From the Administration
Dear Belvedere Family:
We have had a wonderful first week of school! Everyone, students and staff, appreciates learning and playing together, making the school day special. Thank you for your support and patience as the year gets going.
As we have communicated, this school year free breakfast and lunch are no longer available to all students. If you believe your child may qualify for free and reduced priced meals, please complete the application. In addition to qualifying for free or reduced-price school meals, approved students may qualify for benefits such as waived or reduced fees for instruments, uniforms, field trips, FCPS class fees, and Parktakes classes. The school’s Title I status is dependent on at least 55% of students qualifying for free and reduced priced meals. The Title I funds the school receives allow us to have additional staff, teacher planning time, literacy and math resources, author visits, after school intervention, and buses for the outdoor club.
When students go through the cafeteria line to get food, they must enter their pin number, a unique number assigned to each child. It is essential that students memorize this number, helping them get their food with ease and the line move smoothly. All parents should have received an email with this number prior to the school year beginning. Please help your child memorize the number. If you don’t have the number, please message or email the classroom teacher to get the number.
Thank you to all the parents who use Kiss and Ride for your patience as we streamline the arrival and pickup process. One suggestion shared with us that may help while you wait in the Kiss and Ride line is for all cars to turn on their hazard lights. This would allow others to know what cars are parked, who is last in the line (to avoid cuts) and for outgoing traffic to know, it’s not a line for turning vehicles on to Columbia Pike. Thank you for partnering with us and making this a smooth process!
We hope you have terrific weekend and look forward to seeing everyone next week.
Cecilia Vanderhye, Principal and Kelly Cabezas, Assistant Principal
Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications
The extension of the no-cost meals benefit to all students expired at the end of the 2021-22 school year, meaning families must submit an application and be approved to be eligible for free and reduced-price meals for the 2022-23 school year. The application for the Free and Reduced-Price Meal program is now available online.
Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R)
The Student Rights and Responsibilities document (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.
Please review the SR&R for school year 22-23 and submit your e-signature through ParentVue.
FLE Parent Preview
All parents and guardians now have access to all Family Life Education lessons and resources. You can preview the lessons and resources in our Belvedere All Parents/Guardians course in Schoology.
Parental Permission to Use Digital Resources
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Some of the digital resources your child may use this year require parental consent for student use. Parents must visit the Digital Resources at Belvedere site for information and to provide consent for use. Your child will not have access to certain resources and tools until your consent is provided.
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School Opening Parent Checklist
We have created a checklist for parents and guardians to keep track of important action items to complete at the beginning of the school year. Please reach out to our main office if you need any help accessing or filling out the forms.
Buses and Delays
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 to receive the delayed bus report. Use code 28982 when registering for Here Comes the Bus.
Text Messages for Parents
Parents 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.
COVID Updates
Earlier this 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.
PTA News
Support the Belvedere PTA
Our PTA supports Belvedere in myriad ways: organizing school events, enrichment and outreach activities; providing funding for field trips, library books, and technology in the classroom; and building a school community outside the classroom.
There are several ways to support the PTA:
Upcoming Dates
- Friday, September 2 - Monday, September 5: No School (Labor Day)
- Thursday, September 22: Back to School Night (Virtual)
- Monday, September 26: No School (Teacher Work Day)
- Wednesday, October 5: No School (Yom Kippur)
- Monday, October 10: No School (Staff Dev.)
- Monday, October 24: No School (Diwali)
- Monday, October 31: No School (Teacher Workday)
Keep in Touch
Daily Health Screening Questionnaire
Health and Safety Guidance Webpage
Visit the Belvedere website
Report student absences
Bus Delay Website
Follow Belvedere on Twitter
Follow our PTA on Facebook
Change your email preferences
FCPS Calendar: 2022-2023
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