 OC Bears had so much fun celebrating TWOsday this week on 2/22/22 by twinning!
Important Upcoming Dates
February 24: PTA Family Dinner Night-Hamrock’s
February 26: Stringapalooza at Woodson HS (Elementary strings students from all of the Frost feeder schools come together to learn music.)
February 28-March 4: Read Across America Week
March 2: PTA Meeting - 6:30 p.m. (Virtual)
March 3: 2-Hour Early Release for Students-Dismissal at 1:15 p.m.
March 4: No School for Students/Staff Professional Development
March 16: Bears Bedtime Stories - 7:00 p.m. (Virtual)
March 31: Third Quarter Ends/ 2-Hour Early Release for Students - Dismissal at 1:15 p.m.
March 31: Kindergarten Orientation
April 1: No School for Students/ Teacher Workday
April 4-April 8: Spring Break
New This Week
1. Read Across America Week
2. Calendar Reminder
3. Save the Date for Kindergarten Orientation
4. Home Internet Connectivity for Students & Staff
5. Parent Internet Activity Reports
6. Summer Arts Education
7. PTA Corner
Reminders & Updates
8. Order 2021-22 Yearbooks
9. Save the Dates: Spring SOL Testing Dates
10. Kindergarten 2022-23
11. Bears in the Spotlight!
12. OC Staff Shout Outs
13. Bears Care Outreach
14. Contacts
15. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
1. Read Across America Week
2. Calendar Reminder
As a reminder, students will be released two hours early on Thursday, March 3, and Friday, March 4, is a staff development day and a student holiday.
Classes will resume on Monday, March 7. See the complete 2021-22 school year calendar.
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3. Save the Date for Kindergarten Orientation
We are excited as we start to prepare to welcome our youngest Bears to the 2022-23 school year! We will be hosting two events on Thursday, March 31.
Thursday, March 31, 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Rising kindergartners and parents will come to Olde Creek for an in-person orientation. We will begin in our cafeteria at 2:30 PM. (NOTE: This is an early release day for current students). After a few minutes, our rising kindergarteners will have the opportunity to visit our classrooms for fun learning activities. Our parents will have a presentation of our kindergarten program and meet our incredible kindergarten team. This event will finish at 3:30 at the playground should families wish to stay and play!
Do you know a neighbor with a rising kindergartner, or a family with a rising first grader who isn't attending Olde Creek yet? Please encourage them to register so we have accurate numbers for staffing our classes for next year!
Visit the Olde Creek ES website and fill out the electronic new student registration form: https://oldecreekes.fcps.edu/student-services/new-student-registration
Thursday, March 31, 6:30 PM: If parents are not able to attend our in-person orientation, parents can join our team for a virtual presentation of our kindergarten program at 6:30pm. A link will be sent prior to the event.
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4. Home Internet Connectivity for Students and Staff
FCPS has distributed more than 4,400 MiFis to schools for students without an internet connection at home this year. MiFis are available to any FCPS student that does not have an internet connection at home. Schools simply need to verify with the parent that the student does not have internet access and submit a MiFi request with that student’s name. MiFis are generally provided to schools within 24 hours of receiving the request.
FCPS does not have a policy to subsidize staff home internet service. However, staff or students without internet service at home may also want to check out the federal Affordable Connectivity Program. Eligible families can receive discounts of up to $30/month on broadband internet service and can choose from multiple internet service providers. The program also provides up to $100 off the purchase of a home computer or tablet.
5. Parent Internet Activity Reports
FCPS parents who are interested in knowing more about their child’s Internet browsing activity on an FCPS device can sign up to receive a weekly Parent Report from Lightspeed, our internet content filtering service. The report provides a list of the top sites the child visited that week.
Additionally, if parents wish to get more detailed information, the weekly Parent Report offers parents the ability to self-sign-up to the free Internet Use Parent Portal. Parents who sign up for the Internet Use Parent Portal can log-in any time to see a little more detail about their child’s internet browsing. The portal also offers the parent added ability to “pause” access to the internet during non-school hours on the FCPS device.
Interested parents can submit a request directly from the Technology Support for Families page for weekly Parent Reports. FCPS will validate the enrolling parent’s email in SIS, and once processed, the parent will receive a weekly report over each weekend from our internet content filtering service, Lightspeed. Feel free to include this information in any newsletters or informational outreach to FCPS parents.
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6. Summer Arts Education
All students with an interest in continuing to explore the arts are eligible for two summer enrichment programs. Registration opens on March 1 for the Elementary Institute for the Arts (E-IFTA) and Institute for the Arts (IFTA) Summer enrichment programs.
