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To read this newsletter in other languages, please visit our website.
Para leer este boletín en otros idiomas, visite nuestro sitio web.
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A Message From Your Principals
Westlawn Families:
It’s October!! Last week our Enrichment Club Program began, the Westlawn Chorus met for their 3rd practice, and we closed with an outdoor movie night sponsored by Cub Scout Pack 675. With so much going on each week it is important for families to monitor important dates. Use the calendar feature in the Schoology app to stay current!
A positive and consistent partnership between schools and families is paramount to a child’s academic and social success. Westlawn teachers use the Talking Points application to communicate with each child’s family. We suggest downloading this free app on your phone to best utilize the program. For help with this process please call the Westlawn front office at 703-241-5100.
The Westlawn PTA will convene on October 3. Links to the virtual session are included in the important dates section of this message, and will also be sent to families via text on Tuesday.
The Westlawn team is committed to providing a learning experience that nurtures your child’s natural abilities, advocates for growth and excellence, and empowers your child to reach their full potential.
Stay up-to-date with school events by accessing our Westlawn All Families Schoology Calendar. Access an overview of the entire school year, including holidays and cultural observance days, by clicking here.
And be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!
At Westlawn, we soar together.
At Westlawn, we soar together.
Individually Unique … Together Extraordinary
Somos Westlawn.
Your Proud Principals,
Christoph Hill, Anaya Bryson, and Stephanie Carpenter
Important Dates:
October 2-6: Custodial Team Appreciation Week
October 3: PTA Meeting virtual link (6:30 - 7:30PM)
October 4: Walk and Roll to School Day
October 5: Kindergarten Field Trip to Cox Farms
October 9: Student Holiday (Indigenous Peoples’ Day)
October 11: Restaurant Night at Red Robin (Seven Corners Location (4:00 - 8:00PM)
October 11: Night Watch Urgent Care Family Information Event (500-600PM, Westlawn Cafe)
October 12: 6th Grade D.C Walking Trip
October 14: STEAMOLOGY STEM FEST (1130AM - 300PM @ South County High School
October 19: 4th Grade Field Trip to Kennedy Center (900AM - 1230PM)
October 20: Marine Corps Band Assembly for 5th and 6th Graders (900AM - 1000AM)
October 23: Fall Picture Day
October 26: Fall Family Breakfast (all families welcome) (9:00AM - 10:00AM)
October 27: Westlawn’s International Night (600-730PM)
October 28: Young Scholar’s Family Field Trip to Smithsonian Museum for the American Indian
November 1: Restaurant Night Community Drop - Lebanese Taverna (400PM pickup at Westlawn)
November 3: End of Quarter 1
November 3: Two-Hour Early Release (students dismiss at 1:30PM)
November 6-7: Student Holidays
November 22-24: Student Holidays (Thanksgiving Break)
November 28: FLE Parent Preview Night
December 14: Winter Concert (Evening Event @ 6:30PM)
Custodial Team Appreciation Week
This week we celebrate our fantastic custodial team - Morena, Luis, David, Ana, Elmer, and Rafael - at Westlawn Elementary. Their love and dedication to our community provides a sanitary, organized, and safe space for our children to learn each day. Please take a moment this week to show your appreciation (cards, handshakes, kind words, baked goods, etc.) to our Westlawn Custodial Team!
Spirit Wear Shop - Update
We are proud to offer the Westlawn Spirit Wear Shop, now with certain items in youth/children’s sizes, stocked with well-crafted options at a variety of price points. Check out our virtual store and represent Westlawn Elementary with pride! The store is open through October 15, all items ordered will be shipped within two weeks of closing date.
Fall Family Breakfast - October 26
We welcome our families to join us in the Westlawn Cafe on October 26 at 9:00AM to spend time together and celebrate the Westlawn Community. This will also serve as an opportunity to uncover new ways to involve families in the Westlawn experience!
Fall Picture Day - October 23
Fall Picture day has been rescheduled for October 23, 2023! More information will be sent home regarding packages in an upcoming Wednesday folder.
