Important Upcoming Dates
February
22: Library Curbside Pick-up-12:00PM-3:00PM & 4:00PM-6:00PM
23: In-person Instruction Begins for Kindergarten
24: Principals Chat: Social Emotional Learning-6:00PM
25: PTA Family Dinner Night-Mamma Lucia’s
March
3: PTA Meeting-6:00PM
4-5: Teacher Workdays for Grades 1-2
5: 2-Hour Early Release-1:30PM
8: Staff Development Day, No School for Students
9: In-person Instruction Begins for Grades 1-2
11: Bear Cubs Cooking Club-5:00PM
11-12: Teacher Workdays for Grades 3-6
16: In-person Instruction Begins for Grades 3-6
16: Bears Bedtime Stories-7:00PM
24 & 25: School Picture Days
New This Week
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
2. 100th Day of School
3. Library News & Information
4. Family Guide for Return to School
5. Meal Service
6. Tech Support
7. PTA Corner
8. Public Comment Opportunity: Review of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning
Updates & Reminders
9. School Pictures Coming Soon
10. Bear Cub Cooking Club
11. Calling All Olde Creek Innovators!
12. Counselor Support for Transition
13. Health Screening Commitment Form Required
14. OC Staff Shout-outs
15. Bears Care Outreach
16. Contacts
17. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
Dear Olde Creek Families and Friends,
We had an exciting week welcoming our enhanced autism and our comprehensive service site in-person students back to the building this week! Thank you all for your patience and flexibility as we adjusted to our new bell schedule. We have also revised our main office hours to 8:00AM to 4:30PM to support our new bell schedule. It was such a joy to see all of our students who were able to join us for Bears Bedtime Stories on Tuesday evening. We appreciate our second grade team reading our stories this month.
We invite you to our upcoming Principals’ Chat this week on Wednesday, February 24 at 6:00pm. Our focus this month is on social emotional learning (SEL). We are excited to have Dr. Goldberger, school psychologist, and Ms. Braaten, special education teacher, joining us. You will be introduced to our mental health team and learn what social emotional learning is and what it looks like at Olde Creek. Our My Best Self program will be explained along with The Incredible 5 Point Scale. Resources for calming strategies will also be shared. We hope that you will be able to join us! We will send out a link to our families on Wednesday morning with a reminder.
We hope all of our Bears enjoyed the snow day yesterday. We are extremely grateful for your partnership as we continue to prepare for concurrent instruction and support all of our students in our virtual and in-person learning environments. We are looking forward to welcoming some of our youngest Bears, our kindergartners, next week for in-person instruction beginning on Tuesday, February 23.
Stronger Together,
Melissa Miller, Principal
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal
2. 100th Day of School!
Monday, February 22nd will be our 100th day of school this year! We want to celebrate this accomplishment. Our Bears can think of a fun way to show 100!
Here are some ways our students can celebrate:
- Dress up like you are 100 years old
- Wear 100 items, such as buttons, stickers, etc.
- Fill a bag with 100 small items
- Build something with 100 Legos
Let’s get creative, Bears! You can share what you do with your teacher. You can also submit a picture using this link to have shared in an upcoming community message or on the Morning News Show!
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3. Library News and Information
Do you have OC library books that need to be returned? It’s so easy! Stop by OC any week day 8:30-4:00 and enter through entrance 1. In the front lobby look for a large tub marked, “Library Book Return.” Books can be returned Monday through Friday using this tub. Not sure if you have overdue library books? The OC library will be sending overdue notices to student email accounts next week. Keep an eye out for an email notification.
There is snow in the forecast for next Monday, February 22nd. If schools are closed due to the weather, the OC library curbside pick-up will be cancelled. Remember to look on MackinVIA for eBooks whenever the weather limits our access to books from the OC library.
4. Family Guide for Return to School
Fairfax County Public Schools is partnering with families to ensure we keep students and staff safe and healthy as we return to school buildings for learning. Working together, we will follow recommended health guidance that focuses on student and staff health, safety, and emotional well-being.
The FCPS Family Guide for Return to School provides information on topics such as concurrent instruction, lunch and recess, the mandatory mask policy, laptops, and health protocols.
5. Meal Service
Students will be served cold, grab and go style meals at school for breakfast and lunch. These are free for all students.
Menu: fcps.nutrislice.com
Grab and Go School Sites and meal delivery bus routes: fcps.edu/return-school/food
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6. Tech Support
If your child’s laptop seems to be running slow or not connecting, it might need to be updated. Drive to any FCPS school parking lot and log onto the Wi-Fi. You can stay in your car as long as it is near the building. After the login, restart the laptop. Any updates should take place. If that does not fix the problem, you can sign up for an appointment on our Signup Genius and we will assess the situation. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080448A8AC2DA0FB6-olde
Please remember that laptops must be fully shut down at least twice per week in order to push updates and keep them working optimally.
Chrome Sync and Save Passwords Rollout for Students
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.
7. PTA Corner
February's Family Dinner Night at Mamma Lucia's is rescheduled for Thursday, February 25 from 4:00 PM until close. Please mention that you're supporting OCES and 15% of the proceeds will go to our PTA. Click here for the flyer, more information is on the PTA website, and a reminder will be sent out next week.
As always you can sign up for the PTA and get information at the Olde Creek PTA website and do contact the PTA (board@oldecreekpta.com) with any questions.
