3 Hour Early Release Today

Advanced Academic Referral Deadline is Nearing

The deadline to refer students in grades 2-6 for full-time, AAP Level IV services to begin during the 19-20 school year is Thursday, January 10th by 4pm. In addition to the mandatory Level IV referral form, parents may also submit the following optional materials:

• A Parent/Guardian Questionnaire
• Private ability testing done with George Mason or a licensed psychologist
• Up to 4 single-sided, 8 ½ x 11, pages of work samples that demonstrate critical and creative thinking
• Up to 5 single-sided, 8 ½ x 11, pages of a combination of awards/letters of recommendation

All items should be submitted together and addressed to Sheri Reed, AART. Parents may drop applications off in the Brookfield office at any time prior to the 10^th. Referral pages can also be emailed to shreed@fcps.edu but be sure that the actual referral is signed and scanned.  Unsigned referrals will be returned for signatures.

Please refer to the AAP website for forms and information or contact Sheri Reed at shreed@fcps.edu with any questions.

New Communication System

Fairfax County Public Schools will be moving to a new vendor to provide emergency and essential email, text, and phone notifications beginning December 14, 2018. This new system will replace Keep In Touch (KIT). If you currently receive emergency and essential communications via email, text, or phone, you do not need to do anything as you will continue to receive this information. 

Parents and guardians who have included a cellphone number (in the cellphone field) on a student’s emergency care card will receive a text message on December 14 to confirm the account is set up to receive text messages from FCPS.  You do not need to do anything when you receive the text message from the new vendor, School Messenger, on December 14th. If you do not receive a text message, please check the contact information listed on your child’s emergency care card in weCare. Your cellphone number must be listed in the cellphone field in order to receive text messages from FCPS.

New this year, parents can enter their student’s cellphone number in weCare so that their student will also receive text messages for delayed openings, school closings, and late bus notifications. The student’s cellphone number will need to be entered in Section 4, under Additional Information.  If the student’s cellphone is listed in weCare, they will also receive the text message on December 14. 

Emergency and essential information includes:

• Emergency
• Delayed openings/school closings
•  Attendance
• Early release
• Buses running late
• Low lunch balance
• Power, telephone, internet outages or facility repairs
• Back to school information
• Important testing dates

If you have recently changed your contact information, please be sure to update the emergency contact information in weCare.

As a reminder, in addition to email and text messages, all FCPS weather delays and openings are also posted on Twitter, Facebook, FCPS website, school websites, and local radio and television broadcasts. Read more about Weather Cancellation Procedures

VDOE Student Climate Survey

This winter our school, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Education and the University of Virginia, is participating in a statewide student school climate survey. The purpose of this survey is to help schools assess their progress in establishing a positive school climate that promotes student learning.

I am writing to provide you with information on the student survey. The survey will be completed online using computers at school. The survey does not ask for your child’s name and all answers are anonymous (no one will know how your child answered the survey). Parents will not have access to their child’s survey answers. There is a copy of the survey available at school for your review and is available online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/school-climate/index.shtml.

The survey will ask questions such as how students feel about their school, how students get along with one another and their teachers, how students feel about school rules, their perceptions of their teachers’ willingness to help them, and how they feel about attending school. They will also be asked what kinds of bullying they may have observed at school and whether they have been bullied themselves.

The survey is voluntary and your child can decide not to participate. If you do not wish for your child to participate, please notify the school office by telephone or letter by January 9, 2019.

Your child will not receive any immediate benefit from participating in the survey, but the survey will help us to maintain a safe, inviting, and supportive learning environment for your child.

Thank you for your cooperation in this important study of school climate.

Positivity Project - #OtherPeopleMatter

This week students learned about humility. In the humility blog post, we highlight President George H.W. Bush, who exemplified this strength in his life -- and used it to help guide our country and world through rapidly changing times at the end of the Cold War. Developing humility is associated with positive developmental outcomes in individuals. It allows a person to honestly reflect on their abilities and acknowledge how and where they can improve. Humility opens them up to new ideas, advice, and (consequently) abilities that pride, arrogance, or pretentiousness often block. Therefore, humility makes them desired members of a team. Humility, then, is vital to team, community, and societal achievement. Humble groups, composed of humble people, do what’s necessary without making a big deal of it; always remaining focused on what’s next.

Think about how you can practice humility this week...perhaps by reflecting on who you are and how you can improve aspects of your own life?

Click here for more information on humility

Next weeks character trait:Self-Control

To learn more about the #OtherPeopleMatter movement and what that entails, please visit our website

Portrait of a Graduate

Portrait of a Graduate moves FCPS students and staff members to look beyond the high-stakes testing environment and to help our students develop skills so they can be successful in the workforce of the future.

The Portrait of a Graduate skills are Communicator, Collaborator, Ethical and Global Citizen, Creative and Critical Thinker, and Goal Directed and Resilient Individual. 

Cold Weather-Recess

It's that time of year again! We will be going outside for recess in freezing/below freezing weather, so please remember to send students to school with warm jackets, gloves/mittens and hats.

Absences Add Up: Attendance Matters!

Will your child be absent from school?

Please use one of the following resources to EXCUSE your child’s absence

·         Call 703-814-8787

·         Email BrookfieldESAttendance@fcps.edu

·         Use the online attendance form https://brookfieldes.fcps.edu/about/attendance-form

Get more information about student attendance.