 Our Jr. Optimist Club provides wonderful services to our school and the Vienna community.
From the Principal's Desk:
We have reached the midpoint of this school
year and I would like to acknowledge the fantastic work of the PTA. We are so appreciative of all the energy and
effort that goes into making all of the events, funding opportunities, and PTA
related activities run smoothly. Our PTA
is vital to our success here at Louise Archer.
The next several weeks and months ahead is an important time for our
PTA. Soon, they will be reaching
out to look to fill some important committee roles and board positions. Please consider ways you can participate -
big or small, every bit counts. There
are so many people who positively impact the PTA. We are fortunate to have families who want to
provide opportunities to our students and we collectively take pride in our
school. In the next two months we will have events such as Skate Night, Pizza Bingo, International Night, and the Staff Volleyball Game. All of these school activities are enjoyable opportunities for us to come together as a community. The PTA certainly has an exciting second half of the school year planned and I look forward to seeing you at some of the upcoming events!
STEAM Classes
Students enjoyed
the challenge of making pieces balance in the new game SUSPEND and trying to
getting their cards in sequential order in RACKO. They have also been busy building with KAPLA
blocks, exploring inclined planes and testing what materials might slow down the
path of a marble. We are now making
vertical marble runs with TP and paper towel rolls. Some classes had the opportunity to explore
the Fluor Engineering Ball Launcher Challenge.
I encourage all ages to check out our 2017-2018 Library/Technology /STEAM
Blackboard under the STEAM button for the link to try the challenge at
home. While you are on the STEAM
website, look through the pictures with your child. This is a great opportunity for him or her to
remember what he or she did in STEAM and also to talk about other students they
know in the pictures and what they are doing.
Please also check out the Math Resources button for appropriate math
vocab for your child’s grade and some other resources while you are on the
site.
DreamBox
– Math Resource
10 to 15
minutes a day can make a BIG difference!
Please find
time for your child to do a lesson a day on DREAMBOX or find bigger blocks of
time during the week for your child to average 5 to 7 lessons per week (more if
they haven’t been using it at all).
Research shows incredible gains for students who use DREAMBOX on a regular basis, so please make sure your child is
putting in the time on DREAMBOX.
If your child
finds a lesson complicated then this is a perfect opportunity for them to try
some of their problem solving skills to figure out what they do understand or
what they can try. This is also a good
time to remind your child an important life skill is persistence. It is important that students finish the
lessons, so the program can adjust for their learning needs either by moving
them forward or moving them back to review gaps in their understanding.
Please, please,
please make sure your child is following through on DREAMBOX.
Positivity Project Update
During the
weeks of January 15th and 22nd, the Positivity Project
focused on the character traits of hope and optimism. A fun and unique aspect
of the Positivity Project is the use of videos within the presentations. While
older students watched the Kid President, younger students watched clips from
movies like Frozen and The Jungle Book. Being able to connect pop
culture to important life lessons keeps kids interested and engaged. Ask your
students about the different lessons they learned during the two weeks
dedicated to hope and optimism. Following the long weekend, students began
focusing on the character trait of prudence this week. The term prudence will
likely be a new word for many of our students. They will learn how making
careful, everyday choices impacts their plans for the future and achievement of
goals. A good dinner conversation could be talking about the role prudence
plays in your own lives.
Winter Weather and Recess
It is the
intention of the school to hold recess during cold spells. Please make
sure your children are prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats).
If there are wind chills or other factors, we will consider limiting the time
or canceling recess, as designated by FCPS guidelines.
Forgotten Items
We do not
interrupt classes for items forgotten from home. All items should be
brought to the school prior to your child’s lunch time. Teachers check their
boxes in the morning and at lunch. Items brought in after lunch will be
picked up the following morning.
Forgotten
instruments and lunches have a specific location that students will
check. If they are uncertain, please ask them to check with their
teacher.
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