HORNET HAPPENINGS
October 18, 2019
Our Cardboard Challenge
Family Night was a Success!!!
Thank you to all Halley families
that participated!
Our first ever Family Cardboard Challenge was so much fun!!! Halley families worked as collaborators, communicators and critical thinkers…our evening was filled with amazing energy, lots of family engagement, creativity, and out of the “box” thinking. Since 2012, in the fall of each year, kids everywhere take part in the Cardboard Challenge. It all began following the overwhelming success of the short film, 'Caine's Arcade’, the story of a 9-year old boy and his elaborate cardboard arcade. Halley’s Cardboard Challenge was inspired by that history and our commitment to continuously nurturing a caring culture. We learned that there is a lot of wonderful things one can do with cardboard, 1 roll of tape and a boxcutter!
Veterans' Day Celebration at Halley
We are busy preparing for our Veterans' Day Celebration on Monday, November 11th to honor our many military families - currently active as well as veterans.
To honor and thank them for their sacrifice and service, we have planned a very special celebration!
Mark your calendars for a special program starting at 9:45am.
More details will be shared soon!
Thanksgiving Lunch
Our annual Thanksgiving Day Lunch will be on Monday, November 11th.
Please see the flyer HERE
Student-Parent Survey for
Federal Impact AID Coming Soon!
Beginning on October 21, FCPS will be asking all families to fill out a Student-Parent Survey for Federal Impact Aid. Returning this form is important because information from this survey results in an anticipated $3 million dollars in grant funds each year from the U.S. Department of Education. These funds are used to support all Fairfax County public schools and centers. For each school-aged child in your household, please complete, sign, date, and return the survey to your child's school. If sections 1 and 2 of the survey do not apply to you, just check the box in Section 3. All forms must be signed, dated, and returned by October 30.
All results are CONFIDENTIAL.
Impact Aid Programs Video
Outstanding Employee Award Nominations
Nominations are now open for the Outstanding Employee Awards! To submit a nomination for a Halley Outstanding Employee in one of the categories below, please complete the nomination through this Google form link. All that is required for a preliminary nomination is a paragraph or two about how this employee demonstrates exceptional work in the criteria for that category. To nominate more than one person, please complete the form again.
*outstanding teacher
*outstanding new teacher
*outstanding principal
*outstanding leader
*outstanding professional employee
*outstanding operational employee
NOTE: The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, November 1.
If you have any questions,
please contact Jennifer Buchko or Mary Lou Villacrusis at 551-5700.
Outstanding Employee Award Nominations - Complete Form Here
Community Peers in our
Special Education Preschool Program
William Halley Elementary School is pleased to announce that we will continue to have community peers in our special education preschool program. These community peers offer opportunities for our students to participate in integration activities with typically developing peers. This involves teaching preschoolers with and without delays in the same classroom. It provides young children with a more stimulating environment, teaches skills for coping with different situations, and provides the opportunity to learn appropriate social skills.
All children learn through their play. Intellectual growth occurs in a social context, influenced strongly by the quality of social interactions. The goal of this program is to encourage active learning and promote social interaction and acceptance through shared experiences between the community peers and our preschoolers with special needs.
Our program will invite a limited number of community peers, who are age 3-5 years, to join our classrooms and participate in our daily preschool activities. The children from the community will have the opportunity to make new friends and share experiences with current early childhood special education students. Our students will, in turn, benefit from being with community peers who can model appropriate language, motor, and social skills.
Our interest meeting will be Tuesday, November 5, 2019, 10:00am in room 116. Please bring your child.
Please contact Ms. Linda Lovitt Roberts, Preschool Teacher, if you have more questions.
Please complete interest form at this link: Preschool Community Peers Interest Form
Halley Elementary Celebrates
Digital Citizenship Week
October 21-25
Media Balance and Well Being :
Developing A Healthy Relationship With Your Technology
FCPS is celebrating Digital Citizenship Week from October 21-25, 2019! This year’s theme is Media Balance and Well-Being: Developing a Healthy Relationship with Your Technology. Our school is celebrating Digital Citizenship Week with spirit days and activities focused on developing healthy habits around technology use.
