A message from Principal, Amy Miller:
Dear Kilmer Families,
I hope you all had a restful winter break. We are excited to see our students back in our classes and to be starting 2021 together.
This past Wednesday (January 6) Dr. Brabrand sent an update to the community based on the outcomes from the January 5th School Board Meeting. Below are some important points from the communication:
- Current community transmission of COVID-19 in Fairfax County remains high. After discussing the plan with the School Board and hearing from many parents and staff, we are going to continue to pause the plan to bring students and staff back into school buildings. Dr. Brabrand will provide an update on the Return to School plan to the School Board on Tuesday, February 2.
- We will not be moving to the new bell schedule on January 12. We will continue to use the current bell schedule until we have a revised Return to School schedule. We will communicate any future changes to the bell schedule in advance.
- Monday, January 11 will remain an independent (asynchronous) learning day for students and a teacher preparation day.
- Students will login into their PAWS Advisory Schoology Site and complete the Google attendance form that will be posted in the banner. We ask that students do this by 9:30 AM.
During PAWS Advisory this month teachers will engage students in one on one check-in conferences. We are looking forward to hearing from each one of our students.
Sincerely,
Amy Miller
Principal
Schoology Survey
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 Friday, January 15th.
Survey link: Family Pilot Year Schoology Feedback
Thank you for your valuable time and important ideas.
Thomas Jefferson High School Application Window
The TJHSST application will open for 8th grade students to apply from February 1 at 8:00 am through February 26 at 4:00 pm. Please visit www.tjadmissions.org for information regarding the application process and eligibility requirements. Questions can be directed to your child’s school counselor.
TJ Diversity Talk
The PTSA Diversity Committee of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) is launching a series of Diversity Talks webinars in January! This series is especially for elementary and middle school students in grades 4-8. Join us to hear from people working in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. What sparked their interest in STEM? What did they study in school? What kinds of jobs do they do? What else would you like to know?
Mark your calendars for Monday, January 11, at 6 p.m. to hear the first speakers of our Diversity Talk series: Suresh Shenoy, Neena Shenoy and Nikhil Shenoy. Suresh Shenoy, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, is a business leader and philanthropist who has contributed deeply to many aspects of the northern Virginia community. He was executive vice president at Alyx Technologies Inc., a Virginia-based consulting and technology services company. Mr. Shenoy was a founding member of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund and served on its board until 2002. Neena Shenoy is a Mechanical Engineer (Tufts University 1981 and MIT 1985) and founder of Technology & Engineering providing engineering services. She was involved in designing aircraft engines for GE and worked on the Space Shuttle program for NASA designing and installing Special Payloads. She has also provided program management in start up businesses here and in India. Nikhil Shenoy graduated from TJHSST in 2002, MIT in 2006 and the University of Chicago in 2014. After working at Goldman Sachs, Proctor and Gamble, and Kastle Systems, he is now CEO of Colvin Run Networks, a company that he started in northern Virginia to offer artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions to governments.
Parents, register at this Zoom link: https://bit.ly/TJDiversityTalk1
Submit questions in advance here: https://bit.ly/tjdiversitytalks
Yearbook Portraits
We have rescheduled our Picture Day that was cancelled on December 17th to Wednesday, February 3rd from 3-6pm. Lifetouch will send appointment emails to all families as well. A make-up day will be held in mid-March. Photos will take place in the gym and hallway with required health and safety guidelines. All students must wear a mask except when their photo is taken. Upon arriving at the Kilmer campus, parents should park around the bus loop and remain in their car until their student is finished (~5 minutes). Students will begin the photo process with the Health Screening Station at the school entrance by the trailers at the back of the parking lot. We will have people out directing traffic and showing students where to go. Photo packets can be ordered online on mylifetouch.com using the Picture Day ID EVTMG9K3D
National Junior Honor Society
Kilmer’s NJHS expects a strong commitment to service from our candidates. Developing a service learning project relevant to candidate interests, collaborating with other NJHS candidates, reflecting on and responding to real community needs are all part of the Kilmer service learning process. By January 20, candidates are asked to complete the two Stage 1: Investigation Schoology activities and participate in the December 10, 2020, all candidate meeting (or alternate activity in Schoology) in order to maintain candidacy. We are set to move forward into Stage 2: Plan.
The next all candidate meeting is after school on January 28 in the NJHS BBCU link. Kilmer’s NJHS is ready to Make a Difference!
National Junior Honor Society Gallery Walk and Induction Ceremony
Kilmer’s National Junior Honor Society will host a virtual Service Learning Gallery and Induction Ceremony in May 2021 for parents, community members and students. Stay tuned for this exciting evening which will showcase NJHS candidates and their service learning projects. More details will be announced in the months ahead.
Kilmer Pantry
Thank you to our community for your continued support of our food pantry. Through your generosity, we were able to provide several bags of food to more than 35 families.
We are collecting items through a drive thru donation every Monday from 3:00 – 5:00 pm.
In addition, families are invited to donate non-perishable food items by direct shipping from Amazon, Target, Walmart, or wherever you shop (send to the attention of Debra David at Kilmer). This Amazon WishList includes a list of potential items to donate.
Donation requests include: pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, pasta, rice, beans, cereal, oatmeal, cooking oil, peanut butter, crackers, granola bars, canned fruit/applesauce, canned tuna, canned veggies, instant macaroni and cheese. In addition, household items including paper towels, toothpaste, washing machine pods, dish soap and bar soap are also needed.
We are grateful for the support of our Kilmer Community.
If you wish your family to receive food, please contact your child’s counselor.
What’s on the Shelf: News from the Kilmer Library
Thoughtful, well-developed search skills are so important in this era where information is everywhere. Encourage your student to sharpen their critical thinking and web searching abilities by playing A Google A Day -- an online game in which the player solves a lateral thinking game by searching Google.
Key Upcoming Library Dates:
- Monday, January 11, 1:00pm - 3:30pm: Cougars @ the Curb (curbside checkout hours)
- Thursday, January 21, 5:00pm - 7:00pm: Cougars @ the Curb (curbside checkout hours)
- Monday, January 25, 1:00pm - 3:30pm: Cougars @ the Curb (curbside checkout hours)
Afterschool At a Glance:
As a reminder all students must have a completed Kilmer Middle Afterschool General Registration Form on file to participate. Updates, club descriptions and meeting details are located in the Schoology Afterschool Group (access code 2W54-ZSDS-BKJMV). Individual club enrollment requests, descriptions and the Afterschool Activities Calendar are located under Resources. Contact After School Program Specialist, Kimberly Kardelis with questions.
|
