The Fulton Flier

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Good morning Fulton Families,

On Friday, we were able to pay tribute and express our deepest gratitude to the brave men and women who have served in the armed forces through our Veterans Day celebration. To our veterans, you're not just our earthly heroes; you're out-of-this world champions. Thank you for being the guiding stars in our universe, showing us the way with your bravery, kindness, and love for our country.

We also had Board Member McCoy visit Fulton on Thursday. She had the opportunity to walk through many of our classrooms and was impressed by the teaching and learning that was occurring. Thank you Ms. McCoy for taking the time to visit Fulton!

Warmly,

Dr. Burks, Mrs. Liwosz, & Mrs. Sillers

November 13-17, 2023 has been designated as American Education Week. A week designed to raise awareness about the need to provide every child with a quality public education and a time for us to celebrate the amazing partnership between home and school. This year’s theme for American Education Week is “Together for Safe, Just & Equitable Schools.” The celebration highlights the importance of bringing together educators, parents, students, and communities in a unified effort to build great public schools.

This year, we will be welcoming parents/guardians to visit their child on Friday, November 17th during our Character Day Activities.

Character Open House Schedule

• 10:20-10:50 1st Grade

• 10:50-11:20 Kindergarten; RECC AM

• 11:20-11:50 3rd Grade

• 11:50-12:20 2nd Grade

• 12:20-12:50 4th Grade

• 12:50-1:20 5th Grade

• 1:20-1:50 RECC PM

If you are planning to join us for your child's character day activity and want to skip the check-in lines, please complete this form.

We hope you can join us for this fun event!

It has been brought to our attention that some parents/guardians are turning around using LKMS parking lot. When parents/guardians do this, it clogs up the carloop for parents/guardians who are following the intended path as well as causes more traffic in the LKMS parking lot. Additionally, it makes it dangerous for our students- many of whom are walking, riding bikes, or scooting on the sidewalk or road.

There have also been some concerns regarding parents/guardians joining our carloop almost an hour before time. This causes congestion for the LKMS parents/guardians when they are exiting our campus. Please refrain from getting to our carloop too early.

We appreciate your attention to this and helping to maintain safety for all.

Beginning on Monday, November 13, 2023, a Howard County Police crossing guard will be assigned to the intersection of Maple Lawn Boulevard at Market Street. This safety improvement will enhance pedestrian safety during school arrival and dismissal times. We’re told the guard will be on location during these times: 8:50am-9:20am as well as 3:55pm-4:25pm.

Picture Retake Day is coming! Thursday, November 30. Students who were absent will take their picture on this day or students who need to retake their picture. Students should return their original package on Picture Retake Day. Information will be sent home on 11/16.

Thank you for your patience as we worked with our vendor to resolve an issue with parent/teacher conference scheduling. Conference scheduling will reopen Monday, Nov. 13 at 8 a.m., and will close Friday, Nov. 17 at noon.

If you did not previously schedule your conference, beginning Nov. 13, please follow the instructions below:

1. Log in to HCPSS Connect Synergy using parent/guardian credentials
2. Select Conference from the left navigation pane, and click the Parent Scheduled Conferences link in the top right corner.
3. Select a time option for each class listed. The conference will be saved automatically.
4. To select a different day or time option, select a new time from the drop down menu or select the blank option at the top of the time slot drop down menu to remove the conference for that section.
5. If you have more than one child, select the next child in the top left corner.

If you scheduled a conference or attempted to schedule a conference on Monday, Nov. 6, please follow the guidance below:

Prior to the conference window re-opening, view your conference schedule as it appears in the system and consider what may need to be updated.

1. Login to HCPSS Connect.
2. Select More Options from the left navigation menu and then Conference Schedule from the middle of the screen
3. The page displayed will show the conference slots currently saved in the system for you. We understand that the selections shown may not be the one you ultimately wish to keep and families will be able to update them once the window opens. Please note:
   1. Some parents may have attempted to schedule a conference appointment slot that was already taken by another family. Due to the issue, we suspect they did not receive the notification that the selected time was not available. Those appointments will not appear in the list.
   2. Some parents attempted to schedule a conference and then changed their selection either once or several times, likely due to the issue. The appointment time that is viewable on the conference schedule page is the one saved in the system.

