Principal's Note - Aug 29, 2021

By Margaret Barnes
Principal's Note
August 30, 2021

Good afternoon, Holmes Families!  

Week One is Done!  I am so proud of our students and staff for this week's transition back to 5 days of in-person learning!  

We are excited for you to join us this week on Wednesday, September 1st, between 5:30 and 7:30 pm for our Meet the Teacher Open House/Back to School Night.  We are switching to an open house format to minimize large groups of families being in classrooms for teacher presentations.  This is just an opportunity for families to briefly meet staff and put a face to the name of the teachers on their students' schedules.  

Student Schedules are available on ParentVue, and course information will be available on the teacher's Schoology class.  There will also be a virtual option for the evening.  By Wednesday, September 1st, teacher videos introducing themselves and describing their courses will be available on the Holmes website.  We encourage you to reach out to teachers directly via email with any questions you have.

BTSN info graphic  

BTSN graphic (Spanish)

From the Holmes MS PTA

PTA is not just a noun, it's a verb -- an action plan working to support your child's success.

It's an invitation to EVERY family at Holmes to participate because we can do more together than we can do apart.

There's no wrong way to PTA!  You can give money by joining and donating.  You can volunteer time and effort.  You can help grow our strength and presence at the local, state, or national level as an advocate for improving your child's education.

How will you PTA?

See you at Back To School Night!

Here are today's newsletter topics:

Holmes Updates

  • Student Services - Important Information
  • 2021-22 Blue-White Calendar
  • 2021-22 Bell Schedule
  • This Week's Schedule
  • Upcoming Assessments
  • Schoology
  • How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS

FCPS Updates

  • Stay Connected with FCPS

Please feel free to reach out and let us know what questions you have.  Thank you, and have a great week!

Sincerely,

Margaret Barnes

Proud Principal, Holmes MS

@email

HOLMES UPDATES

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This Week's Schedule - 8/30-9/3

To help families and students keep track of the Blue-White Day calendar, I will also have a section in the Sunday update with the week's schedule.  The Blue-White Calendar will also be on the inside cover of student agendas and can be found HERE on our school website. 

  • Monday, 8/30 - WHITE DAY
  • Tuesday, 8/31 - BLUE DAY (SOAR only, no ER)
  • Wednesday, 9/1 - WHITE DAY
  • Thursday, 9/2 - BLUE DAY (SOAR only, no ER)
  • Friday, 9/3 - NO SCHOOL (LABOR DAY HOLIDAY)
  • Monday, 9/6 - NO SCHOOL (LABOR DAY HOLIDAY)

Upcoming Assessments

Beginning this week, students will take a series of assessments to help us to determine their instructional needs moving forward.  See the chart below for details.  This week, we will start with the Reading Inventory (RI), and the week of 9/6, we will start the Math inventory.  While these assessments are not graded, we ask students to take them seriously and do their best so that we have the most accurate information possible that will inform our instructional planning. 

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  • Reading Inventory & Math Inventory - (Fall Window) Required as a beginning-of-year screening assessment for all middle school students.
  • Virginia Growth Assessments - Required reading and mathematics assessment for all students to address new General Assembly legislation. Fall 2021 growth tests will assess students on the curriculum they received during SY2020-21. Tests are only available for grade level content; no assessments are available for high school credit-bearing courses (Algebra 1 and Geometry).
  • SEL Screener - (Fall Window) Beginning of year screener of social-emotional learning needs to inform student supports.
  • No Red Ink Writing Diagnostic - (First Assessment Window) Required as a beginning of year diagnostic for all grade 7-8 students, measuring grammar, usage, and mechanics aligned to grade-level writing standards.
  • CogAT - Required for any students in grades 6-7 who do not have a CogAT score on file and are not already centrally eligible for Level IV services. Parents/guardians may request a one-time retake to be administered during this window.
schoology

Make Sure You Sign Up for Schoology!

Students, families, and staff throughout FCPS and in our school community will use Schoology (pronounced /SKOO-luh-jee/) as our learning management system. 

Here is what you need to know now:

How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS

Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:

FCPS UPDATES

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