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Message from the Principal
A Message from the PTA
Winter After Schools
5K Event Committee Kick-off
Edison Expo
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Talent Show: Volunteers Wanted!
Directories
Teacher Appreciation: 2nd Grade Stock the Pantry
Kilmer-Bound 6th Graders Band Info
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Jan. 18 - Deadline to register for Winter After-School Programs
January 20 - End of Quarter - Early Release
January 21 - Teacher Workday - No School
January 24 - Student Holiday
January 25 & 26 - Chat with the Pack: Virtual Parent Chat with Principal
January 26 - 5k Event Committee Kickoff
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January 18th, 2022
Dear Wolftrap Families,
Yesterday, our community had the chance to honor and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I hope that you and your family found some time to remember this important day in history. At Wolftrap, we continue to strive in our work to serve others and commit to a community of respect and acceptance.
Keep in mind that we have an unusual schedule this week, with early release on Thursday and student holidays on Friday and Monday. Teachers will be working on end of quarter grading and planning for our second semester.
I recently read an article that explained the concept of “habit-stacking” for the new year, where one might take something that is already a habit and add something else to it. While pouring your usual cup of coffee in the morning, you can add 10 leg lifts (you get the idea!). I’ve started working that concept into my day at Wolftrap. When I sit to check email, can I write a quick note to a teacher or a student? It’s part of my “resolutions” for 2022.
BREAKING NEWS: There is a slight change in menu for this week due to product shortage-
1/18 ES: Baked Chicken on Bun; no change to f/v
1/19 ES: Nachos; served w/apple slices
1/20 ES: Mac/cheese; Banana
The PACK is BACK. . .and ready to chat! I have scheduled Pack Chats: Principal Chats for the upcoming weeks. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, January 25th from 9:00-10:00 am or on Wednesday, January 26th from 5:00-6:00 pm (or both, if you prefer!). I am including a link here to submit questions, and Ms. O’Donovan and I will look forward to chatting with all of you. Please RSVP HERE by 5:00pm on Monday, January 24th. A link to the chat will be sent out on Tuesday morning and on Wednesday afternoon, before the sessions begin.
LUNCH DROP OFF TIMES: Our intrepid office staff has been working diligently, in addition to their office duties, to pull students if families want to have lunch outside the cafeteria. Please bring your students back on time and not early. If they are early, it is possible that they will have to go back into the cafeteria to have supervision. The office staff does not have capacity to watch students who come back from lunch early. Thank you for your help!
CHANGES TO THE COVID PROTOCOLS: Please keep in mind that we have had some changes to COVID-19 protocols. Those can be found on the FCPS website, and I will plan to highlight those during my Principal Chats. As always, please contact the office with any clarifications. I want to bring attention to one change that will affect any students coming back from a shortened quarantine.
Face masks are not required outdoors or on the outdoor playground areas; however, students who wish to wear face masks during recess should feel free to do so. CDC recommends that people who are not fully vaccinated wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people. Fully vaccinated people might choose to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings, especially if they or someone in their household is immunocompromised.
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Exception: While students are permitted to remove masks during recess, students who have been identified as close contacts and are participating in a shortened quarantine, should continue to wear face coverings on days 6-10 (students exempt from quarantine should wear masks on Days 1-10), including at recess, as maintaining a physical distance at recess is difficult.
SUPERINTENDENT TOWN HALLS: FCPS is conducting a nationwide search for a new superintendent to lead the school district when Superintendent Brabrand's contract expires at the end of the 2021-22 school year. Your input is an important part of the search process! Please attend a Superintendent Search Virtual Town Hall to provide feedback on the characteristics and personality traits you would like to see in the new superintendent. The town halls will be hosted on Zoom on January 18. Visit FCPS’ Superintendent Search webpage to register.
Also, please take the Superintendent Search Survey if you haven’t already. FCPS parents/guardians, staff, and high school students were sent their own survey link via an email from “FCPS and GR Recruiting.” Community members can access the survey link on our website.
