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Dear Union Mill families,
Our next Virtual Family Learning session will be held on Monday, October 26. The topic of this session is Supporting the Social and Emotional Learning Needs of Students. Our Union Mill counselors and clinical staff will discuss strategies and share resources to support your child’s peer relationships, mental health, and social well-being. Please join us for this informational session. More details and the link will be sent as we get closer to the date.
Join our Advanced Academics Resource Teacher Michelle LaBarbera on Tuesday, October 6, at 5:30 PM for a meeting on the Advanced Academics Program. Ms. LaBarbera will share the changes to the screening process for Advanced Academics for Level IV consideration and general information on the Advanced Academic Program. You can preview information about the AAP program prior to the meeting by using these links: English Version Spanish Version
If you would like tp preview the identification process, you can find that here: English Version Spanish Version
Ms. LaBarbera will also host two question and answer sessions as follow-ups to the October 6, parent information meeting. If you have questions while navigating the Level IV screening process, please bring those questions to the session of your choice.
Session 1: Level IV Screening Question and Answer Session - Friday, October 23, 2020 - 9:15-9:45
Session 2: Level IV Screening Question and Answer Session - Wednesday, November 18, 2020 - 3:45-4:15
The county and our school are planning for the Return to School for many of our students. The first groups of students to return are those that are new to the country in grades 3-6 and our more involved special education students. These plans are being formulated and families of these students will be notified when their children will return to school. We will continue to receive additional information about the plans to return more students in the coming weeks after School Board meetings and decisions are made. We will share information as it is finalized.
Thank you for your continued support during these challenging times.
Hope you have a great weekend,
Kathy
Meet Our ESOL Team
Our ESOL team works with second language learners to help them acclimate to our school and develop English learners’ language proficiency and communication skills. Collin Henson is our full time ESOL teacher and we are excited to have Jennifer Neimeyer join our Union Mill family as our part time ESOL teacher this year.
Meet Our Tech Team
The world of technology has become critically important to our school these past six months. Jamie Clinch is our School Based Technology Specialist and she works with teachers and students on the software part of learning. Kyle Irvine is our Technology Specialist and he is in charge of all the hardware when it comes to digital learning. If you are having a problem with your child's laptop, Kyle can help with that. Kyle will be full time at Union Mill later this month. If your child is having trouble with a platform (BBCU, Google Meet, STMath, etc.) that your child's teacher can't trouble shoot, Jamie can help with that.
Meet Our Art Teachers
Art teachers Anne Hollis and Carrie Fuentes have been very busy creating engaging lessons for your children in this virtual environment. Mrs. Hollis is at Union Mill full time and Mrs. Fuentes joined us this year in a part time capacity.
Here is some information about the FCPS Art Program: Each lesson or unit in the elementary FCPS Art program should connect with a conceptual theme or big idea. Using concepts as the basis for art-making keeps the focus on one of its essential aspects: communication of original ideas of the artist. Concepts connect learning to real world experience and support personal connections and relevance in our units. By exploring these concepts, students learn what it means to be human and are challenged to be more empathetic to people, cultures, and environments they encounter.
The overreaching theme or big idea for each grade level is: Self-Kindergarten, Family-First Grade, Community-Second Grade, Culture-Third Grade, Time-Fourth Grade, Globalization-Fifth Grade, and Identity-Sixth Grade.
FCPS Offers Free Breakfast and Lunch
Fairfax County Public Schools is providing free breakfast and lunch pickup Monday through Friday mornings for all children 18 years of age and younger. Children do not need to be enrolled in a FCPS school. Here are the UPDATED bus stops for our area:
6:56 - 7:06 - Braddock Road & Braddock Springs Road
7:08- 7:18 - Little Rocky Run Circle & Waterdale Court
7:20 - 7:30 - Little Rocky Run Circle & Rockton Court
7:23- 7:33 - Gosling Drive & Ruddy Duck Road
7:35- 7:45- Braddock Road & Orchard Hill Lane
7:49 - 7:59 - Cavalier Woods Lane & Cavalier Woods Drive
7:56 -8:06 - Liberty Middle School
8:06 - 8:16 - 13630 Bent Tree Circle
8:08 - 8:18 - Centreville High School
8:00 - 12:30 pm - Centre Ridge Elementary - 14400 New Braddock Road
For additional information, please visit this webpage.
Parent Technology Help
To support families who are working with their children during distance learning, Fairfax County Public Schools has launched a new Parent Technology Help Desk. The number is 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered by staff 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. (FCPS also has existing parent information phone lines, available in eight different languages, that can assist with general questions about FCPS.)
FCPS has also set up an online portal to allow older students and parents and guardians to request technology help directly.
Get more information about the new Parent Technology Help Desk.
Photos from the Week
The curbside library pickup and bus library drop offs continue on Mondays. For more information on these services for students in 1st - 6th grades, please click here. If you have a kindergarten student and want information on the Kinder Library Mystery bag program, please click here. Click on the pictures below to see more photos and a few shared from families this week. If you would like to your photos shared with the community, please email them to unionmillbears@gmail.com.
News from the PTA
Thank you to those who are supporting our school by joining the PTA. Here is a link to their September newsletter. For membership information and more about our PTA and their scheduled activities, please visit their website.
Upcoming Dates
Tuesday, October 6 - Advanced Academics Parent Night - 5:30 PM
PTA Meeting - 7:00 PM
Monday, October 12 - No School - Indigenous People's Day
Monday, October 26 - Virtual Family Session
Friday, October 30 - Last Day of 1st Quarter
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