Important Upcoming Dates
September 3: No School - Labor Day holiday
September 6: No School - Labor Day holiday
September 7: Rosh Hashanah
September 16: Yom Kippur
September 17: Woodson Feeder Night-Football Game
September 21: Fall Pictures
September 22: Back to School Night-6:30 p.m.
September 25: PTA Laps for Learning
New This Week
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
2. Health & Safety Guidance
3. Safety Drills
4. Reading Fitness Quest
5. Woodson Football Feeder Night
6. PTA Corner
7. Laps for Learning - T-Shirt Registration Deadline
Reminders & Updates
8. Beginning of the Year Forms
9. Bears Care Outreach
10. Contacts
11. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
1. Message from Mrs. Miller
Dear Olde Creek Families and Friends,
Thank you for an outstanding second week! As you walk down our halls and go into classrooms you can see the excitement, positivity, engagement, and learning. Our Bears are forming friendships and building relationships with their teachers each day. Thank you to all of our families who were able to join the PTA meeting last night. It was wonderful to see you all. We are looking forward to an exceptional year. We hope you can join the next PTA meeting to hear updates and all of the exciting things our PTA is working on to support our school community.
This morning, all of our families received a message with clarifying information with regards to our COVID protocols. We have included additional information below as well. Please reach out to us with any questions or concerns. We appreciate families keeping children home if they are not well and communicating with us quickly.
We hope you have a safe and healthy weekend. We look forward to seeing our Bears on Tuesday!
Stronger Together,
Melissa Miller, Principal
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal
2. Health & Safety Guidance
The health and safety of all Olde Creek students is paramount to everything we do. Here is some information from FCPS that gives tips on how to stop the spread, as well as explains the process we use when there is a positive case. Please see your email from this morning with additional details.
FCPS Health and Safety Guidance Webpage
Our Health and Safety Guidance Webpage has the most current information about our layered prevention strategies, what happens if your child becomes ill at school, and the process when there is a pause in instruction or activities after a positive COVID case.
Flow Chart for Notification of a Positive Case
We know the pause process can be confusing for families. The flowchart below is posted to the FCPS website and explains the exact process Olde Creek, FCPS, and the Fairfax County Health Department use to identify and notify close contacts after a positive case.
Flowchart outlining process for students identified as a close contact
COVID Dashboard
All FCPS COVID-19 cases are reported via a dashboard posted to the FCPS website and updated daily. While this does not outline the number of students quarantining, it has tabs showing total number of cases, cases by school and cases by date.
FCPS Covid-19 Dashboard
Safety Tools & Scenarios
Since the beginning of August, the majority of COVID-19 cases have been acquired through community spread, outside of school buildings.
FCPS’ layered prevention strategies are working to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our schools. Pausing, quarantining, and isolating are tools we use to keep schools safe when a positive COVID-19 case is reported. Understanding the difference between the three scenarios can help families be prepared.
Pause
A pause to in-person instruction is a short-term safety measure used by FCPS and the health department to allow time to investigate and determine the safest way to address a positive case within the school community.
To learn more about pausing in-person instruction, watch this video.
Close Contact
A close contact is any person, regardless of vaccination status, who is within 6 feet of a COVID-19 positive individual for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24 hour period. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) K-12 Exception indicates that students will not be identified as close contacts if they are at least 3 feet apart and are consistently wearing masks in the classroom setting. Adults are not included in this exception.
To learn more about close contacts, watch this video.
Quarantine
When a student is identified as a close contact, there are two things that may occur as a result:
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Not fully vaccinated students who are identified as a close contact with someone with COVID-19 must remain home for 14 days after their last exposure. FCPS will notify a student of their return date.
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Fully vaccinated students must remain home until their vaccination status is verified. Upon verification of vaccination status by the FCHD, and if the student/staff is asymptomatic, they may return to in-person learning and activities once notified by FCPS of their return date.
To learn more about quarantines, watch this video.
Isolation
Isolation is the response when someone tests positive for COVID-19. Students who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, may not return until:
- It has been at least ten (10) days since the student first had symptoms AND
- The student must be fever free for 24 hours without fever-reducing medication AND
- The student’s symptoms are getting better
To learn more about isolation, watch this video.
Outbreak
It is important to note that more than one case reported by a student, staff, or visitor to a particular school or building does not always mean there is an outbreak. An outbreak is defined as two or more laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases with onset within a 14-day period who are epidemiologically linked (a case in which the person has been exposed to a confirmed case in a way that a known transmission can occur), do not share a household, and were not identified as close contacts of each other in a setting outside of school during the health department investigation.
To learn more about outbreaks, watch this video.
