Good evening Farquhar Families,

I hope your winter break has been filled with joy, quality time, rest, and peace. In our last days before break, we celebrated a successful Dickens Day and an exciting FMS Volleyball Tournament! We send a special thank you to our seventh grade team and our PE and Health department for creating these special experiences and memories. We also thank our students for closing out 2023 serving our community and cheering each other on! Please enjoy the video production below created by Mr. McKenzie to memorialize this year's tournament!

Our last Digest of 2023 is a short message for a short week, and a quick return to your time off! Have a safe and happy New Year, and may 2024 bring countless blessings to you and your loved ones.

In this week's newsletter you will find:

• This week's schedules
• This week's Roadrunner Shout Outs
• REMINDER: Procedures for early pick ups
• DEADLINE EXTENDED: 8th grade Skate Zone Permission Slips DUE January 5
• Parent Chaperones needed for 7th Grade Finance Park in March
• NEW: Upcoming NJHS Meetings

PTA Corner Updates

• Sign up to support a staff meeting
• Healthy Minds Initiative
• NEW: Thanks for the Sweet Treats!

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/.

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

• Mrs. Bronstein
  
• FMS PE and Health Department
• Ms. Gramkow and Ms. Custer
• FMS Seventh Grade Team

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

Submit a SHOUT-OUT!

If you are picking your student up early from school, please be mindful to take the following steps:

• Send a note to our attendance secretary, Mrs. Slocum, at least 2 hours before you arrive, letting her know what time your student will be picked up.
• You can send a handwritten note with your student in the morning, or send an email to Nancy_Slocum@mcpsmd.org.
• Your student will be provided a pass to leave class five minutes before their pick up time, and they will wait for you in the main office.
• Enter the building and sign your student out on the clipboard available on the counter. This step is critical for safety and security.

Following these steps will ensure that your student is ready to leave on time, and minimizes interruptions to instruction.

Eighth grade students can turn in permission slips and payment for the field trip to Skate Zone by January 5. The cost is $28 and includes the cost of lunch provided by Skate Zone. Pay online at https://mcpsmd.schoolcashonline.com. If your student is not attending, please notify the team leaders at Michelle_R_Gaske@mcpsmd.org and Jeanann_S_Bowles@mcpsmd.org.

If you are available and willing to support the 7th grade JA Finance Park field trip on March 14 or 18, please email Ms. Page at Miya_V_Page@mcpsmd.org.

Please take note of two important NJHS meetings coming up for current 8th grade members as well as new inductees:

• Grade 8 NJHS Current Member Meeting: Monday 1/8/24 in room 004 during Academic ROCK Time
• NJHS New Inductee Meeting: Tuesday 1/9/24 in room 004 during Academic ROCK Time

Email Ms. Chaney with any questions at Penny_J_Chaney@mcpsmd.org.

Sign up to support a FMS monthly staff meeting!

Drop off a snack for the monthly staff meetings and the PTA will reimburse you up to $50 (per staff meeting). It's a great way to get involved and give back to our awesome FMS staff for all they do to support our kids. Upcoming dates are Mondays Feburary 5th , March 4th , and April 8th

Please use Signup Genius Link: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/30E044FA4A929ABF85-44587695-fmsstaff

FMS PTA has been selected as a Healthy Minds Grant recipient! We will be hosting an event in the spring, but we would like to design the program around the needs of our students/families. Please complete this survey to help us determine the programming for spring. Please note the questions below are anonymous and will not be shared with others, it will only be used to help the PTA select guest speaker(s) and/or the focus/topic of a spring PTA event.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kvrTlsWV2ARoyiHlQCn_pupNZqpsx2wGpM_d5MwbLT0/edit

jFMS PTA ha sido seleccionada como beneficiaria de la subvencion "Healthy Minds!" (MENTE SALUDABLES) para lo cual, organizaremos un evento en la primavera, para esto, nos gustaria disenar un programa en base a las necesidades de nuestros estudiantes / familias. Por favor, complete esta encuesta para ayudarnos a determinar la programacion a realizarse en primavera. Tenga en cuenta que las preguntas a continuacion son anonimas y no se compartiran con otros, solo se utilizaran para ayudar a los organizadores del PTA a seleccionar oradores invitados y/o en el enfoque/tema del evento que el PTA desea hacer en primavera.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1dZY2b-bPKuiAMyqufxzdS1C-IFepEAddSEub2Eqtkcs/edit

Thank you to all who contributed to the PTA’s holiday staff appreciation event by baking and donating to the Sweet Treats for a Sweet Staff event. The PTA and FMS staff appreciated your support!

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

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