Important Upcoming Dates
October 26: Virtual Spirit Week Begins
October 26: Library Curbside Pick-up-12:00PM-3:00PM & 4:00PM-7:00PM
October 26: AAP Virtual Parent Q & A Session for Level IV Screening (Grades 2-6)-7:00PM
October 27: Return to School Parent Information Session-7:00PM
October 28: Virtual Costume Parade Pictures Due
October 30: End of the First Quarter - 2 hour early release (Classes end at 1:15PM)
November 2: No School for Students/School Planning Day
November 3: No School for Students/Teacher Work Day
November 4: PTA Meeting-6:00PM
New This Week
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
2. Update-Friday, October 30
3. Veterans Day Event at Olde Creek
4. Mental Health Team
5. SIS ParentVUE
6. PTA Corner
Updates & Reminders
7. Virtual Spirit Week
8. Virtual Costume Parade
9. OC Staff Shout-outs
10. Library Curbside Pick-Up
11. Advanced Academics Program (AAP) Information
12. Progress Reports- “Go Paperless”
13. Olde Creek Bears Care Program Outreach
14. Reading Fitness Quest
15. Contacts
16. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
Dear Olde Creek Families and Friends,
We hope that you and your family are having a great week. Thank you to our families who were able to join us for our Virtual Parent Coffee Wednesday afternoon. We had the opportunity to celebrate our successes from the start of the 2020-21 school year, shared resources, provided updates on the return to school, and answered questions. We look forward to continuing these conversations and connecting with our families!
Next, Tuesday, October 27, we welcome our first group of students back to our school building for in-person instruction since March 13. Our first group of students returning are the students in our enhanced autism program and our comprehensive service site who selected in-person instruction. We will follow strict safety and health protocols to minimize health risks for students and staff. To learn more, visit the FCPS Student Health and Safety Guidance Document here. Thank you to our many families in this group who joined us for our parent information session on their return to school last evening.
The FCPS School Board has approved a tentative timeline for additional groups of elementary students to return to school at the October 15 meeting. Our kindergartners who select in-person learning would return the week of November 16 and grades 1-2, the week of November 30. The January 4 tentative return date for grades 3-6 will be discussed further at the School Board's November 12 meeting.
As we prepare for additional groups of students to return, we will be offering a Return to School parent information session to provide updates, process information, and to talk about next steps for these next few weeks. It is important for us to hear your thoughts and concerns as we prepare for a safe and successful return for our Bears. Our Return to School parent information session will take place on Tuesday, October 27 at 7:00PM. We will send out the link to join on Tuesday morning to our families. Moving forward, we will also host information sessions for each group returning, closer to their return date.
We are looking forward to our fall spirit week next week! Please see the information below to join us in celebrating fall.
Stronger Together,
Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal, ajbutler@fcps.edu
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal, kldurso@fcps.edu
2. Update-Friday, October 30
We received updated information and clarity around Friday, October 30 today. Next Friday, October 30 is a 2-hour early release day for all students. Our students who return in-person on Tuesday, October 27 will also be participating in virtual instruction and will not come to the building on Friday. Again, all instruction on Friday, October 30 will be provided through our virtual platforms.
3. Veterans Day Event at Olde Creek
Olde Creek would like to invite our community’s military family members to speak with students and share their experiences on the morning of Wednesday, November 11 to recognize Veterans Day. We are very proud to have so many military family members in our school community and we want our students and staff to have an opportunity to make a connection with all of you. We would like to invite all of the Active Duty, Reserve, and retired members of our Armed Forces in the Olde Creek community to join us on this important day.
On the morning of November 11 from 9:00-9:30, we invite veterans to visit a virtual classroom to share a little bit about themselves and their service to our country.
If you are an active Duty, Reserve, or retired member of our Armed Forces or have a family member or friend that is interested in joining us on Monday, November 11 from 9:00-9:30, please click on this link and fill out the survey by October 30. We look forward to seeing you on November 11.
|
4. Mental Health Team
Olde Creek Elementary School’s mental health team provides support, services and consultation to any youth in the Olde Creek school community who needs mental health support services. Olde Creek Elementary School is concerned about your child’s overall well-being. The mental health team is here to help.