Tuesday, January 18: 6-7 p.m.
Town halls are grouped by region but open to any Fairfax County resident, except the employee-only event. Spanish, Korean, and Arabic interpretation services available. American Sign Language interpretation service also available.
We are knocking on the door of our second semester at Wolftrap, and we look forward to continued work together for the safety and security of our students.
Warmly,
Dr. Maggie Grove
Principal
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 The cold temperatures and wet weather isn't stopping the Wolftrap PTA from planning some fun upcoming events for our school. If you are interested in meeting other parents, learning more about what is happening in our school, and getting involved, reach out to president@wolftrappta.org so we can get you connected in our volunteer community.
A reminder to our community, our PTA is closely following guidance from FCPS, the Madison pyramid, and our Wolftrap administration in making programming decisions. While we are hopeful to be able to continue as many programs as possible, please note the possibility of last-minute cancellations due to weather or COVID restrictions. Thank you for your support this year as we navigate these new realities. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, reach out to any member of our PTA Board.
2021-2022 PTA Board:
Corrine Fields, President (president@wolftrappta.org)
Debbie Rhoda-Choate, President-Elect (presidentelect@wolftrappta.org)
Ashley Uhl, Secretary (secretary@wolftrappta.org)
Laura Roper, Treasurer (treasurer@wolftrappta.org)
Registration for the Winter After-School Programs is open until Jan. 18th at midnight. Class dates are Jan. 25-March 18. Classes fill quickly and many are already on waitlists, so don't delay in registering.
Review class offerings here.
Register for classes here.
Given the current status of the pandemic, be mindful as you make your plans that we expect there could be last-minute cancellations to classes. Please be ready with back-up plans for your children in the event of such cancellations, and thank you in advance for your flexibility.
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Our wonderful teachers and school staff have been working tirelessly to keep our school running and our children safe. To recognize their ongoing efforts, the teacher appreciation committee will be organizing a monthly event for all teachers and staff. Each month will be sponsored by a different grade level.
This month, the second grade will be stocking the pantry in the teacher's lounge with a variety of snacks and beverages. To make this easy on parents, we are asking parents of second graders to contribute $5-10 (or whatever they feel comfortable with) via Venmo to @michelle-scalise-5 or @wrosner by January 21. We will be doing a Costco run to purchase bulk items for the teachers and staff to enjoy. If you have any questions or would like to contribute in another way, please contact mzscalise@gmail.com or wendy.l.rosner@gmail.com.
Our annual 5k happening April 24th, 2022, kicks off this month for both the fundraising and day of events! Volunteers needed to help our biggest fundraising event of the year. This year's theme is Bubbles!!! This will be an in person event and super excited to get it back to what it was.
Events Committee Volunteers: This super fun committee who coordinates the marketing activities and day-of-activities to include food (coffee, donuts, breakfast burritos, race snacks), our wonderful cake walk, raffle baskets and raffle, bubble machines, trophies, and general setup. We need your help and wonderful ideas for our event.
Join us on Jan 26th at 7:30pm for a virtual kickoff at the below link:
5k Event Committee Kick Off Wednesday, January 26, 2022 · 7:30 – 8:30pm Google Meet joining info Video call link: https://meet.google.com/wmf-iptv-zmu
Email 5k Committee Chair, Christine Harney, at wolftrap5k@gmail.com if you want to support but may not be able to make the kickoffs. Thank you for supporting our biggest fundraiser!
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Edison Expo has a new twist this year – the Popsicle Chain Reaction Challenge running Feb 21 through Feb 25th.
Students in grades K-6 can participate in this STEAM activity! Click here for a short video explaining the process (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGXv-Pp615U)
We challenge you to create the longest popsicle structure possible, then take a video when you release the chain reaction. Students will report the length in inches and the number of popsicle sticks used. Participants in the classroom with the highest cumulative total win free ICE CREAM!
