Calendar Events
April
21 PTA Meeting & Guest Speaker
27-30 Finance Park
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Our Longfellow Chorus Students “just keep singing!”
Congratulations to 18 LMS Chorus students who participated in the District 12 Middle School Honors Chorus this year. They auditioned in the fall, practiced and participated in virtual rehearsals through the winter, and recorded in February. The video of their performances, along with those of students from 16 other public and private middle schools in Western Fairfax County, Arlington, and Falls Church, has been released today and is linked below. Longfellow participants are Iskandar A, Fern F, Maria Nichola H, Riya H, Lauren H, Sarah Yiyang H, Morgan H, Towako I, Alina J, Brynn L, Aiyanna M, Daniella N-M, Lindsay N, Anna S, Nicole S, Hope T, Elizabeth W, and Jennifer Xuanyuan W.
https://youtu.be/zH28qJjGSAU
Science Olympiad Team Wins State Tournament!
Congratulations to the Longfellow Science Olympiad team for winning the 2020-21 Virginia State Championship, Longfellow’s 15th!!!
The team finished in the top 10 in all 21 events with top three finishes in the following events: Anatomy & Physiology, Circuit Lab, Codebusters, Digital Structures, Disease Detectives, Dynamic Planet, Experiment & Data Analysis, Food Science, Fossils, Heredity, Meteorology, Ornithology, Reach for the Stars, Road Scholar, Vehicle Design, Water Quality and Write It CAD It.
The team is looking forward to competing in the National Tournament this May, which will be hosted by Arizona State University and will be entirely virtual.
The following students are members of the Longfellow Science Olympiad team: Abigail L., Alexander D., Andrew C., Aneek M., Annnie G., Arya B., Arnan M., Aryav G., Ayla Z., Birka C., Claire C., Dheethya B., Eesha K., Eric X., Ethan L., Evan R., Jean-Paul S., Joshua L., Kavya K., Leah W., Nathan L, Noam N., Patrick S., Rita Y., Rocco Z., Rushil K., Sophia H., Sreeja V., Tejasvi C., and Tucker T.
Best wishes to the team as they compete in the Lexington Invitational next Saturday and prepare to represent Virginia at the National Tournament.
Keep up your amazing work, Science Olympians - the entire Longfellow community is proud of you!!!
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Hello from the Longfellow Library!
Today we sent out overdue notices to all students who have books overdue from elementary school as well as from Longfellow. Currently we have over 300 books overdue just from Longfellow alone. Books can be returned to the library or to the Main Office during regular office hours (7am-3pm M-F). Attention 7th graders!--if your books were left at your old elementary--please contact a librarian for additional help.
Did you know? April is National Poetry Month. The Library is looking for some original poetry from students (and staff) for our Virtual Poetry Padlet. Sharpen those pencils and start composing. Students can submit pictures of their original poetry or a video of themselves reciting their original poetry. The poet with the most likes will be crowned the Poet Laureate of Longfellow! All contributors and other interested Poets are invited to join us in the Virtual Poetry Lounge April 21st during the 2nd half of LancerTime in the Library Office Hours. Virtual Poetry Lounge recitations may be original poetry or students can recite their favorite poem.
If you need more information about the library, how to put a book on hold, checking your account, or are just looking for some great book recommendations--check out our Virtual Library site. Questions? Email Mrs. Saladino or Mrs. Hoyle.
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Best Buddies Walk!
Longfellow and Haycock friends, please join us on April 10th at 9:00 am in the Longfellow Middle School parking lot for a fun Best Buddies friendship walk to spread awareness of autism! You may donate if you would like to, but no donation is necessary! If you would like to donate, the link to our fundraising page is down below. A $50 donation gets you a t-shirt!
Please share this information with anyone else who would like to join, and we hope to see you there!
https://www.bestbuddiesfriendshipwalk.org/vadc
SOL Intention Form: Required for All Students
All parents/guardians are asked to complete the SOL Intention Form It is essential that we know if your student will take their SOL tests or if you will be opting out of them. All parents/guardians have the right to refuse any SOL assessments this spring. Click here to visit the Longfellow SOL Testing page, which contains our parent meeting recording and more details about the SOL. The Right to Refuse Assessments webpage offers information and considerations as you make this decision. Please contact your student’s counselor if you have additional questions.
Updated SOL Schedule
SOL testing will take place from 7:30am to 10:30am (or until your student is finished). On test days, in-person students will report immediately to their 4th period class for their SOL. If an in-person student is opting out of an SOL they will be placed in an alternate location. Virtual students will be assigned a testing location prior to their test day. Social distancing and health and safety regulations will be followed at all times.
