Good afternoon, Holmes Families! I hope that you all have had the opportunity to have some down time while your students are on Spring Break!  My family and I traveled to Arkansas to visit my husband's side of the family.  While there, we had the opportunity to visit Little Rock Central High School (home of the Little Rock Nine).  It was an amazing experience to reflect on how far we have come as a country in our efforts towards inclusion and ensuring that all students are safe, welcomed, and given limitless opportunities to be successful in school. I have also been reflecting quite a bit on the message I sent out to our community on April 9th.  Thank you so much for all of your questions and feedback; it is invaluable as we work together in partnership to convey to students that disruptive behavior that impacts the safety and learning of others  is not tolerated   That line of communication is always open to you for any issue or concern you have; please feel free to reach out to me by email, phone, or we can schedule a time to meet in person.  A few parents have had questions about what the follow-up is for students who engage in inappropriate behavior.  While we do not share specifics about disciplinary consequences for individual students due to confidentiality, our assistant principals and I apply the most serious consequences available to us as a school whenever there are incidents that impact the safety of others.  Depending on the severity and impact of the incident, students may receive In School Suspension, multiple days of Out of School Suspension and - in the most serious cases - Out of School Suspension with a Referral to the Division Superintendent that could lead to removal from Holmes Middle School.  In many cases (as outlined in the SR&R), we are required to report incidents to our School Resource Officer as well, which could introduce legal consequences for students in addition to school consequences. Those consequences have been explained to all students at the beginning of the school year and at the beginning of 3rd quarter as well.  Things don't just end with a consequence, however.  For conflicts between students, we also incorporate Restorative Practices into our work to help students resolve conflicts, repair any harm that has been done, and come to an agreement about how to move forward.

In these last 2 months of the school year, here are some of the steps we are taking to address the concerns we have:

• Continue to have high visibility of adults in the hallways, cafeteria, and on the bus ramp during morning arrival, afternoon dismissal and during class changes
• Continue to review behavior expectations with all students
• Incorporate feedback from students, staff, and parents into our daily practices.  One example that you may have heard about from your students is that we adjusted our dismissal routine in the few days before Spring Break.  This adjustment was very smooth and successful, and we will continue to stagger afternoon dismissals for the remainder of the year.  
• Any students with serious disciplinary infractions this quarter will have hall pass and after school privileges revoked for the remainder of the year and will not be permitted to participate in any end-of-year activities (8th grade dance, activity day, music field trips, etc.).  This is in addition to other disciplinary consequences determined by the administrators. This will include students who contribute to a conflict by: spreading rumors/gossip, encouraging or "cheering on" others to resolve a conflict physically, recording and posting videos of inappropriate behavior to social media, or engaging in any behavior that escalates a conflict.  
• My team and I will be meeting with central office support from FCPS' Department of Special Services' Office of Student Safety and Wellness to do an internal review of our processes and practices and plan short-term and long-term changes for the rest of this year and for next year.  I have also been consulting with other FCPS principals whose schools have experienced similar challenges.  
• I encourage you all to attend our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, May 15th at 6:30 pm.  In addition to PTA business scheduled for that evening (including voting for our 2019-20 PTA Board), we will have an open discussion about concerns, suggestions, and feedback that you have for Holmes to help us improve.  I'll also share our long-term plan for changes that we will make in the 2019-20 school year in response to all of the feedback we receive.

Thank you for your patience with the longer Principal's Note today.  I am excited to have our students back on Monday (just 8 weeks to go!), and I know that trust and confidence that you all put in me and my staff every day to teach and care for your students.  That is not a responsibility I take lightly. 

In today's newsletter, scroll down for information about:

• FCPS CARES
• This Week's Schedule
• This Week's After School Program Schedule 
• April Is School Library Month
• Parent Volunteers Needed for District-Wide Instrumental Music Event - April 26-27
• Parent Chaperones Needed For Finance Park Make-up Field Trip
• Color Fun Run/Walk - Saturday, April 27th
• Important Dates (including May SOL Schedule - note changes in Math)
• How to Stay in Touch

I hope to see many of you at our 3rd Quarter Honor Roll Ceremony at 6:00 pm on Wednesday, April 24th, which will also be the same evening as the NJHS Induction Ceremony. 

