Knightly News 1-24-2020
Fri, 01/24/2020 - 3:43pm1/24/2020 End of 2nd quarter
1/27/2020 No School - Professional Work Day
1/29/2020 Club Day
2/3/2020 Report Cards Issued
A Day
2/4/2020 No School - Special Primary Election Day
2/5/2020 MAP Testing Math 6 & 7
A Day
2/6/2020 MAP Testing ELA 6 & Math 8
2/7/2020 MAP Testing ELA 7 & 8
2/7/2020 Winterfest Fun Knight
2/11/2020 Music Boosters Meeting
2/12/2020 School Store
Dear Patapsco families:
We officially begin the second semester next Tuesday, which means that the school year is half over and we are excited for another great semester of growing, developing, and learning! For most students, the majority of their classes will remain the same, but many related arts classes will be switching to semester two classes. Students and families can access their schedules using Canvas on HCPSS Connect. This is a great time for families to review the schedule, grades, and progress from quarter two. Our front office staff and student services staff are always available to assist students with helping students access their schedules as well as teachers in homeroom each morning.
It was wonderful to meet so many of our new families on Wednesday, January 15th at our New Family Orientation. We are excited to continue to grow our #OnePatapsco with our rising 6th graders and their families! Thank you to everyone who was able to come and we look forward to seeing our newest Knights in May when they visit Patapsco.
Finally, we are looking forward to the exciting and educational opportunity for our students with our “Pathways to the Future” program on April 3, 2020. We are still looking for a few more volunteers to be guest speakers. See information below in our newsletter.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend. As always, thank you for sending us your best!
Mike Babe
Principal
Patapsco- a place where everyone is valued and important!
Reminder about Absences
As always, we require a written note from a parent/guardian within two school days of the absence, or the missed days will be recorded as unexcused. A parent/guardian may email pmsabsence@hcpss.org as well. A parent/guardian may exercise their discretion to request student absences up to three (3) days per school year. The school’s obligation is to encourage good attendance and to inform the student and family of the anticipated consequences of absences due to personal or family business.
Class periods or school days missed can never be fully recovered. Therefore, the school encourages scheduling these activities at times that will not require absence from school. Discretionary/Extended absence forms are available in Student Services as well as on our website and should be submitted at least two weeks in advance of planned absences. All work provided prior to the absence is to be turned in upon the student’s return to school.
Parents/guardians can check HCPSS Connect to see any unexcused absences. Choose Attendance on the left side, then scroll down to Days of Attendance. Make sure Detail is set to “ON”. Dates with many classes marked in red X’s mean we have not received an absent note. (Dates with only one or two red X’s usually means just that class was missed.)
National School Counseling Week
Monday, 2/3/20 through Friday, 2/7/20 - This week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association (ASCA), highlights the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems and the tremendous impact they can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. I would like to take this moment to thank your school counselors, Ms. Lee and Ms. Kempthorn for all that they do to support our students!
MAP Testing
HCPSS middle schools are administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) assessment to provide information on student instructional skill levels and growth over time. In order to gauge progress, MAP will be administered at Patapsco Middle.
Testing is scheduled for the winter administration as follows:
2/5/2020 MAP Testing Math 6 & 7
2/6/2020 MAP Testing ELA 6 & Math 8
2/7/2020 MAP Testing ELA 7 & 8
We ask that you try not to schedule appointments during your student’s test time/day in order to avoid having to take your student from classes to make up the assessment. Also, please make sure your student gets a good night’s rest, eats breakfast, and is ready to do their best on each testing day.
PTA
February 7th Winterfest Fun Knight
Students are invited to the second of three Fun Knights throughout the school year on Friday, February 7, 2020 from 7:00 to 9:00pm. This event has something for everyone!
*DJ & Dancing in the cafeteria
*Special performance by teacher band – D.O.K
*Basketball and other activities in the gym
*Bingo with prizes in the media center
*Concessions for sale
Permission forms will go home with students on Friday, January 31st. Signed permission forms are required to purchase tickets which will be on sale during all lunch periods on February 5, 6 and 7. You can print a form at home from the PTA website under About –-> PTA Forms at mcm_patapsco_winterfest_fun_knight_2020_perm_form.pdf https://patapscopta.weebly.com/. Tickets are $5 and can be paid for by cash or check (made payable to Patapsco MS PTA).
Fun Knights require many parent volunteers to keep our kids safe and happy. Please check out the SignUp Genius here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F45ABAF29A46-winterfest.
Questions about the Fun Knight? Contact Michaela Muffoletto at muffs@muffsonline.com.
The Patapsco Middle School PTA is proud to partner with The Horizon Foundation on mental health and build a community of Emotional Support Humans in Howard County. Learn more about the initiative here: https://supporthuman.org/
8th Graders
There will be a meeting for all the 8th graders and their parents interested in Art II for freshman year and their parents at Mount Hebron at 3:30 pm on January 31st. Please RSVP Ms. Mary-Kate Hannah, art department chair, at mary_hannah@hcpss.org and plan to attend.
If you cannot attend, please email Ms. Mary-Kate Hannh to ask her for the next steps.
Counselor Corner
UPDATE Parent and Guardians of current 8th grade students
Ms. Kempthorn and Ms. Lee want to thank you all for your support with the 9th grade registration process. As the week concludes Ms. Kempthorn and Ms. Lee are wrapping up conversations with students to ensure all course requests are correct. We are also in the process of reviewing Course Placement Review (CPR) forms- online and paper copies. Please note, until we have reviewed and submitted the CPR forms you will not see changes in course requests. Once we have completed our review process the high school will then make changes. Families will receive updated course requests in the spring.
