Churchill Chatter - Issue 4, August 24, 2020
Dear Churchill Road Elementary Families,
Welcome Back to the 2020-2021 School Year!
This past week we welcomed back our incredible staff at our first meeting of the 2020-21 school year. Although this is not the start to the school year to which we are accustomed, the possibilities are endless as we seek to engage our students in meaningful ways. To those students and parents who are new to Churchill Road, we extend an especially warm welcome and best wishes for a successful year in our school. Our theme is “One Team, One Community, Stronger Together!” We hope each of you experience this collaborative spirit by our staff and community throughout this school year.
We would like to welcome some of our new staff members, as well as note some staff changes.
New to Fairfax County, Ms. Carly Pfaff will be in kindergarten, Ms. Sarah Chin, last year’s long term substitute for Mrs. Sue Lackey, will be in first grade. Ms. Candice Hillman, 4th grade, returns to elementary school after previously teaching at Cooper and Aldrin elementary. Ms Jennifer Hight, 5th grade, returns to Fairfax County after previously teaching at Colvin Run elementary. Ms.Abby Pinder is our new special education teacher and Ms. Rahmelle Buchanan is our new special education instructional assistant. We also welcome Ms. Michelle Bantolino as Mrs. Dierman's long-term substitute.
Ms. Lindsey Bross, general music teacher, Ms. Colleen Crable, art department, and Ms. Consuelo Sevilla, strings, join our Specialist team.
Some changes for the upcoming year include Ms. Cheryl Bamdad moving to the fifth grade team again after teaching on our second grade team for the past several years. Ms. Allison McCrumb, 6th grade, replaces Mr. Nick Kilpatrick, who is now our new School Based Technology Specialist. Mr. Jordan Craig-Kuhn is still with us as our Technology Specialist.
We are excited for you and your children to meet each and every one of them.
FCPS will be sending communication regarding updated attendance policies, as well as many other important items, so please take the time to review these communications when they are received. Also, please take time to read carefully through this email for important information regarding the beginning of the year activities.
The Churchill Road staff is committed to making this school year a great one! And we so appreciate your support.
Sincerely,
Cherith Pierson
Principal
In This Week's Issue
- Community Conversation this Tuesday, August 25
- Class Placement Information
- Virtual School Orientation - September 1
- Churchill Road 2020-2021 Virtual Instructional Schedule
- Technology Distribution August 24 and 27
- PTA Pre-ordered School Supply, Band/Strings and Square 1 Art Pickup
- Supply Lists and Virtual Toolkits
- Join the PTA
- Registration Ongoing
- Important Dates
- Quick Links
Community Conversation
On Tuesday, August 25 from 8:30-9:30 a.m., our school resource team will discuss how to set your child up for success in a digital classroom and create a positive socio-emotional environment for students.
For families who cannot join us, a recorded version of the presentation will be available Wednesday on the Churchill Road website. (Link)
Class Placement Information
This year, you will be receiving an email from your child’s new teacher on Friday, August 28. At this time your child’s teacher will provide you with more information regarding the upcoming school year as well as the virtual orientation.
Placement decisions were first orchestrated, to the best of our ability, as a match to parent delivery model preference. In addition to meeting this preference, we have been working hard to make sure that there are balanced classrooms in order to best meet the needs of all of our students. We will continue to focus on meeting our students’ needs in a whole group, small group, and in an individual capacity.
Please note that if your student's registration is incomplete (missing health forms, physical, deed, etc.), he or she will not be placed in a class until our registrar, Chris Spencer-Redding, receives the missing information.
In the event you do not receive an email on August 28, and your student's registration is complete, please reach out to Cherith Pierson.
Virtual School Orientation
Mark your calendars! On Tuesday, September 1, all Churchill Road students will attend their class for a virtual orientation. The purpose of this orientation is to ensure all students can access virtual instruction prior to school starting and will help us identify and troubleshoot needs. This will also be a time when we can start to build relationships and classroom communities, provide information to students, and answer questions students and families may have. Below are the orientation start times. Your class placement email will provide you with more specific directions on how to access this session.
