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May 10, 2019
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Willow Springs Elementary World Festival
Tonight at 6:00 p.m.
Read more information below.
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 Our kindergarten students had a wonderful time experiencing one of the most beautiful public gardens in the region this week! Green Spring programs delivered interactive learning specifically designed for our little foxes to explore the world around them.
Dear Willow Springs,
There’s no doubt this week was “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”! Our 5th and 6th graders sang loud and proud during their Disney Through the Decades musical this week. From the tops of the trees of The Jungle Book, to the depths of the seas of The Little Mermaid, our students showed off their hard work and talents to our students, staff, and community. Thank you to Ms. Berra and Mr. Jonas, our wonderful music teachers, for all their time and dedication to make this captivating production possible.
Magic is continuing to happen everywhere at Willow Springs. Our kindergarteners enjoyed their field trip to Green Springs Garden, where they were so excited to dig in the dirt in search of worms. First graders continued to prepare for their performance at our PTA-sponsored World Festival, where they will sing songs they have learned during Spanish (FLES) class. Second graders headed over to Balletine Farm, enjoying hands-on and engaging experiences.
Kudos to all our third graders earning 10 green cups for their respectful and responsible choices during lunch! Fourth grade left our parking lot bright and early on Tuesday to travel to Jamestown for the day, where they had the opportunity to connect their learning in the classroom to real life experiences.
Wishing all moms a very Happy Mother's Day on Sunday!
All the best,
Dylan Taylor, Principal
Rashida Green, Assistant Principal
Lesley Hassen, Assistant Principal
Thank you for an amazing
Faculty Appreciation Week!
WSES World Festival
TONIGHT, Friday, May 10th
 Please join us tonight for the Willow Springs World Festival. The World Festival is one of our most popular celebrations of the year! This family event gives our community the spotlight to share a small piece of our 50+ diverse cultures proudly represented everyday at Willow Springs! We invite you to watch a few of our students' greetings in their native language, and we look forward to seeing you tomorrow night.
Performances start promptly at 6 p.m., but Guapos, Big Red Halal, DC Slices, and Rita's food trucks will arrive by 5:30, so come early before the lines!
The lineup includes:
- Fashion Show
- 1st Grade FLES Performance
- Student Performances: dancing, singing, Chinese yo-yo, Tae Kwon Do, and more
- Country booths with lots of food and fun
- Cub Scout Pack 1858 will be collecting donations for the Capital Area Food Bank
PLEASE bring non-perishable items to donate, and help make this food drive a huge success!
We can't wait to see everyone at the event! For any questions, please email Anshul Misra & Sonia Sethi at worldfestival@willowspringspta.net.
Disney Through the Decades
 Our "Darling" 5th and 6th graders captured this week best as they sang a popular song from Peter Pan. "You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!"
Substitute Teacher - Principal Taylor!
 Ms. Stavros proudly took 1st place in our annual staff chili cook-off. The grand prize was an entire day of Principal Taylor as the class's guest teacher. Ms. Stavros has the opportunity to enjoy a long weekend and Principal Taylor is pictured here working with students during guided reading.
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Band and Strings Registration Now Open for 2019-2020
ATTN: Rising 4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Students
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JOIN THE WILLOW SPRINGS ORCHESTRA! Click here for more details.
Registration is now open for the 2019-2020 strings and band programs! Strings is open to any student who will be in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade next school year. Band is open to any student who will be in 5th or 6th grade next school year. Students have received more information about these music programs in their Thursday folders. The online forms for strings and band are now available. Paper registration forms are available upon request—please ask your child’s classroom teacher if you need a paper copy. The deadline to register is Friday, May 10. If you have any questions, please contact our strings teachers Ms. Aban (ecaban@fcps.edu) and Ms. Venne (kavenne@fcps.edu) or our band teacher Ms. Van Horne (klvanhorne@fcps.edu)
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Science Olympiad Information Session
Wednesday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m.
Rising 3rd - 5th Graders Welcome
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Science Olympiad is a fun and challenging competition that provides exposure to Science outside of regular science class. A team of 45 students from grades 3- 5 can participate in Division A competition. Students will compete as teams in a series of events. To know more about it please attend the Information Session that will be held in the WSES cafeteria on Wednesday, May 15th, at 6:30 p.m. As the competition is expected to be held in November of the upcoming school year, rising 3rd - 5th graders will benefit by attending this meeting. Have any additional questions? Please contact our Science Olympiad coordinator, Anbu Vijay, at anbuchellamv@yahoo.com.
