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We hope everyone had a wonderful spring break! We have been so happy to welcome all of our students back to class this week and kick off the fourth quarter!
Monday, Dr. Brabrand shared with the community the FCPS plan for moving forward based on the new social distancing guidelines from the CDC. In that communication, Dr. Brabrand acknowledged that each school's implementation of the guidelines will look different. We are currently working on identifying additional students utilizing a MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) process and will notify those impacted families. Should the community spread change from a high community transmission rate (we will stay at 6 feet social distancing at secondary schools during this community transmission level). When we have the ability to bring in even more students, we will be back in touch with the specific details. While it is our desire to include as many current in-person students in school four days a week as we can, we must continue to focus on safety and mitigation procedures. We appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the updated guidance.
SOL Notification
Thank you to the families who have already provided a response regarding SOL testing. If you have not yet responded, please review the information posted on the Cooper webpage about SOL testing this spring (notification letter and information video) and complete the intention form by Friday, April 9th. Responses are needed from all families - whether your child will participate in testing or if testing will be refused - in order to coordinate the appropriate transportation and food services.
https://cooperms.fcps.edu/announcements/sol-parent-notification-information-2020-2021
FLE lessons week of April 13th
Attention Cooper Families! Next week from April 13-16th students will begin the Human Growth and Development (HGD) lessons as part of Family Life Education (FLE). These lessons can be sensitive in nature and Cooper’s Health and Physical Education (HPE) Department is here to educate and support all students through this curriculum. As our teachers will create a safe and positive space for our in-person students, we ask for your support at home if your student is a virtual learner. In order to maximize the learning opportunity:
- consider having your student utilize headphones during HPE or engage in a learning space without younger siblings.
- consider engaging your student in dialogue around the content to help further their understanding.
This form was provided at the beginning of the school year and we understand that your circumstances may have changed since that time. If you would like your student to opt-out from this upcoming curriculum unit, please complete the opt-out form that aligns with your student’s grade level: 7th grade opt out form, 8th grade opt out form. If you plan to opt your student out of the Human Growth and Development Lessons, this form is due no later than April 9th (this Friday). If your student will participate in the lessons, then there is no action needed.
Thank you for your support! If you have concerns or questions about the FLE instruction, please contact Kristin Sandridge at kmsandridge@fcps.edu.
Vision and Hearing Screening
Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction has granted a waiver of the statutory requirement for vision and hearing screenings that allows parents to “opt-out” of screenings under the following conditions:
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Virtual Attendance Only. The student attends school on an entirely virtual basis during the 2020-2021 school year
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Parental Opt-Out. A parent declines vision and hearing screening services in writing and submits such writing to the student’s school
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Notice of Screening Benefits. Prior to declining, the parent has been informed of the benefits of vision and hearing screens for a student’s health and wellbeing.
If you would like to opt your student out of the vision and hearing screening for any of the reasons listed above, please complete the opt-out form and return it to Aubrey at ahopkinsmidg@fcps.edu no later than April 21st.
Unreturned Library Books
Ultimately, there are no fines and fees for books lost last year due to the pandemic, but school libraries have been asked to make one last push to get as many books returned as possible. While we don’t have as many overdue books as some schools do, we have lost just shy of $3,000.00 worth of library assets in overdue/lost books.
Books still out from Cooper Library September 2019 – June 2020
| Grade |
# Of Students |
# Of Books Out |
Total Loss |
| 7th Graders |
59 |
97 |
$1288.00 |
| 8th Graders |
36 |
46 |
$562.00 |
| (last year's) 8th Graders |
84 |
89 |
$1099.00 |
| TOTALS |
179 |
232 |
$2949.00 |
Overdue notices will be going out to students through their fcpsschools.net account and to the enrolling parent email address in the next two weeks. If you receive a notice, please take the time to take one last look through the house to see if the books can be found. Some of the missing books are from elementary school. If an elementary school book is found, you can return it to that school or bring it to Cooper. If you know the books are absolutely lost, please let me know.
Please email the librarian, Mrs. Psaltis at lmpsaltis@fcps.edu with any questions.
Summer Courses Online
A reminder that FCPS Online Campus Summer Courses are open for registration and available to eligible middle school students who meet prerequisites and technical requirements. Students may take one online course for the first time or repeat credit. Middle school students may not take a mathematics course during the summer as their first-high school level mathematics course. Courses are rigorous; therefore, students should consult their counselor prior to registering. Program information is available at Summer Learning.
JEI Mini-PhD Program
Learning the Scientific Method from Hypothesis to Publication (Rising 8th through 10th grade students)
- The Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI) team at Harvard University is conducting a FREE Mini-PhD program (virtual) this summer. Review this website to learn more. Application deadline is May 1, 2021
NOVA Fab Lab Design
Challenge (MS, HS)
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NOVA Fab Lab Design Challenge is now open! Students are invited to invent and design a product(s) for eventual fabrication (using 3D-printing and/or laser cutting) transforming typical household items or materials into a toy or game. Application deadline is April 15th, 2021.
2021 CTE Summer Enrichment
Camps (Grades 7 -11)
- The Career and Technical Education (CTE) office is offering two enrichment programs this year - Tech Adventure Camp and CTE Summer Academy. Registration for both camps will begin in February. For more information, please visit CTE Summer Academy at bit.ly/FCPS_CSA
Opportunities offered by organizations other than Fairfax County Public Schools are neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Fairfax County School Board, the Superintendent, or a specific school.
Virtual CAD & Programming for Young Scholars
The TJHSST's FTC Robotics team worked with middle schoolers last year on Saturdays to teach about robotics using LEGO robotics kits. Unfortunately, these in-person sessions were not possible to organize this year, so the team has been working on developing their own curriculum for a free, virtual, school-year camp for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. The only resource needed to access these camps are an FCPS laptop.
The camp will be split into two curriculums: 1) classes on Computer Aided Design (CAD), for students to learn how to virtually design their own robots; and 2) robotics-related programming taught in the programming language Python. Students may choose to participate in one or both classes. Each class will last for 6 weeks, making both a total of 12 weeks from March 27th to June 12th. These sessions will be on Saturdays and take place from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM. Students will be emailed a Blackboard Collaborate link to join at these times, similar to how one would join a regular school-day class.
Although the CAD camp has already started, they have posted recordings of the sessions in their Google Classroom (this information will be sent in an email to those who sign up) so
students can watch those if they wish to participate in the CAD classes now. They can also sign up for the Programming course, which will be starting on May 1st. More information can be found on the following website: https://www.robotuprising.org/camps/. You may also Register Here.
Skill, Not Will: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach Webinar for Families
Join us for the important session to learn some key strategies from the Collaborative Problem Solving® approach to manage challenging behavior.
The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach:
- Promotes the understanding that challenging kids lack the skill (problem-solving, flexibility, and frustration tolerance) - not the will - to behave
- Focuses on collaborating with the child/youth/young adult to solve the problems leading to challenging behavior and building the skills they need to succeed.
Avoids void the use of power, control, and motivational procedures and instead
Presented by staff from United Methodist Family Services: Carmen Dailey, Organizational Learning Manager, and CPS Certified Trainer.
Friday April 9, 2021 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Register for Skill, Not Will: The Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach Webinar for Families
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