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In this issue:
The Donation Tree
Santa's Ride
Geography Bee
Weather Cancellation Procedures
Attendance
Cooper MS Theatre Expo
MySchoolBucks
Calendar Corrections
Calendar
Help Those In Need This Holiday Season
Every holiday season there are children who do not have the opportunity to experience the joy and magic of this time of the year because their families are struggling financially and cannot afford the expense.
We would like to continue our annual Donation Tree program here at Spring Hill to ensure that these children have a wonderful holiday season with their families. The last few years it has been extremely successful, and the families were overjoyed and beyond grateful.
The donation tree will be in the front lobby of the school starting Monday, December 9th. The tree will contain specific ideas of gifts and needs for students from Spring Hill. If you would like to donate, please feel free to choose a child from our tree! We ask that all gifts be returned to the front lobby by Tuesday, December 17th to ensure delivery before the winter break.
Once your gift is ready, please attach the tag from the tree to the gift and place it in the box that will be located next to the tree. If you chose a gift card, please drop them off with Ms. Hirji in the front office to ensure its safety.
Spring Hill is proud to support our community and the local families in need! Thank you for your continued support and generosity that makes Spring Hill so unique!
Samantha Fitzsimmons, 5th grade teacher
Judy Trigiani, Counselor
Dona Sasala, Counselor
Lindsay Pence, Counselor
New Toys, Games, Books and Gift Collection
Presented by the Fairfax County Police Motor Squad with support of:
Virginia State Police,Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office, Vienna Police Department, Falls Church Sheriff’s Office, Fairfax City Police Department and Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority Police
Spring Hill Elementary School, (boxes in front office)
Groveton ES, Poplar Tree ES, Springfield Estates ES,Terraset ES, Holy Spirit School, Pender School, West Springfield ES and St. Ambrose School.
Please join us to donate NEW unwrapped toys, games, books, and gifts to be distributed to children at Fairfax Hospital, Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center and to children in the community who might not otherwise have a cheerful holiday season!
We Need Your Help!
Please bring your items to any participating elementary school, Fairfax County Police Station, the lobby of Pennino Herrity Office Buildings, or the Government Center, no later than 9:00 a.m. Monday, December 9, 2019.
Thank you!
Get Ready for the Geography Bee
Fall is here and that means it is National Geographic Geography Bee season! Students in grades 4-6 will compete to be crowned Spring Hill Geography Champ and have a chance to qualify for the state-level Geography competition. During December (exact date based on the teacher's discretion), students in grades 4, 5, and 6 will take an online geography quiz as the preliminary round of our school-level bee. The quiz will consist of 25 multiple choice and short-answer questions covering national and world geography. The top scorer from each homeroom will compete in our live Geography Bee sometime in January (exact date TBD).
The study toolkit linked below contains several maps and practice questions to help prepare interested students for the class- and school-level bees. Please note that the topics covered in those competitions are not limited to the contents of this study guide. The last page of the toolkit provides additional resources that students can use to practice and review. Additional resources can be found on the Nat Geo Bee Study Corner.
Good luck to everyone!
Geography Bee Study Toolkit 2019-2020
When bad weather or other emergency situations occur, it may be necessary for FCPS to cancel, delay, or close schools early. Parents and students should have a well-communicated plan in place in the event of these emergency situations. Children need to know where to go or what to do if a parent will not be home.
The safety of our students and staff is our number one priority any time a decision must be made regarding school closures and delays during a weather situation. We review information from emergency management and state highway administrators about road conditions, and school personnel also go out and inspect the conditions of roads, sidewalks, and FCPS parking lots and bus lanes.
Due to the speed of updating, the official @FCPSnews Twitter account (with blue checkmark) is generally the first and fastest mode of communication. Other communication channels will be updated as quickly as possible including email, text, website, other social media, and news stations. Please be aware, due to the large volume of emails sent there will likely be a lag between the FCPS Twitter alert and receipt of an email in your inbox.
In the case of emergency for a weather-related closing, delay, or early dismissal, the FCPS website will automatically include an alert at the top of each page with the appropriate information. This information will remain posted until normal operations have resumed, or you click "Close This Alert" to remove it. If you have closed the alert, a red exclamation mark will remain to indicate that the alert is still active.
FCPS tries to make decisions in the evening, taking into account that parents need time to make proper arrangements. But when there is a lot of uncertainty, we wait to get the latest morning forecast. In that case, the superintendent makes the decision of whether to delay or close schools by approximately 4:30 a.m.
FCPS provides information about closings and delays in many ways including:
- Posted to the FCPS Twitter and Facebook pages.
- Posted to www.fcps.edu.
- Email and text messages sent to parents (using the parent contact information listed in weCare@school).
- Email sent to employees (using the employee's FCPS email address).
