Roadrunner's Digest

Good evening Farquhar Families,

Thanks to all our staff, students, parent volunteers, and student volunteers for an incredibly successful 2023 Outdoor Ed experience! I saw so many smiling faces and precious moments that undoubtedly created lifelong memories for our sixth graders.

We are gearing up for Parent teacher conferences tomorrow, November 20th at Farquhar Middle School from 1:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. If you were unable to schedule a one-on-one conference with a teacher between 1-3:30pm, remember that all teachers will be available for 6-minute drop in sessions from 6-7:30pm. If these options do not meet your needs, please reach out to your student's counselor to schedule a conference after the Thanksgiving holiday. We look forward to seeing you soon!

November 20 and 21 are Early Release Days in MCPS, and school will dismiss at 12:30pm. There is no school Wednesday, November 22 through Friday, November 24. I wish all of you a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving holiday!

In this week's newsletter you will find:

• This week's bell schedule
• This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
• TIMELY: Come to the SGA Dance November 29!
• NEW: Yearbook Sale, Early Bird Discount
• NEW: Girls' and Boys' Basketball Tryouts are LIVE!
• NEW: Congrats to Cross Country!
• NEW: College Student Volunteers Needed in December
• NEW: Revised Bell Schedule in Effect Monday 11/27
• NEW: Instrumental Music Updates
• NEW: Roadrunners Lend a Helping Hand
• National Junior Honors Society (NJHS) Info
• NEW: POMS Clinic @ Springbrook HS
• Support FMS by shopping at Harris Teeter

PTA Corner Updates

• Last call for Spirit Wear orders is TODAY!
• Support dinner for FMS Teachers on 11/20
• Apple-a-Day Campaign @ FMS 11/20
• FMS v. Sherwood & Brooke Grove ES Staff Basketball Game

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.

• Monday: Early Release
• Tuesday: Early Release
• Wednesday: No School
• Thursday: No School
• Friday: No School

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

• Alex Zirkelbach
• Mr. Eisenhower
• Mr. Lichvar
• The Sixth Grade Team
• Ms. Pontes
• Ms. Foster
• Mr. Brennan
• All the Outdoor Ed Parent Volunteers!
• A massive thank you to all 6th grade Outdoor Ed parents who took the time out of their busy schedules to head up to SkyCroft. Thank you for helping make this trip possible for our 6th graders!
  

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

Submit a SHOUT-OUT!

The Student Government Association (SGA) is hosting a Fall Dance for all students on Wednesday, November 29 from 3:15 - 4:15pm. After-school activity buses will be available for all students as transportation home. Tickets cost $5 and include a provided snack. Buy your tickets on School Cash Online by November 28. We hope to see you there!

Yearbook sales are up and ready to be sold on the Walsworth Website. They can be purchased at yearbookforever.com , when parents buy them now, they will be cheaper. The price is $35 from now until 12/23/24 when they will be $40.

All students interested in participating in the Farquhar Boys' or Girls' Basketball Team can sign up for try outs. Parents can sign their student up for tryouts online through ParentVUE. If you have any questions, please reach out to Mr. Davis (Brent_M_Davis@mcpsmd.org).

• Girls: December 5, 6, and 7
• Boys: December 12, 13, and 14

This year Ms. Mason coached her biggest team in seven years of almost 40 students. She would like to congratulate the Fall ‘23 Cross Country Team for finishing another successful season. The girls finished the season with a 4-1 record and the boys finished with a 5-0 record making this their second undefeated season in a row. All athletes improved their mile times by at least 1 minute at the close of the season. Go Roadrunners!

Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Pontes took 6th grade students where at Farquhar outside for campus clean up and had the opportunity to support LFI students outdoors who were learning about biotic and abiotic items in the environment!

We love cross-curricular and cross-program opportunities to build relationships with our Roadrunners. Thank you to Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Pontes for providing the opportunity for our students!

FMS College Week is coming up December 18-22, 2023. If you have a college student who is home during this time and would like to volunteer to speak to our Roadrunners about their experiences, please encourage them to participate! Interested volunteers can sign up here:

https://forms.gle/Het1F4tMTce3mFTi7

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.
• We received feedback from students, families, and staff in response to the Open ROCK proposal that there was not enough frequency of the Open ROCK schedule. As a result, we have determined a total of thirteen dates instead of the original seven. They are listed underneath the Open ROCK bell schedule below.
• If inclement weather prevents us from going outside, we move to a "rain date" or move inside as appropriate.

When is this starting?

We've heard all voices and we plan to start our new bell schedule on Monday, November 27th upon return from the Thanksgiving break.

Friday, November 3, 2023

Friday, November 17, 2023

Friday, December 15, 2023

Friday, December 22, 2023

Friday, January 12, 2024

Friday, February 2, 2024

Friday, February 16, 2024

Friday, March 8, 2024

Friday, March 22, 2024

Friday, April 12, 2024

Friday, April 19, 2024

Friday, May 17, 2024

Friday, June 7, 2024

All County Band & Orchestra Permission Slips due 11/21

Each MCPS Middle School music director can nominate up to 24 band and orchestra students for All County ensembles. Caregivers of nominated students received information from Mrs. Lipford via Synergy.

6-8th Grade Band Pep Band Performance on 12/1

Band students will be forming a pep band for the community basketball game on Friday, December 1. FMS band students will be joined by advanced band students from Brooke Grove and Sherwood ES as well as faculty members! Permission slips to stay after-school to rehearse and set-up for this performance will be given out in class next week. Also look for an e-mail from Mrs. Lipford for an electronic copy.

6-8th Grade Band Field Trip 12/12

Permission slips went home this week and are due 11/28. You can view and print from this link if you lost your paper copy.

Band & Orchestra Winter Concert is Thursday, December 14th at 7:00 p.m. Students report for warm-up at 6:30 p.m. All black concert attire for this performance. Jenny_M_Lipford@mcpsmd.org with questions about this required performance.

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.

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 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!

The PTA has extended the deadline to order spiritwear to TODAY, November 19. Click here to purchase your FMS gear!

FMS PTA will be supporting our teachers with dinner during parent teacher conferences. Please sign up and help contribute to the dinner:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A45A8AD2EA02-46139636-fmsstaff#/

Common Cents Economics LTD is delivering 1 pallet of apples to FMS for the Apple a Day campaign on Monday, 11/20. These are all locally grown apples and we want to share them with our FMS community. We will distribute bags of apples at the front entrance on Monday, 11/20 12:00-3:30 p.m. and 6:00-7:30 p.m. so when you are at FMS for parent-teacher conferences please stop by as we will have a ton of apples!

Come and be a part of the excitement at the community basketball game on Friday, December 1st, from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at FMS. Witness the incredible showdown as our outstanding FMS staff faces off against your beloved former teachers from Brooke Grove and Sherwood Elementary Schools. Bring along your younger siblings and be the loudest cheerleader for your teachers! The vibrant beats of our FMS Pep Band will amplify the excitement. Admission is free, and you can purchase snacks, drinks, and pom-poms available to support our PTAs! Don't miss the thrill – come cheer on our teams and enjoy the incredible tunes!

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

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