Join the Parade!
All PTA members (parents and high school age only) are invited to join the Council of PTAs on Saturday, September 27 to participate in Lewisville's Western Day Parade.
PTA members should wear their school's spirit wear and meet at Purnell and Cowan at 1pm to march in the 3pm parade. Look for the sign for LISD Council of PTAs.
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WHY JOIN PTA? Research has shown that kids perform better in school when parents are involved.
Grades are higher. Test scores improve. Attendance increases. Involved parents
are informed parents. For more information about PTA and benefits that are
exclusive just to PTA members, visit the Texas PTA website at www.txpta.org.
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ATTENTION: 8TH GRADE PARENTS
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Make your 8th grade student's yearbook even more memorable - purchase a message space and personalize it! Click here to download the message space order form from the FMS website. Contact Daniela Fontana at fontanada@lisd.net for more information. Hurry, space is limited!
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THANK YOU FOR YOUR DONATIONS!
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Forestwood PTA collected 126 pairs of socks at the Back to School Sock Drive. These will be donated to Communities in Schools of North Texas for distribution to kids in our district.
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BUS DRIVERS NEEDED!
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Durham Transportation announced that it will donate $500 to PTAs that refer drivers who are ultimately hired. The drivers themselves will receive $1000 signing bonuses. Durham is confident they can train anyone to drive a bus and do it well. They love grandparents and stay-at-home moms; jobs can be split morning or afternoon shifts (cannot be split day to day or week to week). The pay starts at $12.50/hour with benefits. For more information contact Durham Transportation at 972-221-4557.
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A Note from the Principal . . .
As you read this, you have already received the most important stories
about how the school year began, the informal reports from your son or
daughter. The faculty and staff at Forestwood Middle School hope the reports were positive and the year has
begun well for your child.
From our
perspective the year has begun on a very positive note and we expect this
school year to be a productive and positive one. We could not be more proud of the way in
which our students have begun the year; their apparent eagerness to get back in
the routine could be a model for all schools!
The
first round of Progress Reports will come home on Monday. September 15th, the first six-week grading period ends on the 3rd of October, and by now you've survived the first school dance. The year is in full swing and you will hear regularly
about games, band, choir and orchestra events as well as other activities. We encourage and welcome your support and
participation at each of these activities.
The student
response to our after school program, Homework Haven, continues to encourage us
as students are focused on doing a conscientious job on their school work. It begins at 4:00 p.m. each day and concludes at 5:00
p.m. We provide bottled water and a snack for all
attendees with our primary goal being the completion of homework that is due
the next school day. Of course, students
who have run into problems completing work on time have the chance to use
Homework Haven to finish work not completed on that day for 90% of the
credit. We are seeing students make very
productive use of this opportunity and expect to see a continuation of the significant
results in grades, test scores and overall levels of success as we did this
past school year.
Some brief
reminders about our attempts to keep traffic flowing. In the front of the building, the two curb
lanes are for student drop-off; please move as close as possible to the north
gym entrance before pulling over for drop-off or pick-up. The center lane is always reserved for cars
that are moving, so we ask that you not stop in that lane. Also, please remind your children to ONLY
cross at one of the three cross walks.
For safety purposes we are asking that no pick-up or drop-off take place
in the back of the school; we are reserving that area for bus and pedestrian
(including bicycle) traffic. It is our
hope to move cars in and out of the campus as quickly and safely as possible,
and we thank you for any efforts you make to assist with this initiative.
We would
like to further express our gratitude to the parents of Forestwood for the vital
role you play each day in ensuring students get to school, supporting teachers
by checking homework, meeting with teachers to cement communication, and
supporting the school through attendance at the various events. Our PTA is working extremely hard to plan
events that will involve everyone in the school community and we look forward
to some fun and enlightenment.
If there are any
concerns about any aspect of your child's schooling, please feel free to
contact a teacher, a guidance counselor or an administrator; we welcome all of
your inquiries.
David Tickner
Principal
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From the PTA President . . .
I hope
everyone has survived the back-to-school craziness! Forestwood PTA was very busy at Orientation
and the subsequent Open House nights. We
signed up many parents for PTA memberships, the directory, electronic newsletter
and volunteer duties. We sold a lot of
school supplies and spirit wear as well.
It's not too late to join PTA and be able to be in the Student
Directory. The deadline for entries in
the directory is October 14th.
