Great Falls ES Update: March 2022

Dear GFES Families,

It's March!  The flowers around our beautiful campus are peeking through the soil, and, as is usually the case around this time of year, we are beginning to see students shed their hats, gloves, and coats as they soak in the sunshine and warmer weather. 

Masking Update:
Today we entered a new phase of the pandemic that will bring about changes to our health and safety measures. First of all, know that the health and safety of our students, staff, and community remains our highest priority.

State law now allows parents/guardians to elect for their children to not wear masks at school.  In addition, late Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released updated health guidance that included new metrics for determining COVID-19 community levels. Based on this new guidance, Fairfax County’s current COVID-19 community level is low. 

Therefore, FCPS will now adjust our roll back plan and allow everyone - staff and parents/guardians of FCPS students - to make a choice whether or not they will wear a mask. 

At Great Falls ES, our staff is committed to working within our class communities to ensure that our students' choices are respected, and safe and respectful learning environments remain intact. 

Our teachers are reinforcing and reiterating daily that all students will be treated the same regardless of their masking choice.  Students will not be asked to separate based on who is wearing a mask or not, and the expectation is that all student and staff interactions will be based on care and respect.  Please support us in these efforts and remember our students look to us as examples of how to treat each other and how to work through these situations.

Families of special needs children who may need additional consideration for health reasons should work with their IEP or 504 teams.

Contact Tracing Update:
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) no longer requires schools to contact trace individual COVID-19 cases. As a result, FCPS will no longer contact trace individual cases. Contact tracing will occur in FCPS if there is an outbreak in accordance with the VDH requirement. 

Families and staff will get a daily notification if a COVID-19 case has been reported to the school that day. The daily communication is for information purposes only. Friday notifications will be discontinued.

I assure all students and families that Great Falls ES will remain a caring and supportive place to learn. As always, please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns. 

All my best,

Sara Harper

Calendar Updates March: 3 - 2-hour Early Release @ 1:30pm 4 - Student Holiday (Professional Development Day) 8 - Spring Picture Day 14 - 18   March Spirit Week 26 - FCPS Special Education Conference 31 - End of Third Quarter - 2 hour Early Release @ 1:20 PM 31 - Kindergarten Orientation @ 2:30 in the cafeteria April: 1 - Student Holiday (Teacher Workday) 4 - 8 - Spring Break, Front Office Closed See the complete 2021-22 school year calendar

Yearbook sales are live!   Don't miss your chance--orders are due by April 18. Click Here!

Spring Picture Day & Class Photo Save the Date Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 is Spring Picture Day! Approximately two weeks after picture day,  families will have the opportunity to order individual and class photos online. A link will be provided once photos are available. If you have any questions regarding ordering,  please email Victor O’Neill Studios at underclass@vosphoto.com

Volunteer for Picture Day! We are looking for volunteers to help with our Spring Picture Day! At this time, we are unable to guarantee parents will be matched with their child's class. If you are available to help out, please click here. While masks are no longer required, GFES is still utilizing the FCPS layered prevention strategies to help keep the transmission of COVID-19 low. The layered prevention strategies include regular cleaning and disinfecting, proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and proper ventilation throughout the building. Please review the Health Screening Questions prior to entering the building. If you are unable to attend for any reason, please let us know as soon as possible.  Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out to Colleen Murphy at (703) 757-2100 or cpmurphy@fcps.edu.

STEAM Lab Report

Inter-Disciplinary STEAM Lab Extension Activities: 

GFESTEAM Lab is a bridge between what students learn in class and Projects-Based Learning that complements cross-curricular topics. PBL activities are aligned to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, Science, and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
For a sneak peek, please follow us on Twitter: @GFESTEAM Lab.

Sir Isaac Newton's Apple Tree:
GFESTEAM had a most exciting month! Our long-awaited petition to bring Newton’s tree from MIT in the Greater Boston area to Great Falls is beginning to bear fruit. This spring, GFES will receive branch cuttings from MIT’s offshoot of the original apple tree from Newton’s grandmother’s estate where he had his epiphany about Gravity! The students are very excited to be part of a historic journey to make their school the first elementary school in the country to receive this prized honor. GFESTEAM is very grateful to Great Falls Garden Club, Great Falls Citizens Association, and our Principal Sara Harper, for encouraging and supporting our initiative. 

February:
Our students are already inspired to extend their early learning about Sir Isaac Newton’s Three Laws of Motion. We branched out to learn about Bernoulli’s Principles of Flight and the Four Forces of Flight. In February, we explored the Five Fundamental Principles of Engineering. Inspired by Danish and Finnish architects of the Egg chair and Tulip chair, respectively.  Our STEAM Teams built environmentally sustainable chairs with cardboard and newspaper and came up with very innovative designs, including a Hamburger and Fries chair! We will build on these innovations as we develop our entrepreneurship skills.

We had our first module on Foundations for Coding, with an introductory lesson on computational thinking. Students built on their knowledge about algorithms, decomposing, debugging, and sequencing by extending the paper airplane experiment to creating simple and series electrical circuits. We also learned about static electricity and energy efficiency of using LED bulbs over fluorescent and incandescent bulbs.  We are now broadening our knowledge of ciphers and cryptography with Binary and Vigenere codes.

The final countdown to the final quarter finish is only the beginning of greater things to come for Great Falls’ STEAM Lab!

Kindergarten Orientation Information

We are happy to announce that we are taking registrations for students who will be in Kindergarten during the 2022-2023 school year!

