General News
Amanda A. Burton
LS Technology Specialist &
Communications Specialist
Congratulations, Wes Clark! Wes
Clark, FCDS alumnus (’04), has been awarded the Presidential Freedom
Scholarship from the Coca-Cola Scholars program in acknowledgement of his
outstanding commitment to community service. Great job, Wes!
2006 Auction and Carnival Update on behalf of the Parents’
Association
Amanda and Dennis Burton (parents of Ashley-ninth grade and Michael-seventh
grade) and Lori and Larry White (parents of Morgan-eighth grade and
Chandler-fifth grade) have agreed to serve as our Parents' Association
Auction 2006 Co-Chairs. This auction will take place on Saturday, February
25, 2006 at the Adam's Mark
Hotel. In addition,
Patty Sytz (parent of Lauren-third grade and
Allison-K) has agreed to serve as chair for our Carnival which will be
conducted approximately one month prior to the auction.
The Parents' Association has pledged $200,000 from Auction 2006 and $200,000
from Auction 2008 in order to fund the construction of the new Lower School
Dining Hall and new Pavilion. Our two previous auctions, Mardi Gras Magic and
An Evening on the Nile, raised a combined
$400,000 to fund the renovation and expansion of the current Dining Hall.
Future updates about our 2006 Auction and Carnival will be communicated in
our monthly Parents' Association newsletters, in the weekly Friday e-mail
Updates, and on the FCDS website. Please congratulate Amanda, Dennis, Lori,
Larry, and Patty as they assume these important responsibilities for the
Parents' Association.
Annual Golf Tournament
The Parents' Association will sponsor the Annual Golf Tournament to be
conducted on Friday, October 15, 2004 at Oak Valley Golf Club. The format for
this golf tournament will be a Captain's Choice. Registration will begin at
11:00 a.m. with a noon shotgun start. The cost is $125/player or $500/team.
Food, Beverages, and Prizes will be provided. Sponsorships are encouraged and
available.
Please contact Lee Ross (722-7991 or via e-mail at lross@grahamandboles.com),
Jay Mahoney (722-5080 or via e-mail at jmahoney@triad.rr.com), or Todd Hartung (945-2134 ext. 455 or via e-mail at
toddhartung@fcds.org) if you would like to participate or volunteer at this
important fund raising event for the Parents' Association!!
The
Parents’ Association will be promoting the sale of business retail cards in January and
February. These cards can be purchased for $10 each and used at participating
retailers for significant savings. We are currently contacting various
retailers to participate in this program. If you have a business or business
contact that you think would be interested, please call Patty Sytz at 922-5165 or Amanda
Burton at 712-8234.
New Directories and Handbooks Have Arrived!!
This year’s FCDS School Directories and Handbooks have just been
published with up-to-date information! They will be sent home with your child
early next week.If you have more than one child at
the school, your directory will be sent with your youngest child. Please make
sure to ask your child to deliver it to you!
Families who were at the school last year will receive only updated
inserts to be placed in the binders that were provided last year. New
families will receive the inserts plus the reusable blue 3-ring binder. In
addition, this year we are offering a limited number of small spiral-bound
directories. These smaller versions are perfect for your car (they also
contain directions to athletic opponent schools) or for your children to have
their own copy! The smaller directories will be available next week for $5
each at the Fury, Ltd. or in the Development Office.
Sally Foster
Wrapping Paper and Gift Sale
Update: Thanks so much to all
those that participated in the Sally Foster sale this year. It was a great
success!!
PicturePerfect Photo
Sculptures: The Parents’ Association is once
again sponsoring the opportunity to create your own personal photo
sculptures. These make wonderful gifts! Photography dates are October 14-16
by appointment. We still need parent
volunteers to help out on Friday. Also, students will be escorted to and
from class for their appointments, so parents do not need to be present for
photo appointments. Photos will be delivered by Thanksgiving.
