Upcoming Events
January 8 – Last day to submit Yearbook Cover Art
January 11 – Library Curbside Pickup 9:00 – 11:00 am, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
January 11 – PTA Meeting 7:00 pm
January 13 - Virtual FLE Parent Information Meeting 3:30 pm
January 13 – Virtual Immersion Information Meeting, 7:00 pm
January 18 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday – Holiday
January 19 – PTA Spirit Night, Coal Fire, 11:30 am – 8:00 pm
January 20 – Inauguration Day – Holiday
January 22 – 2 Hour Early Release (1:20 pm)
January 25 – Library Curbside Pickup 9:00 – 11:00 am, 1:00 – 3:00 pm
January 25 – Teacher Workday (Student Holiday)
Message from the Principal
Dear Ravensworth Families,
Wednesday was a difficult day for our nation. I was raised to have the utmost respect for government and democracy and it was incredibly hard and scary to see the images on the news. If you need support in talking with your child about these events or your child needs support, please reach out to one of our school counselors Todd Austin WTAustin@fcps.edu and Dana Smith dmsmith@fcps.edu
On January 5, 2021 the School Board made the decision to delay the timeline for in-person instruction based on the current high levels of COVID in the local community. We know that this decision to delay is frustrating for many, but we all want the in-person transition to be done safely for both students and staff. Due to this delay, we will not be starting the previously advertised bell schedule change and will remain on our current schedule of 8:35 AM-3:20 PM. January 11, 2011 will remain a teacher preparation day K-6 as previously advertised. Teachers will meet with students for a brief Morning Meeting and they will post work for students to complete independently.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
Sincerely,
Erika Aspuria
Principal
FCPS Announces Open Enrollment for Dual Language Immersion Programs – Ravensworth Immersion Information Meeting – Jan 13, 2021, 7:00 pm
An informational meeting about Ravensworth’s Spanish Immersion Program will be held on January 13th at 7:00 PM. A virtual link to the meeting will be posted by the Dual Language Immersion Program Office prior to the meeting. Online registration for the county-wide lottery for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) dual language immersion (DLI) programs will open on Monday, January 25. Current kindergarten students may apply for the first-grade immersion programs for the 2021-22 school year.
In the DLI program, students spend approximately half of each day learning in English and a partner language. Mathematics, science, and health, as well as a portion of language arts, are taught in the partner language, while social studies, English language arts, and the family life education portion of health are taught in English.
Applications must be submitted by 4 p.m. on Thursday, February 18, for the first grade DLI program. Families will be notified regarding lottery outcomes via email on March 3 for the first-grade immersion programs. Transportation will not be provided for students residing outside the immersion school’s attendance area.
Family Life Education Instructional Program Information
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides a comprehensive, sequential Family Life Education (FLE) program for students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve. Instruction is seen as a partnership among parents and guardians, the school, and the community in supporting the learning essential to the development of strong families, positive relationships, and a healthy community.
Parents/guardians may choose to opt their child out of all or part of the Family Life Education program. Students who are opted out are provided with age-appropriate, nonpunitive alternative health instruction, and every effort is made to foster respect for family choices. If you wish to opt your child out of all or part of FLE for this school year, opt out forms will be included in your child’s back-to-school/orientation packets and are available online for Elementary (K-6)
https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/elementary-family-life-education , Please fill in the opt-out form and return it to your child’s teacher or Mr. Bourjaily, Assistant Principal prior to Family Life Education instruction.
Detailed grade-level program descriptions are available online at Elementary (K-6) . FLE grade level-specific lessons and media that FCPS has streaming rights for are available for parents online in FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard) Parent View https://fcps.blackboard.com/. Account information is available at your local school or online at http://www.fcps.edu/is/instructionaltechnology/247help/parents.shtml. Grade level-specific lessons are also available at the Fairfax County Regional Library in the City of Fairfax (this location does not have media). Grade level-specific lessons and media that is not streamed online are available for review at your child’s school library. Due to copyright permissions, we are unable to stream all media online.
Program questions may be addressed at your child’s school or by contacting Instructional Services at 571-423-4550 or by contacting Carrie Reynolds, Health and Physical Education Coordinator at cfreynolds@fcps.edu.