One goal
of our PTA is to help support other non profit organizations. A $500 donation from the proceeds of the
school supplies parents purchased will be sent to Delay Middle School PTA to
aid the PTA in offering a meaningful student or parent program. We also held a Back to School Sock Drive to benefit the Dressed to Learn
program. The socks collected were taken
to Communities In Schools of North Texas to be distributed to LISD kids in
need. Annually, FMS-PTA contributes a
silent auction item to the Lewisville Education Foundation Gala (held in
September), the proceeds of which help fund the many college scholarships that
are given to LISD students every spring.
Looking
ahead, we have our next regular PTA meeting on Thursday, October 23th
at 6:45pm. Immediately
following the short meeting, we will have the "Aim for Success" parent
preview. Aim for Success is a sexual
abstinence program for our 7th graders. A similar program, "180 Degrees", is
available for the 8th grade students. The parent preview for the 8th
grade program is Monday, October 20 at 7:00pm.
Parents, you don't want to miss these great presentations!
We hope
to see you at the PTA programs and sponsored events this year!
Julie
Rael
President,
Forestwood PTA
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First Book Fair of the Year
WHERE: FMS Library
WHEN: Mon. - Fri., Sept. 15-19
TIMES: 8:00am - 4:00pm
Our fall Book Fair will be held during the week of September 15th - 19th. Students will come to the fair during Reading and English classes and can shop before school, after school and during lunch. Parents are welcome anytime during the week.
We accept cash, checks (made out to FMS PTA) or credit cards for all purchases. Don't forget to include 8.25% sales tax with your purchase.
If you would like to volunteer at the Book Fair or have any questions, please contact Jana Bevill at 972-539-1376 or djbevill@verizon.net.
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Forestwood Students:
"WOW!" do we have a great theme for you this year!
Enter REFLECTIONS!
REFLECTIONS is a PTA sponsored program that promotes the arts. REFLECTIONS
is an opportunity to earn recognition amongst your peers and the community in
which you live. Students are challenged to create a piece based on the 2008
theme:
"WOW!"
Students may submit as many entries as they like in any of the following
six areas: - Literature
- Musical Composition
- Photography
- Visual Arts
- Dance Choreography
- Film and Video
After an entry has been submitted it is viewed
by a panel of judges at each of the following levels:
Local (Forestwood);
Council (LISD);
Area (Area 16 of Texas PTA);
State (Texas);
National (United States).
All entries are judged based on interpretation of the theme, creativity and artistic merit. So get your creative thinking caps on and let's see if we can "WOW" the
judges this year!
For more information contact:
Kelly Spirit
at 972-691-8340 or kellyspirit@verizon.net. Or, click here to view the Reflections newsletter via the Forestwood website.
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It's NEVER too late to join PTA!
 Forestwood
Middle School PTA is still enrolling members for the 2008-09 school year.
Joining the PTA at FMS helps us provide programs and services for students,
parents, and teachers. You can join through a one-time donation of $40 (which
includes two memberships), or dues of $10.00 for a single membership. The
one-time donation allows the PTA to plan programs without the need for a
fundraiser. The goal of FMS's PTA is to have as many members as we have
students. We are currently short of that goal, so please consider joining if you
have not already! Enrollment forms are available in the front office, can be
downloaded here via the FMS website or by contacting Cheryl Jackson at 972-539-6166
or jackson.cd@verizon.net. |
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Why Does My Child Need a Jump Drive?
The sixth grade and eighth grade supply lists included a 1G jump drive. At Forestwood, Technology Applications is taught with an integrated approach. Students rotate through the Tech Apps classroom with their content teachers. For example, September 2nd - 5th they came in with their English teachers for lessons on formatting using Word. All student files are stored on the Forestwood network drive. Because of the size of the files for some projects, we have had issues in the past years dealing with the server space available to store their work. Sixth grade student jump drives will be stored in the Technology Applications classroom, not in their locker. Once the completed project has been graded by the content teacher, the file will be moved off the FMS server and stored on their jump drive. At the end of the school year the student will take their jump drive home with all the files.
If your student needs to work on a school file at home, Schoolweb provides an option. My Schoolweb website, found here, has a feature called Database. It is a storage area for students to post files from school or home. Since Schoolweb is web-based the files can be accessed anywhere students have online access. I have set up a database for each content class. September 8th - 19th students will enroll in the website and learn how to access what they need. Using the Schoolweb database is a new feature, so your patience is appreciated. If you or your student has difficulty, contact me at rossm@lisd.net or 469-713-5972 ext. 2768.
