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For a translated version of this newsletter, please click HERE. Next click on the language icon in the upper left corner to choose your preferred language.
Para obtener una versión traducida de este mensaje, haga clic AQUÍ. Luego, haga clic en el icono IDIOMA en la esquina superior izquierda para elegir su idioma preferido.
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BRES Bell Schedule 2022-23 SY
9:15-4:00 PM
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Important Dates
August 22: First Day of School (Bell Schedule 9:15-4:00 PM)
August 22: Boo Hoo/Woo Hoo Breakfast - Cafeteria (9:30-10:30am)
August 29: Back to School Night, grades K-2 (5:30-7:00pm)
- session 1 – 5:30-6:10pm
- session 2 – 6:20-7:00pm
August 30: Back to School Night, grades 3-6 (5:30-7:00pm)
- session 1 – 5:30-6:10pm
- session 2 – 6:20-7:00pm
September 2: No School - Labor Day Break
September 5: No School - Labor Day Break
September 8: PTA Meeting - Library (4:30-5:30pm)
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*The full FCPS 2022-2023 calendar can be accessed here.
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Community Conversations with Dr. Reid
Please save the date for a very special event! Dr. Michelle Reid, FCPS superintendent, will host a Community Conversation at Westfield HS on September 20 and Centreville HS on October 18, 6:30-7:30 p.m. This event will be a unique opportunity to help Dr. Reid get to know our school community and learn more about her vision for our district. Please contact Kathy Ryan, krryan@fcps.edu, or Christie Scott, cascott@fcps.edu, with questions.
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Bull Run Elementary families,
Last week our staff spent time building relationships with one another, preparing for the school year, and engaging families through our Kindergarten Orientation and Open House. These opportunities allowed staff to begin to form partnerships in order to get our school year off to the right start. We want to continue partnering with you as the school year progresses.
Our team at Bull Run Elementary School is excited to welcome our Bull Run Bulls back into the building for another year of learning and making new connections. Doors will open at 9:15am. School hours are 9:15am for student drop off and dismissal will begin at 4:00pm every day. Buses and car riders will enter through Door 1 and the cafeteria door. Cars will not be permitted in the bus loop until 9:30am. Kiss and Ride will open at 9:00am. Please be aware of your car speed as we are trying to ensure the safety of all students.
All families will be allowed to walk their child to class on the first of school! Use the hashtags #FirstDayFairfax #1BRESbulls when posting pictures on social media.
We look forward to seeing you on tomorrow for the first day of school! It's going to be unbelievaBULL!
Sincerely,
Jason Pensler, Susanne Shahidi, Jenna Campbell
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Please be mindful when entering Bull Run ES during arrival and dismissal.
To ensure all our families safety, if traveling toward the battlefield on Lee HWY, continue past Bull Run ES and complete a u-turn at the next available left-turn. All cars should enter Bull Run ES by turning right at the light (Pleasant Valley and Lee HWY) while traveling towards Centreville on Lee HWY.
To keep traffic patterns flowing smoothly when driving into the school for Kiss & Ride, cars should stay in the right lane as the left lane is reserved for buses entering Bull Run ES.
This will ensure our families are entering and exiting Bull Run safely.
*remember that we encourage all Bull Run students to use FCPS transportation (our beautiful yellow Energy Buses)
#FirstDayFairfax #1BRESbulls
Buses and Delays
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Please be aware that all of us are getting used to new routines at the start of the school year. Thank you for your patience as those routines are established. If a student’s bus is delayed, parents may access the Bus Delay Notification System or use the Here Comes the Bus mobile app (information below) to receive the delayed bus report. E-Notify (School Messenger) email messages will also be sent to announce significant bus delays. Contact the Transportation Office at 703-249-7000. For any concerns after hours (after 5:30 p.m.), contact Safety and Security at 571-423-2000. |
Watch a Warm Welcome From Stella Pekarsky, Our School Board Representative
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Throughout the school year we will be exploring, identifying and implementing Portrait of a Graduate (POG) skills: Communicator, Collaborator, Ethical and Global Citizen, Critical and Creative Thinker, Goal-Directed and Resilient Individual.