You are invited to attend an opportunity to preview the Family Life Education media and lessons and to talk with school staff about the program. The meeting will be held virtually on 1/13/21 at 3:30 PM. All program materials and media for all grade levels will be available for your review at this time. You will need a parent SIS account to view the materials
A link for this opportunity will be sent next week.
You may access FLE program materials remotely. To do so you will need your parent SIS account to access FCPS 24/7. See steps below.
- Log into FCPS/24/7 (Blackboard) from the FCPS home page
- Select the Curriculum tab at the top of the page
- Click on the Family Life Education tab
- You will now see the FLE information
- Please contact your child’s teacher or Mr. Bourjaily, Assistant Principal, if you have any further questions.
Library Curbside Pickup
Reminder: If your child placed books on hold before the winter break and either they or you received an email notification that the books were ready for pickup, please come to the school on Monday, January 11th to pick up the books between 9:00 -11:00 am or 1:00-3:00 pm. The books will remain in the office for one week between 8:00 am -4:00 pm if you’re unable to pick them up on Monday.
The next curbside pickup date for K-6th grade RES students will take place on Monday, January 25th, from 9:00 am-11:00 am and 1:00 pm-3:00 pm. For this curbside pickup event, holds will need to be placed by the end of the day on Wednesday (1/13). Holds placed after this date will be processed for the next curbside event. Curbside pickup events typically take place every other Monday and are announced in class and/or in each grade level’s Google Classroom. Here’s how it works:
You can learn about curbside service steps here (you must be logged in to your child’s FCPS Google apps account to access the link). You can review how to place holds by watching this tutorial. *This information is also available in each grade level’s Library Google Classroom under the topic, “Curbside Service.” Another option that’s available for K and 1st grade students only is to use this Google Form to tell Mrs. Sloan what you’re interested in and receive a mystery bag of books at pickup.
When holds are ready to be picked up, an email will be sent to students in grades 3-6 and to the enrolling parent for students in grade K-2. The email will contain a Sign-Up Genius link for parents to use to sign up for a time to pick the books up. Please wait for this email and sign up for a slot before coming to school for book pickup. Books that are not picked up on the curbside event date will be held in the office for one week before being returned to the shelves. You’ll need to speak to the office (open M-F from 8-4) to receive them.
Returning books
- Library books may be returned to RES on weekdays, preferably from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. There will be a labeled bin outside the front entrance where book returns can be dropped off.
- If you still have books out from last year, please return them ASAP. If you would like to know if your child has overdue books, they can view their checkouts on their library account which is accessible by visiting the Ravensworth Library Catalog and logging in.
If you have any questions about any library-related matters, please contact Mrs. Sloan at jasloan@fcps.edu
Positivity Project
Trait for the Week of January 5: Optimism
Happy New Year! This week’s character strength is Hope/Optimism. You show this strength when you expect the best from the future and work to achieve it. Hope and optimism represent a state of hopefulness and confidence about the future (both short and long term). People with this strength are future oriented. They have a positive vision of what the future holds and maintain confidence that they will get there. They keep a positive attitude despite setbacks – and often find ways to convert what seems like an obstacle into a stepping-stone to achieve their goals.
Next Week’s Character Strength: Prudence
PTA News
Ravensworth PTA Meeting on Monday, January 11th at 7:00 pm
Please join us for our first PTA meeting of the new year on Monday, January 11th at 7:00 pm.
You can RSVP using this form and we will send a link to the Zoom meeting: https://forms.gle/Xhrm6aQkh6u9wbU27. If you previously RSVP'd for the meetings in November or December we already have your email and will send you a link on Monday, January 11th.
Membership Vote to change PTA Bylaws at January meeting
At our upcoming PTA meeting, we will be voting on the proposed changes to the Ravensworth PTA bylaws. These changes, which were circulated at the end of October 2020, will allow our PTA board to consist of just three members: President, Treasurer, and Secretary. This will allow our PTA to function and be recognized by the state PTA with fewer critical members than our bylaws currently allow. Other responsibilities, like communications, fundraising, and programs, will be delegated to committees. Please review the details of the proposed changes at the following link: https://app.memberhub.com/download?r=199133;v=bfrqh1j8vdt.
Yearbook Cover Art Contest – Deadline extended to Friday, January 8th
Calling all artists to enter the Ravensworth yearbook cover art contest.
