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Upcoming Important Dates
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January 9
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Food For Neighbors food collection. If you are donating, please have your bag of food on your porch by 8:30am.
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January 11
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Teacher Planning Day- Students will check in at 8:45-9:00 and then work on any assignments they have outstanding. No intervention or office hours provided on this day.
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January 12
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Virtual PTA Meeting - 7:00 pm - link will be sent next week
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Now - Jan 15
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Schoology Parent, Guardian, and Caregiver Feedback Survey window - Please see below for more details
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January 19
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WIMS Catch Up Day #2 - Students will log into their ROCK Block at 7:30 for attendance and then throughout the day they may visit any teachers they need to speak with about work, assessments, and make-up assessments.
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January 22
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Last Day of Second Quarter - 2-hour early dismissal - classes end at 12:15. The schedule for this day will be shared on 1/15.
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Now - Jan 29
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Optional Safe and Caring Schools Training for all Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers Please see below for more details.
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Thank You to our amazing WIMS Custodians and Safety & Security Specialist, Steve Spero! They have been working hard to prepare rooms for when we are able to have staff and students return to the building.
They are a mighty team!
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Congratulations to our very own, Safety & Security Assistant, Steve Spero! Mr. Spero was recognized by the division as the Region 4 Outstanding Operational Employee and a finalist for the division award. We are very proud of Mr. Spero and grateful he chose to work at Irving Middle School! |
Support for Parents Concerned About Their Child’s Mental Health
Ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and school closures continue to have a significant impact on children’s mental health. As an example, according to the CDC, from April to October 2020, the proportion of mental health-related emergency room visits for children aged 5-11 and 12-17 years increased approximately 24% and 31%, respectively, compared with 2019.
If your child is showing concerns with mental health, they are not alone. This one-pager (https://bit.ly/38k8Xyz) from Healthy Minds Fairfax provides easy-to-digest information and is a valuable resource. Irving also has school counselors, a social worker and psychologist who can provide support to students.
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 Friday, 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
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology Admissions
Important Update (1/7/2021)
TJHSST posted an update to their website calendar announcing the Application Window will begin on February 1 at 8:00 am and close on February 26 at 4:00 pm. They anticipate additional information will be posted beginning next week. Please continue to monitor the website for any changes. We appreciate your interest.
Website: www.tjadmissions.org
What is TJHSST?
A FCPS regional Governor’s high school (9-12th grades) for students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
TJHSST Admissions: Contact Information-Questions Welcomed
Admissions Office (general inquiries): Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.
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
Digital Resource Parent Permission: Action Item
Thanks to all parents/guardians who have given permission for their child to use digital resources that require parent consent. If you have not yet provided consent for your child to use these digital resources, please use the links to read more and to give your consent today. Thank you!
Link to the Parent Permission Form ｜ Link to Irving MS Digital Resources
Student Laptop Health
This is a reminder that students should shut down their laptop at the end of each day, plug it in, and then use the power button to turn on each morning prior to the start of school. On Tuesdays, it is recommended that students leave their laptop on but in sleep-mode and plugged in overnight. Then, restart on Wednesday morning to ensure it receives Microsoft updates.
If your student’s laptop runs slow or experiences network issues, it might be a good idea for you to drive to any FCPS school parking lot with the school laptop, connect to the FCPS WiFi (“Fairfax”) and restart/login two times while accessing the FCPS network. You do not need to enter the building to do this. You can stay in your car for this entire process, which will allow FCPS updates to push to the school laptop. Please contact tech support with any school laptop or account issues. https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/
Is all screen time equal?
Many of today’s youth are spending most of their school days on screens, leading caregivers to question the amount of time they spend on screens outside of the school day. While it is important for everyone to have screen-breaks, it is important to consider not just the quantity of time that is spent on screens, but also the quality of that time. In this article, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Jill Anderson discusses how caregivers can examine the types of content children access outside of school and select content which will encourage learning and support their social-emotional health.
https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/20/11/nuanced-view-screen-time
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
The Irving Middle PTA hopes you have a fun, safe, and relaxing, socially-distanced winter break!
We're working with the SCA leaders to determine a family activity after Winter Break - think Trivia Night, virtual game night, or virtual bingo - so stay tuned!
Amazon Smiles: Please consider signing up to support the Washington Irving PTA through AmazonSmile with your purchases year round at no additional cost to you! Please see the picture below for directions on how to set up your account.
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