Thoreau Matters
September 23, 2022
Dear Thoreau Families,
We have updated some of our office policies regarding early dismissal, as well as forgotten items. During the worst of the pandemic, we asked families to stay in their car for maximum social distancing when they came to Thoreau to pick up their child for an appointment. Please note that we are back to normal office operations, which includes the FCPS requirement that parents must show their identification in order for us to release their child. We have three visitor parking spaces to the right side of our main entrance for your parking convenience. You will need to ring the doorbell at Door 1, tell the office the reason for your visit and then enter the main office to show your ID before we can dismiss your child. This is a measure that FCPS has in place for the safety of your child. Also remember the importance of sending a signed note to school with your child to present to the main office prior to the start of the school day if you are requesting an early release. If your child leaves an item at home such as their lunchbox, PE uniform or musical instrument, we will email them using their FCPS Google email to alert them that you have dropped off the item. This will be their notification to come to the office and retrieve their belongings.
If you have not done so already, please take a few moments to complete this brief survey about New Parent Orientation, Open House and Back to School Night. Your feedback is very important to me.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember that Monday, September 26, is a student holiday.
Sincerely,
Teresa Khuluki
Principal
Important Dates
9/26: Student Holiday/Teacher Work Day: Religious Observance - Rosh Hashanah
9/28: Reading 7 & 8 Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA) standardized tests
THOREAU AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAM
After-School activities and clubs are finally starting this Monday September 19th! Students & staff are coming up with some really creative clubs so far this year. After-School clubs & late buses occur on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays between the hours of 2:25pm - 4:45pm.
NO After-School Activities or Late Bus Transportation on the dates below:
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26TH: TEACHER WORK DAY, STUDENTS OFF
NEW CLUB ALERT! Art Club hosted by Ms. Rumberger on Mondays 2nd session in room A001
Students now have an icon for After-School Club Sign-In(Attendance) on their FCPS laptop desktops.
How can students participate in After-School Activities?
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Registration: All students wanting to participate in any after-school program, must complete the After-School Registration Form to participate in any activity, club, or stay for academic help with a teacher during After-School hours. This is a general acknowledgement and parent permission form - it is not a club or specific activity registration.
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After-School Schoology Folder: Students should check this folder weekly as this is where the weekly After-School clubs schedule will be posted as well as important announcements:
Schoology > Courses > All School Courses > After-School Program Folder
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Clubs & Activities Sign-In: Most activities are drop in (no-commitment) and your child’s participation may vary, depending upon activity capacities and sponsorship (teachers willing to supervise a club). Students should plan ahead each day there is After-School and check the weekly club schedule on Schoology to coordinate what clubs they plan on attending. If a club is highlighted in blue and has as strike through it, that means that the club will not be meeting on that day. Once students are in the room where the club is taking place during the After-School hours, they must sign-in for attendance purposes using the After-School Club Sign-In form mentioned above. This is not optional and helps us respond to parent inquiries and locate students quickly and accurately. The sign-in form is only accessible when already logged into a student FCPS Google account.
THOREAU WEEKLY AFTER-SCHOOL CLUBS SCHEDULE:
Week of September 26th – 30th
 How can students get home from After-School?
Late Bus Transportation is provided on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays following After-School dismissal at 4:30pm. Students can find out what late bus they ride by going to the Late Bus Routes document within the After-School folder on Schoology or asking the front office. Students may be picked up by caregivers/designees any time before 4:30pm and will be picked-up at the Kiss N Ride area by door 12. All students are expected to be picked-up on time (no later than 5pm) or access transportation provided. Students are not permitted to leave school grounds and return for or during After-School hours. Students are allowed to use their cellphones during After-School. Staff will continue to monitor appropriate usage of cellphones and if students do not comply, they will be asked to put their phone away. If students do not have a cellphone and need to communicate to a parent/guardian, there are phones in the Main Office students may use.
How can students start a new club if there is not one currently being offered that they wish to join?
Thoreau’s After-School Program is student-centered & student club creativity is encouraged! We need your voice and participation! We are open to club suggestions and feedback. If a student wishes to create a club and it is permissible, there is multiple student interest (minimum of 10 students interested) and there is a sponsor is available, students should fill out the After-School New Club Proposal Form. Ms. Taylor will check the submissions weekly and coordinate with the student on approving the new club.
QUESTIONS/CONCERNS?
Email Ms. Colleen Taylor at cmtaylor1@fcps.edu or call 703.846.8089.
Kindness Rocks
  Mrs. Wharton’s English 8 students created Kindness Rocks to promote kindness and positivity throughout their communities. Students were tasked with finding or creating a positivity precept to paint on their rocks. The rocks were tagged with Mrs. Wharton’s email and #ONEkindactVienna so that the stories of how members of our communities found the rocks might circle back to our students. As one student wrote, “Kindness is a verb!” Go act on it!
Family Life Education Parent Preview Session
There will be a Family Life Education (FLE) parent session on Tuesday, October 4th beginning at 3:00 PM in the Thoreau Library. For your convenience, we will also have a live Zoom feed going for those who prefer a virtual setting. If you wish to attend virtually, please register using the link below and an email with the Zoom link to the session will be forwarded to you.
FLE Parent Preview: Zoom Link Request
Human Growth and Development (HGD) and Emotional and Social Health (ESH) lessons will be presented beginning in December through Health & Physical Education (HPE) classes. Parents may review the materials through our Schoology All Parents Course and detailed grade-level program descriptions are available online here.