- Email sent to News You Choose subscribers of Delayed Openings and School Closings.
- Posted on FCPS cable Channel 21 (Cox Communications, Reston Comcast, and Verizon cable customers only).
- Area radio and television stations.
- FCPS has a series of closing conditions to help explain how the weather has affected schools and activities.
For more information, click link below:
https://www.fcps.edu/resources/safety-and-transportation/weather-cancellation-procedures
Help Your Child Succeed in School:
Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early
School success goes hand in hand with good attendance!
DID YOU KNOW?
- Starting in kindergarten, too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
- Missing 10 percent (or about 18 days) can make it harder to learn to read.
- Students can still fall behind if they miss just a day or two days every few weeks.
- Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
- Absences can affect the whole classroom if the teacher has to slow down learning to help children catch up.
Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school—and themselves. Start building this habit in preschool so they learn right away that going to school on time, every day is important. Good attendance will help children do well in high school, college, and at work.
WHAT YOU CAN DO?
- Set a regular bed time and morning routine.
- Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
- Find out what day school starts and make sure your child has the required shots.
- Introduce your child to her teachers and classmates before school starts to help her transition.
- Don’t let your child stay home unless she is truly sick. Keep in mind complaints of a stomach ache or headache can be a sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home.
- If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to make her feel comfortable and excited about learning.
- Develop back-up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbor, or another parent.
- Avoid medical appointments and extended trips when school is in session.
For more on school readiness, visit attendanceworks.org and reachoutandread.org
Dear Elementary School 5th & 6th Grade Students,
You are cordially invited to the Theatre Expo at Cooper Middle School on Saturday, December 14th, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The Theatre Expo is a fun-filled day of workshops so that you can experience what middle school theatre is like and to learn from theatre professionals and work with middle school theatre students!
The cost of the event is $10 per student. This price includes three workshops and pizza. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from Cooper Middle School.
If you are interested, please register online and complete payment via Myschoolbucks no later than November 29th. There are a limited number of spaces for this workshop, so it’s first paid, first served! Online registration and the $10 registration fee are due to Cooper Middle School no later than November 29th. If you are paying by check, it should be made out to Cooper Middle School. Please note that the workshop registration fee is NONREFUNDABLE once paid.
Each class will be one hour long with five minutes of passing time between workshops. Students will be given a rotation schedule for the workshops when they arrive at Cooper for the expo. There will be a break with pizza for all between the second and third workshop. Students will also have an opportunity to interact with Cooper Middle School theatre and choir students to learn about the programs available at Cooper.
Go to www.coopermstheatre.org for more information and to register.
We look forward to seeing you at the Expo!
Sincerely,
Meg Baber
Cooper Middle School
Theatre Arts Teacher
mababer@fcps.edu
Pay for Student Fees Online
Dear Parents,
Online payment for student fees and school store items is available through the MySchoolBucks School Store. This online payment service provides a quick and easy way to pay for school-related purchases. You will be able to pay for a variety of school fees using credit/debit cards or electronic checks.
MySchoolBucks provides:
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Convenience - Available 24/7 on the web
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Efficiency - Eliminate the need to write checks and for students to bring money to school
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Flexibility - Make payments using credit/debit cards and electronic checks
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Security - MySchoolBucks adheres to the highest security standards, including PCI and CISP
Enrollment is easy!
- Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com or, to the MySchoolBucks link located on your school’s homepage to establish an account
- Add your students using the name of the school they are attending, and either their student ID or birthdate
- You will receive a confirmation email that your account has been established
- Make purchases with your credit/debit card or electronic checks
- There are no convenience fees for using the online payment system
Customer Service:
Reimbursements or questions about cafeteria and/or lunches, please contact FCPS Food and Nutrition Services at link below:
https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/food-and-nutrition-programs/prices-lunch-account-prepayments
Our Panther folders have some incorrect dates on the calendar that's on the back of the folder.
Please note the following correction:
Tuesday, March 3rd is the student holiday(School Planning Day), not Friday, March 13th.
Sorry for the confusion!
Week of Dec 9th:
Thursday, Dec 12th: 4th GR Orchestra Concert, Cafeteria, 7:00-8:00 pm
Friday, Dec 13th: 2nd GR Coffee, Lg Pod, 9:00-10:00 am
Band (4-6 GR), D.A.R. Constitution Hall, 9:45-11:45 am
Week of Dec 16th:
5th GR KIC Presentations, Cafeteria, 9:00-10:00 am
1st GR Candy House Making, Lg Pod, 12:00-2:00 pm
December 23rd-January 3rd: Winter Break: No School
Full 2019-2020 calendar: click here:
https://www.fcps.edu/sites/default/files/media/forms/19-20-standard-school-year-calendar.pdf
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