Mustang Memo 3.18.22

mural

Artist Raman Singh


Note from Dr. Sheers

We are excited to welcome artist-in-residence, Ramandip Singh to West Springfield! Raman is an artist and educator living in Springfield, Virginia. He graduated from Lewis High School in 2009 and went to art school at VCU. After earning his two degrees in both Art Education and Fine Arts, he moved back to Northern Virginia. Since college, he teaches art and creates beautiful murals and artwork throughout the community.

Raman will be collaborating with our students to create a mural at the front of our building around our theme, "we see you, we welcome you, you belong here." 

Save the date for Wednesday, May 4 at 5:00 p.m. for our Community Reveal!


News and Notes

Staff Appreciation Week is the week of Monday, March 28 - Friday, April 1 prior to Ramadan, to honor our staff who are fasting for Ramadan in April. Please plan accordingly and help us share our appreciation for our wonderful West Springfield Staff!

Candy Donations Requested
One way to a happy staff is keeping their candy bowl filled with chocolate!!  We would appreciate any candy donation for our office bowl.  Our staff loves a sweet treat throughout the day, but we have completely run out!

Family K12 Insight Survey
FCPS is partnering with independent firm K12 Insight to administer the Family Engagement Survey to better recognize, understand, respect, and address family strengths and needs in our school community. The survey will be open March 13th - April 3rd. It will be available in English, Spanish, Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Korean, Farsi, Urdu, and Vietnamese. All responses will be confidential. Survey results will be used to develop a plan to improve family and school partnerships throughout the division. For more information, please check out the survey webpage. On March 13th, the link was sent to your email and will also go live here.

Our Book Character Parade is back!
It will take place Thursday, March 31 on our Read-in Day at 9:30 a.m.!  Please send your child to school wearing a costume of their favorite book/character, with a copy of the book to carry in the parade.

Children should bring a change of clothes in their backpack for after the parade if their costume is uncomfortable. Keep in mind that Thursday, March 31 is an early dismissal and students will be going home at 1:30 p.m.

All costumes must be school appropriate (no scary costumes, masks or weapons are allowed).  

Parents are invited to assemble along the track on the upper field to view the parade. In the event of rain, we will parade around the gym and cafeteria and will welcome families in to line our hallways. We hope you can join us and enjoy this fun event!  

School Wide Field Trip to the Zoo
We are going WILD at the National Zoo! West Springfield Elementary is partaking on an exciting journey of learning and building community on Thursday, April 28.  We are taking a SCHOOL-WIDE field trip to the zoo!

Thank you to those who already signed up to be a chaperone. Limited spots remain, please sign up here:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b084daca922ab9-wses2
No more room for chaperones? No problem, meet us there!

Parent Volunteers Needed - Wednesday, March 30
For Teacher Appreciation Week, we need  support from volunteers to assist in transitioning our students from lunch to recess and helping monitor our students at recess so that our teachers can enjoy an hour lunch break for Teacher Appreciation Week.

Ideally, we would like 2 volunteers per classroom. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0a4ba4af2cab9-march

Optional Parent Input
One of our important tasks as the end of the school year approaches is to determine class placements for the following year. The school staff works collaboratively to plan teacher and student assignments. A variety of factors such as student personalities, friendships, gender and academics are considered as we create new classes.

West Springfield families have an option to assist in placements by providing insights about their child(ren). Please note the following restrictions:

  • We will not accept requests for specific teachers. This includes hints to referencing teachers or emailing your child’s teacher with a request directly.
  • Input must be submitted by the deadline, Thursday, March 31 to be considered. We will not accept late requests.
  • We cannot guarantee friend requests. While it’s helpful for us to know some names of close friends, we defer to the placement team on placements and cannot guarantee friend requests.

The deadline for any correspondence regarding the next school year is Thursday, March 31 via our Google form at: https://forms.gle/dK4Yn3FcoDuTZVoF6

Food Reminders
We cannot accommodate fast food deliveries/drop-offs for students during the day.  Accepting outside food deliveries is also against Code of Federal Regulations 210.11.  Please do not drop off fast food or deliver fast food to West Springfield for your child.

yearbook

Order Yearbooks Now! $17.00 today through April 15, 2022 – Keep your order 21854 number handy when you log on.  All orders are due by Friday, April 15, 2022 and can be placed online: https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/index.cfm/job/21854


Rising Kindergarten Orientation

We are excited to begin thinking about 2022-23!  Do you have a child at home who will be five by September 30?  Please start your registration now by filling out this interest sign-up.  If you have any neighbors with little ones, please send this information to them as well. This form simply collects information in order to help us plan for staffing for the next school year. Thank you!

Save the Date - Kindergarten Orientation
Tuesday, May 24 from 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

k

SOL Testing Information

It’s hard to believe, but the SOL testing window is approaching quickly!  The window itself is open from April 25 – May 20, with retakes (for qualifying students only) being given the week of May 23.

Here is the testing schedule.  Please be mindful of the dates that your child tests when scheduling appointments.  If your child is absent on a testing day, we will provide time for make-ups upon return.

Tuesday, May 3: 6th Reading
Wednesday, May 4: 5th Reading
Thursday, May 5: 4th Reading
Tuesday, May 10: 3rd Reading
Wednesday, May 11: 5th Math
Thursday, May 12: 4th Math
Tuesday, May 17: 6th Math AND 3rd Math
Wednesday, May 18: 5th Science


Month of the Military Child

In April, we will be celebrating Month of the Military Child to recognize the military connected students at WSES.  Below are some opportunities to participate:   

  • Picture of your family:  Send in a picture of your military connected family to be featured on the WSES news show.  If you sent a picture in last year, we could use the same picture- let us know!  
  • Students to speak on the news show:  Looking for military connected students who are interested in speaking on the news show about their experience of being part of a military family.  We can work with the students on what they may want to say!    
  • Help with decorating:  Need 4th, 5th, and 6th grade volunteers to help with decorations for Purple Up Day on April 20.  Students do not need to be military connected to help with this.      
  • Show your spirit on April 20:  Any interested/available military parents are encouraged to dress in their uniform on Purple Up Day (Wednesday April 20) to walk their child up to school (all WSES students encouraged to wear purple that day). 

Please direct submissions and questions to our Military Counselor, Kristen Mahoney:  kmahoney@fcps.edu or 202-725-7018.  Deadline for submissions/volunteers is March 31, 2022.  


Positivity Project

Positivity Project - Week of March 14

This week’s character strength is Love of Learning – You practice this strength when you master new skills and topics on your own or in school.  Those with a love of learning are motivated and engaged in a topic regardless of achieving an external standard.  They enjoy learning simply for the sake of learning.   Their reward is the process of doing the work and improving.  Find out more about Love of Learning by watching this video . Next week’s character strength:  Humor.


Save the Date

Wednesday, March 23 - PTA Science Expo 5:00 p.m.

Monday, March 28 - April 1 - WSES Teacher Appreciation Week

Tuesday, March 29 - Spring Pictures (Classes and Individuals)

Wednesday, March 30 - Lunch/Recess Volunteers

Thursday, March 31 - Book Character Parade/Read-in Day/2-Hour Early Release
**Parent Input Due

Friday, April 1 - Student Holiday

April 4 - 8 - Spring Break

mustang night