Forest Edge Weekly Newsletter
Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 06/21/2021 03:20 PM EDTFEES Families,
First, THANKS to you for all your support this year and your partnership in continuing your child’s education. We so much appreciate you being our helping hands this year and are excited to look forward to next year. We loved seeing our 6th Graders being honored and also all the happy faces during end of the year celebrations.
The end of the school year is always bittersweet. At the end of each school year, we say farewell to some staff members. Some retire. Some move away. Some transfer to other schools for new opportunities or to work closer to home. We support our staff if they move on to new adventures, but we’re sad to say goodbye. If you have had the pleasure of knowing or working with any of these FEES Family members, please extend your appreciation and best wishes. Their email addresses can be found here!
Farewell and congratulations to the following retirees: Ms. Dianne Washington, who spent popsicles in the playground21 years as part of our family. Dianne plans on spending time with her daughter and grandbabies. We will always have her in our heart at FEES.
We wish all the best to Rachel Roberts, autism teacher (moving to new school), Mrs. Hutcherson, special education teacher (moving to closer to home), Mrs. Hana DiPalma, K- teacher (moving to LCPS a school closer to home), Mrs. Erin Lally/Reed and Mrs. Jen Adams, preschool (moving to a new school ) Mrs. Doyle, Art Teacher (moving to High School) and Ms. Rebecca Rozmajzl (taking leave for health), Instructional Assistant Jessica Gonzalez (moving to HS) and Candice Johnson (moving to an office position). We wish them the best of luck in their new adventures!
We have been working hard to hire new teachers to fill in behind these great teachers, and I’m confident that the new faces on our staff in 2021-22 will fit our hard-working and caring school culture!
Sincerely,
Jillian Zuber, Principal
Ashley Fisher, Assistant Principal
Kelli Lundregan, Assistant Principal
What to do this summer to prepare for next school year?
I imagine you’re wondering what to expect next school year and what you might do to prepare your child, so here goes: Next year, expect 5 days of in-person school with all subjects being taught each day. The bell schedule returns to our normal, 8:50-3:35. Will there be safety measures in place at school? I expect there will be, and FEES will tightly implement them once FCPS and the health department determine the appropriate ones for fall. I further expect that our staff will be ready to differentiate instruction in each classroom so that we can teach the grade level curriculum and more (we continue to have so many students in need of enrichment) and to work closely with students on skills that need to more teaching.
If you’re worried about how the wide range of academic levels in each class impacts your child’s learning, let me say this: Our teachers have always been skilled at managing different groups of students. FEES has always had AAP students, English learners, special needs students, etc. sharing the same space. Our staff is well-versed in using a workshop model that moves the grade level curricula forward each day and incorporates regular, small group instruction on each child’s level. We’ve got this!
Expect that we’ll focus a lot on rebuilding social skills. Social Emotional Learning is a major part in our FEES mission, and our teachers embrace teaching/supporting student through Responsive Classroom and Positivity Project. We expect that many students will need opportunities to practice after coming back to in-person school, and we’ll have lots of activities to accomplish this. Expect regular lessons on managing stress, healthy self-concept, and opportunities to connect with classmates in positive ways.
So, what can you do to prepare your child for next school year? I propose the following:
- READ all the time. Make sure your kids read. You read with them. Visit the Reston Library, have students use imagine learning or MYON.
- As August 23 approaches, say things to get your children excited about school. You may need to promote and sell the idea of school more than ever if your child has been off-site for a long time. This can help minimize the separation anxiety that we may see in August.
- Get your kids out of the house. Be active so they get exercise. Be social so that any isolation they’ve been experiencing is lessened. This will mentally prepare them for joining a new class of more than 20 students two months from now.
You could do a hundred other things as well. But I’m keeping this list small on purpose because your kids need a summer too. Enjoy it with them!
Office Hours
Our office will be closed from 6/21/21- 7/6/2021 to allow our office team some well deserved vacation time to come back refreshed and renewed!
Starting on 7/6 our office hours will be: 9-12 Monday- Friday we will now allow for drop-ins!
Summer School Programs & Practice Books
We have some spaces remaining for our summer school programs, if you would like your student to participate please complete the following form. We will take students on a first come first serve basis until our programs are filled. Please email Ashley Allee, our site director if you are interested! aallee@fcps.edu
Summer Practice Books (General Education PreK-Grade 8, K-12 ESOL, and PreK-12 Special Education) will be mailed home to FCPS students and should arrive mid-to-late June. Digital links to books and answer guides will be provided on June 7, 2021, via enotify to the enrolling parent email based on SY 2020-21 course enrollment. More information about specific books can be accessed on the Summer Practice Books public webpage.
Save the Date! Kindergarten Popsicles in the Playground!
We would like to welcome our new Kindergarten students, and their families to join us for popsicles in the playground, where you will have an opportunity to meet our Kindergarten teachers and new friends! Our playground is located behind our building!
July 21st 6:30-7:30
August 10th 6:30-7:30
We need all laptops returned to get them ready for the Fall! If you have any devices at home please email our Technology Specialist, Madina Niaz (mniaz@fcps.edu) to set-up a time to drop it off as soon as possible! We want to have all our students ready to go on day one for the fall!