Daniels Run Down-Family Edition-October 1, 2021

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From the desk of Mr. Smith!

Dear DRES Families,

If you are available this evening I encourage you to take part in the Fairfax High School Homecoming events which include the parade starting at 4:00, followed by a tailgate with food trucks and activities. The football game kicks off at 7:00 pm.  

We have had a tremendous response to our afterschool activity program and families will receive confirmation emails early next week regarding their requests.  

Always feel free to contact me directly at cmsmith@fcps.edu if you have any questions, concerns, or if there is anything our team can do to support you. 

Thank you for your continued support and enjoy your weekend!

Chris Smith

DRES Principal 

Return To School 

Student Monitor Positions Available 

Daniels Run and schools across the school division, have the opportunity to hire hourly positions to help with assorted functions.  If you, or someone you know, is looking for hourly work please share this. 

Student Monitor

Description:   Provides supervision of students throughout the school day to include, but not limited to,  the classroom, hallways, lunch, recess, specials and at arrival/dismissal; helps maintain order and discipline and assists in managing the behavior of students; operates technology; performs administrative and non-instructional duties; ensures all layered prevention/safety protocols and procedures are implemented and followed; works with individual and small groups of students.   

Qualifications:  Any combination of education and experience equivalent to graduation from high school. Must be comfortable managing student behaviors in large and small groups, ensuring all layered prevention/safety protocols and procedures are implemented and followed; and has general familiarity/skills with basic office technology in support of teachers, students, and the classroom.

Hourly Band 4:     $15.73/hr 

DRES has a few options for the Student Monitor position(s):

• Full day position from 8:30 AM- 4:30 PM(8 hour day plus 30 minute break)
• Part-time option 1:  One shift from 8:30 AM- 12:30 PM 
• Part-time option 2:  One shift  from 12:30 PM- 4:30 PM

How to Apply:  Apply online through FCPS at https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search/home/HomeWithPreLoad?PageType=JobDetails&partnerid=25103&siteid=5042&jobid=1412690#home

AND

Email your resume and which option (full-time, part-time #1 or 2) you are interested in to cmsmith@fcps.edu

DRES is looking for Volunteers!

Do you have a special talent or interest that you can share with our school and students? Tell us what you can do, and we'll try our best to find a match! Please complete the form and our Family Liaison, Mrs. Yanneth McCoy will be in touch. Thank you for getting involved!

Field Day Volunteers!

Fall Field Day is Coming! Field Day is scheduled for Friday October 15^th with a rain date of Monday October 18^th. Grades kindergarten through second grade will have Field Day from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and grades third through sixth will have Field Day from 1:30-3:30 p.m. WE NEED PARENT VOLUNTEERS!! If you are interested in volunteering, please send an email to Tyler Murray at twmurray@fcps.edu by Friday October 1^st, 2021. In the email please include the following:

1. Name of volunteer (s)
2. Time of day you are willing and available to volunteer: Morning, Afternoon, Both
3. Whether you plan to volunteer on only October 15^th or can volunteer on the rain date October 18^th as well.

After signing up to volunteer, you will receive an email during the week of October 11^th with details. Thank you in advance for your help to make Field Day a success for our DRES students!

Vision/Hearing Screening Volunteers Needed!

Vision and hearing screening will be held on Wednesday October 13 and Thursday October 14th for all K students and 3rd grade students, as well as students who are new to FCPS. The purpose of the screening is to identify students who need further evaluation because they have difficulty seeing the screening chart or hearing the screening tones.

Parents will be notified by a letter if screening results indicate that further testing is needed. Vision and hearing difficulties can interfere with learning.  Prompt follow-up of a referral is recommended. If your child wears glasses, please be sure he/she has them at school on screening day.

If you would like to assist with the screening process, please call the School Health Aide, Celeste Delahunty to sign up 703-279-8410 or email me at cdelahunty@fcps.edu

Any amount of time is much appreciated!

Fall Picture Day: October 7th 

Preorder pictures using the DRES Picture Day ID code EVTCSG3NK at the Lifetouch website.

Health Guidance for Parents

The health and safety of all 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. 

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 Daniels Run, 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:

• 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.
• 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. 

Virginia Growth Assessment

Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA) is a new test required for students in grades 3-8. The state legislature introduced this requirement to measure student growth and progress within the school year in reading and mathematics. 

For fall 2021, VGA will address content that was taught in the previous school year. The purpose of this fall’s VGA is to identify potential learning gaps resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no “passing” or “failing” outcome for the VGA. Results will provide a starting point to measure growth and will offer information about areas of strength and areas for growth in reading and mathematics.

Students enrolled in grades 3-8 will generally take an assessment in both reading and mathematics. However, elementary and middle school students enrolled in a high school credit-bearing math course, such as Algebra 1, will not take a VGA for mathematics. 