****Deadline for entries extended to 5pm on Friday, January 8! As of Monday, 1/4 we haven’t received any entries. We know our Ravens are creative, please submit your entry ASAP!****
The artwork that best captures the theme #RAVENSWORTH will be featured on the cover of the 2020-21 yearbook.
Submissions should be on 8.5" x 11" portrait orientation, white paper. You can use pencil, crayon, marker, gel pen, paint, or other 2D materials for your design. (No copyrighted characters or images from the internet).
Submission is due by Friday, January 8th.
Submit a high-resolution JPG file to yearbook@ravensworthpta.org. Include the child's name, grade, teacher in the email. No PDFs please.
Lite It Up Winners!
Congratulations to our Winners & Thank you to all our participants for Lighting Up our Holiday Season!
- Fan Favorite: Declan Campbell, 2nd grade
- Most Original - An adorable scene of penguins on ice: Emma Vaughan, 4th & Charlie Vaughan, 2nd
- Silliest - A golfing moose, light-up pig and nutcracker dog: Ms. Castellon, 3rd grade teacher
- Most Traditional - A traditionally extravagant explosion of lights: Jacob Couchman, 6th & Owen Couchman, 5th
- Most Uniform Color - Lots of white lights with a cute Santa center: Cora Wilson, 2nd & Lauretta Wilson, 1st
- Most Moving Parts - Santa on a train and a dragon sprang to life: Declan Campbell 2nd
Coal Fire Burke PTA Spirit Night
Coal Fire Burke 9276 Old Keene Mill Rd., Burke, VA (click for map)
Our first spirit night of the new year is at Coal Fire (9276 Old Keene Mill Rd., Burke, VA) on Tuesday, January 19th from 11:30 am – 8:00 pm. They are generously offering 20% of sales to support our PTA. Dining in, carry out, and catering sales are included in this fundraiser. A flyer is available here: https://app.memberhub.com/download?r=205359;v=1mz5o4wv3scn. Please bring a copy of this flyer with you or on your phone so the PTA gets credit for your order. If you’re not familiar with Spirit Nights, they are a simple, fun, and delicious way to make money for the PTA. We partner with local restaurants and businesses to receive a portion of their sales on a given night. It costs you nothing more than the regular price of your meal, and the Ravensworth PTA can make hundreds of dollars for our programs!
Access event details here: http://ravensworth.memberhub.com/HE42095I336084
Join the Chess Club
All ages and skill levels are welcome to join the Ravensworth Chess Club, which is entirely online this year. You'll learn the game using a self-paced, kid-friendly website, then show off your new skills with weekly tournaments against fellow Ravens. Through our mentoring program, beginners can also be paired with a more advanced student for one-on-one lessons through Zoom. Chess teaches strategy, patience, problem-solving, and so much more. Best of all, Chess Club is now FREE! Ravensworth parents, siblings and staff are invited to join as well. Email Laurie Vergott at chessclub@ravensworthpta.org if you're interested. Include each participant's name, grade, and chess skill level (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Tournaments are every Monday at 1 p.m.
New School Spirit Item
Check out the latest item added to the Spirit Wear Store - removable laptop stickers! There are three options to buy -
1- Purchase for $5 and pick up at a set spirit wear pickup date.
2- Purchase for $5.50 and have your sticker mailed to you.
3- Purchase for $2.50 and have a sticker given to a Ravensworth Staff member!
Visit https://ravensworth.new.memberhub.store/store to purchase!
New Diversity Talk Series!
Presented by: The Diversity Committee of the Thomas Jefferson High School of Science and Technology PTSA
Monday, January 11, 2021, 6:00 – 6:45 p.m.
For students grades 4-8
Guest speakers: Suresh Shenoy, Neena Shenoy, and TJ Graduate Nikhil Shenoy
Hear from people working in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field!
- 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?
Parents, register at this Zoom link:
https://bit.ly/TJDiversityTalk1
Submit questions in advance here:
https://bit.ly/tjdiversitytalks
Follow Ravensworth on Social Media
Are you connected to Ravensworth Elementary School and the Ravensworth PTA on Social Media? The PTA’s Facebook page is at
https://www.facebook.com/ravensworthelementarypta
and the school’s accounts are
https://www.facebook.com/RavensworthElementary and
https://twitter.com/RavensworthES
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