Mustang Matters

Greetings MMS Families,

We had an overall outstanding Week One with our Mustangs this week! There are several shout outs for students, teachers and staff below and probably many that were missed. It was such a joy to have our young people back here this week and engaging in learning. We have a little rest with the long weekend ahead, but I am excited for our second week as we had such a great start so far! Please remind Mustangs that although grace has been given for uniform this week, we will be more diligently enforcing this expectation beginning Tuesday!

This Wednesday we have our Back to School Night!! - Wednesday from 5:00-7:00pm. Departments will have tables set up out front (weather permitting) to share relevant departmental information so parents can receive information and connect with teachers. We will also be hosting a parent and family workshop during 8th grade orientation for 6th and 7th grade families. Similar to parent orientation, each grade level will call families in for about a 30 minute presentation in the auditorium:

o 6th Grade 5:15pm

o 7th Grade 5:45pm

o 8th Grade 6:15pm

Parent and Family Workshop for 6th - 7th Grade Families - 6:15 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Ready, Set, School! Tips and Tools for a Successful School Year with Auntie Asha! - This workshop is designed to support families in developing their communication, fostering resilience and understanding, and empowering families to grow together. An 8th Grade specific session will take place during 8th Grade Family Night on Tuesday, September 24th.

The PTO will also have a table at this event, so be sure to stop by to connect with other parents, hear about plans for the year and learn how to get connected and involved!

Important Note on Schedules and Schedule Change Requests – Please note that all schedule changes are on hold while students complete beginning of the year math and ELA testing. This is a standard required practice each year to ensure that students are in the correct classes and interventions. As the testing may result in schedule changes, other schedule changes will be processed concurrently to avoid students receiving multiple schedule changes. If you have questions about your student’s schedule please reach out to your grade level administrator. We anticipate final schedules should go into effect by Monday, 9.10.

October Parent Teacher Conference Date Update – In order to serve more families and provide two evenings of conferences for students, we will be scheduling parent teacher conferences on two preceding evenings (TBD) from 4:00-7:00pm. Advisory teachers will reach out to each family to coordinate conferences as needed. Please note that there will be NO CONFERENCE on Thursday, October 10th due to this alternate schedule. The building will be open for parents needing other services from 9:00am-5:00pm.

REMINDER - September PTO Meeting – Tuesday, September 10th 6:00pm – Please note the first PTO meeting of the year will be the third week of school 9.10. It will be fully virtual and more details will be shared in the next week or so. Looking forward to ‘seeing’ you!

9/4: Back to School Night – 5:00-7:00pm

9.10 – First PTO Meeting – Virtual ONLY – 6-7:00pm – details to come!

9.13 – In Person PTO Meeting at MMS – 9:00am – details to come!

PARENT RESOURCE – NEW RESOURCE -

“You’re Only As Smart As Your Emotions” – This is a great article for parents to read to reinforce some of the non-academic elements that are critical for our long term success for our young people!

Shout Outs and Celebrations: Please check out a few shout outs to MacFarland community members who are embracing our belief that we are one MacFarland!

Shout out to Team Chapman who came in early the first day of school and created a beautiful balloon arch out front to welcome our students back! It added a perfect touch of joy and celebration to the process of bringing in our students and families on Day 1. Thank you team!

We had lots of additional Day 1 support with Mr. Novoa-Marcano running enrollment for new families out front and working quickly to get students set and enrolled on the first day! It helped keep the traffic in the main office manageable as well as get quick assistance to our families. Ms. Salgado came in extra early to help with prep and set up and run the main office and Mr. Bengston joined us form central office to help out with Day 1 families needing support and translation services. Thank you Day 1 team!

Student Shout Outs this week go to Zyree D and Malaiya E for their support of some of our students with special needs as they transitioned back to school or to a new grade level. Both of them demonstrated kindness and compassion in supporting their peers and I was proud to see them intervening and assisting!

RJC Dance provided some shout outs to the culture team this week who have been helping us maintain our strong start all week long. Shout out to Ms. Simmons for her Day 2 mediation that went so well, thank you to Mr. Lee who has been all over the place helping manage the building; Shout out to Mr. Thomas for facilitating the situation with a student and her parent and Mr. K and MacMillan for holding down their floors and grade levels!

A huge shout out to Mr. Cephas and our Foreman Mr. Johnson for their weekend work last weekend to put us over the top with our school readiness. It was great to see all the finishing touches the team and Ms. Walker-McLean put on the building to ensure we were Day 1 ready and looking fine! Thank you team!