Our Willow Springs community is very fortunate to have so many dedicated bus drivers that safely transport our children to and from school each and every day. On Friday, May 17th we will continue our annual tradition of honoring them with a special breakfast as a token of our appreciation for the fabulous job they do. Please consider donating to this time honored tradition! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0b45a5ab2baaf94-busdriver1
WSES SOL Testing Schedule
The Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) tests are required of all students in Grades 3-8 across the state by the Virginia Department of Education. SOL tests measure the extent to which students have learned the content and skills specified in the Virginia SOLs. In order to assist your spring planning, the SOL schedule is listed below. Please avoid appointments that will take your child out of school during testing. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
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May 20
5th Reading
4th Reading
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May 21
3rd Reading
6th Reading
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May 22
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May 23
5th Math
4th Math
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May 24
6th Math
7th Math
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May 27
No School
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May 28
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May 29
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May 30
5th Science
3rd Math
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May 31
4th VA Studies
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SOL Updates on Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
FCPS has an obligation to guarantee a secure test environment for SOL testing within the framework of the BYOD initiative. Each school has been asked to establish a school-level plan for how staff will support students in finding a secure location for personal devices in order to avoid taking them into the testing environment.
Our Plan: Students who bring personal devices (of any kind) to school on the day of testing, will be asked to turn the device off and place it in their backpacks. Students are not permitted to take SOL tests on their personally-owned devices—all SOL tests will be taken on FCPS-owned computers. If an electronic device accidentally finds its way into the testing environment, the device will be collected, turned off, and kept well out of reach of all students. Please note that any students access to a personal device in the testing environment could be identified as attempted cheating. All 3rd-6th grade teachers have shared this information with students via classroom discussions. Should you have any questions about our plan, please contact your child’s teacher.
Students Observing Ramadan
This year Ramadan falls from May 5 - June 4, which corresponds with many end of the year events. In order to accommodate and meet the needs of all students, we would like to gain an understanding of who might be fasting. If you are celebrating Ramadan during this time, please fill out the quick form by Wednesday, May 1st so that we can work together to provide students choice and flexibility throughout the day. If you have any questions please reach out to Rashida Green (rjgreen1@fcps.edu).
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Kindergarten Registration Now Open for 2019-20 School Year! |
If you have a child who will reach the age of five on or before September 30, 2019, they are eligible to attend kindergarten for the 2019-20 school year. If your child meets the age requirement and lives within the boundaries of Willow Springs Elementary School they may be registered at this time. Please sign up for a registration appointment. Forms and documents required for registration can be found through this link (scroll down to Student Registration) to the Willow Springs website. Student registrations have a direct impact on teacher staffing so the sooner registrations take place the better able we are to staff accordingly. Please call 703-679-6071 or email Liz Flaherty with any questions.
TDAP Reminder for Rising 6th Graders
All students entering 6th grade MUST have documentation showing that they have received their Tdap vaccination prior to the start of the school year. (For students who do not turn age 11 until September, an exception can be made IF parents present documentation that a doctor's appointment is scheduled for the child to receive his/her Tdap in September.) Contact Liz Flaherty, Registrar, eaflaherty@fcps.edu, with questions.
Please consider volunteering to help out in our cafeteria. We are short a cafeteria hostess so the extra hands would be helpful. No training required, the hostess will give you a bucket with condiments, etc. to pass out as kids raise their hands for help.
Hope to see you in the cafeteria! The kids love seeing new faces!
Pennies for Patients
Now through May 15
https://events.lls.org/pages/nca/Willow-Springs-Elementary-School-Fairfax-2019
Did you know that over the last 50 years, the survival rate for childhood Leukemia has gone from 9% to over 90%? Here at Willow Springs ES we’re getting involved to ensure that number reaches 100%. Starting on April 25th, the SCA is running the Pennies for Patients program to raise funds and awareness for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS). Your students will receive a small donation box to collect coins and bills to raise funds for a cure. We have set a goal of $750 and are excited to work with you all to reach that goal!
Here is a little information about how our campaign can help others:
- In a typical year, the FDA approves 3-4 new treatments for blood cancers. In the last 2 years, the FDA has approved an INCREDIBLE 40 blood cancer treatments. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society helped advance 34 of those treatments thanks to schools like yours.
- LLS uses funds raised by local chapters to support local families through co-pay assistance, paying for travel costs, and assisting with temporary housing for out of town treatments.
- Additionally, the LLS Office of Public Policy advocates on behalf of blood cancer patients and their families, to enact policies that will address the serious burdens of these diseases.
They fight to:
- Improve medication access
- Promote Insurance access
- Improve cancer care for pediatric patients
- Accelerate policy supporting new cures and more
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On April 25, the School Board approved modifications to the 2019-2020 school calendar for next year. A summary of the changes can be found here, along with a link to the new calendar. |
Looking Ahead
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Monday, May 6th - Friday, May 10th - Faculty Appreciation Week
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Wednesday, May 8th - Bike to School Day
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Friday, May 10th - WSES World Festival
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Wednesday, May 15th - 2019-2020 Science Olympiad Information Meeting, WSES Cafeteria, 6:30 p.m.
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Friday, May 17th - Bus Driver Appreciation Breakfast, WSES Cafeteria, 9:00 a.m.
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Monday, May 27th - Memorial Day; Student Holiday
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Wednesday, May 29th - Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast, Trattoria Villagio, Clifton, 11:30 a.m.
Visit the Willow Springs Elementary PTA website.
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