Show us your carved or decorated pumpkins!   Carve or decorate your spookiest, most creative or funniest pumpkin and submit a picture by Tuesday, October 25.   Both Staff and Students are welcome to participate! 

Email pictures to FQMSPTA.president@gmail.com  Be sure to include your name (first and last) and grade.   Pictures will be uploaded and sent out in a school wide email for families and staff members to vote on their favorite pumpkins. 
 
Winners will be chosen by the greatest number of votes and receive a gift certificate courtesy of FQMS PTSA.  

Winners will be announced on October 31!

The FQMS PTSA is sponsoring an after-school Math Club to participate in the AMC-8, Mathcounts, and possibly other math competitions. As these are challenging competitions touching on some material from Probability, Geometry, and Algebra, as well as some more basic mathematics, the FQMS Math Club is most suited to motivated GT students in 7th and 8th grade, although very highly motivated 6th graders can sometimes do well.

The Club will meet on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm in the FQMS cafetorium beginning Sept. 28 and continuing through approximately Mar 15 (depending on when the Mathcounts state competition is).

The registration fee is $30. This fee will cover contest registrations. The fee will be waived for a parent willing to serve as an assistant. To register, click here.

More information about the AMC-8 can be found at https://www.maa.org/math-competitions/amc-8 . More information about Mathcounts can be found at www.mathcounts.org.  

Please let our FQMS staff know how much we appreciate them by using this direct link  for positive staff shout outs! 

• Congratulations to Mrs. Hewitt - she was just selected as the HCPSS School Counseling Advocate of the Year.  She is now being moved to the state level as a nominee.  Mrs. Hewitt worked so hard to set up procedures and supports during virtual learning.  Further, she oversees our PBIS program and has been instrumental in recognizing 525 students (individually) already this year! 
• Congratulations to Ms. Kim on her nomination for teacher of the year!  
• Congratulations to Ms. Terry for being nominated for MD Financial Literacy Educator of the Year!   She has advocated at the county level and beyond for opportunities, resources, partnerships to advance financial literacy for not just FQ students but middle school students county wide.

All 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Folly Quarter boys are invited to try out for the HCYP FQMS middle school basketball teams: junior varsity (limited to 6th and 7th graders) and varsity (limited to 7th and 8th graders). Tryouts will be held at the following dates and times at the FQMS indoor gymnasium:
Mon: 9/20: 6-7:30 (junior varsity), 7:30-9 (varsity)
Wed: 9/22: 6-7:30 (junior varsity), 7:30-9 (varsity)
Mon: 9/27: 6-7:30 (junior varsity), 7:30-9 (varsity)
Players should arrive 15 mins prior to their start times (so 5:45 for junior varsity, 7:15 for varsity) to register.  Registration will happen outside the building (in front of the right hand side door closest to the gymnasium).  Each player will be provided a number to wear during the tryout - we ask the players to bring the number home with them and use it for any future tryout dates. 
Masks MUST be worn at all times during the tryout (given HCPSS rules).  Players will not be permitted to tryout without a mask. Parents are not allowed in the school during the tryout.
We ask the junior varsity players to leave the gymnasium promptly when their tryout ends. Each player should bring BOTH a white shirt and a dark shirt (for example, black, dark blue, dark grey) to the tryout.
Players are required to attend at least one tryout, but it is recommended to attend at least two. 7th graders can try out for junior varsity only, varsity only, or both.  The coaches will try to provide feedback to 7th graders after the first tryout they attend on which future tryout they should attend. 
We expect to make roster invitations and finalize the teams by 10/1.  We will send out a mass email letting all participants know when this is complete. 
In terms of the anticipated season:
- We expect twice a week practices starting in approximately mid-late October, likely at FQMS. Actual days of the week TBD. 
- One league game each weekend (against other Howard County middle schools), from about mid December to late February, and a league playoff round in the first week or two of March
- We may also enter a couple of tournaments, likely in the Nov/Dec time frame.  TBD
- Approximate cost: $400-$500, depending on tournament participation and cost of uniforms
Lastly, per league rules, players cannot play on both the FQMS team AND another HCYP team (for example, a recreational team).  Players can play on the FQMS team and on other (non-HCYP affiliated) travel teams, as long as the players can attend at least half of FQMS team practices. In general, while we understand that conflicts arise, we do expect invited FQMS players to make this team a priority, so please only tryout if you are able to do that.
Thank you.  Additional questions can be directed to the coaches below:
Scott Laprise (Varsity): scott.laprise26@gmail.com
Bruce Barney (Junior Varsity): bruceb@stopcopy.com