Below you’ll find the schedule of spirit days along with resources and suggested activities to help support healthy habits at home too.
Spirit Days for the Week
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Monday: Hat Day - Put on your thinking cap and reflect on your media use and habits.
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Tuesday: Active Wear - Exercise your healthy tech habits.
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Wednesday: Dress as your Muse - Dress up as your favorite artist, musician, author, inventor, actor/actress, scientist, etc. and focus on how you can use technology to create original works.
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Thursday: Dress in Your Best - Wear your best or most professional clothing and focus on using high-quality media.
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Friday: “Lei” Off the Tech - wear Hawaiian clothing and take a break from screens to connect more in person
Resources and Suggested Activities for Each Day’s Theme
Monday: Families are encouraged to reflect on their own relationship with technology, their media habits, and begin to think of ways to make some healthy adjustments.
Tuesday: Students and families are encouraged to exercise healthy tech practices such as managing notification settings and turning off screens an hour before bedtime. Try some of these ideas:
- Consider making phone-free zones in your home.
- Promote better sleep by disconnecting from screens at least one hour before bedtime and charging your phone outside of the bedroom.
- Change your phone’s notification settings to minimize distractions or try some of these suggestions.
- Visit Google’s Focus Your Time page for suggestions to track usage and manage your time on Android apps as well as time management suggestions for Youtube and Gmail.
- Try some family mindfulness activities with GoNoodle’s Flow channel.
Wednesday: On this day, students and families are encouraged to think about how technology can be used to create original works. Encourage students to favor the active use of technology for creation over passive consumption. Try some of these ideas:
- Use Common Sense Media’s App Reviews to learn about your child’s favorite games and apps and what you might need to teach them in order to use it safely.
- As an FCPS student, your child has access to a number of digital tools that promote creativity including Wixie (elementary only), Voicethread, and G Suite including Google Docs, Slides, Drawings, and more. These tools are available for students to create outside of school too!
- Students are also encouraged to experiment with computer coding at home. Code.org has activities that teach students to use coding to design games, apps, drawings, and websites.
Thursday: Students and families are encouraged to think critically about the media they consume and actively evaluate and select high quality, age-appropriate media. Try some of these ideas:
- Help your child become a critical consumer of media by discussing these 5 questions with them when you consume media together such as books, movies, and news articles.
- Consider Common Sense Media’s reviews of movies, apps, TV shows, video games, websites, and music for information that can help you decide if the media your child is consuming is appropriate for them.
- Check out this tip sheet with your child and emphasize the importance of choosing quality resources.
- Try these additional tips on how to establish expectations at home around media use.
Friday: Students and families are encouraged to practice media balance by taking a break from screens to engage in real-world experiences and quality time with their friends and family. Try some of these ideas:
- Have a device-free dinner and focus on connecting as a family.
- Take on a Phone-Free Day challenge as a family and commit to leaving the phone at home when family members go to school or work. Notice how your day changes and discuss the benefits and challenges together.
- Have a family board game night instead of playing video games or watching TV.
- Make a phone call or write a letter to a family member or friend instead of sending a text or email.
- Spend time outside as a family and leave the phone behind. Thank you for participating in Digital Citizenship Week! Take good care of your body, mind and your relationships and enjoy the benefits of using technology in a healthy and balanced way.
ACSD Meet and Greet
The FCPS Advisory Committee for Students with Disabilities (ACSD) is holding a Meet and Greet for families, staff, and community members to learn how we advise the school board and superintendent about needs for special education in FCPS. The Meet and Greet will be held on Tuesday, October 22 from 7-9 pm at Luther Jackson MS in Falls Church. Staff from the FCPS Office of Special Services will be present to introduce themselves as well. All families, staff, and community members are welcome. We are looking forward to meeting you!
Follow us!
Make sure to join us on Social Media!
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October 21-25 - Digital Citizenship Week
October 21 - Boosterthon Pep Rally, 2pm Grades K-3 & 3pm Grades 4-6
October 23 - Preschool/PAC/ECIP Field Trip, Burke Nursery Pumpkin Patch
October 24 - Fall Picture Day
October 30 - Boosterthon Fun Run 10:45am Grades K-3 & 2pm Grades 4-6
November 4-5 - Student Holidays Parent-Teacher Conferences
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PTO Membership Drive
Have you joined the Halley PTO yet? If not, it’s not too late! Please create an account on our Halley PTO site and pay online! Membership is only $15 per year! Visit www.halleypto.com Thank you so much for your support!!!
