NEW (as of 6/14/2010) – the first posting of the 2010-11 school calendar - school calendar 10-11

Always check InfoDirect for the latest calendar changes.

Download:

- Summer Scoop II July 2010 new

- 10-11 Student Supply 

Parents: Open House is August 19th, 2010 – we will have welcome packets for each family. Those packets will include a copy of the calendar and handbook. Call 939-4642 and ask for Mrs. Thomas, if you have any questions.

Register for the 2010-2011 now and assure your student(s) a place on a class roster! Space is limited – call 939-4642 to see hwere we are with second classes and waiting lists! (make sure you have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to access and print forms)

 Information downloads:

letter for 10-11 packets – new registration

Basic Parent Information

Financial Agreement 2010-2011 (sample)_

FMCS Q &A

Dress Code 10-11 (as of December of 09)

Preschool 3 yr old – checklist

Forms to be filled out for registration:

New student App. 10-11

Parent Questionnaire

Emergency Form

Media Consent

FMCS – the fusion of faith and education! Do not delay in registering for 2010-2011, we did have to turn some students away last year when we did not have space. 

Download new forms/information: click here

Registration is open to the public! Fort Myers Christian School offers tours to the public during the school day – please call ahead to schedule a tour at 939-4642 and speak with Mrs. Paula Dillon.

Financial help news: Applications are available now for $118 million in private school scholarships for K-12 children from families with limited incomes. The program, known as Step Up For Students, provides annual scholarships worth as much as $3950 that can be used at more than 1000 private schools in Florida. To qualify, new applicants must meet the household income guidelines for the federal school lunch program. Students also must be entering kindergarten, first grade or have attended a public school this year. The program was created in 2001 by the Florida Legislature to provide educational options for economically disadvantaged children. The scholarships are financed by corporations that receive a dollar for dollar tax credit for contributions up to 75 percent of their state income tax liability. This year, the program serves 23,400 students. To get an application, call 866-406-6923 or go to stepupforstudents.org

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 939-4642 or contact us.

Back in October, Parent University held a silent auction at the Annual Fund Banquet. The proceeds from that event ($15,065) were designated to help us replace OLD teacher computers and student computers in the classroom. We were thankful about six years ago to receive used computers from Edison College when we opened the Children’s Center – but those computers were well past their prime and took on all the updates we could lay on them.

We appreciate the help of our campus IT staff – John Davis and Wendy Davis (not related) – the computers have been installed in the classrooms! The classrooms have Dell computers with Windows 7, high speed, proper licensing,  and new monitors! On top of that, we were also able to add all new monitors to our elementary lab computers. We were thankfu

So all in all, we have installed: 20 new hard drives, 20 new monitors for the classrooms, 24 new Acer 18.5 inch, flat sceen monitors for the elementary computer lab  

THANK YOU! – Better yet, here are some of the comments of thanks from our teachers:

●  Thank you so much for the new computer, it is such a blessing! May God richly bless you for your generosity! – Miss Schreiber

● Thank you so much for your participation in the FMCS Banquet last fall.  I just received my new computer & it is fantastic!  The flat screen is wonderful & everything works smoothly.  Your support daily in all that we do is so appreciated but the support that you gave through your financial blessings at the banquet has been put to good use. Thank you so much! Mrs. Richards, 2^nd grade class

● I’m enjoying  the new computer in my classroom.  It runs faster, the screen is bigger, and it also looks nice in the room.  I so greatly appreciate it. What a blessing! - Thanks, Judy Sanders

●  I want to thank everyone who made a contribution at the school auction.  I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful it is to have such a fantastic computer.  It might seem like something so simple, but it really does change the way I work as a teacher.  It is much faster which means that I can spend less time waiting.  The screen is amazing and I have been able to use it to show different things to the students.  It is so big and the picture is so clear that my kids can see things perfectly.  I know that money is tight, but I really appreciate those who gave money towards this.  It is a huge blessing! – Miss McLaughlin

● I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those that participated in the FMCS auction, both by donating items and by bidding on items. I was one of the teachers that were fortunate enough to receive a new computer. My old computer literally took 20 minutes to “warm up” every morning. I now have a computer that doesn’t need a “warm up” time and is efficient! I am also the yearbook editor and we utilize an online design program. There were multiple times that my old computer would shut down in the middle of designing a page and I would have to call the yearbook company and have them save the page layout that I was working on since my computer had shut down. The new computer has enabled me to complete page layouts at a much faster pace and I don’t have to worry about my computer shutting down in the middle of working! I feel so blessed to have been given this new computer. I know it was purchased by all of you that made a donation, no matter how big or small! Thank you for believing in FMCS enough to invest in us! I can execute my job with more accuracy and in a timelier manner because of this wonderful gift! It’s perfect, I now have more time to spend with those precious little darlings I teach and less time waiting on my computer to “warm up”. Thank you! –  Stacey Leatherman, Middle School Science Teacher

● Thank you so much for your support of our school, and specifically our Annual Auction in October.  I have been the recipient of one of the results of the Auction.  My room was fitted with a new computer, and it’s a blessing.  Already I have noticed the increased speed of programs coming up on the computer as well as getting on the Internet.  The software package also included Windows 7.  That will take some adjusting, but it will also make tasks easier to perform. So I appreciate your generosity.  Each day, right in front of me, there will be a reminder of how much you sacrificed for the sake of our school.  God bless you for it.  In Christ, Jonathan Blikstad, FMCS Middle School Math Instructor

● Thank you for the wonderful new computer in our classroom!  With technology being such a vital part of today’s education, it is a wonderful blessing to have good access in my classroom!  We plan to take some virtual field trips and use the internet more to practice our research skills!  The 5^th grade thanks you for your generosity! Blessings, Robin Couch and  class (5th grade)

Elementary Computer lab with new monitors!

