Pine Spring Families,
As we embark on a new academic adventure, I want to thank each of you for your support. Your kind words of encouragement and positive feedback have been greatly appreciated. I also want to share my deep admiration and appreciation for our Pine Spring Instructional Family. They have worked so hard this summer to ensure they are well prepared for a great school year. They have spent countless hours learning new ways to engage our students in a virtual setting, and we are confident that the fruits of their labor will be evident as we begin the new school year.
We know that we are all doing our very best. We encourage you to stay positive with your child and let them ease into the new format. The priority of the first week of any school year is building community and creating a positive outlook about school. It is ok if they are not participating the entire time, it is ok if they walk away, and it is ok if they need a break or if you need a break. Despite putting a great deal of heart and planning into the lessons you are seeing, we know that there is still the possibility of hiccups along the way. We ask for your patience and collaboration. If the technology does not work as expected, don’t worry, we will communicate a plan. Depending on the case, we also ask that you check your child's Gmail account and your email for a News You Choose from Pine Spring or FCPS.
Remember, you are not in this alone. We encourage you to reach out to your child's teacher to share your family's support needs. We encourage you to also share the successes in your child's learning, as your child's success and well-being is always our end goal.
Have a wonderful first day!
Nikki Yacubovich, Principal
neyacubovich@fcps.edu
At Pine Spring Elementary, our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the FCPS approved digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find Pine Spring’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: Adopted Digital Resources
Included on this page is also a link to a form where the enrolling parent or guardian will need to indicate whether or not their student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval and why we must request your consent before using certain tools. We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible, as your child will not be able to use the technology resources until we have received your permission. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year in each grade level.
Pine Spring has been very fortunate to have so many wonderful supplies donated. We want to thank FCPS Title I office, Fairfax 9-1-1 dispatch, and each of you who stopped to donate school supplies. We will use these supplies, along with supplies we have purchased, to develop bags for each child.
The bags will have everything you need to start our virtual school year off strong. We have items like pencils, crayons, white boards, dry erase markers, art sketch books and they even have earbuds!
If you were not able to receive your materials on Wednesday, please stop at Pine Spring between the hours of 10 AM- 2 PM.
This year our teachers will be using the app “Talking Points” to communicate with families. This app will allow us to talk with each family in their corresponding language. The easiest way to use this feature, is to download the Parent Talking Points App. We have included some supports to help you get started. Including help with changing your language and how to use text to speech. If at any point you do not want to receive messages through Talking Points, you can unsubscribe.
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
Friday, September 18: FCPS Parent Resource Center Free Webinar: 10 Ways to Stop Power Struggles & Start Motivating Your Kids (10:00-11:30a.m. OR 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Register Here)
Thursday, September 24: FCPS Parent Resource Center Free Webinar: Encouraging Positive Behaviors at Home Series - Setting the Stage for Good Behavior: Routines, Procedures, & Expectations (10:00 - 11:30 a.m. OR 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. - Register Here)
SIS ParentVUE is going to be an important way to connect with your child’s education. If you have not already set-up an account, we encourage you to activate your account this week.
To access your SIS ParentVue account
- You will need to login
- You will need your personalized Activation Key
- You should receive this during registration OR
- Request the code HERE
- You will need your personal email address
In Virginia, public school students ages 5-18 are required to attend school regularly. Teachers will take attendance during learning sessions and ensure that all students are counted. Parents can assist with this process by:
- Ensuring students log in to classes on time and throughout the day.
- Calling or emailing the school attendance line if students are unable to participate.
- Communicating any concerns to the school, such as difficulty logging in or accessing classes.
- Reporting any hardship, such as student illness, or concern that might prevent the student from participating regularly.
- Returning phone calls or emails when notified that students did not participate that day.
- Ensuring that students submit activity logs as directed.
If your child is unable to log in to online instruction with a teacher, the teacher will be recording the class and posting the video within Google Classroom, so it can be viewed later. Videos can also be viewed multiple times to help students retain new information, as needed.
We understand that not every student will be able to participate in online instruction at the scheduled time. Our schools will be flexible in recording attendance and absences. We do not want to punish a student for missing an online class due to the extenuating circumstances of virtual learning. We want to partner with our families to ensure the success of each child.
This year Pine Spring has a new homework policy. This year, students will not be assigned homework on Tuesday-Friday. Teacher may assign work to do on Mondays during asynchronous instruction for students to complete after the live morning meeting at 8:45 AM. As always, we encourage you to reach with your child for at least 20 minutes a night.
|
September 8
|
First Day of School
|
|
September 10
|
First PTA Meeting for 20-21
|
|
September 21
|
Back to School Night 5PM-6PM
|
|