SAVE THE DATE EVENTS:
Halley PTO Calendar (Click to view)
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BOOSTERTHON
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BOOSTERTHON Fun Run is in TWELVE DAYS! The countdown is on! Our school is hosting a multi-day, fitness-based fundraiser where students (and families) will help raise funds while also learning important character lessons! Our goal is to raise $13,000 and we need your help! Here is the video! https://vimeo.com/342370835/049c46d2de Remember that you can support Halley by:
- Registering your student(s) on https://funrun.boosterthon.com. The easiest way to get pledges is to simply click the Facebook share button on your student’s pledge page. Plus, with a few clicks you can create a custom Student Star video to share on social media.
- Try to reach out to at least ten (10) sponsors. The easiest way to get pledges is to simply click the Facebook share button on your student’s pledge page.
- Attend the Pep Rally on October 21, 2019 and Fun Run on October 30, 2019!
- WE NEED SEVERAL VOLUNTEERS! If you are able to check off laps for kids or serve water, please sign up HERE.
Remember that all funds raised will directly support
STEAM initiatives! Let the FUN begin!
Veteran’s Day Celebration
On Monday, November 11, 2019, the PTO will host the Veteran’s Day reception for ALL MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS at 9:00 AM in the library (prior to the school's celebration program). The menu is a light continental breakfast with coffee and juice. Please contribute to this event by signing up to donate breakfast items. Please sign up via the SignupGenius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4EACAC2CA0FC1-veterans3 Questions? Contact Elizabeth Cobb at 2ndVP@halleypto.com
FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITIES:
Did you know that you can help William Halley Elementary in your everyday shopping? Join Amazon Smile and see William Halley Elementary School get rewarded! Consider your elementary school when shopping at Amazon Smile!
Amazon Smile
- Visit https://smile.amazon.com/
- Log into your Amazon account or create an account
- You will be prompted to select a charitable organization
- Search for “William Halley PTO”
Every item available for purchase on Amazon.com is also available on Amazon Smile, and the Amazon Foundation will donate .5% of the purchase of eligible products to the PTO. Be sure to use ID: William Halley PTO. Happy Shopping!
Fall Box Tops Challenge
Through October 27, 2019
Help Halley earn FREE MONEY!!! Your Box Tops donations last year raised over $1,000 for Halley!!
The program is going electronic but in the meantime, PLEASE continue to submit any unexpired box tops via the mailbox in the school lobby. The class that submits the most is rewarded with a pizza party and cupcakes so please label your submission with the name of your child’s teacher! Submission deadline is Oct. 27 so be sure to collect from other family members, neighbors and friends as the money collected from the program benefits our school. To start collecting the electronic Boxtops, visit www.boxtops4education.com to learn more or just download the BoxTops app on to your phone or electronic device. Once you sign up on the app, select Halley Elementary as your school and scan the receipt within 14 days to ensure our school gets credit. Please visit the website above for more information. You can find the Box Top Form in your Thursday folders!
AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES:
ALL REGISTRATION FORMS AVAILABLE ON www.halleypto.com UNDER PROGRAMS TAB
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CHESS CLUB - STAY TUNED FOR WINTER SESSION REGISTRATION!
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RUNFIT KIDZ - STAY TUNED FOR SPRING SESSION REGISTRATION!!!
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Life Champ Martial Arts - STAY TUNED FOR POSSIBLE WINTER OR SPRING SESSION!!
Have a question, suggestion or other information to share with the PTO Board? We’d LOVE to hear from you!
President: Maida Piggee, president@halleyPTO.com
1st Vice President: Steve Reggio, 1stVP@halleyPTO.com
2nd Vice President: Elizabeth Cobb, 2ndVP@halleyPTO.com
Secretary: Masha Lempel, secretary@halleypto.com
Treasurer: Aileen Truong, treasurer@halleypto.com
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