Message from Dr. Smith
Hello Bruin Families,
As we conclude another week of virtual learning, we are excited to be in the planning phases of some small groups coming in to the building in a few weeks. Our administrative team and teachers are working through logistics and it will be a new and welcomed energy to have students in school during the day.
Next week is Digital Citizenship Week and we have resources available for you and your family. Each day next week we will have posts on social media, Twitter and Facebook, to highlight aspects of digital citizenship. Also, on Thursday, October 22nd at 7:00 p.m. our School Based Technology Specialists will host a conversation titled Social Media Balance and Wellbeing. We hope you'll join us for this important topic!
We are coming to a close on the 1st quarter of this school year. It will be important for students to stay updated on their grades through SIS StudentVue. Teachers were asked to send detailed progress reports to families last week, so that should be an update in your email for you. Also, parents are able to see updated progress in SIS ParentVue. If you have questions about your child's progress please reach out to the teacher for clarity and understanding.
We hope that you are able to get outside and enjoy this beautiful fall weather. As always, our teachers, counselors and administrators are here for you if you need anything.
United as Bruins,
Daniel W. Smith, Ed.D.
In this Issue
Important Information for All
1. Parent Academy
2. Digital Citizenship Week
3. Important Attendance Updates
4.SIS ParentVue Reminder
5. Instruction Update for October 29th
6. Bruins in Action: Socktober
High School Information
7. Advanced Placement Information
8. Senior Portraits
9. 2021 Virginia Summer Governor's School
Middle School Information
10. TDAP Vaccine Reminder
11. MS Lunch Bunch
PTSA News
12. PTSA Reflections Program extended to October 29th
FCPS Information
13. Technology Support
14. Free or Reduced-Price Meals Information
15. Fairfax County Public Library Checkout Now Available to All Students
16. Grab and Go Meals
17. Video: Virtual Learning Tech Tips
Important Information for All
1. Parent Academy
Please see our website for previous Parent Academy event materials.
Upcoming Events
October 22 -- Digital Citizenship: Social Media Balance and Well Being
October 29 -- Parent Academy
2. Digital Citizenship Week is coming next week!
What is Digital Citizenship and why is it important?
"The past decade has seen an exponential increase in digital tools and opportunities, which carry the need for students to master a new set of life skills for behaving safely, ethically and responsibly online. Students are much more likely to understand good digital citizenship — the norms of appropriate, responsible technology use — when teachers and parents/trusted adults model it and explicitly teach and promote it on a regular basis." (Crompton 2014)
To that end, it's not just one person's job to teach digital citizenship to our students, but everyone's shared responsibility.
At Lake Braddock, we recognize the need to develop these skills in our students and want to work with our families to achieve this. Throughout next week, we will be posting tips on social media to help families begin or continue the discussion of good digital citizenship in our interconnected society.
If you're interested in additional resources, check out the following websites:
FCPS Digital Citizenship Webpage
Family Online Safety Institute
Be Internet Awesome with Google
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3. Important Attendance Updates
We are streamlining our attendance procedures, and important changes are included below. If you have any questions about the revised processes, please reach out to your child’s subschool, advisory teacher, or our SOSAs/Dean: Mrs. Bradley (lpbradley@fcps.edu), Mr. Tucker (tgtucker@fcps.edu), and Mrs. Soos (amsoos@fcps.edu).
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Monday attendance form: Effective Monday, October 19, 2020 we will be using a school-wide attendance form on Mondays instead of individual advisory teacher Monday check-in forms. Students need to complete the form around 8:00 am but no later than 10:00 am each Monday to be counted as present. Students need to be signed in to their FCPS Google accounts to complete the form. Your child’s 4th period Advisory teachers will remind them and post the same link every week. Please encourage and remind your child to complete the form EVERY Monday morning.
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Class participation: To ensure that we are providing students with the appropriate supports for academic success, we will be adding a new attendance code to distinguish between a student that is absent versus logged in but not participating in any capacity. A student that is absent will be marked UNV. A student that is logged in but not participating in any capacity will be marked as CUT. As always, a student that is logged in and participating is marked present.
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Reporting absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals: Effective Monday, October 19, 2020, parents will have 2 options to report their student’s absence, late arrival, or early dismissal. They may choose to use the new on-line absence reporting system, or they may call their child’s subschool attendance line (current method).
