Mustang Matters

Greetings MMS Families,

Happy Friday! I hope your fall season is off to a good start. This week the weather let us know that the season is upon us! Despite the gloomy weather we had some real brights spots this week. As we get ready to wrap up the month of September I wanted to highlight some of our progress, as well as some upcoming events. Looking forward to seeing more of you soon.

Our Empowerment work took another important step this week! Thanks to Mr. Novoa-Marcano and Ms. McDowell the team was able to engage in their first of a monthly series of PD on Thursday to strengthen the vision for our Empowerment Advisories as well as hone their skills as facilitators. Thank you to our participating leaders, Mr. Norman, Ms. Simmons, Mr. Hinds, Ms. Smith, Ms. Bax, Ms. Walston and Ms. Lee!

We had an outstanding PTO meeting this Tuesday evening – I don’t have an official count, but I’d bet it was the best turnout we have ever had of staff, students and families to start the school year. It bodes well for growing collaboration and health as a school – another sign we are off to a great start this year! Thank you to Elizabeth for making an outstanding dinner for us, President Robin A. for preparing and coordinating the event and leading us and a huge shout out to Ms. Gibian who did an AMAZING job as translator and facilitator for the evening! Thank you to all of our parents and families who joined remote and in person as well as all of our staff who did the same – thank you Ms. Gibian, Ms. Bax, Ms. Riggen, Ms. Hussein, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Ring, Ms. Upchurch, Mr. Chapman, Ms. Chapman, and Ms. Leonor for participating! (Sorry if I missed someone!)

Shout out to Ms. Raphael, Coach Green, Ms. Walker-McLean and our partners at Children’s National who brought the mobile health clinic and were able to help a number of students get sports physicals and other health support! We had more than a dozen students who received this critical support and we are so thankful for the partnership and logistical work of our MMS team to make this happen!

Have a great weekend!

Cooke

If your student would like to participate in DC SCORES please complete the registration form found at the following link: https://dcscores.wufoo.com/forms/x1di7lgi0jlhstv/

Faculty Meeting Wednesday, 9.24 – Please note as there is a Faculty Meeting this Wednesday there will NOT be afterschool activities. Student who need a place to simply wait for pickup can wait in our auditorium until pickup. Thank you!

Parent Resource - September Resource - Now Is the Time for Courage I found this read to be inspiring and practical for both our Mustangs and my own children, and even myself. I strongly believe now IS the time for courage – enjoy and share broadly.

PTO Liaisons have been coordinated to support each grade level and grade level families. You can expect to see them at PTO meetings and connect with them if need be. For 25-26 SY the liaisons are:

- 6th Grade – Jessica Gibian – jessica.gibian@k12.dc.gov

- 7th Grade – Fadwa Hussein – fadwa.hussein@k12.dc.gov

- 8th Grade – Sarah Riggen – sarah.riggen@k12.dc.gov

Shout Outs and Celebrations: Please check out a few shout outs to MacFarland community members who are embracing our belief that we are one MacFarland!

Student shout out to De’nasia and Daniyah who have been pitching in after school to help beautify the school the past couple weeks! They helped aesthetically uplift some of our office space and classrooms and they have been so helpful, positive and creative it has really helped brighten up our building. Please join me in thank these young ladies for their commitment to MMS!

Via email or by appt. – lucas.cooke@k12.dc.gov

Monday, October 6th – Open Office Hours/Stop by the school – 4:00-6:00pm

Next Curbside Coffee – Friday, October 17th – out front 8-8:45

October PTO Meeting – 14th 6:00pm - MacFarlandMSPTO@gmail.com

Open House Dates: if you would like to support an Open House please reach out at least one week prior!

Monday, October 6th 2025 - 5:30pm –6:30pm (Cooke)

Monday, November 3rd, 2025 - 11:00am-12:00pm

Thursday, December 11th, 2025 - 5:30pm- 6:30pm

Thursday, January 8th, 2026 - 5:30pm -6:30pm

Monday, January 26th, 2026 - 5:30pm-6:30pm

Afterschool Activities Reminder - Please be sure to review the list of activities with your Mustang, encourage them to join an activity and stay with us until 5:00pm! Please note that clubs/activities without enough attendees will be folded so we need our scholars to join up! If you have questions about clubs or after school activities, please reach out to our after school leads Ms. Jones and Ms. Garica – Terra.Jones@k12.dc.gov; Laura.Martinez-Garcia@k12.dc.gov

The Protect Healthcare Alliance, a coalition of dedicated organizations, warmly invites you to our second DC Alliance enrollment event. Join us at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart, located at 3211 Sacred Heart Way NW, Washington, DC 20010, on September 28, 2025, from 10am to 3pm . This event is an excellent opportunity for anyone who is uninsured or needs to recertify their coverage.

It’s essential for participants to bring the necessary documentation to help streamline the process and ensure everything runs smoothly. For more details, please refer to the flyer. Our knowledgeable Bilingual Health Access Program (BHAP) and DC Health Link teams will be on-site to assist attendees.

Let’s work together to spread the word about this event. The well-being of our participants and communities are our top priorities so please don’t wait!