Family Event Night Planning Committees
Join a planning committee to help plan and facilitate one (or more) of our wonderful Westlawn Community Event Nights! Complete the quick survey below to identify the event(s) you and your family would like to support.
English
Spanish
Fall Enrichment Clubs
Clubs start this Wednesday, September 27, for those students enrolled. Clubs begin at 3:45PM, all students participating will receive a snack. Clubs end at 445 PM. Please ensure you are at Westlawn 5-10 mins before end time to expedite student pick-up.
The Drama Club, hosted by Westlawn partner Creative Cauldron, has a slightly different schedule. Families of students participating have been notified of the changes. Please call the Westlawn front office with additional questions at 703-241-5100.
🗓️ Attendance Tip: Scheduling Family Trips or Events
Good attendance is an important life skill that will help students succeed in school and beyond. When scheduling trips or family events, try to use weekends and school holidays, and refer to the FCPS Calendar when planning. Every day of learning is a day toward success. Keep in mind that absences add up quickly. Students who are absent 10% of the school year (or just two days per month) are considered chronically absent.
 
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Westlawn Spirit Days
To help our kindergarteners learn colors, we will be celebrating Not-So-Secret Staff and Student Spirit Days each Wednesday. This Wednesday dress your child(ren) in green!
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🎤 Our Schools, Our Future: Community Conversations Kick Off
Join Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid for Our Schools, Our Future: A Community Conversation. Share your thoughts about FCPS and bring your questions to:
Pre-registration for a Community Conversation is not required but will help us plan. Childcare and interpretation services will be provided for all events based on staff availability.
Events are open to all. Find out about other opportunities to connect with Dr. Reid. Your voice matters!
Social and Emotional Learning Screener Offered in October
One of the ways FCPS supports the mental wellness of all students is the SEL Screener.
The screener is offered to all students in grades 3-12 in October and again in February or March. It addresses skills like achieving goals, understanding and managing emotions, establishing and maintaining relationships with adults and peers, and making responsible decisions.
The SEL Screener also helps students evaluate their school community’s efforts to make them feel valued, included, and supported. Screener data is used to create the learning, experiences, and environments students need to be successful. Key updates to the screener this year include:
- Different versions for students in grades 3-5 and 6-12.
- Fewer topics with more questions to provide schools and families with more data to support planning.
- Additional questions aligned with FCPS’ commitment to educational equity.
SEL Screener results are sent to families via postal mail. Families who wish to opt their child out should complete the opt-out form in the Annual Notice packet or in SIS ParentVUE.
For more information, please visit the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener webpage or contact your child’s school.
Please note that the SEL Screener differs from the anonymous Fairfax County Youth Survey
Community Conversations with Principals
Join Mr. Hill, Ms. Carpenter, and Dr. Bryson for Weekly Community Conversations this school year. Weekly sessions will be held virtually on Wednesday mornings at 11:00AM. You can access these sessions using this link.
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Do you want to celebrate a Westlawn staff member who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way, or goes beyond what is expected? If so, then click here to share with everyone. |
🙋 Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!
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.
Portrait of a Graduate at Westlawn
Children at Westlawn engage daily in Portrait of a Graduate skills: Communication, Collaboration, Goal-Setting, Resilience, Critical and Creative Thinking, and Global Citizenship. Check out our First Friday Photos to see these skills in action!
How to Register for Pre-K or Early Head Start
Fairfax County offers pre-K for students 3-4 years old whose parents meet income requirements and Early Head Start is for infants, toddlers, and expectant mothers who meet income requirements. To register, parents or caregivers should:
- Complete the application form.
- Make a copy of the child’s birth certificate and a residency document (lease, dead, or mortgage).
If your child is selected for one of the programs, the following will need to be completed:
- A school physical.
- Dental exam.
- FCPS school registration forms.
Child Find Screenings
Child Find is the process of identifying children with potential special education needs as well as educating the community about child development and the importance of early intervention. Child Find screenings and services are provided by the FCPS Early Childhood Identification and Services program for children ages 20 months through 5 years who live in Fairfax County or Fairfax city. Learn more on the Child Find website.
