Monday, January 30, 2023
Dear Lancers,
Today was the first day of the second semester! Many of our students have new schedules, as they start 2nd semester electives. There were a few students that needed help finding their classes, but overall our transitions were much smoother today than the first day of school!
As is typical for the midpoint of the school year, the school administration will be working through our Lancer Time lessons to remind students of our expectations. Our expectations are best encapsulated by our Lancer Code: “Lancers are respectful, responsible, and safe”.
Let’s have a great week together! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Jim
CALENDAR EVENTS
Longfellow Science Olympiad Success!
The Longfellow Science Olympiad team has had an amazing start this year! The team has earned trophies at each of the five invitationals it has participated in so far, including 1st place trophies at both the Lake Braddock Invitational in December and the Virginia Tech Invitational in January! The team is looking forward to participating in several more invitationals before the Virginia regional tournament in February.
Please congratulate the following Science Olympiad team members: Abhi, Alice, Allegra, Andy, Anne, Benjamin, Brandon, Charlie, Emma, Ethan, Helen, Jaivi, Jason, Jimmy, Juliet, Kalan, Karrie, Knox, Kyle, Lauren, Mihika, Mohan, Nikitha, Noah, Rudy, Saanvi, Sarah, Yanling, Zeeshan and Zoya.
Keep up the fantastic work - we're proud of you!
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Student Spotlight: Jordan Konditi:
Jordan Konditi, a current 7th grader at Longfellow, has had a highly successful year both in her studies and athletic pursuits! In the 12U age group, she is ranked as the #3 tennis player in Virginia, #6 in the Mid-Atlantic, and #230 in the United States! Jordan is truly a dedicated individual. Her day starts at 6:00am as she prepares for school. From school she heads to Maryland to train for tennis until 7:00pm. In between sessions she works on her studies; Jordan finished the 1st semester this year with Straight A’s! Congratulations Jordan on your success in the classroom and on the court this year!
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Thank you!
Dear Longfellow families,
It is with deep gratitude that I am writing to thank all of you that participated in the Longfellow Love holiday gift drive. Thanks to your generosity, it was a huge success, and we were able to help supplement Thanksgiving and winter holidays for all families that expressed a need. It was an amazing feeling! Thank you deeply for sending in those gift cards; every single one of them was put to good use! If you have any inquiries or would like to support this program in other ways, please feel free to reach out to Michele Core at michelecore@yahoo.com.
Thank you!
Longfellow Love
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Student Intention Forms
Moving this summer? If your family plans include relocation, please notify us by completing the Intention Form and send it to Ms. Jordan Reina - jareina@fcps.edu at your earliest convenience.
Absent from School
We do want to remind all of our lancers to please stay home when you are not feeling well. It is also a good reminder for students to check schoology and reach out to their teachers when they are feeling well in order to see what work was missed while they were out.
Parents, please remember to call (703-533-2626) to report your absent student. More information here regarding attendance procedures.
Morning Kiss & Ride
Each day we have over 400 cars who pass through our Kiss & Ride lines. On days with bad weather, we have sometimes exceeded 600 cars in the morning. Simply put, this is a large number of vehicles to move safely though our property. Please remember to be patient with everyone; our staff and our families are all doing the best they can.
Safety is a top priority during arrival and dismissal, this is a reminder to families to please be mindful during our arrival and dismissal. If you choose to drop-off your child in the morning, drop-off is available as early as 6:55am. Please remember to be patient and only drop your child off in the designated zone near door #4. We have staff designated there to assist you and to help your child safely exit the car. Thank you for all of your help with this procedure!
PARENT INFORMATION
Survey
Our school, in cooperation with the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services and the Virginia Department of Education, is conducting the Virginia School Survey of Climate and Working Conditions. We will survey students in grades 7, and 8, classroom instructors and staff, beginning February 3, 2023. The purpose of this survey is to measure student support, student engagement, school discipline, and safety conditions in each school. This information will be used to guide educational practices that produce a safe and supportive school environment.
The survey does not ask for your child’s name and all answers are anonymous. No one, including teachers or administrators, will know how your child answered the survey. You will not have access to your child’s survey answers even as their parent or guardian. You may review the questions asked in the student survey at this website: https://tinyurl.com/VaSchoolSurvey.
