From the Administration
Dear Belvedere Family:
Tomorrow we welcome you to our Virtual Back to School Night. Included in this News You Choose are links to our welcome message, links to school board member messages, and the link you will use to access your child’s grade level presentation. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
As the number of COVID-19 cases increases in Fairfax County and the entire nation, we want to share some additional information about the COVID processes in place. Thank you for your help in keeping our students and staff safe at school.
Best Regards,
Cecilia Vanderhye, Principal and Kelly Cabezas, Assistant Principal
Daily Health Screen Questionnaire
If your child has any COVID-like symptoms, please keep them child home.
The most important way you can help as a parent is to keep your child(ren) home if they present with any illness or symptoms that are associated with COVID 19.
Parents, caregivers, or guardians are strongly encouraged to monitor their children for symptoms of infectious illness every day through a home-based symptom screening, and students who are sick should not come to school. Please consider the questions in the Health Screening Questionnaire each morning before sending your child to school. If you answer “YES” to any of the questions, please keep your child home.
If your child comes to school and presents with COVID-like symptoms, they will be placed in the Care Room and will be sent home. Your child must then be seen by a medical provider or remain home for ten days to be able to return to school.
Please be overly cautious and keep your child home if you are awaiting COVID 19 test results.
Keep your child home if you suspect your child may have come in contact with someone who has COVID 19.
Communicate Quickly with the School
If your child tests positive for COVID 19, please let us know. We work closely with the health department to provide information that allows them to begin contact tracing. W only reveal the name of a student to the health department.
Ensure Your Children Come with an Appropriate Mask
Aligned with guidance provided by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH), Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has established procedures for the use of face coverings/masks (cloth or disposable) for students, staff, and visitors designed to mitigate the spread of COVID 19. This document highlights the types of masks that are appropriate for students to wear to school.
What will happen if a student in my child’s class tests positive for COVID?
If a student tests positive and was at school during the infectious period (within 48 hours of onset of symptoms), we will alert the entire school community. The school will review seating assignments throughout the school day and identify potential close contacts to the student who tested positive for Covid-19.
If your child is considered a potential close contact, you will be notified. If your child is currently at school, we will ask you to come to school to pick up your child.
What happens if FCPS staff determines my child is a potential close contact?
Any student who is identified as a potential close contact by FCPS staff will have to stay home from school until the Health Department completes contact tracing and closes the investigation. This may last up to 72 hours. While your child is at home, your child’s teacher will provide assignments for them to access. If your child does not have their computer at home, we will work with you to pick it up at school.
Please note that FCPS staff can only identify potential close contacts; we are not identifying students who must quarantine. Only the Health Department can determine if your child needs to quarantine through their contact tracing investigation.
Case Information
We cannot disclose personal identifying details of students or staff who test positive for COVID 19. The health department will contact you directly if your child must quarantine. The school will notify the entire community when the contact tracing is complete. Once the Health Department has completed their investigation, we will also invite any student who was staying home per FCPS staff direction and who has not been required to quarantine per the Health Department to return to school.
Virtual Back-to-School Night
We are excited to welcome you to our Back-to-School Night this Thursday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. This is a virtual event where the grade level teams will present two back-to-back sessions, one at 6:00 p.m. and one at 7:00 p.m. Please click here for a welcome message from the Belvedere Principal and Assistant Principal.
Below you will find the link to access the grade level presentations:
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Kindergarten [Meeting ID: 962 2035 9558; Passcode: 383679]
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Grade 1 [Meeting ID: 936 9739 6709; Passcode: 989969]
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Grade 2 [Meeting ID: 952 8175 1797; Passcode: 486341]
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Grade 3 [Meeting ID: 981 3558 4225; Passcode: 488293]
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Grade 4 [Meeting ID: 958 6606 8053; Passcode: grade4]
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Grade 5 [Meeting ID: 993 2182 4080; Passcode: 739639]
To call with a mobile device, dial 301-715-8592 and enter the grade level meeting ID and Passcode.
