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To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
Para leer este boletin en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
يرجى زيارة موقعنا الألكتروني لقراءة هذه النشرة الإخبارية بلغات أخرى
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The Lion’s Roar
March 17, 2023
On the Lookout for Leprechauns!
Students across many grade levels kept close watch for mischief-making leprechauns this St. Patrick’s Day. Students in Ms. Brusick’s 2nd grade class even used their STEAM skills to construct special traps to catch the tiny trouble-makers. But no luck – the sneaky little guys escaped again!
Upcoming Events
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Monday, 3/20 & Tuesday, 3/21 – PTA Restaurant Nights at TGIFridays
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Friday, 3/24 – PTA Basket Bingo, 6:30 p.m.
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Monday, 3/27 – Spring Picture Day (individual and classes)
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Monday, 4/3 – Friday, 4/7 – Spring Break
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Tuesday, 4/11 – PTA Meeting, 6:30 p.m. on Zoom
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Thursday, 4/13 – End-of-quarter 2-hour early release at 2:05 p.m.
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Friday, 4/14 – Student Holiday/Teacher Workday
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Friday, 4/14 – Kindergarten Orientation for Fall 2023, 9 a.m.
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Monday, 4/17 & Tuesday, 4/18 – PTA Restaurant Nights at Kumo Asian Bistro
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Friday, 4/21 – Eid al Fitr Holiday, School and Office CLOSED
In This Issue
- Principal Evaluation Parent/Guardian Feedback Form: Your Views and Opinions Are Important to Us!
- Don’t Forget! Spring Picture Day Is Coming Soon!
- Ramadan Begins Next Week
- Art and Music in the Spotlight This Month
- Student Intention Survey for the 2023 – 2024 School Year – Please Let Us Know Your Plans!
- Survey of Preschool Children
- PTA News: Basket Bingo class donations and tickets; survey for special-education families; upcoming restaurant nights
- Parent Resources: Substance abuse information; upcoming webinars
- Community News & Announcements: Hayfield Craft Fair to support the Class of 2023
- FCPS News & Announcements: Input on updates to SR&R; Strategic Plan community forums and feedback survey
News & Notes
Principal Evaluation Parent/Guardian Feedback Form: Your Views and Opinions Are Important to Us!
On Monday, March 13th, all Lane parents and guardians received an email with a link to the FCPS Principal Evaluation Parent/Guardian Feedback Form Online. This questionnaire is part of the Performance Evaluation Program and offers parents/guardians an opportunity to provide anonymous input about various topics related to our school. These topics include instructional leadership, school climate, management (human resources and organizational), communication and community relations, culturally responsive and equitable leadership, and professionalism.
The questionnaire will be collected online through Friday, March 24th. Please take a few minutes to complete it. Your opinions matter!
Don’t Forget! Spring Picture Day Is Coming Soon – Monday, March 27th!
Professional photographers will once again visit Lane on Monday, March 27th to take individual portraits of every student. Class group pictures will also be taken. Watch for ordering information in next week’s Wednesday Folder, and tell your child to get ready to smile!
Ramadan Begins Next Week
Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims, who believe it was during this month that God revealed the first verses of the Quran to Mohammed. It is a time for spiritual discipline, including personal and community prayer as well as fasting from dawn to sunset. This year, Ramadan begins on Wednesday, March 22nd, and continues until April 21st with the Eid al Fitr holiday celebration.
Some activity accommodations are available for students who are fasting as part of their Ramadan observance. If your child is fasting and you’d like more information, please contact one of our family liaisons, Melanie Crosby Hardy (macrosby@fcps.edu) or Lupe Fuentes (lefuentes@fcps.edu).
You can read more about Ramadan in National Geographic Kids.
Art and Music in the Spotlight This Month
The Month of March brings special notice to two of the specials our Lane Lions enjoy each week at school – art and music.
The Council for Art Education (CFAE) administers Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month encourages support for quality school art programs and promotes art material safety. The program provides a medium for recognizing skills developed through visual-arts experiences unlike any other curriculum subjects, including:
- Problem solving
- Creativity
- Observation
- Communication.
Art shows, special exhibits, fundraisers, and school and community activities take place annually, traditionally during March, to celebrate visual-art education for grades K-12.
March has also been designated by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) as Music In Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®), the time of year when music education becomes the focus of schools across the nation. The purpose of MIOSM is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children – and to remind citizens that school is where all children should have access to music. MIOSM is an opportunity for music teachers to bring their music programs to the attention of the school and the community, and to display the benefits that school music brings to students of all ages.
