Stenwood Hive Happenings

Hive Happenings Newsletter


Welcome back to school logo

Reminder
Picture Day, Wednesday, September 4th
Back to School Night, Thursday, September 5th


Dear Stenwood Families,

Welcome to all of our new families and welcome back to those of you returning!  We loved seeing all of the smiling faces!  We were happy to be able to show off our wonderful school and students to Dr. Brabrand, and School Board Members Dahlia Palchik and Ryan McElveen.

Don’t forget that September 4th is school picture day!  Send your child to school with a big smile!

Just a reminder about September 5th-- Back to School Night from 6:30-8:00pm.  Come hear from your child’s teacher and learn about the grade level curriculum, expectations, and processes/procedures.  We prefer, if possible, that adults only attend this evening.  Please report directly to your child’s classroom.  The evening will begin with a closed-circuit broadcast and will be followed by a 40 minute teacher presentation, a 5 minute transition, and then teachers will offer a second repeat 40 minute presentation. 

During Back to School Night, teachers will be reviewing with parents how to access the Family Life Education curriculum.  We will also have access to the online content in our library for your review.  You can also access the curriculum from your FCPS 24/7 account.  More information on the FLE Curriculum can be found below. 

This year, we will be offering an optional Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) Information Session from 6:00–6:30 p.m. in the cafeteria.  Mrs. Herendeen will give a brief overview of AAP Levels of Services and the screening processes for each.  If you wish to attend, please access the cafeteria from the exterior cafeteria door.

We just received the Students Rights and Responsibilities for the 2019-2020 school year.  Please take time to review the information and return the signed signature sheet to school.  Although the signature sheet states it is due back to your child’s teacher by Thursday, October 25th, we prefer to have it returned by October 3rd.
 
If you have not returned your child’s Emergency Care Card or Health Form, we would like to have these right away as they contain essential information needed when emergency situations occur.  For those of you whose children buy a lunch, please help your child and us by ensuring that your child’s account has sufficient funds.  Thank you.

We also wanted to inform you that we follow all safety procedures. At the beginning of the school year, we are required to conduct weekly fire drills for the first twenty days of school, and we then conduct one per month thereafter.  In addition, we are required to conduct two lockdown drills during the first 20 days, one in the month of January, and one during the remaining months of the school year.  Please know that our teachers review the procedures with students in a thoughtful, sensitive, and age-appropriate manner.  Likewise, we have made it a practice to, at times, pair our lockdown drills back-to-back with a fire drill, and we plan to do this for our first two drills.  This offers a sense of comfort, as they view them as another drill to practice.  It is our intention to conduct our first lockdown drill next week, but that could change since it is weather dependent due to pairing it with our fire drill.  This time of year, teachers are reviewing many procedures…how to line up, behavior expectations, classroom routines, so we find that most children readily accept our emergency drills as another routine to learn and practice.

If your child rides a bus, please know that the times listed on your bus information sheet are estimates.  You can anticipate some delays during the first couple of weeks; things settle and buses will get closer to that estimate after the first few weeks of school.  The timeliness of our buses is dependent upon the timeliness of their previous runs at the middle and high school.  Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,

Erica Riley, Principal

Meredith Mitchell, Assistant Principal


First Day of School

Click on the link below to enjoy Dr. Brabrand's welcome back message!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdTHU4Cu0I4&feature=youtu.be


Family Life Education Curriculum


The grade-level program descriptions can be reviewed via your FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard) Parent view account.  Parents/guardians will need a SIS account to access FCPS 24-7 https://fcps.blackboard.com/. If you have not already activated your account, you may do so during Back to School Night or online at  https://www.fcps.edu/resources/technology/fcps-24-7-learning.  If you do not wish to have your child participate in FLE instruction, you may choose to opt your child out of any or all of the lessons. If you would like to opt your child out of one or more lessons, please fill out the form provided to you in your child’s First Day Packet or obtain a new form at Back to School Night. If you have already indicated your desire to opt your child out of FLE lessons by using the form provided earlier in the school year, you do not need to complete another form. FLE Opt-Out forms are due back to your child’s teacher by Friday, September 13th.  An alternative non-FLE health instructional program is provided for children who do not take part in FLE instruction, and every effort is made to foster understanding and respect for family choices and to avoid peer pressure for or against participation in the program. Instruction occurs at various times for the instructional units during the school year.  Your child’s teacher will inform you of the specific dates of FLE instruction.


Kiss & Ride…Let’s get off to a great start by remembering:

 

  • Kiss & Ride is offered as a courtesy and managed by our own wonderful staff members—offer a warm smile of thanks to them.
  • Ideally, the same mode of transportation is most comforting to children—bus riders take the bus; walkers walk; leaving the occasional need for kiss & ride.
  • Our Kiss & Ride area is located on Citadel Place behind the school; the front bus circular drive and parking lot is not a designated Kiss & Ride area.
  • Please follow the traffic pattern on the map (copied below) provided in the Parent Handbook. This allows for the most efficient flow of traffic.  Cars that elect to not follow this pattern cause congestion and demonstrate disrespect for those who are abiding by the mapped-out route.

 

Stenwood K & R Map

 

  • Load and unload from the passenger side of the car only.
  • Do not pass other cars that are loading or unloading.
  • Be considerate to neighbors who live in our Kiss & Ride area; stay in your car and patiently follow the traffic flow. 

Thank you for your consideration! 


Overflow neighborhood parking will be available for any school-wide day or evening activities with permission from our local police station.  Please note: DO NOT park in the neighborhood for just a regular day visit to the school, your car may be ticketed and/or towed. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the school at 703-208-7600.


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Upcoming Events

Aug 30th - Sept 2nd / Labor Day Weekend - No School
Sept 4th - Fall Picture Day (Please send order form if purchasing)
Sept 5th - Back to School Night
  ** 6:00 p.m.- 6:30 p.m. optional AAP Information Session
  ** 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Classrooms
Sept 10th - PTA Meeting / 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sept 13th - Spirit Day - Wear your Stenwood colors
Sept 20th - Ice Cream Social/Help the Hive/Spirit Night 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.