Important Upcoming Dates
3/26 - End of Quarter 3 (Early Release - Dismissal at 2:15)
3/29 - 4/2 - Spring Break (There will not be a News You Choose message on April 2.)
4/5 - Teacher Workday; Student Holiday
4/5 - Dragon Dreams
4/19 - Dragon Dreams
5/31- Memorial Day Holiday
6/11 - Last Day of School (Early Release - Dismissal at 2:15)
IN THIS ISSUE
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Fairfax Villa Spring Break Message
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NEW: Kindergarten Enrollment For the 2021-2022 School Year
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Calendar Reminder: Spring Break Is March 29-April 2
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Planning to Travel Over Spring Break? Here's the Guidance
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NEW: School Office Closed During Spring Break
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Boosterthon Prize Pickup
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Fun Live Event with Mr. Gerstner
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Yearbook Pictures Needed
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Read Across America Challenge
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UPDATED: Positivity Information
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Dragon Dreams Bedtime Stories
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April School Spirit Days
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NEW: Spring School-Based AAP Services
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School Breakfast and Lunch Menus
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PTA
 1.Fairfax Villa Spring Break Message
Dear Fairfax Villa Families,
It’s hard to believe that spring break is here already! As we look back at our year, we are appreciative of everyone’s support and flexibility as we navigate our Return to School for many of our students who have come back to the building. In addition, we thank all of the families of our virtual students for your continued flexibility, partnership, and your efforts to stay connected with us.
As Dr. Brabrand mentioned in his email to the community on Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new guidance around social distancing in schools gives FCPS the opportunity to consider expanding in-person instruction to include additional days. FCPS is assessing student needs and working with their capacity architects to identify each school’s capacity and will share more information after Spring Break.
As we return from spring break, our administrative team will learn more about our next steps as a school. This is based on possible revised capacity in classrooms as well as other factors based on student data and staffing. Please know that the school team will be directly reaching out to the families who will be impacted by the change and will make measured steps to support students as we are best able. We appreciate your patience and support as we once again make a transition.
We wish everyone a wonderful spring break and we look forward to continuing to work with you and your child(ren) in the fourth quarter.
Sincerely,
Barb Schmidt, KJ An, & Dave Gerstner
 2.Kindergarten Enrollment for the 2021-2022 School Year
Fairfax Villa ES needs your help in projecting the Kindergarten enrollment for the 2021-2022 school year. Virginia Law, section 22.1-254, requires that children who will reach their fifth birthday on or before September 30, 2021, must be enrolled in Kindergarten for the 2021-2022 school year unless the parent or guardian notifies the school in writing that they do not wish the child to attend school until the following year.
If you have a child who will be five years old on or before September 30, 2021, please fill out the form at https://fairfaxvillaes.fcps.edu/student-services/new-student-registration no later than March 26, 2021. You can also find the survey of preschool children / kindergarten enrollment form on the reverse side of this letter. Our kindergarten staffing of teachers and instructional assistants is based on our kindergarten enrollment and our first staffing meeting for the 2021-22 school year is in early April. We appreciate you filling out the form by that date.
If any of your neighbors have children who will be eligible for Kindergarten, please share this information with them, as we are especially interested in reaching those Fairfax Villa families who do not have children currently attending our school.
Please email any questions to Silvia Dossmann, Fairfax Villa Student Information Assistant, at smdossmann@fcps.edu.
3.Spring Break Is March 29-April 2
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Spring break is March 29-April 2. Also, Monday, April 5, is a teacher workday and a holiday for students. Teachers will not be available for office hours and students are not expected to complete asynchronous assignments. See the complete 2020-21 school year calendar.
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4.Planning to Travel Over Spring Break? Here's the Guidance
Spring break is just around the corner. Here are some tips to be aware of as you make plans to travel:
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The Virginia Department of Health urges all Virginians to avoid non-essential travel, especially if you are at higher risk of serious COVID-19 or if you will be visiting someone at higher risk of serious COVID-19. This recommendation applies to everyone, even if you have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have fully recovered from COVID-19.
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FCPS does not currently have travel restrictions. Students are not required to quarantine or provide COVID 19 test results for either domestic or international travel. Parents may opt to keep their students at home for 14 days after they return from travel, however, it is not required.