November
20, 2004 is our Fourth Annual Fury 5-K Cross-Country Challenge. There will be a one-mile fun run at 8:00 a.m.
and the 5-K will start at 9:00 a.m. Entry fees: $15 for the 5-K and $10 for
the Fun Run. A portion of the proceeds benefits Habitat for Humanity and the
Youth Build by FCDS students and other local high school students. The race
also benefits the FCDS Alumni Association which is organizing the race. Look
for more information and entry forms in the all school mailing next week.
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Athletics
Please check out our sports schedule at http://www.furiesonline.com/schedule.asp.
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Fine Arts
FCDS
Community School of the Arts: We are thrilled to kick off a
new year in our recently renamed FCDS
Community School of the Arts. We are now offering classes in music,
dance, drama, and visual arts. Please use the following link to preview the
course schedule. http://www.fcds.org/arts/community_arts/home.htm
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Library/Technology
Reminder to parents: The Williams Library Discovery
Center hours are from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00
a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on
Friday. No students will be allowed to remain in the building after hours.
Also, all students second grade and under must be supervised by a parent
while in the Smith Library after school. Third and fourth grade students may
use the Smith Library independently after school to complete homework or
special projects
The past couple of weeks have been exciting in the Clay
Library. Mrs. Starks and Mrs. Tobias presented a session at the North
Carolina School Library Media Association Conference about collaboration
among the library, technology, and the classroom. It was attended by more
than 35 people, many of whom were very interested in learning more about what
we do here. Eighth graders finalized their PowerPoint presentations in
preparation for delivering them to their Civics classmates. Students in Dr.
Shore’s English classes researched epic heroes and then began putting
together their Gilgamesh papers. Eighth graders then returned with their
English classes to choose books based on their interests—they will then
create a CD of music which relates to the subject of their book. Senior
English students looked at poetry books to find a poem to analyze, while
those in Creative Non-Fiction examined photographs to write about the details
in each one. Fifth graders enjoyed choosing books from different genres, and
Mrs. Grubb once again took the library to the class as she discussed
plagiarism and research with art students. The Battle of the Books team continues to bring
its enthusiasm to practice—this team loves books!
Ninth
Annual Storytelling Festival
October
13-15, 2004
Featuring:
Donald Davis
Family
Night Performance
Thursday,
October 14, 2004
7:00
p.m. Auditorium
 Donald Davis was born in a Southern Appalachian
mountain world rich in stories. "I didn't learn stories, I just
absorbed them," he says as he recounts tales and more tales learned from
a family of traditional storytellers who have lived on the same Western North Carolina land since 1781. Davis
grew up hearing gentle fairy tales, simple and silly Jack tales, scary
mountain lore, ancient Welsh and Scottish folktales, and-most importantly-nourishing
true-to-life stories of his own neighbors and kin.
For Donald Davis, storytelling is a way of giving and living life. He invites
each listener to come along, to pull deep inside for one's own stories, to
personally share and co-create the common experiences that celebrate the
creative spirit. For Donald Davis, storytelling "...is not what I do for
a living...it is how I do all that I do while I am living."
Check the FCDS Web Site (www.fcds.org)
for daytime performances on Thursday and Friday, October 14-15.
Selected books and audio recordings will be available for purchase
at the Family Night Performance
Sponsors: The Cutler Fund, Williams Library, and
Parents’ Association
This week in the Jeanette M. Smith Lower School Library,
Pre-Kindergarteners enjoyed some “H” stories and poems with the
hilarious Who Hoots and the sweet Frank Asch
classic, Happy Birthday Moon. Kindergarten students extended their
letter “A” studies with a fun song, “Here We Go
‘Round the Apple Tree,” and two great apple stories, How to
Make an Apple Pie and See the World and Apple Pigs. First graders
continued their look at alphabet books with the mixed up alphabet story, Alphabet
Adventure. Mrs. Miller’s class visited
the library late last week to do research on apples; we created a KWL chart
as we planned for our research, then used the junior encyclopedias to read
and learn more about apples. As a final product we created a colorful web in Kidspiration to organize our research findings.