4. SIS ParentVUE Reminder
This year more than ever, SIS ParentVUE (PVUE) is an essential tool for parents/guardians to keep up with your student’s attendance, grade book assignments and grades, report cards, and more. At the end of last school year, we reached a high of 80% of FCPS students with at least one parent/guardian with a PVUE account. We want to keep those account numbers and the usage going up so that we can rely on it as a communication tool with parents/guardians.
Please take some time to access PVUE periodically to check in on your student(s) throughout the school year to keep informed of their progress. If you do not yet have a PVUE account, please go to the following web site for details on what can be found in PVUE and how to activate a new PVUE account using your activation code: Student Information System - SIS Parent Account Overview.
5. Instruction Update for Thursday, October 29
Due to the PSAT being given to Juniors on Thursday, October 29th, all High School instruction on that day will be asynchronous. Middle School instruction will follow the Purple day bell schedule.
6. Bruins in Action: Soctober
Did you know that socks are the least donated items to most homeless shelters? Every night in the United States, an estimated 600,000 people live on the streets. This October, we want to prove that even a small act of love, such as donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our Northern Virginia neighbors who are poor or homeless.
Starting Monday, October 19th through Friday October 30th, PLEASE:
- Bring NEW pairs of socks in ALL sizes to Lake Braddock, and
- Place them in the Socktober Box inside of Door 1.
All collected socks will be donated to:
- Katherine Hanley Family Shelter in Fairfax, VA, click here
- New Hope Housing in Alexandria, VA, click here
Middle School Students should talk to their Social Studies teachers about the service hours they can earn by generously donating socks!
PLEASE GIVE GENEROUSLY, AND REMEMBER:
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The Athletic Leadership program at Lake Braddock is leading a pyramid-wide sock collection drive during the month of October. Socks are the most requested item at homeless shelters and, with each pair donated, a person is reminded they matter. We are donating our collected socks to New Hope Housing and the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter. This is the 3rd year we have collected socks as a community. There are multiple places to drop off donations: Door 1 of Lake Braddock Secondary School, Glory Days Grill in Burke, and 9714 Rolling Ridge Drive, Fairfax Station, VA 22039. We hope to build on the success of over 1,800 pairs donated last year. Our #Socktober effort has been expanded to include working with Robinson Secondary School!
@GloryDaysGrill in Burke will be a collection spot for sock donations starting this weekend!
@FCPSLBSS and @RobinsonRams are fortunate to have @GloryDaysGrill supporting our communities!
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High School Information
7. Advanced Placement Information
Student Services will be updated information regarding AP courses and exams. Please check the website frequently.
Please remember that Opt-Out forms are due no later than October 23rd. Families may complete the opt-out form process in one of two ways this year: return the opt-out form to the school via postage mail or complete an opt-out form online. If your student intends to take ALL of his/her scheduled AP exams in May, there is no need to complete an opt-out form.
8. Senior Portraits
Dear Parents and Class of 2021:
We at Victor O’Neill Studios, your school’s official school photographer, are excited to see you on the following date(s) for your senior portraits: Oct 20-21 and Nov 10-12.
Due to safety concerns during the COVID-19 crisis, we will no longer be mailing appointment notices home. It is safer to communicate with everyone through email and allows us to control the number of appointments throughout the day. We are reducing the number of appointments by 50% compared to previous years. Therefore, instead of pre-assigning a date and time for your senior portrait, we are offering you the opportunity to select your date and time through our new scheduling software. Please sign up for your session date and time here: pickatime.com/vosphoto/LakeBraddockss
Fairfax County is no longer allowing any shared clothing for the senior portraits. For the yearbook pose, solid colored dress shirts/tops work well for the camera; jackets and ties are optional. Please note that the photographer will not provide tuxedos and drapes due to county regulations. We are also working with the school to have the cap and gown photos taken once students receive them in the spring.
We will have the following modifications in place to ensure a safe environment for students, parents, and our staff:
We will have signage in place to encourage social distancing while students wait for their turn at each camera. Photographers will not come within physical contact of any student and will stay behind the camera. Photographers and assistants will be in gloves and masks while students are present. All of our staff will have their temperature checked before reporting to work each day. Anyone entering the room where portraits are taking place will have their temperature checked. Props will be sanitized between uses. To limit inter-personal contact, no “walk-in” appointments will be permitted for now.
