Bonnie Brae ES Updates January 8

Principals' Message

Dear Bonnie Brae School Community,

Hello Bonnie Brae families! This is certainly a strange start to the new year, and for me as your new principal. While it has been different with five straight snow days, I am so excited to finally get to meet our Scotties next week! 

As you may have heard me say, family, relationships, and success are what drive me each and every day. To help me better get to know our families and build relationships, I’d like to offer to connect briefly over Zoom (15 minutes) with any parents and/or guardians who would like to meet with me in the coming weeks and months. These meetings will give me a chance to get to hear about your family, to hear your Hopes and Dreams for Bonnie Brae, and hear what I can do to support the success of our Scotties. To request an appointment, please email Kathy Rials (kerials@fcps.edu) or Heidi Vallejos (HNVallejos@fcps.edu), or call the school at 703-321-3900. I’m looking forward to meeting with many of our families! 

Additionally, I have created a “Bonnie Brae Descriptors” survey in which I am asking for input from our families. This very brief survey allows families to share with me 3-5 words they feel best describe the great things about Bonnie Brae.  This will also help me understand all the amazing happenings here.  Please take the time over the next week or so to open up the survey (linked here) and share your thinking with me.  As an FYI, to respect everyone’s privacy, individual responses will only be seen by me.  😊

 

Enjoy these next few days.  I look forward to seeing many of you soon! 

 

Morgan Birge, Proud (New) Principal 😊

Bonnie Brae Elementary School


Navigating the Current COVID Surge

With the rise in COVID-19 cases throughout our region, we anticipate significant impacts on our day-to-day routines in school. While we know January won’t be “business as usual,” we want to have students safely in school where they can continue to have social interactions and learn with the assistance of highly skilled educators by their side. Our number one priority is to provide continuous in-person instruction safely. 

FCPS has been working hard to prepare for the staffing shortages that will impact us in every way - from classroom instruction to bus drivers to food service employees. We ask for your partnership and patience as we adapt our operations to keep students in school. 

Here are some ways you can help Bonnie Brae continue with in-person learning: 

Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership as we navigate this surge with our focus on student safety and education.

Sincerely,  

 

Morgan Birge, Principal

Elaine Woo, Assistant Principal

Scott Hawk, Assistant Principal

Bonnie Brae Elementary School 


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laptops

Preparing for Virtual Instruction: Student Laptops

All students (K-6) will begin to take laptops and charging adapters home daily, if weather or health trends warrant it.  As students begin to transport laptops home each day, it is important that laptops are brought to school fully charged.

To prepare for virtual instruction in advance, when your child brings their laptop home, please take the time at home to perform the following:

  • Log into student laptop with your student ID and password.
  • Connect your laptop to your home internet connection.
  • Log into Google account.
  • Log into Schoology. Make sure you can access your teachers courses.

If you have any issues with these steps from home, go to the Tech Support for Families page, to submit a ticket for support.

Internet Connectivity- MiFi Devices

If you do not have internet service at home, you may request a MiFi device for your student. The MiFi will allow your child to connect the FCPS laptop to the internet for learning. The MiFi is filtered to block harmful or inappropriate websites. If you do not have internet access in your home, you may request a MiFi by contacting the Erica Demick, eademick@fcps.edu.

School buses in snow.

Possible Transportation Delays

Transportation is experiencing a large number of absent drivers as we return from winter break.  The Transportation office will do their best to notify families if their routes are running more than 30 minutes late.  Routes that are running more than 10 minutes late should be posted in the bus delay system. Click on the link below to access the bus delay website. 

FCPS bus delay notification

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Get Your Child’s Online Activity Report 

FCPS has new tools to help parents and guardians know more about their child’s activity on any FCPS device. These tools are provided by Lightspeed, our internet content filtering service, at no cost to families

You may sign up for a weekly Parent Report, which will provide a list of the top sites your child visited. If you want more detailed information, sign up for the Internet Use Parent portal and log-in anytime to see more detail about your child’s browsing and “pause” access to the internet during non-school hours.

Find out more and sign up for these services on our website.


Positivity Project

Positivity Project 

We continue to work to empower students to build positive relationships through the Positivity Project. For the next week, the focus will be on Prudence.

You plan for the future and achieve your goals by making careful everyday choices.

“Discipline is what gives you freedom in life." -Jocko Willink, Navy SEAL

To learn more about the Positivity Project and the 24 character strengths, click here.


Lockdown

Lockdown Drill

The lockdown drill will be postponed until January 19, 2022. This will provide time for staff and students to re-establish routines after an extended winter break. 

Lockdown Drills are used to describe security measures taken to protect against intruders.

