End Of Year Newsletter


In this newsletter:

Technology Message
Progress Reports
Yearbook
iReady Instruction Program
FCPS Summer Learning Options
Quick Links
2020-2021 School Supplies Order


Magic

Technology Message (all grades)

Dear GFES Families,

It is with great thanks and amazement of how our community of students, staff and parents worked tirelessly together to harness the power of technology to pull off the most drastic changes in education: distance learning.

As we transition to the summer months, we would like to take this opportunity to share some summer technology safety tips for parents.  As part of our ongoing digital citizenship mantra, teachers continually monitor, guide and reinforce proper online etiquette, online safety and appropriate use of our educational software applications.  In a few short days, with the academic year coming to an end, online behavior monitoring responsibilities will fall to families, as students will undoubtedly continue to use technology such as cell phones, laptops and tablets to access the Internet during their summer break. Please be aware that Google Apps for Education, MyON and i-Ready lessons will be available to students all summer long.  However, there are steps you can take to monitor your child’s online behavior or, if you wish, block their access completely. Unless a change is made by you, the parent, your child(ren) will continue to use the same username and password to have access to all of their FCPS online materials.

As a rule of thumb, please talk with your child regularly about their online habits and interactions.  Do they speak about them positively?  What online books/posts/articles are they reading?  Do you sense that they are upset by their online interactions?  Are they speaking kindly about others?  A lot can happen very quickly in online interactions and regularly speaking with your child about these interactions can keep them safe and happy in their real world and in their digital communications. As with any online experience, we encourage parents to monitor what students are viewing and assist them as they navigate the digital world.

With that said, you also have the ability to block your child’s access to all FCPS online resources for the summer, simply by changing their password to something that only you know.  (Please note that teachers will continue to use online resources with the students until June 11th.  Please do not reset any passwords before the last day of school.)

To reset a student password at all sites simultaneously (Blackboard, Google Apps, MyON, etc.), please visit https://www.fcps.edu/resources/technology/password-management and scroll to the bottom of the page for password reset options.  Click on “Students” at the bottom. Log in with your child’s username and password – the same one they have used for the entire year.  On the second screen, simply enter a new password of your choosing twice and then keep that password secret.  This will NOT reset the password of any other personal email or other online accounts your child may maintain outside of the FCPS network.  Only their FCPS accounts will be affected.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at arcarlson@fcps.edu and I will be happy to help in any way I can.  Please have a happy and safe summer!

Afton Carlson
Educational Technology Specialist


Progress Reports (all grades)

Final progress reports will be sent home to families centrally from FCPS. You should expect to receive them a few weeks after school has finished as they are tentatively scheduled to be sent around June 25. As a reminder, there will be no grades for the fourth quarter; only final mark on the progress reports. Beginning June 16 at 6:00am, you can access the progress reports through your parent SIS account.


Yearbooks (all grades)

Everyone will definitely receive the yearbooks they ordered. We were hoping  they would arrive in time to put in the students bags tomorrow, but Jostens printing is delayed due to Covid-19.  We have been assured that Jostens is back in operation and are now in the mix of all the schools waiting to receive our yearbooks.

Books are expected to be delivered by the end of this month, and we will send a message to our families when we decide on a plan on how to distribute them. 

We know these are important memories for our students to have, and we know our students are anxious to receive them;  we've included a lot of photos to help celebrate this school year!


iReady (Universal Screener) Instruction Options (all grades)

iReady (Universal Screener) online lessons are now available for use by GFES students during June and July of 2020. These lessons are an optional resource to support students’ continuation of learning during the summer months. These online lessons and activities provide individualized content based on your student’s most recent Universal Screener results.

Reading instruction is available to students in grades K-6, while mathematics instruction is available to those students in grades 1-6.If a student has not completed an assessment, lessons have been curated with current grade-level content and foundational skills.

Students and parents can access iReady instruction through the FCPS public Universal Screener website, where they will enter their FCPS login credentials (username and password). To support you with getting started using the iReady lessons, please see these instructions. For more information about iReady, including frequently asked questions, please visit the i-Ready family center website. Access to these online lessons will be turned off on August 1, 2020. 


Extended Summer Learning Options (all grades)

FCPS will be offering optional extended distance learning opportunities for students this summer. Students will have access to iReady digital resources as well as extended summer learning supports in the content areas of Mathematics and Language Arts. Additionally, through the summer continuity of learning option with Mathematics and Language Arts, students will have the chance to check in with a teacher during office hours on a weekly basis. Please be on the lookout for more info on the details of the summer learning options and how to sign-up.

SummerArts

Quick Link Listing for your Reference (all grades)

GFES PTA

Order School Supplies Online!

SchoolSupplies