Dear Families,
Our first week of school was filled with smiles and 98%-99% attendance every day, thanks to your partnership! Teachers, students, and families came together to build relationships and support each other, working to set our year off on a great note of collaboration and community. We proved to one another that "school is not a place."
At the same same, we acknowledge that the road ahead is not easy -- that this Back to School season will contain squalls of stress along with rainbows of connection for us all. We miss being with each other.
It is important that we communicate openly as we weather this season together with grace, understanding and flexibility. It is important that we focus on the positive for the sake of our children, while acknowledging their feelings of loss for in-person contact this fall. We hope that your child was excited to see their teachers and classmates, to engage in learning, and to have a school routine once again.
I sent CWES staff the following parody of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss (Seuss, Dr. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. New York: Random House, 1957) after our first day of school to acknowledge their efforts, and I share it with you in this event that your families might find encouragement in it as well.
 HOW cWEs STOLE SCHOOL BACK
It was quarter past dawn... All The Cougars indoors,
They were all in at home because Covid locked the doors
Locked up all the classrooms! The paper! The stencils!
The whiteboards! The Smartboards! The blackboards! The pencils!
Six months they were locked up! And collecting dust!
Covid took all their things and eroded their trust.
"No school for the Cougars!" Covid grinchishly hummed.
"They're finding out now the First Day hasn’t come!"
"They're just waking up! I know just what they'll do!"
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,
Then Canterbury Woods kids will all cry Boo Hoo!"
"That's a noise," grinned the Virus, "That I simply MUST hear!"
So he paused. And Covid put his hand to his ear.
And he did hear a sound rising, quiet at first
It started quite small. Then it started to burst.
But the sound wasn't sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn't be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!
He stared down at CWES in surprise!
Then he shook! And he couldn’t quite believe his eyes!
Every Cougar was smiling, the tall and the small,
Was smiling! Without any building at all!
He HADN'T prevented The First Day! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Virus, with his grinchy germs, just didn’t see
He stood puzzling and puzzling: "How can this be?”
"It came without buses! It came without cars!”
"It came without backpacks or stickers or stars!”
And he puzzled three hours, really searching his noodle,
"Maybe Teachers" he thought, "really don’t need a schoodle.”
"Maybe Teachers...perhaps...can make magic on Google!
And what happened then? Well...in CWES,
The Virus’s power shrunk down, three times it got less
While the community strengthened and began to get brighter,
In the bright morning light, They smiled wider and wider.
And the First Day was joy! Now the Cougars aware.
They had learned from their teachers, they could learn anywhere!
Here's to a strong virtual start and a stronger CWES community!
Warm regards,
Diane Leipzig, "Dr. L"
Principal
Every school year we collect vital information from our Canterbury Woods families during the first few days and weeks of school. Some of these forms are due beginning FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18.
Visit this CWES webpage to view information about how to complete the following required forms. This webpage can be translated into multiple languages for your convenience. Paper forms are also available in our front office, which is open daily from 8:30-4:00.
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- Emergency Care Card Form (NOTE: A paper copy of the information we have on record has been mailed to you for review and updates.)
- Health Information Form
- Student Rights & Responsibilities Acknowledgement Form
- Parent/Guardian Consent Form for Select Digital Resources
You can also access these forms if applicable:
- Survey of Homeless Students
- Identification of Military-Connected Students
And you can access these opt-out forms if you so choose:
- Annual Notice of Survey, Records, Curriculum, Privacy and Related Rights
- Release of Directory Information to the Public
- School Counseling
- Release of Information for Commercial Purposes
- Family Life Education
Visit our website to fill out these important forms.
We are thrilled to report that over 200 of our students in grades 4-6 have chosen to participate in Band or Strings this fall! All families should have received an email with information about instrument rental. Low-cost instruments are available to any family eligible for free or reduced-price meals through the IFA program.
Instruments are NOT REQUIRED this first week of instruction. All Band and Strings students will have two lessons per week, to be held during the Electives Block or on Mondays.
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Other electives (Art, Music, PE or Library) will be held during the Electives block Tuesday through Friday. You will receive direct communication from the specialist or specialists who are teaching your child's electives with the schedule and link to the Elective Google Classroom. Students should CHECK THEIR GMAIL for Google Classroom invitations from their electives teachers before Tuesday morning. The invitation includes the day of the week for the elective.
Schedules and links to all electives have been shared with classroom teachers and our Office Staff to help students access their electives.
Remember, your child will have up to two days a week of Electives Instruction. The other days will be available for your child to practice their instruments and/or complete other supplemental activities.
For easy access to ALL the links your fourth through sixth grader might need each morning (classroom, special education sessions, electives and specials), we recommend that your child begin each day logging into their G-suite account and selecting "Google Classroom" from their waffle.
The Sign Up Genius for laptops has closed, so if you require a laptop or are having difficulties with one you have borrowed, please reach out to our Technology Support Specialist, Keith Duplessis, directly at kaduplessis@fcps.edu.
If you are having other difficulties, call the FCPS Parent Technology Help Desk at 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS) 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. Parents or guardians who need help in a language other than English should let help desk staff know, and an interpreter will join them on the line.
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Although we do not have chorus this fall, the Woodson pyramid secondary choral teachers are offering a virtual version of the Woodson Pyramid Concert, open to ALL 5th and 6th graders. Students do not have to have prior choral experience to join nor do they have to have been in chorus last year. It's free, although a donation is suggested. Fill out this Registration Form by October 2. More information will be included in next week's (our first) "Virtual Tuesday Folder."
Thursday, September 24: Back to School Night, 6:30-7:30 PM
Thursday, September 24: First PTA Meeting, 7:30-8:00 PM
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