 Welcome Back, Falcons!
The school year is just around the corner and we hope you are ready to meet your new teacher and enjoy time with friends. Teachers and staff are excited to meet you and have planned lots of exciting opportunities for you to learn and grow in the 2018-2019 school year!
School starts for all students on Tuesday, August 28. Find out your child’s class assignment for the 2018-2019 school year at Open House on Thursday, August 23 at 2:00 p.m. This is your chance to meet the teacher and drop off supplies in anticipation for the first day of school.
It’s going to be great year, Falcons!
School Hours
Grades K-6
8:50 a.m. – 3:35 p.m. Monday – Friday
Preschool Autism Class (PAC)
8:50 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Monday & Wednesday
8:50 a.m. – 3:35 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Early Childhood Class-Based (ECCB) Preschool
First day – September 4
Morning Session – 8:50 a.m. – 12:10 p.m. Monday – Friday
Afternoon Session – 12:15 – 3:35 p.m. Monday – Friday
FECEP/Head Start Hours
FECEP/Head Start Orientation – August 29, 10:00 a.m.
First day – September 4
8:50 a.m. – 3:35 p.m. Monday – Friday
School begins on Tuesday, August 28, and students should begin arriving at 8:40 a.m. Classes begin promptly, so students should be in their classrooms at 8:50 a.m. to be considered on-time.
Parents are welcome to escort students to their classrooms during the first week of school. Beginning Tuesday, September 4, we will be encouraging independence, and our Falcons will travel to their classrooms without parent assistance. No worries, we will have plenty of staff on hand to help those who need support!
 Welcome, Ms. De La Cruz!
We are pleased to announce that Kolette De La Cruz has been named as the new assistant principal at Forestdale!
Ms. De La Cruz comes to us with over 20 years of experience in education. She received her Bachelors of Science in Elementary Education from State University College at Oneonta in New York and completed her masters and leadership certification locally at George Mason University. Ms. De La Cruz has a wide range of experiences to bring to the Forestdale Family. She has been a teacher at White Oaks, Fox Mill and Colin Powell schools, and has experience teaching students in kindergarten, first, second and fifth grades. Ms. De La Cruz has also served in a variety of leadership roles over the years to include Extended School Year Intern, Procedural Behavior Interventions and Supports Lead, Math Lead, Team Leader and was a member of the School Improvement and Responsive Classroom committees.
Best of all, Ms. De La Cruz is excited to be a part of the Forestdale Family and is looking forward to getting to know all our wonderful Falcon Families!
Communicating with Forestdale
On the first day of school, all students will be provided with a parent handbook in the form of a pocket folder. Tuck this folder in an important spot as it is a handy guide for important times, procedures and general student information.
Forestdale works on a rotating master schedule for specials such as physical education, music, art and library. Students in grades K-2 are on a 6-day rotation and students in grades 3-6 are on a 5-day rotation. This allows us to optimize staff and also maintain consistency when days are lost due to student holidays or inclement weather. For planning purposes, the master schedule is posted on the school website.
Parents may contact the classroom teacher by leaving a message with the office staff or by emailing the staff member directly. It is best to always start with the classroom teacher if you have a question or a concern as they are often the person with the most knowledge regarding your child.
Your Child’s Health
School health room services, including the administration of medication and modified first aid, are performed by the health room aide. If a child’s condition requires more attention, we will contact you, or if we cannot reach you, those listed on your child’s Emergency Care Form will be called. View, update, and submit your child’s emergency care information via the FCPS 24/7 Learning weCare@school tab. Learn how to create an account for the first time: https://www.fcps.edu/node/30943.
Prescription and most over-the-counter medications at school require strict adult supervision and should not be in the child’s possession. Forms to authorize staff to administer medication are available in the school office and at https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/school-health-services.
To be assigned a class, sixth graders need documentation of a booster dose of Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria, and acellular pertussis) if at least five years have passed since the last dose of tetanus-containing vaccine.
Meals at School
Forestdale participates in the Breakfast in the Classroom (BIC) Program. BIC is part of a grant that provides all students in the school with a free breakfast daily. Students have the option to decline breakfast if they choose to eat at home. Breakfast begins on the first day of school.
Lunch costs $3.25. Milk is included or may be purchased separately. Only one snack item will be available daily for students who wish to supplement their lunch. For further information regarding cafeteria food costs please visit the following website: http://www.fcps.edu/fs/food/mealprices.shtml. All families will receive a calendar of meal options for the school year in the first day packet to help with planning meals at school. For more information and menu options, go to: http://www.fcps.edu/fs/food/serve/lunchmenus.shtml.
Students can pay cash daily, or parents can use cash or personal checks to make advance payments to their child’s personalized account. FCPS offers My School Bucks at https://www.myschoolbucks.com. My School Bucks is an online prepayment service that allows parents to pay for meals with a credit or debit card and to check the status of their child’s lunch account. It is important to note that negative balances from last year will be carried over. Please check your child’s lunch account prior to day 1 to ensure he/she has money for lunch. The cafeteria staff will be available during Open House to accept lunch deposits into your child’s account.
Students eligible for free or reduced-priced meals will continue to receive benefits until Wednesday, October 10, 2018. New applications for free and reduced-price meals must be received and approved as eligible by this due date. Preprinted applications were mailed to homes at the beginning of August. Applications can also be completed and submitted online at https://www.myschoolapps.com. Please remember, it can take up to two weeks to process an application once it is received at the Office of Food and Nutrition Services. Applications for free and reduced meals are mailed directly to families and must be completed and returned each school year. Requests are confidential and should be submitted as soon as possible.
