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Dear Stenwood Families,
We have had a wonderful week in the hive: our teachers are back, tech distribution has begun, and we welcomed new families to our Stenwood family during our New Family Orientation (session slide deck and recording), for those who couldn’t make it). Our class placement letters were mailed out earlier this week, so we hope your child enjoyed receiving their special note from their teacher! Our teachers are looking forward to next week’s Meet and Greets; make sure you sign up for your meeting time soon! Early next week, we will be sending an eNotify about how to access your child’s virtual classroom, where Meet and Greets will be held. We will also be holding two information sessions to help walk you through the process, give you a refresher on BBCU, and introduce you to Schoology (see below under Schoology Parent Workshop for more details).
Pertinent Return to School information included in today’s Hive Happenings (new/updated items are indicated below):
- Beginning of Year Student Bag Pick Up (*NEW*)
- Technology Distribution Plan and Sign-Up (*New date / Resources*)
- Meet and Greets and Back to School Night Part 1
- Kindergarten Virtual Playdates
- Schoology Parent Workshop Schedule
- Partnership with Fairfax County Public Library (*NEW*)
- Activating Your SIS Parent Account
- Forms for the Beginning of the School Year
- Food Resources and Free/Reduced Lunch Applications
It has been wonderful to reconnect with so many families at tech distribution, the Kindergarten playdates, and our New Family Orientation. We are looking forward to all the opportunities for connections next week, and hope you are, too!
Sincerely,
Erica Riley, Principal
esriley@fcps.edu
Twitter @esriley1
Meredith Mitchell, Assistant Principal
mamitchell@fcps.edu
Beginning of Year Student Bag Pick Up
On Tuesday, September 1st from noon - 4pm and Wednesday, September 2nd from 8am - noon, we will ask families to come through the Kiss N Ride loop to pick up materials for the school year. While we know your house is equipped with the basic school supplies, there are things that we typically have in our classroom that you might not have access to. We will have grade-level specific bags to provide to you. Just like in the spring, we will ask that you make a clearly printed sign for your car’s dashboard that contains the following:
Student Last Name, Student First Name
(Grade Level)
This will help our team move efficiently and make sure we know who we need to follow up with to pick up a bag. We were hoping to do these at the same time as laptop distribution, but they were not quite ready... hopefully you don’t mind another adventure to the Kiss N Ride loop!
Technology Distribution Plan and Sign-Up
We will continue to distribute laptops to families that would like one on the following dates. Any family that would like a laptop for their child may sign up.
- Monday, August 24th from 10am - 4pm
- Thursday, August 27th from 10am - 4pm (New Date!)
Sign up for your laptop pick up appointment time by clicking here.
We appreciate your prompt action in signing up for an appointment.
Here are the helpful tech tutorial videos shared out at tech distribution
Meet and Greets and Back to School Night
Every family will be offered the opportunity to sign-up for a one on one meet and greet in your child’s virtual classroom between Wednesday, 9/26 - Friday, 9/28. Please use the signup link provided by your teacher’s back to school welcome letter. We will be sending information on how to access your child’s virtual classroom early next week. |
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You will have TWO more opportunities to connect with your child’s teacher through our Back to School Night series:
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Back to School Night - Part 1 - Wednesday, 9/2 6:00 - 7:30pm
- This will serve as a virtual orientation: how to access assignments, schedules, and their Schoology course.
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Back to School Night - Part 2 - Date/Time TBD (but will be later in September)
- Typical BTSN topics - curriculum, school/classroom policies, addressing frequently asked questions
Kindergarten Virtual Playdate
We cannot wait to meet our newest Stingers, so we are organizing virtual meet and greets to get to know our kindergarteners. We will start each session with a quick read aloud and then offer students the opportunity to turn on the camera and mic and introduce themselves and share one thing about themselves. We will have a theme for each week so you can plan ahead. Feel free to come to one or all. We might also have some special guests join us so you can meet some of our other Stenwood staff. The session link has been communicated to our Kindergarten families via eNotify, but we will continue to send out the session link beforehand so it is handy.
Here is the schedule:
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- Tuesday, August 25 @ 2:30pm, bring your favorite snack
- Tuesday, September 1 @ 9:00am, bring something that is your favorite color
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Schoology Parent Workshop Schedule
In the coming weeks, you and your student will be given login directions and information about how to use your Schoology accounts. We will also be hosting parent information sessions later this month to orient our families with this new system: |
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Student Schoology Account Access Tutorial - We will discuss how to log in, find student courses and virtual classrooms within Schoology, and review the tools in Collaborate Ultra (which is embedded within Schoology - no external links needed!).