Be sure to ask your child about what they’re learning in art and/or music class and celebrate their accomplishments!
Student Intention Survey for the 2023 – 2024 School Year: Please Let Us Know Your Plans!
We’re about two-thirds of the way through this school year, but we are already working on staffing for the upcoming year and starting to plan for back-to-school in the fall. We would like you to start thinking about the year ahead as well and to let us know if your child(ren) will be returning to Lane for the 2023 – 2024 school year.
In order to determine how many classroom teachers we will need, we would like to know who is planning to return to Lane and who will be moving to a new area. These forms are not binding, but even preliminary information can be very helpful.
Forms were sent home with every student in last week’s Wednesday Folder. Please return a form for each child at Lane in kindergarten through fifth grade as soon as possible.
Thank you for providing this important information!
Survey of Preschool Children
Do you have a child who will enter kindergarten next year at Lane? Do you know of friends or neighbors who do? If so, we need your help!
A “Survey of Preschool Children” eligible for kindergarten enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year is currently being conducted. We request that parents of students eligible for kindergarten complete and return this survey to our school office. A child who will reach his or her fifth birthday on or before September 30, 2023, is eligible for kindergarten this coming fall.
Please return the survey by Friday, March 24th. You can fill it out online, save it as a PDF, and send it as an attachment to our registrar, Jami O’Hagan, at jjohagan@fcps.edu. You can also print and mail the form to the school or drop it off in person.
Please share this information with any parent of a rising kindergarten child in your neighborhood that may not have a child in our school and is not aware of this survey.
Thank you!
PTA News
Basket Bingo Is Next Friday!! Have You Bought Your Tickets Yet??
Basket Bingo is just ONE WEEK from today! Don’t forget to grab your tickets!
As a reminder, tickets ARE REQUIRED to attend. EVERY person, regardless of age or whether or not they are playing, MUST have a ticket due to Fire Marshal room-capacity regulations.
NO TICKET = NO ENTRY
There are less than 50 seats left!!
Tickets are $20 for PTA Members | $25 for non-PTA Members | $7 per student/child.
Visit the PTA website to purchase tickets: https://lanepta.memberhub.com/w/basketbingo.
Survey for Lane Families with Students in Special Education - Deadline Extended!
Lane PTA's Inclusion Liaison is interested to hear from families with students in special education via this short survey. The goal of the survey is to best understand what types of support you may be interested in outside of school for you and your child. Please contact Jee Deogracias, Lane PTA's Inclusion Liaison (inclusion@lanepta.org) with any questions. The survey will close on Monday, March 20th.
Restaurant Nights at TGIFridays Monday, March 20th and Tuesday, March 21st!
Make plans to dine out at TGIFridays on March 20th or 21st (or both!) and donate to our school. A percentage of all Lane orders will be sent back to the PTA to support the school! Flyers were sent home in Wednesday Folders.
Parent Resources
Drug & Alcohol Facts Week
Quick Facts
- National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week is March 20th through 26th in 2023.
- Opioids are the number-one cause of unnatural death in Fairfax County. Young adults aged 25-34 are the most common demographic seen in the emergency room for fatal opioid overdoses.
- Nationwide, there were over 100,000 overdose deaths from April 2020 to April 2021.
- Using opioids after a period of abstinence, mixing drugs, IV use, and serious medical problems all contribute to an increased risk of opioid overdose.
- 90% of substance users began using prior to 21 years old.
- Alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine are usually the most common substances used by adolescents.
- Fairfax County police stations, pharmacies, and medical facilities provide permanent drug disposal drop boxes for residents to safely dispose of their unused/expired medication. DO NOT flush your medications.
Reframing Our Thinking
Changing our state of consciousness is part of the human experience (kids spinning in circles to induce dizziness, meditation, runner’s high, and more), but using substances has more negative than positive side effects. Alcohol-, marijuana-, and nicotine-use prevention strategies are also opioid-overdose prevention strategies, since opioid users likely used one of these three substances first. Every opioid overdose does not lead to death, but it increases the chances of an eventual overdose fatality. Although most opioid users began with alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine, these three drugs are not “gateway drugs.” The term “gateway drug” implies all alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine users will eventually use other drugs, but that is not the case for most, so the time to act is now. Treat your medication as a loaded gun; lock it up and properly dispose of any medications you are no longer using.
Sources & Resources
Fairfax CSB Opioid Info
REVIVE Training for Opioid Overdoses
Medication Disposal
Teen Substance Use
FCPS Substance Abuse Prevention Program
Everything You Need to Know About Opioids
For general questions about the FCPS Substance Abuse Prevention Program, please contact the Office of Student Safety & Wellness at: (571) 423-4270.