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8. Public Comment Opportunity: Review of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning
Which stories, events, individuals, and perspectives are centered in our history and social science curriculum? Whose stories are marginalized or missing entirely? What priorities should shape the design of curriculum standards? These important questions are key drivers of curriculum reform for cultural responsiveness in FCPS Social Studies. Over the next few weeks, people across Virginia have the opportunity to voice their ideas and concerns about the curriculum standards set forth by the VDOE Standards for History and Social Science, and we encourage school and community stakeholders, including students, to participate in shaping the future of social studies in Virginia.
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) will proceed with the review and revision process of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning, scheduled to be completed before November 2022. An important part of the review process for the History and Social Science Standards of Learning is the solicitation of comments from teachers, administrators, students, families and community stakeholders who have an interest in curriculum reform or expertise with the content of the current standards.
FCPS students, educators, families, and community members may review and comment on the current standards via VDOE’s website. The public comment period is open through March 1, 2021. All comments received by March 1, 2021 will be considered for the review and revision of the History and Social Science Standards of Learning.
In addition to submitting input directly to VDOE, FCPS Social Studies invites stakeholders to email their comments on the current History and Social Science Standards of Learning to FCPSsocialstudiesreform@fcps.edu to share their feedback directly with the team. Reviewing these comments will better enable the FCPS team to advocate for our community’s priorities and to support ongoing revision curriculum resources and related professional development
Additional community engagement focused on anti-racism and anti-bias education in and beyond social studies will take place in the coming months to inform the development of related FCPS policies. More information is forthcoming.
9. School Pictures Coming Soon
We have school pictures scheduled for our Tuesday/Wednesday in-person groups on March 24th and our Thursday/Friday in-person groups on March 25th. Our virtual students will be sent a link to sign-up for a time slot to come to school.
For those choosing not to participate, you will be able to send in a picture to be included in the yearbook. Portrait packages will be purchased online only. We will share additional details and links soon!
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10. Bear Cub Cooking Club
Join the Bear Cub Cooking Club! The first session will be held on Thursday, March 11 at 5PM. To register and learn more, view the flyer here!
11. Calling all Olde Creek Innovators!
The PBL (Project Based Learning) Team is leading a school wide project! Our mission: Reuse a plastic bag to create a new item. If your student has not yet joined, please use this link to join the PBL Google Classroom.
Remember to upload a photo of your final product to the Google Classroom assignment called “Completed Project.” Please reach out to Mrs. Smalley (PSSmalley@fcps.edu) or Mrs. Genuardi (AMGenuardi1@fcps.edu) if you have questions. We can’t wait to see what our students create!
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12. Counselor Support for Transition
After hearing more about the Return to School process at the parent information session last week, is your child nervous, anxious or concerned about transitioning back to school? Would you like to receive a phone call from the School Counselor to help with strategies that may help and encourage your child towards a successful transition with a positive mindset? Do you feel your child could benefit from a check-in before returning to school to discuss how they are feeling about their return to learn in the school building? Jeanna Squif, our School Counselor is excited to connect with students as well as families who would appreciate the opportunity to discuss the upcoming transition. If you or your child would like to connect with Mrs. Squif, please send an email to jmsquif@fcps.edu. We are here to help and are excited to welcome our Olde Creek Bears back to school and would like to offer this support to any and all of our Olde Creek families!
13. Health Screening Commitment Form
As students return for in-person instruction, parents/caregivers will be asked to acknowledge a Health Screening Commitment form before their student(s) return to school buildings. This document confirms that a parent/caregiver/guardian will complete a daily health screening and will keep their students home when they are ill.
The Health Commitment form can be submitted electronically through ParentVUE (PVUE) or via hard copy. Please contact our main office to have a hard copy sent to you.
The form is also available in other languages: English, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese.)
14. OC Staff Shout-outs!
We want to continue to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of our teachers and staff. If your family would like to give a shout out to an OC staff member, please complete this survey.
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15. Bears Care Outreach
The pantry distributes food provisions to Olde Creek students and their families in need for the week. Gift cards are also greatly appreciated for families right now! Stores, such as Walmart, can mail gift cards without even having to make a trip to the store! Sign up to donate food OR sign up to donate a gift card here. (Email lisamarm@gmail.com for drop off/mailing information.)
New! You can donate through the OC PTA PayPal account. The funds will be used to purchase items and gift cards based on the greatest needs of our families. Access the OC PTA PayPal account here: https://paypal.me/OldeCreekPTA
You can also order food items from our Bears Care Amazon Wish List and have it delivered directly. Use Amazon Smile and have a percentage donated to the Olde Creek PTA.
Check out our list for ideas for the type of foods that work best. Most food items are welcome at this time.
Thank you, as always, for your kindness and generosity!
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16. Contacts
Olde Creek Attendance Line: 703-426-3192
Olde Creek Attendance mailbox: OldeCreekElem.Attendance@fcps.edu
Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portal
Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal, ajbutler@fcps.edu
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal, kldurso@fcps.edu
Sylvia Alverson, Administrative Assistant, sjalverson@fcps.edu
Ann Platenkamp, Administrative Assistant, amplatenkamp@fcps.edu
Lizardo Santos, Student Information Assistant, LISantos@fcps.edu
Sandy McCulloch, Office Assistant, slmcculloch@fcps.edu
17. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
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