FCPS provides a comprehensive, sequential FLE program for students in grades K-12. Instruction is seen as a partnership among parents and guardians, the school, and the community in supporting the learning essential to the development of strong families, positive relationships, and a healthy community.
Parents/guardians may choose to opt their child out of all or part of the FLE program. Students who are opted out are provided with age-appropriate alternative health instruction, and every effort is made to foster respect for family choices. If you wish to opt your child out of all or part of FLE for this school year, please complete the opt-out form found here and return it to your child’s HPE teacher as soon as possible.
For Questions, Please Contact:
- Thoreau MS Health and Physical Education Teachers
- Central Office staff
- Sean Mignano, HPE/FLE Middle School Resource Teacher-
- Carrie Reynolds, K-12 Coordinator for FLE/HPE-
Student Behavior/Interactions in the Community
We are speaking to our students here at school about appropriate behavior while in transit home from school and are hoping families can continue these conversations at home with their children. We are striving to maintain a positive school community inside as well as outside the building and your help and support with this is appreciated. Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve had several Vienna businesses as well as community members reach out about student behavior and interactions when students are being dismissed from Thoreau. We’ve had reports of students creating major disruptions in stores. We’ve had parents of elementary school students report students yelling at them, using inappropriate language towards them and the elementary students, and creating a generally negative atmosphere outside of the school. In support of our #ONEkindactVienna campaign, we will continue to address appropriate behaviors inside school as well as in the greater community. Thank you for your support with this.
Sign and Return the Student Rights & Responsibilities Booklet
 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.
Your name in the digital signature box must match the parent/caregiver’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.
Contact your school’s front office if you are having difficulty accessing the booklet. Visit the SIS Parentvue Account Overview page for help logging in to your account.
Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) Fall Screening
For students NEW to FCPS since January 2022
Parents or guardians of seventh grade students may initiate the full-time AAP Level IV screening process by completing and submitting an Advanced Academic Programs Level IV Referral Form and any optional screening materials to their child’s school counselor no later than Friday, October 14, 2022.
AAP Level IV services are available to students in grades 3-8. Students may be found eligible for full-time placement in AAP Level IV Center classes through a central selection process where multiple criteria are reviewed by a central selection committee to determine eligibility for all FCPS advanced academic services. More information about the screening process as well as an overview of AAP services available at the middle school level may be found here.
If you have any questions about this process please reach out to your child’s counselor or Thoreau’s Advanced Academics Resource Teacher, Hannah Converse, at hpconverse@fcps.edu.
The Credit Exam for World Language
Are you fluent in a language other than English?
If you are, you may be able to earn up to three high school credits by taking the World Language Credit Exam.
- November 3rd, 2022 - Centreville High School Cafeteria - 4:00 - 7:45 p.m.
- November 9th, 2022 - West Springfield High School Cafeteria - 4:00 - 7:45 p.m.
- See your counselor to register for this exam
- Assess students’ native language proficiency
- Enable students to earn up to 3 credits toward fulfilling the world languages requirement for the Advanced Studies Diploma
- This exam is offered in 30 different languages
- Registration opens on Tuesday, 9/6 and closes on Thursday, 10/6
Science 7 MWEE Field Trip – Burke Lake
The Science Department will be taking all 7th grade students on a field trip to Burke Lake. Our field trip will provide students a real-world, hands-on opportunity to investigate the Chesapeake Bay Watershed ecology and the impact humans have on ecosystems. All students brought home a field trip description which also had a parent signature form on the back to be returned. We are looking for more chaperones to walk with a group of 10-12 students, making sure they go to the correct station, stay together and participate in the labs. If you are interested in being a chaperone, please email your child’s Science 7 teacher.
Monday, October 3rd – Wolfpack Team – Galus/Krotman/Fenstermaker/Counts (mmgalus@fcps.edu)
Tuesday, October 4th – Penguin Team – Oehm/Chaffee (aroehm@fcps.edu)
Thursday, October 6th – Goat Team – Loehle/Paz (faloehle@fcps.edu)
Friday, October 7th – Raven Team – Everett/Lyons (mseverett@fcps.edu)
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Upcoming Service Project Opportunity
The Thoreau Students will have any opportunity to participate in a upcoming service project. During the first week of October, students will be helping to create Halloween Mummy Candles. The mummies are part of the “Mummies for Mouths” Service Project created by former Thoreau Student, Jude Adler. We are in need of the following supplies.
- Masking Tape
- Googly Eyes- medium to large sizes
- Brown Shoe Polish
- Old Socks (will get ruined)
- Non latex rubber gloves
- Battery Operated Votive Candles
These supplies can be dropped off in Student Services or in the main office.
Thank you!
The TMS “Mummies for Mouths” Committee (Missy Galus, Jill Gallagher, and Kerrie Turner)
PTA News
Join the Thoreau PTA and support Thoreau and your student! Please consider making an additional donation to help fund PTA sponsored activities.
Mark your calendar for our Dining for Dollars event on September 28th from 4-8pm at Noodles and Co. Food, friends, and fundraising!
We love our volunteers! If you are part of the Oakton HS or Marshall HS pyramids, and would like to volunteer as a liaison to help ensure our PTA gets information from these High Schools, please email Melanie Nunez at president@thoreaupta.org.
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