February 2020 Newsletter from Principal Tam and PTA

Dear Westbriar Parents,

The month of February has already been an exciting month for our school. We held our first curriculum night of the year on Friday, January 31^st for PI Night (Parent Involvement Night). Even though this event fell on the last day of January, I am still including it in our February newsletter. Thank you for attending PI Night.  The feedback I received was that everyone had a great time, learned a lot of math, and enjoyed a slice of pie to cap the evening. Thank you to our wonderful school staff for coming out and supporting this educational event. Thank you to our fantastic math resource teacher, Mrs. Karen Hall for organizing this fun curriculum night for our school and community.

We celebrated the 100^th day of school this week.  Students enjoyed various 100^th day activities as prepared by their teachers and Mrs. Hall. I hope your child told you all the fun learning experiences they had on the 100^th day of school.

Lastly, thank you for submitting your nominations in honoring our staff with yearly FCPS Employee Awards. Here are the Westbriar staff members who received the following awards:

Thank you to the staff and community members who nominated me for this year’s Outstanding Principal award. I am proud to work along side you as your child’s principal. Thank you for your partnership and collaboration.

Take care,

Principal Tam

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Parent Survey of Students Grades 3-8 About AAP Level IV (full-time) Services

Fairfax County Public Schools has engaged with external researchers to examine our Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) in grades 3-8, with a focus on Level IV services.  As one of several data collections in the review, researchers are seeking input from all parents of students in grades 3-8 through an online survey.  Individual survey responses will be anonymous, will go directly to the researchers, and will not be viewed by FCPS staff.  

Responses will be used by the researchers to craft recommendations for program improvements that will be shared with the FCPS School Board in late March.  Parents are asked to complete the survey only one time, even if they have multiple children in grades 3-8.  The survey is expected to start being sent directly to parent emails by mid-February and will close on February 28, 2020, in order to give researchers time to analyze results for their final report in March of 2020.  There will be a School Board work session on March 24, 2020 with the final report.  

AMC8 Results:

Sixteen Westbriar 5th and 6th graders took the 35th annual American Mathematics Competition 8 (AMC 8) last November.  The AMC 8 is a 25-question, 40-minute examination in middle school mathematics for students in Grades 8 or below.  Problems are designed to promote problem solving skills and analytical thinking and range in difficulty level from 6th grade math up to High School Algebra and Geometry.  

Westbriar students did very well.  Three students earned a Certificate of Achievement which is given to students in Grades 6 or below who scored over 15 points, placing them approximately in the top 10%.  Three additional students placed in the top 25%, two of them just missing the Certificate of Achievement by one point.  Five additional students placed in the top 50%.

Westbriar’s team score was 49, narrowly missing the School Merit Roll by 1 point.  The school average was 10.9, one and a half points above the 9.43 worldwide average for all test takers (up to Grade 8).

Well done to all the students!

Thank you Mrs. Crystal Petersen in helping organize this event for our school each and every year.

From the PTA

Hello Westbriar!

We hope you're staying warm and dry in the winter rains, and we hope you'll come out and join us at some fun PTA events in the next couple of months!  We especially hope you enjoy a happy Valentine's Day full of love and laughter with your kiddos.

PTA Dates at a Glance

• 2/24/2020 -- Science Fair registration opens
• 2/28/2020 -- '80s vs. Current Hits Dance 03/12/2020 --  Evening PTA meeting
• 4/3/2020 -- Deadline to register for Science Fair 4/17/2020 --  International Night (moved from 3/13) 4/23-24/2020 -- Science Fair

On 2/24, your child can register for the Science Fair on our PTA website -- www.westbriarpta.org -- and start working on his/her project!  The Science Fair will take place on April 23rd in the evening and all day on April 24th.  Registration deadline is April 3rd -- don't miss it!!

'80s vs. Current Hits Dance, 6:30-8:30PM on 2/28, Westbriar Cafeteria 

Come dance the night away with a DJ in our cafeteria!  Free admission and glow sticks!  And grab Ben and Jerry's for dessert!

Thank-you Notes

Thank you to Ms. Karen Hall, who put together Westbriar's first PI Night on Friday, 1/31.  Thank you as well to Westbriar administration and staff for their wholehearted support of this celebration of math through games.  And thank you to our Westbriar community who donated over 50 pies, Rice Krispy Treats, and other desserts to support our love of learning!

Thank you to Jesse Holtslander and Nisha Thakker, who have put together a slate of great dining out options so our Westbriar community can enjoy one another's company and benefit the PTA at the same time.  

--

Trish Vanstory

Westbriar PTA President

wesptaprez@gmail.com 

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