 |
|
To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
Para leer este boletín en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
لقراءة هذه النشرة الإخبارية بلغات أخرى ، يرجى زيارة موقعنا على الإنترنت. انقر هنا!
이 뉴스레터를 다른 언어로 읽으려면 저희 웹사이트를 방문하십시오. 여기를 클릭하세요!
Để đọc bản tin này bằng các ngôn ngữ khác, vui lòng truy cập trang web của chúng tôi.
|
 We were very excited to welcome our students back to the start of the 2023-24 school year.
WFES 2023-24 Team
Dear Wakefield Forest Families,
We are off to a great start of the school year. Everyone was very excited to begin the year in our newly built cafeteria.
As we begin the journey of this school year, we wanted to share the WFES beliefs by which our amazing team leads.
- We believe that each child can and will learn.
- We believe in creating a safe, inclusive, and challenging environment where diversity is valued.
- We believe that positive relationships with and among our students, parents/guardians and community make our school a better place to work and learn.
- We believe in fostering creativity and curiosity in our students to develop innovative thinkers and learners.
- We believe learning is about more than a test score and we strive to assess learning in multiple ways.
- We believe character education and building resiliency are important parts of learning.
- We believe opportunities to continue to grow and learn as professionals are valuable.
- We believe our school builds the foundation for success in grades K-12 and beyond.
We strive each day for our actions to match these values. We use these guiding beliefs and data to make decisions that impact students and our school community.
We're grateful for your partnership and look forward to a fantastic school year.
Thank you.
Sharyn Prindle
Principal
Aug 31: Principal Coffee 8:30 AM - Topic: Safety/Security in library
Sept 1-4: Labor Day Holiday - School Closed
Sept 8: Military Families - Popsicles on the Playground 3:45 PM
Sept 13: Back to School Night - 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Sept 20: PTA Meeting 7:00 PM Library
Sept. 22: Woodson Feeder Night Football Game - Woodson HS
Oct. 6: PTA Howling Wolf Fun Run
The beginning of the school year is the best time to develop strong attendance habits! Students who attend school regularly are more likely to perform well in reading and math, develop strong social and emotional skills, and graduate from high school on time. Help prepare your child for future success. Watch this video with tips from Fairfax Pyramid principals and visit FCPS’ Attendance webpage for tips and strategies.
Advanced math is provided for students demonstrating academic need for consistent math enrichment. We assess students in the fall for advanced math and the families of identified students are provided with notice. The school team looks at SOL scores, CogAT Quantitative score, Math Behavior Rating Scale (MBRS), math iReady data, progress report data and the BOY math assessment. For questions about advanced math, please contact Mrs. Williams, assistant principal, at alwilliams1@fcps.edu.
|
 |
|
In spring 2023 we surveyed families on areas of interest for Principal Coffees. Our sessions this year will be based on that feedback.
Join Principal Prindle and Assistant Principal Williams to learn more about safety and security practices in FCPS and at WFES.
We will meet in the library on Thursday, August 31 at 8:30 AM. Please enter at door 1 and bring your driver's license for check in purposes.
|
Keeping students and staff safe is a priority for all of us. We have a crisis management and emergency preparedness plan for our school that is reviewed and updated regularly. Our plan includes procedures on how to respond to incidents such as fires and tornadoes. Students and staff regularly practice these drills every school year.
A Virginia Law (22.1-137.2) requires schools to notify parents at least 24 hours before a school practices a lockdown drill. However, we are not required to share the exact date and time of the drill. We are required to practice lockdown drills two times a year. FCPS lockdown drills do not include any type of active shooter scenario training, they are instruction and classroom based. We will conduct a lockdown drill at our school soon.
Additional information on our lockdown drill program to include parent tips and FAQs can be found on the Emergency Planning and Crisis Response web page. After reviewing this content, you should discuss the value of these safety drills with your child.
Keeping our school safe and secure for all students and staff involves the participation of the entire school community, and we thank you for your help to keep our school safe.
Wakefield Forest is proud of our military connected families. Approximately 11% of our students have members of their home serving in active duty, reserves or the National Guard.
We will host a "Little Heroes Popsicles on the Playground" after-school Friday, September 8, 2023 from 3:45 PM - 4:15 PM. We invite our military families and students to join us to meet other students/families, play on the playground, and enjoy a cool treat. Look for an invitation soon.
|
Wakefield Forest ES uses the Positive Project for character education as a part of our overall Social Emotional Learning. Each week teachers will be covering content on 24 character traits.
Our new cafeteria was finished in time for students to use it on the first day.
Student reactions so far...
I love it!
It looks like high school!
I love the detail throughout the cafeteria!
It's really nice!
I feel like I'm in 4th grade!
|
FCPS’ Student Rights and Responsibilities document (SR&R) explains expectations for student behavior and adult responses to enhance school safety and to create a fair, equitable, and supportive school environment. In late June, the School Board approved changes to the SR&R for the 2023-24 school year. Updates include a revision of dress code expectations, bystander expectations for students witnessing harmful or unsafe behaviors, bullying, and substance abuse responses. Read Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid’s letter to families regarding the SR&R.