FCPS Early Childhood and PreK Programs
Fairfax County Public Schools offers programs for the youngest learners:
Community liaisons are available to assist families with the registration process and answer any questions. For more information, visit the Early Childhood Registration webpage.
What Is ParentVUE and How Can You Sign Up?
If you do not already have a ParentVUE SIS account, sign up now to monitor and support your child’s academic success! Through ParentVUE, you are able to monitor your student’s attendance, grades, and assignments at any time. You can also access special reports for your student like progress reports and assessments score reports.
Once you have activated a ParentVUE account for an FCPS student, you will keep the same account until the student graduates. Information about students in the same family can be accessed through the same ParentVUE account. SIS ParentVUE can be accessed using an app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android devices.
Need help creating a SIS ParentVUE account? This video walks you through the steps on how to do so. You can also find out more about SIS ParentVUE on our website.
Update Your Emergency Care Information Through weCare@school
Fairfax County Public Schools provides weCare@school (weCare), an emergency care information system, to parents/caregivers who have registered for their own parent account. weCare helps manage emergency medical information by allowing parents to enter and update their children’s medical data online at their convenience. That contact information automatically enrolls parents/caregivers to receive eNotify communications from the district and their child’s school. eNotify is the communications tool for FCPS emergency, transportation, attendance, weather closing and delay, and essential outreach messages. Messages are sent via email, text, and occasionally phone. Click to edit this placeholder text.
🔍 Lightspeed Parent Report on Child’s Device Activity
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.
Family Resources
FCPS’ Office of Family and School Partnerships would like to remind families of some of the many resources available to them:
- Bilingual community liaisons support student registrars by providing families with information about school and community services offered in Fairfax County. Liaisons are available to help families speaking Spanish, Korean, and Arabic. Once registered at a school, families can contact their family liaison for assistance.
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Early literacy programs are available to Fairfax County residents for parents of children up to 5 years old. These programs help prepare children for school and build confidence in parents as their child’s first teacher. They also help parents become active partners in their child’s education. Programs are available in African-Heritage, Arabic, Spanish, and Korean.
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Parent Information Phone Lines are available in eight languages for parents who speak languages other than English.
- A Multilingual Family Podcast is produced by the offices of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), Family and School Partnerships, and Professional Learning and Equity. It covers important information for parents in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Korean.
- ESOL services are available in Fairfax County not only for students, but also for adults and families. Information on Spring classes will be posted in March 2023.
Visit the Family Engagement webpage for more resources.
Sub and Save the Day! Bonus Opportunities!
FCPS is always looking for kind and caring substitute teachers and substitute instructional assistants to ensure our students continue to thrive when teachers and instructional assistants need to be out of the classroom. Substitute teaching is a great opportunity for future teachers, stay-at-home parents, retirees, college students, part-time employees, and anyone who wants to make a difference.
FCPS has started offering bonuses for substitutes who are available to teach on high volume days. Additionally, substitutes who work more, will earn extra bonuses when they reach 50, 100, or 150 days worked in a school year.
Substitute Teacher and Substitute Instructional Assistant information sessions are held virtually on Wednesdays from 1 to 2 p.m. Candidates will receive an email link to the virtual information session the Monday before the session. Sign up for an information session.
Parent Advocacy Handbook
The Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee (MSAOC) has created a Parent Advocacy Handbook to provide information and support to families as they navigate the FCPS system for their children. It is designed to be particularly useful for families who may be less familiar with such a large school division and/or with schooling in the U.S.
Contact Hilda Reyes, Westlawn Family Liaison, with additional questions.
Westlawn on Social Media
Westlawn is active on social media, we encourage families to access our Facebook and Instagram accounts for a glimpse into daily school life.
Westlawn 2023-2024 PTA Board
We are excited to announce our PTA Cabinet!
Simone Rose, President
Deirdre Ladd, Vice President
Christine Lusk and Dave Jones, Treasurers
Jordan Kislear, Secretary
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