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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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IN THIS ISSUE
- Message From Mrs. Sobeski
- PTA Staff Collaboration
- Registration
- SEL Screener and Opt-Out
- Heritage Night on February 9
- Lunar New Year Bulletin Board
- Celebrations of Lexia!
- Monday & Friday Fairfax Villa Clothing
- Attend Today, Achieve Tomorrow!
- Important Upcoming Dates
Our kindergarten and third grade classrooms are reading buddies!
1.Message From Mrs. Sobeski
Dear Fairfax Villa Families and Community,
I am so excited to become your interim principal. When I arrived at the Villa to work alongside Principal Gerstner in the summer of 2021, I happily hit the ground running to work hard and do and learn whatever I could to support students' learning and safety. I’ve enjoyed seeing our Villa dragons grow, learn, create, and be social and kind to one another. I enjoyed participating in our many Parent Teacher Association (PTA) led events, such as Heritage Night, Fall Fest, Bingo Night, and our annual Glow Party.
I am looking forward to continuing to build great, trusting relationships with our school’s community and county leaders.
Since arriving in Fairfax County in 2004, I have worked in different roles at many other schools. I was a classroom teacher at several grade levels, an instructional coach, a math resource teacher, and an assistant principal in the Westfield Pyramid. I believe these experiences have prepared me well and will significantly benefit all stakeholders as I support the mission and vision of the Villa as your interim principal.
We have numerous things to look forward to and celebrate: ongoing student achievement, professional development for our staff, positive social and emotional development for our students, kindergarten orientation, teacher appreciation week, 6th grade promotion, evening performances, plus PTA events, to name a few.
Fairfax Villa is a gem! I am truly honored and extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of this caring, understanding, and kind community. I am thrilled to continue leading the great work at Fairfax Villa as we end our school year strong!
Your partner in your child’s education,
Shelia Sobeski
2.PTA and Staff Collaboration
Hi families! Our amazing PTA and Villa community have generously offered to support a few of our staff meetings. Below is a signup for our upcoming meeting on February 2nd if you would like to contribute. Thank you for all that you do!
Sign-up to bring an item for our February 2nd staff meeting.
3.Kindergarten and New Student Registration
🖊️ If you have an unregistered child who will attend Fairfax Villa Elementary next school year, please complete the online intake form to plan accurate class sizes/staffing for next year.📑
📢 Please spread the word to your neighbors who will have children attending Fairfax Villa ES.📢
📨 If you have any questions, please contact Silvia Dossmann at smdossmann@fcps.edu.📨
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4.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.
5.Heritage Night - February 9th
 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!
6.Lunar New Year Bulletin Board
Help us celebrate the Lunar New Year! Lunar New Year is celebrated in many cultures, and this year it falls on February 10th. To celebrate this holiday, we are collecting photos of our students and families who celebrate to put up on a bulletin board in the hallway. If you would like to share a photo of your student or family celebrating the Lunar New Year, please send the photo to school with your student’s name and teacher written on the back. We would love to see photos of special decorations, clothing, or activities!
Please contact Mary Gaskins mngaskins@fcps.edu if you have any questions!
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Kindergarteners are practicing their gymnastics schools in P.E. this week!
7.Celebrations of Lexia!
32 = The number of Lexia Certificates given this past week!
916 = The number of Lexia Certificates given this year!
69% = 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.
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.
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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.
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10.Important Upcoming Dates
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
Frequently Visited Links and Important Fairfax Villa Contacts
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