Principal's Note

Dear Cameron Families,

Thank you for your continued support with kicking off our virtual school year! Our students are becoming adept at using their online tools to engage with their classmates and share their ideas. It has been awesome visiting classrooms seeing the students in action and engaged in their learning. Currently, we are out of laptops with a significant number that needs repaired. Please communicate with your child’s teacher if you are having any technical or technology issues.

We look forward to seeing you at our first virtual Back to School Night, Tuesday September 22^nd at 6:30pm-8:00pm. The Blackboard Collaborate Ultra guest links will be sent Tuesday morning. Each grade level will share information around curriculum, grading, attendance, and software programs that are used in the classrooms.

Also, we will have our first Parent Coffee on September 30^th at 4:00pm-5:00pm. The presentation will be centered around Social and Emotional Learning facilitated by our clinical health team. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for more information. We will have parent coffees monthly to help us bridge the gap with home and school by providing workshops and information that will be helpful when you work with your children.

Again, thank you for partnering with us so our children will have a prosperous school year.

Thank you,

Eric T. Johnson

Principal

Virtual Back To School Night

September 22nd 6:30 - 7:10 &  7:15 - 8:00 Mark your calendars! Cameron's virtual back to school night is on September 22nd. Each classroom teacher will have two sessions. Session one starts at 6:30 and session two starts at 7:15.

Important Information About Receiving Communication from Fairfax County Public Schools

How can I make sure I receive emergency information from Fairfax County Public Schools?

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) communicates all emergency and essential information to parents via email. The information is also translated into eight languages: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Information communicated via email includes:
• School closings and delays
• Attendance
• Emergencies at school
• Low lunch balance
• Power, phone, or internet outages at school
• Bus delays
• Testing dates

When providing an e-mail address to FCPS, please avoid using an educational (.edu-including fcps.edu), military (.mil) or government (.gov) email address. The security settings on government servers often block messages from FCPS. It is a best practice to not use work related email addresses; therefore, it is important to use an email address from another internet service provider such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.

How do I receive text messages from FCPS? Parents can receive text messages for emergencies and essential information. Please make sure your parent cell phone numbers are listed in the “cell telephone” fields in the parent/guardian contact information section on the emergency care information form for each of your children. Parents and guardians can view and update emergency contact information online using the weCare@school feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning. Standard message and data charges may apply for text messages depending on their cell phone service plan. More information.

Bus Breakfast And Lunch Food Stops

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) buses are delivering grab and go meals along some bus routes.  School buses will stop at designated intersections to deliver these meals. There are three stops listed below for Cameron ES families.

All FCPS students (regardless of age) are eligible for free grab and go breakfast and lunch, as well as other county children, under the age of 18. Adults picking up meals for children should let staff know how many children meals they need. Adults may pay $2 for the meals as well. More Info

Classes for our Parents begins in Cameron

Cameron Elementary School will offer various classes for our parents and their young children ages 0-4 years old beginning October 5th. Interested parents should contact the Parent Liaisons. Please email Mrs. McNealy at ijmcnealy@fcps.edu and Mrs. Ana Rodriguez at amrodriguez@fcps.edu to register. The deadline is Friday, October 2^nd. It is best to register ASAP! We are unable to accept late registration.

Classes include:

• Early Literacy
• English
• DMV Practice Test
• Computer Class
• Hippy
• Zumbini

Band and Strings Registration for the 20-21 School Year

Students in 4^th-6^th Grade have the opportunity to be a part of the Cameron Instrumental Music Program. Students in 4^th-6^th grade have the opportunity to take Strings, and students in 5^th-6^th grade have the opportunity to take Band.

For more information please watch our video introducing ourselves and the instruments that can be played this year and check the Band and Strings pages on the Cameron Specials Distance Learning Site.

If you are interested in signing up, please fill out this Google Form by September 18^th.

Strings students have an additional Sizing Form to fill out.

For any questions please send us an email:

Band, Paul Lindsay pilindsay@fcps.edu

Strings, Jessica Suchecki jsuchecki@fcps.edu

Emergency Care And Health Form

In the distance learning environment, it is more important than ever that we have a current email and phone number for every family so receive important information.  Emergency Care Cards are coming by mail this week for you to review and send us back updates.  .  You can also use the directions below to update them online! Please look carefully to make sure we have the best phone number and email so teachers and staff can reach you.

The Emergency Care and Health Information forms provide valuable information regarding student’s health conditions and are critical in the early identification of students who may need health support. Please log on to the 24/7 Blackboard account using your Parent SIS account user name and password. Go to the WeCare module and update the emergency care and health information on this form. If you need a parent SIS account, please email aknair@fcps.edu.

Student Rights And Responsibilities

Parents and guardians, please review the Student Rights and Responsibilities and related resources at www.fcps.edu/srr.  After reviewing the information, fill out the SR&R Parent Acknowledgement Form using this link we have provided.  The form must be filled out one time per student. Booklets will be available in multiple languages at a later date for families

Parent Approval Needed For Digital Resources

At Cameron Elementary School, 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 digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: https://camerones.fcps.edu/adopteddigitalresources

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 digital 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.

Messages From Our New Teachers

My name is Dominique Snow. I was born and raised in Mattoon, Illinois. I recently moved to Alexandria, Virginia in January 2020. I really look forward to teaching at Cameron Elementary School. I am teaching 6th grade and is also the Advance Academics teacher for 6th grade. I graduated Eastern Illinois University in December with my Middle Level Education Bachelors degree with endorsements in Elementary (K-6), Science( 6-8), Social Studies (6-8), and English Language Arts (6-8). I look forward to meeting you all this year!!

In his second year with Fairfax County, Paul Lindsay is joining the Cameron staff as the band teacher.  After graduating from Southern Methodist University, he moved to Caracas to play with the Orquesta Sinfonica Venezuela as principal trumpet.  He is retired from the U.S. Navy Band, Washington D.C. and is currently co-authoring a book about intonation.

Upcoming Events at Cameron Elementary School

Cameron Communication

Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:

• keeping your contact information up-to-date throughout the year
• visiting the website Cameron Website
• signing up for News You Choose
• following us on Twitter  
• monitoring your student's progress with SIS Parent Account

Español (Spanish) Mrs. Ingrid McNealy, ijmcnealy@fcps.edu

FCPS Spanish Services 571-423-4950

3434 Campbell Drive, Alexandria, Virginia 22303  | Main Office: 703-329-2100
Attendance: 703-329-2129 | Web | Twitter | Facebook | Flickr

Are you having trouble connecting to Distance Learning? Start here for troubleshooting information https://www.fcps.edu/academics/distance-learning-fcps/how-fcps-doing-distance-learning/distance-learning-packets. 

Help Us Spread the Word

News You Choose will be an important way that our Cameron families receive information and event details throughout the school year. Please help us spread the word by asking others to sign up in order to receive these newsletters. Your help is appreciated!