Hello Holmes Families!

October is Disability History and Awareness Month in Virginia. It creates a greater public awareness for individuals with disabilities, with the goal of full inclusion in our community. 

Monday, October 2, is National Custodian Appreciation Day. FCPS employs more than 1,300 custodians, field custodians, and building supervisors to maintain our more than 28 million square feet of infrastructure. Thanks to our colleagues on the custodial team, we all have a clean, safe place to learn, teach, and work. 

What an exciting last weekend of September! We had our first middle school cross country meet, here at Holmes.  The energy and sportsmanship of our students were amazing -the students cheered on each other from Holmes, and also other middle school students.  I look forward to our next meet, Saturday, October 14^th – we will share out the location and time once that is communicated with us.  We’d love to see you there cheering on our runners!

Intervention Cycle 1

Tomorrow, we will start intervention cycle 1 with a priority on English and Math with our students.  Students were selected for intervention based off various data points.  We had some glitches in setting up student schedules.  Students received an email today and will review their 5^th period teacher change during the last 10 minutes of 3^rd period tomorrow.  The information in StudentVue/ParentVue is not correct.  However, our student services team is working on correcting the problem.  Students not in intervention will have access to a choice menu including guided organization, academic support (including with Tutor.com), reading and reflection, and enrichment.

Tardies

We are working to continue to ensure that our students are on-time to all of their classes.  Aside from shortening the time that students are in the hallway during transition (currently 4 minutes), we have held more frequent tardy sweeps.  Families will start receiving an email communication on Thursdays if their student has 3-4 tardies per week (Friday-Thursday).  Students who have 5+ tardies per week will receive lunch detention with an administrator on Friday’s.  Families will also receive an email communication regarding this. We encourage you to continue to have conversations with your students to remind them to get to class on time.

Vision and Hearing Screenings 

On October 16^th- 18^th we will be administering vision and hearing screenings to 7^th grade students and any students who are new to the district. Please remind your child to bring in their eyeglasses.

Picture Retakes - 10/24

We were excited to have our second day of picture day on Wednesday, 9/13. Unfortunately, Lifetouch (the company that takes pictures) had some software difficulties and was not able to take pictures that morning.  As a result, we will offer retakes on October 24^th all day for any student who was unable to take their picture.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you for understanding!

PTA Meeting Recording

At our meeting on 9/27, we were thrilled to welcome Dr. Ricardy Anderson (School Board, Mason District) and Mr. Lonnie Reavis & Ms. Francine Furby (Transportation) as special guests. We learned about the PTA budget, upcoming events, and how you can get involved with the PTA.

• Missed the meeting? 
  • Watch the recording by clicking here.
  • Access audio language interpretation in Spanish, Urdu, and Arabic by clicking the language button in Zoom.

• And don't forget to check out these important links:
  • Sign up to help with the Fall Festival: https://bit.ly/HolmesFallFestival 
  • Buy SpiritWear: https://bit.ly/HolmesSpiritWear
  • Join the PTA: https://bit.ly/SupportHolmesPTA 

The next PTA meeting will be on October 25th from 6:30-7:30pm with Special Guest, School Board Member Rachna Sizemore.

Here are today's newsletter topics:

Holmes Updates

• Student Services Information
• 2023-24 Blue/White Schedule 
• 2023-24 Bell Schedule
• After-School Program
• From Ms. Oncho, Our Family Liaison
• Important Upcoming Dates
• Holmes MS PTA
• How to Stay Connected to Holmes MS

FCPS & Community Updates

• Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health
• Walk and Roll to School Day
• Call For Art Submissions!
• Our Schools, Our Future: Community Conversations Kick Off  
• 2023-30 Strategic Plan — Goal 5: Leading for Tomorrow's Innovation
• Free COVID-19 Tests
• 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,

Serena Giron

Principal

HOLMES UPDATES

Contact Information

2023-24 Blue/White Calendar

From Mr. Kruk, our After-School Specialist

After-School Program Weekly News & Notes from 9/25-9/29

Student of the Week

• • The After-School Program Student of the week: Nathan Moya
  • Nathan was nominated by staff for his “leadership, kindness, and initiative demonstrated in this week’s EcoHawks club”.
  • Great job Nathan!

After-School Action

Students helped to clean up the school during EcoHawks

Students enjoyed the cool weather during Cross Country Practice this week.

