, to celebrate a strong finish to MP1. Now, we will continue the existing main bell schedule November 6-10.

Our leadership team will review all stakeholders' voice data on November 9, and an update on our next steps in response to the data will be published in the November 12 Roadrunner's Digest.

Tell us what you think!

Please take the parent voice survey to let us know how this year is going for you and your thoughts on the benefits of Open ROCK for our Roadrunners. The survey is open from now until Monday, November 6.

Attention 8th grade Parents:

Grade 8 students now have access to apply for Regional/Countywide Special Programs using the high school common application found in ParentVUE.

Applications are NOW due by Wednesday, November 8. Programs-At-A-Glance, eligibility, frequently asked questions and October open house dates are available on this website.

Parents/Students have access to an Eligibility letter on Synergy which describes all the special high school programs students can apply to based on their home/base high school. Throughout October, the special high school programs will host open houses for interested students and families.

Please view resources linked here to learn more: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/curriculum/specialprograms/high

All NEC grade 8 families are required to participate in the choice process by completing the online form by Wednesday, November 8. Click here for the NEC Choice Form

Permission slips are due Monday for students in Musical Theatre Club attending Wednesday's field trip to Blake High School. View the caregiver letter and permission slip here. Completed permission slips can be returned directly to Mrs. Lipford in room 129 or to the main office.

Congratulations to the following top media center patrons:

• Evania Ayenew
• Owen Bair
• Charlotte Cheung
• Nathan Cheung
• Faith Hall
• Liana Taddesse

The aforementioned students each read over 25 media center books during the 1st marking period. Way to go! Please check your Gmail for an email from Ms. Brown.

Congratulations to our scary story winner, Cassidy Braham. Cassidy’s story was spook-tacular!

NJHS new inductee nominations will be announced after Marking Period 1 grades are processed. New inductees will be contacted after Thanksgiving break. NJHS announcements and updates will be communicated via Synergy to ensure parents and students are aware of information.

The NJHS at Farquhar Middle School is open to 7th and 8th graders who have the following qualifications:

• Scholarship
  GPA of 3.7 or higher
• Service
  This involves voluntary contributions made by a student to the school or community, done without compensation.
• Leadership
  Student leaders are those who are resourceful, good problem solvers, and idea contributors.
• Character
  The student of good character is cooperative; demonstrates high standards of honesty and reliability; shows courtesy, concern, and respect for others.
• Citizenship
  The student who demonstrates positive citizenship understands the importance of civic engagement.

7th grade:

• 4 consecutive marking periods with a cumulative GPA. of 3.7 or higher
• At least 20 SSL hours completed by quarter 1 of 7th grade year
• Marking periods that will be considered are MP's 2, 3 & 4 in 6th grade in addition to MP 1 in 7th grade.

8th grade:

• 4 consecutive marking periods with a cumulative GPA of 3.7 or higher
• At least 30 SSL hours completed by quarter 1 of 8th grade year
• Marking periods that will be considered are MP's 2, 3, & 4 in 7th grade in addition to MP 1 in 8th grade.

The difference in SSL hours is due to the fact that students earn 10 hours of service each year, which is embedded in the curriculum.

Our students enjoyed a week of honoring mental health awareness in advisory, through their spirit week activities, and the wellness activities at the end of the week. Our students zam danced, did yoga, played outside, created deep breathing tools, and spent time with a few adorable therapy dogs! Thank you so much to our amazing counseling team for their efforts to make this week meaningful and fun for both students and staff.

UPDATE: We now have 16 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!

We have 152 PTA members—a big thanks to all those who have joined. It is not too late to join and donate to the PTA.

Our PTA budget is primarily based on donations from families. If each family donates $20 above the membership cost it will help us meet our budget goal and enable us to support our student activities and staff appreciation. We have 152 members so far and would like to reach at least 200 PTA members!

Join AND Donate to the PTA at: https://fmspta.memberhub.com/store

Show your FMS spirit! you can purchase your spirit wear now through midnight on Monday, 11/13.

https://farquharmiddle2023.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Please join us as we meet with the FMS Administration to discuss bullying, harassment, the MCPS code of conduct, and our school's response to these issues. We will meet virtually via Zoom, please see the information below.

FMS PTA meeting

Tuesday, 11/14

7:00-8:00 p.m.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85177068679?pwd=oSuyZMDlGu01pu7E4FnQxdbT46EMul.1

Meeting ID: 851 7706 8679

Passcode: fms

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

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