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Dear Families,
We are starting off strong this month with a focus on instruction! Last week we welcomed Kennedy Center teaching artist, Sean Layne, to model lessons and provide coaching to our teachers using the tableau approach -- a strategy for arts integration that helps our students learn to use their bodies in a controlled and purposeful manner to demonstrate their learning. A special thank you to Ms. Branch, Ms. Beheiter and Dr. Schudmak for hosting lessons for their colleagues to observe.
 Members of the FCPS Leadership Team visit Ms. Crump's classroom.
This morning, members of the FCPS Leadership team visited our primary classrooms in order to learn more about the work we have been doing to incorporate the FCPS phonemic awareness and phonics lessons into our literacy workshop. Our teachers were amazing (as usual)! Many thanks to Mr. Bristol, Ms. Andrews, Ms. Beheiter, Ms. Tredinnick, Ms. Carroll, Ms. Mays, Ms. Stephens, Ms. Crump and Ms. Pisera for welcoming our visitors today. I am so proud of these teams' shared commitment to teach these important skills in engaging and meaningful ways. Many thanks to our fabulous reading teacher Ms. Abd for helping our teams support every child in attaining literacy success.
It seems like the perfect time to show your child's teacher some love! The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is declaring February 8 "We Love FCPS Day." Join us in the celebration tomorrow. Show your love for your school by dropping off a handmade card to the FCPS employee who has made a difference in your student’s life this year. Thank you for taking the time to show our staff how much you appreciate them!
Warm regards,
Diane Leipzig, Dr. L
National School Counseling Week 2022 (#NSCW22) is Feb. 7-11, 2022, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by ASCA, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week is always celebrated the first full week in February.
Show some love to our amazing school counselors this week (Becca Wilson and Tiffany Sutton) to show your appreciation for the ways they support our students all year long!
This week is Food Service Worker Appreciation Week! The pandemic has lent another layer of challenge to the work these staff members do day in and day out!
Encourage your children to show their appreciation to our Dining Room Monitors to supervise them throughout the lunch block: Mary Abigail Reinhardt, Cindy Dickerson and Marisa Nicholson.
And encourage them to appreciate the Food and Nutrition Services staff who prepare and serve their food each day, under the direction of Raj Rimal, our cafeteria manager.
A warm welcome to our two new IAs, Karin Sasseville and Megan Powers, who will be working primarily with third grade and students with disabilities.
Meet Karin Sasseville
Prior to arriving at Canterbury Woods Elementary, Karin was the Director of Yellow Tulip Academy. While overseas with her family on assignment in
Ankara, Turkey, Karin worked in the local Department of Defense George C. Marshall School as a substitute teacher, and at the US Embassy. At the height of the conflict in Syria, she volunteered her time to support the refugees fleeing to Turkey. Karin is a graduate of George Mason University, has been with Fairfax County Public Schools for 7 years, is married, and has two grown children that both attended WT Woodson High School and the College of William and Mary.
Meet Megan Powers
Megan has worked in the medical field for the last 21 years, as a medical and surgical assistant in ophthalmology. She has been a proactive volunteer at her son’s school, working closely with school administrators on fund raising and development of innovative programs such as providing a learning pod in her home during virtual learning. The months prior to joining Canterbury Woods, Megan was a preschool teacher at a local church. Megan, her husband Jim and their youngest son Joe are avid sailors on the Chesapeake Bay.
This year we will have TWO events to welcome our newest class of CWES Cougars!
Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 PM-7:30 PM: Parents will join our K team for a virtual presentation of our kindergarten program.
Thursday, March 31, 3:00 PM-4:15 PM: Rising kindergartners will come to our school for an in-person orientation, rotating through all of our kindergarten classrooms to experience a slice of life in kindergarten. (NOTE: This is an early release day for current students).
Do you know a neighbor with a rising kindergartner, or a family with a rising first grader who isn't attending CWES yet? Please encourage them to register on our website ASAP so we have accurate numbers for staffing our classes for next year!
DHH Connections Event
February 21, 2022 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM
Sponsored by the Technical Assistance Center for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TAC-DHH) TAC-DHH is partnering with Radford University and DARS’ Pre-Employment Transition Services to offer Student Connection, an opportunity for ALL students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing to connect with other Deaf and Hard of Hearing students in Virginia via Zoom. Breakout rooms for children in grades K-12 will be used to ensure age-appropriate activities for your child.
Register Your Child Here
Deaf Performers at the Super Bowl!
This Sunday's Super Bowl LVI will be the first time the NFL will feature American Sign Language during the halftime show. Deaf Detroit rappers Sean Forbes and Warren “WaWa” Snipe have been tapped to perform alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show. The two will perform sign-language interpretations of the lineup’s music.
Sandra Mae Frank, a deaf actress from New Amsterdam, will also join the ASL performances, featured during the pregame signing of the national anthem and "America the Beautiful." Happy Super Bowl!
We are excited to announce that CWES Band and Strings 2021-2022 T-Shirts are now available to order! Band and strings students will wear their t-shirts during spring concerts to show their team spirit and love of instrumental music! The cost is $10 per t-shirt. The actual cost of the shirt, which is dependent upon total pre-order sales numbers, may be less than $10. By purchasing the shirt for $10 you are agreeing that any excess in the cost will not be refunded and will, instead, be donated to the purchase of shirts for families in need or other band and strings program needs.
