Please enjoy the latest Griffin Gazette!
Vol. 30: 5.03.24
Happy Friday, FCCS Community, Thank you all for participating in the Members Meeting either in person or by proxy. We were just able to make quorum, and the proxies made the difference. Thank you for completing them and submitting on time. The Griffin Triangle is such an important part of our community. Our elections were successful. We appreciate all those who volunteer their time for our school. Our first annual Art & Literacy Night was a great success! It was wonderful seeing so many families come on a Thursday night. The therapy dogs probably stole the show. Thank you so much to Mrs. Roy, St. Angelo, Ellis, and Weishaar for putting together such a memorable event. We know there are many people disappointed with the outcome of Yellow Springs Elementary School lease decision and the potential budgetary woes. Although YSES would have been a wonderful site for our school, we should rejoice with CCM in their good fortune. Our BOT is hard at work as we all look toward our future. We have a great school. It will continue no matter our location. As for the funding concerns, there is some misinformation that has been circulating, and we’d like to clear that up. Although the MD Blueprint has been in the works for years, there have been changes, including the precedent that BCPS set with funding, which FCPS is following. The issue is not only MD Blueprint PPA funding (which is our main source of funding) but also that our local government is not fully funding the educational budget. As a charter, we are a special school, but we are not the only school affected by these issues. We appreciate everyone who advocates for our scholars. Please make sure to be informed and respectful so that you can represent us well. All schools will be hurting, and of course, we’re all working towards the same goal of equipping our future generations to do great things. If you have specific questions, you can reach out to the BOT (bot@frederickclassicalcharterschool.orgbot@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org>). FCCS remains committed to our scholars learning the true, doing the good, and seeing the beautiful. FCCS Strong, Mr. Conroy and Mr. Kenny
5/6-5/10 - Teacher Appreciation Week 5/6 - 8th Grade Coal Fire Fundraiser 5/7 - Talent Show 6:00 p.m. 5/13 - BOT Public Meeting 7:00 p.m. 5/14 - No School (Primary Elections) 5/16 - Spring Ensembles Concert 6:00 p.m. 5/17 - End of Year Picnic
This flyer was designed by 6th grader Karen Eigbokhan!
Medication Pick-up: A Parent/Guardian must pick up all medications in the health room by the end of the day on June 7, 2024. To Arrange for pick-up please contact the health room staff. To read the letter from the health room please click here.
Art and Literacy Night: The Art and Literacy Night Team would like to take this moment to share our thanks! We would like to extend our gratitude to all the parent volunteers who worked hard to help manage our Art and Literacy Night stations. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to support the school! Your presence helped the event to run smoothly and provide a wonderful experience for our scholars! A special thank you to Mrs. Rae Gallagher, Board of Education Vice President, who gave her time to share her love of reading with our scholars and their families. Her reading of "The Book Without Pictures" was loved by all. To the handlers and the dogs of the Go Team Therapy Dogs unit, we are so thankful for your presence at the event. The scholars enjoyed their time reading with a canine friend, or two! To our very own Celebrity Readers, Mrs. Partlow and Mrs. Hunt, thank you for sharing your passion for storytelling. To all the staff who stuck around to lend a hand here and there, filling in when needed, we are ever so grateful for your time and energy! A shout-out to our National Junior Honor Society scholars who helped manage stations, direct attendees, and kept the evening going with their enthusiasm. We look forward to future events at FCCS! Cynthia Roy Frederick Classical Charter School Literacy Specialist
The Board of Trustees will hold its May monthly meeting virtually on Monday, May 13, at 7 p.m.
Meeting link: https://meet.google.com/enb-izdk-pmc Call-in: 347-450-6966? PIN: ?855 627 952?#
Budget:
At the May 1 Board of Education Meeting (watch the recorded meeting online), FCCS community members, including two 2nd grade scholars, shared public comments about the impact of the Blueprint funding proposal on our long-term budget. We shared our concerns that the current PPA funding level of 75% is not sustainable for our school, or any of the other charter schools. During the budget presentation, BOE members asked many questions to understand how charter schools will be impacted. Several BOE members mentioned that they have heard from many charter school community members this week. So, our outreach is working!
Here is how you can continue to advocate for FCCS:
Write to the BOE members at boe@fcps.org. We need our BOE members to understand that charter schools are disproportionately impacted by the 25% withholding from the PPA. We need our BOE members to understand that we pay for facilities' expenses that will be covered by the 25% withholding in other FCPS schools.
Attend the May 6 Community Listening Session at Linganore High School. Plan to ask questions about how charter schools can be sustainably funded. Express that the current $500,000/year reduction in our funds will lead to our school closing in 5 years.
Sign up to give public comment at the May 15 BOE meeting. The sign-up opens up five days before the meeting. Additional speakers can sign-up 30 minutes before the in-person meeting. Or, submit written public comment to BoardPublicComment@fcps.org (attach your comments as a PDF or Word Doc) The BOE members were particularly proud and impacted by the scholars' comments.
