Monday, March 7, 2022 Lancer Times

Monday, March 7, 2022

Dear Lancer Families,

Last week was an exciting week at Longfellow. We had a lot of fun with our Spirit Days and celebrating reading across our entire school. A big thank you to our reading teacher Pam Haber for organizing this event. I also had the opportunity to hear our Band and Orchestra students perform their pre-assessment concerts.  It was great to hear our Lancers, they were outstanding!

One important component of our days at Longfellow is our advisory block or Lancer Time. One thing students do during Lancer Time is to work on executive functioning skills. This past week in Lancer TIme students engaged in a mid year check-in. During this time they took stock of where they are this quarter in terms of grades and made a plan for any areas that they might need to focus on a little bit more. 

Finally, on Friday we came together as a staff to learn together and examine the ways that we use different types of data both qualitative and quantitative to ensure that all of our students are learning at high levels. 

I hope that you have a great week and feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Thanks,

Jim Patrick

Principal

IMPORTANT DATES

March

31 Two Hour Early Release; End of 3rd Quarter

April

1 - Teacher Workday (No School for Students)

4-8 - Spring Break 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Yearbook Ordering Information 

2021-2022 yearbooks are on sale now!  Visit the Yearbook Order Center at http://yearbookordercenter.com and enter our school code (21584) to reserve your copy!

Need Help with Your Order? Toll Free: 866-287-3096 

Email: yearbookordercenter@herffjones.com    

Customer Support: Open Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (CST).

Career Pathways Study - Optional

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has partnered with FourPoint Education Partners, a national consultancy based in Maryland, to assess our current pathway elective courses and career pathway programs. Our middle and high school students will be receiving an email inviting them to participate in a brief survey.  The email will be sent to their school email address and will be coming from Naviance with a subject titled: Student Survey Pathways Study.  Participation in the survey is optional.  Students will have the opportunity to complete this survey during Lancer Time (4th Period) on March 7, 2022.

In addition, our middle and high school parents will have an opportunity to provide feedback.  More information will follow soon.

If you have any questions, please contact Dana Bayer at dabayer@fcps.edu. 

Notes from the Library

The past few months have been busy ones in the library. We had a successful book fair in December. Thank you to all the parents who helped out! Since the beginning of January, we have seen many classes for book talks, speed dating with books, and lessons on information literacy skills. In February, several students took a chance on a new book in our Blind Date with a Book promotion. We are now getting ready for our March Madness promotion. Stay tuned to see which book Longfellow students select as their favorite. Thank you for your support of the Longfellow Library program!

Best Buddies Friendship Walk

Each month the Longfellow Best Buddies Club get together to do fun activities and foster friendships. Every year, Best Buddies has a Friendship Walk in DC. This year it is on April 30 at 10 am on the mall. The Longfellow MS Best Buddies club is joining forces with McLean HS to create a bridge between our BB program and theirs. We will be joining their Friendship Walk Team. We are going to invite all Longfellow students and families to join the McLean team and attend. For more information reach out to Lorraine Marshall, Erin Caswell and Stephanie Carter.  https://www.bestbuddies.org/.

Family Life Education

Family Life Education (FLE) is starting soon. Below are the dates that each unit of FLE will begin as well as a link to the overview of these units and opt out forms.
Emotional Social Health: until March 17th (students will cycle through the unit at different times in this window)
https://www.fcps.edu/academics/middle-school-academics-7-8/family-life-education-fle
For questions or concerns, please contact Health and Physical Education department chair: Amanda Creeden: amcreeden@fcps.edu

High School Transition 

Middle School Forum

Middle School Forum is coming to Longfellow on March 17, 2022 during Lancer Time. Both McLean and Langely high school students will be on campus to meet with our rising 9th graders. The goal of MSF is to help relieve middle schoolers’ anxiety about the transition to high school. At MSF, 8th graders have the opportunity to ask Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) representatives any questions they have about high school. YAC-ers answer with candor and speak from their individual perspectives, showing middle schoolers that there are many different ways to navigate high school, and choices are theirs to make. YAC responses point to the value of knowing yourself, making choices that are right for you, and being prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions. Our Langely students will be grouped together with Langely High School YAC-ers.This program is sponsored by the McLean Safe Community Coalition.

