Upcoming Dates
Monday, 9/6 - Student Holiday
Wednesday, September 8th - Virtual Back to School Night
*See Zoom Session Registration Links Below
5:30 main session - Administration
Session A - 2nd, 4th, 6th 6:30 or 7:30
Session B - K,1st, 3rd, 5th 6:00 or 7:00
Specialists will be creating asynchronous videos and sharing information.
Thursday 9/9 9:15 AM - PTA Meeting outdoors at picnic tables by the blacktop
Please report directly here and do not go into the school.
Friday 9/17 - Celebrate McLean - More Information to Come
Event with all McLean area schools will be held at McLean High School prior to the football game.
Thursday, 9/30 - Chesterbrook Kickball Kickoff - PTA Sponsored Event
Principal's Message
It has been wonderful to have our students back at school and building connections in person with all their classmates and teachers.
During the first two weeks teachers and staff worked to build connections, help students feel comfortable back at school, set expectations, build routine and begin instruction to build a positive foundation for the school year. We will continue to have foundational structures around social-emotional needs as we progress through the school year.
This year we have added a STEAM and Think Lab to Chesterbrook. As we build this new initiative, we look forward to ways in which we can embed this instruction for our primary students so they can apply concepts within core content in our upper grades. Ms. Vallath, AART, and Ms. Brown, SBTS, have spearheaded the efforts to get our lab up and running and we look forward to sharing how this is shaping and supporting our work around FCPS Portrait of a Graduate.
Our efforts around Covid mitigation will be constant, as we are continually working to provide the safest measures we can and being flexible when we need to adapt to updated guidance. This week we continued to work with lunches to adjust some timings to help maximize space and set up supervision for lunches outdoors. We are working to have only one grade level eating in the café at one time, which allows us to spread students out. Kinder and 1st are smaller grade levels eating at the same time and staying indoors so we can better manage their needs.
During lunches where we cannot create more indoor space, we are setting up an outdoor lunch option as often as possible. Next week 2nd and 5th grades will eat outdoors while 3rd and 6th grades are inside. The following week our grade levels will flip with 3rd and 6th being outdoors. These students are welcome to bring blankets to sit on the ground, but we have picnic tables that will nicely space 6 students at each table. The past generosity of our parents to our PTA made this purchase of picnic tables possible last school year. Please consider joining our PTA and donating to the Chipmunk fund to support important initiatives.
Our clinic has seen a number of students with various symptoms (mostly stomach aches and nausea), which will result in a sick student notification letter requiring follow up with your medical provider or covid testing before return to school. Thank you so much for your follow up, care and the precautions everyone is taking. We realize it is not easy to be called out of work. We all want nothing more than for our students to be in school and not having to quarantine our staff or students, so everyone's attention to care is greatly appreciated.
We welcome you to follow us on Twitter
Chesterbrook - @CES_FCPS
Mrs. Thomas - @Mrs_Fthomas
Mrs. Kirkpatrick - @PrincipalKirkp1
Have a wonderful long weekend and we look forward to seeing our Chipmunks on Tuesday. To those celebrating Rosh Hashana, may you have a wonderful Happy New Year celebration.
Sincerely,
Stacy
Registration Required - Back to School Night Sessions
We are looking forward to our Virtual Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 8! In order to access this virtual opportunity, we will need families to register to help us ensure the appropriate Zoom security measures are in place. The links below will allow you to REGISTER for your child’s grade level Zoom meeting.
The registration link is not a link to the meeting itself. Once the registration is complete and approved, you will receive an email from Zoom with the link to the event by Tuesday, September 7th. You are able to register for multiple meetings.
Arrival and Dismissal Reminders
Kiss N Ride
- ONLY turn right into and out of the parking lot to keep traffic moving. Traffic waiting and trying to squeeze in causes a safety issue as people are blocking the sidewalk walkway, reducing visibility of walkers and bike riders.
- We are noticing K&R cars dropping off and leaving students early. Do not drop off your children without staff supervision in place. We have buses completing double runs and you may notice a bus releasing students to admin, but this is planned so we can get our wonderful drivers out for their double back run. We are not sending students to class early.
Supervision of Students
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Staff supervision for students begins at 8:30, students should not be left at the front door without parent supervision or arrive prior at the kiss n ride area without parent prior to this time.
Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener for Grades 3-6
Students in Grades 3-6 will be given an SEL screener three times this year.
SEL skills include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Research tells us that students with strong SEL skills are more successful in school, work, and relationships. The screener collects information about students’ SEL skills, feelings, relationships, school environment, and well-being. Screener results are used with other information to support students academically and personally. If you would like to opt out, please complete this form and return it to your child’s homeroom teacher by 9/20/21.
Student’s Rights & Responsibilities
Over the next few weeks, your child will be reviewing information contained in Student Rights and Responsibilities with teachers and administrators.
The Student Rights and Responsibilities document (SR&R) explains expectations for student behavior and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable and supportive school environment. All students will have the handbook on their laptop and parents can access the SR&R here.
We ask that you either sign in parent vue (easiest and quickest way) that you have reviewed SR&R or you can complete this SR&R sheet and turn it into your child’s homeroom teacher before this Friday, 9/10.
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