Accelerated Reader has been a major hit with second graders who love
reading new books and then taking quizzes using the computer program; they
have also been learning how to find books in the library using the library catalog.
Third grade classes used the library this week to do research on a country of
their ancestry; we accessed our online database CultureGrams
and utilized various reference books to find out our countries’
traditional colors and clothing. (Keep a lookout for
their final products being produced in art class!)
Dates: October 25
- November 2
Times: 8:00 a.m. –
4:00 p.m.
Place: Jeanette M. Smith Lower School
Library
Cash, checks, and all major credit cards
accepted at the fair
Family Event
“Milk and Cookies
and Bedtime Stories”
Thursday, October 28
6:00-8:30 p.m.
(Coordinates with Lower School Open House)
Drop in and join us for
a bedtime snack and story while you browse the fair!
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Upper School
Please note that the Homecoming Dance will be held Saturday,
October 2, 2004 (not October 16). See you then!
College Counseling
***Monday, October 4 - Forsyth County
College Fair
Benton Convention Center - 5:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Approximately 135 colleges and universities will
be represented.
FCDS will have visits on campus from 20
representatives next week. Check the calendar on the College Counseling web
site.
All of us in the College
Counseling office have been very busy since August meeting with seniors and
their families in preparation for the application process. The first major
deadline for most schools is November 1, but many seniors have already sent
in some of their applications. Also, they are signed up for the October SAT,
which will take place on Saturday, October 9. Seniors, remember that the
deadline to sign up for the November SAT is today, Friday, October 1. The late registration deadline is October
13.
Juniors and Sophomores
will be taking the PSAT at school on Wednesday, October 13, during periods A,B, Break and 3. All of you are billed $9.75 automatically
for each student taking the test, and FCDS handles paying the College Board.
Next Monday and Tuesday, Mr. Kennedy, Mrs. Perry, and Mrs. Stoltz will be
meeting will all of the sophomores and juniors during their history classes.
At that time we will be giving them the 2004 Student Bulletin, published by
the College Board. This publication provides a great deal of information
about the test and includes some
sample questions for practice. Please familiarize yourselves with this
information. We will also be giving students some tips about how to do their
best on the test.
- Sophomores,
remember that taking the
PSAT is just a practice test
for you, since the test is designed for juniors. However, you will
receive your scores as well as the test booklet early in December so
that you may diagnose your strengths and weaknesses in order to prepare
for the PSAT and SAT tests next year.
- Juniors, the PSAT is not a test that is used for college entrance. However, it is designated as the
National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. If you qualify, you will be
notified directly by the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
organization. This test will give you some indication of how you will do
on the SAT.
There have been many
questions about the new SAT I with writing, which will be given for the first
time on March 12, 2005. The new SAT I will provide three scores (Verbal,
Math, Writing), rather than the traditional Math/Verbal, all graded on an 800
scale as before.
- The new writing section will include a
35-minute multiple choice section and a 25 minute essay. The essay will make up 30 percnet of
the overall writing score. The new SAT writing test will have
similarities to the SAT II Subject test in Writing and will, in fact,
replace the SAT II Writing test after January
of 2005. It will also have significant differences. For instance, there
will be fewer questions asking students to identify sentence errors.
Instead, the test will be more focused on actual composition practices.
For example, students will be asked to improve the writing in entire
paragraphs, perhaps using sentence combining or effective transitions,
improving relationships in coordination and subordination, and utilizing
consistency with tone and diction. In regard to the essay section,
students will be given prompts that are “short, authentic
texts,” followed by a question. Students must then respond to the
text by giving their point of view and supporting their stance with
specific illustrations or examples.