Mrs. Marty Ross
Technology Applications Teacher
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Destination Imagination:
Creative Problem Solving
 Want more information on the Destination Imagination program?
Destination
Imagination (DI) is the country's largest creativity and problem solving
program for kids and is open to kindergarten through college-age students. DI
encourages the application of creative problem solving techniques and tools
while developing creative and critical thinking skills in the students who are
involved. The challenges range from building a weight bearing structure out of
ultra-light materials to telling a story using only the language of
music. Participants will learn that the problem solving process not only calls
for divergent thinking, but also for technical, theatrical, scientific and
logistic expertise. 
All participants in DI are successful in that the solutions they devise are
entirely their own. This is an extraordinary program that allows children at
such a young age to truly "own" their own creation. It is
amazing what these kids create as they challenge themselves in this opportunity
to explore, discover, and develop their creative potential through teamwork,
cooperation, and mutual respect.
For students in third grade through college, there are five competitive Team
Challenges, each with its own educational focus. Each Team Challenge is
designed to be open-ended and solvable in many ways and on many levels. -
Operation
Cooperation: design
two separate machines that perform different tasks cooperatively.
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Instinct
Messaging: create
a theatrical presentation that demonstrates creature communication.
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Vidio
Lit Hits: create
a music video that retells a piece of literature.
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Private
DI: improvise a
skit with 30 minutes of preparation time, including elements randomly selected.
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A New
Angle: design,
build and test an angled two-part structure made entirely of wood and glue.
DI
Information Night at Forestwood!! September 18th 7:00 - 8:30
PM
To
sign up for DI, download and complete this form.
Please contact Jayne Suess
at 972-333-3987 or jaynesuess@wifimom.com if you have questions. |
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Calling All Volunteers!
PTA volunteers have been busy already - helping with P.E. testing, workroom and library duties, Book Fair, providing packaged food for dances and hospitality, even helping 6th grade science with their GPS cache unit! Later on we will assemble TAKS snacks or help students succeed with math tutoring once a week for a few months. If you would like to be involved in these or other activities the volunteer application form is available at the kiosk outside the office or click here to download it from the FMS website. Please be sure to do the background check at www.lisd.net if you have not done so in the past. If you are unsure if you've had the background check or want more information, contact Carolyn Ditsworth at c.dits@verizon.net.
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Student Directory
 The FMS directory is provided to all PTA members at Forestwood. If you haven't joined the PTA yet there is still time to join and be listed in the directory. The deadline (for directory purposes) is October 14. Don't miss out!
If you have a private business and would like to advertise in the directory, please contact Kathy LeMaster at 469-964-3227 or kathy.lem@verizon.net.
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Choir News
 The year has gotten off to an energetic start for the FMS choir! Choir members were quite fortunate to be able to attend a production of West Side Story on September 4. Everyone was inspired and impressed with the music, dancing and beautiful story of the classic American musical. The first performance of the Varsity Treble and Tenor-Bass Choirs will be at the Cluster Concert at FMHS on September 23rd at 7:30pm. The FMHS choirs as well as Shadow Ridge and McKamy will be singing at that performance. All are invited to attend and show your support! October 16 will be the choir's Fall Concert, once again at FMHS. It will be at 7:30pm and the theme is multi-cultural music. Highlighted will be music from Israel, Japan and Africa, as well as patriotic tunes from our own country. Thank you for your support of these students as they learn how to make music for both themselves and for you - the audience! |
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Falcon Fiesta
Falcon Fiesta is a PTA sponsored student recognition and reward
program during which selected students have an opportunity to attend a short
reception in their honor. The first Falcon Fiesta will be held on Friday,
October 17th.
Every six week grading period, a group of ten students
from each grade level is chosen by their team of teachers to be served snacks,
soda and desserts by the principal, assistant principals, and counselors
during teaming. The students are selected on the basis on positive attitude
toward school work, consistent effort, excellent behavior, hard work, and
attention is given to those who may have shown significant improvement. This is
a program every student has an opportunity to attain and should work toward! Go
for it Falcons and make it hard for the teachers to choose!
If you would
like to help by donating snacks for one or more of the Fiesta, please indicate
so on your Volunteer Form or contact Melanie McCoy at (972) 355-9092 or
JoMelKel@aol.com.
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We hope
to use this newsletter to provide timely information on a regular basis
that you can read at your leisure. If you know a parent or teacher at
Forestwood not currently receiving the Flyer, forward this issue to
them and have them sign up!
Thanks for reading!
Forestwood Middle School PTA |
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