Elementary Institute for the Arts (for rising 3rd through 6th graders) and Institute for the Arts (for rising 7th through 12th graders) will be held July 5-29 at Lake Braddock Secondary School from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Classes are offered every day related to dance, music, theater, and visual art. Both programs have fees, waivers are available for students eligible for free and reduced-price meals.
For more information or to register, visit the Summer Learning webpage.
7. PTA Corner
Olde Creek Family Dinner Night
Please join us for Family Dinner Night Thursday, February 24th at Hamrock’s Restaurant in Fairfax City from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. If you’d like to order from the Family Dinner menu, then please do so by 3:30 p.m. that day. Hamrock’s Flyer and Hamrock’s Family Dinner Menu. If ordering online or over the phone, then please note that your order is related to the Olde Creek fundraiser.
Volunteer Needed
We are looking for a parent volunteer to help plan teacher and staff appreciation week. If you are interested, please reach out to board@oldecreekpta.com.
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8. Order 2021-22 Yearbooks
 Order your yearbook online today at strawbridge.net using the online code: YB111582
9. Save the Dates: Spring SOL Testing Dates
Students in grades 3-6 will be taking the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) Tests beginning in May. Please avoid appointments and trips which may take your child out of school during this time period. Make up testing will occur throughout the window based on staff availability to administer tests. If you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher, or School Testing Coordinator, Alison Butler (ajbutler@fcps.edu).
3rd Grade
Thursday, May 5: Reading
Monday, May 16: Math
4th Grade
Tuesday, May 10: Reading
Tuesday, May 17: Math
5th Grade
Wednesday, May 4: Reading
Wednesday, May 11: Science
Wednesday, May 18: Math
6th Grade
Thursday, May 5: Reading
Thursday, May 19: Math
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10. Kindergarten 2022-2023
We need your help in projecting the Kindergarten enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year. Virginia Law, section 22.1-254, requires that children who will reach their fifth birthday on or before September 30, 2022, must be enrolled in Kindergarten for the 2022-2023 school year unless the parent or guardian notifies the school in writing that they do not wish the child to attend school until the following year.
If you have a child who will be five years old on or before September 30th, 2022, please complete this Preschool survey form and email it to our Registrar, Lizardo Santos.
If any of your neighbors have children who will be eligible for Kindergarten, please share this information with them, as we are especially interested in reaching those Olde Creek families who do not have children currently attending school.
The information on this survey will help the school plan for adequate facilities and personnel for the 2022-2023 school year. We thank you in advance for returning the form no later than March 1, 2022. Thank you!
11. Bears in the Spotlight!
We wanted to remind everyone about our program that highlights the incredible skills and talents of our Bears! On a daily basis, we have the opportunity to see our Bears’ strengths in school but we want to showcase the skills and talents our students demonstrate outside of school as well.
Each week on the morning news, we will have Bears in the Spotlight to share these skills and talents with our school community. Our students can sing, dance, share artwork, or videos of them playing sports or clips of other performances.
To submit one of our students to participate in Bears in the Spotlight, please utilize the below form.
https://forms.gle/um6VHjy6KKYLhMxJ6 - Please note: this form must be accessed using your child’s FCPS username & password.
If your student would like to submit a video instead, you can utilize the Flipgrid link with the password below.
https://flipgrid.com/bfa686dd
Password: BearsSpotlight
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12. OC Staff Shout-outs
Our Olde Creek staff continues to be incredible throughout this pandemic with each challenge that comes their way! We want to celebrate the extraordinary efforts of our teachers and staff during the 2021-22 school year. If your family would like to give a shout out to an OC staff member, please complete this survey.
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13. Bears Care Outreach
As always, the Olde Creek community showed tremendous generosity and support to the Bears Care food pantry for the winter break. Thank you!! Please use this sign up for much needed continued support through food items that can either be dropped off at the school or sent through this Amazon Wish List. (Email Lisa at lisamarm@gmail.com for any questions.)
You can also show your support by donating through the OC PTA PayPal account. The funds will be used to purchase items and gift cards based on the greatest needs of our families. Access the OC PTA PayPal account here: https://paypal.me/OldeCreekPTA.
Thank you, as always, for your kindness and generosity!
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14. Contacts
Olde Creek Attendance Phone Line: 703-426-3192
Olde Creek Attendance mailbox: OldeCreekElem.Attendance@fcps.edu
Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portal
Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu
Alison Butler, Assistant Principal, ajbutler@fcps.edu
Kelly Durso, Assistant Principal, kldurso@fcps.edu
Sylvia Alverson, Administrative Assistant, sjalverson@fcps.edu
Ann Platenkamp, Administrative Assistant, amplatenkamp@fcps.edu
Lizardo Santos, Student Information Assistant, LISantos@fcps.edu
Sandy McCulloch, Office Assistant, slmcculloch@fcps.edu
15. Be Informed, Stay Involved!
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