This section will not grade spelling and punctuation but rather
will focus on the students’ ability to organize their thoughts and
to state their case effectively. The hope is that the prompts will be accessible
to the large SAT population. The College Board web site, which may be
accessed from our College Counseling web site or at http://www.collegeboard.com,
contains a great deal of information on this topic. The College Board
also recommends one of their books entitled The Official SAT Study Guide. According to the College
Board, the use of the word “Official” designates that the
information is correct for the new SAT.
- Although most people have focused their
attention on the addition of the essay to the test, there are other
changes. The critical reading section will be more of a reading test and
will not have analogy questions. The
math section will have some third-year college preparatory math and will
not have quantitative comparison questions. ** Since we signed up to be a test school, our juniors will
have some exposure to the test before they have to take it.
From
what we have been able to glean from the workshop we attended this summer,
from talking to college representatives who have visited, and from attending
the College Board workshop last week, this is our best advice about what
tests to take.
·
Sophomores
– Don’t worry. The new test is your only option next year, so
everyone will be taking the new test.
·
Juniors
– You may take the old SAT in November, December, or January, and most but not all colleges will
consider these scores. However, almost
all will be requiring that, in addition, you take either the new SAT with
writing or the SAT II Writing test, (which will not
be offered after January.) The fact is that you cannot escape taking a
writing test; however, our students should be well prepared for these tests.
I hope this information
is helpful. If you have further questions, please call the College Counseling
office; we will be happy to speak with you.
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Middle School
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Lower School
Pre-kindergarten: The Pre-K classes have enjoyed a “Happy”
week learning about Mr. H and his “Happy Hair.” We have been
reading books about the Letter H, such as “Hide and Seek Hippo,”
and we have been playing hiding games in our classrooms. The Letter box has
been full of “H” items brought from home. We have seen horses,
hats, hammers, helmets, and hotdogs. We have decorated “H”s with hearts and holes. Our Handprints have come
in “handy” for lots of art work, too. We ended the week with a
special day in honor of our letter person with “Happy Hair and Hat
Day”.
Kindergarten: In Kindergarten this
week we have been working in the Aa Letterbook. It is the second short vowel we have learned.
Since apple begins with “A” we have done several activities using
apples. One of our math lessons was eating, tasting, and graphing three
different types of apples. We invite you to come by our rooms to see the
interesting results.
First Grade: In spite of a delay this week due to the
weather, we did make it to the Apple Orchard. We had such a good time and, of
course, the apples for fruit break were yummy! What a great way to start the
fall. We’re almost finished with our first reading book and your
children sure do love to read! Keep practicing those math facts. We use them
every day.
Second Grade: We have really enjoyed
reading Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones by David A.
Adler, and now we will be reading other books in the series as take-home
reading. This is in preparation for writing our first book report in class.
Each teacher will send home a letter with specific information and dates. We
are also beginning to study nouns in English, which should help us in reading
and writing.
Third
Grade:
Thank you for sharing your family’s heritage information. We hope it
spawned some interesting conversations. The students are currently
researching your ancestors’ origins. We have now all given the first
Social Studies and English tests. Your children will hopefully increase their
comfort level on future tests. Have a great weekend.
Fourth Grade: In celebration of
the birthday of Kate Douglas Wiggin, author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, fourth grade teachers read
favorite books to their classes. Encourage your fourth grader to read a short
book to a younger sibling or friend at home.
Foreign Languages: French and Spanish
Pre-Kindergarten: Our color song is complete!! We are singing the last verse with the
colors blanco (white), negro (black), celeste (light blue), and morado
(purple). We are also learning the days of the week and at the same time
counting/recognizing los numeros
en espanol.
Kindergarten: We role played with
our “Greetings Song” and greeted each other: “Hola,
Como te va?” reviewed “Periquito” and prepositions arriba,
abajo, delante, detras. “Con
real y medio” (With a half a nickel I
bought…”) is the new song that is helping us learn the Spanish
word for our favorite pets.
First Grade: We made finger
puppets and used them to greet each other, described the Muzzy characters,
and counted objects. We took turns hiding an object and guessing what was
missing. A fun way to practice new vocabularyJ.
