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Dear Families,
Welcome back from Spring Break! We are thrilled to be offering in-person orientations to our school again. We got to meet our newest class of rising Kindergartners (and some new first graders) and families before Spring Break began. Our wonderful team presented information about our program and gave our newest Cougars a chance to rotate through classrooms for a taste of life at CWES. Later this month, on April 27, we will joyfully orient students new to the Level IV Advanced Academics Program at our school (see below).
April is Arab American Heritage Month. Students deserve meaningful, sustained opportunities to learn about the diverse perspectives, experiences, and contributions of Arab Americans year-round, and Arab American Heritage Month is one opportunity to honor these important stories. Here are some essential questions we might explore in centering Arab American stories:
How are Arab American perspectives, experiences, and contributions represented in our schools, communities, and nation?
How have Arab Americans, past and present, contributed to U.S. history?
How can we take action against hate and bias in our schools, communities, nation, and world?
April is also National Deaf History Month. Beginning this year, 2022, National Deaf History Month will now be observed annually from April 1-30. In former years, Deaf History Month was celebrated from mid-March to mid-April to center around important dates related to Deaf Education:
April 15th, 1817 the first public school, American School for the Deaf was opened.
April 8th, 1864 Gallaudet University – the world’s first institution devoted to advanced education for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing – was officially founded.
March 13th, 1988 Gallaudet University nominated I. King Jordan as their first Deaf President.
Feedback received from the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) Deaf Culture and History Section (DCHS) and organizations representing marginalized communities recommended the change in dates to be inclusive of experiences of BIPOC Deaf People and celebrate all Deaf persons in the US.
We are so excited to celebrate the diversity of our families at CWES with International Day next Wednesday, April 20 from 5:00 – 6:30 P.M. This fun-filled family event is an opportunity for everyone to learn about all the wonderful countries and cultures represented within our school community.
This week, don some colorful clothes to welcome the warm weather of Spring! Wear BLUE for Autism Awareness on Wednesday and PURPLE to celebrate our military-connected Cougars! We have a busy month in store!
Warm regards,
Diane Leipzig, Dr. L
April 2 - May 1, 2022 marks the Muslim celebration of Ramadan.
Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims, who believe it was during this month that God revealed the first verses of the Quran, Islam's sacred text, to Mohammed, on a night known as "The Night of Power." During the entire month of Ramadan, Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset. It is meant to be a time of spiritual discipline—of deep contemplation of one's relationship with God, extra prayer, increased charity and generosity, and intense study of the Quran.
Several of our students will be fasting this month and will need additional supports in school. Students who are fasting may have altered sleep schedules and may have different energy levels throughout the day. Students may wish to go to an alternate supervised location instead of the cafeteria during their scheduled lunch time. They may need to modify their participation in activities such as recess or P.E..
Please let your child's classroom teacher know ASAP if your child will be fasting this month so we can provide them with appropriate support.
For our families observing this month, Ramadan Kareem!
Join us for a PTA meeting tomorrow night at 7:30 PM at this link:
https://myfcpsk12.zoom.us/j/91200053925
Please join us for a special presentation on Digital Citizenship provided by Dr. Leipzig!
Following Dr. Leipzig's presentation, we will talk about:
- Our PTA Budget:
- Updates and amendments to the budget
- Revised budget vote
- Open PTA positions for next year: Committees and Vice President/President-Elect
- Ways to help with the Fun Fair on May 7th
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CWES Annual Read-A-Thon Fundraiser Ends Friday!
Date: March 28 - April 15, 2022
In our FINAL week, let’s get ALL the CWES book lovers out there to keep logging those minutes before the Read-A-Thon comes to an end on Friday, April 15th.
So far, 124 enthusiastic readers have logged 77,128 minutes of reading!
Please take a moment to update your minutes using the personal link to your individual reading tracker. (The link to your reading tracker can be found in an email from 99Pledges.)
And remember – for our younger readers – reading with an adult/older sibling counts as well!
Thank you and keep up the great work!
For questions or more information, contact Read-A-Thon chair Liz McKearin at liz.mckearin@gmail.com
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We are excited to host an in-person AAP Orientation this year! Please join us on Wednesday, April 27th, from 5:00 to 6:00 pm in the Canterbury Woods Elementary School (CWES) cafeteria. Our orientation is for parents and their newly eligible student(s). During the program we will share highlights of Canterbury Woods Elementary as a whole group. The second part of the program will allow newly eligible students to meet their grade level teachers and participate in a short activity while parents stay in the cafeteria to hear additional curriculum-related details and participate in a Q&A.
We understand that you may have additional questions, so please feel free to reach out to Andrea Warren via email amwarren@fcps.edu.
Are you interested in full- or part-time work during the hours your child is in school?
Learn more about becoming a Cued Language Transliterator (CLT), providing clear and complete language access for children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing!
This Thursday at 7:30 p.m. we have a free Info Meeting for anyone who'd like to learn more about becoming a CLT, including the certification process, training opportunities, the Language-Matters Academy mentorship program, and job opportunities/compensation information (both remote and in-person in Fairfax Co Public Schools and other neighboring counties).
Sign up for our free info session at the following link: https://forms.gle/6ZHtoNiiDHmvqS7p8
Additionally, registration is now open for the Northern Virginia Cued Speech Association's Beginner class (Monday and Thursday evenings starting Apr 21) at www.nvcsa.org is for anyone who may be interested! For a limited time, there will be no charge for aspiring CLTs to take this class!
Save the dates! CWES will be administering the Virginia Standards of Learning Tests this Spring. Please try to avoid scheduling appointments on your student’s testing days.
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3rd Grade: Reading on Wednesday, May 4th and Math on Wednesday, May 11th
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4th Grade: Reading on Thursday, April 28th and Math on Tuesday, May 17th
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5th Grade: Reading on Tuesday, May 3rd, Science on Thursday, May 12th, and Math on Wednesday, May 18th
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6th Grade: Reading on Thursday, May 5th and Math on Thursday, May 19th
 Stringapalooza at Woodson High School
Congratulations to the 39 CWES strings students who participated in Stringapalooza on Saturday, February 26th at Woodson HS! Over 260 Woodson Pyramid students had fun learning new music.
Strings students strengthen their bow hold positions.
Fourth Grade strings students learn to shape the right-hand fingers into the correct position to hold the bow. A quality bow hold position ensures a good sound when using the bow. In this photo students are practicing maintaining the position while carefully passing a cup to another student.
Strings students keeping the beat.
Maintaining a steady beat is a shared responsibility in the orchestra. Students try conducting to experience leading the string orchestra with a steady beat.
Strings students are excited and busy preparing music to perform this spring!
March 28 - April 15: CWES Read-A-Thon
Wednesday, April 13: Light it up BLUE for Autism Awareness!
Friday, April 15: Wear PURPLE to celebrate and support CWES military families!
Tuesday, April 19 6-8 PM: Woodson Pyramid Art Show, Woodson HS Cafeteria
Wednesday, April 20, 5:00-6:30: International Day
Wednesday, April 27, 5:00-6:00: In-person Level IV AAP Orientation
Thursday, April 28: SOL testing begins
April 25 - April 29: Scholastic Book Fair
May 2 - May 6: Teacher Appreciation Week
Saturday May 7, 11-2: CWES Fun Fair, an outdoor carnival event open to the whole community
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