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A message from Principal Steven McFarlane
Kilmer Community,
Educating students is complex work, and it’s some of the most important work a community can do. This week I was reminded of the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This was evident in how Kilmer’s staff is constantly collaborating with each other to ensure we are pushing our students to do their best. As you’ll see in “Pictures of the Week,” Kilmer’s school librarians, Ms. Hazlin and Ms. Tempesta, collaborated with English 8 teachers around student writing. The Pegasus team has been working through cross-curricular projects/themes for much of the year, and I was lucky enough to observe Ms. Kleman’s students participating in a Socratic seminar. There are many more examples happening here at Kilmer daily that I will continue to share. Just as Kilmer’s staff is collaborating around instruction, the partnerships we have with families is equally important. I’m grateful for the many opportunities I’ve had to talk with families. Please continue to reach out to your student’s teachers, counselor, or administrator if we can help in any way.
A note about the PTA meeting for next week, it has been rescheduled for Friday, 2/17 at 9:30 AM. The PTA Executive Board will be sending out more information in the PTA newsletter, including the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!
I hope everyone has a great weekend, and as always, reach out if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Steven McFarlane
Principal
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Pictures of the Week
  Kilmer’s English 8 teachers collaborated with Ms. Tempesta and Ms. Hazlin (librarians) for a lesson on persuasive writing. 8th grade students rotated through stations where they wrote thesis statements, deconstructed essays, and “spiced up” writing. After the station work, they organized their evidence and commentary in a persuasive essay graphic organizer.
 The Pegasus team has been piloting a program this year to create interdisciplinary units and project-based activities for their classes. They have been focused on building the Portrait of Graduate attributes by analyzing readings, expressing opinions, listening to different perspectives, and writing essays. In both Ms. Sweet and Ms. Kleman’s classes, students participated in Socratic Seminars and completed written essays. This week Ms. Kleman’s class discussed the topic question, “Has impeachment worked the way the framers Intended?” using various primary and secondary documents.
 Congratulations to Kilmer’s All-District Band members! The event at Oakton HS was last Thursday evening, all day Friday, and Saturday morning with a performance on Saturday afternoon.
Course Registration Timeline for the 2023-2024 School Year
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Seventh Grade Students: Seventh grade students will participate in a course registration lesson during Science class during the week of Feb 13 - 17. Students can begin the registration process by viewing the Eighth Grade Course Catalog and course videos created by Kilmer teachers at the following link: Curriculum and Elective Resources for the 23-24 School Year . Students are encouraged to speak with their seventh grade teachers and school counselors about recommendations for eighth grade in order to select courses that reflect their academic strengths, abilities, and interests.
During the months of February and March, all students will participate in an academic advising session with their school counselor to finalize their course selections for the 2023-2024 school year. All course selections will be entered in SIS StudentVue.
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Eighth Grade Students: During the months of February and March, all students will participate in an academic advising session with their school counselor to finalize their course selections for the 2023-2024 school year. All course selections will be entered in SIS StudentVue.
Marshall HS IB Information Night Presentation
Marshall HS Course Registration Resources
Madison High School Course Registration Resources
Cross Town Hoops Fan Shirt
Cross Town Hoops Ticket and Fan Shirts Sales are Open! The fan shirt is only available through pre-order through February 15. Buy your Cross Town Hoops 2023 Fan Shirt here:
https://kilmer.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true. The annual event takes place on March 15, 2023, at 6pm at Marshall High School. Email angiegutenson@gmail.com with any questions.
Kilmer’s MathCounts Team
Our Kilmer MathCounts team did very well competing at the Fairfax Chapter MathCounts Competition last weekend. The Kilmer team Placed 6th (Abhinav Eadhara, Taarun Ganesh, Isha Joshi, Samuel Zhang)
In the individual competition we had the following individuals place in the top 40% of the competitors.
- Isha Johsi (10th)
- Samual Zhang (12th)
- Erdem Dulguun (25th)
- Abhinav Eadhara (26th)
- Taarun Ganesh (30th)
- Gregory Peng (33rd)
Also participating at the competition was
- Akhil Deevi
- Caroline Fu
- Sunyu Kim
- Zachary Qin
- Praveer Saridena
- Claire Zhang
Into the Woods Jr.
Save the date for Kilmer’s presentation of Into the Woods Jr.
Individualized Education Programs (IEP) and IEP Progress Reports in ParentVue
Parents are now able to view their students’ individualized education program (IEP) and IEP Progress Report in the Student Information System (SIS) ParentVue web app. To set up your ParentVue account, visit the SIS ParentVue information page. Please use a strong, unique password to protect your child’s information. IEP documents are not delivered via the SIS ParentVue mobile phone app. Once logged into SIS ParentVue, click on the “IEP Documents” tab to view your child’s current IEP and the most recent IEP Progress Report.
Special Education Enhancement Plan: Feedback Opportunity
Fairfax County Public Schools is developing a Special Education Enhancement Plan to help ensure an excellent educational experience for all students with disabilities. As part of this effort, FCPS is seeking feedback from employees, families, and community members on Part 1 of the Draft Special Education Enhancement Plan. Please complete this form by Friday, February 17, to provide input on FCPS’ priorities regarding special education including vision, mission, core values, goals, and objectives. Thank you in advance for lending your voice to this important work. Visit the Special Education Enhancement Plan webpage for more information.
WIDA Testing
Starting February 13th, ELL students will take the WIDA Access ELP Assessment. Students will receive information about their testing date and location in their fcpsschools.net email account. Most students will be tested on the following dates:
- Monday, 2/13: 8th grade Listening
- Tuesday, 2/14: 7th grade Listening
- Thursday, 2/16: 8th grade Reading
- Friday, 2/17: 7th grade Reading
- Wednesday, 2/22: 8th grade Writing
- Thursday, 2/23: 7th grade Writing
- Monday 2/27, Tuesday 2/28, or Wednesday 3/1: Speaking for all grade levels
Some students will be tested on different dates than those listed above. Makeup testing will be offered several times throughout the testing window. Testing notifications were sent home for students who are taking the WIDA Access at the end of January. If you have questions please contact the School Testing Coordinator, Marileigh Blake at mlblake@fcps.edu or 703-846-8885.
Each week Ms. Kardelis will post a detailed overview of our After School Program to our website. Please visit Kilmer’s website at https://kilmerms.fcps.edu/afterschool_newsletter to find the weekly After School newsletter.
Tutor.com - Extra Help for Students at No Cost to Families
With Tutor.com through Schoology, FCPS students are able to get learning help at any time, even from bilingual tutors! Students in FCPS meet with tutors thousands of times each week to practice reading, prepare for an upcoming math test, write computer programs, study for the SAT, or to get feedback on scholarship essays–all at no cost to their families! If you haven’t already, we encourage you to take just a few minutes to connect with a tutor with your child. More info about Tutor.com in FCPS is available here.
Yearbooks!
The year will be over in the blink of an eye, so buy your yearbook now before it's too late. A yearbook is one of the most important books that you will ever have, buy yours now since they are running out.
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