Invite BOE members to visit our school. There is no better way to get to know our incredible community than to walk our halls.
Write Letters to the Editor of The Frederick News Post or other local media outlets.
Advocate at the county, state and federal levels for funding equity, and consideration for how the disproportionate impact of funding on charter schools is an unintended but devastating impact of the Maryland Blueprint Funding law.
Send your questions and ideas to bot@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org
The BOT is working hard to share our story and advocate for sustainable funding. Our strength in this fight is the Griffin Triangle-- we need ALL our parents, scholars and teachers to join us.
Building Update:
At the May 1 BOE meeting, it was also announced that FCCS was not selected to move forward with negotiating for the YSES school site. The BOT will continue to strategize on opportunities for our future school site and provide updates to the community, as needed. If you are interested in joining this committee, please email bot@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org. The Board would also like to congratulate CCM Charter School for being selected to move forward with the lease of YSES. This is a huge opportunity for them and we wish them the best of luck with this transition.
Academic Committee:
LifeSkills After School Program: Last Opportunity! Only one module remains this school year for the LifeSkills program. Signup for Module 8 (Resolving Conflicts) is now open. Please use the link for more information or to register:
https://forms.gle/nf344CytRnFh6Shg8 [forms.gle]
Have questions about Academics Committee activities? Feel free to email:
academics@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org
Summer Institute Committee:
SAVE THE DATE - Saturday June 1st!! The Summer Institute Committee is excited to offer an opportunity for all rising 5th-8th scholars, current high school FCCS alumni, and guardians to attend our first college prep session! This session will be offered by Hillsdale College in our school building on Saturday June 1st from 12pm-2pm with refreshments provided. This is an in-person only event and childcare (for those younger than 5th grade) will NOT be provided.
More details to follow. If interested in attending, please sign up via the link below:
https://forms.gle/SZnqEKigXTMosU9MA [forms.gle]
Have questions about Summer Institute Committee activities? Please email:
summerinstitute@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org
Volunteers provide the support needed to achieve the FCCS mission!
The Griffin Triangle is an integral part of our mission and success at Frederick Classical Charter School. We are always in need of more hands to help our school reach its full potential. Together we are FCCS Strong!
FCCS Committee & Subcommittee Descriptions
Please scan and fill in your contact information and take a moment to indicate at least 1 area you would be interested in helping with next year.
Volunteer Sub-Committee:
Communications Sub-Committee:
The communications committee is seeking volunteers to migrate content from the current website to the updated website. Many hands make light work, as they say, so the more volunteers the better. Need not be tech savvy. If interested please email communications@frederickclassicalcharterschool.org.
Teach Appreciation Week is May 6 - 10. To view view your teacher’s favorite things click here.
Teacher Appreciation week is in 2 weeks, May 6-10. It will only be as special as you and your children help to make it. Remember that a heartfelt expression of thanks is the greatest gift and it only 'costs' a few minutes of your time! Let's work together to shower our FCCS staff with love and appreciation!
Please sign up to help with our special door decoration surprise on Sunday, May 5th. https://tinyurl.com/FCCSDoor24
We also need help to provide lunch for the staff on Tuesday, May 7th. The main meal will be catered by Cafe Rio. https://tinyurl.com/Tuesdaystafflunch
Library Sub-Committee:
The Library will close on May 10th for Inventory.
A huge THANK YOU to the volunteers who have helped at the Library this school year.
This is a reminder to the scholars that the Sora Reading App is available to them through FCPS. They can access this app through this link https://soraapp.com/library/fcpsmd
Social Sub-Committee:
All are invited to attend a very exciting Talent Show performance on Tuesday, May 7. More than 30 scholars from all grade levels will be showcasing their talents that range from singing and dancing, to hula hooping, comedy and dramatic performances. You won't want to miss it! The show will be at 6 p.m. at Ballenger Creek Middle School.
End of the Year Picnic: Join us as we wind down the school year, from 4.00pm-6.00pm, on May 17th at Utica Park. We will have cake, some games, crafts, limited water, and music. Feel free to bring games, a picnic basket for your family, and don't forget to bring your water bottles. We will need help from the community to make this a fun event. Please review sign up genius to see how you can help.
Yearbook Sub-Committee:
Frederick Classical Charter Order Before It’s Too Late!
Click Here to Order
Reminders:
Oakdale High School will be holding their Move-Up Day on Wednesday May 29th from 9:15am to 11:00am. This is a STUDENT ONLY event.
Next week is Mental Health Awareness Week. To educate our scholars about mental health and how to keep our minds healthy we will be putting some information in our morning announcements each day. In addition, we will be giving teachers some ideas to use with their classes throughout the week. Check out these great parent resources as well!
JED
Sound It Out – Conversation Starters (pdf)
Mental Health Matters (pdf)
Worry and Anxiety (pdf)
Frederick Classical Charter School 8445 Spires Way, Suite CC Frederick, MD 21701 USA
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