Parents and Guardians requesting a Course Placement Review-
The deadline for submitting an online Course Placement Review form has ended. If you wish to request a change, families will need to complete and return the course placement review form to your student’s current school counselor.
Ms. Kendra Lee, Counselor A-L (kendra_lee@hcpss.org)
Ms. Morgan Kempthorn, Counselor M-Z (morgan_kempthorn@hcpss.org)
News from the Health Room
PARENTS:
If you receive a text message from your child telling you that they are not feeling well and ask to be picked up, PLEASE tell them to come to the health room. We are trying to monitor flu symptoms.
If your child does not come to the health room, we cannot know if they have a fever, body aches, headaches or nausea, all of which are symptoms of the flu. If your child wants to call you for pick up we will never tell them that they can’t speak to you, but it’s extremely important that we know what is going on with your child. If your child does go home with fever or vomiting, please remember they cannot return to school until they are fever free or vomit free for 24 hours.
Reminder: That good hand hygiene and covering sneezes and coughs with tissues are essential steps to preventing the spread of "germs." Also, remember that despite concerns about school attendance, your child's health (and the health of other children) is essential. For this reason, we ask you to please:
- Call the health room to let us know if your child is absent due to contagious illnesses, such as strep throat, flu, or pink eye etc. Please provide any documentation from your physician about diagnosis and release to return to school.
- Keep your child at home if he/she has a fever of over 100. Students must be fever-free for 24 hours without medications before they can return to school.
2020-2021 CHORUS REGISTRATION
Does your child enjoy singing? Were they previously in a choir and miss singing in a group? Have they ever wanted to try singing with others? If any of you answers "yes" to any of those questions, then you should have your child sign up for CHORUS next school year! Sign-up is taking place NOW. Students will need to visit Mrs. Mills or Ms. Shum in room D-11 to put their name and grade level on the sign-up sheet. It's that easy and we have so much fun! We are looking for focused students who love singing and performing to sign up for next year's group. We hope you'll consider joining us! Don't forget-- see Mrs. Mills or Mrs. Shum in D-11 to sign up for next year's CHORUS. Questions about CHORUS? Please e-mail Mrs. Mills at julie_mills@hcpss.org .
MUSIC BOOSTERS
The Music Boosters is excited to announce the Sponsor A Chair Fundraiser to purchase Wenger student chairs for the music classrooms. We need to raise $15,000 to outfit the entire department. Thanks to earlier generous donations, the Music Boosters is able to kick-off the fundraiser with $2,000. To help raise the remaining $13,000, families can sponsor a chair. You can sponsor a full chair for $50 and half a chair for $25.All donations are tax deductible and a receipt will be provided. If you choose to contribute, your name will be added to a plaque that will be hung in the D hallway at the end of the fundraiser. Additional information including the sponsor form is available on the Music Boosters website - http://patapscomusicboosters.weebly.com/ This fundraiser is in addition to the regular fundraising efforts, the Giving Club and donations at the concerts, which address the on-going needs of the music program. Thank you for your support of the Music Boosters and of Patapsco's music program!
Concert Closet: The Boosters are currently collecting gently worn concert attire: long-sleeved, button-down, white oxford shirts, black dress pants, black skirts, black belts, and black dress shoes. We are especially in need of girls’ black skirts, black dress pants, and black dress shoes. Last year we helped students by giving out over 40 pieces of FREE concert attire that they can keep until they outgrow. Please send your donation to school in a bag labeled "Concert Closet." Thanks for your donations!
Pathways to the Future
Patapsco Middle School will be hosting our first “Pathways to the Future” on April 3, 2020. We are looking to showcase a variety of careers and to show students that there are many paths to success. This day will be an exploration of life after high school, including professions in trades, service professions, and other careers that allow for technical training. We will have sessions in the morning for volunteers to share their work experiences and their pathways to their career followed by lessons for students about life management training (interview skills, citizen responsibilities, dual enrollment in high school/college courses, basic budgeting skills, and etiquette/social skills).
Patapsco Middle School is searching for speakers to volunteer their time to present to groups of approximately 20 - 30 students about their path to their career. Our hope is that speakers will be able to volunteer from approximately 8:30 am - 11:30 am. The presentations would be between 20 - 25 minutes, and they would be repeated four times (to different groups of students).
You can choose to present for 2 sessions or 4 sessions. 1 session will be approximately a 20 minute presentation to students, with time for questions and answers.
Please let us know if you, your organization or someone you know might be a good fit for our event. We appreciate any contact information or possible leads that will help make this day as successful as possible for our students.
Sincerely,
Rachel Millstein, rachel_millstein@hcpss.org
Kathryn Stubleski, kathryn_stubleski@hcpss.org
Danielle Healey, danielle_healey@hcpss.org
Link: https://forms.gle/UFjqaLqoodJewiq46
MEMORY BOOKS
Yearbooks are available for purchase now through jostensyearbooks.com. They are on sale now through April. If you like to pay by cash or check, please contact Ms. Salsman kalina_salsman@hcpss.org at Patapsco Middle School or 
Memory Book Order Form.pdf.
Community News
For more Community News visit the Community News and Programs page http://www.hcpss.org/community-news-and-programs/ on the HCPSS website for announcements of upcoming events and programs sponsored by non-profit organizations.