Good afternoon Freedom Hill families,
This week we celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week. We invite you to think of a simple way to thank you child's teacher, special education teacher, ESOL teacher, specialists, or any other staff member at Freedom Hill who has influenced your child this year.
A big thank you to our PTA, and especially Angela Waugaman and Ina Soepangkat, who have arranged a wonderful series of gifts for our teachers this week. In addition, we invite your children to take part in the following optional spirit days, whether they are in-person or online:
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Tuesday - May the 4th Be with our Teachers! - optional Star Wars or Book Character Dress Up Day
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Wednesday - All A Teacher Needs On A Rainy Day! - rain is in the forecast – wear your favorite PJs and bring your favorite book for indoor recess
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Thursday - We Root for our Teachers! - optional sports jersey dress up day
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Friday - Teacher Color Day - finish Teacher Appreciation Week by wearing your teacher's favorite color (do you know what it is?)
A few other brief notes for this week:
- In order to give our students more time to eat breakfast, we will be opening the doors at 9:30 each day.
- Our cafeteria's hot lunch line returns on Tuesday.
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SOLs begin this week for third and fourth graders. A full schedule is below.
Wishing you a great week ahead,
Dr. Nicholas Zapadka, Principal
Eric Kopacz, Asst. Principal
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May 3 - 7 - Teacher Appreciation Week
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May 4 - Hot lunches return to cafeteria
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May 5 - Bike/Walk to School Day
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May 5 - 28 - SOL Testing (Grades 3-6)
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May 5 - Curbside Library Checkout, 2-6PM
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May 10 - Family Class Placement Input due (see below)
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June 8 - Virtual instruction for all students (Election Day)
If your child is returning to Freedom Hill next school year, we offer you the opportunity to share any comments you would like regarding class placements. If you know that your family will not be joining us for the 2021-22 school year, please reach out to Ms. Sujo at ssujoromero@fcps.edu or 703-506-7800 to let us know.
Our staff will be working on tentative class groupings this spring, with classroom assignments finalized in mid-August. As we make these placements, we consider many factors including individual student information, teacher input, and social relationships. Every class will have a blend of children with diverse needs, personalities, and learning interests. Due to the many factors we must consider in creating classroom placements, including the reassignment of some teachers to a different grade level and the hiring of new teachers, requests for a specific teacher cannot be honored.
If you have information that you believe is pertinent to your child’s placement for next year, please complete this OPTIONAL form online by Monday, May 10th for it to be taken into consideration. There is no need to complete the form if you do not have any information you would like us to consider. Thank you.
Federal and state education departments have decided not to cancel this year’s Standard of Learning (SOL) assessments. Freedom Hill will be conducting tests from May 5th to May 28th. This includes virtual students, who are required to come to the building for testing.
The following letter was emailed to families on Friday, April 16th in English, Spanish, and Arabic. It contains information regarding transportation, refusals, and virtual students coming into he building for testing on their assigned days.
Please email our school testing coordinators, Mr. Kopacz and Mr. Scesney, with any questions you may have.
Due to Election Day, instruction for all students in Fairfax County Public Schools on Tuesday, June 8th will be virtual and synchronous (live) for EVERY student. Students will not attend school in-person on June 8th.
We are excited to welcome our next class of Kindergarten students. To prepare for the 2021-22 school year, we ask all parents of incoming Kindergartners to visit our registration page to register your child. Encourage your friends and neighbors to register their incoming Kindergartners. Pass the word!
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This week, we are focusing on Leadership. You value each member of your group and inspire other people to do their best.
“Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and actions.”
~ Harold S. Geneen
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Questions you might enjoy talking about:
- What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?
- Do you consider yourself a leader? If not, what are some characteristics that might make that more possible? If so, what are the characteristics of leadership you need to build on to make stronger?
- How does it make you feel to think about yourself as a leader?
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Parent Technology Help Desk 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS)
Parent and Student Technology Support Portal
Freedom Hill Digital Tools Webpage
FCPS Parent Resource Center
FCPS Return to School
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BIKE/WALK TO SCHOOL DAY - MAY 5
FHES is participating in National Bike/Walk to School Day. You can participate by either biking or walking to school or take a ride/walking around your neighborhood. All info is here. Parents, please do take photos and post them to our the Freedom Hill ES FB group or Tweet them by tagging @FreedomHillES and @FreedomHillPTA or using #BiketoSchool and #FHHighlights. Big thanks to Sam Lee for organizing!
TEACHER APPRECIATION
It's Teacher Appreciation Week and the PTA plans to honor FHES staff every day this week. To FHES teachers and staff, please accept our thanks for all that you do, especially during a school year like no other! To our awesome TA chairs, Angela Waugaman and Ina Soepangkat, thank you for all your hard work! Here's what's in store:
Monday 5/3:
Raffle off a Pancake House gift card
A gift distributed in staff mailboxes to acknowledge all the “extra” effort they have been putting in this year
Tuesday 5/4:
Raffle off a Pancake House gift card
Boxed lunches from Jason’s Deli for all staff
Wednesday 5/5:
Raffle off a Pancake House gift card
A gift distributed in staff mailboxes, the “stars” of Freedom Hill
Thursday 5/6:
Raffle off a Pancake House gift card
A gift distributed in staff mailboxes that will hopefully help “refresh” our hardworking staff
Friday 5/7:
Raffle off a Social Burger gift card
Raffle off two Coldstone gift cards
Breakfast from Panera for all staff
*For the all-virtual staff, the PTA has put together gift bags that can be picked up in the main office.
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