Dear Franklin families,

We are almost through Quarter 3! Next Wednesday, March 9, is the last day of this quarter. This is an important time to check in and be sure your student is in good standing in their classes. All parents have access to Canvas and with this, the ability to monitor your student's grades. If you or your student have concerns about a specific class, be sure to check in this week! I know that teachers have been working hard to support all students to end this quarter well. High school parents, we are offering two Wednesday attendance make up sessions. If your student has too many unexcused absences, you should have received a notice from our high school principal. These sessions are an important time for students to complete or improve any missing work. 

As a country and as a local community, we have entered yet another transitional period in the COVID pandemic. Guidelines for masks are shifting rapidly! Please note that our school is not subject to changes in Buncombe County Schools. Masks remain required indoors and on buses at this time. All North Carolina school boards are required to review mask policies monthly, and our Board will review our policies at the March board meeting. These periods of transition are challenging. As adults, let's model empathy, the ability to listen and consider the perspectives of others, and practice disagreeing without disdain for one another. We appreciate everyone's patience and compliance with guidelines that have helped keep our students and staff safe in school this year. 

A special request from one of our business neighbors! The BP Gas Station called us this week to say that some FSI parents are driving through the gas station lot in the mornings to avoid the light at the corner. They reported seeing several close accidents. We know mornings are busy times and we all have places to go. Please consider the safety of our community as you come to and from school each day. 

Re-Enrollment for 2022-2023: It's time! 
Re-enrollment has begun!  We would love for all of our students to return to FSI for a great 2022-2023 School Year! Re-enrollment emails were sent to all current FSI families on February 7th, with "Re-enrollment - Set Password and Complete Online Forms ASAP to secure your student's spot" in the subject line. Please make sure to check your spam folder if you are not seeing this in your inbox.  If you have not already re-enrolled your child for the 2022-2023 school year, please complete by March 7th, so they do not lose their seat for the 2022-2023 school year.

• Instructions on how to re-enroll are included in the February 7th email. 
• If you are planning on enrolling a sibling, you must apply in SchoolMint prior to March 31st.  Please make sure you indicate in your application that you have a currently enrolled sibling in the priority section.  
• If you do not intend on your child returning to FSI or if you are experiencing problems with re-enrollment, please reach out to Erinn Otten eotten@thefsi.us

We know many of you are lining up your summer plans! As you know, we applied for a grant to help fund our summer programming this year. We will not know about grant funding until late in March or April. We will offer a comprehensive summer program, with our without the grant funding!

• Learn more about our summer programming here
• REGISTER today

The month of March is packed with great opportunities to support our Franklin community! Come see a live theatre performance - even if your student isn't in theatre! Students and faculty work so hard on these productions and a night out will make you feel better about the world and our future. A fully student-led TEDx Conference???? How cool is that? Check it out! And of course come on out for our Glows & Grows Gala & Auction. If you can't join in person - register to bid and help us fill our "coming soon" gymnasium with equipment. Did you know that the simple act of getting involved in your student's school makes a difference in your student's school success? It's true! When students see that their parents care about their school - they perform better. So it's a win-win all around. 

March 3 & 4: High School Comedy Murdery Mystery Production
What exactly IS a Candy Bambi? Why DOES Abigail still wear her wedding ring? Did the butler do it? Come see the FSI High School Theatre's production of the comedy murder mystery, 'Death of A Doornail' to find out! Some essential deets: 

• Performances are THIS week, Thursday, March 3rd and Friday, March 4th. 
• The Thursday performance is at 6:00 PM and will be a dinner theatre event in cooperation with SGA. Tickets available online for $20 and include dinner and the show.  Death of a Doornail Online Tickets
• Friday's performance is just the show at 7:00 PM, tickets available at the door for $10.

Don't 'forget about it' (as the shady Salvatore Carbone would say)! Have fun while supporting FSI theatre and SGA!

March 8: Student Led TEDx Conference
This TEDx youth event is completely run by a group of very engaged Franklin School students. There will be speakers from age 9 to 55 discussing innovative ways to mold our collective futures.  You don’t want to miss this night of creativity, hope, and intellectualism.  Tickets are now available, $15 a piece and going quickly.  You can purchase tickets through our website, which can be found at: https://www.tedxyouthfsi.com/  All proceeds will be donated to a non profit organization.  

High school students - the TEDx Team needs some help with production! This is a great opportunity to earn service hours and gain experience with event production. Here's what they need! 

• When: Monday, March 7th from 4 pm to 8 pm and Tuesday, March 8th from 5 pm to 9 pm. (Dinner will be provided both nights!!!)
• Where: NC Stage. (15 Stage Lane, Asheville, NC 28801)
• What: We need volunteers to help with set-up and breakdown, sell concessions, check tickets, guide audience members in the correct direction within the space, along with outside. Masks will be required. 
• Amount of Hours: This would be a two-day event, (dry run, and the actual conference), and would offer them around six to 10 hours of community service based upon their job. 
• If Interested: Please contact kyleeroark@thefsi.us and brodysandifer-williams@thefsi.us

March 18 and 19, 5:30 pm, Spring Theatre Productions
A Night of MS One Act Plays:  "The Fairy Tale Network" and "Complaint Department and Lemonade". $5 tickets, bring a chair or blanket and enjoy two shows for one price!  Click Here!

March 26: Glows & Grows Gala & Silent Auction
See all the info at the top of today's newsletter - and get your tickets today! 

Junior/Senior Prom
And while it isn't in March - it is time to get excited about the HS Junior/Senior Prom! Early prom tickets are now available for purchase online through the attached link! Early prom tickets are $35 for FSI students, and $40 for outside guest. Tickets will be raised to $60 a week before prom and at the door. Prom will take place on May 14, 2022 from 7 to 10 PM at the Capital Club in downtown AVL. Enjoy a beautiful spring sunset from the rooftop! Ticket includes admission, drinks and hors d'oeuvres.” https://event.auctria.com/a3c433b8-b0af-4cce-8d75-673084cd9365/ 

Covid Updates
COVID  isn't over, but we continue to see big declines in the number of active cases. We had ZERO positive results in our pooled testng again this week. We learned of 3 positive cases among students during the time period of February 18 - 25, and one staff member reported a positive test. Please note that under the new guidelines, contact tracing is no longer required. However, we will continue to notify parents if their student has had an exposure at school. 

Remember: if your student has symptoms, has tested positive, or has a known exposure to COVID, let us know! Email nurse Jess Peckham . Continue sending notes about absences to attendance@thefsi.us. 

Weather Make Up Days
The following days will now be regular school days for students and staff:

• Monday, April 18
• Wednesday, June 1

COVID Vaccines
Looking for the vaccine for your child? Here is a link to current locations for the pediatric vaccines:https://www.buncombecounty.org/countycenter/news-detail.aspx?id=19642

COVID Screening Program - you can still sign up!
With the holidays and a new variant - the COVID Screening Program is more important than ever! Want to sign up for our weekly COVID screening? It's a great way to help us keep school open safely:

• Parental consent for students under age 18: Click here: https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/minor-consent
• Student consent - age 18 and up: Click here: https://testcenter.concentricbyginkgo.com/invite-by-code
• Our school access code is FRANKLINSI. You will need this to complete the consent form
• You only need to provide consent once