 Flynn performing distance learning with Mrs. Rivera on the computer and his new favorite "foot stool" beneath him.
Greetings Fairfax Villa Families,
We are excited to let you know that this week’s “live” teacher-led instruction has been a huge success! It was great seeing the faces of our favorite Dragons engaged in learning! This week, an average of 69% of our students attended live sessions on Blackboard Collaborate Ultra. Students are expected to participate in Distance Learning through live teacher-led instruction, recorded instructional sessions, FCPS Distance Learning Youtube Channel, and/or learning packets that are sent home weekly. We understand that not everyone can attend the live sessions every day. If your child misses the live teacher-led session, please encourage him/her to view the recorded sessions to stay up to date with the FCPS curriculum for this current school year. These recordings may be found in your teacher’s Google Classroom, Blackboard course, or through an email. If you do not know how to access a recording, please contact your teacher. We would love to see more of our students join the live teacher-led sessions to learn along with their peers in the coming weeks!
Attendance will be taken during live teacher-led instruction. The purpose of taking the attendance is to track data as we move into next school year and determine appropriate student needs. Please be advised that students who do not participate in the virtual synchronized learning are not penalized; however, students will be marked as absent when they do not participate in the virtual synchronized learning.
As we emailed on Wednesday, the teachers and specialists have student-specific links to Blackboard Collaborate Ultra to tighten security for synchronous learning. Each student-specific link is created and an email with the link was sent directly to each child’s fcpsschools.net gmail address.
Here is a video that explains how to easily find your child’s FCPS gmail. The “username” referred to there is the student number that students use to log into other applications such as Blackboard or myON. When the narrator mentions the “waffle grid” that is what we sometimes refer to as the “9 dots.” The video has Spanish subtitles. If your student gets an error message when trying to log in to a session and there is a RECONNECT message there, have them click on that word to reconnect.
Thank you for all you have been doing to support your child with Distance Learning at home.
Stay safe and healthy!
Our best,
Dave Gerstner, Principal
KJ An, Assistant Principal
Barbara Schmidt, School Based Technology Specialist
The following message is sent on behalf of the Fairfax Villa ES School PTA. Its content reflects the views of the PTA.
**Please look for a memberhub email today with more details about all of these items of note:
TEACHER & STAFF APPRECIATION WEEK: MAY 4-8
Not exactly as we planned/hoped, but we are still going to show our appreciation! This weekend, we will be placing a 16’ banner that Lifetouch so graciously made for us (!!) in front of the school building. (See it below)
- On Tuesday, teachers and staff are encouraged to come to a drive-thru gift line where they will receive small tokens of our enormous appreciation from the administration and the PTA. They will also enjoy a take-home bag of delicious chips & salsa from Chuys (it’s Cinco de Mayo after all!). We are also encouraging them to park and safely take photos of themselves in front of our banner :)
- Because we are hoping that many teachers/staff will be taking these pictures AND the weather looks good Sunday/Monday, we encourage you all to come by the school at any time and CHALK THE WALK in front of the building with notes of love and appreciation! Teachers will be there after 2pm on Tuesday May 5, so please complete your project before then!
- ALL WEEK: Send kind emails, e-gift-cards, video greetings, whatever you can think of to show appreciation. Teachers certainly don’t get into this line of work to be remote from children, so connecting and reaching out in any way will be so meaningful! Thank you for considering doing this for them, and don’t forget our amazing specials and admin team! If you need contact information, email Meg villaPTA@gmail.com
SEPTA-SPONSORED Q&A with DR. BRABRAND
PTA LEADERSHIP: WE NEED YOU!!
- Before the school building closure, Meg Moody announced to you all that she has to step down from the President position at the end of this school year. Without a president, the PTA will be unable to run next year. This is a unique opportunity for someone (or a pair/trio of friends!) to be the PTA President for only one year (it is a two year commitment typically). DON’T LET OUR PTA GO AWAY, PLEASE CONSIDER STEPPING UP!
