Weekly Update from Irving MS

February 11, Town Hall Meeting Slide Deck and Recording

Thank you for attending the Return to School Town Hall last night. If you were unable to attend or would like to refer back to the slides or recording, both are linked below. 

Slide Deck 

Recording

During the Town Hall, several families asked how they can find out if their child is scheduled to be in-person or virtual and how to submit the Health Check Agreement form. The directions to both are captured below.

In-Person or Virtual Directions

1. Log into ParentVue
2. Select Student Info
3. Then scroll down to Return to School Responses

Health Check Agreement Form Directions

1. Log into ParentVue
2. Select Student Info
3. Then Scroll down to Acknowledged Documents and look for the COVID-19 Parent-Guardian Agreement FINAL. PDF

New Bell Schedule - Beginning Tuesday, February 16

To prepare for the Return to School, we will be implementing a new bell schedule beginning Tuesday, February 16. This bell schedule will be followed by ALL Irving students and staff in both virtual and in-person settings. Class lunch times will be announced early next week as we are working to finalize our in-person lunch rotations. Please note - the after school hours are tentative beginning March 2 - once we see how long it takes to get students home, we may need to adjust our start time for after school activities and office hours.

As a part of the new bell schedule, we have integrated 3 lunch shifts into our day. Please be sure to review this Lunch Schedule/Shift Document to find your child’s lunch shifts for 5th and 6th period. Please note, due to capacity constraints, your child may not have the same lunch shift for both periods.

Requests for Change to Educational Setting - In-Person Waitlist

We have received many requests to make changes to students’ educational settings. Unfortunately, at this time we cannot change student preference from virtual to in-person. Our ability to create a safe, secure, and socially distant in-person master schedule was dependent on the data that families provided. We are keeping a waitlist and if you would like your child’s name to be added to the list, please email your child’s counselor.

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology Admissions

The application window for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will open on February 1, 2021 at 8:00AM and close on February 26, 2021 at 4:00PM. 

Please visit http://www.fcps.edu/tjadmissions  to submit your application and view the updated calendar.  TJHSST parent virtual information session coming soon!

Library News 

Curbside Pickup:  This continues on Mondays from noon until 3 pm, at Irving’s Door 2.  Books placed on hold through the library catalog by the previous Thursday at midnight will be pulled from the shelves and ready for pickup.  This service WILL continue once the in-person students return to the school building because we want to provide access to our library’s holdings to all Irving students, including those who will continue learning virtually throughout the year.

Readers Unite Book Club 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

Chrome Sync Sample Message for Parents

As part of FCPS’s ongoing effort to support student use of technology, Chrome Sync and the ability to save passwords will be available as an option starting on February 18th.  Students are not required to use Chrome Sync and save passwords, but may choose to them in order to:

• reduce their log-in time.  
• access bookmarks and extensions across devices.  

Chrome will remember and offer saved passwords when students are logging into different instructional applications. Chrome will also make bookmarks and extensions available on any device in which the student logs into Chrome and turns on Sync.

If your student would like to use Chrome Sync and save passwords, support resources are available on the FCPS website.  If your child is logging into Chrome now, they may need to log out of Chrome and log back in to see the new features. 

Student Laptop Message: Windows License Expiring

If your child is receiving a message that their Windows license is expiring on their FCPS-issued laptop, follow the steps below to fix this:

1. Turn off the laptop

2. Drive or walk to the nearest FCPS site/parking lot (this can be any FCPS site)

3. Get close enough to the building so the laptop automatically connects to the WiFi

4. Turn the laptop on and login to the laptop

5. Wait 5 mins and then restart (be sure you are restarting the laptop and not just shutting down)

6. Log back into the laptop (while on the FCPS WiFi)

7. Wait 5 another mins and then restart a second time (be sure you are restarting the laptop and not just shutting down)

8. The licensing issue should be resolved, and you can take the laptop back to your residence

After School Program

Club Time Change!

Beginning Tuesday, February 16th, clubs that previously began at 2:30 pm will now begin at 2:45 pm and run until 3:30 pm.  This change is part of our new school schedule. Clubs with 3:30 pm or 4:30 pm start times will remain the same.  

Club Schedule

To view the weekly club schedule, click here.

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  

Questions about After School?  Please email Emily Geary (emgeary@fcps.edu)

News from your PTA

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!  Just go to https://smile.amazon.com/ and choose "Washington Irving Middle PTA".

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 online at the next PTA meeting on March 9!

8100 Old Keene Mill Springfield, VA 22152  | Main Office: 703-912-4500
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