Westlawn Family Message
April 16-23, 2021
Keeping Families Connected!
Hello Westlawn Families,
We are working diligently to prepare for children to begin 4-day, in-person instruction. Our front office is in the process of calling families of children being offered the 4-day opportunity while our teachers prepare to safely expand in-person class sizes. Simultaneously our teachers remain committed to our students remaining virtual, ensuring each child continues to receive the rigorous and enriching curriculum you expect at Westlawn Elementary.
We are continuing our scaffolded return to 4-day, in-person learning, and all students invited to return on April 20th have been notified. Students invited to 4-day, in-person instruction beginning April 27th will be notified by early next week. Once all notifications are complete, we will communicate via email with any families of children unable to return. Please note we will consistently reassess our status, and it is our hope and goal to invite every child who chose the in-person learning option for 4-day, in-person instruction.
As May lies around the corner, we are in the process of finalizing our summer program blueprint, and will begin the invitation process in the next few weeks. Westlawn will house the following local programs beginning July 12 and running through July 30:
- Bridge to Kindergarten
- Designed for children with little to no PreK experience
- Bridge to 1st
- Designed for children building social and self-regulatory skills
- Young Scholars
- Rising 1-6 students identified as Young Scholars
- SOAR: Mathematic and Language Arts Acceleration
- Designed for English language learners and children building math and reading skills
Summer programs are invitation only, as the number of spots available is dependent upon teacher availability and space – remember Westlawn is also housing ESY and SACC programs this summer!
Together we take the next step toward recovery. We are strong, we are united, and together we soar. We are Westlawn.
In Proud Partnership,
Christoph Hill, Anaya Bryson and Stephanie Carpenter, Westlawn Principals
|
Meal Kit Sites Moving to Monday Distribution Starting April 19
Many FCPS Grab and Go food distribution sites have switched this month from daily food pickup to weekly Fairfax Meal Kit distribution. Fairfax Meal Kits contain seven days of breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and supper items packed in bulk.
On Monday, April 19, all meal kit sites are permanently moving to a Monday distribution day. Hours remain 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or until supplies are exhausted. Grab and Go locations and bus routes remain the same.
Visit the food distribution webpage for more information.
 |
|
International Night 2021!
Join us for our first virtual International Night! We are excited to come together for a night of celebrating the rich diversity of our Westlawn community! Mark your calendars for Friday May 14th from 7:00 – 8:00pm.
Do you have a video, photograph, or recipe showing an aspect of your culture that you would like to share! If so please click on one of the links!
Though it will be a little different this year, we are excited to be able to hold this event in a virtual way!
More information to come! Questions? Reach out to Deirdre Ladd at dbladd@fcps.edu
|
April 20th ~ Community Webinar on COVID-19 Vaccines
The FCPS Parent Resource Center will be hosting multilingual community webinars on COVID-19 vaccines and the vaccine process on Tuesday, April 20th.
Learn more and register for the webinar
Westlawn Parent Workshop: 10-11am on Wednesday, April 28
Topic: Finding Childcare for your Family
Our local Neighborhood School Readiness team will be hosting an information session for Westlawn families to learn more about childcare options in the community. We know that finding care for children under 5 and for children who are not in school has been very challenging, especially with the changes to in person instruction.
The link for the workshop will be shared soon!
 Virtual Kindergarten Orientation:
Monday, April 26
Attention all Rising Kindergarteners! We will hold a virtual orientation hosted by our awesome kindergarten team on Monday, April 26th from 1:30-2:30pm.
Save the date if you have a child who will be joining us at Westlawn in the fall!
A link will be sent out through email for all families closer to the date.
Religious and Cultural Observances for 2021-22 Standard School Year Calendar
The 2021-22 standard school year calendar was developed to respect, accept, and honor the plurality of religious and cultural observances in Fairfax County. It includes 15 Religious and Cultural Observance Days based on major religions where staff and/or student absences were above average at least once over the past five years.
Religious and Cultural Observance Days for 2021-22 are:
- Eid al-Adha – July 20, 2021 (Before School Year).
- Rosh Hashanah – September 7, 2021.
- Yom Kippur – September 16, 2021.
- All Saints Day/Día de los Muertos – November 1 and 2, 2021.
- Diwali – November 4, 2021.
- Bodhi Day – December 8, 2021.
- Three Kings Day/Epiphany – January 6, 2022.
- Orthodox Christmas – January 7, 2022.
- Orthodox Epiphany – January 19, 2022.
- Lunar New Year – February 1, 2022.
- First day of Ramadan – April 3, 2022 (Sunday).
- Good Friday – April 15, 2022.
- Theravada – April 16, 2022.
- Orthodox Good Friday – April 22, 2022.
- Last day of Passover – April 22, 2022
- Eid al-Fitr – May 3, 2022
SOL Scheduling Considerations for Ramadan
This spring, the SOL non-writing window has significant overlap with Ramadan, the Muslim holy month marked by daily fasting from sunrise to sunset. Ramadan begins the evening of Monday, April 12, and ends with Eid-al-Fitr on Thursday, May 13.
The SOL non-writing window begins Monday, April 12, for high school, and Monday, April 26, for elementary and middle schools. All make-ups and retakes are to be completed by Friday, June 4.
As a community cultural responsiveness is a priority. We welcome dialogue with our Muslim families impacted by these testing dates. We encourage families to contact Westlawn principals and engage in open discussions around religious observation and how we can best meet the needs of families while adhering to state and county testing directives. If it is not an option to postpone testing until after Ramadan has concluded, we will try to schedule the student’s testing sessions in the morning whenever feasible.
|