We appreciate your cooperation with the following recommendations:
We recommend that anyone with underlying health conditions not accompany the high school senior to the school for their portraits if at all possible. Masks will be provided to any customers desiring one. Give each other space and follow the social distancing guidelines. Wash and sanitize your hands often. We will have sanitation stations throughout our portrait areas for your convenience. Most importantly, if you feel sick, have a fever, are coughing, have difficulty breathing, or if in the last two weeks you been in close contact with a person with a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19, please stay home. We strongly encourage you to reschedule your appointment if you or anyone in your household is feeling unwell.
If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to seniors@vosphoto.com
9. 2021 Virginia Summer Governor’s School
The Virginia Summer Governor’s School is a challenging and enriching program designed for highly motivated students who are looking for a challenging summer experience. Programs are offered in Visual and Performing Arts, Humanities, Math/Science/Tech, Agriculture, Life Science/Medicine, and Mentorships in Engineering and Life Sciences. These residential programs run from late June to late July and are four weeks in length. Only students who are available during that time frame and whose records match these criteria should apply.
It recommended to attend an interest meeting before completing the steps below. The Lake Braddock High School interest meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 21 at 3:00pm.
Please click on the BBCU link to attend the meeting: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/b3ab44d4f6854a449a55d7c7338ca3ab
The deadline to declare your interest for the Academics & Mentorship OR Visual & Performing Arts Programs for the 2020 Summer Residential Governor’s School is November 9, 2020 - NO late submissions will be accepted.
To declare your interest, please complete the Google Interest Form at the appropriate link below:
Academics & Mentorship Programs: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1r33x6D7NTmbL57-w33OuFfkKHp02wZUdTQ3ILWxwsnw/viewform?edit_requested=true
Visual & Performing Arts: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScL0HhKQ9zPSH5n3gOd9V9aAlNEnZqD4XT3NuW9y_jftbY5CA/viewform
For general information, please visit the VDOE link:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/governors_school_programs/summer_residential/
For the Application timeline for Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s Schools, please visit this link: https://www.fcps.edu/node/32439
If you have questions about the application process for the Virginia Summer Residential Governor’s Schools, please find contact information below:
Academics & Mentorship Programs: Mr. Ranallo - gwranallo@fcps.edu
Visual & Performing Arts: Mrs. Carrera – lncarrera@fcps.edu
Middle School Information
10. TDAP Vaccine Reminder
The Code of Virginia requirements for immunizations and physicals for school entry have not been waived for School Year (SY) 2020-2021.
Students will not be permitted to access face-to-face instruction without meeting all compliance requirements. For students who are conditionally enrolled and have not completed the necessary immunizations as required by the Code of Virginia, FCPS will provide provisional access to virtual learning only. Students may not participate in “in school” instruction and activities until meeting this requirement.
For questions about immunization requirements for your child, or to send proof of your child’s Tdap vaccination, please contact Angela Santizo at 703-426-1030 or assantizo@fcps.edu.
11. MS Lunch Bunch
Join your friends and fellow bruins during your lunch period. Register by scanning the QR code below or use this link: https://forms.gle/zbEPgw4RhMgMCMJV9.
PTSA Information
12. The deadline for the PTSA Reflections program has been extended to October 23.
The National PTA Reflections program provides opportunity for students to express their creativity through various art forms that centers around a theme. The arts categories are Dance Choreography, Film Production, Visual Arts, Photography, Literature, and Music Composition. New this year will be the format on which entries will be submitted. All entries will be following a digital format.
The Reflections theme for 2020-2021 is "I Matter Because..."