Beginning Monday, November 13 at 8 a.m., modify your selections, as needed:

1. Login to HCPSS Connect and select Conference from the left navigation menu.
2. Select Parent Scheduled Conferences from the top right corner of the screen.
3. Review the conferences days and times selected for each student.* Please follow the below guidance to adjust your schedule, if needed.
   1. Add Additional Conference Selections - Select a time option for each class listed that you wish to schedule a conference.
   2. Double Booked - If you have a conference scheduled unintentionally for different classes but the same day and time, update one of the classes to a new time slot. Additionally, families should only schedule one time slot per teacher.
   3. Update a Conference Selection - Use the time slot drop down menu to update a conference to a new time.
   4. Remove a Conference Selection - Select the blank option at the top of the time slot drop down menu to remove the conference for that section.

*Toggle between students in the top left corner.

HCPSS staff worked diligently to identify and correct the unforeseen vendor issues. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

If you need assistance with scheduling a conference, please contact your child’s school.

The Carson Scholars Fund awards $1,000 college scholarships to students in grades 4-11 who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities. In order to apply: Students must attend an accredited K-12 school in the United States. An interested student must be nominated by an educator at his or her school, have a minimum GPA of 3.75 and display humanitarian qualities through community service. If your child is interested in participating, we would like for the applicant to submit an essay in order to determine who our school will be nominating for this scholarship. Interested students need to be current 4th or 5th graders. The deadline for submission is Dec 1, 2023.

The essay question is:

What is your favorite fictional character? Imagine they were your classmate, what would be a good way you could work together to do something good for others?

Please submit essays to Mrs. Liwosz via email, Meaghan_Liwosz@HCPSS.org or a hard copy can be turned into the front office.

The season in changing and the change of clothes you sent in at the beginning of the school year may not be appropriate for the cooler weather. Please provide an updated change of clothes for your child to keep at school. The health room has a very limited supply of clothes for children to use. Also, if your child came home with some clothes from the health room, please return them to school so that others may use them. (You can keep the underwear 🙂.)

If your FES child is in need of a Gently used bike, please contact Mrs. Bello (FES Longterm School Counselor) at christi_bello@hcpss.org or call Fulton ES at 410-880-5957

Free BIkes 4 Kidz (FB4K) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization geared toward helping all kids ride into a happier, healthier childhood by providing bikes to those most in need. The public donates gently used bikes, we organize scores of volunteers to clean and refurbish them, and then we give them away to children referred to us by schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies. We're one of 17 affiliates of the national Free Bikes 4 Kidz organization. In Maryland we conduct an annual campaign during which we collect bikes until October, refurbish them in ten weeks, and give them away by the holidays.

As shared last week, Ms. Bello is substituting for Mrs. Shields while she is out on maternity leave. Please visit this link to meet Ms. Bellow.

Fulton Elementary's final weeks of #Socktober were super successful! We donated 220 more pairs of socks to the Grassroots Columbia location and an additional 427 pairs to the Grassroots Day Resource Center in Jessup. That brings our final total as a school over these four weeks to 847 pairs of socks donated this year! The people who are served by Grassroots Crisis Intervention Center were very happy to receive our donation and for our partnership. This community organization benefits greatly from our generosity here at Fulton. Way to go, Falcons! A special shout out to 4th grade, 5th grade, Kindergarten and 2nd grade for having the most packed donation boxes these final weeks of our collection. Thank you to Mrs. Ciliberti and the SGA for helping to collect and count! We helped make the world a warmer place! ❤️

The Service Club kids are getting ready for their big donation drive!! They are organizing TWO donation drives for THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16th from 4:30-6pm in the FES Bus Loop.

Pet Supply Drive for Small Miracles Rescue:
•Wet Food for small dogs and cats
•small dog and cat toys
•laundry detergent
•clorox bleach
•paper towels

Snack drive for FES students who may need a snack:
•peanut-free snacks for students who forget to bring in a snack
•goldfish, granola bars, popcorn, pretzels

We have created an Amazon wish list if you are able to donate, but cannot make it to the event. Please share the link with neighbors and friends. https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/8VIB9H5X3KBX?ref_=wl_share
The kids will see you in the bus loop on 11/16! Thank you for supporting them - they are excited to help! 🐾 Please visit our Facebook page for more details: FES Falcons Service Club.

Our Service Club students surprised our teachers and staff this morning with candy to fill up their cups! The kids LOVED hanging out in the teachers’ lounge, setting up the candy buffet, and seeing their teachers come by and say hi! ❤️🧡💛💚💙

All Pro Dads • Wednesday Nov 15 • 8:05-9am

Breakfast is back! We are bringing back our All Pro Dads event to give fathers and father figures a unique chance for breakfast at school with their students. There were be a presentation on helping to form meaningful relationships between father and child, as well as time to talk to other parents in attendance.

Registration is free but required and space is limited: https://shorturl.at/mqKNU

Thank Yous!

Falcon Trot The Falcon Trot fun run was such a hit! We so enjoyed having so many FES families spend the morning with us!