FCPS’ goal is to keep students learning in-person all year. We are doing our part by implementing layered prevention strategies and working with FCHD to address positive cases and potential exposures. Every FCPS student and family can do their part by wearing masks, getting vaccinated when they are eligible, practicing healthy hygiene, and staying home when sick.
3. Safety Drills
Keeping students and staff safe is a priority for all of us. We have a crisis management and emergency preparedness plan for our school that is reviewed and updated regularly. Our plan includes procedures on how to respond to incidents such as fires and tornadoes. Students and staff regularly practice these drills every school year. We also practice lockdown drills.
A new Virginia Law (22.1-137.2) requires schools to notify parents at least 24 hours before a school practices a lockdown drill. However, we are not required to share the exact date and time of the drill. We are required to practice lockdown drills two times a year. FCPS lockdown drills do not include any type of active shooter scenario training; they are instructional and classroom based practice of what to do.
4. Reading Fitness Quest
Do you love reading and being active? Then Reading Fitness Quest is for you! Reading Fitness Quest is a program that has been at Olde Creek for a long time. It encourages our students and staff to read and exercise every day. The first sheet for Reading Fitness Quest is gold and will be going home in Friday Folders this week.
If your student reads and exercises a minimum of twenty minutes each on a given day, fill in one box. Please make sure that an adult puts the date and their initials whenever a day is complete. When the first sheet is complete, the student can turn the sheet in to Mrs. Chapman for the next sheet!
There is more information on the gold Reading Fitness Quest sheet that you will find in your student’s Friday Folder this week!
Happy reading and exercising!
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5. Woodson Football Feeder Night
Please see the flyer below for more information on Woodson’s Feeder Night on September 17.
6. PTA Corner
Thanks to everyone who joined us for our first meeting of the year on Wednesday! Our meetings are the first Wednesday of the month. We are looking forward to our next one on October 6th.
Please consider joining the PTA if you haven't already, and if you are interested in volunteering, you can do so here.
If you have any questions about what the PTA does or how you can participate, feel free to email us at board@oldecreekpta.com.
7. Laps for Learning - September 25th!
REGISTER BY TODAY, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2ND TO GUARANTEE A SHIRT FOR YOUR STUDENT
Laps for Learning is coming up on September 25th, and it’s not too late to register!
The deadline to guarantee a Laps for Learning t-shirt is today, Thursday, September 2nd. There is no cost to register, please register your student(s) today to ensure they have a Laps for Learning t-shirt. This is just the t-shirt deadline for the event and not a registration or fundraising deadline. Please register your child today even if you are not yet sure you can attend. Registrations after September 2nd are not guaranteed a t-shirt in time for the event. Go to http://oldecreekpta.org/laps-for-learning/ to register today!
Laps for Learning is a fun event that raises money for classroom resources, student experiences, technology purchases for our classrooms, and field trips. The 1K route is partially closed, but HIGHLY supervised. The route is lined with parent volunteers to cheer and encourage students. Participants do not need to complete all 5 laps. The course is stroller-friendly event so bring your whole family!
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8. Beginning of Year Forms
It is important that we have updated information from all families to start the school year.
In ParentVUE, you can access the weCare module to update emergency care information and health information. Each school year parents need to verify the information in weCare for each student. We are required to have this completed at the start of each school year to meet regulations. For information on accessing weCare in ParentVUE, click here.
There are other forms linked below that parents may print and drop off in the main office or send in with your child.
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9. Bears Care Outreach
The Bears Care food pantry provides weekend food provisions to our families in need during this extraordinary time. Please use this sign up for much needed items that can either be dropped off at the school or sent through this Amazon Wish List. Go through Amazon Smile to donate a percentage to Olde Creek!(Email Lisa at lisamarm@gmail.com for other drop off/mailing information.)
New! You can donate through the OC PTA PayPal account. The funds will be used to purchase items and gift cards based on the greatest needs of our families. Access the OC PTA PayPal account here: https://paypal.me/OldeCreekPTA.
Bears Care is also looking for someone to help run the pantry and a Frost/Woodson student to help pack bags on Thursdays after school. (Please contact Lisa at lisamarm@gmail.com.)
Thank you, as always, for your kindness and generosity!
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10. Contacts
Olde Creek Attendance Phone Line: 703-426-3192
Olde Creek Attendance mailbox: OldeCreekElem.Attendance@fcps.edu
Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portal
Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal, ajbutler@fcps.edu
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal, kldurso@fcps.edu
Sylvia Alverson, Administrative Assistant, sjalverson@fcps.edu
Ann Platenkamp, Administrative Assistant, amplatenkamp@fcps.edu
Lizardo Santos, Student Information Assistant, LISantos@fcps.edu
Sandy McCulloch, Office Assistant, slmcculloch@fcps.edu
11. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
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