In order to register your child for the 2022-2023 school year, parents will need to complete the registration forms, provide the original birth certificate, a copy of their deed or lease with their name on it as proof of residency, and provide the Virginia School Entrance Health Form, completed and signed by a U.S. physician. The physical must be dated within twelve months of the projected school start date of August 22, 2022.

Our kindergarten orientation is for children who will be 5 years old by September 30, 2022. The orientation will give you the opportunity to meet our K team and other Great Falls ES staff members, learn about our K program, see what a day in the life of a kindergartener looks like and provide you with a Q&A session to answer any questions you may have.

This year, we will have an in-person kinder orientation, with a virtual online streaming component for those families who would prefer that option. Please get registered as soon as possible, whether you are coming in-person or streaming virtually. For those families that would like the virtual option, that zoom link will be sent to you as we get closer to the orientation date.

DETAILS:
What: Kindergarten Orientation
Where: In-person at Great Falls ES (cafeteria); with a virtual streaming option through Zoom
When: Thursday, March 31st from 2:30-3:30pm
Visitors: In compliance with FCPS’ masking protocols, all visitors and staff will have a choice regarding mask wearing at this time.
Please use this link to register to attend in person or virtually: https://forms.gle/VVrm3ps4Wsu9N77m6 

Important Note: For those families attending the orientation in-person, please bring your rising kindergarten child with you to the orientation. During the orientation session for parents, your children will be split between the three kindergarten classrooms where they will participate in some enjoyable activities. Great Falls ES staff members will be in the classrooms supervising them, while parents are in the cafeteria going through the orientation with our kindergarten teachers. We ask that you please try and limit the number of family participants to the orientation to the best of your ability; to include parents/guardians and your rising kindergartener. 

Once again, we look forward to welcoming our newest members to the Forestville Elementary family and meeting all of you in March. In the meantime, if you have any additional questions about registration, please contact Ms. Abeer ElGharib, with any questions prior to the event. You may also reach our wonderful front office staff at 703-757-2100.

Please help us spread the word to neighbors and friends who have preschool children and live within the Great Falls Elementary School boundaries.

Elementary Magnet School Lottery

The Magnet Lottery registration window will opens Tuesday, March 1, 2022.  No late applications will be accepted.  Families wanting to apply for the Magnet Lottery must have a SIS account.  If a student is not currently enrolled in FCPS, registration at the base school for the upcoming school year will be required.  

A separate application must be completed for each sibling applying.  Legacies also must apply to be eligible.  Acceptances into one of the magnet programs is not transferable into another program or school.

Registration for the elementary magnet school lottery closes on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 4:00 p.m.  No late applications will be accepted.

Testing Updates

Naglieri Testing (1st Grade Students)

The online version of the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test Third Edition (NNAT3) will be administered to all first graders on March 21st. The official testing letter  was sent home during the week of February 14th. 

Standards of Learning (SOLs)

Students in grades 3-6 in our school will be taking the Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) this Spring. 

Federal law requires schools to give SOL tests in reading, mathematics, and science. SOL tests measure the extent to which students have learned the content and skills detailed in state standards. Tests provide information about student achievement to the parent, school, division, and state. SOL scores are available for families before the next school year. Great Falls will be administering the SOLs on the following dates:

March Spirit Week

Show Our Staff Some Love ❤ Fairfax County Public Schools wants to recognize employees who go above and beyond to ensure the students, teachers, parents, and community have an extraordinary experience throughout the school year.  To support these efforts by nominating a GFES staff member click here. The acronym “CARES” clearly defines our GFES approach to meeting the learning needs of our students on a daily basis; A Responsive Culture, with a focus on Excellence in Academics, through Positive Relationships, with Enriching Experiences, for all students.

Join the PTA Executive Board for 2022-2023

Do you want to become more involved in the PTA? We are working on building a strong team of PTA leaders for the 2022-2023 school year and need your help! Our nominating committee would love to hear from anyone interested in taking on any of the PTA Executive Board positions listed below. Serving on the PTA board is a great way to meet other GFES parents and give your input on events, activities and fundraising opportunities. Please reach out to president@gfespta.com or presidentelect@gfespta.com for details about job responsibilities and time commitments.   

Executive Board Positions:

• President-Elect/VP of Communications (transitions to President position for 2023-2024)
• Financial Secretary (transitions to Treasurer position for 2023-2024)
• Recording Secretary 
• VP of Fundraising
• VP of Programs
• VP of School Spirit

Girls on the Run Registration

Registration for the Spring Session of Girls on the Run is now open! Students in grades 3-6 are invited to join this team of girls, where each week you will build endurance, laugh, learn and have lots of fun with your team. The program ends with a 5K celebration that will remind you that you can crush any goal that you set your mind to! The team meets Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 7:30am from March 8 - May 22 at Great Falls Elementary School. 

Register at www.gotrnova.org through March 1st. Questions? Reach out to Coach Kelly at kelly.j.singer@gmail.com

NOVA District PTA Student Essay Program NOVA District PTA is pleased to announce the 2022 NOVA District PTA Student Essay Program (previously called Citizenship Essay). This year's District theme is, "Tell Us Your Story" - a look at how the past couple of years during the pandemic has had an impact on your life (i.e. education, family, community, after school activities). Click here to submit application before March 15, 2022.

701 Walker Road, Great Falls, VA 22066  |  Phone: 703.757.2100

Attendance: 703.757.2111 or gfesattendance@fcps.edu

Web | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram