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Oct 3 - Let Kindness Shine Day - Wear neon and give someone a sincere compliment

Oct 4 – Team Kindness Day - Wear your favorite sport shirt to show that you're a good sport

Oct 5 - School Closed (Yom Kippur)

Oct 6 – Never too tired to Stand Up for Others Day - Wear your school appropriate PJ’s

Oct 7 – Ride the Kindness Wave! - Wear your favorite school appropriate beach/surf attire

Oct 12 - WKMS Kindness Day - Wear Blue to Stomp Out Bullying

Oct 12 - School Opens 4 Hours Late (Parent Conferences)

Oct 13 - School Opens 4 Hours Late (Parent Conferences)

Oct 14 - WKMS Spirit Day - Wear Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness

Oct 14 - School Closes 3.5 Hours Early (Parent Conferences)

Oct 14 - PTSA Family Movie Night - Hocus Pocus

Oct 19 - End of Term 1

Oct 20 - School Closed (Teacher Work Day)

Oct 21 - School Closed (Teacher Professional Development)

Oct 28 - WKMS Spirit Day - Wear A Costume (no masks, no gore, no look-alike weapons)

Nov 8 - School Closed (Election Day)

Frederick County Public Schools has planned for parent-teachers conferences to be held October 12th -14th. A sign-up form and schedule will be shared with you in the very near future. Conferences will be in-person on the 12th and 13th and will be held virtually on the 14th. Parent-teacher conferences provide an excellent opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher, build a deeper understanding of curriculum standards and expectations, discuss academic progress, and develop a collaborative plan for continuous improvement. Three simple, yet important, questions you may want to ask the teacher during your conference are:

1. What is my child learning in your class?
2. Is he or she meeting academic expectations?
3. How can my child continue to learn, grow and improve?

Parents are strongly encouraged to participate in these conferences. However, if this is not possible, you can always call or e-mail your child’s teachers to discuss any question or concern you may have. Please see more information below.

Wednesday, October 12 from 3:30-7:00pm - IN PERSON ONLY

Thursday, October 13 from 3:30-7:00pm - IN PERSON ONLY

Friday, October 14 from 12:00-3:00pm - VIRTUAL ONLY

We are using PTCFast.com to make signups as convenient as possible.

Please enter the following web address into your browser window:

https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/Windsor_Knolls_Middle_School_2

Then select your child's teacher and preferred conference day.

Please note - WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY ARE ALL IN PERSON, and FRIDAY IS ALL VIRTUAL.

If you pick Friday, you will be sent a Google Meet link closer to your conference date. Please reach out to Beth Lindstrom if you have any questions at Elizabeth.Lindstrom@fcps.org

If you need in interpreter for the conference, please reach out to Kelly Funk at Kelly.Funk@fcps.org

We want to hear from you! We have almost 90 responses to our parent feedback survey! Thanks to those who have already completed it. Your input is important to us, and we want to hear from you. Thank you in advance for taking time to complete this short survey.

Bring your blankets! Bring your chairs! Join your friends!

Hocus Pocus begins at 7:00pm. "Doors" open at 6:30pm.

PTSA will be selling candy, popcorn, and drinks.

Looking forward to seeing our WKMS families!

(Note - This is a family event and not a drop off event.)

OCTOBER is World Bullying Prevention Month. One of the best ways to reduce bullying is to build connections and foster belonging between people and their communities. To that end, the WKMS Counseling Department is sponsoring a Kindness Spirit Week starting October 3.

Monday, October 3 – Let Kindness Shine Day

Wear sparkles, shiny things, or neon and give someone a sincere compliment!

Tuesday, October 4 – Team Kindness Day

Wear your favorite sports attire to show that you are a good sport!

Thursday, October 6 – Never too tired to Stand Up for Others Day

Wear your PJ’s (school appropriate) to show that you’re never too tired to support each other!

Friday, October 7 – Ride the Kindness Wave!

Wear your favorite beach/surf attire (no swimsuits please!)

**To make up for no school on 10/5, be sure to wear BLUE the following Wednesday, October 12, to show you want to stand up for others and stomp out bullying!

KINDNESS CHALLENGE The counseling/guidance department is also encouraging students to take part in the Kindness Challenge and complete as many acts of kindness as you can. Copies of this checklist will also be available at school during the October 3 week.

OTHER WAYS TO FOSTER KINDNESS? Check out these quick and simple tips in 13 Ways to Raise a Caring and Compassionate Child.

IN NEED OF SCHOOL SUPPLIES? Please contact the counseling office at 240-236-4958 if we can help your child with any needed materials.

On Wednesday , October 26, 2022 (rain date: 10/27/22), the PE Dept. will host a 1 mile Zombie Fun Run around the WKMS campus from 3:00 - 4:15PM. During the run, students will wear a flag football belt that the "zombies" will try to take. Runners will earn flags back by performing a specific exercise for that area of the run. After the run there will be refreshments and socializing (including the ZOMBIES!) Grown-ups and siblings are welcome!

The PE Dept. will be teaming up with SGA and to make this a charity event. Runners will be encouraged to donate a pair of new socks. Socks will be collected anytime between now and the event. These socks will be donated to various homeless shelters in Frederick County.

Each student participating in the event will need to have a permission slip (electronic or paper copy) filled out. Only those students registered for the race may participate. Please return the permission slip by Friday October 21st.

