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Good morning Freedom Hill families,
A very busy week approaches with only nine days until the first day of school! At our principal Q&A session Thursday evening, we were delighted to hear stories of students, parents, and teachers connecting through virtual sessions. Despite our virtual start to the year, we continue to value our strong, caring, and supportive school community. Thank you to the families and teachers who are developing strong connections before the school year begins!
This week we have several important events as we ready ourselves for the year:
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Laptop/Material distribution - See below for more information on this, which is occurring Monday-Thursday. Please note that grade levels have prepared bags for ALL students. If you do not need a laptop, we still ask that you try to stop at FH this week to pick up a packet, which includes back to school forms that you will need to complete and return to us along with materials from your grade level. All materials and laptops will still be available later on if you can't make it at this time. For laptop checkout, please bring your student’s Username and Password. This will be used to login during the visit.
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Back to School Night #1 is this Wednesday evening! PK-3 will begin at 6:00, and grades 4-6 will begin at 7:00. Teachers will be emailing you a link to join their session. We will record all sessions for families who cannot make it, or are split between grade levels. Following our grade level presentations, we will be holding a principal Q&A session for our Spanish-speaking families at 8:00PM at this link.
One last request we have of families during our virtual start - please view and update your students' Emergency Care Form through your ParentVue account by September 7. We appreciate it.
We look forward to seeing you this week!
Nicholas Zapadka, Principal
Eric Kopacz, Assistant Principal
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August 31 - Sept 3 - teachers will be reaching out to schedule 1:1 conferences
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August 31 - Sept 3 - Laptop / material distribution dates - see below
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September 2 - Back to School Night - Part 1, 6:00-8:00PM
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September 8 - First day of school for students!
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September 10 - Band/Strings Q&A for Families (click for flier)
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September 24 - Back to School Night - Part 2, 6:00PM
Additional times have been added for our community laptop distribution dates from 10:00-3:30pm on August 31 - September 3. We encourage families to have a device for all learners in the home. If your family requires a laptop(s) for virtual learning, please use these links to sign up for a checkout time. If you are picking up multiple devices, you only need one time slot.
August 31 (full)
September 1 (full)
September 2
September 3
Please bring your student’s Username and Password. This will be used to login during the visit.
We look forward to seeing you this week. A big thank you to Tim Scesney and Craig Fenton for their ongoing efforts readying a plethora of devices.
 If checking out a laptop, please enter the bus lane on the left and park in the staff parking spots. If picking up materials only, please pull to the right and stay in your vehicle - staff will assist you.
Cuando esté entrando a la línea del bus, por favor diríjase a la izquierda si necesita recoger una computadora y materiales para su niño. Si solo necesita recoger materiales por favor entre a la derecha en la línea del bus.
Freedom Hill grade levels have prepared school materials for ALL students. These will be available for you to pickup on laptop distribution days or by appointment with the front office. If you are not picking up a laptop, you do NOT need to make an appointment - come over any time on August 31 - Sept 3 from 10-3:30! All students get a bag!
The following school forms will be included with student bags:
- Health Information
- Identification of Military Connected Students
- Homeless Student Referral
These forms must be completed and sent to school by September 11. Forms can be scanned and emailed to ssujoromero@fcps.edu. They can also be mailed or dropped off at school.
Freedom Hill is excited to get library books back into student hands this fall! We will offer curbside pickup service to families each Wednesday during distance learning from 2:00-6:00 pm, starting September 16. Students will log in to the Destiny Discover library catalog, find books they want to read, place holds on them, and then wait for a confirmation email. Library books can be returned during the same window of time as pickup. Returned books will be quarantined for at least 72 hours before becoming available again. Have questions? Email librarian Katherine Trott at sktrott@fcps.edu
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Many of our Digital Resources used this year require parental consent. Please take a look at the digital resources and privacy/security agreements for these items. A consent form and information on the resources can be found on our school website.
We are excited to have Vania Espichan join the office staff as our new Parent Liaison. Vania can be reached at vpespichan@fcps.edu or 703-506-7824. Her schedule will be:
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Monday
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10:00-1:00
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At Freedom Hill
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Tuesday
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10:00-1:00
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Working Remotely
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Wednesday
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11:00-2:00
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At Freedom Hill
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Thursday
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11:00-2:00
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Working Remotely
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Friday
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11:00-2:00
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At Freedom Hill
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Student registration is an ongoing process, but by appointment only. Please contact our Student Registrar, Sey-Lu Sujo, at 703-506-7803 or ssujoromero@fcps.edu
FCPS has created a new Parent Technology Help Desk. If you need support with technology, you should reach out to the Parent Technology Help Desk. The number is 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered by staff from 7 a.m.to 11 p.m., seven days a week. If the help desk is unable to solve the issue on the phone with the parent or guardian, they will enter a ticket on the parent’s behalf and the request for help will be transferred to the appropriate FCPS team. FCPS also has existing parent information phone lines, available in eight different languages, that can assist with general questions about FCPS. An online portal is also available to allow older students and parents and guardians to request technology help directly.
Below are several links that will help to answer many of your technology-related questions:
Parent and Student IT Support Portal homepage
Self Help Hub
Password Management
Tips for Online Learning Success
This year FCPS elementary schools have a new homework policy. Students will not be assigned homework on Tuesday-Friday. Teachers will assign work to do on Mondays during asynchronous instruction for students to complete after their live morning meeting. As always, we encourage you to read with your child for at least 20 minutes each night.
Q&A with DR. Z AND TEAM
A big thanks to Dr. Z, Mr. Kopacz, Tara Fredericks, Melissa Rossman, Tim Scesney and Emily Angle for joining our open Q&A with over 35 parents on Thursday, Aug. 27th! It was a great informative discussion and we even got to try out a new tech tool the students will use called PearDeck. You can see my screen view of it in the recording. Here's the recording. Password is: THD2+$Nb
JOIN THE FHES PTA TODAY!
The Freedom Hill Elementary School Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) is a volunteer-driven organization that facilitates exciting programs, activities, and traditions that are not otherwise funded by FCPS. Even though we are not physically together at this time, we still plan to support all student(s) and the school community through the following activities: *Materials for students to use during virtual learning *Reading materials and digital resources *Staff development *Grade level wish list items from teacher teams and staff and more
Check out the NEW PTA membership form for families or for teachers and join today! You can join on Pay4SchoolStuff by check via mail/school drop off. Q's? Contact Kerrey Olden.
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SCHOOL SUPPLY KITS For those who pre-ordered school supply kits, you can pick them up Aug. 31-Sept. 3, 9:30am-3:30pm. No appointment is needed. If you have a laptop distribution appointment, you can also pick it up then. You should have also received a small refund because there is no hand sanitizer in the kit. If you have questions, contact Nicole Camara or Sylvia Solari.
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ROOM PARENT VERSION 2.0 So what will being a Room Parent be like in this virtual environment? Great question! While we don't anticipate as much of a need in a virtual setting to be helping to stuff fliers in Tuesday Folders or planning activities in the classroom -- there may be other things that may be of use to your teacher. Maybe setting up a Sign Up Genius, organizing a virtual classroom playdate or something else. If you have the creativity and are willing to help - let your teacher know!
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GET CONNECTED WITH FHES ONLINE Communication will be so important this year. Please make sure your friends and neighbors are subscribed to the newsletter and in the Freedom Hill ES Community group if they are on Facebook. We need to get everyone in the loop especially now that we are kicking off school virtually!
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Questions? Contact our Freedom Hill PTA President, Sahar Javadi at president@freedomhillpta.org
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