There is a lot to celebrate as we step into May!
Thank you for an incredible year and your continuing support of our students, staff, and school!
It’s hard to believe that we are coming to the end of the year! We have completed our MISA Testing, MCAP Math, and Reading testing. This month our 8th graders will take the Social Studies MCAP assessment on May 1 and May 2. Those students who have taken Algebra I will take the MCAP on May 3 and May 4. Students who have missed any of the state testing assessments will be taking makeups until May 12th. Primary and Lower Elementary students have been taking their DIBELS reading assessments and will complete this testing by May12th. Students in 1st-8th grades will have one more round of NWEA testing to show us how much they have grown over the course of the year! We will begin testing on May 8th and end on May 12th. As we are wrapping up the year students are becoming excited for the warm weather but please help us by reminding your child to give it their best each day as we are still learning.
Attendance Please make sure to send attendance notes to MVMS.Attendance@fcps.org to ensure that absences are coded correctly. In order for absences to be coded as “lawful” or “excused”, we need an email with an excuse included. All absences with no note or no excuse included are coded as “unlawful."
Breakfast & Lunch Menus and meal prices can be found here.
Volunteering Reminder: FCPS volunteer training is mandatory to volunteer in the school, in the classroom, with after school clubs, and to chaperone field trips.
Only 1 parent will be approved for each email address. If you use a joint email, one parent will need to use or create an additional email address to be approved as a volunteer.
Volunteers, please bring your ID with you to the office when volunteering
Primary is learning about the continent of Africa. We are focusing on two main biomes (habitats): grasslands and deserts.
Students are also continuing their life cycle study. Primary students learned about the life cycle of a plant and a butterfly. During the month of May, we will continue to observe these changes.
Students will spend the final month of the school year learning about oceans, including the different oceans of the world and the plants and animals who call our oceans home.
Kindergarten students completed their End of the Year DIBELS testing.
Third graders are going to Catoctin Park on May 11th. On May 12th, third graders will be visiting Upper Elementary.
MAP testing will occur on May 9-10, and 16-17.
In science, we are studying many organisms. We have composting worms, painted lady caterpillars, and we have 14 chicken eggs in the incubator. We are also watching tadpoles and snails.
We continue to work on our cultural study of Africa including maps, African animal research, and biomes.
For math, we are working on double digit division and multiplication with the Montessori materials, such as racks and tubes, and checkerboard.
In writing, students are working on comparing and contrasting, and opinion writing.
Lower Elementary will be representing Asia on International Children’s Day on May 30th.
We are wrapping up our year of study of human evolutions and the developments on ancient civilizations. Our focus is on the time period before the rise of the Roman Empire.
We are going to focus our science education on health and the human body in May.
Our students have joined in the excitement over International Children’s Day. Mr. Craig’s class will represent Mexico. Ms. Kyla’s class will represent Colombia, and Ms. Melissa’s class is debating between their top choices. We have an ambitious amount of research, writing and art planned for this big project.
Every student has individualized writing and math based on their current performance levels. We hope you will engage your children in conversations about their current academics.
On April 26th and 27th, Sixth year students attended Outdoor School. They visited several freshwater sites throughout the county, where they participated in watershed wellness exercises. They tested water for various factors that determine healthy biodiversity in our area. They had the opportunity to learn GPS tracking devices while searching for bioindicators: sensitive species that show the health of an ecosystem. Finally, our sixth graders spent time in a creek, performing an invertebrate study–which they all seemed to enjoy immensely!
Sixth Grade Outdoor School
MS will be sharing information about Germany for International Children’s Day
Please consider chaperoning on May 31 or June 1. We will need many hands to make this work.
Correction to my email sent on April 25. The last day of school is a Friday, which means a two hour early dismissal for us is at 12:35, not 1:35 as I wrote.
Parent information night for the Williamsburg trip is May 10, virtually at 7:00 PM. The link was in the above mentioned email.
In Science, we are investigating Newton’s Laws of Motion in multiple ways. Thank you for all the donations for our next lab. I think we have what we need.
Algebra students are modeling quadratic functions.
Math 8 students are learning how to find solutions for systems of equations.
7 Accelerated is wrapping up their unit on linear equations and inequalities.
Math 7 has begun exploring how to write and solve variable expressions and equations.
In Social Studies we have been exploring Mercantilism, The Intolerable Acts, and the events that would lead to the Revolutionary War. In the coming weeks students will be exploring the economic systems and the U.S. economy as a part of the Systems Cycle.
In ELA students will be working on Greek and Latin Word Roots, exploring free writing, participating in Writers Workshops, and reading a variety of anthologies. Students will also be reading one of the following cycle novels: Holes, The Moves Make the Man, Of Mice and Men, or The Outsiders.
May is going to be a busy month between the academic responsibilities as well as community responsibilities. Please encourage your students to get good rest in the evenings so they are available to learn and collaborate throughout the day.
Please encourage students to be using their Cycle Graphs and Study Guides. Please ask to see their Weekly Progress Report each Friday to make sure students are managing their time effectively and maintaining their workload.
As we reach the end of the school year please make sure your students are practicing fundamental skills over the summer to prevent that summer slide. Ideas could include keeping a journal, summer reading, math facts in the car or math games, even looking at prices while shopping and figuring out change would be great ways to practice skills.
Understanding fractions is a foundational skill. Proficiency with fractions is an important foundation for learning more advanced mathematics. Discuss with your learner(s) real world applications for fraction use and for more content and practice, explore here.
This is a wonderful time of year to be out in a garden or park and observe the world around us. As you are out exploring, I hope you can take some time to observe math in nature with the Fibonacci Sequence and the Golden Ratio.
This month, students in Primary learned more about friendship skills and leadership skills. Lower elementary students learned about resilience and upper elementary students practiced their listening skills. Middle schoolers continued their exploration of career options and skills.
As the school year winds down, the daylight hours get longer and the weather gets warmer, it’s enticing to be outside later, enjoying the evenings. Remember, it’s also important to maintain healthy bedtime routines so your students get as much rest as they need.
Information on outside counseling resources, blessings in a backpack weekend food distribution, and many other areas of support is available by contacting the counseling office.
“Children are human beings to whom respect is due, superior to us by reason of their innocence and of the greater possibilities of the future.” - Maria Montessori
Wednesday, May 3rd at 7:00 p.m. Miles McDaniel singing with the 5th Grade Honors Chorus at the Weinberg. Click here for tickets.
Thursday, May 11th at 7:00 p.m. Keyboard concert in the music room featuring students from MVM and other schools in the area.
Monday, May 16 - Wednesday, May 17 Middle School students end of year trip
Thursday, May 18 at 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. High School Meet and Greet for Staff, Students, and Families in the music room.
Friday, May 19th at 12:45 – 2:15 School Concert will be livestreamed on Google Meet. Use this link.
Tuesday, May 23rd at 5:30 p.m. Chorus Concert on the steps of Colonial Jewelers
http://education.fcps.org/mvmpcs/ 217 Dill Avenue Frederick, MD 21701 240-236-6100 Fax: 240-236-6101 Principal: Amy Dorman