POG prioritizes the development of skills that will empower students to be productive citizens of a global community and successful in the workforce of the future.
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Update Emergency Care Contacts in SIS ParentVUE
Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to ensuring that the climate in all FCPS facilities is safe and secure. In support of this goal, FCPS provides weCare@school (weCare), an emergency care information system, available to FCPS parents and guardians who have registered for their own Parent account.
weCare helps manage emergency medical information by enabling parents to go online to enter and update their children’s medical data at their convenience. Contact information provided automatically enrolls parents to receive eNotify communications from the district and their child’s school. eNotify is the communications tool for FCPS emergency, transportation, attendance, weather closings and delays, and essential outreach messages. Messages are sent via email and text messages. Occasional phone messages are sent as well.
Click here for more information!
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COVID Updates
Last week, FCPS sent an update on COVID-19 layered prevention strategies that will continue to be in place this school year. While we had hoped that the pandemic would be behind us, it seems that COVID will be something we must manage as a community for the foreseeable future. FCPS will continue to follow the guidance of national, state, and local health experts when determining the layered prevention strategies that are needed to keep our schools safe and open for learning. It is important that we all work together towards this goal.
Highlights from that guidance include:
- FCPS continues to require families to review the Daily Health Screening before sending students to school.
- The 5 Day Isolation Period will continue for COVID positive students and staff.
- The CDC recommends the COVID vaccine as a safe and effective way of significantly lowering your risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death if you get infected. Vaccines are now available for our youngest students. However, COVID vaccines are not part of the required immunizations for school entry.
- At this time, masks are not required. The current CDC COVID-19 Community Level for Fairfax County is low. However, should the community level rise to “high,” FCPS would then require all students, staff, and visitors to wear a face covering when indoors on school property (to include the buildings, school buses and other school provided vehicles; except while actively eating/drinking). The Code of Virginia allows parents/legal guardians to elect for their child not to wear a face covering while on school property.
- Diagnostic testing will be available beginning Tuesday, August 16, for FCPS students and staff who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Information on diagnostic testing will continue to be updated on our website.
- FCPS will no longer send a daily or weekly COVID case update. Parents/Guardians will only receive an email from their child’s school when several cases of COVID-19 occur in a single classroom, sports team, or extracurricular activity within a 14-day period. Individual case reports will be available on the FCPS COVID-19 Dashboard on our website.
To stay up to date, please continue to review our Health and Safety Guidance on our website.
 Parental Consent Form for Digital Resources
Some of the digital resources used at BRES require parental consent. Please visit our digital resources page to view information on how to provide your consent for students to use some of the available resources. Not all resources will be used by every student.
Action: Please visit this webpage, and click on the link to provide consent. Thank you for reviewing this information!
FCPS CARES Program
Recognizing BRES employees who go above and beyond
Do you want to celebrate a BRES employee for being amazing! We invite you to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the outstanding work of Bull Run Elementary staff members.
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News from our PTA
Join PTA **Joining the PTA does not commit you to volunteering, it helps support our school.
Don't Miss Another Bull Run PTA Event! Download our calendar!
To access the BRES Events calendar on Android devices:
- First, use a laptop computer and click here
- You will be prompted to Add the BRES Events calendar. Select Add.
- You should now be able to see the calendar in your Android device.
To access the BRES Events calendar on iPhone:
- Using your iPhone click here.
- You will be prompted to subscribe to the BRES Events calendar.
- You should now be able to see the calendar on your iPhone
Families Can Receive Text Messages from FCPS for Emergencies and Essential Information
Make sure your cell phone numbers are listed in the parent/guardian contact information section on the emergency care information form for each of your children. Parents and guardians can view and update emergency contact information online using weCare@school.