HEALTH & SAFETY INFORMATION

lnstructional Supports During COVID-19 Related Absence

All students will continue to access asynchronous assignments from their classroom teachers each day through our Learning Management System (i.e. Schoology). Students should check the folder titled “extended absence” in their classes’ Schoology page to access the instruction and assignments that have been missed. Though your student’s teacher will be notified of the pause, your student is encouraged to utilize the online resources already available to them in class and to proactively reach out to their teachers.No later than the third day of extended COVID-related absences, students will also be able to access the following:

• Livestream or a recording of the direct instruction portion of the lesson. Teachers have informed students how to access it. NOTE: Livestreaming is NOT concurrent or hybrid learning. During the livestream, the remote student’s camera and audio will be off, but they will be able to watch and listen.
• Individual and/or small group check-ins with teacher(s) every other school day for academic support. An assigned staff member will also reach out during the week for an additional social-emotional check in.
• Students are encouraged to contact their teacher and/or counselor directly if they have questions about the assignments.

OPPORTUNITIES

Girls Leadership Committee

For students: Are you passionate about gender equality and women’s empowerment? Interested in building leadership skills and helping girls and women in our community? Or just looking for a fun way to meet new people? Join the Longfellow Girls Leadership Committee (GLC)! This new club will organize events, fundraisers, and activities around gender issues and empowerment. We are also organizing a peer mentorship program with McLean High School. Our first meeting will be after school on Monday March 14 in Room 109. All are welcome! As our first initiative, we are partnering with the McLean High School GLC to help with their March menstrual product drive. Items can be placed in the box in the Longfellow main office between now and March 31. All donations will be distributed to local community shelters to help those in need. Please contact the club sponsor, Dr. Blasey (jeblasey@fcps.edu) with any questions.

Dr. Scott Brabrand with the Kids

Wednesday, March 9 from 6:30pm – 9pm

An opportunity for students to meet Division Superintendent, Dr. Scott Brabrand and engaged with him on questions/concerns that are relevant to students in our area. This event will take place at:

McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, VA 22101

For more information, please contact Mr. Jim Beggs directly at: jimbeggs@icloud.com

SCC Book Talk on How to Raise an Adult

Friday, March 18 at 12:00pm. via Zoom 

In anticipation of best-selling author Julie Lythcott-Haims’ April visit to McLean to present the talk, “Throw out the Checklisted Childhood: Tips and Strategies for Raising Successful Kids,” McLean psychologists Heather Tedesco, PhD, and Melissa Sporn, PhD, will host a virtual parent book club on Julie’s most-acclaimed book, How to Raise an Adult on Friday, March 18, at noon. Dr. Tedesco and Dr. Sporn will share their thoughts on the aspects of the book that are especially relevant to families in our area. Click here to purchase the book from bookshop.org, which can connect you with a local bookstore anywhere in the country. Find the Zoom link on our website just prior to the event.

Jump Start - Longfellow Middle School Transition Program

SAVE THE DATES: August 2 & 3 and August 4 & 5

The Jump Start program is a nonacademic program that focuses on helping rising 7th graders get to know Longfellow Middle School and the expectations of middle school. Jump Start helps to ensure a smoother transition to middle school by introducing students to staff, peers, school layout, and basic policies before the school year begins. Students will participate in sessions covering topics such as study skills, test taking strategies, time management techniques, schedule reading, learning how to use combination locks and many more. Scavenger hunts, locker relay races, and daily physical education activities will also take place during the sessions.

More information will be available on April 1 and registrations will begin being collected on May 1. 

If you have any questions, please contact Riley Barrows: rtbarrows1@fcps.edu

Join the PTA & Support our School!

Join the PTA  -  When you join the Longfellow PTA you will join a proud community of dedicated parents. Membership is $25 for one adult family member and $35 for two adult family members. All members receive access to our online directory through Memberhub.