 Dear Floris Families -
I am so excited to be the new Principal of Floris Elementary School. I enjoyed meeting virtually with the staff yesterday and today and I look forward to finding ways to get to know the community in the near future.
We are all working through this together as a district, in the Westfield Pyramid and within the Floris community. I believe we will all be further developing many of the character strengths we have learned through The Positivity Project. We are seeing many examples of bravery, hope/optimism, resiliency and perseverance, and I predict we will witness many more examples.
The Floris staff has been working hard this week planning and developing Distance Learning for your children. Thank you for your support, patience, and understanding during this challenging and unprecedented time. We will continue to communicate regularly as new information becomes available. If you have questions, please feel free to email me at hjwalker@fcps.edu and I will respond as soon as I am able.
Have a wonderful weekend and a nice Spring Break next week.
Holly Walker, Principal
POSITIVITY PROJECT TRAIT OF THE WEEK (APRIL 14 - APRIL 17): HUMOR
What does HUMOR mean? One likes to laugh and bring smiles to other people. Humor is a sense of playfulness and lightness. It is a way of looking at and describing the world that brings laughter to people. A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life. Why does it matter? For individuals, humor has important health benefits, both mental and physical. Humor stretches the mind to look at things from different perspectives, keeping people mentally agile and alert. Humor plays an important role in helping groups of people rise above difficult circumstances and boost moral. It removes us from our present difficulties by easing tension and making life more fun. Quote of the Week: “Humor is mankind's greatest blessing.” -MARK TWAIN
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Paper Packet Opt-Out Option
As part of the Distance Learning Plan, FCPS is sending weekly learning packets in the mail for all students PK-8. Some families would prefer not to receive paper copies in the mail and want to just access the packets on Blackboard 24/7 Learning. If you want to opt-out of receiving paper packets, please go to this LINK and complete the information required to opt-out. You can find further information on the packets HERE.
Resources for Students with Significant Disabilities
During this difficult time, there are resources for families with students with significant disabilities. The Arc of Northern Virginia has a directory of 26 Child Care Respite options on their website: https://thearcofnova.org/business-directory/wpbdp_category/child-care-respite/
AAP Screening
At this time, level IV AAP screening is currently delayed. As you can imagine, the county is dealing with many pressing critical issues which is delaying typical timelines. I do not yet have any other information about a new timeline. Any updates on this matter will be posted on the AAP website when they become available https://www.fcps.edu/academics/academic-overview/advanced-academic-programs. Please check this site for updates. I will also plan to communicate updates to the Floris community as the information becomes available.
Also, this delay will impact our Level IV orientation format and date (April 22) for those who are found eligible. More details to come as we learn more about how the level IV AAP orientation will work.
As always, please feel free to email me with any questions, abalbanese@fcps.edu.
News from the Westfield Pyramid
Dear Westfield Pyramid Community:
The Westfield Pyramid Principals wanted to provide you information about grading and the schedule for distance learning that will begin on April 14. We understand that families have children who are in more than one school in our pyramid and we wanted to put out one piece of information to make things a little bit easier for you to handle.
GRADING
Elementary Students No fourth quarter grades will be assigned to elementary students due to equity issues of access to technology and limited student ability to submit work during distance learning. Elementary students will engage in teacher-led and independent learning. Learning packets will be distributed by mail to all PK-6 students beginning the week of March 30. Literacy and math content will also be made available on FCPS Cable Channel 21.
Middle/High School Students The School Board was briefed that no student work assigned after March 13 will be graded, at the recommendation of VDOE; however, work assigned prior to March 13 will still be accepted up until April 24 in order to be applied in the calculation of students’ third quarter grades. Additionally, it is the intention of FCPS to use maximum flexibility in assessing and evaluating student learning for the remainder of the school year. To that end, middle school and high school students will be assigned a “no mark” for the fourth quarter, with assignments submitted being allowed to positively influence the student’s overall grade for the year based on mastery of learning concepts, in accordance with FCPS grading policy. Only final grades will be shown on transcripts; a “no mark” will not show on a student’s final transcript.
SCHEDULE
Elementary School Students: Teachers will provide an hour of virtual instruction and be available for one hour of “office” time to provide individual and small group support Monday through Thursday. More detailed schedules will be sent by each elementary school by April 3.
Learning Activities
- Students will have access to weekly print activities through centrally created and distributed learning packets.
- Students will engage with the teacher in virtual chat as detailed in the school schedule.
- Video lessons available on cable Channel 21 and through Channel 21 web streaming.
- Teachers created activities will be posted in FCPS 24-7 Blackboard to ensure caregiver access.
- G Suite and Google Classroom may be used for students to complete activities.
- Students should have both off and on-screen learning activities.
Middle and High School Students:
Distance learning for students begins on April 14. Students should check their Blackboard accounts for messages and updates from their teachers. Each teacher will provide the following information prior to April 14.
- Blackboard Collaborate Ultra link
- At the start of each class, students just need to click on the link
- This link will automatically connect them to the classroom
- Office hours times and days
As we transition to this Distance Learning model of instruction, we are also focused on supporting the social and emotional needs of our students. Our Student Services team will be collaborating with our teachers during this transition, but please do not hesitate to reach out to your student’s counselor if you need any assistance.
We are looking forward to beginning this new learning experience with you and to “get back to school.” If you have questions, concerns, or just want to say hello please reach out to us directly.
Be well and Best Regards,
Liz Bumbrey, Principal, Virginia Run Elementary School
Jenni Coakley, Principal, Cub Run Elementary School
Merrell Dade, Principal, McNair Elementary School
Bob Damato, Principal, Deer Park Elementary School
Melissa Goddin, Principal, Northwest County Elementary School
Jesse Kraft, Principal, Coates Elementary School
Wiatta Padmore, Principal, London Towne Elementary School
Holly Walker, Principal, Floris Elementary School
Amielia Mitchell, Principal, Stone Middle School
Tony Copeland, Principal, Westfield High School
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