For more information, please contact:
Jeanna Squif, School Counselor: jmsquif@fcps.edu
Kim Close-Jensen, School Social Worker: ksclosejense@fcps.edu
Ellen Goldberger, School Psychologist: emgoldberger@fcps.edu
For information about children’s mental health education, supports, and resources in Fairfax County, please visit the Healthy Minds Fairfax website at:
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/healthymindsfairfax/
5. Reminder for Parents/Guardians about SIS ParentVUE
This year more than ever, SIS ParentVUE (PVUE) is an essential tool for parents/guardians to keep up with their student’s attendance, progress report cards, and more. This will be the first quarter that we have offered a PDF version of the progress report and ES parents/guardians now have the option to “Go Paperless” for all report cards and progress reports.
If you have not yet created a PVUE account yet, please reach out to Mr. Santos, our Student Information Assistant, to provide you with an activation code. Details on what can be found in PVUE and how to activate a new PVUE account using your activation code can be found here - Student Information System - SIS Parent Account Overview.
6. PTA Corner
Thank you for supporting the PTA through the Noodles and Co. Family Dinner Night. We raised over $400. Awesome!
On the fundraising note, we are still looking for members. We currently have 111 members signed up compared to 259 last year. You can sign up via the Olde Creek PTA website and pay by credit card online or drop off a check at school addressed to the Olde Creek PTA.
Our next PTA meeting will be at 6 PM on Wednesday, November 4 via Google Meet. A link will be sent out next week.
The Olde Creek PTA and The Future Brighter are offering a Virtual STEM club for OC students in grades 3-6. The Future Brighter is a non-profit organization founded by a junior at Thomas Jefferson High School. This club will meet every Monday starting 11/9/20. Please see the flyer and follow the link to sign up.
|
7. Virtual Spirit Week
Join Olde Creek for our first Spirit Week October 26-30th. View the flyer linked here. We can't wait to celebrate Fall with our OC Bears!
8. Virtual Costume Parade
Calling all Olde Creek Bears! We’re sad we will not get to see all of your costumes during the Halloween Howl this year. Instead, come Trick or Treat with us virtually! Submit your costume pictures here. They will be showcased on the OCNN morning news show on Friday, October 30th in a virtual costume parade. We cannot wait to “see” you! Pictures must be submitted by October 28th. Photos submitted should include costumes that are school appropriate and should not include weapons.
|
9. OC Staff Shout Out
We want to continue to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of our teachers and staff in our virtual learning environment. If your family would like to give a shout out to an OC staff member, please complete this survey.
|
10. Library Curbside Pick-Up
It’s been great seeing students and families at our weekly curbside pick-up events on Mondays! This coming Monday we will be handing out special fall bookmarks to each student as part of our Fall Spirit Week. Remember that students in grades K through 2 can come to the curbside pick-up events and ask for a Mystery Bag of books. While students in grades 3 through 6 should place books on Hold in the Destiny system so that the OC Library knows what books they want. Use this link for a YouTube video describing how to place books on hold in the Destiny system. We hope to see many OC students at curbside pick-up on Monday, October 26th, from 12:00-3:00 or 4:00-7:00.
11. Advanced Academics Program (AAP) Information
It was a pleasure to meet those of you who came to our Advanced Academics Overview presentation at the beginning of the month. For those who missed the presentation, please click here for the overview of Advanced Academic services in Fairfax County Public Schools. I look forward to answering questions about the Advanced Academic Screening process for level 4 services.
The Level IV Screening Question and Answer session will include updates regarding screening from the AAP Office during this time of Distance Learning. Please preview this presentation before joining us here this upcoming Monday night October 26, 2020 at 7pm to have your questions answered. Some changes and updates have been made to better safeguard and support both families and staff as we look to screen our 2nd – 6th grade students for Level IV services. Level IV services are screened at the county level and look to identify students who need additional extension and enrichment in all core subject areas (math, reading, science, social studies). Here is more information regarding AAP Levels:
FCPS offers a continuum of services for elementary students to meet their current academic needs.
