Greetings MMS Families,

This past week we had our first Spirit Week/Dress Down Week of the year and it was a lot of fun. It definitely added some extra energy to the week, but it was overall positive and it was great to see the students share support for mental health awareness and anti-bullying efforts. This coming week, we will be allowing students to ‘dress in celebration’ for Halloween. This means that students can wear costumes or Halloween themed clothing (no crocs, etc., no weapons play or otherwise as part of costumes, no masks covering faces) on Thursday. Students not thematically dressed should report in normal uniform. All other days this week students must report in full/normal uniform.

REMINDER - MMS Website Survey – please use the link provided by Ms. Beckett to provide your input on the website and help Ms. Beckett (who has been doing tremendous work) keep improving our digital presence.

REMINDER - 8th Grade Halloween Party – we will have our first Annual 8th Grade Halloween Party on October 31st. More details will be shared but it will occur for 8th Graders Only on Halloween during 4th period. Please note that we will decide next week on whether students may dress in costume on Halloween. Masks and weapons of any kind will not be permitted.

10/31 – 8th Grade Halloween Dance – 4th period.

11/6 – 4:00-7:00pm – 8th Grade HS Fair

11/25 – All Day – Picture Day

Mustang families,

Below is the calendar of faculty meetings for the school year. There will be no afterschool activities on these days.

24-25 Faculty Meeting/PD Days Dates:

• February 5th
• March 5th
• April 2nd
• May 7th
• June 4th

Afterschool programming began on Monday 9-9-2024. Tutoring and clubs commence at 3:30 and end at 4:45. Students will have supper then go with their perspective teachers. All students will be dismissed at 4:45 to go home.

Students will need to fill out the emergency contact form prior to attending after-school activities. Students will also be able to list their club choices on the emergency contact form.

PARENT RESOURCE – FINAL REMINDER - Halloween Safety Tips for School – Courtesy of DCPS

As we prepare for Halloween, remember S.P.O.O.K.Y:

· Safety first - Choose flame-resistant, bright costumes and use reflective tape

· Paint - Use lead-free face paint instead of masks

· Observe treats - Return home to check goodies with adults

· Only factory wrapped - Stick to factory-wrapped treats and carry an epinephrine auto-injector if needed

· Allergy alert - Read labels carefully

· Keep it safe - Parents, inspect treats for tampering; throw away anything that looks suspicious

· Yank hazards - Remove choking hazards. For more tips check here.

POC: Healthservices.dcps@k12.dc.gov

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!

Dear Hispanic Heritage Committee, Families, and School Community,

I want to extend my deepest gratitude to each of you for your incredible support in making our Hispanic Heritage celebration a success. Your dedication, enthusiasm, and collaboration truly brought this event to life.

Thank you to the Hispanic Heritage Committee for your hard work and vision in organizing such a meaningful celebration. To the families and school community, your participation and encouragement were invaluable, enriching our experience and fostering a sense of unity.

Together, we have honored our diverse heritage and strengthened the bonds within our school community. I look forward to our continued collaboration in celebrating and embracing our shared cultures."

Warm regards,

Mr. Cordoba

In Ms. Drummond’s reading interventions class she was ensuring students have a mix of language exposure experiences from phonological practice to independent reading. It was also a great note in directions that reading plus/computer based station maintain ‘visible screens’ during their independent work time. This is a strategy for all small group intervention classes to steal!

In all of our world language classes students were engaged in various activities to promote language acquisition. In Ms. Siwotso’s class students were practicing verb tense and she was circulating providing 1-1 feedback to students during independent work time.

In Ms. Larracuente’s class the students were engaged in group/partner reading – which is a great way to practice their reading/literacy and oral language work.

And in Ms. Hussein’s class students were all in the target language and physically engaged at the same time. Students were on their feet, walking, running and stopping to practice language. There was also a high sue of hands on materials and manipulatives.

Students in Ms. Gibian’s discussing stereotype, what it means and how it is often found in the study of Africa and ideas and perceptions about the continent and its people. This was prior to/in addition to their exploration of the elements of the content and important anti-racist ground to lay as well as a chance to ensure student unpack the meaning of stereotypes.

In Mr. LaRosa’s IESL class students were engaged in examining texts and exploring racism in direct support for the content of the text they are studying in their ELA core content class. Students were being pushed to use textual evidence and explain the experiences and feelings of the characters.

Shout out to our RW5 team Dakota and Sharon from the OPS team for doing a great job of stepping in and supporting multiple events and additional shifts as needed during Foreman Johnson’s absence. Thank you both for being willing to step in and support and put in that extra elbow grease.

In Mr. Cordoba’s global studies classes they had engaged in a station based activity and review of environmental impacts on different areas of the globe. The students were collecting their evidence to answer essential questions and I had the chance to review some of the stations. A personal shout out as one station shared an image of the rive Ganges in Kolkata where my wife’s family is from! Students are becoming globally educated for sure!

In Ms. McKinley’s intervention class she maintains structure and engagement with a small group even when students are absent in focal station rotations and teacher led sections. The focus of teacher led station and the topic of suspense build on core content skills and use of text based evidence. It’s critical to keep the urgency and intensity up even when other students are absent!

I got to visit Ms. Chapman’s class who had students engaged in predictable and stable classroom routines as well as digging in to current events. It was great to see students find links between their lives and national news and learn new ideas and terms in the process!

We had a lot of spirit this week even though Halloween is next week!!! Thank you to Ms. Raphael and the Wellness Team for great Spirit Week promoting mental health and anti-bullying at MMS. It was a lot of fun to see our Mustangs showing their spirit and support for the causes and we have lot of great photos to add to the website and share!

The 7th Grade Community Event Thursday night was a huge success! They had a presentation from our partner the DC Tutoring and Mentoring Initiative, parent information and a movie night where they got to relax and enjoy a Halloween classic. Shout out to Team 7 and AP Ojeda for the hard work and the drumline for the ringing opening!

8th graders are getting ‘Booed’!!! By the Kindness Club! Shout out to Ms. Drummond and the kindness club who started an 8th grade pay it forward kindness movement. Each advisory shares a ‘Boo Basket’ with Halloween themed treats and kind notes to the next advisory. Once they receive it they pass the ‘Boos’ along. It’s the first time I’ve ever wanted to get booed!!!

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

Next Curbside Coffee – November 15th

November PTO Meeting – November 12th – 6:00pm Virtually; November 15th 9:00am in person at MMS

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

We are excited to announce the launch of our new Wellness School Newsletter! This newsletter aims to keep our school community informed about vital mental health and social-emotional supports available for your MacFarland scholars. Each monthly edition will feature resources, tips, and strategies to promote emotional well-being and resilience. We believe that fostering a supportive environment is essential for our students’ success, and this newsletter will serve as a valuable tool for both teachers and parents.

¡Nos complace anunciar el lanzamiento de nuestro nuevo boletín informativo de la Escuela de Bienestar! Este boletín tiene como objetivo mantener informada a nuestra comunidad escolar sobre los apoyos vitales para la salud mental y socioemocional disponibles para sus becarios de MacFarland. Cada edición mensual contará con recursos, consejos y estrategias para promover el bienestar emocional y la resiliencia. Creemos que fomentar un ambiente de apoyo es esencial para el éxito de nuestros estudiantes, y este boletín servirá como una herramienta valiosa tanto para los maestros como para los padres.

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.