From Your Principals
It is hard to believe that we have only 5 more school days before Winter break! We’ll keep up the energy and good instruction until the end! We are very proud of how hard our Halley Hornets are working. We are also proud of and thankful for the dedicated professionals we work with every day at Halley. Our staff work together collaboratively to teach the whole child. They are experienced in planning and providing for academic, social, and emotional growth and we have seen the positive results from their commitment. They make it look so easy, but we assure you that what they do takes constant planning and reflection. We truly appreciate their steadfast commitment to our Hornets!
For those of you who have 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th graders, we’d like to take a moment to remind you that online division assessment students took in language Arts and math last week are not for a grade. This data is only used to inform instruction. Many of the newly created division assessments are trying to replicate the Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments. We are not looking at the score as a whole because some students may have been confused by the online tool for highlighting or the “hotspots” where they get to “click” on the response. We look at common trends along each standard and then plan for reteaching where appropriate and plan ahead for possible misconceptions based on any information that was assessed prior to the unit being taught.
Teachers engage in data dialogues and planning for instruction on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during grade level planning time. This important and necessary work is why Halley is thriving! In the Hive, we strive to be difference makers! As always, thank you for your trust. Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
Blessings, Mrs. Peerman, Dr. Simpkins, and Ms. Johnson
Congratulations to our SCA officers! President: Arianna Piggee, Vice President: Diego Ramos, Secretary: Selina Zibung and Historian/Reporter Na’yema Maloney
Please note that Halley’s office will be closed December 23, 2019 to January 3, 2020. We assure you that all your emails will be answered as soon as we return to the office. Thank you for a wonderful 2019 year! We wish you all the warmest of holiday cheer!
From Our Health Room
Our school clinic has important information to share with parents during this winter season. Please take some time to review this Health Flyer for Parents, and contact our school health aide with any questions.
News from FCPS Parent Resource Center
We would like to highlight the following free workshops being offered by the FCPS Parent Resource Center in January:
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Portrait of an ADHD Graduate Overcoming Obstacles While Optimizing Strengths: This session focuses on ways parents can prepare students diagnosed with ADHD to be successful in the 21st Century workforce.
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Parenting Children with Challenging Behaviors: Parenting can be difficult, but it is even more stressful when children refuse to follow directions, throw tantrums, and are continuously disruptive. Sometimes parents find themselves at a loss for successful strategies.
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Mind in the Making Series: At this workshop you will learn the research behind the Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs. Learn strategies for improving these skills, the importance of them in children’s lives, and activities to promote these evidence-based executive functioning skills.
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Bipolar Disorder in Children and Adolescents: Assessment, Treatment, and Research Update: Join Dr. Lisa M. Cullins, attending physician in the Emotion and Development Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health for this highly informative workshop.
Details for each of these sessions can be found on the FCPS website.
Do you want to Code?
Come join us for an exciting evening of games and puzzles on Wednesday, December 18th from 6:30-7:30. Halley is hosting its first Family Hour of Code where we will introduce your child to games to teach them basic coding skills.
If you are interested please click on the link and register today.
Spots are limited to the first 30 students to sign up.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Attendance and Holiday Vacation
We are quickly approaching holiday vacations. Please remember that an extended vacation is an unexcused absence. Also, please remember that if a student is absent for more than 15 consecutive days they must be withdrawn from school. This is a required law in the state of Virginia. When parents know that their students must be out for a specific period (more than a day), they can access and submit a prearranged absence form. This must be done at least three to five days in advance of the absence. This gives administrators and teachers time to consider the work, tests, and projects the student may need to turn in on the student’s return to school. Parents should avoid end-of-semester or end-of-course exam periods; state testing periods; etc., when making plans. Please make every effort to arrange travel during school breaks.
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Our Winter Break is....
December 23, 2019 - January 3, 2020
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Winter break can be stressful if your children are out of school but you have to work.
If you have to work, sometimes it can be difficult to find a place for your children to go while you are at work. The County of Fairfax has options for you.
Neighborhood and Community Services offers a variety of out-of-school time programs to keep Fairfax County kids and teens engaged outside of school hours. They provide a safe, structured environment for promoting social connections, commitment to learning, health, wellness, and individual growth.
Whether it's on a school day or during summer, spring or winter break, our Out-of-School Time Programs are designed to support the ongoing and well-rounded learning, development of Fairfax County kids and teens. For more information click here.