Here is a file that explains how to select to hear the presentation either in English or in Spanish. The Spanish interpreter will be doing simultaneous interpretation. Please keep this handout for future school-related virtual meetings, including PTA meetings.
The Fairfax County School Board members have prepared video messages for parents. You can access their messages by clicking on each school board member’s name below:
We look forward to welcoming you to Back to School Night. If you have any questions, please call the school. We are here to support you.
Fall iReady Assessments
The online iReady assessment (also known as the Universal Screener) provides an initial view of all students’ foundational skills to help teachers identify students who may have challenges in reading or mathematics. This fall, students in grades 1-6 will take the iReady reading and mathematics assessments. More information about the assessment can be found on the FCPS Universal Screener Parent Notification webpage. For questions, please contact your child’s teacher.
Backpack Friday Permission Slips
If your child received a letter regarding the backpack Friday program, we ask that you please turn in the form by September 30, 2021. After the deadline, we will contact parent/guardians individually. If you have any questions or comments, please email School Counselor: Paige Simpson at psimpson@fcps.edu or call 703-916-6829. Thank you!
Parent Center Resources
Our Family Liaison, Ashley Hidalgo, has created this padlet where you can view information from FCPS and outside organizations to help support our families, including information on personal finances, tutoring services for students in grades K-7, FCPS webinars, and more!
Ms. Hidalgo will continue to add resources to this padlet as she receives them. We will highlight noteworthy items in this space as well.
Also, if you are in need of school supplies for your child, please contact Ms. Hidalgo by email or phone (703-916-6824).
FCPS Multilingual Family Podcasts
Listen and subscribe to a FCPS Multilingual Family Podcast to hear timely, important information related to school news. The podcasts are produced in conjunction with the Office for ESOL Services and the Office of Professional Learning and Family Engagement. The goal of every podcast is to help families access key resources and understand how to best support their children’s education.
Listen and Subscribe here:
First Day Forms to Return
If you have not already done so, please complete, sign, and return to school the following forms:
Thank you!
Consent for Digital Resources
At Belvedere, our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here. Additionally, you can find more information about approved digital resources in FCPS here.
Each student's enrolling parent or guardian should complete this form to indicate whether or not their student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval, and why we must request your consent before using certain tools.
We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible, as your child will not be able to use the digital resources until we have received your permission. Please reach out to your child’s teacher if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.
Clothing Needed for Parent Center
The Parent Center is in need of children's clothing, in particular:
- boys elastic-waist shorts and pants, especially sizes 5-6, 7-8, and 10-12 (gently-used is fine);
- boys underwear in sizes 5-6, 7-8 and 10-12 (must be new); and
- gently-used boys shoes.
The Parent Center maintains a small supply of clothing for students who might need a change of clothing during the day (due to bathroom accidents, cafeteria spills, etc.), and our supply of these items is critically low. Thank you for your donations!
Screen for Illness Every Day, Stay Home When Sick
One of the most important prevention strategies guidelines is screening students daily for any signs of illness prior to leaving home for school. Any student who is ill or has COVID-like symptoms should remain at home. The daily health screening questionnaire and all translated versions can be found on our Health and Safety Guidance webpage.
This document provides the details of the policies and protocols related to COVID-19, and it is continually updated to align with public health guidance as it evolves during the school year. Daily completion of the health screening is done on an honor basis and does not need to be sent to the school.
Read more about checking for symptoms and how to prepare to return to school after illness.
From the PTA
In Case You Missed It
Upcoming Dates
- Thursday, 9/9: Virtual Back-to-School Night (6:00-8:00 p.m.)
- Tuesday, 9/14: PTA Virtual Meeting (6:30-7:30 p.m.)--please note corrected date
- Tuesday, 9/28: Fall Picture Day
Keep in Touch
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FCPS Calendar: 2021-2022
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