What can I do now? Acquire popsicle sticks! You will want the larger “jumbo” sticks (6" popsicle sticks seems to be the best).
For additional information and submission details go to https://wolftrappta.membershiptoolkit.com/Edison_expo
If you have questions, contact us at edisonexpo@wolftrappta.org.
More information can be found on the Edison Expo Webpage! Stay tuned!!
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The Wolftrap Talent Show is back for 2022!
We are looking for a few extra parent volunteers to join our fabulous Talent Show committee. Like last year, the 2022 Wolftrap Talent Show will be virtual, so are looking for skills to help with media compilations, editing, marketing, communications, organization and logistics!
If you are interested, please reach out to Debbie Rhoda-Choate at DebRhodaChoate@gmail.com.
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The snow delayed us a bit. The Wolftrap ES directories will be distributed over the next two weeks to PTA members. They will be sent home with your students, so keep an eye out for them.
If you would like a directory, both online and physical directory, you can still gain access by joining the PTA here. A PTA membership is only $25 and goes completely to support the PTA efforts running programs and support to our school.
Join the PTA today!
If you have any questions, reach out to Christine Harney at webmaster@wolftrappta.org.
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BAND INFORMATION
Want to have fun playing a band instrument in school? Want to make great music with your friends? Want to be a member of one of the largest teams at Kilmer MS? Then you want to be in the Kilmer BAND program! Whether you have never played an instrument before, or you’ve been playing for a while, we’ve got a place for you in the Kilmer MS Bands. From beginners to advanced level players, we’ve got a band for everyone!
For lots of information about our AWESOME BANDS, visit our website:
https://sites.google.com/view/kilmermsband
On Wednesday, January 26th from 6:00-7:00 PM, we will hold a Meet & Greet Question and Answer Session on GoogleMeet for all students and parents interested in the Kilmer Band program. Current band students, as well as prospective band students and their parents are invited. We look forward to meeting parents and students at the Meet and Greet Q&A on the Jan 26th!
To get to the GoogleMeet:
1. Sign into your student’s @fcpsschools.net account
2. Go to meet.google.com
3. Enter the meeting code: kilmerband (no spaces)
4. Click on “Join”
5. Click on “Join now”
If you have any questions about the Kilmer MS Bands, please email the lead band director, Ms. Bonneau, at sjbonneau@fcps.edu
ORCHESTRA INFORMATION
Live Question and Answer Session about Middle School Orchestra on Thursday, January 27th at 7:00 pm on Zoom. Greetings from Heather Yacovissi, Elizabeth Fogel, and Mike Klucker, the Orchestra teachers at Thoreau MS, Kilmer MS, and Jackson MS! We are writing to invite you to consider orchestra as part of your child's middle school course of study.
Taking Orchestra class offers students a chance to gain new musical skills on the violin, viola, cello, or string bass, make friends, attend a fun field trip to an amusement park, and so much more! Playing a musical instrument is also associated with strong academic success, increased student self-confidence, and a sense of place and purpose within the middle school community.
Best of all, there is a place for EVERY student in our orchestra programs, from total beginners through highly advanced players. No musical experience is necessary for students to enjoy all that our classes have to offer. All students need to do is select "ORCHESTRA" as their first choice of elective during middle school class sign-up and we will take care of the rest!
Please complete the Orchestra Interest Google Form at this link to receive more information about signing up for orchestra class.
On Thursday, January 27th from 7:00-7:45 PM, we will hold a Live Question and Answer Session on Zoom for all parents and students interested in Orchestra. You will be sent a link for the session once you complete the interest form above.
- All who are interested in orchestra should complete the interest form, regardless of whether they plan to attend the meeting on the January 27.
- During the meeting, we will provide additional details about orchestra class and answer your questions. Students are welcome to attend, but must attend with their parent or guardian.
We look forward to meeting you and your students at the Live Q&A on the 27th and we hope to see your child in orchestra class for the 2021-2022 school year!
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