General News
We wish you a safe and restful holiday weekend!
Happy Labor Day!
Amanda A. Burton
LS Technology Specialist &
Communications Specialist
Food Service Information: Flik Independent Schools, the new dining hall
service at FCDS, has gotten off to a great start and the food is getting
excellent reviews from students, faculty members, and guests alike. There
seems to be some confusion, however, as to how payment is to be made for
snacks and lunches. All students who have chosen not to sign up for a
semester or year-long meal plan are placed on a declining balance system. The
account must be pre-paid with a minimum balance of $25 or more for service to
continue. The students then use their Flik ID card as they purchase their
lunches or snacks and the balance declines accordingly.
At this point, several students have
been running a negative balance. That is, they have been eating but have not
yet paid for their food. Money must be paid to
Flik in advance. At the beginning of the school year, students
were allowed to make purchases without an account balance because we expected
there to be some confusion about the system at first. However, this practice
will be stopped shortly. It is imperative that all student dining hall
accounts be paid (this is a separate process from normal school billing) and
a balance of at least $25 established. Please mail a check to the
school’s address immediately if you wish your child to be allowed to
continue to purchase snacks and/or lunches from school. The
check should be made out to Flik Independent Schools.
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If you have not
R.S.V.P.'d to The Eddie Pollock Band gala concert on September 18, 2004,
please consider doing so today. Information on the event, in addition to a response card, is attached. Please return all responses to the Development
Office.
We hope to
see many of you that evening. This will surely be an incredible concert, and it is being held to
further the development of the arts at our school.
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Bookmarks Book Festival: Come participate in a
fun-filled, one-day book festival featuring national, regional, and local
authors on Saturday, September 11 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Old Salem.
Everyone is welcome and admission is free. For more information, visit http://www.bookmarksbookfestival.org.
The Sally Foster Wrapping Paper and Gift Sale Has Begun!
You should have received a sales kit either in
the mail or at home this week for our Sally Foster fundraiser. If for some
reason you did not receive one, please call Marian Wilson at 659-9827 or
Susan Ross at 722-7991.
Points to remember:
·
50 percent of profits come directly back to FCDS
·
All foods are kosher
·
Out-of-town family and friends can support
our school by visiting SallyFoster.com
Here’s how:
1.
Fill out the easy-to-use
“E-mail Campaign” form at www.SallyFoster.com/student using our school
account, #0319290.
2.
When family and friends receive
the e-mail, click on the link to Sally Foster’s online store, and make
a purchase, FCDS and your child earn credit!
Forms must be turned in by
September 24!
Please place your completed and
tallied forms in the boxes located outside the Lower School
office, outside the library, and in the Middle School hall.
Your orders will be available
for pick up at the November conferences!
”The Walk to d’Feet ALS” (Lou Gehrig’s
disease) is coming up soon. As many of you know, Nancy Rea, an FCDS mom, has
had this debilitating and incurable disease for 11 years. Nancy has beaten the odds of surviving, but
not the disease. Even though Nancy
has been robbed of any ability to move, her mind and spirit are inspirational
to all who know her.
We need your help to find a cure for ALS! Please support Nancy and all the
other people who are affected by this disease. Come walk with us to “d’feet” ALS on Sept. 11 at 9:00 a.m. at Ernie
Shore Field in Winston-Salem.
If you would like to make a contribution to Nancy’s team, “Rea’s of Sunshine,” donations can be given to Karen Dalton (LS Art) or sent
to the Catfish Hunter Chapter, 1425-113
Rock Quarry Road, Raleigh, NC 27610.
Checks should be made out to ALSA. It is Nancy’s hope and dream that through
your generosity, research may benefit others with this incurable disease.
http://walk.catfishchapter.org/site/TR?pg=team&fr_id=1010&team_id=1180
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Athletics
Go Furies!!
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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
The Jeanette M. Smith Lower School Library has been buzzing
these first weeks of school with the sounds of excitement over the all the
new features of the library. Prior to the start of school our former
“Lower School Library” was renamed in honor of long-time and
recently retired librarian, Jeanette M. Smith. The naming couldn’t have
come at a better time, as the library also was transformed in other ways this
summer. We have beautiful new carpet, brand new custom-built, kid-friendly
shelving, new window awnings, new informal seating in the circus area, and an
improved layout that allows for better use of the facility. Students have
enjoyed the new animal stools and comfortable reading cushions as well as
browsing for books in the new “pint-sized” shelves. We have been
working to orient all students to the new features and layout so they can all
find their favorite books again. What an exciting time in the new Jeanette M. Smith Lower School
Library!