Second Grade: We finished creating
books entitled: “Le Saisons”- the
Seasons. We illustrated them and wrote
down the names of the seasons in French and a typical characteristic of our
favorite season. We started using
“Muzzy” in French! We were
thrilled to learn a different way to say how are you – “comment allez-vous”
Third Grade: We launched our
“Mexican Fiesta” preparations!! Cortamos periodicos (cut newspaper), mezclamos harina y agua (paper mache mixture with water), and began creating our pinatas.
Fourth Grade: Using the expression
il y a (there is) we are describing, writing about
the trail in our school. In one of our sessions we hiked on the trail,
collected leaves, and learned the names of: maple trees:érable; oak trees: chene;
pine trees: pin. We learned that arbre is a tree
and arbuste are bushes.
Music:
Pre-K: We are finishing up
our Jungle songs. Over in the Jungle is a fingerplay/counting
song. We also sang the Toucan song using our instruments.
Kindergarten: The children love it when I tell stories with songs. The story
of the Rich Lady and the Poor Lady teaches several lessons. One is
that we should all be generous with our riches. The other lesson teaches the
days of the week.
First Grade: Last week I taught the song Do You Know Who I Am? It is about
community service workers. The students gave me suggestions of other workers
in town. This week I sang new verses from their suggestions. The students
then had to guess what worker I was singing about.
Second Grade: The Mealtime Monster song is a huge hit!
The children love singing this manners tune. “Are you a mealtime
Monster or a polite mealtime guest?” Hopefully, your child has set the
table for a family meal. They are to bring their signed Table Setting
Coupon back to my class next week.
Science:
Pre-K: This week I really enjoyed meeting Mrs.
Mahoney’s class. They came to science and we enjoyed discussing some
important ideas about science. We discovered that almost everything in the
world has something to do with science. We made a poster about some of our
ideas. The children loved meeting some of the classroom animals and watching
Maggie, the chinchilla, take her dust bath!
Kindergarten: We continued our
investigation of air this week in kindergarten science. This week we focused
on the concept of air pressure. We did a variety of experiments and
demonstrations to illustrate this idea. Children were surprised by the
“magical” effect of air pressure. Ask them how we used air
pressure to crush a soda can!
First Grade: Our students dissected a lima bean seed
to discover its three main parts; the seed coat, stored food, and embryo
(baby plant). They labeled these parts on their lab sheets. Each student also
planted a lima bean seed and predicted what conditions would be best for
germination to take place. We will observe our plants over the next couple of
weeks to see how they grow.
Second Grade: Children loved investigating and
imagining what the world was like during the Mesozoic Era. Students began to
see how different the earth was during this time (Pangaea) and how the
dinosaurs adapted to a specific climate type similar to that of a rainforest
today. We did a role play activity where students acted as “real estate
agents” and helped a T-Rex find the perfect home in a Dinosaur friendly
environment!
Third Grade: Colors are all around
us, but it is the light that effects how we see them. This week third graders
began to gain a better understanding that color is not really part of an
object but only a reflected portion of white light. A red ball is
not really red, it only looks red because the red wavelength gets
reflected, and all other colors get absorbed. Children also enjoyed a quick video
clip entitled Color: \ Light Fantastic! Children look forward to
tie-dying their socks next week. Please, if you did not send them in this
week (due Friday, October 1); please send them in on Monday so we can begin
our activity on Friday of next week.
Fourth Grade: We experimented with
compasses this week to learn more about magnetism and the earth’s
magnetic field. We made our own “floating compasses” and they
worked just like a real compass! Science always points us in the right
direction! Children took an open book pop quiz on Thursday over what they
have learned about Magnetism so far. We will soon begin the second half of
our unit, electricity. The quizzes will be graded and sent home in next
week’s Wednesday folder.
FYI: The second science team
meeting was a big hit! We loved making Oobleck and
learning about the properties of liquids and solids. Thanks to all those
students who attended.
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