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Donate to FSI Hurricane Recovery Fund
Good morning Franklin families,
Bravo to the cast and crew and directors Julie Wharton and Sandi Wilson for a wonderful production of “The Prom”, a musical. I laughed and maybe cried a little and overall thoroughly enjoyed the production. It’s not too late – you can catch the final performance today, Sunday Mar 16, at 2:00 pm. Don’t miss it!
Congratulations to our small but mighty Science Olympiad team! With the support of high school science teacher Amy Burke, our team went to district competition in Hickory last Saturday.High schoolers Maryn Hester & Caroline Seibeck competed in Dynamic Planet, Anatomy & Physiology, and Codebusters. Middle schoolers Gigi Pertile & Gavin Hester competed in Road Scholars, Anatomy & Physiology, and Potions & Poisons. While we did not win any medals this year, students engaged in scientific thinking and are excited for a bigger team next year!
This week is a short week for students. Tomorrow is a much-needed day off for our faculty and staff. It’s been a hard year for everyone and it’s still a long stretch till spring break. Tuesday is a teacher work day as we finalize grades from Quarter 3. Students will return to school on Wednesday. I know Buncombe County Schools was in the news this past week for adding 8 hours to their school calendar this year. Remember that we already did that – we just don’t land in the news. Our last day of school is Thursday, June 5.
A few other calendar reminders coming up:
- Wednesday, March 26 is Student Led Conference (SLC) day. There are no classes on March 26. Students in all grades except 8 and 10 will attend school only for their scheduled SLC. Seniors will participate in Senior Presentations on the 26th. Students in grades 8 and 10 will have a remote learning day.
- Wednesday, April 2: 8th and 10th Grade Passages Day. There are no classes this day. Students in grades 8 and 10 will attend school at their scheduled Passage time. All other grades will have a remote learning day.
Student Led Conferences and Passages are important parts of our EL Education model. Students practice skills of goal-setting and reflection as well as organization and presentation. We know they are yet another disruption in a crazy year but they are worth the effort. Over time, our students are gaining skills that will serve them long beyond their school careers.
Really Cool Student Led Events!
As an EL Education school, FSI promotes student leadership in school and beyond. These upcoming events are great opportunities that are unique to our high school. You can’t get these experiences in any other local school!
- April 1st, FSI students will host the only TedX Youth event in Asheville. Mark your calendars for this great event! April 1, 6 pm at NC Stage, tickets at the door. High school students – if you need volunteer hours, please reach out to hazelwells@thefsi.us or lilakneile@thefsi.us to help out with the TedXYouth event.
- Saturday, April 5, 1st ever Model UN Conference at FSI. This fun event, led by students with the support of high school teacher Matt Reynolds, will be an in-house Model UN mini conference. Our goal is to host this conference for our students in preparation for hosting a local conference next year.
Remember – Open Enrollment ends March 31 for new students, including siblings. If you know great kids and great families – invite them to check us out! We are still growing! Help us reach our growth goals and keep FSI thriving and moving forward. Families can check out our website or email Micah Usher, musher@thefsi.us., to schedule a tour or join an Information Session.
Don’t miss the information for our summer camps and our 1st ever Pickleball Tournament in this week’s newsletter! Keep reading and register today.
Keep up those calls! Let our elected leaders know that North Carolina deserves great public schools and our teachers deserve living wages! Take Action! Education Call List. Let’s call our representatives in Washington as well and tell them to support the Federal Department of Education. Cuts to federal funding will have an impact on every public school – including FSI!
Thank you all for choosing Franklin and for your continued support through a challenging year. We are stronger together.
Upcoming Events
Sun, Mar 16
- 2:00 pm HS Theatre & FSI Music Department present “The Prom”, a musical. Tickets are available online or at the door: https://franklinschoolofinnovation.networkforgood.com/events/83662-the-prom-school-edition
Mon, Mar 17: No School
Tues, Mar 18: No School – Teacher Work Day
Wed, Mar 19:
- 11th grade: ACT exam – 12th grade remote learning day
Thurs, Mar 20
- 6:00 pm: Parent Crew meeting, in person at FSI. Come meet Ron Scott, Director of Afterschool Programs at FSI!