Our chairs - Esther Jan and Sheena Erete - thanks for all of your planning and hard work to make the day such a success.

Our POCs - Nicole Davison, Jessica Peay, Nilam Gosai and Grayce Kim thank you for your coordination and efforts to ensure every detail was covered.

Thank you to our generous sponsors in attendance - Rachael Herrera Schwartz and Anne Herrera Franklin with Monument Sotheby's International Realty, Odyssey Strength & Conditioning, Lemon Perfect, KidStrong Columbia, and Brandon Dean Childcare - you helped make the day so much fun!!

And lastly, to our community who came out and enjoyed a picture perfect day- we appreciate your support and hope you had as much fun as we did!!

PTA Meeting

Thank you so much to everyone who joined our PTA meeting and especially the entire admin team and Mrs. Dudek. The topics presented were informative and helpful to learn more about what goes on in the classroom.

As always, we appreciate you answering our variety of questions at the end of the meeting!

Missed out? The information will be shared on the FES website coming soon. Join us for our next meeting in January!

Coming Soon - Stay tuned for information about the Holiday Shoppe!

November

• 11.14 Vision & Hearing Screening
• 11.17 SGA Character Day
• 11.20 3 Hour Early Dismissal/Parent Teacher Conferences
• 11.21 3 Hour Early Dismissal/Parent Teacher Conferences
• 11.22-11.24 No School
• 11.30 Fall Picture Make-ups

December

• Week of December 4th: 3rd Grade CoGAT (more information to come)
• 12.19 1st Grade Gingerbread Houses
• 12.20 3rd Grade Cookie Decorating
• 12.21 1st Grade Winter Party
• 12.22 5th Grade Winter Party

Sleep and ADHD

Emily Wells, Psy.D.

Licensed Psychologist, Co-Founder & Clinical Director

Orchid Center for ADHD and Executive Functioning

DATE: Tuesday, November 21, 2023

TIME: 7 PM to 8:30 PM

LOCATION: This program will be presented virtually via Zoom.

RESERVE A SEAT: linda.s.ellis@outlook.com (In the Subject line: CHADD November). Registration closes at 12:00 PM on Tuesday, November 21. A Zoom link will be sent to everyone registered during the afternoon, prior to the program.

About the Program:

During this presentation, we will discuss the causes and types of sleep disturbances in individuals with ADHD as well as the impact of poor sleep on daily functioning. You will learn ways to work towards improving sleep habits and routines to ensure adequate sleep needs are met. There will be plenty of time for Q&A.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Wells is the Co-Founder and Clinical Director of Orchid. She has experience in a variety of clinical settings including EAP, community mental health, inpatient hospitals, universities, public schools, and most recently over 15 years in private practice.

She uses a variety of interventions and an integrative, collaborative, strength based approach to therapy including techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and other emotional regulation and behavioral strategies. Dr. Wells helps clients to understand and reframe the thought process driving behaviors, learn the relationship between their thoughts, feelings, and actions, and supports and coaches them to make impactful change.

She also has extensive experience with a variety of psychological testing instruments and is skilled at diagnostic assessments for ADHD, Executive Functioning disorders, and mood and anxiety disorders in adolescents and adults. Dr. Wells also assists with school-based intervention strategies and works collaboratively with executive functioning coaches, psychiatrists, teachers, and other professionals.

Dr. Wells’s special interests include ADHD in the workplace, career assessment, job coaching, work/life balance and ADHD in college students. She particularly enjoys working with individuals during transitional times: college, employment, and parenting. She also has extensive experience training supervising and mentoring mental health clinicians and is an affiliate faculty member at Loyola University in Maryland where she provides clinical supervision to doctoral students in the Clinical Psychology Department. She spent five years overseeing a multidisciplinary clinical staff of 15 people and also provided clinical supervision and consultation to a nationwide team of clinicians as part of a corporate employee assistance program.

Dr. Wells received a BBA in Human Resources Management and Psychology from George Washington University and an M.S. and Psy.D in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University in Maryland.

Mrs. Beth Shields, one of our school counselors, recently welcomed a beautiful baby girl to her family and is out on maternity leave. If you need anything while she is out, please contact Ms. Horvath or Ms. Bello, Mrs. Shield's long-term sub, Christi_Bello@hcpss.org.

Mrs. Shields & Ms. Horvath, School Counselors, joined each classroom in the beginning of the year and conducted individual “Minute Meetings” with each student where they asked get to know you questions. Throughout the year, Mrs. Shields and Ms. Horvath will be delivering at least 4 classroom lessons in the areas of Social Skills, Social-Management Skills, Learning Strategies, and College & Career Readiness. In the fall, the students received classroom counseling lessons that demonstrated the essential curriculum objectives in the “Social Skills” behavior standard as stated below.

