FMS Parent Newsletter

Every student in the school now has a Chromebook in hand. If you purchased insurance, everything is covered, no matter what, except for the charging cord. It is important to talk to your child about being careful with their Chromebook. Doing the following will protect your child's Chromebook:

1. Get a computer sleeve or buy a bookbag with a computer sleeve and make sure the Chromebook is stored in the sleeve when moving from class to class or home.

2. Please eat or drink in an area away from the Chromebook.

3. Always pick up the Chromebook with two hands, and carry it with two hands.

4. Don't allow anyone else to use or borrow the Chromebook.

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Wondering how your child is doing? Want to ask a question, or let your child’s teachers know about an issue or an upcoming absence? Simply go to https://www.fcschools.net/franklintonmiddleschool and cut and paste teacher email addresses into your own email platform.

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Did you know that you can have your own access to PowerSchool? You can also set your access up to send reports automatically to your email as often as you want them! If you think your child may not be bringing home those progress reports for a reason, or you are tired of waiting for an update, simply go to this link and follow the directions for real-time PowerSchool updates on all your children who are in the school system! *Yes, you can do this on your phone! Need more help? Come into the school office and we will help you to get set up.

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We have a Boys & Girls club after school program right here at FMS. There is a minimal fee to get started and after it's free! Click here for the membership application.

R = Respect (Aug/Sept)

A = Accountability (Oct)

M = Motivation (Nov)

S = Safety (Dec)

C = Character (Jan)

H = Honor (Feb)

O = Opportunity (March)

I = Inclusivity (April)

C = Compassion (May)

E = Excellence (June)

Need to sign up for FCS FindOutFirst for bus changes, school closings, important messages from the county and our school? Click here to go to the county page.

Need to sign up to pay lunch or Chromebook fees online? Click here to get started.

Traditional school calendar for 2019-2020 CLICK HERE.

FMS school day master schedule - CLICK HERE.

MS. SMETANA - SCIENCE

We will have our unit test on Plants 9/25. This test will be on parts & functions of flowers, pollination, and photosynthesis. Students can use the plant slideshows they created, their diagrams of a flower, the virtual lab on explorelearning.com, and quizlet on google classroom to study. We will review for the test on 9/24 with a variety of games. Any donations of individually wrapped candy is greatly appreciated. Our next unit is on the energy flow in ecosystems. We will also continue our vocabulary.com competitions (by class) each week.

MS. BROOKS - SOCIAL STUDIES

We are currently learning about the early humans- The Agricultural Revolution: Neolithic Times. Within the next few days, we will be moving to our next lesson on Mesopotamia.

MR. GENTILE - MATH

We will be wrapping up our Rates & Ratio unit as well as the 1st quarter in the next few weeks. Be sure that your child is consistently creating their vocabulary slides as well as completing their assignments on Edulastic. We will be taking a short quiz on Rates this Wednesday (10/16). Remember to wear orange on 10/23 in support for National Unity Day.

MS. MCINTOSH - ELA

*NOTE: Ms. McIntosh is out on maternity leave, but she will be in constant communication with our substitute teacher Ms. Kearney, who is being supported by our district literacy coach, using the same curriculum. Rest assured that your children are in good hands!

MS WOODS - MATH

We took a test on discounts, tax & simple interest last week. This week we will work a little more on finding the original in percent proportions as well as simple interest. We will review our test as well then we will move on to circle graphs. Don’t forget to visit my canvas page at bit.ly/canvas-kw; I’ve added a resource link for an online textbook.

MS. KEITH - SOCIAL STUDIES

We have completed the basic foundation of the unit “The Age of Exploration”. Throughout the next two weeks we will be completing a DBQ (Document Based Question) Packet and taking that information from it to write an argumentative essay. The end of the nine weeks is quickly approaching, so please encourage your child to ask me about the work they are missing. Currently, all grades in PowerSchool are up to date. As always, feel free to reach out through email for any questions.

MS. KEENAN - SCIENCE

* **If you have any questions or concerns please email me at lesliekeenan@fcschools.net or visit my CANVAS page for announcements/copies of notes and handouts

MR. HOOPER - MATH

Websites for Math Practice

1. Prodigy

2. Math Games

MR. DOWNUM - SOCIAL STUDIES

We have been working on the colonization of America. This week we will be finishing that up as well as looking at the question: Should we still celebrate Columbus Day.” Next week we will be going on a field trip to Raleigh so don’t forget to have your permission slip signed and returned by Thursday October 17th.

6th Grade art students, please bring in a 100% white cotton t-shirt OR pillow case. We will be tie dying as soon as everyone brings in a shirt/pillow case! Please ask your student if they have Art as an elective, as some students do not. Thank you!

Interested in what is going on in the Art Room? Follow me on Twitter! @missculverart

7th grade students are working on our original puppets and fairy tale flip scripts. When we finish we are hoping to take the shows to our Franklin County Schools Elementary schools. Encourage your students in Drama to work hard on their scripts!

8th grade students are almost finished writing their original scripts. We will be sending them in for a state-wide contest in December. They are doing some really great work! Thanks so much to my 8th grade students for their hard work. Look for one or two of these to be produced in the Spring for our night of One Acts performance with Spring Semester 8th grade students!

8th grade Drama students will be bringing home a permission form to go on a field trip to FHS to see the FACT production of Cinderella. This is the Rogers and Hammerstien production, and I’m sure we are going to have a great time!

October is NC School Safety Month and National Bully Prevention Awareness Month!

October 7th was World Day of Bully Prevention. FMS held a Blue Up and students and staff wore blue to show their support for Bully prevention. Students were reminded to “Be the I in KIND.”

Another anti-bullying campaign we are proud to participate in is National Unity Day on Wednesday, October 23rd. We wear orange to signify we are uniting together for acceptance, inclusion, and kindness. Students are reminded that every step they take to end bullying and spread kindness matters!

Students at FMS are reminded often to say something to a trusted adult to report if someone is bothering them, or someone else, or is talking, writing, or posting messages about self harm or hurting someone. This is never “snitching.” Snitching is trying to get someone in trouble. Reporting is trying to help someone or a group of people, and saves lives.

http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/themes/51e1be8f9670a42080000002/attachments/original/1377636619/2._10TipsforParents.pdf?1377636619

https://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/parents/

https://www.cybersmile.org/what-we-do/advice-help/advice-parents-1/advice-for-parents

The importance of your relationship with your child on your child’s developing brain:

Make sure you talk to your children daily. Children benefit from this from the time they are born. Talking helps build language skills and stimulates brain activity that helps the brain form connections that will help with learning all through life. This includes reading and singing with your child (yes, even in middle school), talking about current events, school, the weather, telling family stories and family history, etc. Not only does all this help with brain development, but it also helps you develop a strong bond with your child. That bond helps with self esteem, behavior, motivation, peer relationships, and making adjustments over the years. They need to know a parent loves and cares for them. A child’s brain is not fully developed until about the age of 25, so even if they act like they don’t want you around or in their business, stay strong. Do your share to help the relationship with you child be a positive and strong attachment.

https://www.parentingforbrain.com/brain-development/

https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/inside-the-preteen-brain-development/

https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Bonding_13.pdf

Email: heidiboardman@fcschools.net
Website: fcschools.net/Page/25
Location: 3 North Main Street, Franklinton, NC, USA
Phone: 919-494-2971
Twitter: @FranklintonMS