There were MANY classroom highlights this week as students got settled in and got into their learning! Here are just a few highlights from the week:

• In Ms. Chapman, Ms. Barrett and Ms. Neal’s class students were working to ensure they all knew one another’s name and taking turns going through the room practicing everyone’s name! It was such a warm, positive environment to experience!
• Ms. Smith did a great job facilitating students engaging in a See/Think/Wonder with a fascinating picture that generated some great responses from kids related to the American Dream.
• Ms. Lewand and Ms. Neal had students creating art with their names in their class with some calming music and Ms. Lewand was using a timer to keep the students on pace!
• In Ms. Gibian and Ms. Holland’s room students were creating a ‘rose garden’ to reflect on the challenges they would overcome this week that they will build on all year!
• Ms. Resnik and Mr. Samper had a great plicker activity with kids that was fun and got the students excited and engaging!

Via email or by appt. – lucas.cooke@k12.dc.gov

Next Curbside Coffee – NEW DATE – Friday, September 13th – front steps

September PTO Meeting – Tuesday, September 10th 6:00pm

Thank you to all of the families that have already completed the enrollment process! We are around 96% to our enrollment goal. School has begun so it is critical if your child is attending that the enrollment process be completed. Students that have not been fully enrolled will be barred from attending school until the enrollment process is completed. If you would like assistance feel free to stop by or give us a call us at (202) 671-6034.

Please complete SY24-25 enrollment by following three steps:

1. Complete the DCPS enrollment packet using online enrollment(link is external) or paper forms.
   • Families New to DCPS will click “Request Aspen Account” to create a new account and begin enrolling their student(s).
   • Families Returning to DCPS will login to the platform using their Parent Portal credentials. If you do not know your Parent Portal credentials or need to update your email address, please contact your school. A valid email address is required to use online enrollment.
2. Gather and attach supporting documents (proof of residency and health forms).
3. Submit the packet and supporting documents to the main office or via email to edgar.novoa-marcano@k12.dc.gov or rosely.dos-santos@k12.dc.gov.

🌿 Connect with yourself and your neighbors with our FREE Popup Yoga every Saturday at 10am in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park! 🌱

Before we can serve our communities, we must first take care of ourselves. Your yoga instructor Christyal Rood will guide you through refreshing, meditative exercises that are suitable for all levels!

We hope to see you there!

Produce Plus is a DC based program that approves families to receive money to directly use at farmer's markets around the city. Please use the link below to enroll:

FRESHFARM: Produce Plus Enrollment Form 2024 (google.com)

• https://dcps.nutrislice.com/menu/macfarland-middle-school

Please use this form to refer a student to the MMS Wellness Team. / Utilice este formulario para referir a un estudiante al equipo de bienes.

https://forms.office.com/r/S6pRi9yLRt

WELLNESS TEAM MEMBERS: Ms. Raphael, Social Worker Ms. Virginia, Mary’s Center Therapist Ms. Kent, Psychologist Ms. Sargent, 8th grade counselor Ms. Castro, 7th grade counselor Mrs. Thompson, 6th grade counselor LAYC: Ms. Rachel & Mr. Raul

The allergy season is here and many individuals who suffer from frequent asthma attacks are beginning to feel the impact of the various allergens and irritants in the air. For students and families, we are sharingthis link to Children’s National -- https://www.childrensnational.org/get-care/departments/impact-dc-asthma-clinic -- as a resource for helping to manage your students’ asthma related-illnesses. If your child suffers from asthma, be sure to complete and submit the Asthma Action Plan and Medication Plan and Procedure to the Nurse. The Anaphylaxis Plan must be completed for acute allergy sufferers who need to be administered an Epi-pen. Also, if your child is on any medication during school hours—including over-the-counter medications—a Medication Plan and Procedure Form must be completed and submitted to the Nurse along with your child’s Medication Treatment Administration Form, signed by your child’s primary care physician. All these documents must be provided to the Nurse by parents, along with the medication/s your child is taking during school hours. Students are not permitted to self-carry or self-medicate. All the forms mentioned in this message are attached, for your convenience.

For Mental Health Support Resources in English and Spanish for Students, Parents, and Teachers. Topics include: Stress, Grief and Loss, Anxiety, Suicide and Self-Harm, Healthy Relationships, Social Media, and much more! -- Mary`s Center (maryscenter.org)

This school year, DCPS is partnering with Children’s National Hospital to support our students’ health and attendance through the Collaborative for Attendance Resources in Education and Health (CARE-H); CARE-H is now available in all DCPS schools. Through this program, parents or guardians can give permission to DCPS to securely share attendance information with their child’s doctor(s), nurse(s) and medical office staff. This information will help these healthcare professionals to provide special outreach and medical attention to children that might be missing school and their families. Information about this initiative can be found here.

POC: Andrea.Allen@k12.dc.gov

The MacFarland PTO has set up an email list for discussion and connection among current and enrolled MacFarland families. Any family member or guardian of a MacFarland student can join by either of these methods:

Attention families, anyone with a child that would like a Kids Ride Free SmartTrip Card can sign up for one in the main office. We will process and distribute on a rolling basis.