 Registration for School Year 2020-2021
Looking to register your kindergarten student or a grade 1-6 student new to Fairfax Villa? First, see if your student falls in the Fairfax Villa ES boundary by viewing the FCPS boundary locator.
Kindergarten Registration for 2020-2021
If your upcoming kindergarten student does fall in the Fairfax Villa ES boundary, please complete the form on the link below. Your form will be submitted to Jose Flores, our school registrar, who will be able to assist you with the registration process.
https://fairfaxvillaes.fcps.edu/new-student-registration-2020-21
Registration for Students in Grades 1-6 New to Fairfax Villa
If you need to register a new student in grades 1-6, please contact Jose Flores, our school registrar, at jlflores@fcps.edu. Please provide the student's first and last name, enrolling parent's first and last name, student mailing address, enrolling parent's email address, and the enrolling parent's phone number. Mr. Flores will be in contact with you via email.
Visit the FCPS general registration page.
Updated Third Quarter Grading Timeline:
Due to last week’s pause in teacher-led “live” instruction, the third quarter has been extended until Friday, May 1, 2020. Students will work with their teachers to make up third quarter missing/incomplete assignments and complete reassessments by May 1, 2020.
ParentVUE/StudentVUE access will be turned off to allow for teachers to enter grades from Thursday, April 23 through Friday, May 8. Grades will be available in ParentVUE/StudentVUE on Saturday, May 9.
Report card mailings to all parents/guardians who have not opted into electronic delivery will begin on May 12, 2020. To opt into electronic report card access:
Send me your pics!
Over the next couple of weeks, if you have created learning activities that your children have enjoyed, please email me at drgerstner@fcps.edu with a picture and brief description so that I can share them in upcoming weekly messages.
Distance Learning Continues
Distance learning is continuing as teachers will provide new instructional opportunities through a variety of tools. Some resources for parents include:
Internet Access for Low Income Families in FCPS
Cox Connect2Compete supplies broadband internet access to low-income, unconnected families in Fairfax County. Households who meet income and other guidelines will be offered free Internet service through July 15, ($9.95 per month afterward), free modem rental, free installation, and a price guarantee for two years. Schools who are aware of families without internet access can share this resource with families. More information is available on the Cox website: https://www.cox.com/residential/internet/connect2compete.html To ensure all families in need have access to the Internet, FCPS MiFi delivery continues at elementary schools this week.
Distance Learning YouTube Channel
Math and Language Arts Distance Learning Lessons broadcast on Apple 21 can now be accessed by teachers and students on demand. To view, go to Fairfax County Public Schools Distance Learning on YouTube and subscribe. Playlists are arranged by grade level (for math) and content (for language arts).
Content can also be accessed on the FCPS Apple 21 cable television channel and is streaming at https://www.fcps.edu/news-features-and-events/cable-tv/cable-tv-guide.
New Collection of eBooks and Audiobooks
New eBooks
Library Information Services is pleased to announce a new collection of ebooks and audiobooks to support distance learning aimed at 5th & 6th grade students available through the MackinVia platform. This collection contains 715 titles curated with a focus on popular and appealing books that many students would find fun to read. Although not intended as instructional resources, these books could be accessed as choice reading or listening for learning activities. .
How to Access
MackinVIA is the FCPS ebook and audiobook platform. Users can download the MackinVIA app from the iOS and android app stores to read or listen on their mobile devices, or they can log in to fairfax.mackinvia.com using their FCPS network username and password. Be sure to log in to the FCPS blue bar with your network credential, NOT the Follett prompt.
How to Navigate MackinVIA
Here is a four minute video demonstrating the features of MackinVia.
Digital Book Licenses
Unfortunately, central purchases are limited to single-user licenses by publishers. That means that if a copy of a book is checked out, other users can make a request to place it on hold, but only one person may engage with the book at a time. If a school has purchased ebooks through MackinVIA, users at that school will see those titles integrated with the centrally purchased titles.
Please email Robin Mims at rbmims@fcps.edu for more information or assistance.
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