 FMCS Parent University Dad’s Committee Rocket Lauch, Saturday April 17th, 2010. Many thanks to Mr. Harriot, Mr. Simonson, all the parents and kids (including future NASA engineer, 6th grader, Tyler Williams – great day for a rocket launch!

 Click here to watch the video: FMCS Parent University Dad\’s Committee Rocket Launch

Would you like to find out what is taught in each grade level at FMCS? do you want to see how we are working on aligning with our state’s standards? Welcome to our new “curriculum map” website provided by Rubicon Atlas.

BEFORE YOU GO THE SITE: FMCS teachers have been working very hard for many years uploading and updating information for each subject and each grade level. Not every subject and level is complete…yet. (Overall as a school, Bible will appear in 2011; teachers are still working on other subject areas) This will never be a finished product – it is ALWAYS updating every year if we want to provide the best for your children.

Please be sure to read the directions so that you understand these are not lessons plans, they are maps that will help you see the road to learning at FMCS – the content, skills, and the very important, faith integration,  that takes place. FMCS would like to thank former Principal, Shelton Gwaltney and Assistant Principal, Denise Encarnacion – they helped us get this process started in 2004.

Benefits of Mapping (From the Rubicon Atlas Site)

Atlas allows educators to look through the macro lens at a student’s learning experience and build on what students have learned in previous years to prepare them for future classes and achievement.

Using Atlas, curricular information can be assembled and used by curriculum decision makers to:

• Determine what is taught, as it actually occurs in the classroom.
• Understand how students are being taught.
• Make appropriate, immediate modifications to the curriculum.
• Determine “why” certain performance results have been achieved.

Atlas can also allow parents a larger view of what their children are experiencing in the classroom and the requirements needed to excel. It has the capability to enable community leaders and board members to see how schools are planning students’ educational careers and what support is needed to ensure success.

TO GO TO THE FMCS PUBLIC SITE, CLICK HERE

InfoDirect™ helps parents connect our school to the home by means of a secure Internet connection. With a user ID and password, parents are able to check lunch menus, upcoming events, get directions to a sporting event, download homework assignments, even check their financial account information. All of this can be done from their home computer, for a very affordable annual fee.

1. Secure access with a username and password.
2. Information is updated daily.
3. Accessible available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
4. 12 months for the price of 10.

“I just wanted to let you know how much we appreciate InfoDirect. My son has always wanted to get straight A´s and he was so close, usually. He had determined that this year he would get all A´s. Having the ability to check his grades whenever he wants to (and us too) has given him that “extra” tool to achieve his goal! He is right on track and we are so proud of him! We wanted you to know how this has helped him to be successful. I know there have been a few little tweaks required, but whenever we had a discrepancy, the teachers have responded by e-mail very quickly. Keep up the great work!”

– Parent Comment

VERY important things that you need to know:

1) If you did not get your password and username, it may be due to several reasons:
a. You don’t have email
b. You have blocked the address and we can’t get in
(set your computer to allow info@fmcs-fl.org)
c. The email address you gave us is incorrect and we need an updated address. Please call the front office anytime you have a change in email addresses!!
2) Most of our information thru the school will come by:
a. Web Page, www.fmcs-fl.org
b. InfoDirect
We will be trying to cut back on sending papers home, including Newsbriefs. When you log into Infodirect, ALWAYS CHECK the first page for news updates and announcements! There will be no need to send home lunch menus, since that information can be accessed on InfoDirect. If you do not have access, please contact the office and we can get you a paper copy.
3) With parents having access to grades, we will NOT be sending home mid-term notices, unless you are a parent that does not have access to InfoDirect. The intention of mid-term notices was to keep you updated on grades, but now you can check them anytime.
4) REPORT CARDS, which were usually sent at the end of the quarter, will be sent electronically at the end of quarters 1, 2, and 3. The final report card, which is the official report card, will be mailed home at the end of the year.
5) Many of you have already received an email message from a teacher about a grade praise or concern. When you get those emails, DO NOT HIT REPLY. That only sends the email back to a general message box at the school. USE THE EMAIL ADDRESS given by the teacher at the end of their message.
6) Financial Information will be posted on Infodirect soon. We are waiting on a technical update in order to provide this service.
7) Grades – teachers have up to three days to record a grade in their Infodirect gradebook. Please be patient with them as they learn the system. And be patient with us because, with a new system, there are bound to be a few problems.

If you are a parent to a student at Fort Myers Christian School (FMCS) and you need help accessing InfoDirect, please contact us at email address: info@fmcs-fl.org. If you already have received the username and password for InfoDirect™, please click here.