1. Kindergarten

• Exhibit words and behaviors to actively engage with staff and peers in the educational setting.

• Students practiced the “Golden Rule”, treating others the way you want to be treated. They loved the play on words story, Do Unto Otters, and role played when students say please, I'm sorry, excuse me, and thank you!

2. 1st grade

• M 2. Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment

• B-SS 5. Ethical decision-making and social responsibility

• B-SS 8. Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

• In honor of Anti-Bullying month, we learned that when problems are NOT dangerous, we use different strategies to solve them on our own. To help us remember those strategies, we learned the acronym DEBUG related to how we can assert ourselves when necessary. We also learned about the Boo’s of Bullying, how to be a Bucket Filler, while listening to the story “Have you Filled a Bucket Today?” which highlights how to choose kindness over bucket dipping.

1. 2nd grade

• Identify and apply effective listening and communication skills to interact with others.

• 2nd grade students learned about I-messages. I feel _____when _____ . Could you please___________?

2. 3rd grade

• Identify and apply effective strategies to maintain positive relationships with others and promote social responsibility

• 3rd graders learned the acronym for Conflict Resolution TALKS

1. Talk about what happened

2. Act and talk politely

3. Listen to the other person’s side of the story

4. Keep trying to cooperate

5. Share in finding a solution

3. 4th grade

• M 2. Sense of acceptance, respect, support and inclusion for self and others in the school environment

• B-SS 5. Ethical decision-making and social responsibility

• B-SS 8. Advocacy skills for self and others and ability to assert self, when necessary

• In honor of Anti-Bullying month, we learned how to identify relational bullying through the story “My Secret Bully” by Trudy Ludwig. By learning about relational bullying as well as reviewing strategies such as DEBUG/T.H.I.N.K. and how to be an upstander. For added comprehension students completed a dual sided worksheet defining put ups vs. put downs and reflective questions related to “My Secret Bully.”

4. 5th grade

• Demonstrate social maturity and behaviors appropriate to the situation and environment.

• 5th graders read the book I can’t believe you SAID that by Julia Cook and practiced using a social filter. Students took time to filter out their thinking bubble thoughts to be socially appropriate.

Last week we celebrated the great work of our Occupational Therapists, Mrs. Kaye and Dr. Karp. Thank you for all you do!

In preparation of receiving your child’s report card and for Parent Teacher Conferences, we'd like to share some resources provided by HCPSS to support you in understanding your child’s report through the Elementary Standards-Based Instruction and Reporting for Families Canvas page.

Parent-Teacher Conference time is quickly approaching! Conferences with Homeroom/Language Arts teachers will take place on November 20-November 22. Please note the schedule below:

• In- person conferences will be held on Monday, Nov. 20th only
• Virtual conferences will be held on Nov. 21st or Nov. 22nd only

To schedule your conference, please access your HCPSS Connect account. You will be able to schedule your child’s conference beginning on November 6th at 8:00 AM through November 16th at 4:00 PM. Please click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AflvnekdMybJRsoEa2gAHMlkf0EUeReu/view to find step-by-step scheduling instructions.

Parents of students who are enrolled in 4th Grade GT Math ONLY- please sign up for conferences with your child's homeroom teacher as well as your child's math teacher. All other math conferences will happen during winter conferences.

If you would like to have a conference with your child's Related Arts teacher (e.g., media, PE, art, technology, music, Band, Orchestra). Please contact your child's Related Arts teacher and they will be happy to meet with you.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Conferences:

• Be on time for your conference, as they are only 15 minutes in length. Teachers will not be able to give you additional time past your scheduled 15 minutes.
• Be prepared: Be familiar with your child’s first quarter report card grades. Respectfully bring up any questions or concerns.
• When signing up, we suggest a 15-minute buffer between conferences to allow for travel time around our building if you are meeting in-person on Monday.

A huge thank you to our PTA for hosting our annual Falcon Trot. It was a beautiful day for students and families to enjoy outside. My own kids ended up running and enjoyed the activities such as corn hole, putt putt golf, as well as participating in community organizations that stopped by to support. To top it off, every student was provided a medal and they were able to decorate as they wanted. Great job PTA on a wonderful family event!

Nothing Bundt Cakes, located at 10730 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, is offering a special incentive for students. “Books and Bundts” is a youth reading program through which students can earn a free Bundtlet and an award certificate for each month they read 400+ minutes. Students should track their progress on the attached form below and bring the completed tracker to the store to receive their sweet treat. Happy reading!