ADMINISTRATIVE NOTES:
THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL and PREVENTION recently released a statement regarding the potential for the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States. The CDC indicated the risk for students and the U.S. public is considered low at this time. However, the CDC is asking school officials, as well as childcare centers and businesses, to prepare for possible cases of COVID-19 in communities. While there are no confirmed cases in Maryland or our neighboring states, Governor Hogan announced today that there are two individuals in Maryland who are being tested for the virus.
FCPS is working closely with the Frederick County Health Department and following the guidance provided by the CDC and Maryland Department of Health to monitor the situation and implement appropriate measures to protect our school community. Additionally, we are collaborating with the Maryland State Department of Education regarding specific strategies for the school environment.
According to the CDC, most people get infected with viruses in the coronavirus family at some point in their lives. The COVID-19 strain, initially concentrated in China, can have a more severe impact in terms of respiratory illness with fever, cough and difficulty breathing. The CDC is still studying how the 2019 novel (new) strain spreads, although it is thought to be spread much like the flu.
The cleaning products FCPS regularly uses are effective for addressing COVID-19 on surfaces. The school system ensures that our custodial staff regularly clean classrooms and common areas to safeguard student and staff health.
FCPS is reviewing our existing pandemic response plan and making any necessary revisions to respond to COVID-19. The plan is dynamic, with updates expected as new information becomes available.
Please take the following steps to help prevent the spread of germs:
*The Center for Disease Control and Prevention maintains that “keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water.” Particularly during the flu season, it is imperative for Frederick County Public Schools employees and community members to emphasize with students the critical importance of washing their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds. We are strongly encouraging school-based administrators and teachers to continuously reinforce with students the importance of washing hands. Please seize every opportunity to convey this message to the school community. Wash hands often with soap and water at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.
*Avoid touching eyes, mouth and nose with unwashed hands. *Cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue, then immediately discard the tissue in the trash and wash hands. If a tissue is not available, cough or sneeze into your elbow. *Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces. *Stay home when you are sick (at least 24 hours after there are no signs of fever without the use of fever-reducing medication).
Below are links to resources with additional information: www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov
www.health.maryland.gov/coronavirus
health.frederickcountymd.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=271
WHEN STUDENTS SHOULD NOT ATTEND SCHOOL: Flu season is still in full swing and UMS thought it necessary to reiterate that students should be kept home from school when:
PLEASE NOTE: students do NOT have to worry about being out sick and for school policy states "for each day a student misses they have 2 days to make up any work missed while they were out." Teachers will also help students when needed during ELT.
URBANA MIDDLE SCHOOL EVENT PARKING/RESERVED: Our school is heavily used for sports, outside user groups and school events throughout the school year including events during the day, evenings, and on weekends.
Please refrain from parking in RESERVED spots as they are designated for FCPS/UMS Administration/Counselors only 24-7. Administration and Counselors often have to respond to building events around the clock including weekends and evenings and we need to have these spaces available at all times.
Visitors are welcome to park in our main lot or the overflow lot on the car rider side of the building near the cafeteria entrance.
We appreciate your cooperation so these spaces are available at all times.
CONGRATULATIONS to UMS 8th Grade Choir member Anya Qin for being accepted into the 2020 Maryland All-State Junior Chorus! Anya will be joining about 120 other students who were selected out of 800 students who auditioned state-wide. The All-State Junior Chorus will be rehearsing Friday through Sunday this week in Baltimore, and will present their featured concert at 1:00 on Sunday afternoon at Towson University. Way to go, Anya!
CONGRATULATIONS to all the UMS students who participated in the FCPS Solo and Ensemble Festival on Saturday, February 29 at Oakdale High School!
The following students earned a Superior Rating at the festival and have earned the right to go on to the Maryland State Solo and Ensemble Festival in May:
Duet of Ananya Nair and Sara Patamawenu
Duet of Travis Sokhon and Kaylee Vongnaraj
Solo of Anjali Thomas
Solo of Matthew Park
Solo of Ananya Nair
Trio of Sahana Kothandaraman, Crystal Odame, and Maddy Baker
Quartet of Shawn Chen, Nathan Gu, Nathan Jang, and Jack Walker
The following students earned a Good Rating at the festival:
Duet of Nishka Ponnapureddy and Miriam Worth
Trio of Mariana Sepulveda, Mona Kurian, and Mahesa Loganathan
Trio of Joshua White, Jacob Chan, and Stella Depintor
Quartet of Eileen Kim, Jiwoo Lee, Vivienne Cao, and Matthew Park
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 14th ANNUAL UMS SCIENCE FAIR overall winner, Ved Roychowdhury. Ved submitted a COMPUTER SCIENCE project titled, "Creating a User-Friendly Home Security System Using Facial Recognition".
