Good afternoon, Holmes Families!

I hope that you and your family were able to enjoy some downtime over Spring Break!  4th quarter is here!  Just 2 months left to go in the 2020-21 school year!

Updated Guidance for In-Person Learning

Yesterday, Dr. Brabrand sent information out to families about how schools are responding to the Center for Disease Control's (CDC) updated guidance allowing for 3-feet of social distancing.  The message is HERE. Since the message mentions that this will look different from school to school, I wanted to provide you all with some clarification for our situation at Holmes:

• The CDC guidance specifies that middle schools and high schools should maintain 6 feet of social distancing when community transmission of COVID is high, which it currently is (see data HERE). 
• In addition to restrictions around social distancing in the health guidance, we continue to have barriers in our staffing that we are working daily to resolve.  When those staffing issues are resolved, that will open up more spaces for students to attend in-person for 4 days.  
• Families who have requested in-person and/or 4 days may have already received a message from Ms. Giron or the student's counselor letting them know that we cannot currently accommodate the request.  All of these requests will be revisited once our staffing situation improves.  
• Our administrative and counseling teams have been working to identify students to attend in-person for 4 days a week since we returned at the beginning of March.  As Dr. Brabrand's communication mentioned, we have identified and continue to identify students who have had the greatest learning challenges in the past year.  We are looking at data (attendance, grades, etc.) to help us identify those students, and we are reaching out to families to make changes as space allows.
• We will continue to expand the number students attending in-person for 4 days through the month of April (as space and staffing allows), and then must focus May and June on SOL testing and wrapping up the school year.  

SOL Testing

Before Spring Break, I sent information to families with the draft of the SOL schedule in May (below).  While it is still being finalized, we wanted to give families as much of a heads-up as possible about our thinking.  Currently, we are planning to test students in:

• Reading (all grades) - the week of May 3rd 
• Science (8th grade only) - the week of May 10th
• Math (all grades) - the week of May 17th

Before Spring Break, I sent information to families about how to opt a student out of taking the SOL this year if desired.  The links for opting your student out are below:

• In-person students
• Virtual students

If your student is taking Algebra or Geometry, please keep in mind high school graduation requirements before deciding to opt your student out.  Students will receive a high school credit when they pass the Algebra or Geometry SOL and pass the course, which is required for graduation.  

Here are today's newsletter topics:

Holmes Updates

• Student Services - Important Information
• After School Program Schedule
• Laptop Care for Students
• Important Dates
• Reporting Student Absences
• How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS

FCPS Updates

• Virtual CAD and Programming for Middle School Students 
• Employment Opportunity in FCPS: Classroom Monitors 
• FCPS Seeking Individuals to Serve as Substitute Teachers
• COVID-19 Vaccines & the Vaccination Process in Fairfax County: A Webinar for Families
• Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)
• Diversity in STEM Talks!
• FCPS CARES Program
• Special Education Conference 2021

Thank you, and have a great week!

Sincerely,

Margaret Barnes

Proud Principal, Holmes MS

@email

After School Program Schedule - April

Virtual after-school activities will be a blend of school clubs, community service, arts and crafts, leadership, recreation and sports, and other activities. 

For any specific questions related to the After School Program or to share new ideas for after school activities, please feel free to contact Mrs. Parker, our After School Program Specialist.

HOLMES UPDATES

Laptop Care for Students

It is important that all students (including students taking classes virtually) to connect their laptops to the FCPS network on a regular basis.  If your student is taking classes virtually, please find time in the next couple of weeks to come to the school parking lot (the administrators' parking spaces or pulling up at door 2 gives you the best access to the network), and have your student complete the steps below.  

Clearing the Cache

It it also important for students to regularly clear the cache in Google Chrome.  Students should follow these steps:

• On your computer, open Chrome.
• At the top right, in three vertical dots, Click More tools.
• Select Clear browsing data. For the time range, select All time.
• Next to "Cookies and other site data" and "Cached images and files," check the boxes.
• Click Clear data.

Important Dates

• Tuesday, April 20 - Friday, April 23 - SCA Spirit Week
  • Tuesday: Pajama Day
  • Wednesday: Wacky Wednesday – Crazy hair, crazy socks, crazy outfit, or just be crazy!!
  • Thursday: Jersey Day – Rep your favorite team, club, sport, flag, country!! 
  • Friday: Class Color Day
    • 6th Grade: Red
    • 7th Grade: Blue
    • 8th Grade: Black

Reporting Student Absences

How do I report my student's absence for virtual or in-person classes?

• Please call our attendance line at 703-658-5919 or submit an attendance form.

How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS

Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:

• keeping your contact information up-to-date throughout the year
• visiting the Holmes MS website
• signing up for News You Choose
• following us on Twitter  
• monitoring your student's progress with SIS Parent Account
• join the Holmes MS PTA and attend meetings

FCPS UPDATES

Virtual CAD and Programming for Middle School Students

The Thomas Jefferson High School FTC Robotics team worked with middle schoolers last year on Saturdays to teach about robotics using LEGO robotics kits. Unfortunately, these in-person sessions were not possible to organize this year, so the team has been working on developing their own curriculum for a free, virtual, school-year camp for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The only resource needed to access these camps are an FCPS laptop. The camp will be split into two curriculums: 1) classes on Computer Aided Design (CAD), for students to learn how to virtually design their own robots; and 2) robotics-related programming taught in the programming language Python.

Students may choose to participate in one or both classes. Each class will last for 6 weeks, making both a total of 12 weeks from March 27th to June 12th. These sessions will be on Saturdays and take place from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. Students will be emailed a Blackboard Collaborate link to join at these times, similar to how one would join a regular school-day class.

Although the CAD camp has already started, they have posted recordings of the sessions in their Google Classroom (this information will be sent in an email to those who sign up) so students can watch those if they wish to participate in the CAD classes now. They can also sign up for the Programming course, which will be starting on May 1st. More information can be found on the following website: https://www.robotuprising.org/camps/. You may also Register Here.

Employment Opportunity in Fairfax County Public Schools: Classroom Monitors

FCPS schools and centers are hiring classroom monitors to provide in-person classroom assistance for students when some staff members continue to work virtually. If you would like more information about the position, review the job description online and apply if interested. Please share information about this opportunity with anyone else you think may be interested. 

FCPS Is Seeking Individuals to Serve as Substitute Teachers

Are you or somebody you know interested in substitute teaching with FCPS? Apply online or attend one of our Friday information sessions to learn more. To sign up for a session, visit the FCPS substitute teacher information page.

COVID-19 Vaccines & the Vaccination Process in Fairfax County: A Webinar for Families

Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT)

The Diversity Committee of the TJHSST Presents: Diversity in STEM Talks!

FCPS Cares Program

The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can acknowledge the good work of FCPS employees.

Watch this video to learn more. 

Special Education Conference 2021

The FCPS 16th Annual Special Education Conference will be held virtually on Saturday, April 17, 2021. The conference will include a combination of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (recorded) sessions supporting our conference's theme: Inclusion: The time for inclusion is now.

Registration starts March 2021

Starting in March, parents and community members will be able to register online or by phone. In addition, FCPS educators, administrators, and preservice teachers  will be able to register online and earn recertification points for attending the conference.

Conference Highlights

• A Student Strands for youth ages 14-22
• An Exhibit Hall
• Inclusive Schools Presentation

Each year our conference draws an audience of parents, educators, administrators, preservice teachers, and community members eager to hear the latest research, strategies, and trends in the education of students with learning challenges, special needs, and disabilities.

For more information please email @email or call 703-204-3941.

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