IN THIS ISSUE

1. No School Monday!

2. SEL Screener and Opt-Out

3. Celebrating Mr. Jackson!

4. Heritage Night

5. Woodson Chorus Dessert on Broadway

6. Fairfax Villa/FCPS Inclement Weather Plan

7. Celebrations of Lexia!

8. Monday & Friday Fairfax Villa Clothing

9. Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!

10. Important Upcoming Dates

1.No School Monday!

Just a reminder that FCPS will be closed in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day! We will see you on Tuesday, weather permitting. 

2.SEL Screener and Opt-Out

Students in grades 3-12 use the SEL Screener twice a year to share their perspectives on how well their school and community help them develop skills they need to succeed. These skills include achieving goals, understanding and managing emotions, establishing and maintaining relationships with adults and peers, and making responsible decisions. Students also share how successful their school and community are at making them feel valued, included, and supported. These factors are critical to positive academic, social, and emotional success.

The SEL screener will take place from February 26th until March 15th. If you would like your child to be opted out, please return your opt out form to the main office by February 12th, 2024. 

3.Celebrating Mr. Jackson!

Excellence in teaching students, leading schools, and providing support is what Fairfax County Public Schools is all about. The Department of Human Resources sponsors the recognition of outstanding employees as they seek to create and demonstrate the best instructional and support practices.

Congratulations to Mr. Jackson for being honored with the 2023-24 Outstanding Operational Employee for the Woodson Pyramid!

2023-24 Woodson Pyramid Award Winners: 

Outstanding Teacher – Elementary – Melissa Adams, Canterbury Woods ES

Outstanding Teacher – Secondary – Travis Pugh, Woodson HS

Outstanding New Teacher – Elementary – Tricia Murphy, Mantua ES

Outstanding New Teacher – Secondary – Hannah Warnick, Frost Middle

Outstanding Leader – Emma Hamilton, Olde Creek ES

Outstanding Professional Employee – Megan Short, Frost Middle

Outstanding Operational Employee – Rodrigo Jackson, Fairfax Villa ES

4.Heritage Night

Please sign up for the activities you're interested in, such as setting up a table display, offering food samples, and taking part in the cultural fashion show and/or talent show. Sign up to participate in Heritage Night here!

5. Woodson Chorus Desserts on Broadway

Purchase your tickets here to attend Woodson’s Broadway play!

6.Fairfax Villa/FCPS Inclement Weather Plan

🔖Labeling Student Items

Now that the weather is getting colder, please make sure student’s first and last names are in jackets, sweatshirts, coats, hats, mittens, etc. When they inevitably get lost or forgotten somewhere, if we can find a name we will return the item to the student. Labeling these items helps to keep our Lost and Found collection to a minimum. Thanks for your help! 

In the case of an emergency for a weather-related closing, delay, or early dismissal, the FCPS website will be updated first, and will automatically include an alert at the top of each page with the appropriate information (see sample alert below). This information will remain posted until normal operations have resumed, or you click "Close This Alert" to remove it. If you have closed the alert, a red exclamation mark will remain (highlighted by red circle below) to indicate that the alert is still active. 

FCPS tries to make decisions in the evening, taking into account that parents need time to make proper arrangements. But when there is a lot of uncertainty, we wait to get the latest morning forecast. In that case, the superintendent makes the decision of whether to delay or close schools by approximately 4:30 a.m.

FCPS provides information about closings and delays in many ways including:

• Posted to www.fcps.edu.
• Posted to the FCPS Twitter and FCPS Facebook pages.
• Email and text messages sent to parents (using the parent contact information listed in the SIS parent record). 
• Email sent to News You Choose subscribers of Delayed Openings and School Closings.
• Posted on FCPS cable Channel 21 (Cox Communications, Reston Comcast, and Verizon (channel 11) cable customers only).
• Area radio and television stations.

7.Celebrations of Lexia!

49 = The number of  Lexia Certificates given this past week!

862 = The number of  Lexia Certificates given this year!