Level I: Grades K-6 – All students receive lessons in critical and creative thinking strategies and some AAP curriculum lessons.
Level II: Grades K-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in the general education setting in areas of academic strength.
Level III: Grades 3-6 – Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons in more than one academic content area. The Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART) leads these lessons. Programming has increased depth and complexity in several content areas.
Level IV: Grades 3-8 –Identified students receive AAP curriculum lessons full-time. Programming has increased depth, complexity, and pace in all academic content areas.
Olde Creek Advanced Academics Dates to Note:
October 26th-7pm: Click here to join the AAP Level IV Screening Question and Answer Session (2nd-6th Grade)
November 2nd-8:00-8:45 AM - Click here to join office hours with Mrs. Powell. This is for parents, guardians, and caregivers who have further advanced academic questions.
September 8th-December 1: Level IV AAP Parent Referrals submission window. Send referrals to empowell@fcps.edu in Word/PDF/JPG Format
March: Central Selection Committee Meets
April: Level IV Eligibility decisions will be mailed to homes from the AAP Office
12. Progress Reports - “Go Paperless”
The “Go Paperless” option is now available to all parents with elementary-aged children to only receive online progress reports starting the first quarter of SY 20/21. This will not impact any other mailings from FCPS other than the progress reports for students and report cards for secondary students.
To take advantage of the paperless options, parents and/or guardians will need to log into ParentVUE, then go to “My Account” and select "Go Paperless" All parents and/or guardians who live with the student and share the same address must have a SIS ParentVUE account and must select the paperless option to prevent mailing of the printed progress reports. The “Go Paperless” option will apply to all their associated students, no matter what school level. If the associated parent and/or guardian has already selected “Go Paperless” for their secondary student, the option will now apply to any ES siblings as well.
13. Olde Creek Bears Care Community Outreach Program
Help! Donations Needed for Bears Care Community Program
The pantry distributes food provisions to Olde Creek students and their families in need for the week. Use this link to sign up for any donations you are able to provide during this extraordinary time! Please email Lisa Goodwin at lisamarm@gmail.com about a drop off or for pick up time and date.
Check out our list of item ideas on our PTA website. Most food items are welcome at this time. Gift cards are also greatly appreciated for families right now! Stores, such as Walmart, can mail gift cards without even having to make a trip to the store! Or, order food items from our Bears Care Amazon Wish List and have it delivered directly. (Use Amazon Smile and have a percentage donated to OCE!).
Thank you, as always, for your kindness and generosity!
|
14. Reading Fitness Quest
Do you want to earn ribbons for keeping your mind and body in shape? You can participate in Olde Creek’s Reading Fitness Quest and do just that! To make it easier on students and families, we will be trying Reading Fitness Quest digitally this year!
All you have to do is exercise for 20 minutes and read for 20 minutes in a single day and that counts as 1 point. Accumulate 50 points and you will get your first ribbon!
Please see the Olde Creek PE website for more information and join the Reading Fitness Quest Google Classroom to get started tracking your points! (You will need to be logged into your child’s @fcpsschools.net account to access both links).
Let’s get moving and reading and keep our minds and bodies in shape!
|
15. Contacts
Olde Creek Attendance Phone Line: 703-426-3192
Olde Creek Attendance mailbox: OldeCreekElem.Attendance@fcps.edu
Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak
English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portall
Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal, ajbutler@fcps.edu
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal, kldurso@fcps.edu
Sylvia Alverson, Administrative Assistant, sjalverson@fcps.edu
Ann Platenkamp, Administrative Assistant, amplatenkamp@fcps.edu
Lizardo Santos, Student Information Assistant, LISantos@fcps.edu
Sandy McCulloch, Office Assistant, slmcculloch@fcps.edu
16. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
|