  • All students stay in place with a teacher or staff member.
  • Students and teachers remain in locked classrooms, unobservable from outside (lights-off, window blinds closed, door windows obscured with paper) and outside potential lines of fire.
  • Students and staff members disregard fire alarms.
  • No one enters or exits the school, except public safety personnel.
  • Persons in trailers remain in locked trailers.

FCPS Lockdown Frequently Asked Questions


Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener

This year K-12 students in FCPS are participating in a Social-Emotional Learning Screener. Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions (CASEL, 2020). You can find more information about the screener and the importance of social-emotional learning here. This screener will be a useful tool for us here at Bonnie Brae to learn how to best support our students and school community. 

Students in K-2 will take in the winter window. Students in 3-6 took the assessment in the fall however will NOT be participating in the winter window. 

If you choose to opt your child out of the SEL Screener, please return the opt-out form no later than January 18th. The form only needs to be returned if you DO NOT want your child to participate in the SEL screener. If applicable, please print and return to school or send via email to Jenny Martinez at jrmartinez@fcps.edu


Winter Concert

Upcoming Winter Concert

With current COVID restrictions, we will forgo our usually in-person winter concert this December. Instead, we will present a pre-recorded band (6th Grade), strings (5th/6th Grade), and choir (5th/6th Grade) concert in January! The original date of January 14 has now been postponed due to the recent school closures due to Winter Weather. This will give our students ample time to prepare for their upcoming performance.

We will record the concert during the school day and send the recording via a link to families the following week. Below are the dates of the pre-recorded winter concert.

  • January 28 – Concert Date

Again, this concert will be recorded and sent to families. More information (dress code, etc.) will come in the following weeks.

Thank you for your patience and understanding. We look forward to sharing this presentation with you!

-BBES Music Department


Photograph Submissions

The 2021-2022 school year has and will always be a year like no other. To help us capture and celebrate these moments for all time, please consider submitting a candid photo of your students for our BBES yearbook. Consider capturing memorable moments throughout the school year such as spirit days, school activities, PTO events and more! 

photosubmission

FCPS Cares

FCPS Cares

The FCPS Cares Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can acknowledge our Bonnie Brae staff members. 


BBES_PTO

Chick-Fil-A Spirit Week

Hate to cook, shuffling kids between activities?! Make dinner easy by joining us for an all week fundraiser to support Bonnie Brae Elementary School PTO! Get your Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner @ Chick-Fil-A!

The Bonnie Brae PTO is hosting an event at the Burke Centre Chik Fil A Spirit Week during the week of January 31 – February 4th anytime between 6 AM - 10 PM (5815 Burke Centre Pkwy, Burke, VA 22015). 

  • 15% of all orders placed during the entire week will be donated to the PTO.
  • Be sure to mention Bonnie Brae Elementary when placing your order!
FundraiserChick

PTO Event Volunteers Needed!

There are many opportunities to volunteer or serve as a committee chair/member. We are also looking to fill 2 vacant Board Positions! 

Please contact Secretary@BonnieBraePTO.org for more information on the PTO Activities listed below:

  • PTO EVENTS.  Movie Nights, Bingo Night, Fall Festival, Thanksgiving Luncheon, STEAM Fair / BBES Art Fair, Dances, Spring Carnival, Field Day, Multicultural Night 
  • PTO FUNDRAISING. Corporate Sponsorship Liaisons, Restaurant Nights, Fall Fundraiser - Charleston Wrap, Spring Fundraiser – Read-a-Thon
  • PTO PROGRAMS. After School Enrichment, Teacher Taught Enrichment Classes, School Assemblies
  • BBES SUPPORT. Staff Appreciation Activities, Garden/Campus Cleanup, Military & New Family Liaisons, Diversity Committee, Inclusion Committee, Rising Kindergarten Activities, Watch D.O.G.S.
  • PTO SUPPORT. Facebook Page and Website, Membership/Community Communications, Volunteer Coordinators, Financial Reconciliation Committee, Election Nominating Committee

PTO Membership 

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Bonnie Brae PTO 

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Bonnie Brae PTO Website

PTO Donations

Upcoming_events
  • January 6- Three Kings Day
  • January 7- Orthodox Christmas
  • January 17- MLK Jr. Day (No School)
  • January 19- Lockdown Drill
  • January 20- End of Q2; 2-hour ER
  • January 21- Teacher Work Day
  • January 24- Student Holiday /Staff Development Day
  • January 28- Winter Concert
  • January 31- February 4- Chick Fil A Spirit Week

Bonnie Brae Hours of Operation

Office Hours

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Instructional Hours

8:20 AM - 3:15 PM

Front Office

(703) 321 - 3900

 

BBESMotto

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