Keeping Your Child Safe
All exterior doors are locked during school hours. To enter the building, go to Entrance #1, push the doorbell and the front office will remotely unlock the door. Upon entering, please report to the office. To maintain the momentum of instruction, forgotten lunches and materials will be delivered by office staff, or students will be called down to the office to get their forgotten items.
For any change in a child’s typical transportation arrangements, send a note to the teacher indicating the date of the change, the duration of the change, and the reason for the change. Students may not ride a non-designated school bus home with a friend as buses are filled to capacity. For safety, we also ask that students get off at their designated stop only.
If picking up a student before the end of school, provide notice to the teacher and school office whenever possible to avoid confusion for your child. If a student must leave unexpectedly, alert the office at least one hour ahead of time.
During arrival and dismissal, please follow the established rules and travel routes for the safety of all. Parents who wish to drop off or pick up their students will need to use the Kiss & Ride loop or park on the street and walk up to the building using the designated crosswalks. For everyone’s safety, do not walk between cars in the Kiss & Ride loop. We ask that parents follow the established procedures for Kiss & Ride. This will allow you to get your little Falcon as quickly and efficiently as possible and model safe procedures for our students. Just follow the direction of staff at Kiss & Ride. They will let you know what to do.
As a final reminder, taking the bus is the safest way to travel to and from school. If you plan to have your child take the bus during the school year, put him/her on the bus the first day of school. It will help establish the school year routine, and he/she will be learning the rules and expectations along with peers from day one!
Family Life Education Instructional Program Information
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides a comprehensive, sequential Family Life Education (FLE) program for students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve. Instruction is seen as a partnership among parents and guardians, the school, and the community in supporting the learning essential to the development of strong families, positive relationships, and a healthy community.
Parents/guardians may choose to opt their child out of all or part of the Family Life Education program. Students who are opted out are provided with age-appropriate, nonpunitive alternative health instruction, and every effort is made to foster respect for family choices. If you wish to opt your child out of all or part of FLE for this school year, opt out forms will be included in your child’s back-to-school/orientation packets and are available online at https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-family-life-education-fle. Please fill in the opt-out form and return it to your child’s school prior to Family Life Education instruction.
Detailed grade-level program descriptions are available online at https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/elementary-family-life-education. Grade level-specific lessons and media are also available for review at Forestdale. Due to copyright permissions, we are unable to stream media online.
e-Notify
Parents of Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students and employees of the school system are automatically enrolled to receive e-Notify Communications. FCPS central offices and schools use this system to communicate emergency, delayed opening and school closing information, attendance, and other essential communications. Contact information from the student information system and the employee databases are uploaded to the Blackboard Connect system. It is important that parents keep their child’s emergency contact information up to date. To update, email Blanca Barrios at bibarrios@fcps.edu, fill out an emergency care card, or log onto weCare@school.
Sign up for News You Choose!
News You Choose is an electronic communication platform that allows community members the ability to select what information they want to receive and how often from individual schools, the School Board office and members, departments, programs, and PTA/PTO and booster organizations. Subscribers can change their settings or unsubscribe at any time.
News You Choose does not replace the essential information FCPS communicates through e-Notify. Parents will continue to receive emergency messages, delayed openings and school closings, attendance messages, low lunch balances, and other critical information sent to the e-mail address listed on their child’s emergency care card.
Forestdale uses News You Choose to distribute the monthly parent newsletter, The Falcon Press. Make sure we have your current email so that we can send you updates. Or, you can go to https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/VAEDUFCPS/subscriber/new to subscribe!
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Don’t forget to take a look at us on Twitter! Follow us @ForestdaleES! |
For Your Calendar
August 23
Kindergarten Playdate, 1 p.m.
Starting kindergarten this year? Come meet new friends and enjoy a cold treat on the playground with the kindergarten team.
Open House, 2-3 p.m.
Come see your new classroom and meet your teacher! Class lists will be posted in the school gym. Doors will open at 2:00 p.m. You may enter through Door 1 or the gym doors by the blacktop.
August 28
School Begins
You do not want to miss a minute! The doors open at 8:40 a.m. and school begins promptly at 8:50 a.m. Students will be dismissed at 3:35 p.m.
September 3
Labor Day, No School
September 6
Back-to-School Night PK - 6, 6:30 p.m.
Parents will learn about our school program from 6:30 -8:00 p.m. Due to limited space, we ask that only parents attend this informative event.
September 10
Forestdale PTA Meeting, 7 p.m., library
Consider joining the PTA! It’s a great way to support your child and the school. Membership is $10 per family. You can also follow the Forestdale PTA on Twitter.
September 14
PTA Movie Night Under the Stars, 7 p.m., back field
Bring your blankets, chairs and snacks to the back field and enjoy a movie under the stars with Forestdale friends!
September 19
Early Release for Students, 12:35 p.m. New! Mark your calendars, early dismissal will be 3-hours early this year.
Let’s Keep in Touch
Forestdale School Office
703-313-4300
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Attendance Line
703-313-4343
If your child is going to be absent, please let us know. Parents will receive notice of your child’s absence if we do not hear from you by 9:15 a.m.
Health Room
703-313-4310
Hours: 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Send an email to staff
First name.last name@fcps.edu or go to Forestdale’s Staff Directory on the website.
Take Home Thursday
Look for homework and important papers on Thursdays. Forestdale is becoming a “paperless” school. Newsletters and important information are posted on the school website. Information about our project is attached to this newsletter and posted on the website.
Forestdale Elementary School
703-313-4300
6530 Elder Avenue
Springfield, Virginia 22150
www.Forestdalees.fcps.edu
Merrell Dade, Principal
Jenny Cunneen, Asst. Principal
Kolette De La Cruz, Asst. Principal
Cindy Morris, Admin. Assistant
Blanca Barrios, Registrar
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