Fri, Mar 21
- 5:00 pm: HS Girls Soccer vs. Trailblazers @ BCSP
Calendar Change: Thursday, June 5 – Weather Make Up Day
Thursday, June 5 is a weather make up day. Wed, June 4 will be a full day (no early release) and June 5 will now be our last day of school and an early release day.
Keep up with our Community Calendar: FSI Community Calendar
Need to see the year at a glance? FSI 2024-25 Academic Calendar
Athletics Update
The HS girls soccer team had their season opener vs IC Imagine. The team played hard and showed great persistence, but came up short. V. Cypress was amazing in goal and E. Cruz-Macey and E. Forbes made some great runs. The team is back in action on Friday as they take on the Trailblazers at BCSP at 5:00pm.
Join us for our 1st Annual Pickleball Tournament on Saturday, April 26th! See more information below in the newsletter and register today!
Go Bolts!
Parent Crew
We have a Parent Crew Meeting this Thursday (03/20), 6 pm at the school. FSI Director of Afterschool Programs (BTB) Ron Scott will be joining us for the first approximately 20 minutes to discuss summer camp options at FSI.
Thank you to everyone who came to the Chipotle Dine Out Event! We were able to raise around $300 to be used towards Staff Appreciation and Parent Crew events. This was one of our most successful dine out events to date.
Parent Crew is hosting a parent coffee social at the school on April 3 at 8:30AM in room 261. This is a great time to get to know fellow Franklin Families. Meet other parents, hang for a bit, have a coffee and a little nosh for a great start to the day! Please join us, everyone is welcome. To help us plan for supplies needed, let us know if you plan to attend here: Parent Coffee Social Attendance. It is not required to RSVP, you can just drop in the day of!
Mark your calendars for upcoming Parent Crew meetings!
- Thursday, Apr 24: 8:30 am school-more details about place closer to date
- Thursday, May 29: 6 pm online- check the school calendar for Google Meet details
Summer Quest Camp & Bolts Sports Camps
Join us for 3 weeks of fun at our FSI Summer Quest Camp and Bolts Sports camps
The collaboration of the summer is here! We are offering three options for camp this year, available only to rising 5th graders through rising 8th graders. We are planning three great weeks of arts, crafts, games, science, learning, swimming and adventuring! Our athletics department is also offering a half day sports camp. Summer Quest campers have the option to join that for the morning, and then join back up with the rest of the camp for an afternoon of activities for the same cost as the single day camp, but they have to commit to that choice!
- Option 1: Attend the full day Summer Quest camp from 9am-4pm $225 / week
- Option 2: Attend the half day of sports camp and join the Summer Quest Camp for the remainder of the day at 12pm! (option choice when signing up for the day camp)
- Option 3: Attend a half day camp of sports only from 9am-12pm $100 / week
Each week of Summer Quest Camp is a mix of outdoor activities, arts, swimming, cooking, social skill building, field trips and sports!
- Week 1: June 23rd – 27th Basketball camp in the morning, Summer Quest Camp all day!
- Week 2: July 7th-11th Volleyball camp in the morning, Summer Quest Camp all day!
- Week 3: July 14th-18th Full day Summer Quest Camp
For the half day sports camps, pickup is promptly at 12pm.
Have questions? Contact Mr. Ron Scott, 828 335 1053, rscott@thefsi.us
Ready to register? Sign up for the weeks that you need here!
Pickleball Tournament and Spring Fair Announcement
Get ready to serve, volley and smash your way to victory in our FIRST annual pickleball tournament Saturday, April 26th from 11am ~ 1pm! There will be middle school, high school, adult and staff divisions, and we’ll try to match teams up by skill level, so everyone can play! Teams are made up of two people and registration is $20/team – so get out of the “kitchen”, grab your partner and register your team today!
Student Division – MS Division (5th-8th grades) and HS Division (9th-12th grades)
Adult Division – 18 and Up
Staff Division – For FSI Staff
Registrations need to be submitted by Friday, April 25th so that we can construct the brackets for each division. There will be no on site team registrations. The only surefire way to “bagel” at this tournament is to not register ahead of time.