As part of this year’s Student Service Learning project, students will be collecting non-perishable food items May 13-27.  Grade-level boxes will be at the student entrance to the school for drop-off.  Monetary donations can be made here.  Here is a list of items needed at Grassroots: ​

May 3 - 7: We want to celebrate all the work that all the FQMS Teachers and Staff do to make FQMS a wonderful place to learn.  We are planning breakfast, lunch, treats, and a raffle for the teachers.  If you would like to help make this week special click on this link to sign up.   We need prizes for a staff raffle we are planning on Thursday, May 6.  We are so grateful for any donations from our community.  Please feel free to contact PTA President if you have any questions.  ​

FQMS PTSA is partnering with students to collect pajamas for the Casey Cares organization. All sizes are accepted, but the greatest need is for pre-teens and teens in adult sizes. Donate from April 12-16. A drop-off bin will be placed outside the school next to the book return.  Students can bring items to donate to school or families can donate through the drop-off line when dropping off their students. We will be having a pajama day on April 16 to celebrate. Thank you for your donations to support this wonderful organization.

The Folly Quarter PTSA is partnering with the Community Action Council of Howard County to provide food/meals to the Howard County Food Bank from February 1-16, but we need your help to do so! 
Just a reminder that our virtual food drive is still running through Tuesday, February 16. So far over $700 has been donated to the food bank. With the spirit of love and kindness this February, please share some FQMS Falcon Spirit in supporting our virtual food drive. Any donation is welcome and the money goes directly to the Community Action Council of Howard County supporting the Howard County Food Bank. They provide food for families in our community that need some support. Please use the link below to help out in any way that your means allow. Let's continue to be a Connected, Collective Community and support families in Howard County.  Please use this link to support this great initiative!  Thank you.
About CAC: The Community Action Council (CAC) of Howard County serves low-income residents through four core program areas: food assistance, energy and weatherization assistance, housing assistance and early childhood education. In Fiscal Year 2020, CAC, in partnership with this incredible community, served 52,000 people with 1.3 million pounds of food through the Howard County Food Bank and more than 47 pop-up pantries. Since the pandemic started, we have served about half of 52,000 of those people in just four months. To learn more about the Community Action Council go to www.cac-hc.org.  ​

​“A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude.” - Bruce Wilkinson

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” - Helen Keller
FQMS PTA is pleased to announce that going forward, your PTA membership will be managed via MemberHub.  We have said goodbye to our trusted old platform that was used in the recent past!  Please visit MemberHub to join, securely purchase your membership and make a donation, and activate your MemberHub account, and if you are interested in volunteer opportunities, please check out our new Volunteer Opportunities.
The 2020-21 school year may look a little different, but the PTA needs your support now more than ever. We hope you will join us!

Dear Folly Quarter Families,

We hope you are safe and healthy. We are all looking forward to returning to school when it is safe to do so. Currently, the school is being completely sanitized and the FQMS PTA would like to acknowledge the work of the dedicated staff members who have gone above and beyond during this time, as well as those who are idled – the FQMS custodial and cafeteria staff, and the contract bus drivers.  

The PTA has set up a donation page through the Gifts of Gratitude program, which is the same one used for holiday donations. This is a convenient and completely voluntary way to express gratitude to the dedicated staff members and bus drivers who are working to ensure that the building is safe to return to, and those who take our kids to and from school every day but are currently not able to do so.

Here’s how the Gifts of Gratitude Program works:

• Families complete an online form designating a dollar amount they would like to give individual staff members and bus drivers. Donations can be made to one staff member or bus driver or to as many as you like.
• Donations can be made in $1 increments. There is a $20 maximum contribution per staff member/driver, per family.
• Each staff member and bus driver’s monetary contributions are totaled and converted into gift cards by the Gifts of Gratitude program. The PTA will provide a thank you note with the gift card.  
• Families are recognized on a certificate given to the staff members and bus drivers by name ONLY and NOT the amount given.

Due to the current situation, we are only collecting payment via PayPal, and there is a $3 processing fee added to online donations. 

The deadline for families to participate in this optional donation program is April 17. 
​
To get started, simply complete the online form. If you have any questions regarding the program, please contact Sonia Chapin at schapin@perpend.net.

Thank you,
Folly Quarter PTA