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Date
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Assessment
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Student Group
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May 10
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Reading 7 and 8
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Virtual Students
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May 12
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Reading 7 and 8
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In-Person Students
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May 17
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Science 8
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Virtual Students
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May 19
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Science
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In-Person Students
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May 24
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Math (all levels)
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Virtual Students
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May 26
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Math (all levels)
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In-Person Students
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P2 Preview - FAIRNESS
Next week we will continue exploring the 24 P2 Character Strengths looking at the Character Strength of Fairness (click on the link to access a 1 page character card).
Why does fairness matter? For individuals, cultivating the character strength of fairness is correlated with highly desirable developmental outcomes. It helps people to become trustworthy friends, responsible citizens, and generally moral people. Fairness is also essential for the good of the group. As individuals develop the capacity for moral reason they often find a strengthening of: the aptitude for self-reflection; self-awareness and self-confidence; and perspective taking (i.e. the ability to “put themselves in another’s shoes”). When taken together, these skills significantly enhance a person’s ability to solve interpersonal and group relationship problems.
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest Nobel Prize laureate, serves as this week’s character strength example. A native of Pakistan’s Swat Valley, she bravely stood up against the Taliban — and survived their vicious attack — for girls’ right to education. Her fight for children’s education worldwide exemplifies her fairness. As she told the audience in her Nobel Lecture, "I am here to stand up for their [children's] rights, to raise their voice...it is not time to pity them. It is time to take action so it becomes the last time that we see a child deprived of education." Video
P2 Family Resources: We encourage you to visit the grade 6-8 “P2 for Families” Fairness site here. The password for accessing these family resources is: P2
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FCPSOn Health Check
As we approach the fourth quarter, we need to make sure your FCPSOn laptop is healthy and ready for the end of the year! Follow the instructions here to help make sure you’re good to go!
If there are any issues with the device, submit a ticket using the Parent/Student Ticket portal (https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/) or by calling 833-921-3277 as soon as possible. Replacement chargers can be purchased using the MySchoolBucks link on the Longfellow website (https://longfellowms.fcps.edu/).
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Parent Speakers Needed: Virtual Career Expo
We will be hosting our second annual ‘Virtual Career Expo’ this May. Presenters will submit a pre-recorded video, so don’t worry about traffic or conflicts with dates! If you would like to present (and we hope you do!), please click here to complete the Longfellow Career Expo Presenter form. Participants will receive an email confirmation and detailed information about the Career Expo within one week of submitting the registration form. Registration ends on Monday, April 26, 2021. If you have any questions, please email Shannon Lopynski.
The FCPS Parent Resource Center is offering the following free webinar:
Encouraging Positive Behaviors at Home Series: Minimizing Prompts and Maximizing Your Child’s Independence
Thursday, April 22 from 10:00am to 11:30am Click here to register
• Parents/guardians will be provided an overview of prompting and self-monitoring
• Parents/guardians will review general strategies to increase student independence with specific tasks such as completing homework, doing chores, etc.
Purple Up!
Longfellow is a proud Purple Star School! April is the Month of the Military Child, a time to recognize and thank children from military families for their contributions and sacrifices. The nationwide commemoration was established in 1986 by former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger.
To show our support, we are encouraging our Longfellow students, families, school employees, and community members to "Purple Up!" on April 21 for military children. Post your picture and tag #PurpleUpFCPS, #PurpleUpVirginia.
Fairfax County Public Schools is proud to have over 14,000 military-connected youth as part of our student body. We appreciate the varied life experiences they bring to our school community, and recognize their strength and resilience.
Why purple? Purple symbolizes all branches of the military as a combination of Army green, Marine red, and Coast Guard, Air Force, and Navy blue.
We extend our appreciation for the service of all children from military families and celebrate them by wearing purple in an effort to say “Thank You.” Whether or not you know any military-connected youth, take a moment to recognize and honor them by wearing your purple on April 21.
FCPS CARES Award
The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story below, so we can all acknowledge the good work of FCPS employees. For more information and to fill out a nomination, please visit the CARES Award page.
Donate Gift Cards to Show Our Teachers How Much We Appreciate Them
Teacher Appreciation Week is the week of May 3rd through 7th. The Teacher Appreciation Team has several fun events planned throughout the week, including thanking each teacher with a gift card. Principal Patrick raffles them off throughout the week. The students love it when their teachers' name is called over the loudspeaker to come to get their gift card.
We need your help now to collect enough gift cards for the 140 teachers, staff, and bus drivers at LMS. Please sign up here to donate a gift card today.
Place gift cards in an envelope marked “For Teacher Appreciation Week” and drop them off or mail to LMS on, or before Monday, April 26.
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