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Dear Freedom Hill Community,
We hope you had a great weekend! We are coming off of an exciting week at Freedom Hill. Our chorus delivered a wonderful concert on Wednesday, and many of our classrooms tuned in to see and learn more about Punxsutawney Phil. It seems spring may be coming soon than we'd think! Before we get there, we still have some great events upcoming in February. Keep your calendar marked with the Spelling Bee Finals, Science Fair, and Family Learning Series session that will focus on Special Education services in FCPS.
We will be sending home a flier in the coming days related to recruiting substitute staff for our school. We are eagerly searching for individuals who are especially interested in serving as instructional assistants working with our preschool and special needs teachers and students. Please see the additional information below and reach out if you are interested in joining us.
This week is National School Counseling Week. Please join us in appreciating our wonderful Ms. Donna Hill!
In partnership,
Nicholas Zapadka, Principal
Eric Kopacz, Assistant Principal
2023-24 FCPS School Calendar
FCPS Lunch Menu
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February 7 - Q2 Progress Reports Sent Home
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February 12 - Spelling Bee Finals, 6PM
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February 13 - Family Learning Series > Special Education (7PM English, 7:30 PM Spanish, Link)
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February 19 - Presidents' Day - School Closed
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February 23 - PTA Science Fair, 6:30PM
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February 24 - Family Donuts Out, Donutchew of Vienna, 8AM-9PM
Freedom Hill is eager to hire additional substitutes who are interested in working as instructional assistants in our preschool and special education classrooms. These individuals will support the classroom teacher and students from 9:00-4:00. If interested, please email the school principal, and apply for the position on the FCPS website. Pay bonuses are available this year for substitutes who work high volume days and/or achieve milestones of days worked. Thank you!
- While it is always a special time when families visit us for lunch, please be sure to 1) notify the classroom teacher, 2) check in at the front office, and 3) be sure to not photograph or share food with another family's student(s).
- When you know ahead of time that you will be picking up your student early, please notify the teacher and the office so that we can have your student packed up and ready when you arrive.
- Please consider donating paper towels to school. If you are able to donate, feel free to drop them off in the office anytime, or have them shipped directly to school.
- If your child will be traveling home a different way than usual or will be picked up early, please let the teacher and the office know by 2:00. It is very difficult and not always possible to accommodate the many requests for end of day dismissals during the last few minutes of school.
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Our expert Instructional Support Team is excited to share the dates and topics for our new Family Learning Series. Our goal is to provide learning opportunities for parents / caregivers interested in a variety of topics related to our students' experiences. These will be held virtually so that topics can be recorded for families to view at a later time if desired. The first 30 minutes will be in English, and the second 30 minutes in Spanish. We look forward to seeing you!
Completed:
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Introduction to Advanced Academics with Mrs. Fredericks (September 2023, Link)
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Full-Time Advanced Academics Screening with Mrs. Fredericks - for families with students in grades 2-6 (October 2023, Link)
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Watch D.O.G.S. Kickoff Pizza Night with Dr. Zapadka, Mr. Kopacz. Please email David Hay with inquiries.
Coming Soon:
- Feb. 13 - Introduction to Special Education & Section 504 with Mrs. Tingler and Mr. Grumbach (7PM English, 7:30PM Spanish, Link)
Later this Year:
- March 13 - The Science of Reading - Our New Approach to Teaching with Mrs. Rossman and Mrs. Mansuy (7PM English, 7:30PM Spanish, Link TBD)
- April 4 - All About the SOLs with Mr. Kopacz and Dr. Zapadka (7PM English, 7:30PM Spanish, Link TBD)
 Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Learn more about the heritage months, celebrations, and traditions celebrated in FCPS. Learn more about Black History month.
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This week, we are working on ONE of the FIVE overarching pillars of the Positivity Project. Cheering others’ success is an important test of our character every single day.
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Friends don’t get jealous of each other or begrudge the other for finding success. They celebrate every victory together.”
~Karen Kingsbury
Questions you might enjoy talking about:
- Be grateful. The root of jealousy is cut off when you focus on the things you DO have, not that you don’t have.
- Be inspired instead of discouraged by their success.
- Don’t compare yourself to others. Everyone is different.
Know that your value does not come from external things.
   
SPELLING BEE
Don’t forget - the school-wide Spelling Bee is next Monday, February 12th in the cafeteria beginning at 6:00PM. You don’t need to be a participant to attend.
VOLUNTEERS AND SCIENTISTS
We are looking for a few volunteers to help arrange the cafeteria tables, assist students in setting up their projects, direct attendees during the event, and help reset the cafeteria the night of the science fair on Friday, February 23rd. If you can lend a helping hand, or have a student that needs volunteer hours, please sign up here.
This year’s Science Fair is scheduled for Friday, February 23rd from 6:30-7:30PM in the cafeteria and we already have a variety of projects submitted. There’s still time to participate in the fun. No prior science fair experience required! Last year we had participants from Kindergarten through 6th grade. For more information - check out the flier on our PTA website here. Project submissions/ sign-ups due by Friday, February 9th.
FAMILY DONUTS OUT
Join us Saturday, February 24th for something extra sweet - an all-day family donuts out at Donutchew of Vienna! From 8AM-9PM, Donutchew will donate 20% of all proceeds to the Freedom Hill PTA. Donutchew offers mochi donuts, croffles, and bubble tea - oh my! Located at 107 Maple Avenue West in the heart of Vienna, Donutchew is a great spot to start the day, catch an afternoon snack, or even an after-dinner treat. Thank you Camille Paredes for organizing this sweet event!
WE WANT YOU!
The PTA is looking for folks interested in volunteering with the PTA next school year (July 2024 - June 2025), whether that’s in a Board position or on one of our many committees.
We are also looking for individuals interested in serving on this school year’s Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee will be elected at our March PTA meeting, and will then meet to review the PTA Board applications and determine a slate of candidates for the 2024-2025 school year that they will present at the April PTA meeting. Voting on the Board candidates will then occur at the following PTA meeting in the beginning of June.
If you have an interest in any position or just want more information, please send a message to info@freedomhillpta.org. Looking forward to hearing from you!
PTA SCHOOL DIRECTORY
Looking for the PTA's School Directory? The directory is online! Visit https://freedomhillespta.memberhub.com/directory and log in using the email address you previously provided to the school. If you log in and do NOT have access, please send an email to directory@freedomhillpta.org with your name (first and last), the name of your student(s), and the corresponding teacher's name(s). Contact directory@freedomhillpta.org with any questions or concerns.
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