For further Information & support, contact Mr. Villalobos,Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist, at bvillalobos@fcps.edu
Upcoming Webinars from the Parent Resource Center
Preparing Families for Difficult Conversations about Alcohol & Drugs
What knowledge and information do you need to engage in meaningful conversations with your children about alcohol and drugs?
Webinar highlights:
- Understand basic info about alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, and opioids
- List what you can do as a caregiver
- Identify & connect with community resources
Tuesday, March 21st, 10–11:30 a.m.
Register for Preparing Families for Difficult Conversations about Alcohol & Drugs
View the individual event page if you would like to share this event with others.
Suicide Prevention: A School and Family Partnership
Recognizing the warning signs and symptoms of suicide in youth is the first step in preventing youth suicide. As a caregiver, you can serve as a trusted adult for your child and other young people.
In this session, caregivers will learn about the topic of youth suicide and how to respond to youth who may be demonstrating warning signs of a mental health challenge or who are in crisis.
Highlights of the webinar will include:
- Understanding protective factors and their impact on mental health
- Warning signs of suicide
- How to have conversations with your children about youth suicide
- Building strong school and family partnerships.
Presented by Bethany Demers, FCPS Mental Wellness Specialist, and Kristen Biernesser, FCPS Counseling Resource Teacher
March 24th, 10–11:30 a.m.
Register for Suicide Prevention: A School and Family Partnership
View the individual event page if you would like to share this event with others.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Sleep and the Developing Brain
Scientists have long recognized that getting enough sleep during childhood can benefit developing brains. Join us for this series on the importance of sleep and the developing brain.
Webinar highlights:
- Define sleep and understand the importance of sleep for children’s healthy development
- Provide an overview of the sleep and wake cycle
- Identify common sleep concerns and sleep disorders in children and adolescents and how to approach them
- Illustrate the consequences of insufficient sleep
- Recognize some developmental aspects affecting sleep in children and adolescents
Part 2: March 28th, 10–11:30 a.m.
View the individual event page if you would like to share this event with others.
Presented by Dr. Shu Buckley, Director of the Sleep Disorders and Neurodevelopment Consult Service at National Institute of Mental Health, and Dr. Concepcion Zayas, child and adolescent psychiatrist in the Sleep Disorders and Neurodevelopment Consult Service at National Institute of Mental Health
Register for Unlocking the Mysteries of Sleep and the Developing Brain
Find more upcoming webinars, recordings of past presentations, and tons of helpful resources for families on the Parent Resource Center website!
Community News & Events
Hayfield Craft Fair – Saturday, April 15th, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
On April 15th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Hayfield All Night Grad Party will be hosting a Craft Fair at Hayfield Secondary School (7530 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22315). There will be over 100 vendors selling goods, an amazing silent auction, Kidcreate studio, face painting, and more!
Proceeds go to help support the Hayfield Class of 2023 All Night Grad Party event.
There is no cost to attend the craft fair. Please come out and support the local vendors and also the Hayfield class of 2023!
FCPS News & Announcements
Proposed Updates to Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R)
The Department of Special Services will be hosting two virtual meetings for the FCPS community regarding proposed updates to the Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R) Regulation. Please join one of the meetings below via Zoom (click the date to register):
Participants will have an opportunity to learn about the suggested updates and ask questions via Zoom Chat. Language interpretation will be available in Spanish. A certified deaf interpreter will be available as well.
Beginning Monday, March 20th, families and staff will also be able to provide feedback on proposed updates to the SR&R via a short survey. Please stay tuned for details. Visit FCPS’ website for more information.
Virtual Strategic Plan Community Forums Coming Soon
FCPS is hosting a virtual community forum to discuss the first draft of proposed goals for the new Strategic Plan. Forums are scheduled for:
- Monday, April 10th, at noon
- Tuesday, April 11th, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. (in Spanish).
- Monday, April 17th, from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Stay tuned for more details!
FCPS Strategic Planning Survey Closes March 20th
If you haven’t already, please take a moment to share your perspectives on the current draft of FCPS’ new Strategic Plan. Your input is important to this work and will help ensure a thriving future for each and every FCPS student.
Parents and caregivers of current FCPS students, please check your email for a message from FCPS dated Tuesday, March 14th. For community members who do not currently have a student enrolled in FCPS, please use this link to participate.
All responses are anonymous. Visit our Strategic Planning webpage for more details.
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