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Per the Student Health and Safety Guidance Document, a Daily Health Screening Questionnaire will be required for all students attending in-person instruction. These daily health screening questionnaires will be completed on an honor basis and will not be required to be submitted to the school.
Updates and more information are available online.
5.School Office Closed During Spring Break
The Fairfax Villa Main Office will be closed Monday, March 29th through Friday, April 2nd. We will reopen on Monday, April 5th.
Our Villa Office Staff would like to wish you a wonderful and safe Spring Break!
 6.Boosterthon Prize Pickup
The Boosterthon prizes are here! All students (whether or not they participated) will get a prize from the Boosterthon sponsor. Students who are attending in-person were given their prizes by their teacher this week. Parents of students who are attending virtually may come by the school Monday - Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm to pick up the prize for their student(s). After ringing the bell at door 1 and being let into the main lobby, look for the box for your child’s grade and take a prize from that box. All prizes are the same within each grade. Please note that the school office will be closed during Spring Break and will reopen on Monday, April 5th.
7.Fun Live Event with Mr. Gerstner
Since we met our Boosterthon goal of raising at least $10,000, Mr. Gerstner will be silly stringed and pied by some of our students on Thursday, April 8 at 9:50am. The teachers will share the BBC guest link with their virtual students at 9:45 and then will take the in-person students to the blacktop to watch. Because our 3rd graders raised the most money, the names of the 3rd grade students who are here that day will be drawn to have some of them participate in this fun event.
8.Yearbook Pictures Needed
This year we would like to capture everything you have been doing at home during virtual learning. Please share photos of your child learning virtually, playing outside, participating in spirit days, cooking, doing arts and crafts, practicing their instrument, creating science experiments, reading, or anything fun! We would love to include your memories in the yearbook.
Please send photos to be considered for the yearbook to: FairfaxVillaYearbook@gmail.com
If you missed the scheduled Picture Day, you can still have your individual child’s photo included in the yearbook with their grade level. Please click on the google form below for directions on how to submit a photo of your child. Please make sure the photo of your child is taken vertically, is not a full body photo, and is taken in front of a neutral background.
The deadline for both of these is April 12.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSep_d6tV26kwnvfii8bQucHtkQV5pLWOEH7DftinIi9fkhDCA/viewform?usp=sf_link
If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Paramore at drparamore@fcps.edu
 9.Read Across America Challenge
Fairfax Villa students are taking part in a schoolwide challenge to read in myOn from March 2nd to April 6th. The grade with the most minutes will get to choose the theme for an upcoming spirit day! Let’s go, Villa Dragons! Show us how much you can read!
10.Positivity Information April 5-9: Humor
What does HUMOR mean? Humor is a sense of playfulness and lightness. It is a way of looking at and describing the world that brings laughter to people. A person with the strength of humor is skilled at seeing the funny side of things, bringing smiles and laughter to others, and identifying and communicating the absurdities in life. People with this strength don’t specifically need to be joke tellers, although many are. Humor can have a dark side, depending on how it’s used. Some humor is mean spirited and bullying. The strength of humor that the character strength focuses on is that which raises the spirits of other people.
WHY DOES IT MATTER? For individuals, humor has important health benefits, both mental and physical. Humor stretches the mind to look at things from different perspectives, keeping people mentally agile and alert. Making people laugh also produces positive emotions and happiness for the initiator. And, when people are on the receiving end of humor, they also receive many benefits. Scientists have shown that laughter reduces stress, promotes connection with other people, and can even improve focus. Laughter is contagious and bonds us to other people.
Humor plays an important role in helping groups of people rise above difficult circumstances and boost morale. It removes us from our present difficulties by easing tension and making life more fun.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” -MARK TWAIN
 11.Dragon Dreams Bedtime Stories
Thank you to all those families who joined us on March 15 for our Dragon Dreams Bedtime Stories.We loved hearing Ms. Davis, Ms. Quinn, and Ms. Thompson read their favorite books to us.
Our next Dragon Dream Bedtime Stories will be on Monday, April 5 at 7:00. Our readers this time will be Ms. Rubin, Ms. Romano, and Ms. Bayder!
(Due to Spring Break, we will NOT have one on March 29.)