The survey will ask questions such as how students feel about their school, how students get along with one another and their teachers, how students feel about school rules, and their perceptions of their teachers’ willingness to help them. Students will also be asked what kinds of bullying they may have observed during school and whether they have been bullied themselves.
All students in your child’s grade level are eligible to participate in the survey. The survey is voluntary and your child can decide not to participate. No action will be taken against you, your child, or the school if your child does not participate. If you do not wish for your child to participate, please notify the school office by telephone or letter ASAP. You may also email your student’s school counselor and copy Aidan Vigil aavigil@fcps.edu.
Your child will not receive any immediate benefit from participating in the survey, but the survey will help us to maintain a safe, inviting, and supportive learning environment for your child.
Parent Academy
New year, new opportunities to gather with other parents & caregivers to explore ways to support your student during middle school. Please join assistant principal, Amy Smith, and other members of the school staff for our first Lancer Parent Academy of 2023. Please sign up in advance using this Sign Up Genius link so we can be sure to have enough materials on hand for all attendees.
Dranesville Strategic Planning Community Forum- February 4
*Adults only-childcare provided with registration
Please join Elaine Tholen for the Dranesville District in-person Strategic Planning Community Forum. Help shape the division’s future for the next few years!
WHEN: Saturday, February 4, 2023 from 9-10:30a.m.
WHERE: Spring Hill Elementary School Cafeteria-
Please register here.
Childcare and language interpretation will be provided at this event and sign up is through the registration link above.
These Community Forums provide families, students, staff, and community members with an opportunity to participate in and influence the direction of FCPS’ new Strategic Plan. The goal is to have the final strategic plan by June 2023. Learn more about our strategic planning process here. If you can’t join the Dranesville Forum, please check out the schedule of Community Forums, including several virtual options, and register for one that is most convenient for you.
What Happens at a Strategic Planning Community Forum?
• Community Forums will provide families, students, staff, and community members with an opportunity to review student achievement, access, and perception data and identify both strengths and challenges within the data.
• Working in small groups, participants will use research-based goals as a framework to transition their observations into recommended goals for the strategic plan that are focused on our desired future state for students.
• As a culminating activity, participants will identify the one guarantee they would like FCPS to make regarding our students’ education.
• The data from the Community Forums will be synthesized and that information will be shared with the Core Planning Team to incorporate those recommendations into finalized strategic plan goals.
What Can I Do to Prepare?
It's not necessary to do anything in advance. We want you to bring your thoughts and experiences to the discussion. If you'd like to review in advance, the data reports shared at the Community Forums are available on the Strategic Planning website.
Text-to-Speech Available on FCPS Websites
FCPS is introducing an innovative way to address the diverse needs of the community. A new text-to-speech feature, available on the FCPS website and each school website, will read the words aloud from webpages.
The feature will help those with accessibility needs, such as visual impairments, dyslexia, or other difficulty reading large amounts of online text. The text-to-speech feature is available for English, Spanish, and Korean. Learn more and try out the new feature.
Gwyneth’s Gift
Cardiac arrest claims more lives than breast cancer, prostate cancer, influenza, auto accidents, firearms and house fires combined. At Gwyneth's Gift Foundation, we are working to provide specific practices that build and reinforce life-saving skills for those suffering from cardiac arrest. We accomplish this through our programs of CPR & AED Training.
We are so glad they are coming to Longfellow to train the 7th and 8th grade students during their PE classes!
We need YOUR help with volunteering your time to help monitor the classes in the gym while the training is going on. We thank you in advance!
Please sign-up to volunteer HERE.
STEM Essay Contest
Our STEM Essay Contest challenges 7th and 8th girls and boys to discover and publicize women including women of color (non-white) who made a difference in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, but who received little or no recognition for their contributions while they were alive. Strong preference is given to essays about women who are not well known even today.
Each student is asked to write an essay of no more than 500 words to describe one woman's contribution to STEM, discuss the impact, and clearly state why he or she picked that woman. We will award four prizes: First Place ($100), Second Place ($50), and Honorable Mention (2 Prizes, each $25). The deadline is February 10, 2023, at 11:00 pm ET, and the McLean Area Branch will recognize the winners at its annual potluck dinner on March 14, 2023, at the McLean Community Center.
There are applications in the main office at Longfellow or on the McLean Area Branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) website here.
2023 STEM Essay Contest Application
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