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Good Evening Mantua Families,
Our school year has begun in earnest, and we love seeing the smiling faces of our Mantua students in the hallways and on the playground! We are thankful for a smooth transition to the 2022-2023 school year. This sentiment can be seen in our student self-portrait exhibit in the hallway outside of the library, pictured below.
This week we announce that our Mantua family will be losing one of our own: Amrita Love, who has served Mantua faithfully in the role of Front Office Assistant (and we would also include helper, cheerleader, and friend), will be leaving us at the end of September. We are excited for her new job as a design patent examiner and of all the great opportunities it will certainly bring her. We deeply value Amrita’s work at Mantua, and her welcoming presence will be sorely missed! I will be looking to fill this position, you can find a link to the job description below. A huge Thank You to Amrita for 7 years of dedication to Mantua!
Lastly, it was a sobering weekend as we remember the sacrifice given by those whose lives were lost 21 years ago, on that fateful day now known simply as “9/11”. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of these brave men and women who sacrificed so much. They do not forget, and we do not forget.
We wish everyone a wonderful rest of the week.
Take good care,
Linda Shannon, Principal
Amy Alley, Assistant Principal
Rich Deixler, Assistant Principal
September 22: AAP Parent Information Meeting Virtual (Spanish Language Facilitation) 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
September 23: Woodson Feeder Night, 6:30 PM
September 29: AAP Parent Information Meeting In-person (Spanish Language Facilitation) 6:00 PM -8:00PM
October 5: No School - Yom Kippur
October 10: Student Holiday in observance of Indigenous People’s Day (Staff Professional Workday)
October 24: No School-Diwali
October 31: No School (Staff Professional Workday)
See the complete 2022-23 school year calendar
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FCPS’ updated Student Rights & Responsibility booklet is available online and in the ParentVue section of the Student Information System (SIS). The SR&R booklet explains expectations for student behavior, and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable, and supportive school environment.
Each year, we ask parents to review, sign, and return the SR&R to their child’s school. In ParentVue, you may now download and digitally sign the SR&R. Every parent/caregiver with a ParentVUE account will see the SR&R upon login to ParentVUE until the SR&R acknowledgement has been completed. Once you log on, you will see a message similar to the one pictured to the right.
Your name in the digital signature box must match the parent/guardian’s first and last name in SIS exactly before the signature will be accepted.
Please take a moment to log into ParentVue in your child’s SIS account to access the SR&R. Signatures are due by September 30, 2022.
Visit the SIS Parentvue Account Overview page for help logging in to your account.
There are also links from the Mantua homepage, found here.
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Back to School Night
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hank you again for joining us for our Back To School Night last week. Please take a moment to provide your preference in terms of format so that we can be sure that our plans next year reflect family input using this form or by using the QR code. Please be sure meet the School Board members and listen to their back to school messages here. |
Advanced Academic Program (AAP)
Interested in the opportunities the Advanced Academic Program has to offer? The Advanced Academic Program (AAP) Fall newsletter is now available for viewing on the Mantua Elementary School website found here. English, Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese versions are available.
In this communication from the AAP Office, you will find information about –
- The continuum of services available to students in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS)
- The referral and screening process for AAP services
- Ability testing (CogAt and NNAT)
Mantua will offer two AAP information sessions in which these topics will be discussed in greater detail. Any requests for CogAT retakes (as outlined in the AAP newsletter) should be sent to Kathy Van Dyke at kkvandyke@fcps.edu between September 15 and September 30.
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Thursday, September 22 from 6:00 PM -8:00 PM: Virtual (Zoom) information session using Spanish language slides with Spanish language facilitation
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Thursday, September 29 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM: In-person meeting in the Mantua cafeteria using English language materials
For more information, please contact the Mantua Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART) at kkvandyke@fcps.edu.
Interested in Joining the Mantua Family? We’re Hiring!
Office Assistant: We are seeking a capable and friendly person to join our team. Our Office Assistants greet students, families, and staff. They maintain records and perform a variety of general office duties required to support the activities of a school, calendar, building needs, and student and staff needs. See the Job Description here.
Dining Room Assistant:
Hourly, $12.03 per Hour
Description: Assists students during lunch time. Supervises student clean-up, keeps order, and dismisses students to their teachers.
Qualifications: Friendly, energetic, and assertive in maintaining expectations of cafeteria behavior, and loves working with children.
Woodson Football Feeder Night - September 23
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All of our Mantua students are invited to wear their Mantua gear and meet us in the end zone no later than 6:30PM. This is a fun family event! Members of our school chorus will be performing the National Anthem at 6:55PM.
All students from the Woodson pyramid are admitted into the game with the presentation of the flyer (which will go home in Tuesday folders on September 20) and when accompanied by a paying adult.
All feeder school students will be recognized before the game at 6:40PM. Please meet at the scoreboard @ 6:30PM.
Call the Activities Hotline for updates (703) 503-4683.
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PickUp Patrol (PUP)
As mentioned in previous correspondence, Mantua has transitioned to a virtual platform for dismissal. The primary reason for the shift is to increase all parties' accuracy and efficiency in communicating student arrival and dismissal plans.
How it Works
You received a registration email inviting you to create a default dismissal plan. Student plans will become visible to the main office and to the individual teacher. If a student needs to leave school during the day for a doctor's appointment, families will update their child's dismissal plan using the app. This information will be communicated to the teacher and main office staff. At the time of pick-up, the parent/guardian will come to the office to pick up the child.
Key Points to Remember
- All children must be signed out in the office (late arrivals, early dismissal, re-entry).
- A student CAN NOT be released to anyone except the parent/guardian or the emergency contact indicated on the emergency care card. Parents/Guardians can give consent to release their child to a different adult by making a change to their child's dismissal plan using the PUP app. Please know that if the person picking up a child is unknown to the staff, identification will be required.
- Changes to the default plan need to happen prior to 3 PM daily.
- Changes can be made in advance for planned changes to the student’s schedule.
- No dismissals can occur within 20 minutes of the end of the school day.
- As you use the application, If you have any questions, please check the PUP FAQ page. If you still need help, please reach out to Ms. Fadwa Finaish at ffinaish@fcps.edu or PickUp Patrol at support@pickuppatrol.net.
Attendance
We are also using PUP for absence reporting. In the event of an absence or tardy please login to PickUp Patrol or call 703-645-6363. Please be specific as to a physician’s diagnosis such as strep throat or pinkeye. If your child has not seen a physician, please be specific about the symptoms your child is having such as fever, cough sore, throat headache, diarrhea, and/or vomiting. This information is tracked by our Public Health Nurse.
Acceptable Excused Absences – Illness, Doctor/Dentist Appointment, Religious Holiday, Pre-Arranged Absence, Death in the Family.
Staying Connected!
In the upcoming weeks, we will increase the use of our social media platforms. Be sure to follow us on Twitter: @MantuaES, @MantuaPrincipal, and @MantuaLibrary for updates and good news throughout the school year. We will be launching an Instagram site soon!
Linda Shannon, lcshannon@fcps.edu
Amy Alley, Assistant Principal, avalley@fcps.edu
Rich Deixler, Assistant Principal, radeixler@fcps.edu
AnnMarie Delvalle, Administrative Assistant, adelvalle@fcps.edu
Mergie Kakouris, Student Information Assistant, mbkakouris@fcps.edu
Amrita Love, Office Assistant, aglove@fcps.edu
Fadwa Finaish, Office Assistant, ffinaish@fcps.edu
Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portal
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