 Students in first grade discuss goal setting and new year's resolutions for 2020.
From the Principal's Desk:
Dear Louise Archer Families,
Happy New Year - 2020 has arrived! It’s the beginning of a new year, filled with hope and opportunities. As we begin the second half of this school year, it is a good time to reacquaint you with the many ways we try to remain connected with our parents and our community. Our staff is committed to providing regular communication to our parents regarding school activities and your child’s progress throughout the year. We want to share with you student expectations regarding academics, behaviors and the successes your child is having as well as communicating any areas of need or concern. There are multiple forums in which our classroom teachers and specialists actively communicate with our parents including: classroom blackboard sites, newsletters, email, telephone, face to face conferences, Tuesday folders, and our News You Choose emails.
Our teachers want to hear from you as well. It is important to maintain two-way communication so that if you have questions or concerns, I encourage you to contact your child’s teacher. Our teachers spend their days in front of children and then have their personal time at night, so if you send an email, you can expect to hear back from them via email within a day. If you have an urgent message, please contact teachers by phone. If the message is emotionally charged or contains sensitive information, we encourage you to contact our teachers by phone or schedule a conference with them, rather than use email. Teachers make every effort to contact parents the same day if there is a phone message. Our goal is to work in a partnership with you to support your child.
Collectively, we look forward to the second half of the school year and sharing our success stories with one another!
FCPS FY 2021 Proposed Budget
Last night, Dr. Brabrand presented the FY 2021 Proposed Budget of $3.2 billion to the School Board. The proposed budget represents an increase of $172.2 million, or 5.8 percent, over the FY 2020 Approved Budget.
I encourage you to view the FY 2021 Budget Development Calendar and stay tuned for more budget updates in the coming weeks. Learn more about the FY 2021 Proposed Budget from this short video.
Happy New Year from the Counselors!
Ms. Lipton is the K/3-6 grade level counselor and throughout the month of January her social-emotional learning will focus on conflict resolution. As for 6th grade, they are talking about middle school this month as all of the transition activities have kicked off in the New Year. Students are working hard and practicing how to open a combination lock, a lesson that is always a favorite.
Problem solving across all grade levels can be described as a higher-order cognitive process that requires fundamental skills such as: reasoning, attention, planning, initiation, working memory, and monitoring. Students need to first understand and identify the problem so that they can work toward a resolution. Building off the monthly discussions in December, grades 3-6, we read the story, “Trouble Talk” by Trudy Ludwig. This story teaches us four steps to problem solving in friendship foibles using the acronym, SODAS.
• Students are learning to identify the problem situation.
• Think of all the options for dealing with the situation.
• Consider the disadvantages and advantages of each option.
• Choose an option as your solution and then do it!
Below are some quick tips to support your child at home with thinking before reacting.
• Give children the chance to come up with their own solutions to problems.
• Help children break down large problems into small, more manageable ones.
• Allow for failure.
• Share your problem-solving experiences with your child.
• Seek a child’s advice to help you problem solve when appropriate.
• Make problems fun by posing hypothetical situations and asking your child how he or she would handle them.
(This information was adapted from What Were You Thinking?, by Bryan Smith and Boys Town parenting resources.)
Mrs. Meehan, our half-time counselor that works with grades 1,2,3. Her December lessons addressed the themes of Integrity and Responsibility in creating a caring learning culture at school. The goal of these lessons were to reinforce student understanding of what it means to be honest with their words and actions. The word integrity was introduced and the students began to build their understanding of this trait. Each group received a stack of pictures and a sorting chart. Each group of integrity detectives sorted the pictures based on whether the picture showed integrity or not. The pictures were reviewed with the counselor and class to talk about what the students saw.
In January, Mrs. Meehan will be focusing on Resilience and Growth Mindset using the books “Mia Hamm – Mini Biography and “Winners Never Quit.” Persistence is defined, examples and strategies are shared and I Can Be Persistent response sheets distributed. Students complete a personal academic goal. The goal of this lesson is to define persistence, and have students reflect on their own level of persistence and verbalize how they can show persistence in the classroom. Students practice identifying what frustrating situations can be encountered. The class will discuss and determine what can be done when that happens.
We are always here for you and your child, so please never hesitate to reach out!
LAES Counselors,
Lauren Lipton and Christine Meehan
Update Contact Information
Please make sure to contact our registrar, Kathy Cutri with any updates to your contact information – phone numbers, email addresses, etc. – as well as emergency contact names and phone numbers. You can email her at kjcutri@fcps.edu or call the main office. This helps the school reach you in the event of an emergency and other school announcements.
Winter Weather and Recess
It is the intention of the school to hold recess during cold spells. Please make sure your children are prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats). If there are wind chills or other factors, we will consider limiting the time or canceling outdoor recess, as designated by FCPS guidelines.
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