News From The Nest

Dear Falcon Families,

This is the week! OPEN HOUSE is this Thursday evening! Please join us in the MPR at 5:15 pm for a special performance by our 5th and 6th grade band and orchestra students. We will have a short PTA meeting at 5:30 pm in the MPR and then classrooms will be open from 6:00-7:00 pm. We are excited to see you soon!

What a fun evening we shared at our Sweetheart dance on Friday night! Thank you to our PTA Board and the parents who helped us set and take down. Your support made all the difference! We have our PTA Movie Night coming up on March 6th. If you would like to help PTA coordinate that event, please reach out to ferndrpta@gmail.com. Our PTA is currently seeking Board members for the 26-27 Board. Please reach out if you are interested in a position.

This Friday's Student Council spirit day for Kindness month is "Fern Drive is kind - green to the extreme". Our Falcons have been doing great each Friday with our themes.

Go Falcons! 💚

Warmly,

Mrs. Lucas

Mark Your Calendars:

February 19th ~ Open House, 5:15 pm

February 25th ~ Kona Ice Truck, 1:30 pm

February 27th ~ Read With A Loved One, after Friday assembly

February 27th ~ ELAC Meeting 9:30 am

We are so proud to celebrate our Speech and Debate Team students who recently competed and placed in the Mardi Gras tournament against the other 19 FSD schools. Congrats to all our competitors and especially to these winners:

Elementary:

• Poetry - Finalist, Ruby H
• Storytelling - 6th Place, Julia K
• Declamation - 5th Place, Hannah S
• Declamation - 1st Place, Thomas J

Middle School:

• Spanish Interpretation - 1st Place, Valentina ML
• Informative - 1st Place Champion, Diego J

Way to go Falcon Speech & Debate Team!!

We wish them luck in their final District Championship Tournament on March 7th!

See our Friday spirit days for the month of February!

Find more immigration information and resources here.

Falcons, would you like to perform at FSD Fest in the Jammy's?! Third and Fourth graders, would you like to be a part of a Literacy team and solve problems as a team at FSD Fest?! Take a look at the information below to get involved!

Attendance is key in student achievement and success at school.

Thank you for ensuring your Falcon attends school on time every day that they are healthy.

If your child will be absent, please use this google form to clear their absence. You may also call the school attendance line to clear an absence. Independent Study MUST be requested on THE DAY of the absence. For vacations, parents must request Independent Study TWO weeks before the absence.

Each week we hold a raffle for class attendance. Each day, if the class has 100% attendance, the teacher sends a raffle coupon up to the office. On Friday's we draw a primary and upper grade class winner. The winning class receives 3 class Gotcha's, a 10 minute extra recess and has the Falcon mascot in their room for the week.

This week's winners are:

Primary - Mrs. White

Upper grades - Mrs. Gambrell

As we head into the winter months, students are often home ill. If your child is absent, you can request Independent Study to make up the absence on their attendance. You MUST request it on the first day of the absence. There is a spot on the google attendance form to request this. If your child is absent, you MUST clear their attendance with either the ABSENCE google form or a call to our office attendance line so that the absence does not become a truancy. TY!

Here is our latest update from Student Council. Read carefully to see the latest spirit dates.

Link to FSD website Nutrition Page

Lunch and breakfast will continue to be free for all students daily. We will still do a lunch count daily so please discuss with your student the importance to take a correct lunch count. Some students bring a lunch to school and then at lunchtime go get a school lunch. This results in some lunch shortages of the choice meal that day. Lunch options are still available and all children will be fed but often when this happens, the "lunch of the day" runs out. Please review with students the importance of this an accurate lunch count.

📚Read With A Loved One dates for the remainder of the year: 📚

An important reminder to drive SLOWLY and SAFELY through our parking lot and on Fern Drive. Cars are driving too fast through our parking lot and students are also exiting cars in the drive through lane. This is not safe and we need to follow our drop off/pick up protocols. Students are only permitted to exit their car on the SIDEWALK side of their car in the drop off lane, NOT the drive-through lane. A reminder that adults are not permitted to exit the car. Students should be ready to exit when their car pulls into the drop off lane. As cars pull away, please be sure you are driving SLOWLY and cautiously. Drive slowly on Pico and Fern Drive as well. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Our students, families and staff should be safe at all times.

Month of February PTA update.

Each month, be sure to take a look at the latest news and events from PTA.

We have the following PTA Board positions open for the 26-27 school year. Please consider grabbing another Fern Drive parent and jumping into one of these positions. Your time, service and dedication are greatly appreciated and add to the success of our kids' elementary experience! Please reach out to the PTA Board at ferndrpta@gmail.com if you have questions.

Our 25-26 Foundation Board Members

President, Kristen Jones

Vice President, George Benfit

Secretary, Nanette Roller

Treasurer, Joe Conti

• The PowerSchool Parent Portal will be live beginning Fri, 8/8. If your child took the state test last spring, you can find their CAASPP test scores there.
• Fern Drive School Handbook
• Fern Drive Website
• FSD Website
• Follow us on Instagram and Facebook

Follow Fern Drive on IG: fern_drive_falcons

Follow our PTA on IG: ferndrivepta

Follow our Foundation on IG: ferndrivefoundation