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August 31, 2018
Dear Waynewood Owls,
The 2018-2019 school year has officially started, and we
could not be more thrilled. It was so
great to welcome the students back to Waynewood. The school was buzzing with positive energy
all week long! Students have been busy
learning new routines and procedures with their new teachers. We have also spent some time touring around
the building so that everyone can get acquainted with the new layout! Everyone has been very excited to investigate
the new spaces. Our new cafeteria is a
hit, and our lunch routine has greatly improved.
We are excited to share that this year each grade level will
have more recess. The Virginia General
Assembly passed a bill that allows us to be more flexible with the number of
minutes used for instructional time.
This is such great news for our elementary school students. Every child will have at least 30 minutes of
recess per day. Some grade levels will have
two separate recess sessions, and some will have one extended session. We are so excited that students will have
more opportunities for unstructured play this year. We are also having a recess expert, Dr. Curt
Hinson, also known as “Dr. Recess”, come in October to present two assemblies
(lower and upper grades) to our students about recess. The Dr. Recess program promotes the
importance of staying active, and also teaches students developmentally
appropriate games that they can play during recess time. He will then spend an entire day outside with
students teaching them games to play during recess. We are so excited about our new recess
time!
We would highly encourage everyone to attend our first PTA
meeting on Tuesday, September 4, 2018.
The meeting will start at 6:00 pm in the Waynewood cafeteria. If you have not already done so, please
consider joining the PTA. Our PTA is an
integral part of our school and supports us in many ways. To
join the PTA, click here https://waynewoodelem.ch2v.com/content.asp?PageID=10.
The PTA has an exciting opportunity this
year…you can make a permanent commitment to Waynewood by purchasing a brick
that will be placed in an area in front of the school. The brick campaign has begun! If you are interested, please visit https://waynewoodelem.ch2v.com/content.asp?PageID=35. The money collected from the brick campaign
will fund important school initiatives and teacher professional development. The brick campaign is a major part of the
PTA’s fundraising efforts this year, so we hope you will consider supporting
them!
We are always happy to have parents come to volunteer or eat
lunch with their child. However, it is
important that no one parks (even temporarily) in the bus loop area at any
time. We know it is a hassle if you are
just “running in” to drop something off, but this is a fire lane. It is against the law to park in a fire lane.
If you are visiting the main office, or
clinic, you should park in the parking lot or on the street and walk to the
office. Please remember to bring your
valid identification each and every time you visit our school. This is an important part of our safety plan.
Thanks for a great first week! We are looking forward to what week 2 will
bring! As you know, Monday, September 3
is a holiday, so we will see you on Tuesday!
Don’t forget to check us out on Twitter (@waynewoodes) to see pictures
of what we are doing each day! Please
continue reading below for important information regarding Back-to-School
Night, arrival/dismissal procedures, community flyer days, attendance and
Family Life Education.
Sincerely,
Katie Cachine (rhymes with Machine), Principal
Alice Berenbaum (rhymes with Merenbaum), Assistant Principal
Please help us to ensure that Kiss and Ride flows smoothly
again this year. Please note the
following procedures:
- There is absolutely NO PASSING in the Kiss and Ride line. Please do not go around other cars. This creates a major safety concern.
- Students should only exit the car on the curb
side of the kiss and ride area. Please
DO NOT let your child out of the driver’s side.
This creates a hazard, as children must then pass in front of cars. Please adjust your child’s seating
arrangements so that it is easy for your child to enter/exit on the passenger
side.
- Parents should stay in the car at all
times. Staff members will assist your
child if needed.
- For the safety of students and staff, cell phone
use is not permitted in the Kiss and Ride line.
To clarify our arrival procedures, walkers should wait
outside Door 3 or Door 8 until the bell rings at 9:05. In cases of extreme weather, walkers will be
allowed in the building starting at 8:55am, and will be directed by a staff
member to a designated area to wait for the bell.
We continue to evaluate our arrival and dismissal
plans. After we have had a chance to get
used to the new routines, we will make adjustments if needed.
Walkers from Potomac Lane should use the sidewalk to get to
Door 8. Students should not enter the
Owl’s Nest area unless they are going to a 4th grade classroom. 4th grade students coming from
Waynewood Boulevard will be permitted to walk past Kiss and Ride to Door
8. They should then wait at Door 8 until
the bell rings. They can then proceed to
the Owl’s Nest area.
