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Keene Mill Spelling Bee: Congratulations to Manas P. for winning the KMES Spelling Bee for the third year in a row! Congratulations also to Charlotte H. for winning the bee for grades K-2. Kudos to all of the students who competed. They did a wonderful job. Many thanks to Kelley Hempson, Carla Spitler, and Tanya Sawicki for organizing and judging both spelling bees!
Did you miss the PTA General Membership Meeting on January 23? Keene Mill's fantastic School Based Technology Specialist, Brian Lachance, shared important information about FCPS Tech Tools. These are tools that can help you monitor your child's progress and support your child's learning. In case you missed the meeting, please check out the important resources at this link.
 Thanks to all parents/guardians who joined us for the Kanga Hop! Everyone had a great time, and students enjoyed performing line dances, dances from various cultures, and dancing with parents, grandparents, and staff.
The Kanga Hop is the updated version of the Hoedown. We decided to make the change for several reasons, but the most important reason is that square dancing has roots in slavery. Because we are a diverse school and we want all students and families to feel welcome, we felt that it was no longer appropriate to celebrate with an annual Hoedown.
Do you have a child interested in the Arts? Don’t miss out on registering for Fairfax County’s Elementary Institute for the Arts starting February 3rd! Students explore art, dance, music, and theater through this weekly program that runs from July 6-31st. For more information visit the E-IFTA website at https://www.fcps.edu/academics/summer-learning-programs/camps-and-institutes-elementary-institute-arts-e-ifta
Immersion Applications: Fairfax County Public Schools’ online registration for the county-wide lottery for world language immersion programs opens on Monday, January 27. Current prekindergarten students may apply for the kindergarten immersion programs, and current kindergarten students may apply for the first grade immersion programs for the 2020-21 school year. Get more information about World Language and Two-Way Immersion programs.
Survey of Preschool Children: A survey of preschool children eligible for kindergarten enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year is currently being conducted. We request that parents of students eligible for kindergarten complete and return this survey to our school’s office as soon as possible. A child who will reach his or her fifth birthday on or before September 30 of the school year is eligible for kindergarten.
We also request that you share this information with any parent of a rising kindergarten child in the Keene Mill neighborhood who may not have a child in our school and is not aware of this survey.
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Positivity Project: The Positivity Project focuses on empowering students to build strong relationships with others. Visit https://posproject.org/ for more information.
Next week, our focus will be on the trait of perseverance. Perseverance means that a student completes what he/she starts despite obstacles. They never give up.
Tip: Ask your child how he/she demonstrates perseverance at home and at school.
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Yearbook Orders: If you have not purchased your yearbook, it is not too late! Yearbooks are on sale for $20. To place an online order, please visit Ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter the Yearbook ID Code: 2975120.
CALLING ALL INNOVATORS! REGISTER FOR THE KMES INNOVATION FAIR TODAY!
The Innovation Fair is an opportunity to use a creative solving process (see below) to create an improved product or process that solves a problem, makes life easier, and/or makes the world a better place.
1 - Use brainstorming to identify a problem in your world.
2 - Collect data.
3 - Brainstorm solutions.
4 - Pick a solution.
5 - Create your innovation and present it at the Innovation Fair.
You can form a team with up to four students, or work as an individual (getting help from others with the brainstorming).
IMPORTANT DATES: The Innovation Fair will be held on Friday, March 27, 2020. Presentations to the judges will take place in the morning, during school (students will miss approximately 20-30 minutes of class). There will be an open house for friends and family in the evening from 7:00-8:00 pm.
KMES will host (optional) after-school workshops on Wednesday, February 12th, and Wednesday, March 11th. More details on these workshops will be provided to participants.
All materials and information provided at the workshops will be available online at http://bit.ly/KMES-IF-INFO
Registration is open to all current Keene Mill Elementary School students.
Online registration can be found here: http://bit.ly/KMES-IF-REG
Please register by Tuesday, February 4 . Spaces are limited. There is no cost to participate.
Candid Photos for the Yearbook: There are three ways to submit photos for the yearbook:
- Upload the pictures to https://keenemillelementary.shutterfly.com/. A Shutterfly account is needed to access the Share Site; if you don’t have Shutterfly account,
- Email the photos directly to keenemillelementary@sfly.com and the images will automatically transfer to the Share Site. Or you can download the free Share Sites iPhone App and start sharing photos directly from your phone on the go.
- Email the photos directly to kmesyearbook@gmail.com
Winter Enrichment Program Parent Volunteer: The KMES PTA is looking for Parent Volunteers to assist in monitoring the children during the afternoon winter enrichment programs. The child of the Parent Volunteer is eligible to receive their child’s winter enrichment program fees paid for. The following are available afternoon enrichment programs needing a parent volunteer:
Drama Club, meets Tuesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (February 4- March 24)
STEM excel Robotics, meets Fridays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Jan. 24 – March 6)
STEM excel Intro to Computer Science & Coding, meets Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Jan. 23 – March 5)
OTA Basketball, meets Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Feb. 4 to March 31)
Floor Hockey, meets Thursday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (Feb. 6 to March 26)
First come, first served. Parent Volunteers must be available to commit to the duration of the winter enrichment program. If you are interested or have questions, please contact PTA 2nd VP, Julie Wagner at kmespta2ndvp@gmail.com.
Family Science Night Is Coming to Our School!
Join us for Family Science Night at 6:00 p.m. on February 6, 2020, brought to you by the Children’s Science Center. Activities include: Stacking Currency: Financial Literacy, Magnets at Work: Everyday Uses, It’s All Relative: Exploring Gravity in Space, among others. Students will be participating in these hands-on experiments, specially designed to provoke interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects.
Mark Your Calendar:
1/27-1/28-Teacher Workdays/No School
1/29-3rd Quarter Begins
1/30-5th & 6th Grade Chorus and Continuing Strings Concerts, WSHS
2/3-1st Grade Field Trip to GMU
2/3-2/7-National School Counselors Week
2/6-2nd Quarter Progress Reports Go Home
2/6-Family Science Night, 6:00 p.m.
2/7-3rd Grade Kanga Mart
2/17-Presidents’ Day Holiday/No School!
2/19-2nd Grade Field Trip to GMU
2/21-SCA Spirit Day – Twins/Multiples Day
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