“Is this place bigger?!” was the question of the
day as returning students got their first look at the new and improved Clay
Library. From the beautiful new awnings to the fruit-bearing banana trees
(smoothies all around if they actually grow bananas!), from the new comfy
seating to the record player, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Eighth grade civics classes came to examine political issues related to the
election year and returned to research current events. Seventh graders
discovered explorers through their social studies classes. Modern European
history classes chose prints which represented the finest work of Renaissance
artists, and AP biology students began looking at research in preparation for
their year-long experiment project. Come on over and check us out!
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Upper School
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Middle School
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Lower School
Pre-kindergarten: Pre-K students are really enjoying their new friendships and school
activities. Last week, we met our PE, music, and Spanish teachers, and this
week we’ve met our art teacher. We’ve been reading fairy tales
and classic storybooks. The Little Red
Hen taught us about helping each other. The Three Billy Goats Gruff showed us how we can triumph by
sticking together and being courageous. The children loved reenacting this
story. The Gingerbread Man topped
things off just as he does every year in Pre-K by escaping from the oven!
It’s quite an adventure trying to track him down, and we get a
mini-tour of the school along the way. It was good to meet with so many
parents Thursday. We’re glad to have your children here!
Kindergarten: In Kindergarten we have completed our second week of
school, and we have completed the Cc Letterbook. We will be starting the Oo Letterbook when we return to school after Labor Day.
We are continuing to learn more about Greece and the Olympics in
preparation for our "Big Fun Greek Festival" to be held on Monday,
September 20. In music we are learning some Greek songs and in art we are
making gold medals (they may even look like the real thing). There will be
more information about our Festival coming soon.
First Grade: First graders have
really enjoyed reading the first story in their reading books this week. They
are also very excited about “homework!” Treasure that reading
time with your children! Before you know it, they’ll be reading on
their own. We enjoyed meeting with all of our parents Thursday evening at
Parents’ Night. Thank you for allowing us to share the
“scoop” on First Grade with you. We’re beginning quite an
adventure together! You won’t believe how much your children will learn
during this year as well as how much they will grow and mature! Just let us
know if you ever have any questions.
Second Grade: The second graders
started reading Donavan’s Word Jar by Monalisa
DeGross as a take-home reader this week. They need
to read with a parent to help with vocabulary and really seem to be enjoying
the story. As a follow-up activity, we are asking each child to bring a
plastic container to school by next Friday to use as a word jar. We also have
started our Social Studies unit on maps and globes. It was so nice to see everyone
at Lower School Parents’ Night! Have a safe and restful Labor Day
weekend.
Art: The students in second
grade have begun a study in how to interpret the way light falls on an
object. They are illustrating a solid white still life on black paper using
chalk and charcoal. The students are learning firsthand how important the
intensity of a shadow is in making an object stand out and not appear flat.
Music:
Each
class has been working hard to learn the new Forsyth Country Day Song. If you haven’t heard it on the
website, check it out!
Pre-K: “Hey Lolly” is a great song to
recognize each child by name. We sang the action song, “Stamping Land.”
This song takes us on a journey with an old man who travels across the sea to
Stamping Land,
Clapping Land, etc.
Kindergarten: We read the book Fine, Fine School and sang a recurring melody
throughout. We used our instruments, passing always to the right, as we sang “Grand Old Flag.”
First Grade: “The Old Brass Wagon” is a traditional song.
We began in a circle holding hands. First we circled to the left. Then we
circled to the right, continuing to do different actions. “She’ll Be Coming ‘Round
the Mountain” is a great tune to work on memory skills.
Second Grade: : To get to know each
other better, we began our school year with a memory skill. Each person had
to come up with an action word beginning with the first letter of their name,
i.e. Speeding Skyler, Eating Emily, etc. “Shake The Hand” is the
action song we sang. We would shake the hand, give a little wave, and scratch
the back of the friend next to us.
Science:
Pre-K and Kindergarten: See you
beginning next week!
First
Grade: A Big Welcome to all
my first grade botanists! Last week we began our first unit on Seeds. The students
sorted a tray of all different kinds of seeds and we discussed what a seed
is, what it needs, and where it can be found. This week we did our first lab
called Seed Sort. The children made predictions, sorted a cup of seeds,
counted each group, and then totaled the number of seeds. We discovered that
science and math are related. We also discovered that seeds come in many
sizes, shapes, and colors. Thank you, parents, for making sure your child has
a science notebook. This year we will be learning how to organize pages in
our notebooks.
Second Grade: We enjoyed playing “animal
match-up” as a fun way of learning our assigned seats. Students also
filled out a brief questionnaire so that Mrs. Shomaker
can get to know every person just a little better!
Third and Fourth Grades: This week
we spent time reviewing the scientific method and the major steps involved.
We have a better understanding of why the steps are important and will begin
implementing them as we begin our new units. Third grade students began their
Light and Sound unit this week, while fourth graders began their Electricity
and Magnetism unit.
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