The playground is closed for students during arrival. Students entering through Door 8 should use
the sidewalk, instead of walking through the playground/mulch area.
Students who are patrols should report directly to their
posts at 8:50 am.
Back to School Night is next week! Please join us on Thursday, September 6, 2018,
from 6:30pm-8:00pm to discover more about what your child will be learning this
year in school. Your child’s teacher
will be giving a presentation this evening.
There will not be an opportunity to discuss individual student needs at
this event. You will, however, have the opportunity to sign up for a
parent-teacher conference.
Parent-teacher conferences will take place on November 5th
and 6th, which are student holidays.
You may also arrange for a different conference day or time with your
child’s teacher, depending on the teacher’s availability. There will also be tables set up near the gym
where you can sign up for the PTA, learn more about the PTA brick campaign, put
money on your child’s lunch account, and learn more about different community
organizations.
There will be two sessions so that parents with more than
one child can attend multiple presentations. The doors will open at 6:30 pm. Session
1 is slightly longer, as it includes a recoded welcome message from the
administration, the PTA, our cafeteria manager, and Karen Corbett Sanders, our
school board representative. The
recorded message will not be repeated during the second session. The schedule is as follows:
Transition to
Classroom: 6:30 pm-6:45 pm (Check
out the tables near the gym!)
Session 1:
6:45 pm-7:20 pm
Transition Time:
7:20 pm -7:35 pm (Check out the tables near the gym!)
Session 2:
-7:35 pm -8:00 pm
You should go directly to your child’s classroom for the
first session when you arrive. Please
note that this evening is for adults and we ask that you arrange for childcare
unless it is an emergency. Parking will
also be limited, so if you are able to walk to the school, we would very much
appreciate it!
Students form important habits early, as they begin to develop
responsibility to come to school on time and be prepared and ready to learn.
Parents or guardians need to encourage good habits like sleep and eating and
study habits so that students are ready to learn. Teachers, administrators,
counselors, and other support professionals can help students adjust to
routines, learn expectations, and develop academic and social competence.
Virginia requires that all children between the ages of five and eighteen
be enrolled in school and attend on a daily basis. Any student who fails to
report to school for a total of five scheduled school days (unexcused) for the
school year may be referred to a school attendance officer for further action.
When a referral is received, the school attendance officer will attempt to
interview the student, parent, and other relevant parties to develop a plan to
resolve the attendance issue. A student who is absent from school for 15
consecutive days or more is withdrawn from school and must officially register
again upon his or her return to school.
Parents or guardians should call the attendance line in the morning before
attendance is taken, to let the school know of any tardiness or absence. For
students in elementary school, attendance is checked daily at 9:30 a.m. for
early start schools. FCPS will communicate quickly with parents or guardians
when a student does not come to school as expected. Parents should receive
calls and emails within 30 minutes via an automated attendance calling system
or by the school.
Please submit an
absence using or attendance form on our website or use one of these other two
methods.
There will be four
designated days where community groups may send home flyers in the Wednesday
folders. Flyers must be copied by the
community groups and arrive no later than Monday before the community flyer
day. All flyers must also have the FCPS
legal disclaimer at the bottom. The
community flyer days this year will be:
- September
12
- November
14
- February
6
- April
10
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides a
comprehensive, sequential Family Life Education (FLE) program for students in
kindergarten through grade 12. 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, non-punitive 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 for Elementary (K-6) https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/elementary-family-life-education
, Middle School (7-8) https://www.fcps.edu/academics/middle-school-academics-7-8/family-life-education-fle,
and High School (9-12) https://www.fcps.edu/academics/high-school-academics-9-12/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 Elementary (K-6), Middle School (7-8) , and High School (9-12)
FLE grade-level-specific lessons and media
that FCPS has streaming rights for are
available for parents online in FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard)
Parent View https://fcps.blackboard.com/.
Account information is available at your local school or online at http://www.fcps.edu/is/instructionaltechnology/247help/parents.shtml.
Grade-level-specific lessons are also available at the Fairfax County Regional
Library in the City of Fairfax (this location does not have media). Grade
level-specific lessons and media that is not streamed online are available for
review at your child’s school library. Due to copyright permissions, we
are unable to stream all media online.
Program questions may be addressed at your child’s school or
by contacting Instructional Services at 571-423-4550 or by contacting Elizabeth
Payne, Health and Physical Education Coordinator at etpayne@fcps.edu.
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