68% = The percentage of students working at or above grade level!

Parents - ask your child to show you their Lexia Superstar Certificates for the completion of each level!

Congratulations to all of our students who are working hard on their Lexia lessons and making so much progress. At the beginning of the school year, 42% of our students in grades K-6 were working on grade level material in Lexia. We now have 68% of our students working on grade level.  For the other 32% of students, we are also proud of them for working toward their end of the year goal. 

It is VERY important that families do NOT help students with the Lexia lessons. We need for students to do their own learning so that we get a true picture of what they have learned and what teachers need to support them with here at school. Each week, teachers get a report of the areas of growth and lessons that each student needs and, if families assist with Lexia, this will change the learning results. We need students to do the Lexia work themselves so that they will be most successful in their learning. 

If your child wants to practice their reading skills with Lexia at home, they can go to https://clever.com/in/fairfax/student/portal to log into Clever using their FCPS google accounts. They then click on the Lexia icon to get started. It is strongly recommended that our K-6 graders spend 15-30 minutes each night learning with this Lexia program.  Please be aware that they will also be using this program during the school day in one of their language arts blocks.

Another way to get to Lexia is through their Schoology account. After they go to https://lms.fcps.edu/ and log into Schoology, they click on the waffle in the upper right corner, click on Clever, and then they will see their Lexia.

If your child does not have a school issued laptop to use at home, he/she may access Schoology via the FCPS website. Schoology is the first option available in the dark blue toolbar.

Ms. Eib’s class is practicing their Heggerty phonics as a group!

8.Monday & Friday Fairfax Villa Clothing

Students and staff will be wearing the same clothing to kick off and end each week during the 2023-24 school year!

• On Mondays, we will be wearing our Positivity shirts to highlight our character strengths and virtues that we will be learning throughout the school year.  The Boosterthon team distributed these green shirts during the fun run for the past 3 years. The shirts highlight our Villa dragon and Positivity logos on the front of the shirts. 
• On Fridays, we will be showing off our favorite Fairfax Villa spirit wear.  If your son or daughter has outgrown their Fairfax Villa spirit wear clothing, our PTA has some new designs.

9.Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!

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 in kindergarten and 1st grade were far less likely to read proficiently at the end of 3rd grade.

10.Important Upcoming Dates

1/15: Student Holiday

1/17: PTA Chipotle Fundraiser

1/18: Zoom PTA Meeting #5

1/26: Teacher Workday

1/31: Grade 3 Family Folk Dance 7pm

2/7: Winter Band Concert 7pm

2/9: PTA Heritage Night 7pm

2/19: Student Holiday

3/5: Student Holiday

3/7: 5th Grade Ukulele Performance 7pm

3/12: Spring Picture Day

3/14: WTW Math Enrichment Experience - Gr. 4-5

3/25-3/29:  Spring Break

4/1: Teacher Workday

4/2:  Staff Development Day

4/4: Zoom PTA Meeting #6

4/10: Student Holiday

4/11:  Spring Chorus Concert 7pm

4/12: PTA Bingo Night

5/1:  First & Second Grade Performance 7pm

5/3:  Teacher Workday

5/3: Kindergarten Orientation 2pm

5/23: Strings Evening Performance at 7pm 

5/27:  Student Holiday

5/29: Springs Band Concert at 7pm

6/6: Grade 6 Showcase at 7pm

6/7:  Field Day

6/11:  6th Grade Luncheon

6/12:  6th Grade Promotion Ceremony

6/12: Last Day of School - 2hr Early Release

Be Informed; Stay Involved!

• Fairfax Villa Events Calendar
• FCPS School Year Calendar
• Sign up for News You Choose 
• Join the Fairfax Villa PTA
• Substitute Teaching Opportunities
• Monitor your student's academics with a SIS Parent Account
• Recognize an FCPS Employee at FCPS Cares
• Mental Health Resources and Emergency Services Information

10900 Santa Clara Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030  |  Main Office: 703-267-2800
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