Parents/caregivers should talk to their child(ren) about expectations for this school year. Also, please log in to SIS ParentVUE and sign to acknowledge your review of the SR&R, or sign and return the signature sheet to your child’s school by Friday, September 29.
|
Welcome back, Wolf Pack!
By way of introduction, my name is Katie Abbott and I am the WFES Parent Teacher Association (PTA) President for 2023-2024. I am excited to take on this role, and along with the PTA Board, hope to maximize opportunities for us to connect as a community.
If you’re new to the Wolf Pack, welcome! If you’re an established member, you know we are kicking off another fun year. Officially speaking, the PTA promotes collaboration and engagement among families and educators in the education of our children. This means we coordinate epic community events, amazing after school programs, and thoughtful staff appreciation activities. We also fund extracurricular classes, art supplies, books, staff planning & development, and student programs such as the Positivity Project—all for our WFES Wolf Pack.
This entire effort is run by your neighbors who are volunteering their time and talents to foster an engaged learning community for our kids. Thank you to those who have already volunteered this year and thank you to those who have volunteered in the past—your efforts are what keeps this PTA rolling!
Every member of the Pack matters. You can help the WFES PTA by:
1) Joining the Pack: For just $15 a family, you can help us cover our operating costs and allow us to fully allocate our fundraising dollars directly to programs that benefit your child. Go to wakefieldforestes.memberhub.com to join.
2) Staying in the Know: Make sure you receive—and read!!--the PTA newsletter & attend our meetings. If you didn’t get our fabulous Back to School newsletter this past Wednesday, you can sign up for “Wakefield Forest PTA” via the FCPS ‘News You Choose’ subscription. If you did get it, but didn’t read it, check it out: we’ve got some great profiles and kudos for PTA events that have already happened, and some awesome Summer Shout Outs for our local community members!
3) Committing to Participate: Simply stated, this community doesn’t exist without participants. Please attend our events, support our fundraisers as you’re able, and volunteer your time when you can. Volunteer opportunities are plentiful, and the more the merrier! Commitments range from room parent for the year, serving on an event committee, to helping for a few hours--we have a range of commitments, and your participation makes a difference. Our immediate volunteer needs are detailed in this week’s PTA newsletter, please take a moment to see if you can lend a hand.
Our first PTA meeting will be Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 7:00 pm in the WFES Library. Hope to see you there—the Pack is back!
Cheers
Katie Abbott
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Meet the Board
President: Katie Abbott (Mom of Avery Abbott, 2nd grade, Ms. Rumohr’s class)
VP, Fundraising: Molly Mattessich (Mom of Juliana Gluecksmann, 2nd grade, Ms. Conques’ class, and Mateo Gluecksmann, 3rd grade, Ms. Yaman’s class)
VP, Volunteer Services: Nudrat Salik (Mom of Amna Ahmad, 3rd grade, Ms. Yaman’s class)
VP, Academics: Erin Weber (Mom of Mario Duncan Weber, 3rd grade, Ms. Yaman’s class)
VP Legislative: Kathleen Miller Flook (Mom of Finnegan Flook, 2nd grade, Ms. Rumohr’s class and Liam Flook, 4th grade, Ms. Bunch’s class)
Secretary: Jen Webster (Mom of Michael Borlinghaus, 1st grade, Ms. Teran’s class, and Mia Borlinghaus, 4th grade, Ms. Bunch’s class)
Treasurer: Dave Brown (Dad of Hunter Brown, 2nd grade, Ms. Vick’s class, and Ryder Brown, 4th grade, Ms. Colin’s class)
|
FCPS has tools to help parents know more about their child’s activity on any FCPS device. These tools are provided at no cost to families by Lightspeed, the school division’s internet content filtering service.
Parents may sign up for a weekly Parent Report, which will provide a list of the top sites your child visited. The report also offers parents the ability to sign up for free access to the Internet Use Parent Portal. Through the portal, parents may pause their child’s access to the internet on their FCPS device during non-school hours.
Learn more about Lightspeed Parent Reports.
Some FCPS-approved digital resources require parent consent before they can be used by students. Find the list of resources which require consent on the Parent Consent webpage. This page also includes directions for providing permission.
Each digital resource used in FCPS has had an instructional and technical review. Information about the educational technology tools approved for use within FCPS can be found in the online Digital Ecosystem Library.
Parents can find more information about FCPS-approved digital resources on the Digital Resources in FCPS webpage.
Do you have your ParentVUE account? ParentVUE is a secure solution to access your child's attendance, SOL scores, test results, class performance and demographic data.
Certain opt-out options and paper forms are transitioning to electronic forms which can be accessed in parentvue.
Learn more about Parent SIS accounts here!
If you don't have a ParentVue account, create one today by submitting a parent support request here.
If your student took SOL tests in the spring, you can view their scores in SIS ParentVUE now. Click below to login if you already have an account.
ParentVUE login
Attendance: 703-503-2323 or WakefieldForestES.attendance@fcps.edu
Health Room: 703-503-2310
Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines
Technology support: IT Support Portal
Principal: Sharyn Prindle sbprindle@fcps.edu
Assistant Principal: Amy Williams alwilliams1@fcps.edu
Follow Principal Prindle on X
WFES PTA homepage
|