PERMISSION SLIP LINK - Participation/Permission Online Form

Click here for the paper copy - Paper Copy

SNACK DONATIONS / HELPERS - Anyone that would like to sign up to help, donate food, or donate items. Click here to donate

You can also send in a monetary amount with your child. The funds will be used to purchase additional items. You can make checks payable to Windsor Knolls Middle.

*** Halloween Decorations Needed - contact Christine.Donohue@fcps.org if you have any outdoor decorations you would like to donate to the school.

As we move into the fall we are very excited by how students have all reengaged their math minds. All students can do math, all students can be successful in math. Math is an applied academic; students must practice it regularly to become more fluent in their skill. As we move through this month we hope that students are practicing their math and reviewing their skills daily. All students are working towards their personal math progress using the ALEKS platform to work through individualized standard comprehension. Every week students are expected to have completed their assigned topics of study in ALEKS. These topic goals are assigned each week, students are allowed to work on their topics during ELT in addition to accessing the platform at home, and parents can see their students’ progress in completing the pie in ALEKS.

Our first unit assessments will be happening in October and students will be using the Performance Matters platform to show what they know in math. Please remind your students to check Schoology for their current assignments and term grade progress. As we approach parent conferences we invite you to bring your students to the conferences. Your students are an important part of the conversation about their progress in math class and it is very helpful to have your students present with us.

We are excited to have begun our MathCounts club again this year. MathCounts is a club that meets every Tuesday after school in room 230 until 4:00. Students will participate in engaging and dynamic math exercises building up to the competitions in late winter. If any student is interested in joining Math Counts, have them ask their math teacher for a club form, see the information board outside of Mrs. Wurster’s room (right by the art rooms), or see the information area in the cafeteria. We love having students engage in math beyond the classroom.

If you have any questions about the curriculum, digital access, or how best to help support your student at home please do not hesitate to contact our math specialist Mrs. Wurster at Heather.Wurster@fcps.org. She is happy to answer questions via email or set up Google Meets to better facilitate our discussions.

Greetings from the English Language Arts Department! Students have been working diligently on the first quarter ELA standards, and the term ends on Wednesday, October 19. Students in Mrs. Buckner's Read180 classes are continuing their work in small group, independent reading, and software rotations. Returning intervention students have been instrumental in teaching the new students the ropes! All students completed the iReady Reading Assessment in their ELA classrooms, and intervention students completed the Reading Inventory with Mrs. Buckner. We are anticipating a fabulous year in the ELA department! As a department, we look forward to meeting with many of you during Parent-Teacher Conferences the week of October 10. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to your student's ELA teacher or to the WKMS Literacy Specialist, Ginny Hines, with any questions or concerns.

Social Studies classes were introduced to this year's National History Day theme. Frontiers in History - People, Places, Ideas. Students have started working on their topics/research. If you are interested in participating in this event please see Mrs. Saylor. It’s NOT too late! Students can join Mrs. Saylor’s NHD Schoology group to learn more about this program. The code for this group is FVJP J2HF M7FTV.

The stockmarket team is looking for members! If you like to learn about the up’s and most recently the down’s of the stockmarket think about joining the stockmarket club! Sign up sheet is on the door of room 202. We will start trading the first week of October during ELT.

Attention 8th graders!

International Baccalaureate Program @ Urbana High School

PLEASE READ THIS AS DATES HAVE CHANGED AND DEADLINES ARE FIRM! THE IB APPLICATION OPENS MONDAY, OCTOBER 3. APPLICATIONS ARE DUE FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2 BY 2:30PM. ALL REQUESTS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS,TRANSCRIPTS AND GRADES FROM WKMS MUST BE REQUESTED BY NOVEMBER 18TH. The request for TRANSCRIPTS AND GRADES go to danielle.scarbrough@fcps.org . She is the registrar at WKMS and will forward this to UHS for you. Recommendations from each of your academic teachers must be requested and given, BY the student applying, to the teachers no later than November 18th. These dates and deadlines are firm due to the length of time it takes to do this for all of the students requesting them. Please follow the directions on the application closely and contact jessica.mcbroom@fcps.org if you have questions about the program or the application. The application and directions on how to apply for the program is located on the UHS school website. This can be located on the FCPS homepage and is under the parents and students tab on the schools website. Contact UHS for more information. Mrs. Saylor will be at 8th grade lunch shifts to answer any questions about the WKMS portion of the application.

The "Share your story" book fair is coming Tuesday, Oct., 25th to Fri. Oct., 28th from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Please avoid sending students to school with large bills (i.e. $100). Some parents and teachers have donated money in the past so students can get books if they can not afford them. Teachers create wish lists. You can also purchase books for staff members for classroom libraries or gifts for the holiday break to share your appreciation for all they do. Keep in mind reading enhances learning capacity, boosts memory, expands vocabulary, develops analyzing skills, increases verbal intelligence, improves concentration and empathy, and reduces stress. Scholars should read a minimum of 20 minutes every day. Keep asking students questions about their reading to build comprehension and literacy. We always appreciate your support!

All grade levels have visited the library with their class and co-teaching has begun in foreign language! We discussed how to find valid information for research and how to cite information to avoid plagiarism. You should notice students coming home with books they checked out.

Website: https://edu.fcps.org/wkms/
Location: 11150 Windsor Road, Ijamsville, MD 21754, USA
Phone: 240-236-5000
Facebook: facebook.com/WindsorKnollsMiddleSchoolFCPS
Twitter: @FCPSWKMS