The following points may help you and your student better understand this assessment. 

• VGA must be taken in-person at school. 
• This online, computer-adaptive test is about half as long as the spring SOL test.
• Questions use Standards of Learning (SOL)-like items to measure current knowledge and skills in the content area.
• Student results will be used to help school staff plan for instruction and supports.  

Across Fairfax County, elementary and middle schools will give students the VGA in September or October.

If you have questions about this state assessment for your student, please contact Lauren Hein or Michael Parker

Parenting Resources

Fairfax County Parenting Education Programs are offering virtual parenting classes for parents with children between the ages of 5-11. Parenting Education Programs are family centered sessions, proven to help parents and children develop healthy, nurturing relationships.  This program builds upon families’ strengths and positive values.   Due to COVID-19 social distancing recommendation, the class will be offered virtually via ZOOM which is a  free web-based conferencing tool that allows us to meet on line. Each week, the parent will receive a Zoom link with a password by email to access the class.  This class will be offered in English. 

Please feel free to contact me with any concerns or questions.   Thank you.

Music News!

🎵 October Musician of the Month: Shreya Ghoshal Bollywood Playback Singing and Indian Classical Music) https://youtu.be/6ifngyPjQ3U

🎵 The whole school is learning two patriotic songs to for Veteran’s Day. Click here to sing with your child at home! (open with FCPS Google account) https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rh6O66uerCDpLKg54cx-WQBcL3MNl1Q0f0itPt3KObQ/present

Counselor's Corner

Dear Daniels Run Families,

          On behalf of Ashleigh McPherson, our new counselor supporting K-2 and Enhanced Autism, and myself, I want to let you know to know how wonderful it has been to see your children in person during these first 6 weeks of school.  In September, we had the chance to do an introductory lesson in each classroom as well ask kicking off our Second Step virtual lessons on Monday mornings (beginning Sept 20) and our 5 minute yoga & mindfulness lessons on Fridays. If you are interested in seeing the Second Step at-home extension lessons that go along with the virtual lessons, you can find these pages at the School Counseling page of the Daniels Run website.  https://danielsrunes.fcps.edu/student-services/school-counseling.  These materials are also located on the parent page of Schoology. 

          October promises to be a very EXCITING month as we kick off “SOCKTOBER,” a school-wide donation drive that will support the homeless in our community so that they can manage over the winter months.   Our 5^th grade teachers and students will coordinate the effort to collect new socks for children and adults as well as new or gently used winter hats and gloves for adults.  Other donations of necessary items—such as travel sized toiletries, men’s under t-shirts, and men’s boxer briefs—would also be most welcome!  The community organizations who are collaborating with us to reach out to the homeless in our community are A Place to Thrive and The Lamb Center.    This sign up Genius will help you stay organized.   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D45A9AD2AA6FB6-socktober

   If you wish to learn about the folks your efforts will help, take a look at this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zee26HjyGA.  As school counselors, we hope that this school-wide effort will give our students a chance to practice perspective-taking and empathy, as they put themselves in the shoes of someone who is struggling to get by. We hope that, as a family, you can help them perform an act of kindness for someone in need.

Thank you, in advance, for your help with this school-wide service project AND for sharing your children with us each day.

Sincerely,

Louise Robinson, School Counselor, Grades 3-6

Specific items that are needed for “SOCKTOBER”

Students to Participate in International Walk to School Day on October 6

Fairfax County Public Schools will participate in International Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 6, in an effort to promote physical activity and reduce traffic congestion and pollution near schools.

Students and employees are encouraged to bike or walk to school and work where safe to do so on October 6. Parents are encouraged to accompany their children to school, and to work with their school and PTA or PTO to assemble bike trains or walking groups for the event. Schools are encouraged to register online with Walk and Bike to School.

Get more information about Walk to School Day. 

PTA News!

PTA - October Events

Fundraiser and Dance-a-Thon

The PTA Dance-a-Thon is coming soon! Check your Thursday folder next week for more information. 

PTA Meeting

Join us Wednesday, October 13th at 7pm for our PTA Meeting via Google meet at https://meet.google.com/abp-eznv-vkj 

Outdoor Movie Night

We hope to celebrate the success of our fundraiser with an Outdoor Movie Night at DRES on October 23rd. Event starts at 6 pm with the movie starting approximately 6:30. Students will vote on the movie selection at the Dance-a-Thon. 

Important Dates 

October 11 Indigenous Peoples' Day-Student Holiday

October 15-Field Day

November 1-2 Día de los Muertos

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

January 1-New Year's Day

3705 Old Lee Hwy, Fairfax, VA 22030  | Main Office: 703-279-8400
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