Our category winners were:
ANIMAL SCIENCE - Joshua White, "Will a Fish's Breathing Rate Change if the Temperature Changes in Their Environment?"
BEHAVIORAL & SOCIAL SCIENCES - Mahad Bhinder, "The Effect of Video Gaming on the Human Brain"
BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES - Yashita Thalla, "Factors Effecting Enzymes"
CHEMISTRY - Mona Kurian, "Ice-Cream Making: Lowering the Freezing Point of Water"
CONSUMER PRODUCTS TESTING - Maland Emerson, "Checking Gluten Labels"
EARTH SCIENCE - Jack Jenson, "Acidity on Hardness of Quartz"
ENGINEERING - Dinesh Ganesan, "Upgrading a Cane"
ENERGY - Simon Kenney, "Piezo-Floor"
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE - Aarushi Kariveda, "The Protection Afforded by Calcium Oxalate Against Acid Rain"
MATHEMATICS/COMPUTER SCIENCE - Ved Roychowdhury
MEDICINE & HEALTH - Casey Wehr, "Diet and Cancer"
PHYSICS/ASTRONOMY - Zackary Russin - "Can a Water Rocket Achieve the Same Height as a Fire Rocket?"
PLANT SCIENCE - Monica Nader - "Basil, Fertilizers and Nitrates"
UMS would like to extend a special THANK YOU to our Science Fair Judges. We had 37 judges this year, many of which are students at Urbana High School and were past UMS students!
LAST DAY TO ORDER UMS SPIRITWEAR IS FRI, MARCH 6: Do not miss out on getting your student and family decked out with the newest UMS Spiritwear! Spruce up your closets with the latest & greatest spiritwear that is only available to purchase through tomorrow!
The UMS spiritwear store closes tomorrow, Friday, March 6. Orders will arrive at UMS the week of March 30, just in time for our April 3rd PBIS Hawk Pride Day!
Please be sure to list your child's Hawk Time teacher's name when checking out. All orders will be delivered to the school and be delivered during Hawk Time. Feel free to email Carolyn Altuner at caltuner@comcast.net or Angie McLeod at angela9317@aol.com with any questions. Happy shopping! https://tinyurl.com/urbanamiddle
39th ANNUAL FREDERICK COUNTY SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR: Please visit https://education.fcps.org/sciencesec/sciencefair to view information and find necessary links about participating in this year's Fair. Important dates for the Fair are listed above in the UMS Calendar section of the newsletter.
FCPS ACADEMY for the FINE ARTS (AFA):
HOSTS Middle School Shadow Day Wednesday April 15 8-10 AM Gov. Thomas Johnson High School Students in grades 7 and 8 are invited to: *Visit the AFA *Take a tour *Learn about the 4 focus areas music, dance, visual art, and theatre Students will: Participate in hands-on activities Learn what the AFA is and Learn how the AFA can fit into a 4-year plan for high school Transportation to and from this event is NOT provided.
Please register at https://www.fcpsartsacademy.org/visit-the-afa.html
OUR 2020 UMS YEARBOOKS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE NOW! Do not miss out on purchasing on this awesome keepsake of your child's 2019-2020 School Year!
2020 Yearbook details...
Price:
Purchase Deadline: 05/12/2020
Submit order and payment online. To order a yearbook follow the link (https://link.entourageyearbooks.com/my/UrbanaMiddle2020)
Please be sure to include your students FIRST and LAST NAME, GRADE, & their hawk talk/homeroom teacher.
There will be a limited supply so make sure that you submit your order before the deadline! If you have any questions, please contact Hannah Hale at hannah.hale@fcps.org
URBANA HIGH SCHOOL DRAMA DEPARTMENT PRESENTS ITS 50th MAIN STAGE SHOW! Please join the UHS Drama Department on April 2nd , 3rd, and 4th as they present the Disney Classic, "The Little Mermaid"! Tickets are $10 each and are going f-a-s-t, so be sure to purchase yours now! Tickets may be purchased online at www.showtix4u.com.
UMS PTSA PRESENTS:
HARLEM WIZARDS BASKETBALL COMMUNITY EVENT 4/24/20!
Bring the family and watch hilarity ensue as staff members from all Urbana Area Feeder Schools play alongside the hilarious Harlem Wizard Basketball Players for this SLAMTASTIC ONE NIGHT EVENT!
April 24 @ 7 PM - UHS Gymnasium
TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!
Over 200 tickets sold already!!!
CLICK HERE to for more details and to purchase your tickets online.
www.umsptsa.org
Seating is limited- Don’t miss it! SPECIAL SEATING (Reserved, Courtside Plus, Wizards Bench will go FAST!) SAVE MORE by purchasing tickets online today!
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.
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
SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION - local news is stating that March is looking to be its typical "in like a lion, out like a lamb" month, so don't count out snowy weather just yet! 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