FMS November Update

Dear Fairfield Middle School Families,

As we head into November, we want to take a moment to thank you for your continued support and partnership. The school year is moving quickly, and we are proud of the learning, growth, and connections taking place throughout Fairfield Middle School. We are grateful for the opportunity to work alongside your families to help every student feel supported, challenged, and connected.

This month’s newsletter is full of important updates, celebrations, and information to help keep you informed about what is happening at FMS. You’ll find details about the new location for our bike rack, as well as an exciting new way to recognize our staff members for the positive impact they make on students each day. We are also excited to share photos from our 5th grade pen pal party, highlighting the connections our students are building with one another.

We will also share information about our fall FAST and MAP assessment data and the results of our student connection survey. These data points help us better understand how students are progressing academically and how connected they feel to the adults and peers in our building. Building strong relationships and ensuring every student feels a sense of belonging remain important priorities at FMS.

Please be sure to review the information about additional early-release days that have been added to the school calendar, along with the list of upcoming events at Fairfield Middle School. We encourage you to mark your calendars and stay connected with all the great things happening in our school community.

As always, we value your feedback and encourage you to reach out whenever you have questions, concerns, or ideas to share. Strong school-family partnerships make a difference, and we appreciate the trust you place in us each day.

Thank you for being an important part of the Fairfield Middle School community. We hope you and your family have a wonderful November!

Warmly,
Mrs. Marten and Mr. McDonald

We have moved the location of our bike rack from the southwest corner of the building, by the basketball courts, to the front of the building. If your child rides a bike or scooter to school, please help us remind them of this change. Thank you!

Effective Monday, November 2, Needohs and other squishy toys will no longer be permitted at FMS. We understand that some students benefit from having a fidget tool to help them focus and regulate during the school day. However, we have seen an increase in students bringing these toys to class, and they have become a distraction to learning and a concern for keeping our building clean.

We want to support students in finding strategies that help them be successful while also maintaining a focused learning environment for everyone. If your child benefits from having a fidget tool, we are happy to partner with families to identify an appropriate option that meets their individual needs.

If a student brings a Needoh or other squishy toy to class, it will be collected and held in the main office for the remainder of the school day. Thank you for helping us reinforce this expectation by keeping these toys at home and partnering with us to keep FMS a clean, welcoming, and productive place to learn.

Is there an FMS staff member you're thankful for? Help us recognize them by filling out THIS FORM! The kind message will be shared directly with the staff member as part of our Thankful November initiative. If you wish to remain anonymous, that's an option when filling out the form. Thank you!

We now have scores from the MAP assessment and FAST screener to monitor student proficiency in math, science, and reading. We've identified students who are not meeting grade-level benchmarks in math and reading, and they have been assigned a reading and/or math intervention to help them meet grade-level proficiency standards in those subjects. These interventions are part of our Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) and take place during LIFT time for grades 6-8 and during a designated MTSS time for 5th grade. Students who are meeting grade-level benchmarks are assigned to other LIFT sections tied to our Leader in Me work. Students who have missing assignments are assigned to either a missing work triage LIFT or to study table to get caught up on their missing work.

Over the past couple of weeks, several students have completed our student connection survey so we can better understand how students are feeling about their experience at FMS and work towards our building goal that 100% of students and staff will feel a sense of belonging at FMS. Our survey results are in the image below.

Our winter sports are in full swing! Girls basketball and boys wrestling practices began last week. Boys wrestling will have their first meet on Monday, November 2nd. 7th grade girls basketball has their first game on Tuesday, November 10th, and 8th grade girls basketball has their first game on Thursday, November 12th. Good luck to all of our Trojans!

Please see the image below for our full list of November events at FMS!

We have added two early release days to the school calendar. Tuesday, November 24th and Tuesday, December 22nd will both be 1:30 PM dismissal days.

For the past few weeks, our 5th graders have explored the ancient art of writing letters! Each 5th grader was matched with a pen pal in the community and got to ask questions about what their pen pal does for work, what hobbies their pen pal has, and what advice their pen pal has for doing well in school. On Thursday, October 22nd, the pen pals got to meet in person at FMS!

The FMS Family Involvement Action Team is excited to bring Leader in Me activities into our students’ homes! Each month, families will receive a fun activity focused on one of the Seven Habits to complete together. Activities will be sent home around the second week of each month and are due by the last Monday of the month. Students who return their signed completion slips will receive a small reward, have their names announced at our monthly Trojan PRIDE Assemblies and posted around the building, and be entered into an end-of-the-year drawing for a larger prize. Families with multiple FMS students should include all student names on the completion slip, and families with multiple households are encouraged to complete the activity in each home. We look forward to partnering with families to build leadership skills at home and at school!

Our FMS Choir has had a great 1st trimester! Morning choir rehearsals have started twice per week, and they're preparing for their 3rd annual caroling tour around town. They got some GORGEOUS new choir shirts, and over 40 FMS students joined the high school choir for their concert on October 19th. Way to go, FMS Choir!

Our 8th grade members of the Fairfield Middle School Student Council had the privilege of attending the Iowa Student Leadership Conference in Ames, Iowa!

Our students had the opportunity to hear keynote speaker A’ric Jackson, who shared an inspiring message about the ripple effect and how being a positive leader can make a difference in the lives of others.

Throughout the day, students participated in breakout sessions, connected with student leaders from across Iowa, and learned about the amazing things other student councils are doing in their schools.

We are excited for our students to bring back fresh ideas, new perspectives, and inspiration to make a positive impact here at FMS!

Great leaders create ripples that inspire others