Lemon Road Community News 5.2.20

Message from Mrs. Castillo

Staff Appreciation

As you might know, next week is Staff Appreciation Week! This is the week where we shower our staff with sweet treats, words of affirmation, and tokens of gratitude for all that they do for our students.  Clearly, this year, we will have to do that celebration virtually and we are asking for your help.  Our teachers and staff have worked incredibly hard to make the virtual learning environment meaningful, engaging, and academically-rigorous for our children – let’s try and show them how appreciative we are! Below you will see a daily activity that your child can participate in to show their teachers how much they mean to them.  These simple gestures will bring smiles to our amazing teachers’ faces – don't forget our specialists, IAs, and office staff!  Please spread the word and let's give our staff the best virtual appreciation possible! While we encourage you to reach out to any staff members directly, see the links below to email them to Mr. Birge and me or text them to 571.294.8074 so we can help share your students’ contributions to the staff and with the community. The direct link for Thursdays “Thank a Teacher” from the VA Lottery is here.

For families who want and are able to give their child’s teacher(s) a gift, we ask that you consider purchasing something off their Amazon Wish List or send an egift rather than ask for personal home addresses. Thank you for your kindness and generosity!

Have a great weekend ~ Mrs. Castillo


Quarter 4 Essential Standards

Essential

Essential Standards have been identified in PreK-8 across the four core content areas to provide guidance for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year. The Essential Standards are the most critical content to be taught during distance learning/before the end of the school year. Family-facing PDF versions of Essential Standards have been posted on the Lemon Road website here.


FCPS Cares

FCPS Cares

Since schools and offices physically closed in March, Lemon Road staff have put in a herculean effort to support students, parents, and their FCPS colleagues during this challenging time. You can honor these outstanding staff members with an FCPS Cares–Going the Distance recognition. Send your submission today!


Positivity Project: Leadership

Leadership

Next week, we'll focus on the character strength of leadership (overview here). This strength means that you value each member of your group and inspire people to do their best. Leadership can be both formal and informal. It is concerned with getting others to do what needs to be done while maintaining group morale to ensure readiness to act in the future. 

Leaders are able to create a vision, communicate the vision, develop a coherent strategy to achieve that vision, and lead the charge towards its attainment.  This week's example is H-E-B, a Texas-based grocery chain that has demonstrated prudent, humble, and steady leadership amid great uncertainty. They, like other grocers across the nation, provide an essential public service and their leadership is vital.

For individuals, leadership is a way to achieve what you know is important, as groups of people invariably achieve more than individuals. If you want to achieve your vision for the future, you need to inspire others to join you. As an individual’s ability to lead develops, so does that person’s confidence and sense of self-efficacy. However, common dangers to guard against are egotism and arrogance.  A group’s effectiveness and sense of inspiration are tied directly to the leader.


Updated Specials' Schedules

Last week, our specialists knocked it out of the park with awesome live opportunities for our students to engage in specials throughout the week. We identified a few areas of overlap and have worked to minimize any schedule conflicts we can (changes are highlighted). Please note that your children are welcome to join any session for their grade level that fit their schedules. Our teachers are co-planning and often co-teaching, so students do not need to stick with the specialist they had class with throughout the year.  Finally, specialists are recording sessions so that students may participate on Fridays or when works best for the family. 

Paull

Corcelius

VanTrees

Van Trees

Hickman

Bleiweis

Norton

Burke

Heffron

Busch

McKinney

Gillmore

Strings

Roberts

Hitchcock