- Session 1: Monday, 8/24 6:00 - 7:00pm
- Session 2: Tuesday, 8/25 8:00 - 9:00am
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Parent Schoology Account Access Tutorial - We will discuss the parent access features in Schoology and how you can utilize your account to monitor student progress and communicate with your child’s teacher. Please make sure you have activated your SIS Parent Account prior to the session if you would like to follow along!
- Thursday, 9/3 8:00 - 9:00am
We will record and share all sessions in case you aren’t able to attend synchronously. Session links will be shared through eNotify prior to the sessions.
We look forward to using Schoology in our classrooms this fall to enhance connectivity and communication across our school. If you have questions or feedback regarding Schoology or want to learn more, please visit: https://www.fcps.edu/schoology.
Activating Your SIS Parent Account
The SIS (Student Information System) Parent Account is an online tool parents can use to access information about their child’s attendance, report cards, discipline incidents, health information, and more.
Your secure SIS Parent Account offers you the ability to use one username/password to login to both the SIS Parent Account and Schoology, our new Learning Management System that will be replacing FCPS 24/7 Learning (Blackboard) this school year.
Using the SIS Parent account, parents will also be able to view school information, including teacher e-mail addresses, the FCPS calendar, and emergency contact information. Visit the FCPS website and use the search function and keywords SIS Parent Overview for more information.
Newly enrolled parents will receive an activation key by email from Sonja Hunt or Brian Spector during the week of August 10th.
If you have previously activated your account with the activation key but are unable to login to your account, you may need to reset your password on the SIS Parent Account login page (https://sisparent.fcps.edu): Select the “Forgot Password” button. Your username is the primary email address you have on file with us in our Student Information System. More information is available here.
Please take action now to ensure your account is active, so that you won’t miss a beat once we introduce our new learning platform.
Partnership with Fairfax County Public Library
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On October 1, 2020 the Library Equity Access Pass (LEAP) program will provide FCPS PreK-12 students with public library checkout privileges for books automatically, without the need to register for a physical library card. Student names and ID numbers will be provided to FCPL - families who do not wish to participate shall select the opt-out for LEAP in the 2020-21 SR&R document. |
Participating in the LEAP program provides:
- The ability to checkout up to three public library books at a time
- Lost or overdue books will not be charged a fine or replacement fee
- Checkouts are limited to physical book
The Fairfax County Public Library is open for Express services and offers curbside checkout.
Forms for the Beginning of the School Year
Every school year we collect vital information from our Stenwood families during the first few days and weeks of school. Below you will find links for downloadable copies and some digital submission options for these important forms. If you are able, we encourage your family to complete and submit the forms digitally (when possible). Thank you in advance for your cooperation in helping us obtain this information prior to the start of our school year.
Required Forms
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Emergency Care Card Form - Please be sure that all information on this form is correct. While you may download this form and return a physical copy to schoo at a later datel, we request, if possible, you make any changes using weCare@School via your FCPS 24/7 Parent View account. We must have an updated form for every student on file at the school. It is extremely important that we have the name and phone numbers of at least two people in the “Other Contact Information” section of the form. Please be sure to notify the school office of any changes in phone numbers or email addresses that occur during the school year by using weCare@School via your FCPS 24/7 Parent View account.
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Health Information Form (Grades 1- 6 ONLY) - This form needs to be completed annually to inform us about your student’s health condition that affects his or her school day. Please sign and date prior to returning
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Digital Permission Form (coming soon) - This form asks for the required parental consent of certain apps and instructional software that may be used in instruction. We will ask for a digital submission of parental consent after the form is generated by FCPS.
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Students Rights & Responsibilities (coming soon) - Finalized SR&R documents will be posted here in mid to late August. We will ask for a digital submission of your parent acknowledgement after the 20-21 SR&R handbook is completed.
Optional Forms (Return ONLY if applicable):
1. Objection to Release of Directory Information to the Public
2. School Counseling Opt-Out Forms
3. Objection to Release of Information for Commercial Purposes
If you have no objection to the activities described in this booklet, do NOT sign or submit any of the forms.
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Family Life Education Opt Out Forms - Please read and return the opt-out form for your child’s grade level ONLY if you do not want your child to participate. Program questions may be addressed at our school by contacting our assistant principal, Meredith Mitchell. If you choose to have your child participate in the Family Life Education Program, you do not need to return the form.
- Identification of Military Connected Students - Local school divisions are required to identify students who have a parent in the United States uniformed services.
Food Resources and Free/ Reduced
Lunch Applications
Please use this link to access the most up to date locations and times for food distribution. If you need additional support, please contact Mrs. Hapangama or Mrs. Appleton. |
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Free/Reduced Lunch Applications are available for those who qualify and wish to initiate or renew their applications for the 20-21 school year. Your child(ren)’s application from last school year is only good for the first few days of this school year. You must send in a new household application for each school year. The application is available HERE.
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