6th Grade Families -
SAVE THE DATE!
South County Middle School Curriculum Night/Electives Fair is scheduled for Thursday, January 9, 2020 (Snow date – January 16, 2020).
Parents/guardians of rising 7th graders and students are invited to join SCMS staff to hear about Middle School Curriculum and Elective Course Offerings from 6:30pm-8:00pm at SCMS.
Opening Session: 6:30pm-7:00pm – Cafeteria
Electives Fair: 7:00pm-8:00pm – Gym
**Advanced Academics and Honors Program Sessions
AAP Center Session – 6:00pm-6:30pm – Lecture Hall
AAP Honors Session – 6:00pm-6:30pm – Cafeteria
Call 703-690-5603 for additional information.
SCMS Student Services Department
Deadline for AAP Level IV Referrals
This is a friendly reminder that the deadline for referring students in Grades 2-7 for AAP full-time Level IV consideration is due no later than January 9, 2020. Parents are welcome to submit early, but no late referrals will be accepted. We advise parents not to wait for pending abilities test scores if they would like their student screened. While the Grade 2 screening pool casts a starting point for screening some students, test scores are only one factor in the eligibility decision.
If you would like more information about Level IV AAP services or the screening process for Level IV, there are two parent presentations available on the AAP public website in both English and Spanish that have the same information that was be shared at our Halley AAP meeting.
Referrals can be submitted to the Advanced Academic Resource Teacher at any time up through January 9. You can reach out to Katie Symionow at (703) 551-5700 with any questions that you have.
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:
PLEASE NOTE DATE CHANGES!!
RESTAURANT FUNDRAISER JAN 13
Make dinner a selfless act by joining us for a school fundraiser to support Halley Elementary PTO. Come in to Chipotle at 9447 Lorton Market St in Lorton on Monday, January 13th between 4:00 and 8:00 PM and 33% of the proceeds will be donated to Halley Elementary PTO! Please stay tuned for flyers in your Thursday folders!!
PTO MEETING JAN 22
Next PTO meeting will be changed to Jan 22 due to schedule conflicts with the county representative. We will have Karen Corbett-Sanders, Fairfax County school representative, joining us! We can all thank Mrs. Corbett-Sanders for advocating for OUR school and helping to bring our STEAM program back this past summer! Looking forward to seeing you all there!!!
Halley PTO Calendar
FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITIES:
Want your kiddo to have a chance at being a pizza party recipient in the Spring? Keep submitting those UNEXPIRED box tops and DON’T FORGET to label the bag or collection sheet with the teacher’s name! Don’t forget to hit up your friends, family members and neighbors, too!
BOXTOPS = $$$ for the PTO to continue enhancements to Halley ES!!
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!
AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES
Winter 2020 Enrichment Registration is OPEN at Halley Elementary! stemexcel.org/halley
We are proud to start this Winter 2020 season with Comic Book Illustration, 3D Printing & STEM exCEL Chess as our after school enrichment offerings! STEM exCEL would like to work with our Halley Elementary community to inspire kids to code in the same way you want to motivate them to learn musical instruments or try a new sport!
WE NEED A PARENT VOLUNTEER FOR 3D PRINTING. PLEASE CONTACT mlmlempel@gmail.com IF YOU CAN HELP! STEM EXCEL WILL PROVIDE A 100% SCHOLARSHIP FOR YOUR CHILD!!!!
Winter 2020
- School/location: Halley Elementary, Classroom TBD
Course: STEM exCEL Comic Book Illustration
Weekday/Dates: TUESDAYS, February 4-March 17, 2020 (no class on Mar 3), 6 WEEKS (Jan 28 is an FCPS no class day)
Instruction Times: 4:15pm-5:15 pm
Grades: 1st-4th grades
Price: $105
6 WEEKS
- School/location: Halley Elementary, Classroom TBD
Course: STEM exCEL 3D Printing
Weekday/Dates: THURSDAYS, January 30-March 19, 2020, 8 WEEKS
Instruction Times: 4:15 pm-5:15 pm
Grades: 3rd-6th grades
Price: $140
8 WEEKS
- School/location: Halley Elementary, Classroom TBD
Course: STEM exCEL Chess
Weekday/Dates: FRIDAYS, January 31-March 20, 2020, 8 WEEKS
Instruction Times: 4:15pm-5:15pm
Grades: 1st-6th grades
Price: $96
8 WEEKS
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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