ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES:
UMS ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM CHANGES (FOF sent out Friday, January 24, 2020):
Wendy Gill, current Assistant Principal, has accepted a new position with FCPS as a Pupil Personnel Worker. Mrs. Gill’s last day with us was Friday, January 31. We sincerely thank Mrs. Gill for her years of service in the Urbana community!
We welcomed Jill Cameron as Acting Assistant Principal on Monday, February 3, 2020. Ms. Cameron most recently was a Language Arts teacher at Windsor Knolls Middle School and is excited to become a part of our Hawk family.
Stacey Hiltner, Principal
Stacey.Hiltner@fcps.org or 240-566-9210
Robert Everett, Assistant Principal
Robert.Everett@fcps.org or 240-566-9208
Jill Cameron, Acting Assistant Principal
Jill.Cameron@fcps.org or 240-566-9209
Social Media & Cyberbullying & Digital Citizenship - Our middle school students utilize a variety of electronic devices each day. While having access to these devices, one also must display responsible behavior while using them.
In middle school, cyber bullying, digital identity, sexting, digital footprints and the use of inappropriate social media apps are topics that are gaining attention in today’s society. The desire to belong to a peer social group is strong, but we find our students may not always make the best decisions regarding communication and use of these devices while unsupervised.
Recently, UMS has had an increase of inappropriate behaviors on cell phones and have had INNOCENT students maligned online and within various apps and sites. Additionally, we have incidents of cyberbullying and we do involve law enforcement and our SRO in our investigations. Our students regularly use Instagram, Snapchat, and other apps that permit users to post inappropriate comments, pictures, start rumors, etc about others. There are many dangerous apps in the world today as well as hidden vaults where students keep information.
Cyberbullying is defined as behavior which torments, threatens, harasses, embarrasses, or spreads false information about another person using the internet or other technologies. Current facts regarding cyberbullying include:
Cyberbullying and these other behaviors can have a variety of short term and long term effects including isolation, depression and suicidal thoughts.
Equally concerning, our children ( especially middle and high school aged students), are participating more and more in sexting. Sexting is defined as sending and receiving “sexy” pictures, nudes, etc of yourself and/or others and this behavior can be illegal. In these situations, law enforcement is usually also involved.
At UMS, we provide a variety of lessons to our students throughout the school year on a variety of topics including the ones listed above. We share with our students that being a good digital citizen means they are demonstrating responsible and positive online behavior(s). We encourage our students to think critically about what they read online, what they choose to post online and to make smart, safe decisions. We discuss implications of inappropriate online behaviors and the impact it could have on their future.
If your child has a cellphone, we always encourage parents to review cell phone usage, apps, and other applications their child may be using. We have had parents share there are a variety of parental control apps which permit parents to see how the device is being used.
I share this information with you because we want all of our students to be safe, treat others with the respect they are due, and make responsible decisions online. Digital footprints and online behavior(s) are very important and most businesses and colleges will google names of applicants before hiring or admitting into an educational facility. Our students are creating these digital footprints now and they are NEVER ERASED permanently.
For more information, please visit https://www.stopbullying.gov/
As always, if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to an administrator or counselor for additional resources.
BLUETOOTH has been disabled for school devices and is a permanent change. Wireless headphones will no longer work with FCPS devices. This is a county wide change and was done to increase security.
Please ensure that students are utilizing their school issued case for their Chromebook. When a school device is not in its required case, full cost of damages will be charged to the student. Students may not use a case not provided by UMS, put their Chromebook in their binder, or any other form of protection besides the school issued case.
GEOGRAPHY BEE- On January 22, 19 UMS students competed in the National Geographic School level Geography Bee. After many rounds of tough geography questions, 7th grader Suhaan Pastakia came out on top and is the 2020 UMS Geography Bee champ. Suhaan has now taken the State qualifying test and is awaiting the announcement in March of state qualifiers. Congratulations Suhaan!
SPELLING BEE - Congratulations to our Spelling Bee winner Rachael Thyparambil! She completed over 20 rounds and was up against 30 competitors. She will represent UMS at the County Competition in March. Her championship word was diplopia. Diplopia is a disorder of vision in which two images of a single object are seen.
Also, congrats to our runner up - Mewenn Le Guellec. He is a 7th grader and will compete if Rachael is unable to attend.
