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Dear Parents/Guardians,
As you may have read or heard, this is one of the worse flu seasons in many years. Please remind your children to cough into their elbows instead of their hands and to continue the good practice of hand washing. If your child is sick, please keep them home so that they will have a quicker recovery without catching more germs.
I am pleased to share that on Monday, February 26th, we will have a new member joining our wonderful office staff - Ms. Kathryn Cargill. In late January, our office assistant Mrs. Danielle Tinnin accepted a promotion with another FCPS school which left us with this vacancy. Ms. Cargill comes to us from New Jersey and is very excited to be working at our school and getting to know our staff, students, and parent community.
As you will read in the next two paragraph, there are many wonderful things happening at Westbriar. We have the best staff and parent community and that is evident in how we support one another. Many thanks for all you do for our children and our school.
SOARing together,
Principal Tam
Math Counts Competition Series
On February 3rd, 2018, we had a number of Westbriar students who competed in the 35th Annual NOVA Regional Math Counts Competition. It was a very impressive achievement for our students and Westbriar. Between the three Chapters (Northern
Virginia, George Washington, and Fairfax), there were 51 schools and just under
500 students who competed at George Mason University.
The Westbriar team placed 7th overall of 29 Fairfax Chapter teams (13
Elementary and 16 Middle Schools). We were the highest scoring elementary
school, right behind Kilmer who placed 6th. The next highest elementary
school team placed 10th. The team score is the average of the four team
member’s individual overall scores from the Sprint and Target Rounds plus the
Team Round score. The Westbriar team members were Justin Lee, Dhruv
Yelisetti, Rishabh Prabhu, and Neanth Suresh. Thank you to Mahaveer Prabhu for helping to
coach the team. Thank you Crystal Petersen for organizing this team so they could enter and compete.
VDOE Inclusive Practices Grant
Congratulations goes to members of our teaching staff: Debbie Alsado, Meg Caudill, Alissa McGrath, Alyssa Scott, Ewa Meoni, and Carly Guinn for being awarded the Inclusive Practices Grant from VDOE. These teachers wrote a grant to highlight the Fairfax Friends Forever program that takes place every Friday morning and is run by our student leaders. It is a program focused on inclusion and peer to peer interactions amongst our student body - one that has been successfully inclusive of all children in our building. Our school is one of 12 schools in the state of Virginia that was awarded this grant by VDOE and the only one representing Fairfax County. Part of this grant asks for the team to create a product that will be shared on the VDOE website so other schools may replicate our successful inclusive program. Our team decided to create a "how to" manual accompanied by a video clip that will highlight the important steps in creating the Fairfax Friends Forever program and allowing others to see it in action. Special thanks to Doreen Ryder who brought this grant to our attention.
News From Westbriar PTA
Westbriar Parents,
Happy February! I hope you and your families are enjoying a
flu-free winter as we wait for spring to arrive. The PTA has been busy getting
ready for several events coming up in the next few months. You
will receive detailed information about the events in the Wednesday
folders or can always visit our website.
Last month, we completed the Reading Room renovations
using funds from the Feed the Falcon fundraiser by adding new
steel shelving and re-organizing the reading materials. Ms. Poland
was so happy that she graciously provided an informative presentation on
reading levels at the last PTA meeting. We also raised several hundred
dollars from the Skate and Shake event at the Tysons Ice Rink and Shake Shack.
Unfortunately, the VA 529 presentation was canceled due to school closures, but
I will send out the make-up date soon.
I hope to see you at all of the wonderful events listed
below. If we have not met in person, please find me and introduce
yourself. I'd like to hear from you about how the PTA can improve on ways to
keep Westbriar SOARing!
Upcoming Events:
*February 23: Skate Night at Reston SkateQuest from 7:30 -
9:30 pm. This event is open to everyone. Upon arriving at the ice rink, please
purchase your ticket from the Westbriar booth. Tickets will be on sale for
$10.00 and includes skate rental. Reston SkateQuest is located at 1800 Michael
Faraday Ct. in Reston.
*February 28: CAVA - For our February Wednesday for Westbriar
dining out partner, we are pleased to partner with CAVA. CAVA is a growing
Mediterranean culinary brand with a flavorful and healthy fast-casual
restaurant experience featuring customizable salads, grain bowls, pitas, and
house-made juices. The PTA will receive 10% of proceeds. The restaurant is
located at 176 Maple Ave W. in Vienna.
*March 1: PTA Meeting - 7:00 pm in the library. We value your
ideas and opinions, so please be sure to attend our monthly meetings.
*March 5: 3rd Grade - Stock the Staff Lounge - The PTA is
requesting donations of snacks for the staff from 3rd grade parents. Please
send in individually wrapped snacks with your child or drop them off at the
Front Office on the morning of March 5th. Although you do not have to sign up
to donate food, here's a sign up link so we can gauge if we have enough
donations from parents. Last month, all the treats were gobbled up in 3 days!
www.SignUpGenius.com/go/4090C4AAEA822A13-march
*March 16: Cub Scouts Movie Night. The Cub Scouts will be
showing a family-friendly movie and selling Chick-Fil-A, chips, drinks and
other refreshments. Please stop by to support our WES Cub Scouts for an
entertaining evening with friends and family in the WES cafeteria!
*April 7: Westbriar's Annual 5K Run/1 Mile Walk held at
school at 8:00 am - The first $5,000 raised will be donated to No Kid Hungry in
our goal to ensure every child has the food they need to grow up healthy and
strong. The remainder will go towards building a robust Westbriar community
garden that will be maintained by students and adult volunteers, purchase more
leveled reading kits and technology, and foster Westbriar's culture of
inclusion through the Fairfax Friends program. Register
by March 18th to receive a t-shirt designed by our 6th graders at https://runsignup.com/Race/VA/Vienna/FairfaxFriendsForeverRace.
*April 13: Staff
Basketball Game - Come cheer on the Westbriar staff basketball team as they
take on Shrevewood Elementary School. The event will be held at Marshall High
School, game time is 7:00pm. More information to come.
*April 19 -
April 20: Science Fair - stay tuned for more details.
*May 4:
International Night - We are gearing up for a community favorite
- Westbriar's International Night! Mark your calendars for this signature event that showcases our multicultural
community with food from around the world and an evening of music, dance, and
entertainment. The price of admission is a dish to share that feeds
6-8 people.
*May
7 - May 11: Teacher Appreciation Week!
Sincerely,
Jennifer T. Sellers, Westbriar PTA President
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