Please join us then using this link. The BBC link will be available beginning at 6:45 PM. Because of the large group, the audio, video, and chat are automatically turned off.
We can’t wait to see you! Put on your coziest pajamas and join us for some delightful stories.
12.April School Spirit Days
Let's continue to show how excited we are to be Villa Dragons during the month of April with more Virtual Villa Spirit Days. Showing our school spirit helps us to feel connected to each other even when we can't be together. Get ready to show us your Villa Spirit!!!
 13.Spring School-Based AAP Services
ADVANCED ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (AAP)SCREENING FOR SCHOOL-BASED (LEVEL II-III) SERVICES
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) offers a continuum of advanced academic services for all students in grades K-8. Learning experiences are designed to develop higher-level thinking through enrichment, acceleration, and extensions of the Program of Studies (POS). Teachers, administrators, and advanced academic resource teachers (AARTs) work together to provide the following levels of school-based services in each elementary school:
All students in kindergarten through grade six receive level I services which consist of model lessons that are designed to teach critical and creative thinking skills. The lessons are modeled in all classrooms by AARTs and the thinking strategies are then used throughout the year by classroom teachers and other teachers who work with students. Student responses to these model lessons are used as part of the identification process for AAP services. Parents may also practice the thinking strategies during family conversations and activities. A description of the nine critical and creative thinking strategies can be found at https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/advanced-academics/critical-and-creative-thinking.
The AART collaborates with classroom teachers to provide additional challenge through lessons and resources that extend and enrich the POS. Level II services are part of a talent development pool. Students are rescreened annually to make decisions about the need for this level of service.
Students identified by a local school screening committee for part-time advanced academic services are challenged through models and strategies designed to extend and enrich the POS in the four core subject areas. Students receive direct instruction from the AART at the local school using curriculum from the AAP Curriculum and Resources to Support the Differentiated Framework. Students identified for Level III services continue to receive level III services through grade 6.
Screening for school-based services can happen at any time during the school year but is done schoolwide in the spring to determine services for the next school year. Parents or guardians may initiate the screening for school-based (level II and III) services by submitting the AAP School-Based Services (Level II-III) Referral Form (available at https://www.fcps.edu/registration/advanced-academics-identification-and-placement/elementary-school/current-fcps in the Forms section) to Cat Wilkins, AART, at cmwilkins@fcps.edu prior to spring screening by April 30, 2021. Multiple criteria are used to screen students for all levels of AAP services. Parents or guardians who submit a referral will be notified by Mrs. Wilkins of their student’s eligibility status by June 8, 2021.
If a parent or guardian wishes to appeal an ineligible decision, they may submit an appeal with new data for consideration by the local school screening committee. This new information should be submitted to Mrs. Wilkins.
If you have any questions, please contact Cat Wilkins at cmwilkins@fcps.edu.
14.School Breakfast and Lunch Menus
Please use the following link to view the breakfast and lunch menus for Fairfax Villa ES students who are attending in-person learning.
Link: https://fcps.nutrislice.com/menu/fairfax-villa-elementary
You may use the following link to view menus for other schools.
Link: https://fcps.nutrislice.com/
15.PTA News
The following message is sent on behalf of the Fairfax Villa ES School PTA. Its content reflects the PTA.
PTA 2021-2022 Board Nominations
Have you ever thought about being one of our next amazing PTA board members? No experience necessary! We’ll be sending out more information about each of the positions soon. Please contact Jessie at villapta@gmail.com if you'd like to discuss or volunteer.
PTA Meeting Recording
If you were not able to join the PTA meeting this week, you can view the recording here:
https://us.bbcollab.com/recording/97d39148b4b24cc38048436735762d36
Please join us for our next meeting on Wednesday, April 28 at 7 PM.
Lasagna Love
Here’s a chance to give a meal or receive a meal! This is a national campaign that makes local matches between families that are able to make lasagnas and families that need assistance. https://www.lasagnalove.org
AmazonSmile
We raised $55 in our first 3 months with AmazonSmile! You can continue to support the Fairfax Villa PTA, and our kids and teachers, while you shop. Visit smile.amazon.com and choose the Fairfax Villa Elementary PTA as your charity, and AmazonSmile will donate 0.5% of your order total to the PTA.
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