Important Upcoming Dates
11/16 Art Supplies Pickup Begins
11/17 Return to School for Kindergarten (Virtual and In-Person)
11/17 New instructional schedule begins for K-2
11/23 - 12/6 Online Book Fair
11/25 - 11/27 Thanksgiving Holidays
12/1 Last day to submit Advanced Academics Referral (Contact: Cat Wilkins cmwilkins@fcps.edu)
12/8 NEW date for Return to School for Grades 1 and 2 (Virtual and In-Person)
1/12 NEW date for Return to School for Grades 3-6 (Virtual and In-Person)
See the complete 2020-21 school year calendar
IN THIS ISSUE
- NEW: Instructional Schedule Change
- NEW: Art Supplies Pickup
- NEW: Book Fair is Coming!
- UPDATE: AAPLevel IV Referrals
- UPDATE: Parent Choice Survey for Grades 3-6
- ParentVUE Account
- Technology News
- PTA News
- Send us your pics!
Our kindergarten staff is excited to physically welcome back some of our students!
1. Instructional Schedule Change
As we phase in groups of students back to the building, we find it necessary to alter our current schedule. The implementation of the new schedule for K-2 and Ms. Christensen’s ID class will begin on Tuesday, November 17th. Even if you chose virtual learning for your child, you will notice shifts in your child’s schedule. Please understand that this is due to the fact that we needed to align the specials for in-person and virtual groups.
Grades 3-6 will keep their current schedule until they phase into in-person learning in January 2021. You will receive your child’s updated schedule as we get close to receiving the students back.
K-2 Families: Your new schedule will be implemented beginning Tuesday, November 17. Your child’s teacher will share a new schedule with you by Monday, November 16.
2. Art Supplies Pickup
Art Material Pickup for general education grades 1-6 will begin on Monday, November 16th.
You can pick up the materials Monday-Friday from 9-3 in the front lobby.
- EACH student gets ONE bag of art materials.
- Each bag includes: sketchbook, construction paper, a watercolor set, and modeling clay.
- Please bring a pen to sign your child’s name and grade when you pick up a bag of materials
 3. NEW: Book Fair is Coming!
The Scholastic Book Fair is back! While our Fair will be exclusively held online this year, we still plan on making it a fun and joyous experience for our kids. Features include:
- Fairfax Villa’s own online store with a large selection of titles
- A Virtual Fair so you and your kids can experience the magic of the school shopping experience. Browse titles by grade, meet popular authors, and discover the comfort and joy of our Fair
- Every dollar you spend will benefit our school directly (25% back in rewards!)
Save these dates:
- Fair Dates: November 23 – December 6
You will get a link to our Fairfax Villa Fair when it opens on November 23rd. Stay tuned! We can’t wait to “see” you at the Fair!
4. AAP Level IV Referrals
The deadline for referring students in Grades 2-7 for AAP full-time Level IV consideration is December 1, 2020. No late referrals will be accepted. Please note that there has been a delay in releasing the 2nd grade screening pool, so parents are advised not to wait to find out if their child is in the pool. If parents would like their student screened, they should submit a referral and any optional materials by December 1. All paperwork should be emailed to cmwilkins@fcps.edu. Acceptable formats are PDF, Word, and jpg/png.
If you were unable to attend the parent information session about the Level IV referral process, a recording of the meeting can be found here, and the accompanying slideshow can be found here. Additional information and all forms are available on the AAP website. If you have any additional questions after viewing the presentation, please contact Mrs. Wilkins at cmwilkins@fcps.edu.
Mrs. Wilkins will also be available during open office hours to answer specific questions as parents are working to complete the referral packet. The office hours will be from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. on the next three Mondays: November 16, 23, and 30. The BBCU link for the office hours is: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/59a7a63d74d44fcaa3f4e3caee3e6e56
5.REMINDER: Parent Choice Survey for Grades 3-6
If you did NOT fill out the survey sent to you from Ms. An in October that had you choose between the 4 days of virtual learning and the 2 days of in-person/2 days of virtual learning for your child, please do that now. We need this information now for each student. We will analyze this data to determine if we can continue to maintain our current classes or if there becomes a need to adjust teacher assignments based on the families that decide to do in-person vs. virtual instruction.