Text messages will be sent in the event of emergencies, delays or school closings, if buses are running more than 30 minutes late, if your student missed the morning attendance deadline, and for other important reminders.
Standard message and data charges may apply for text messages depending on your cell phone service plan. More about text messages is available online.
 You may have heard that the Fairfax County School Board approved a Trust Policy that solidifies our commitment to foster a caring culture and strives to provide a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for all students and families.
This policy aligns with Fairfax County’s Public Trust and Confidentiality Policy to ensure that FCPS students and families can access FCPS benefits and services without fear that information will be disclosed, directly or indirectly, to federal immigration officials.
The school division is already performing much of the work referenced in the Trust Policy. The policy, along with the upcoming regulation, will serve to solidify our efforts, so all FCPS staff, students, and families have a common understanding of the policy.
Every FCPS employee plays an important role in carrying out the Trust Policy and will demonstrate cultural responsiveness in supporting families, students, and other staff by protecting the privacy of personally identifiable information (PII) of students and families. Employees will follow a clear, standardized process for requesting, accessing, or disclosing prohibited personal information as outlined in FCPS Regulations 2202 and 4220.
Additional information is available in multiple languages on FCPS’ Trust Policy webpage. Please email FCPS’ Office of Professional Learning and Equity, OPLFE@fcps.edu, with questions about the policy.
SOL Test Results
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) has announced 2021-22 Standards of Learning (SOL) data for school divisions that shows Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has made steady progress towards a return to pre-pandemic levels.
FCPS annual pass rates for 2022 indicate that, while the road to recovery continues, FCPS students made promising gains in reading, mathematics, and science over the course of the 2022 school year. Read more about our plans for continued improvement of the SOL pass rates.
Welcome to Here Comes the Bus! app
Know when your bus is approaching your stop. Here Comes the Bus® app is a school bus tracking app that can simplify morning and afternoon routines for parents and students by giving them real-time bus location and text or email notification alerts, helping them get to the bus stop on time. Here Comes the Bus® utilizes our GPS data and an easy-to-use customizable map that works on one or multiple devices, such as a tablet or smartphone.
How to Get Started
Using the app is EASY! You will need the FCPS school district code 28982 and a Student Information System (SIS) Parent Account. Contact Bull Run Elementary if you do not have an SIS Parent Account. Please be sure to follow the detailed instructions below.
From a smartphone or tablet, download (for free) the Here Comes the Bus® app from the App Store or Google Play.
- Open the app. Enter your email address associated with your SIS Parent Account. Do Not Use the Student Login or Sign Up links.
- Enter FCPS school district code 28982.
- Enter your password associated with your SIS Parent Account.
- Click 'Login', just below the password field.
- Next, you will be prompted to validate your account. Please click the Validation Button (the app will close). Next, log on to your email account associated with your SIS Parent Account.
- Please open the validation email from Synovia and click the validate account link. (If you do not receive an email, check the junk/spam folder) A browser window will open. Please close the browser window and return to the Here Comes the Bus® app.
- Repeat the previous login steps (Steps 1-4).
- Enter the name of your device.
- Close and log back onto the Here Comes the Bus® app.
- Under 'Students', you should see a list of your student(s) names.
- Confirm the information and you are ready to begin using Here Comes the Bus®.
Once signed in, you can customize or edit features, including how the app will communicate with you, and the size and location of the notification radius around your child's bus stop.
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My School Bucks for Lunch Money
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Sign up for a MySchoolBucks account to add money to your student's account to pay for school meals, pay for field trips and to pay for yearbooks.
Go to www.myschoolbucks.com to sign up and add funds to your student's account today.
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Free and Reduced-Price Meal (FRM) Applications
Apply now!
Please note that breakfast will not be free for all students this year, and to receive free or reduced price meals, you must complete the application.
