Roadrunner's Digest

Good evening Farquhar Families,

We are officially at the halfway point of the school year! Congratulations to all of our students for finishing the first semester strong, and thank you to all the dedicated family members who support our Roadrunners' excellence. Thank you also to the Farquhar MS PTA all the parent volunteers who made our 24K Magic Winter Social a success! We are so fortunate to be able to provide these types of our experiences for our Roadrunners, and it speaks to the strength of our relationships as a community. I am grateful for all of you.

We have an eventful week ahead!

• Monday, January 29 there is NO SCHOOL for students.
• Tuesday, January 30 is Farquhar Day Out! Sixth grade is heading to Toby's Theater, seventh grade is going to Medieval Times, and eighth grade is off to Skate Zone. All field trip plans have been finalized. If your student is not attending their grade level field trip, you should have received communication from your grade level team leader.
• Wednesday, January 31 is the first instructional day of the second semester (S2) and the third quarter (Q3) of the school year. Students should check their schedule in StudentVUE to note any classroom or course changes for S2 or Q3.
• Friday, February 2 we wrap up with an Open ROCK schedule!

In this week's newsletter you will find:

• NEW: A note about after-school activities transportation
• This week's schedules
• This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
• NEW: MCPS System Messages

PTA Corner Updates

• UPDATE: Healthy Minds Initiative
  
• NEW: PTA Fundraiser February 5 @ Panera
• Support a staff meeting!
• Parent Support for the IXL Initiative

Need to get back to an previous edition of the Digest? Find them in the archive on our school's website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/farquharms/.

Monday: No School

Tuesday: Farquhar Day Out

Clubs end at 4:15 and students must be picked up no later than 4:30. Students should take the activity bus if they cannot be picked up by 4:30, as the main office closes at this time.

Craft Club will not be meeting for the next few weeks. An announcement will be made once the club resumes meetings.

Thank you to the following Roadrunners who have made a positive impact on our learning community!

• Maya Miller
• Kalyn Bonebrake
• Ruimei Huang
• Jennifer Hallmark
• Michelle Gaske
• Sharon Bubis
• Matthew Lichvar
• Mark Eisenhower
• Heather Bruns
• Shannon Sullivan
• Kristen Rub
• Dani Affinito
• Miranda Custer
• Julie Lazaris
• Jeanann Bowles
• Dawn Trahern
• Trish Pignone

Would you like to recognize a student, community member, or staff member?

Submit a SHOUT-OUT!

• MCPS would like your feedback on communication around inclement weather that may impact school operations. The system would also like to hear your preferences on how MCPS approaches inclement weather makeup days.

• The 2024-2025 Change of School Assignment (COSA) transfer season opens on Thursday, Feb. 1. The COSA process allows families to submit a request for their children to transfer out of their assigned home school. All COSA request applications must be submitted no later than Tuesday, April 2. Read full details.

• Registration is open for the 16th Annual HBCU Fair. This free in-person event at The Universities at Shady Grove will provide students in Grades 8–12 an opportunity to meet representatives from more than 50 Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Read more.

• Join us for the Girls’ Summit on Saturday, March 9 at Northwood High School. This event will provide informative workshops geared towards students in grades 6–12 on a variety of current topics. Read more. RSVP

Based on our recent Healthy Minds family survey and insights from FMS administrators and counselors, bullying was found to be one of the mental health concerns for students and families. Please read the article for expert advice on bullying prevention. Each week we will share a resource/article about mental health and well-being.

The battle of the classes continues! Come to Panera Bread in Olney, MD with your family and friends Monday, February 5th, 4:00-8:00 p.m. Tell them you're there to support Farquhar Middle School for proceeds to support our amazing PTA!

The PTA has been supporting our FMS staff with snacks at their monthly staff meetings and we need your help to purchase snacks for the upcoming meetings. Please consider donating here!

At FMS, teachers utilize the IXL learning platform to provide students with practice opportunities in math and literacy that is tailored to their needs and meets them at their level. FMS has instituted an incentive program that is very popular with students. The students look forward to trading in their earned tickets for fun merchandise. As we begin the new year, the school is planning to restock the store and could use our help. Please consider purchasing incentive supplies for the IXL store through the Amazon Wish List: Amazon.com

Feel free to contact me anytime and follow Farquhar on Twitter!

Email: Angelica_L_Smith@mcpsmd.org
Phone: 240-740-1200
Twitter: @farquharms