On October 15, the FCPS School Board voted to approve FCPS’s schedule to bring additional student groups back to school for in-person instruction in the near future. We will follow strict safety and health protocols to minimize health risks for students and staff. To learn more about those protocols, visit here.
Third Grade Survey
Fourth Grade Parent Survey
Fifth Grade Parent Survey
Sixth Grade Parent Survey
6.ParentVue Account
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 elementary school parents/guardians now have the option to “Go Paperless” for all report cards and progress reports.
Please take some time to log into your Parent Vue account here. If you have forgotten your password, click on “More Options” to reset or change it. There is a language option in the bottom right corner.
If you have not yet set up a ParentVue account, please email Ms. Schmidt at bdschmidt@fcps.edu and request that she send you your activation code and instructions.
7.Technology News
- If you are having any problems with the laptop you were issued from Fairfax Villa, the first place to go is this parent help website. It has troubleshooting ideas for everything from finding your child’s google account to how to resolve audio/video issues.There is a helpline (833-921-3277) that you can call from 7am to 11pm 7 days a week. If you need a translator for your call, please let them know.
- If none of those fix your problems, there is also a link where parents can put in a RequestIT to the FCPS Service Desk. Please do not let your students put in a RequestIT. There are also parent information phone lines in different languages. Please do not contact your child’s teacher about technology problems unless it is a classroom specific issue (i.e. Google classroom code).
- If you do not have internet in your home and would like to learn how to obtain low-cost internet service for qualifying families from Cox, please email our social worker, Maria Marris, at msmarris@fcps.edu.
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8. PTA News
The following message is sent on behalf of the Fairfax Villa ES School PTA. Its content reflects the views of the PTA.
Original Works
There’s still time for your child to make Original Works keepsakes! Original Works will turn your child’s artwork or photo into custom keepsakes to share with family and friends. Visit www.originalworks.com/atHome for instructions, and use our school code FAFA at checkout. Please see the Fairfax Villa email from 10/28 for more details, or contact Jessie at villata@gmail.com. Order deadline is November 20!
Spirit Wear
Do you or your child want Fairfax Villa t-shirts or masks? We have opened the Spirit Wear store with these and other great items! The store will be open until November 23, so place your orders now!
https://wildhaggissports.com/teamstore/team/FVES
 KiwiKuisine Pies
We are teaming up with KiwiKuisine, a great local company offering a super deal on handmade savory meat pies & dessert goodies.
To place an order, visit the site at http://www.kiwikuisine.com/purchasing-pies and use the discount code DRAGONS (all caps). You will automatically get a 5% discount on your own order, plus the PTA will receive an additional 10% back to help us support our great school & staff.
You can choose to have your order shipped direct to you or pick up curbside yourself. Or, if you want group delivery, mention Fairfax Villa in the notes, and we will arrange for a pick up near the school for Monday, November 23 (in time for Thanksgiving!!). For direct shipping or curbside pickup, order by the end of November. If you want the group delivery, please order by November 22.
 AmazonSmile
Do you shop at Amazon.com? If so, you can support the Fairfax Villa PTA, and our kids and teachers, while you shop! Visit smile.amazon.com and choose the Fairfax Villa Elementary PTA as your charity, and AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your order total to the PTA.
PTA Membership
PTA Membership is still open! Please join online at https://fairfaxvilla.memberhub.store/. Memberships are $10/person. If you would like to pay by check or need financial assistance, please contact Jessie at villapta@gmail.com.
Outside Activities
Girl Scouts make the world a better place! Become a Daisy Girl Scout while making new friends, playing outside, and having fun! This is an introductory program for Kindergarten girls not currently in Girl Scouts. (COVID-19 safety guidelines can be found at gscnc.org.)
Thursdays October 22, November 5 & 19, and December 3 - alternating Zoom / Westmore Park (join anytime!)
$25 (financial assistance available)
For more info, contact Elizabeth Wood at ewood@gscnc.org or 703-372-4344 (call/text)
9. Send us your pics!
Over the next couple of weeks, if you have created learning activities that your children have enjoyed or have pictures of your children learning online, please email us at drgerstner@fcps.edu and DRSutter@fcps.edu with a picture and a brief description. We would like to share them in our upcoming Friday News You Choose messages and they may also be included in the 2020-21 yearbook.
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