- Online applications are available and can be translated to a variety of languages.
- We will have computers available, along with support from our family liaisons, at Open House/Back-to-School Night on August 18th.
- Approved FRM eligibility letters may also be used to provide additional benefits for you and your family.
- Please know that we will not share your data or personal information with anyone else. See FCPS’ Trust Policy.
Watch your email and our website for more information. Learn more about the Free and Reduced-Price Meal program online.
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Important Updates to the Student Rights and Responsibilities
At the start of each school year, you are asked to sign to acknowledge your review of the Student Rights & Responsibilities (SR&R) document.
The SR&R explains expectations for student behavior and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable, and supportive school environment. Read the Letter from the Superintendent on the 2022-23 Student Rights and Responsibilities: A Guide for Families. Key changes to the document for the 2022-23 school year include:
- Adding rights to protect citizenship and immigration status from unauthorized sharing.
- Changes to FCPS’s Acceptable Use Policy Regulation for Technology.
- A new section on cell phones.
The new section on cell phones prohibits cell phone use in classrooms. We recognize that this new policy will be a shift for many students and families this year, but research shows that managing phone use during class time will support students’ attention and ability to fully engage in their learning. Schools are partnering with parents to have students understand the importance of putting their phones away to minimize distractions during class.
Students in elementary and middle schools must keep phones silenced and in backpacks for the duration of the school day unless there is a medical need or emergency, or teachers have allowed the usage of cell phones for instructional activities. Cell phones may only be used on campus before and after school.
If a parent or guardian believes their child requires access to a personally owned device(s) as an accommodation, they should contact child’s school to schedule a meeting to have their request considered.
Parents should talk to their child(ren) before the start of the school year about these expectations for this upcoming school year. Families may also review the parental controls available for all iPhone and Android users. More information about the SR&R is available online.
Annual Notice of Survey, Records, Curriculum, Privacy, and Related Rights
Fairfax County Public Schools wants all parents to understand its policies regarding surveys, records, curriculum, privacy, and related rights.
Please look for an email that you should have received August 18 in which FCPS shared the Annual Notice of Survey, Records, Curriculum, Privacy, and Related Rights and Opt-Out Forms (Annual Notice), FCPS provides explanations of the rights listed above as well as forms that may be used to exercise opt-out choices. Two versions of the Annual Notice are available—a grades K-8 version and a grades 9-12 version. If you have children at different grade levels, please read each applicable version of the Annual Notice because the notices and opt-out rights vary depending on the student’s grade level.
Get more information and view the 2022-23 Opt-Out Booklets.
Lightspeed Parent Report on Child’s Device Activity
FCPS has tools to help parents and guardians know more about their child’s activity on any FCPS device. These tools are provided by Lightspeed, our internet content filtering service, at no cost to families. You may sign up for a weekly Parent Report, which will provide a list of the top sites your child visited. If you want more detailed information, sign up for the Internet Use Parent portal and log-in anytime to see more detail about your child’s browsing and “pause” access to the internet during non-school hours. Find out more and sign up for these services on our website.
FCPS in the News
DedicatED: For Parents and Teachers
Parent Resource Center
Do you know about FCPS's Parent Resource Center (PRC)? The PRC offers a welcoming and engaging environment for families, educators, and community members. It provides access to information and resources to support the success of all students, including those with learning challenges, special needs, and disabilities.
- Free Consultations/Resources
- Free Webinars
- Free Lending Library
- FCPS Tutor List
Want more information on all that the PRC offers? Click below to be connected!
Flyer: English, Spanish, Korean, Arabic, Farsi, Urdu
BRES Bulls' Mission
Bull Run Elementary School inspires and empowers every student to meet high academic standards, lead healthy, ethical lives, and be responsible and innovative global citizens.
BRES Bulls' Vision
Being the Ultimate Learner for Life is EPIC! (Explore, Problem Solve, Inquire, Create)
 #1BRESbulls
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