Mrs. Strong's 2nd grade class, filled with excitement and wonder, preparing to release the beautiful butterfly they nurtured this month. 🦋🌿 #LearningInNature

Paw Print Topics:

• Back to School Night for Caregivers of K-6 Students
• Caregiver Checklist: Have You Completed These Important Forms?
• 🩹 The Importance of Up-to-Date Immunizations
• 😷 2023-24 Health and Safety Guidance for Schools
• How to Access Free Resources from Tutor.com
• 🧪 STEAMOLOGY STEM Fest Offers Hands-On Activities for Students
• Students Are Learning Every Day
• Lockdown Drill Notice
• The Pine Spring PTA
• Pine Spring Dine Out Night
• Pine Spring PTA Dance
• Save the Date

Back to School Night for Caregivers of K-6 Students

Please join us for Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 13, from 6:00-7:30. Back to School Night (BTSN) provides an opportunity for parents and guardians to meet with teachers and learn important detailed information about academic outcomes for each subject, expectations for the school year, support for students, communication methods for parents, and more. Please note that teachers will not have an opportunity to talk about individual student needs. If you need an early conference, please contact your child’s teacher for a time. 

Please note that this event is for caregivers. It is not designed for student attendance. 

Teachers will offer two twenty-minute sessions. Both sessions will be the same, so you are invited to attend either time. This schedule is designed to support families with more than one Bobcat. After you have attended the session in the classroom, you are welcome to stop in the cafeteria to meet the specialists such as Art, Music, PE, AART, Reading Specialists, and Instructional Coaches. 

Back To School Night Parent Homework

As we prepare for our upcoming Back to School Night event, we want to ensure our time together is as productive and informative as possible. To achieve this, we suggest that you review your child's grade level curriculum information here. While teachers will discuss the information during their presentation, advance review will better support your engagement in the presentation. 

Caregiver Checklist: Have You Completed These Important Forms?

During the first weeks of the year, caregivers receive many forms to complete. Several of the most important ones are below:

1. Digital Resources Consent: Some FCPS-approved digital resources require parent/caregiver consent before they can be used by students. Find the list of resources which require consent on the Digital Resources - Parent Consent page. This page also includes directions on how to provide permission.
2. Student Rights and Responsibilities: This document explains expectations for student behavior and adult responses. Parents using SIS ParentVUE will be prompted to sign the document when they log in to that platform. A printable version of the document with a signature sheet is available on the SR&R webpage.
3. Opt-Outs: The Opt-Out Booklet is online or available from your child’s school. It contains information on: 
1. Parents’ rights to inspect and consent or opt out before their child participates in certain surveys.
2. Parents’ rights to inspect instructional materials.
3. Rules regarding student records and disclosure of student information (including photo/video of students) and the right to opt out.
4. Parents’ rights to opt out of the Social Emotional Learning Screener, physical exams not required by state law, career or social emotional counseling, Library Equity Access Pass Project, and/or Tutor.com.
5. The process by which complaints may be filed if parents or students believe their rights have been violated.

Paper forms can be signed and returned to school.

🩹 The Importance of Up-to-Date Immunizations

Immunizations are required for public school entry and help keep students protected from serious diseases. While COVID-19 vaccinations are not required, many other immunizations are. Check with your students’ healthcare providers now to make sure they are up to date on their immunizations. Immunization records can now be updated online in SIS ParentVUE through the Online Verification Update form. To access that form, click Online Packets in the top right of the screen after logging in to SIS ParentVUE. Caregivers can obtain an activation key letter to activate their SIS ParentVUE account by contacting [the main office].

Statewide Outbreak of Meningococcal

One of the required immunizations for students entering 7th and 12th grade is the meningococcal conjugate vaccine (MenACWY). The Virginia Department of Health is currently tracking a statewide outbreak of meningococcal disease. MenACWY can provide protection against the bacteria responsible for this outbreak.

Visit the Fairfax County Health Department website for a list of immunization clinics or contact your family’s healthcare provider. Appointments are required for most clinics.  

Remember to request documentation of your child’s immunizations to provide to their school. Get more information on immunization requirements and the necessary documentation. 

😷 2023-24 Health and Safety Guidance for Schools

Although the COVID-19 hospital transmission level (previously the COVID-19 Community Transmission level) for Fairfax County is currently low, COVID-19 cases have risen in Virginia during the last few weeks, and flu season will soon be upon us. Be sure to review FCPS Health and Safety Guidance for the best ways to prevent the spread of disease and to find out when students should stay home from school.

How to Access Free Resources from Tutor.com

All FCPS students continue to have unlimited access to live, 24/7, one-on-one online tutoring services through Tutor.com at no cost to families. Student participation is optional and parents/caregivers can opt their student(s) out of accessing the services. Get more information on the Tutor.com Online Tutoring Services webpage.

Students can access Tutor.com via a link in Schoology. Additional information about how to log in and access a tutor is provided to families via the following: Elementary - How It Works and Middle & High - How It Works. Questions not answered in the posted resources may be sent to onlinetutoring@fcps.edu.

🧪 STEAMOLOGY STEM Fest Offers Hands-On Activities for Students

Students are invited to participate in STEM FEST on Saturday, October 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at South County High School. Students in kindergarten through eighth grade can participate in robotics demonstrations, coding experiments, and more. High school students are invited to volunteer. Visit the STEAMOLOGY website for more information.

Students Are Learning Every Day

As you plan upcoming trips and other family events, please remember the importance of sending your child to school every day. Review the FCPS School Year Calendar and try to plan any time away during long breaks from school. 

Children who show up for school regularly develop fundamental reading and math skills while building a habit of good attendance that will carry them into college and careers. Research shows that children who were chronically absent (missing 18 days or more) in kindergarten and first grade were far less likely to read proficiently at the end of third grade.

Read more about how families can help form good attendance habits.

Lockdown Drill Notice

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. We also practice lockdown drills.

A new 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.

This is a second notice that we will conduct our first lockdown drill of the year at our school soon. Preschool and kindergarten students will not participate in the first lockdown drill, however, all 1^st-6^th grade students are required to participate.

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. 

If you have any questions, please contact Nikki Yacubovich, Principal. 

The Pine Spring PTA

Pine Spring Dine Out Night

Pine Spring PTA Dance

Preorder Pizza

Save the Date

September 13: Back to School Night (6:00 PM) 

September 22: PTA Dance

September 25: Yom Kippur No School

September 29: Fall Picture Day 

October 5: PTA Meeting (7:00 PM)

October 9: Student Holiday

October 16-20: Book Fair

November 2: PTA Meeting (7:00 PM)

November 6-7: Student Holiday

November 10: Veterans’ Celebration Concert

November 16: School Picture Makeups

November 22-24: Holiday

November 30: Literacy Night 

December 7: FLE Preview Night (5:00 PM)

December 7: PTA Meeting (7:00 PM)

December 18th-31st : Winter Break

See the complete school year calendar

7607 Willow Lane Falls Church, VA 22042  | Main Office: 571-226-4400
Attendance: 571-226-4444 | Web | Twitter | Instagram