The following links have been created for students to submit their entries: Middle/Dance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDt8dvMeyZNh-_WbpFaSKeDN8kLejknWr2yxacnlqOqwKofA/viewform
Middle/Film: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCFSLPEi9R5aZYSPe-ChQmVvhRxdBd-OgUd-hKqXajvrYAww/viewform
Middle/Literature: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfdcH093cj26EQk_AcX0JZS_V4pVN7Fp9NAyQTX_D7CoDC9uw/viewform
Middle/Music: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSft6kW4J6Joq1DHymAgldDpN6zw1oh36ic2USyK50sE9d5uoA/viewform
Middle/Photography: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehofEj1R3O2Xj26QJcjHRY0JXxd8lXg4bmo_8lfVj813UoyA/viewform
Middle/Visual: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0hE4tKctEZu-de1CUgCPlaiDeZsdnD9JylpqopvlJn2lANg/viewform
High/Dance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHy8mbF0ivO9k3nTAaIM1OudlcKDvBXDjutbyfoUJTkUAcDA/viewform
High/Film: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd9Yx-l52nWHeCblkt18biwa9lGYGKYd_elFZZ5oQ2M4S31cA/viewform
High/Literature: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeE7Ydqlf_3FyfYNedYNq_5QLTc03ZIO-AnX9km1U8bYlzJOA/viewform
High/Music: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScljzVIeLcvfIC2KDK9ozkB7c1IB716eHU8joQtNC65tUz7jw/viewform
High/Photography: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6UtkwZkGNX90j7T5hAazPvEdHJ7XFO8CI5u4s4p7y--1HwQ/viewform
High/Visual: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSddJD7Ja8GRUuQcFdiQt619aUUzudaLQxrdloGbYXHQoyyZ2g/viewform
Special/Dance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdk3AgJn92D95yD5Zxuo-vW7BJiYqkNXmYNbwQVBzPYD9syfg/viewform
Special/Film: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScm4w2ftjAz1cF9SCwQK5Ti3itDjv1rZGY_VWoEJm3FTUI4ig/viewform
Special/Literature: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7_22nEMF-bdmy8bZzafkAmMAQZRdCSeWDRpIVqu0iZ66xNQ/viewform
Special/Music: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0tERK2pREvwDLHN9l3C3SAFq-p6XkxTs9Ub65rp7Vl9UlHw/viewform
Special/Photography: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeSHehneDsd35kvHjQpYrpDG9RQnzT-SnH1zPf_Mw72ggfqJQ/viewform
Special/Visual: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNg-OMTyRzyAYAl3AKz419wAMmN_KDW42tdHz0bvFJ8xG6ig/viewform
FCPS Information
13. Technology Support
If you find your student in need of tech support for their school-issued laptop, please to go FCPS Technology Support. There are a number of tips, suggestions, and links for assistance. If you are not able to solve the problem, please submit an IT request online. This request will be routed to Lake Braddock's IT team, who will get in contact with you and/or your student to solve the issue. Please do not submit multiple requests or call the school office directly.
Please keep a close eye on your email. This is how our IT department will communicate with you and your student. The email will come from FCPS and will have a subject line beginning with INC followed by a number. Please also give one to two school days for a response.
14. Free or Reduced-Price Meal Information
The application for Free or Reduced-Price Meals needs to be completed each school year for eligibility. If you applied last school year for your child(ren), please remember to submit a new application for this school year. The current eligibility status will expire on October 20, 2020.
Apply for free and reduced-price meals by visiting My School Apps . Eligibility may also provide your child(ren) other important benefits. Financial assistance with school related fees requires the completion of section four of the application – Consent to Share Information. Be sure your child(ren) are approved for the 20-21 school year.
The online application is available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Tagalog, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. Follow the link above to the website and then click on the Language drop down menu on the top bar. Paper applications are available to complete and submit in English upon request at FCPS food distribution sites.
15. Fairfax County Public Library Checkout Now Available to All Students
Effective October 1, all FCPS students (preK-12) are able to check out materials from the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), even if they don’t have a traditional library card or a card has been blocked due to fines.
Under the Library Equity Access Pass program (LEAP), a partnership with FCPS and FCPL, students need only their name, not a physical library card, to check out three items at a time for six weeks each (no renewals). LEAP accounts are never charged fines or fees.
A student can have a LEAP account in addition to a standard library account. Standard accounts allow users to place holds on materials and access FCPL’s digital resources, such as eBooks and databases.
Families can apply for a standard account online and in library branches.
16. Grab and Go Meals
FCPS Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) continues to update times and locations for grab and go meals posted on the website. Grab and go meals are available to ALL students. In addition, FNS will offer breakfast and lunch meals for Saturday during distribution on Fridays. Food distribution locations and times are posted and updated frequently on the website: https://www.fcps.edu/return-school/food
17. Video: Virtual Learning Tech Tips
If you would like to be able to use your home wifi printer with your student’s FCPS laptop, check out this video for instructions on how to do so. Watch the video.
Virtual Learning Playlist
The virtual learning playlist includes several videos about digital citizenship, technology tips, and how to keep your FCPS laptop and other features ready for student success. Go to the virtual learning playlist.
FCPS Mental Health Resources
15. FCPS website for Mental Health Resources and information for emergency mental health services:
How to Stay In-Touch
Please stay in touch with us throughout the year by:
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