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October 11: Student Holiday
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20th Anniversary of 9/11 Commemoration
In recognition of the 20th anniversary of September 11, FCPS and Fort Belvoir Elementary School would like to acknowledge the loss of life, the heroism of our first responders, and the resilience of our country.
Arrival and Dismissal Reminders
Arrival and Dismissal reminders:
Please make sure to use the crosswalk and follow the directions of the crossing guards as to when it is safe to cross Meeres Road. Families should not be crossing the street unless it is the designated crosswalk.
Primary Kiss and Ride: We will be staging cars for Kiss and Ride arrival and dismissal on Woodlawn Road. In the morning, parent cars in the lot do not allow faculty access to the lot and open parking spaces. We appreciate your cooperation!
We have worked with FCPS Safety and Security, as well as the MPs to support a safe and efficient arrival and dismissal process for the nearly 1400 students who attend school on the Fort Belvoir campus. As always, we are so appreciative of the support of our Police Department in directing traffic. Their main goal is to create a safe environment for our students, families and staff as they arrive and dismiss from the school!
Lockdown Drill
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 instruction and classroom based. We will conduct a lockdown drill at our school soon.
Additional information on our lockdown drill program to include parent tips and FAQs can be found on the Emergency Planning and Crisis Response web page. After reviewing this content, you should discuss the value of these safety drills with your child.
Keeping our school safe and secure for all students and staff involves the participation of the entire school community, and we thank you for your help to keep our school safe.
Student Rights & Responsibility
FCPS’ updated Student Rights & Responsibility booklet is now available online and in the ParentVue section of the Student Information System (SIS). The SR&R booklet explains expectations for student behavior, and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable, and supportive school environment.
Each year, we ask parents to review, sign, and return the SR&R to their child’s school. In ParentVue, you may now download and digitally sign the SR&R. Every parent/guardian with a ParentVUE account will see the SR&R upon login to ParentVUE until the SR&R acknowledgement has been completed.
Your name in the digital signature box must match the parent/guardian’s first and last name in SIS exactly before the signature will be accepted.
Please take a moment to log into ParentVue in your child’s SIS account to access the SR&R. Signatures are due by October 29, 2021.
Please contact us if you are having difficulty accessing the booklet.
Please Complete your Health Information Form and Emergency Care Card
The Health Information Form (HIF) (SS/SE -71) and the Emergency Care Information form (SS/SE-3) provide valuable information regarding student health conditions. They help to identify students who may need healthcare support in the educational environment. Click on this link for step-by-step instructions to update your forms. You can update all of your children at the same time. Update your forms
Remember, you must be registered for your own Parent View account to access weCare. Need to register for a SIS Parent View account, or do you have a question about it? Click here: SIS Parent Account
A NOTE TO OUR FAMILIES
Please know that our school staff are here to support students and families. If your child or family need assistance or support as we process the current situation in Afghanistan, please don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our clinical team members:
School Meals / “Nut-Free” Zones / Birthdays
FCPS continues to provide a variety of nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch. Again this school year, both breakfast and lunch will be provided for free to all students daily. Breakfast and lunch will be offered beginning on the first day of school (Monday, August 23rd). Although free meals will be provided for all, we continue to encourage families to register for fee waiver status, as the application is used to support other services as well. We encourage all families who believe they may meet qualifications to apply. Applications for fee waiver status are now online and can be found at: https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application. These applications must be completed each year for renewal in the free and reduced meals programs.
Ft Belvoir Elementary campus is nut-free in all classrooms. In our cafeteria, we have designated “nut-free” zones. Please be mindful of lunches and snacks sent to school so that we may keep all of our Dolphins safe.
We love celebrating our Dolphins’ birthdays but request that parents not send edible birthday treats to school. Instead, we welcome the celebration in other ways, such as having a parent come in to read to the class, or donating a read-aloud book to the classroom library.
The Latest on Bus Transportation
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Thank you for your patience and understanding these first few days of school as we work to address the impact the national bus driver shortage has on FCPS and your students. On the first morning of school FCPS saw 7,000 bus runs with just a handful of delays.
However, if these delays impacted you or your family, we understand your frustration. As we continue to recruit drivers and make adjustments to routes to be more efficient, there are three things you can do:
- Check the The Here Comes the Bus® app, a school bus tracking app that can simplify morning and afternoon routines for parents and students by giving them real-time bus location and text or email notification alerts, helping them get to the bus stop on time. Here Comes the Bus® utilizes FCPS GPS data and an easy-to-use customizable map that works on one or multiple devices, such as a tablet or smartphone. More information about the Here Comes the Bus app is available online.
- Stay up-to-date on school bus arrivals with FCPS' bus delay notification system. This system provides parents with timely notification of late bus route information. Parents may access the Bus Delay Notification System online or use the Here Comes the Bus mobile app (mentioned above) to receive the delayed bus report. Morning route information will be available until noon. Afternoon bus route information will be available from 1 to 7 p.m. e-Notify (SchoolMessenger) email messages will also be sent to announce bus delays of at least 30 minutes. Need assistance or have questions? Contact the Transportation office listed for your school. For any concerns after hours (after 5:30 p.m.), contact Safety and Security at 571-423-2000.
- Walk or bike to school if you are able to do so. If you plan to walk or bike to school, watch this short video on pedestrian safety with your child.
More information about transportation to and from school is available online.
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Free School Meals for All Students
FCPS’ Food and Nutrition Services staff are ready to serve healthy meals to students and staff. This year, all students receive FREE breakfast and lunch. Find out more about school meals go to:
www.fcps.edu/news/free-meals
Schoology Information
We are excited to share that students, families, and teachers throughout FCPS and in our school community will use Schoology (pronounced /SKOO-luh-jee/) as our learning management system beginning this school year.
- Schoology has a connected web conferencing tool, Zoom
- Schoology works with Google Drive
- You need a SIS/ParentVUE account to login to Schoology
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Click here to learn more about Schoology
- Parent accounts will be available in mid-August
- Information about how to login to parent accounts will be shared with you closer to the start of the school year
- Students will have a Schoology account by August 18, 2021
- Students will not see any classes until the grading period starts
- Students use their FCPS student ID and password to login to Schoology. Look for the FCPS logo to make sure you are on the correct login page.
Family Life Education Instructional Program Information
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 are available online for Elementary (K-6) https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary-school-academics-k-6/elementary-family-life-education. 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). FLE grade level-specific lessons and media that FCPS has streaming rights for are available for parents online in FCPS 24-7 (Blackboard) Parent View https://fcps.blackboard.com/. Account information is available at your local school or online at http://www.fcps.edu/is/instructionaltechnology/247help/parents.shtml. Grade level-specific lessons are also available at the Fairfax County Regional Library in the City of Fairfax (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.
Program questions may be addressed at your child’s school or by contacting Instructional Services at 571-423-4550 or by contacting Elizabeth Payne, Health and Physical Education Coordinator at etpayne@fcps.edu.
Important Dates to Remember
September 16 Yom Kippur
October 11 Indigenous Peoples' Day-Student Holiday
November 1-Teacher Workday-Student Holiday
November 2 Election Day-Student Holiday
November 4 Diwali
November 11 Veterans Day-Two Hour Early Release
November 24-26 Thanksgiving Break
November 29 Chanukah
December 8 Bodhi Day
December 20 - 31 Winter Break
December 25 Christmas
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