Upcoming Dates
Wednesday, March 4 (Snow Date: March 12) – Rising Eighth Grade
Curriculum Night, 6:30 pm KMS Cafeteria
The staff
at Kilmer Middle School invite you to attend our Rising 8th Grade Curriculum
Night on Wednesday, March 4, 2015 from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. in the Kilmer
Cafeteria (Snow Date: Thursday, March 12th). This presentation will provide an
opportunity for parents to learn about the eighth grade curriculum, be involved
in their student’s course selections for next year, and hear how to plan for
high school. Parents and students can access the 2015-2016 Kilmer Middle School Course Description Guide at www.fcps.edu/KilmerMS/
Thursday, March 5th – IB Information Night at
Marshall, 7pm
Friday, March 6th / 7th – Band Performance
Assessments, Marshall HS
Week of March 9th – Writing SOL assessments for 8th
graders
Tuesday, March 10th – PTA meeting, 9:30am
Friday / Saturday, March 13th / 14th –
Orchestra Performance Assessments, Woodlawn HS / Choir Performance Assessments,
Marshall HS
Monday, March 16th – Teacher workday, Student Holiday
Monday, March 30 to April 3rd – Spring break
ANNOUNCEMENTSFrom the Principal’s Desk:
Our rescheduled Rising 7th grade Curriculum Night was held on Wednesday, February 25th, just missing the most recent snowfall. What a tremendous success; we had more than 750 adults and soon to be 7th graders crowd our halls to hear about our curriculum, meet our teachers, learn about electives and see some classrooms as well as mingle with other new to Kilmer students and parents. We are excited about their opportunities to "Dare to Excel" as the newest members of the Kilmer Middle School learning community. We are looking forward to sunnier weather and a full week of school next week!
REMINDERS
Survey Request - Rising 9th Grade Event at Marshall HS, Feb. 12
Please take a moment to offer your feedback to Marshall HS if you attended their Rising 9th Grade Orientation event on Thursday night, Feb. 12. It only takes a minute and will help them serve their families better! Thank you. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5SZGDWX
Mental Health and Wellness Webinars
As
part of FCPS’ continuing focus on student mental health and wellness, several
activities are planned for parents. Two parent
webinars are planned, along with the second Community Conversation
on Teen Stress, scheduled for May 9.
On
Monday, February 23, from
4 to 5 p.m.,
parents can join a free webinar, focused on teens and non-suicidal self-injury,
which will highlight how parents can identify warning signs, address the
concerning behaviors, and seek appropriate help and support for teens.
Another
webinar, scheduled for
March 23, will focus on ways that parents can talk to their teens
about the loss of a friend, teacher, or significant person, especially in the
aftermath of a tragedy.
The
webinars will feature Dr. Scott Poland, a nationally recognized expert on
school crisis, suicide intervention, self-injury, parenting, and the delivery
of psychological services in schools. He will be joined by Richard Lieberman,
the lead consultant for the CalMHSA Student Mental Health Initiative for the
Los Angeles County Office of Education, and author of articles on youth suicide
prevention, crisis intervention, and responding to self‐injurious students in
the schools.
More
information about the upcoming Community Conversation on Teen Stress is
available at http://www.fcps.edu/dss/summit/index.shtml.
Kilmer’s
MakerspaceKilmer's makerspace has been a busy place over the last six months. Students have exercised their creativity in after school activities, taken classes in coding and 3D design, visited the makerspace with teachers, and stopped by on their own to explore, discover, and create.
Our shelves have been filling up with some great donations from our Kilmer families. We have a variety of arts and crafts supplies, and students have enjoyed taking apart everything from old computers to toasters. As we move into the second half of the school year, we've come up with a list of items that will help keep Kilmer's makerspace one of the most exciting places in school. Some items on the list are supplies that we need to replace, but what we need most right now are organizational items like bins and trays. These will help us make sure supplies are easy to find when students need them and will gives us a place to store projects students are working on day to day.
To make shopping easier, we've created an Amazon wish list (http://amzn.com/w/2YI7KKLYEGIG8). We've already taken a look at various options and decided what will work best. Now we just need some help shopping! Please take a look at the list and consider purchasing something for Kilmer's makerspace.
Questions? Contact Gretchen Hazlin, Librarian (gehazlin@fcps.edu).
Please visit the student services page on the Kilmer MS website for more information about 2015-2016 curriculum events, information, and course options. http://www.fcps.edu/KilmerMS/studentservices/index.html
February 9- March 6, 2015 – Eighth Grade Academic Advising – course selection process for ninth grade courses
All eighth grade students had the opportunity to learn about high school course options for ninth grade on Wednesday, Feb 4th when high school counselors visited Kilmer. The next step in the course selection process is to attend all curriculum and orientation events offered at each high school. After the high school curriculum events, Kilmer school counselors will begin academic advising by meeting individually with all eighth grade students to select high school courses based on their strengths, current academic progress, and interests. Honors recommendations will be shared with each student during this time. After your child meets with their school counselor, course selections will be brought home for a parent signature. Students are expected to return the signed course selection sheet the following day to the folder located in their English classroom. Academic advising will continue throughout the month of February and into March.
All High School Course Selection sheets should be signed and returned to Kilmer no later than Friday, March 6th.
March 6 – March 25, 2015 – Seventh Grade Academic Advising – course selection process for eighth grade courses
Kilmer School Counselors will meet individually with all seventh grade students to select eighth grade courses. Honors recommendations will be shared with each student during this time. After your child meets with their school counselor, course selections will be brought home for a parent signature.
Eighth Grade Writing SOL
Eighth graders will be taking the Writing SOL State Assessment the week of March 9th. Please avoid any appointments that may interfere with testing. Seventh grade students will not be impacted by testing. The bell schedule will also not be modified. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Angela Stacy at adstacy@fcps.edu.
Last Name A-K* (Essay) 8:00-10:30 Monday, March 9
Last Name L-Z* (Essay) 8:00-10:30 Tuesday, March 10
Last Name A-K* (M/C) 8:00-10:30 Wednesday, March 11
Last Name L-Z* (M/C) 8:00-10:30 Thursday, March 12
*Students with special accommodations may test with a different schedule.
Our English teachers have worked diligently to prepare students for this two-part assessment. To see sample test items, please visit the Virginia Department of Education website at the link below.
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/practice_items/
The Keep in Touch subscription service (KIT Plus) is a self-subscribing, self-updating, and self-unsubscribing service. To update your contact information and/or topic selections, or to unsubscribe, go to: http://www.fcps.edu/kit/index.shtml#update for instructions. Schools and offices cannot update or delete subscribers.
Parents of FCPS students may update contact information online through weCare@School http://www.fcps.edu/news/wecare.shtml, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) or by contacting the student information officer at their child(ren)'s school to have the contact information updated in the student information system.
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