Important Dates:

November
  8   Skate Night, Laurel Roller Skating Center - 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
11   Veterans' Day -- This is a regular school day for HCPSS - We are open!
       PTA Survey Due.  Click here to complete it online.
13   PTA Panda Express Restaurant Spirit DAY - 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
18-22 American Education Week
20   7:00 Counsel of Elders Celebration at Hammond High School
22   5:00-7:30 Book Fair Family Night (note time correction)
25   Schools close 3 hours early for parent/teacher conferences (12:36)
       PTA-sponsored Teacher and Staff Conference Dinner - 4:00-5:00 p.m.
26   Schools close 3 hours early for parent/teacher conferences (12:36)
27   Schools closed for parent/teacher conferences
28-29 Thanksgiving holiday - schools and offices closed

December
3     PTA Meeting - Media Center - 7:00 p.m.
3-5  Holiday Shoppe
6     Ice-skating Night, The Gardens Ice Center - 7:50-9:20 p.m.
11   Chick-fil-A Day at Johns Hopkins Road location - Be sure to say you're with FRES!
18   6:00-7:00 p.m. Kindergarten Gingerbread House Night

Items of Note:

• As the weather gets colder, there is the possibility that schools will be closed or open late because of inclement weather.  HCPSS sends out text messages to let parents know.  These messages usually go out between 5:00 and 5:30 a.m.  To receive text messages from FRES or HCPSS, you must opt in.  Please text "YES" to 67587 to receive text messages.
• The last Chick-fil-A Spirit Day this year will be on March 18.  Proceeds will help to defray the cost of 4th and 5th grade field trips.
• Our phones are answered Monday through Thursday, 8:30-4:00 p.m.; Friday, 8:30-4:00 p.m.

From our Administrators...

Dear FRES Community,

This was a busy week here at FRES.  We celebrated our students for their positive behavior during the first quarter.  Our Pumped Up Recess was a blast and all students participated. Thanks to our Watch DOGS, Dr. Hamilton, Mr. Pandohie, Mr. Kovaleski, and Mr. O’Connell, who chased balls in the woods.  The wind today was an added bonus.  

All grades' report cards go home on Monday, November 11th. Beginning this quarter, you will notice modifications to your child’s report card.  

The K-5 Learning Behaviors section of the report card has been modified to align with changes recently made to HCPSS Policy 8010: Grading and Reporting. The new behaviors complement the curriculum content taught in the elementary grades and are a natural part of learning about oneself while interacting with others.

Learning behaviors now included on the 2019-2020 report card help support parents and teachers in identifying areas of focus. The learning behaviors are:

• Demonstrates interpersonal skills
• Demonstrates responsibility
• Demonstrates perseverance
• Demonstrates collaboration
• Demonstrates initiative

On the HCPSS website, you will find a list of the specific behaviors, actions and expectations that align with each learning behavior. Teachers will report student performance on each learning behavior based on developmental and age-appropriate expectations. You will also find example report cards, frequently asked questions and information in multiple languages.

Click here for important information about Understanding Your Child's Report Card and Preparing for Conferences.

We hope everyone has a great weekend,

Mr. Conroy and Ms. Pazornik

Student News...

Congratulations to our Eagle Egg winners for this week:

Conferences
Parent/teacher conferences will be held Monday, Nov. 25-Wednesday, Nov. 27. Conferences can be scheduled online through HCPSS/Connect from November 11-22.  This video shows parents how to schedule a conference through their HCPSS Connect account: https://youtu.be/QcMwkkIgkls

Be sure to sign in in the office before visiting the classroom.  Although you may visit anytime during the week, teachers have set aside these visitation dates and times for each grade as listed below:

K    11/22   2:35 - 3:35  Stone Soup
G1  11/21  10:30 - 11:30
G2  11/20  11:35 - 12:35 lunch in the classroom and recess
G3  11/19  11:30 - 12:30 
G4  11/21  1:35 - 3:30
G5  11/22  12:00-1:30

From the Media Center
The FRES Media team is thrilled to congratulate the 8 teams (33% of our 5th graders) who are participating in Battle of the Books this year!  We are excited to support and encourage everyone to have fun reading and preparing for the Battle on Friday, April 17th!  After the first of the year we will have optional practices and other opportunities for our teams to prepare, so keep watch!