ASP Schedule 10/2-10/6

Students Leaving After-School before 4:45

• • Any student staying after school must be signed out of the main office by a parent or guardian if leaving before 4:45.
  • Walkers with parent/guardian permission, may sign themselves out any time after 3:30 when first block ends.
  • Students are not permitted to leave school grounds before checking out in the main office .

Questions/Concerns

Contact the After-School Specialist, Matt Kruk, @email

Important Upcoming Dates

• Monday, 10/9 - NO SCHOOL / Staff Development Day
• Tuesday, 10/24 - Picture Retakes
• Wednesday, 10/25 - PTA Meeting

Holmes MS PTA

From Ms. Oncho, Our Family Liaison

Free 1st Stage YES Pass for High School Students

1st Stage YES Pass for Fairfax County high school students.  Free subscription to theatre company’s award-winning productions for all high school students who live in Fairfax County or attend a Fairfax County High School.  In addition, they will receive invitations to SLICE IT UP, a pre-show acting workshop led by a theatre professional. 

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
  • PTA Facebook
  • Online PTA Membership Form
  • MemberHub

FCPS & Community Updates

Supporting Your Child’s Mental Health

Children go through a lot of changes, and it can be hard to tell if their behavior is developmentally appropriate or if they could benefit from mental health support. It’s important to talk to your child and pay attention to their actions, especially these warning signs:

• Increased irritability, hyperactivity, energy, and/or aggressive behavior.
• Excessive sadness, hopelessness, or worries.
• Loss of appetite, or significant weight gain or loss.
• Lack of sleep or too much sleep.
• A decline in grades, school avoidance, or attendance concerns.
• Alcohol or drug use.
• Withdrawal from activities and/or friends and family. 
• Thoughts of harming themselves or others.

If you notice any of these warning signs or feel your child may be experiencing a mental health challenge, help is available. All Fairfax County public schools have at least one school counselor, school psychologist, and school social worker.

Please reach out to one of these staff members to discuss your concerns and identify resources. Call your school or visit their website for staff members’ contact information. Find additional information to support your child’s wellness. 

If you or someone you care about is experiencing a mental health crisis such as thoughts of harming themselves or others, please take action right away. Call 988, go to the nearest emergency room, or contact the Sharon Bulova Center for Community Health Emergency Services at 703-573-5679.

No Cost Therapy for High Schoolers

High school students can access virtual mental health services at no cost through an FCPS program with Hazel Health. Hazel Health therapists are licensed and also trained in teen-specific challenges.

Students can be referred by a guardian or designated staff member and participate in weekly video therapy sessions. The therapists will work with students until they achieve their therapy goals, or they can help connect the family with long-term mental health services in the community if needed. 

Learn how to opt your students into this service. 

Walk and Roll to School Day

FCPS will participate in International Walk and Roll to School Day on Wednesday, October 4, in an effort to promote physical activity and reduce traffic congestion and pollution near schools. Students and employees are encouraged to bike or walk to school and work where safe to do so on October 4. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children to school, and to work with their school and PTA or PTO to assemble bike trains or walking groups for the event. Schools are encouraged to register online with Walk and Bike to School. Get more information about Walk to School Day. 

Call For Art Submissions!

Our Schools, Our Future: Community Conversations Kick Off  

Join Superintendent Reid for Our Schools, Our Future – A Community Conversation at Hayfield Secondary School on Tuesday, September 26, 6:30-7:30 p.m., or at Whitman Middle School on Wednesday, September 27, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Share your thoughts about FCPS and bring your questions. 

These events are part of a series of Community Conversations this fall and spring in each region. Days and times for the additional region events will be shared soon. Visit FCPS’ webpage to find out when and where you can engage with Dr. Reid.

Register to attend. Pre-registration is not required. Childcare and interpretation services will be provided for all events based on staff availability. 

2023-30 Strategic Plan — Goal 5: Leading for Tomorrow's Innovation

The 2023-30 strategic plan sets five student-centered goals to create positive change in FCPS. These five goals show where we should focus our attention and will help us align our efforts. 

Under Goal 5, every student will graduate ready to thrive in life after high school with the skills they need to navigate, adapt, and innovate for a sustainable future. Using data gathered from students, we will ensure they are ready for a wide variety of options for their futures. 

Visit FCPS’ Strategic Plan webpage to learn more about how we will measure the success of Goal 5. 

Free COVID-19 Tests

Every U.S. household can place an order to receive four more free COVID-19 rapid tests delivered directly to their home.

Review health and safety guidance for schools to stay up to date on the best ways to prevent the spread of disease, and for information on when students should stay home from school. 

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