The deadline for uninsured individuals to apply is September 30, 2025. After this date, only those under 26 years of age who meet the new income requirements will be eligible to apply for the DC Alliance program."

Additionally, Mary's Center is hosting bilingual sessions on Tuesdays, 5-6 pm, until the Oct 1st insurance deadline to help families get renewed/signed up. Links to FAQs below:

English: www.maryscenter.org/alliance

Español: www.maryscenter.org/alianza

The goal of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) Safe Routes to School

(SRTS) program is to get more students walking and biking to school and doing so safely.

Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts in this anonymous, 10-minute survey to

help us customize our programs and services around the challenges faced at your school.

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8271328/58f491c68c8e

A través de nuestro programa de Rutas Seguras a la Escuela (SRTS) del Departamento

de Transporte del Distrito (DDOT), queremos conseguir que más niños vayan a pie y en

bicicleta a la escuela y que lo hagan de forma segura.

Le pedimos que participe en esta encuesta anónima de unos 10 minutos y comparta

con nosotros su opinión y experiencia para que podamos adaptar nuestros programas

y servicios a los retos a los que se enfrentan las personas.

https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8271328/1a5e102c9600

NEW ATTENDANCE EXCUSE NOTE PLATFORM: Families can now submit attendance excuse notes via the Aspen GO (Parent Portal). Step-by-step instructions attached below.

At DC Public Schools, we want every student to feel loved, challenged, and prepared to positively influence society and thrive in life. To reach this ambitious goal, every student needs to be in school every day. However, too many of the young people in our city are not coming to school every day.

The Office of the State Superintendent’s (OSSE) finds that one in four kids in DC are chronically absent from school – which means missing 10 percent or more of the school year. At some DCPS high schools, three out of four students are chronically absent.

DCPS believes that every day counts.

Students, families, and the community must be empowered to track our progress in helping every young person get to school. By being transparent about our challenges, our city can work together to reduce the barriers that too many students and families face.

Definitions

• Truancy: Measures the percent of students aged 5-17 who are considered truant. To be “truant” means that a student has 10 or more unexcused absences from school – with or without – parental knowledge, consent, or otherwise securing prior approval from the start of the school year.
• In-school Attendance: Measures the average percent of students who are attending school.
• Chronic Absence Rate: Measures the percent of students who miss 10 percent or more days in a school year from the start of the school year.
• Attendance Entry Rate: Measures the percent of classes for which a school has entered attendance.
• 60/40 rule: Students are considered legally absent for the day if they miss more than 40% of their classes.

Regular school attendance is critical for academic success. Our goal is to ensure that every student attends school regularly and on time. Daily presence in school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success, starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families can continue to play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.

We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school—excused or unexcused—they can fall behind academically. Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent—which means missing 18 or more days in a school year. Research shows that:

Children that are chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade. By 6th grade, chronic absence is a warning sign for students at risk of dropping out of school. By 9th grade, good attendance can predict graduation rates even better than 8th grade test scores.

Questions/Concerns:

If you have any questions or concerns please contact Ms. Claribel Salgado via email at claribel.salgado@k12.dc.gov or by phone at (202) 671-6033.

• https://dcps.nutrislice.com/menu/macfarland-middle-school

The allergy season is here and many individuals who suffer from frequent asthma attacks are beginning to feel the impact of the various allergens and irritants in the air. For students and families, we are sharingthis link to Children’s National -- https://www.childrensnational.org/get-care/departments/impact-dc-asthma-clinic -- as a resource for helping to manage your students’ asthma related-illnesses. If your child suffers from asthma, be sure to complete and submit the Asthma Action Plan and Medication Plan and Procedure to the Nurse. The Anaphylaxis Plan must be completed for acute allergy sufferers who need to be administered an Epi-pen. Also, if your child is on any medication during school hours—including over-the-counter medications—a Medication Plan and Procedure Form must be completed and submitted to the Nurse along with your child’s Medication Treatment Administration Form, signed by your child’s primary care physician. All these documents must be provided to the Nurse by parents, along with the medication/s your child is taking during school hours. Students are not permitted to self-carry or self-medicate. All the forms mentioned in this message are attached, for your convenience.

For Mental Health Support Resources in English and Spanish for Students, Parents, and Teachers. Topics include: Stress, Grief and Loss, Anxiety, Suicide and Self-Harm, Healthy Relationships, Social Media, and much more! -- Mary`s Center (maryscenter.org)

This school year, DCPS is partnering with Children’s National Hospital to support our students’ health and attendance through the Collaborative for Attendance Resources in Education and Health (CARE-H); CARE-H is now available in all DCPS schools. Through this program, parents or guardians can give permission to DCPS to securely share attendance information with their child’s doctor(s), nurse(s) and medical office staff. This information will help these healthcare professionals to provide special outreach and medical attention to children that might be missing school and their families. Information about this initiative can be found here.

POC: Andrea.Allen@k12.dc.gov

The MacFarland PTO has set up an email list for discussion and connection among current and enrolled MacFarland families. Any family member or guardian of a MacFarland student can join by either of these methods:

Attention families, anyone with a child that would like a Kids Ride Free SmartTrip Card can sign up for one in the main office. We will process and distribute on a rolling basis.