Calling ALL Parents!
If you would be interested in helping translate documents so our teachers can provide information to our families who speak a language other than English, please contact Sarah Ports (sarah_ports@hcpss.org) or Kathy Chrzanowski (Katharine_Chrzanowski@hcpss.org).  We are especially in need of those who speak: Spanish, Burmese, Chin, and Vietnamese.

PTA News...

November
8    Skate Night, Laurel Roller Skating Center - 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.
13   Panda Express Restaurant Spirit DAY - 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.
25   PTA-sponsored Teacher and Staff Conference Dinner - 4:00-5:00 p.m.
December
3     PTA Meeting - Media Center - 7:00 p.m.
3-5  Holiday Shoppe
6     Ice-skating Night, The Gardens Ice Center - 7:50-9:20 p.m.
18   Kindergarten Gingerbread House Night Happy November, FRES families!

TGIF FRES families!

Thank you to all the families who attended our PTA Meeting on Tuesday and special thanks to Mrs. Lindenmann for providing childcare.  We had a great discussion on the school boundary review process (redistricting) and how to advocate for balanced schools.  For more information, please visit: https://www.hcpss.org/school-planning/boundary-review/.

Not sure about other families, but the Hasans have already worked our way through an entire box of Joe Corbi’s pizza from the fundraiser.  Yum!  This fundraiser surpassed our goal and raised over $3700 with 58 families participating!  Thank you for supporting the PTA!  We’ll be looking into some cultural arts assemblies options for this coming year since we are doing so well with fundraising.  Special thanks to Jessica Petro for coordinating the fundraiser and all those who helped with order distribution!

Tonight is Skate Night at Laurel Roller Skating Center on Rt. 1 and Brewers Court.  Skate from 7 – 10pm for $9, which includes skate rental.  All participants who use the FRES special price must sign a waiver at the door.  We’ll see you there!

Our PTA – with the help of dedicated FRES parent Korin Sharp – is participating in the National PTA School of Excellence Program to "grow partnerships between PTAs and schools to enrich the educational experience and overall well-being of all students."  Please complete the anonymous survey online or the paper version that was sent home last week in your child's take home folder by next Monday, November 11.  We thank you in advance for participating and sharing your opinions!

Have a great weekend!

Khaleda Hasan, FRES PTA President

More from the PTA

Box Tops Fall Contest
Thank you to FRES families and staff for participating in the fall Box Tops contest!  Thirty-three students submitted clipped and/or digital Box Tops; all participants received a pencil.  Winners (one per grade) received a gift card to Five Below.  The winners are: Madison D. (K-Speiser) with 203 Box Tops; Francesca B. (1-Kim) with 38 Box Tops; Eva F. (2-Robinson) with 144 Box Tops; Noelle W. (3-Azzarello) with 155 Box Tops; Mira H. (4-Taylor) with 51 Box Tops; and Ellis L. (5-O'Connell) with 120 Box Tops. We counted 2,104 Box Tops, or $210.40, in addition to $52 in digital Box Tops scanned from receipts.  This will be added to our June submission of $211.80, so FRES should receive a check this December for about $474.20. Great job, FRES, and please keep clipping and scanning receipts with the Box Tops app!  Email BoxTops@frespta.org with any questions.  A special thank you to Andrea P., a 2nd grade FRES parent, who volunteered to help count Box Tops this fall!

Dad’s Club
Forms were sent home this week for upcoming sporting events.  The first game will be the Maryland Terrapins Women's Basketball team taking on the Loyola Greyhounds on Sunday, December 8 at 1pm. The second game will be the Washington Wizards taking on the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, January 4 at 8pm.  We hope that you will be able to join us at one of these fun activities!

Restaurant Night
Our next Restaurant “Night” is a Restaurant Day next Wednesday, November 13!  Stop by the Panda Express in Laurel on Route 1 anytime from 11am to 9:30pm!  Show the printed or digital flyer when you order so we can get back some of the proceeds.  Hope to see you there!

Yearbook
The Yearbook Committee will be meeting Monday, Nov 11th at 7-8pm.  Please contact Monaca Noble at kojothecat@gmail.com for more information on how to get involved.

Community News...

Reservoir High School Presents, "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime."  Learn more