The Parent Crew is organizing a spring fair the same date as the pickleball tournament to help raise funds for staff appreciation. There will be a fair with craft and market vendors made up of FSI students, parents and staff in the community room and courtyard, along with activities like face painting, temporary tattoos, carnival style games to play, basket raffles and possibly some music (tbd). This event is for the entire FSI community, to help support their community. Come, check out the crafts and some FSI family-owned businesses, have fun with the games and activities, or watch some pickleball! If you’re here for the tournament and you have some time between rounds, go explore. This will be a super fun day with a lot to do. Bring on the spring!
Have questions about pickleball? Contact Coach Burke at kburke@thefsi.us
Have questions about the fair? Contact Micah Usher at musher@thefsi.us
College Corner
Mark your calendars for the NACAC Virtual College Fair happening on Sunday, Mar. 23 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. ET. The virtual fair provides a wonderful chance to connect with hundreds of colleges and universities, all from the comfort of your home. Plus, it is 100 percent free!
Next FSI Blood Drive – April 3!
Our first Blood Drive of the year was a great success. Our next drive is coming up and donors who gave last time are eligible to give again. We’d love to see some new faces as well! This is a terrific way to provide a much needed resource for the community AND help FSI raise funds for a Habitat for Humanity student home build. Appointments are encouraged!
Register for an appointment here:
https://donate.thebloodconnection.org/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/281491
If you are the ages of 16 or 17 and you would like to donate, have your parent or guardian fill out this consent form. https://thebloodconnection.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/i011-NC_16-17Year_Old_Consent.pdf
FREE! Outward Bound Expeditions for FSI HS Students
We are excited to continue a partnership with North Carolina Outward Bound, and even more excited to announce that FSI high school students (aged 14 – 18) may be eligible for scholarships to participate in life-changing Outward Bound expeditions. You can learn more about the program here: https://www.ncobs.org/expeditions/classic-high/
These scholarships are available because FSI is an EL Education high school. Learn more: See Jessica Potter-Bowers, MK Hyche, or JaneAnne Tager for a flyer and get help with your application.
DV Awareness Workshop: April 24 @ FSI
We are excited to host an important workshop in collaboration with Our VOICE and Verbal Purple! Our VOICE Inc. is a non-profit crisis intervention and prevention agency that has been serving survivors of sexual violence, ages 13 through adult, in Buncombe County for over 45 years. Our VOICE also works to provide primary prevention education to stop sexual violence before it occurs.
In collaboration with Verbal Purple and Our VOICE, we will be facilitating SAFE, an Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention Education Workshop, informed by existing scientific evidence, that teaches on sex trafficking risk factors, recruitment dynamics, warning signs, healthy and abusive relationships, and strategies for seeking and providing help for youth.
The SAFE Anti-Human Trafficking Prevention Education Workshop includes sensitive content related to human trafficking and we understand this material may be distressing for some individuals. We also understand these conversations can bring up a wide variety of feelings and reactions, so reach out to Our VOICE if you need support or have concerns about the content.
Our VOICE website: Home – Our VOICE (ourvoicenc.org)
Crisis line: CRISIS LINE: (828) 255-7576
This workshop is intended for anyone in 6th grade through 12th grade and their parents. It is also available to the wider community, if you have friends that would like to join.
Join us on Thursday, April 24th at 6pm at the Franklin School of Innovation!
Please help us estimate attendance by filling out this short form
This form is optional but helps us prepare for how many people to expect!
Reminders
Apply for Free/Reduced Lunch
FSI is now participating in the Federal School Lunch Program. Families must apply for the program every year. We will help you with your applications! Click to APPLY HERE!
If you need help, call the school office (318-8140), stop by the front desk for paper applications, or email Tammey Harper, tharper@thefsi.us for help.
Did you know: Now that our school is part of the National School Lunch Program, students with approved applications for free or reduced lunch may also be eligible for summer “Sun Bucks” program, offering $120 per student for summer food purchases? You can learn more here: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/sunbucks
Car Line Reminders
It seems that it is time for a reminder to be good citizens in the car line. No one loves the car line – we get it. But if we all follow the rules and work together, the line moves pretty quickly and we keep students and staff safe! Here are a few reminders:
- All traffic is one way during arrival and dismissal. There are NO exceptions. It simply isn’t safe.
