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Dear Families,
Happy Valentine's Day to you and your families! I reflected today that Valentine's Day was one of the last "normal" holidays we had in the spring of 2020. In fact, we left the "book worm" hanging in the K-1 corridor for the past two years because we couldn't bear to part with this visual reminder of our pre-pandemic days.
February 2020 -- then first graders' "bookworm."
It was so heart-warming (pun intended) to revisit this celebration again, two years later. We hope it is a reminder to your children that they belong to each other, to their teachers, and to our school community.
Love was in the air today at CWES! Enjoy a few of the pictures from our primary classrooms today.
Students in Ms. Andrew's enjoying their valentines!
Tying valentines into the curriculum in first grade.
Special deliveries in Ms. Crump's room; Candy heart relays in Ms. Carroll's room.
It is always a good day to enjoy one another and the simple pleasures of friendship and kindness. We hope days like this give our students some practice spreading love and joy to brighten each other's days.
WE LOVE the students, families, and staff of CWES!
Warm regards,
Diane Leipzig, Dr. L
Ms. Crump and Dr. L are love bugs!
Dine in or takeout from Iron Chef in Fairfax (2985 District Ave, Ste 145) TOMORROW February 15 from 11am-10pm and support the CWES PTA!
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!
Last fall, FCPS received $188.6 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER III) funding. These funds have helped us safely reopen our schools and to keep them open. We have also been able to address the impacts of COVID-19 on students. If you are not familiar with ESSER III, here are a few things you should know about how it impacts student success. ESSER III focus areas include:
- Prevention and mitigation strategies to help keep schools open and safe for students and staff.
- Academic intervention services, such as tutoring, after-school programs, and summer learning programs.
- Professional development to ensure our schools are welcoming and culturally responsive to all students and families.
- Multilingual engagement to ensure information is accessible to all families.
- Additional support for students’ social emotional needs.
There will be two opportunities for you to tell us how well FCPS is meeting ESSER III requirements around a safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of learning. Please stay tuned for details! Visit the ESSER III webpage for more information.
T-shirts sale date has been extended to Tuesday, February 15th. Be sure to place your order now!
We are excited to announce that CWES Band and Strings 2021-2022 T-Shirts are now available to order! Dr. Kohut and Ms. Mitchell remain hopeful that in-person concerts will be allowed in the spring of 2022. If in-person spring concerts are allowed, then band and strings students will wear their t-shirt during their spring concert 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.
Ordering 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.
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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