- 8:30-9:15 Kindergarten and 1st Grade
- 9:30-10:15 2nd and 3rd Grades
- 10:30-11:15 4th, 5th, and 6th Grades
2020-2021 Virtual Instructional Schedule
Please click on the following link to access the 2020-2021 Churchill Road Virtual Learning Schedules. Please know that this schedule was built with student developmental stages in mind. Within the big blocks of instruction (language arts and math), teachers will utilize breaks and a wide variety of resources and activities to support students. Teachers understand the importance of scheduling mini-breaks within longer sessions based on student need.
Attendance and grading of synchronous and asynchronous work will take place this school year. More details to follow from FCPS central office.
Monday's schedule, used for independent learning with some students identified for teacher-directed specialized instruction, will be coming out next week.
Technology Distribution
Technology distribution will take place on August 24 and August 27 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and August 27 from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. We are not assigning pick-up times for specific time slots to provide flexibility for families. Busier times will likely be first thing in the morning and right before packing up for the day. The login and set-up process should take about 5-10 minutes.
When you arrive at Churchill, please park in one of the bus parking spots near the cafeteria; then a staff member will assist you. It will be helpful to come prepared with the following:
- Filled out and signed Student Laptop Agreement (download here). Be sure you have one completed form for each student in your family.
- Student(s) Username (which is their student ID number, except for Google apps, their username is their student id number@fcpsschools.net, e.g.,1234567@fcpsschools.net.
- Student(s) Password (will remain the same as last year). If your child does not remember their password, or needs it changed, please first use the Student Password Reset Tool by clicking here.
**Kindergarten students and new families will set their password up at pick-up**
Please remember that all parents and students must wear a mask and practice safe social distancing. Questions about technology distribution, user names or passwords? Contact Nick Kilpatrick, Technology Specialist, nfkilpatrick@fcps.edu
School Supplies, Spirit Wear and Band/Strings/Square 1 Art Pickup
Pickup will be at Churchill Road on Wednesday, September 2, from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon and Thursday, September 3, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. for PTA pre-ordered school supplies and spirit wear orders. (You can still order in-stock spirit wear for pickup until August 31.) Please have a sign with your child's name and grade for faster pickup. If neither of these times works for you, please coordinate delivery by contacting schoolsupplies@churchillroadpta.org for supplies orders or spiritwear@churchillroadpta.org for spirit orders.
CRS staff will also be distributing band/strings materials and Square 1 art orders from last year. In addition, families are encouraged to browse lost and found.
Supply Lists and Virtual Toolkits
Our original school supply lists are located on our website here and match what is in the PTA pre-ordered supplies. Individual grade level teachers will be communicating with you before school starts which items will be needed for the virtual start if you did not purchase from the PTA.
We also are preparing a separate virtual student toolkit for every Churchill Road student with additional school-provided instructional supplies. Due to the high demand and limited availability of these additional items, we anticipate scheduling safe drive-through pickups for these student toolkits in early-mid September.
Join the PTA
Registration for membership in our PTA will open next week, after the emails from your child's new teacher are sent out. Even though we cannot be together, there are so many ways for the Bobcat community to stay together throughout this coming school year! We encourage all families to join the PTA as well as contribute to the Bobcat Fund. Your commitment to join is particularly important this year because of the many unique needs our learning community is facing. Your PTA's funds have already been hard at work this summer, providing new virtual learning platforms and resources for all students: MusicPlayonline license (all students), No Red Ink (grades 5-6), Pear Deck (all students), and Padlet + (all students). Want to learn more about what your PTA has planned? Join us for this week's Evening Discussion on Thursday, August 27 at 7:00 p.m.
Registration Ongoing
If you, a neighbor, or friend have a child to register for Churchill Road this fall, please start here!
Important Dates
Quick Links
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