|
Coates Families,
Congratulations! We have completed the first two weeks of school. That’s 9 days down, and about 170 more to go! I’m thankful for your support of our staff as we came back strong with full-time, in-person school this year. We’re taking our time building a sense of community in each classroom, teaching and re-teaching rules and good habits for school, and building stamina and skills in all subjects. It takes a lot of time and attention to put the pieces back together. I’m proud to say that we are succeeding!
Thanks for your great attendance (virtual and in-person) at Back to School Nights last week. Thanks for your patience as we managed crowd size and acted responsibly as visitors.
Thanks to so many of you for joining the PTA already. I hope more people do! Go here for the membership forms and PayPal info!
Thanks for completing the student information forms you received last week (at BTSN or sent home) and sending them back to school. Having updated health info and contact info for you is essential.
Thank you to so many parents for sending kind words of appreciation to our teachers. It’s an active job, and they’re understandably tired. Acts of appreciation go a long way!
Thanks for doing your part at the bus stops to supervise your kids and keep them safe and for being patient with the drivers. We also appreciate our Kiss & Ride parents for learning our system and respecting it – even with so many cars this year, things are moving much more quickly compared to the first days of school!
Thanks for erring on the side of caution and keeping your children home if they're sick. Thanks for being honest with us about home illnesses, and getting tested and seeing doctors so quickly when there's been a need. Basically, thanks for taking care of your children and considering everyone else's (and our staff too).
Finally, thanks for the kind words so many of you have sent me this week in regard to my promotion. I appreciate your congratulations and understanding. To be clear, I dread leaving Coates even while I’m excited about the next step in my career. I’ll say more about the special-ness of our school in the weeks to come. You still have me through September!
And speaking of that, watch for information soon about ways you can give your input into the principal selection process. Expect a virtual meeting that includes staff and families where FCPS Region 5 leadership will ask you what Coates needs in its next principal. Make your voice heard!
Please read the announcements below. Follow our social media and read those Talking Points texts from teachers to stay up to date. Enjoy the long weekend!
Jesse Kraft, Proud Principal
Beginning next week, teachers in 2nd through 6th grade will begin sending students’ laptops home with them each night. Students are expected to charge their laptops at home and bring them back to school each day. This new expectation accomplishes two things:
- It ensures that all students have a fully-charged laptop each day at school.
- If a student is absent or otherwise away from school, s/he can access some assignments on Schoology, our new online platform for assignments.
Please help your child make a space at home for laptop charging each night and remind him/her to bring the laptop back to school every day.
Before the pandemic, parents were permitted to send treats to school with their child on their birthday. Often, parents sent cupcakes or cookies which the student distributed to his/her friends during lunch. We cannot do that this year. If you wish to send in a birthday treat, you may so long as you follow these rules. Birthday treats must be:
- individually-wrapped treats
- in a sealed package
- no nuts
- enough for the whole class
Please do not send in party favors or any other item. Unfortunately, we are not allowing parent visitors during lunch, including birthdays. We hope to return to an open-door policy for lunch once we get back to normal. Parents are under no obligation to send in birthday treats.
Our new reading specialist, Mrs. Paula Cortes, gave parents great ideas a Back to School Night for promoting good reading habits at home. You can find the resources we shared on the Coates website as well. We’ve created short videos and booklets that can give non-teachers exactly what they need to help kids read at their level. Please check them out! The best way you can support academics in elementary school is to promote reading at home.
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) provides a comprehensive, sequential Family Life Education (FLE) program for students in grades kindergarten through grade twelve. Instruction is seen as a partnership among parents and guardians, the school, and the community in supporting the learning essential to the development of strong families, positive relationships, and a healthy community.
Parents/guardians may choose to opt their child out of all or part of the Family Life Education program. Students who are opted out are provided with age-appropriate, nonpunitive alternative health instruction, and every effort is made to foster respect for family choices. If you wish to opt your child out of all or part of FLE for this school year, opt out forms will be included in your child’s back-to-school/orientation packets and are available online for Elementary (K-6) k-6/elementary-family-life-education , Middle School (7-8) middle-school-academics-7-8/family-life-education-fle, and High School (9-12) high-school-academics-9-12/family-life-education-fle. Please fill in the opt-out form and return it to your child’s school prior to Family Life Education instruction.
Detailed grade-level program descriptions are available online at Elementary (K-6) , Middle School (7-8) , and High School (9-12). FLE grade level-specific lessons and media that FCPS has streaming rights for are available for parents online in Schoology. Parents/guardians login to Schoology using the same username and password as their Student Information System (SIS) Parent account. Grade level-specific lessons are also available at the City of Fairfax Regional Library (this location does not have media). Grade level-specific lessons and media that is not streamed online are available for review at your child’s school library. Due to copyright permissions, we are unable to stream all media online.
*Please check your child's Thursday folder for grade specific opt-out forms. Program questions may be addressed at your child’s school or by contacting Instructional Services at 571-423-4550 or by contacting Carrie Reynolds, Health and Physical Education Coordinator at cfreynolds@fcps.edu.
|