- Students are to be picked up by the building – not in the driveway and especially not by the road.
- Turn right at Sardis Road.
- Watch your speed
Thank you to everyone who regularly follows these expectations!
Drivers Education – Summer Opportunity
Franklin will host a summer Driver’s Ed program July 14 – 18 from 9 am – 3 pm. Please note that we do not provide Driver’s Ed directly – all Driver’s Ed in WNC is provided by Mountain Pro. We are just the hosts. Registration is available at https://www.mtnpro.com/school-classes
Please see the attendance policy below. Again – this is not Franklin’s policy and we cannot intervene or advocate for any changes to the policy. You may want to wait until closer to the date of class to register to avoid any conflicts. Registrations are not transferable or refundable.
Attendance Policy: Students must pay a $65 fee for the classroom phase of Driver Education on or before the first day of their selected class. There will be no refunds if a student does not attend, drops out or fails The State mandates students attend 30 hours in entirety to receive credit. Voluntary medical or dental appointments and school-related activities such as tryouts, sports, field trips, concerts, etc. are not excused absences. Five Day Classes (Holiday Classes, etc.) and Summer classes: There are no makeup days for these classes. Students absent from one (1) of these classes will be listed as a Fail, and if allowed, will have to register and pay to attend another class in its entirety.
Donate Used, Broken, or Unwanted Electronics!
The Franklin School of Innovation Electronics Repair Club is accepting donations of
used, broken, or unwanted electronics. Anything from small smart watches up to
larger laptops (including PC, mac/apple and android devices). No printers, desktops,
or monitors, please… we don’t have the space for them!
Please include the power supply(s), password(s) (if one or more things haven’t been reset) and what is believed to be wrong with the device via a bundled note. Label
the donation “for ERC” and bring it to the front office. If we can’t find a
second life for your donated item we will make sure personal data is
securely wiped and that it is brought to an upcoming local e-waste collection event.
We may be able to repair items! If you are interested in a quote for repair, please include that in your note along with your contact information.
College & Career Corner: Summer Opportunities for HS Students
You are invited to the College Admission Workshop: Summer Opportunities on March 18 at 7 pm. This presentation will explore the summer opportunities that are available to high school students. Students should pursue summer activities that are based on their interests and values and that reflect their interests. You will learn why it is important to do something over the summer and where those summer activities show up in your college applications. Over the summer, a high school student may want to work, take classes, do research, volunteer, learn new skills, or perfect already acquired skills or talents. Do Something!
Presenter: Veena Rao, The Summit College Counseling, LLC
Share the details and the registration link with your students and families!
Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hYlDMt1XQq2-_KJmDy7gaQ
Looking for more free or low cost summer opportunities for your high school student? Check out this link! https://www.appily.com/guidance/counselors/college-greenlight/free-pre-college-summer-programs
Yearbook Sales & Senior Ads!
Our yearbook class is busy capturing fantastic memories of this year! Get yours here.
MANNA Packs for Kids
MANNA Packs for Kids is a take-home food program that provides a weekly bag of food to students. Bags will contain items such as proteins, fruits, vegetables, snacks and/or breakfast items.The “MANNA Packs for Kids” program’s mission is to serve those families with children who are experiencing economic difficulty and could use assistance in providing food when school meals are not an option. To join the program, please fill out the Manna Packs google form here.
After School Clubs
We have updated our Club listing, which is also posted on our website. Many clubs are starting or resuming this week! You can check the listing and see which clubs are in session: 2024 FSI Clubs. Please remember that students need to sign in to Beyond the Bell for after school clubs.
A huge thank you to ARCA Design, who was our largest supporting community business sponsor over the last year at the Platinum level. These sponsorships have a great effect on our small community, and help us provide programs to our children where funds from the state are not provided. They even requested to not have a banner printed for them and to instead use those funds for the community, an extremely generous suggestion. So, we would like to give a special thank you for their impact on this community and being such a great supporter of the vision that we have here. If you would like to see some of the neat architecture they design, visit https://arca-design.com/ or follow them on instagram at @arca.design or on facebook at @arcadesignPLLC