FRENCH TUTORING: Want to learn, practice, or get better at French? Students from the UHS French Honors Society are tutoring free of charge! For current French students, information is posted in Miss Babb's schoology pages. ALL ARE WELCOME, whether you are are currently enrolled in a French class or not, but would like to participate and begin learning French, we would love to have you! Please fill out the Google form to sign up: https://forms.gle/hRFTMTH9tmcb8fks5
French Tutoring Flyer
JUDGES NEED FOR ANNUAL UMS SCIENCE FAIR: If you are a science enthusiast, please consider being a judge for our 14th Annual UMS Science Fair on Wednesday, March 4th! Judging will begin with an orientation at 12:30 pm and should end around 3:00pm. We usually have 100-115 student projects from all grades, based on the following categories:
Animal Sciences
Engineering
Behavioral and Social Science
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Consumer Products Testing
Energy (Chemical/ Physical)
Biological Sciences
Medicine and Health
Biochemistry
Physics / Astronomy
Chemistry
Plant Sciences
Materials Science
Mathematics
If you can be a judge, please contact Dave Adamiak, Advanced Academic Specialist. He can be reached at 240-566-9294 or via email david.adamiak@fcps.org.
Our goal is to have a minimum of 30 judges.
SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION - As snowy weather approaches, this is an important reminder about FCPS emergency communication.
Watch our award-winning Weather Delays and Closings video, and read more here: http://www.fcps.org/weather. After making the decision to close for snow or other emergencies, FCPS uses MANY ways to communicate! This is partly because emergency conditions can compromise any of the methods used.
Here are places to check:
IF YOU WANT TO GET SNOW-CLOSING TEXTS VIA PHONE, BE SURE YOU HAVE ENTERED YOUR MOBILE PHONE NUMBER/CARRIER AND VERIFICATION CODE IN FOF.*
Afterschool and Weekend Activities: Generally, when schools are closed due to inclement weather, school-sponsored after-school and evening activities are canceled or postponed.
On non-school days when the Snow Emergency Plan is in effect in Frederick County, unless the Superintendent grants a waiver, all after-school, evening and weekend programs and activities are canceled or postponed, including events scheduled by outside user groups.
Exceptions: Frederick County Parks and Recreation programs operating in community gyms at schools and daycare programs operating in schools (such as YMCA before- and afterschool programs) independently make and communicate their decisions regarding schedule modifications. For Frederick County Parks and Recreation program updates, call 301-600-6291.
For Snow Emergency Plan status, tune to local radio or visit the Maryland Department of Transportation website: http://www.chart.state.md.us/StormInfo/snow_emergency_plans.asp Here are links to fliers and FCPS Regulations: How to Check School Status: English Spanish
How FCPS Decides to Cancel or Delay Schools During Bad Weather
Reg. 400-2 Closing Schools Due to Weather, Maintenance, etc Reg. 400-42 Weather Guidelines for Outside Activities
Emergency Lunches During Inclement Weather Events
The FCPS Calendar Handbook (page 5) lists information about half-day pre-k and FCPS Career and Technology Center (CTC) delays.
*To log in to your FOF account to add your mobile phone/carrier, go to www.fcps.org/fof. The Forgotten Password feature will email you a link to re-set your password. Your default username is the email address the school has on file in your child's eSchool record. *A final note: Emergency closing notices are sent from the FCPS Central Office only, not from schools.
LOST & FOUND - We have many items in our Lost and Found bin located in the cafeteria. Students have an opportunity each day during their lunch shift to look for missing items. Items not claimed at the end of each term will be donated to a local charity approximately 2 weeks following the term's end.
FIND OUT FIRST - If you miss any of our FOF notices or are new to FOF, please know that all of our community publications are also archived on our UMS website.
PTSA MEMBERSHIP - Our PTSA membership is growing and we still need you as a member! Our PTSA provides incredible support to our families and feeder throughout the school year. Please consider joining the UMS PTSA this school year!
INTERPRETER SERVICES - If you require interpreting services for any school event, including our upcoming concerts, spring performances, conferences, meetings, field trips, etc., please contact Mrs. Mitnick at Tamera.Mitnick@fcps.org at least 10 business days in advance.
Our UMS newsletter is published monthly on the 1st Thursday of each month. For time sensitive information, we will continue to send FOF Notices. The monthly newsletter will also include a calendar of UMS events. All of our newsletters and notices are archived on our UMS website.
*Please join us at our next PTSA General Meeting, Tuesday, March 17 @ 7 PM in the UMS Media Center.
SAVE THE DATE for the following Awesome UMS PTSA Community Events:
3/12/19: Urbana Community Heritage Night- UMS 6 PM
4/24/19: Harlem Wizards Community Event!
For details about events, volunteering, daily morning announcements, and fundraisers, please visit www.umsptsa.org
http://education.fcps.org/ums/
3511 Pontius Court Ijamsville, MD 21754 240-566-9200 Fax 240-566-9201