Principal's Note - Aug 18, 2023
Hello Holmes Families!
It was such a pleasure seeing and meeting so many of you and your students yesterday at our Open House and Jumpstart events! And in just 3 days, we will be welcoming your students to their first day of the 2023-24 school year at Holmes Middle School! Our staff has spent the week getting everything ready to welcome students on Monday!
If you did not have a chance to pick up your student's schedule, it's okay! You can see the schedule on Student Vue and ParentVue, and we will have students' 1st period classes posted around the hallways on Monday. Students will receive a new BLUE copy of their schedules in their 1st period class.
Pack Light on Monday!
Please tell your students to PACK LIGHT on Monday. They will be receiving laptops this week. Binder, pencil pouches, and dividers are available upon request. Lockers will be by request only and information will be given to students during SOAR. They should just bring a backpack, pens and pencils, a water bottle, and their lunch if they want to bring it. As a reminder, breakfast and lunch is FREE for ALL students.
Back to School Night
Please be sure to mark your calendars for Thursday, September 7th, when we will have our Back to School Night from 5:30-8 pm.
Morning Routines
Here is what mornings look like at Holmes:
- Early buses begin arriving between 6:50 and 7:10 am. Mr. Banks, our Safety & Security Assistant will welcome students at Door 3, and they will walk down B hall to the cafeteria where they will be welcomed and supervised by a member of the administrative team. They will remain there until 7:10 am.
- All other students will wait on their buses until 7:10 am when the bell rings. This will ensure that there are enough staff within the building to supervise them.
- Students who are walkers and car riders will wait outside of door 1 until the bell rings at 7:10 am. Please do not drop off students before 7:10 am, because we do not have enough staff available to supervise students at that time.
- At 7:10 am, the bell will ring, and students will need to go to one of 3 locations until 7:25 am:
- All students who are eating breakfast will go to the cafeteria.
- All students who rode buses will go sit in the main hall.
- All students who enter through door 1 will sit in the library.
- At 7:25 am, the bell will ring and all students should put their phones and earbuds in their backpacks and go to their first class of the day.
Kiss-n-Ride Information
Parents/Guardians who drive students to school should use the entrance closest to Braddock Road, make an immediate right into the parking lot, loop around the cars, and pull up to the curb (see picture below). A member of our school staff, Mr. Meade, will be there to greet you each morning and afternoon. Please do not use the other entrance for student drop-off, and please do not drop students off on Montrose Street. Please do not park and walk into the school building with your student. (NOTE: Students being picked up in the afternoon are picked up in the same location.) Please do not drop off students and leave them unattended before 7:10 am.
Transportation: Patience and Safety
Thank you for your patience as we all get used to new routines this school year. We appreciate our families following Kiss and Ride procedures and being patient while waiting for your children’s buses.
If a student’s bus is delayed, parents may access the Bus Delay Notification System or use the Here Comes the Bus mobile app to receive the delayed bus report. Email messages will be sent to announce significant bus delays. Contact the Transportation Office at 703-446-2050 with any additional questions. For any concerns after 5:30 p.m., contact Safety and Security at 571-423-2000.
To make sure you receive email messages about bus delays, update your contact information in SIS ParentVUE.
Behavior Expectations
As a reminder, please take the time to review the expectations in the Holmes Behavior Matrix with your students to help us ensure we have a safe school environment that is conducive to learning. In addition to having lessons about these expectations, students will also have lessons about the Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R) in early to mid-September.
Please stress with your students that violence, bullying and harassment of any kind, vaping, and other serious infractions will not be tolerated and will result in serious disciplinary consequences for students (up to and including out of school suspension and referral to the Hearings office).
Please also communicate with your student's counselor and assistant principal if something is happening at school that is making your student feel unsafe or unwelcome. We cannot address what we don't know about, so please let us know early when you have concerns so that we can address it before it escalates. Your students may feel reluctant for you to share these things with us, but it is so important that we partner together to keep our school community safe for every single student and staff member.
Here are today's newsletter topics:
Holmes Updates
- Student Services Information
- 2023-24 Blue/White Schedule
- 2023-24 Bell Schedule
- After-School Program
- Important Upcoming Dates
- Holmes MS PTA
- How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS
FCPS & Community Updates
- Apply for Free & Reduced Meals
- Stay Connected with FCPS
Please feel free to reach out and let us know what questions you have. Thank you, and we'll see you very soon!
Sincerely,
Holmes Admin Team
Holmes MS
HOLMES UPDATES
Contact Information
2023-24 Blue/White Calendar
Most classes at Holmes are 85-90 minutes blocks. Blue days are odd periods, and White days are even periods. This calendar will also be posted to the website, and each student will receive a copy on the first day of school.
2023-24 Bell Schedule
This bell schedule is different from the 2022-23 school year. Periods 3 and 4/5 will meet every day. Periods 1, 5, 7 and 9 will only meet on blue days, and periods 2, 4, 6, and 8 will meet on White Days. This will be posted to the website, and each student will receive a copy on the first day of school.
From Mr. Kruk, our After-School Specialist
The After-School Program and late buses will start on Monday, September 11th. Please be sure to register your student for the After-School Program by completing this one-time consent form for the 2023-24 school year https://forms.gle/aCgmayFDkoas16E86. For questions or concerns relating to the After-School Program, please contact Matt Kruk, @email.
Important Upcoming Dates
- Monday, 8/21 - First Day of 2023-24 School Year
- Thursday, 9/7, 5:30-8 PM - Back To School Night
Holmes MS PTA
- Join the PTA
- Do you want some Holmes gear for your students or yourself? Order Spirit wear through the PTA
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 & Community Updates
Apply for Free & Reduced Meals
Although all students will have access to free meals, families who qualify should still apply to access fee waivers for other school-related fees (e.g. elective course fees).
Families will need to apply for free and reduced-price meals, which they have not had to do since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
- Online applications are now available.
- Approved FRM eligibility letters may also be used to provide additional benefits.
- Please know that we will not share your data or personal information with anyone else. See FCPS’ Trust Policy.
Stay Connected with FCPS
Being connected to your school and division is important every year, and even more so now as we navigate our return to school. The best way to stay informed is to sign up for newsletters through News You Chose.
Your school and FCPS have a variety of topics you can choose from, including:
- School Newsletters- featuring everything you need to know about your child’s school
- FCPS This Week- a weekly newsletter featuring news and happenings from across the division, published Wednesday mornings
- School Board Meeting Update- a recap of important news coming out of school board meetings, published the Friday morning after the meeting
- FCPS Employee News- weekly updates just for staff, published Tuesday mornings