Store closes on 2/12. Order soon at this link:
CustomInk Band and Orchestra T-shirts
Please email ctrimbach@fcps.edu with any ordering questions.
YEARBOOKS are now available for purchase for only $14! Don’t miss this year’s school memories! Yearbook store is open through 4/22.
Online ordering only at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/Order/LookupJob?jobNumber=14314322 - CWES Yearbook Code #14314322. We will not be selling yearbooks at the school so be sure to order online.
Please email Cheryl Trimbach ctrimbach@fcps.edu if you have any questions.
Fairfax County Public Schools will adopt new Elementary School Language Arts Basal Instructional Resources for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years. A review committee composed of community members, administrators, and teachers will meet in February and March to review the instructional materials under consideration and community feedback. Public review of the recommended materials is part of the process for selecting new resources.
Elementary English Language Arts basal instructional resources may be accessed in person and online January 31 through February 28, 2022. Digital materials for public review and comment will be available at the following link: https://www.fcps.edu/node/36853. Those reviewing instructional materials may complete an electronic comment sheet available at the following link: https://forms.gle/NyDax8N3NXQBp1mh8.
Hard copies of instructional materials will also be available in the lobby of Willow Oaks Administrative Center. Willow Oaks is open each business day from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and extended hours will be provided until 7:00 p.m. on the following days: February 3, February 10, February 17, and February 24, 2022.
All community feedback will be shared with the review committee and with School Board members before the vote at the School Board regular meeting.
It's not too early to start planning for the summer!
REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN: Tech Adventure Camp
Current 2nd through 6th grade students will rotate through 5 CTE related classes - STEAM, cooking, health, trades, and computer science.
Weekly Themes
July 11 - 15: Welcome to Mars!
July 18 - 22: Going Green
July 25 - 29: Young Makers
For more information or to register, please visit the Tech Adventure Camp website: bit.ly/FCPS_TAC
(STEAM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math)
Each month, we will feature one of our specials programs so you can learn a bit more about these amazing elements of your child's school experience.
 The Engineering Design Process
STEAM students have been busy designing and building. In STEAM, students create solutions to open-ended challenges. Some challenges are designed to be completed during one class session, while others may take several weeks to complete. Regardless of the STEAM challenge, students practice applying the steps of the Engineering Design Process. They learn how to ask questions, imagine solutions, make plans, create and test, and improve upon their creations. Students do all this while incorporating Portrait of a Graduate skills. As students work with partners they utilize communication, collaboration, problem solving, creative and critical thinking, and resiliency skills. The STEAM room is an exciting place to witness students taking risks, learning from mistakes, and developing growth mindsets. Here are a few of the STEAM challenges students have been working on:
 2nd Grade – Bridge Building Challenge
Students focus on the driving question, “How can you, as an engineer, design and build a bridge strong enough to hold a load?” while working on the bridge building challenge. Using two wooden blocks separated by a ruler as anchors, students engineer ways to build the rest of the bridge with only binder clips and craft sticks. Students test the strength of their bridges with books to represent the load. Many students are striving to build bridges that can hold 40 books!
  5th grade Lego WeDo 2.0 robotics and coding
Fifth grade students enjoyed exploring Lego WeDo 2.0 kits which combine traditional Lego building with motorized Lego pieces and coding. Students began this unit by following guided step by step directions. By the end of the unit, students were able to design, build, and code their own open creations. BattleBots were a popular design choice for 5th graders.
Kindergarten – 3D shape building
Kindergarten STEAM students explore ways to build shapes. We started this exploration by building flat shapes using Play Doh and toothpicks. Next, students learned how to change two dimensional shapes into three dimensional shapes. It took lots of problem solving to learn how to make sure the Play Doh wasn’t too heavy so the shapes could stand up. Students then had fun creating three dimensional structures using miniature marshmallows and toothpicks.
6th grade Lego robotics and coding combined with science space curriculum
Sixth grade students took the Lego WeDo 2.0 kits to a deeper level by combining a topic learned in their science or social studies curriculum with the Lego robotics to show their knowledge in a new way. Students had two parts to this STEAM challenge. First, they had to design, build, and code a robotic Lego invention without support of Lego directions. Then they had to incorporate their Lego invention with a handmade setting. Projects connected to their studies of space and explorers were popular 6th grade choices.
Check out our CWES webpage for upcoming events for rising 7th graders.
Tuesday, February 8th at 6:30 PM: Frost Math Curriculum Exploration – Discussion of specific differences between Math 7 and Math 7 Honors, student readiness and mindset, and the sequence of math courses. This event is virtual and the link will be provided soon.
Wednesday, February 9th at 6:30 PM: Frost Special Education Parent Orientation – Join at this link:
https://myfcpsk12.zoom.us/j/98716652477?pwd=RzVQaFVSMmtQNzlUTk5VdG53RUZHdz09
Wednesday, February 16th from 5:30-7:30: Frost Family Festival - Please see this flyer for information and dinner sales: Frost Family Festival 2022.pdf
Monday, February 21: Presidents' Day (No school)
Saturday, February 26 (12-3): Stringapalooza at Woodson HS (Elementary strings students from all the Frost feeder schools come together to learn music.)
Tuesday, March 1: Lifetouch Spring Picture Day
Wednesday, March 30, 6:30 PM: Virtual Kindergarten Parent Information Session
Thursday, March 31, 3:00 PM-4:15 PM: In-person Kindergarten Orientation
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