Thanks, everyone, and have a wonderful week!

Sincerely,

Margaret Barnes

Proud Principal, Holmes MS

[email protected]

#HolmesHawksSoar

FCPS Cares

Do you know a Holmes Middle School staff member who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way or goes beyond what is expected? If so, then click here to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the good work of Holmes faculty and staff members.

This Week's Schedule of Classes: 4/22 - 4/26

This week: Mon., 4/22 = Blue Tues., 4/23 = White Day w/ ER 5 & 6 Wed., 4/24 = Blue Day Thurs., 4/25 = White Day w/ ER 7 & 8 (ER 8 Lesson: IB School-wide Lesson: Students complete EOY Communicator Self-Assessment Fri., 4/26 = Blue Day  *NOTE: Students can always find the blue-white calendar in their agendas or on the website HERE.

After School Program - Week of 4/22

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

STEM/Aviation Opportunity at Udvar-Hazy!

April Is School Library Month

April is School Library Month and here at Holmes the library is celebrating!  Monday, April 8th - Community Coloring: This week will have additional library activities during lunch blocks and afterschool.  Thursday, April 11th - Origami For All: We'll be learning simple origami to make, all students will keep some pieces they make and other pieces will be displayed in the library.  Monday, April 22nd - Spring Book Fair begins!!!: The library is excited to invite you to our Spring Book Fair! The Book Fair will begin the first Monday back from Spring Break, April 22nd and run through April 26th. Mark your calendars! Students will be visiting the Book Fair with their Language Arts classes.  This Book Fair is a Buy One Get One Free event, all items are eligible and it is a critical fundraiser, a percentage of every purchase allows the library to buy more books!  Students will have an opportunity to shop at the fair with their teachers and during all lunch periods.

Parent Volunteers Needed for District-Wide Instrumental Music Event - April 26-27

April 26-27, Holmes will be hosting a district-wide instrumental music event. Over 1,000 students and families will be coming through our doors over two days, performing over 800 performances which will be judged and given a rating.

This event requires much parent support in order to run smoothly! Please consider signing up a few hours of your time to help support our music students. We need parents to run a concessions stand, man the registration table, call performers in the warm-up room, and help tabulate scores.

You can sign up at the following link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d44a5ac28a6ff2-solo

Adult volunteers only, please; students have already signed up to volunteer for this event.

Parent Chaperones Needed For Finance Park Make-up Field Trip - May 31

Our last make-up day for the Finance Park field trip will be Friday, May 31st.  We are really in need of more parent chaperones, so if you are available on May 31st, please contact your student’s Civics teacher, and they will add you to the list.  During the day, which will be from 8:30am – 1:30pm, you will lead a group of no more than 9 students, as they prepare to be “an adult for the day.”  It will require you to drive yourself to the JA Finance Park Facility, which is at 4099 Pickett Road, Fairfax VA.  Once again, please contact your student’s Civics teacher (i.e. Mr. Kerner, Mr. Sterzinger, Mr. Hoover, Mr. Schmitz, or Ms. D’Angelo) if you are interested.

Color Fun Run/Walk

Important Dates

• Mon., 4/22 - Fri., 4/26 - Spring Book Fair
• Wed., 4/24 -Thu., 4/25 - 6th Grade DC Field Trip
• Wed., 4/24, 6:00 pm-3rd Quarter Honor Roll Celebration & NJHS Induction Ceremony
• Tue., 4/30, - Science Field Trip to Belmont Bay
• Thu., 5/2 - Williamsburg Music Field Trip
• Mon., 5/27, Memorial Day Holiday -  NO SCHOOL

How to Stay In-Touch

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

May / June SOL Testing Schedule

Interested in learning more about the SOL exams your child will take?  Here are links from the Virginia Department of Education for:

• Civics (8th grade only)
• English (all grades)
• Math (all grades)
• Science (8th grade only, but covers content from 6th-8th grades)