The Staff at Irving Middle School wish all Irving Families the very best Holiday Season and winter break! As we look forward to the new year and new adventures in learning with your students, please stay safe and be sure to take time to rest and enjoy time with your family! We will see you in 2021 - Happy New Year!
Interest in a Yearbook
We are gauging interest in whether or not families would be interested in purchasing a yearbook this year. We are working on scheduling picture days for late January/early February. The yearbook would include selfie submissions collected by Ms. Geary from our SCA Spirit Weeks and more. The cost of the year book would be approximately $15. To indicate interest or not, please click on the link and vote. There is no obligation to purchase, by seeing interest, we will know how many to order. Thank you!
Save the Date - Virtual Curriculum Night
Families with rising 7th (current 6th grade) and rising 8th (current 7th grade) grade are invited to join us to learn about courses for next year at our annual Curriculum Night on January 6th. Links will be provided at a later date.
6:30-7:10 - Information will be provided about Special Education and ESOL courses
7:15-7:45 - Information will be provided about 7th grade core classes (English, history, science & math)
7:50-8:30 - Information will be provided about elective classes for 7th and 8th grade students
*Irving will host a presentation about 8th grade core classes when students make these choices in April.
WIMS End of School Day Time - Effective January 12, 2021
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Each year, the Office of Transportation Services reviews the bell schedules for all Fairfax County public schools and makes minor adjustments as necessary to improve on-time arrivals.
As you can imagine, developing this school year’s bell schedule has been extremely challenging due to the pandemic.
You may remember that new school bell schedules were announced in July. Our school’s bell schedule was changed. However, given the all-virtual start to the school year, there was no need to implement the new bell schedule.
At the School Board Work session on December 10, Superintendent Brabrand presented a revised phased- plan to return all students who have selected the in-person option starting in January, 2021. Staff worked to improve start times and end times for all levels.
Barring any changes to the plan that may be impacted by the pandemic, the following bell schedule will be in place effective January 12, 2021 for both virtual and in- person instruction.
Return to School Bell Schedule
Middle School
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7:30-2:00
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Secondary School
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8:20-2:50
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High School
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8:20-2:50
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Thomas Jefferson
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8:40-3:45
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Elementary School
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9:00-3:30 or 9:45-4:15
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We feel this plan is a significant improvement and less disruptive over what was presented in the original plan last summer.
The fifteen (15) minute reduction in the school day is due to the increased cleaning time required between bus runs. Additionally, as more students return to school, the number of students allowed on each bus will be reduced substantially to meet social distancing requirements. With fewer students able to ride a bus at the same time, FCPS has no choice but to adjust the times that our buses are transporting students.
We understand that changes may present a hardship to some of our families and staff. However, it is the only way we can return all our grade levels to in-person learning, while following the critical guidelines to help keep our students and staff safe.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Cindy Conley
Schoology Pilot Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers Feedback Survey
To: Families
Subject: Schoology - Winter Survey - Families
Dear Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers,
Thank you for participating in our Schoology pilot year. We would like you to take a short survey about your experience. Your answers will help us make any necessary improvements as we prepare all FCPS schools to begin using Schoology in the 2021-22 school year. The survey will take between 5-10 minutes to complete.
Please complete the survey by Wednesday, January 15.
Survey link: Family Pilot Year Schoology Feedback
Thank you for your valuable time and important ideas.
Sincerely,
Cindy Conley
Safe and Caring Schools – Parent and Caregiver Pilot Training
Now– 1/29/2021 - Pilot Window
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
In an effort to develop a more comprehensive approach to fostering safe and caring school cultures, Fairfax County Public Schools has partnered with Kognito to develop new online trainings for students, staff, and caregivers.
The Safe & Caring Schools program includes three online simulations designed to educate students, staff, and parents/caregivers on the unique role they play in fostering safe and caring school communities and the value of fostering trusted adult relationships. Each online training enables learners to reflect on their role in fostering a safe & caring school, recognize signs a student may be in distress, understand potential resources of support and engage in a caring conversation in a safe practice environment. Similar to other Kognito trainings, the communication techniques taught are designed to foster conversations that empower our school community to discuss concerns and connect students with appropriate resources.
In this training you will enter a virtual environment and assume the role of an adult interacting with a young person. The interactive portions of the trainings allow you to choose actions and responses in order to receive real-time feedback on how well you are doing to engage the student in conversation and take appropriate actions.
FCPS is encouraging parents and caregivers to take the pilot version of this free, online training between December 15, 2020 and January 29, 2021. Feedback from this pilot will be collected via surveys and used to develop the final version of the training. Your participation would be greatly appreciated.
To open an account and begin the course:
- Go to http://kognitocampus.com
- Select “Don’t have an account? Click here”
- Use the following Enrollment Key: fcpsparentcaregiver2020
The following courses will be available:
Safe & Caring Schools for Parents & Caregivers - 13 mins
Safe & Caring Schools for Students (Evaluation Version) - 14 mins
Parents and caregivers are asked to complete training and are welcome to view the student pilot training as well.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Jennifer Spears at jmspears@fcps.edu
Library News
Reserve your Books for Winter Break! We hope that you have plenty of reading materials to enjoy over the winter break. Curbside provision of library books will continue in the 2021 calendar year on January 11th. If there are books that you want to read, log into the library’s catalog to place holds. Books held by Friday morning will be available for pickup at the school on the following Monday, from noon until 3 pm.
Readers Unite Book Club celebrated the end of the calendar year with a little party on 12/16. The final discussion of the book Twerp will happen on 1/6/21. After that time, the club will be selecting a new (third) title to read together. Joining the club when we’re starting to read a new book together makes the transition seamless. We would love to have more students join us. Students who are interested in joining can find the join link for “Readers Unite” in the After School Program’s website. The club meets from 2:30-3:30 on Wednesdays through the Blackboard Collaborate link available in the Readers Unite Group page.
--Ms. Monk & Mrs. Gawalt
Technology News
ParentVue and StudentVue Updates
Please be advised: in order to upgrade the SIS System for 2021, ParentVue and StudentVue will not be available starting at 5:00pm on December 18, until 6:00am on December 21.
Student Laptops and Winter Break
These laptop care tips were shared with your child in ROCK Block this week. Following the tips given below should help to keep your child’s laptop healthy and running smoothly when we return from Winter Break.
Digital Resource Parent Permission
Action Item: Irving teachers use some digital resources that require parent consent. These have been carefully vetted by IS and IT for instructional appropriateness, technical functionality, and student data management which is compliant with FERPA and state law. If you have not yet provided consent for your child to use these digital resources, please do so today. Thank you!
Link to the Parent Permission Form | Link to Irving MS Digital Resources
After School Program
If your child is interested in joining one of our clubs, please have them visit the After School Program Student Website in the All Students Course in Schoology. If your child needs help signing up for a club, check out this video tutorial! Tutorial for Accessing the Irving After School Program Student Website
Club Schedule
To view the weekly club schedule, click here.
Questions about After School? Please email Emily Geary (emgeary@fcps.edu)
News from your PTA
Amazon Smiles: Don’t finish your holiday shopping without signing up for Amazon Smiles to support the Washington Irving PTA! Your purchases year round at no additional cost to you can support the PTA and Irving Middle School!
For any questions, comments or ideas, please contact us at IrvingMSPTA@gmail.com.
If you haven't joined the PTA yet, you can do that on our MemberHub site here.
We hope to see you at the next PTA meeting on January 12th!
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