In this Friday Message you will find:
- Principals' Message
- Ramadan
- Attendance
- Spring Photo Day (3/19)
- AAP Spring Updates
- PTA International Night
- Floris Soaring Eagles
- Techstravaganza
- Breakfast and Lunch Menus
- Spring 2024 SOL Schedule
- Upcoming Dates
Floris Families,
March is the time to change our clocks and spring forward. This Sunday, March 10, at 2 a.m., daylight saving time begins. Don’t forget to move your clocks ahead one hour! As a result of the time change, many students will be walking to school or to bus stops in the dark. Help your child stay safe by having them wear reflective clothing and bright or light colors, or add reflective items to their backpacks or clothes. Also, encourage your child to be especially alert for cars that are turning or backing up and not to run into the street or cross between parked cars.
Our staff and students did a wonderful job with our annual tornado drill this week. Safety drills are important to help schools analyze their plans and ensure students and staff know what to do in an emergency situation. We will be completing our monthly fire evacuation drills through the rest of the year.
To continue the focus on literacy following the Floris Leap into a Good Book literacy night last Thursday, Reading Together, A Webinar for Families (I): The Virginia Department of Education is excited to celebrate Family Reading Month in March. Join the Virginia Department of Education & Virginia PTA for a Reading Together. A webinar designed for families to learn about best practices in reading instruction, the event also covers how families can support their student through all stages of learning to read and improving reading comprehension. The webinar will take place on Wednesday, March 13th from 7-8pm. Registration is required to participate and is open to the public.
PTA Bingo Night is tonight in the cafe. Please plan to enter via Door 6. The community is excited for another evening of fun.
Have a super weekend!
Holly Walker, Principal, hjwalker@fcps.edu
Rob Gibbs, Assistant Principal, ragibbs@fcps.edu
#EveryEagleEveryDay
Ramadan
This year, the first full day of Ramadan is Monday, March 11, and is designated as an Observance Day on the FCPS calendar. Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year, a time for spiritual discipline for Muslims, who believe it was during this month that God revealed the first verses of the Quran to Mohammed. Read more about Ramadan in National Geographic Kids.
Please contact your child's counselor (Sarah de Kramer K, 2nd, 4th, 6th) or James Duffield (1st, 3rd, 5th) if your child needs an alternative space for lunch or prayer during this time, so we can make arrangements to support those needs.
Attendance
Student attendance is very important. Every day, our teachers are teaching, and students are learning. Studies have shown that just two absences per month can cause students to fall behind.
Family trips taken during school days will be counted as “Unexcused Absences.” Excessive absences can additionally hurt our school’s accreditation status with the Virginia Department of Education. Most importantly, it creates a very difficult learning gap in a student’s education both academically and socially for all the days that are missed.
We ask that families do their best to schedule your trips during school breaks. The next school break is Spring Break which is March 25-29. Spring Break is followed by two teacher workdays (student holidays) on Monday, April 1 and Tuesday, April 2
Please reach out to our school team, Sarah de Kramer, James Duffield, or Maggie Seneca, if you have any attendance concerns. You can also visit this website for attendance resources.
Let’s work together to make sure our students are in school to finish the year strong!
Spring Picture Day - Tuesday, March 19!
Come picture ready for individual and class photos!
Paper copies of the order forms came home in Friday Folders (3/1). You can also order online at My Lifetouch and use the Picture Day ID: EVTBHB6R2.
AAP Spring Updates
Any families interested in referring their child for school-based AAP services for the 24-25 school year should submit a AAP School-Based Services (levels 2 and 3) Form to Amy Albanese (Grades K, 2, 4, 6) abalbanese@fcps.edu and/or Katie Pickett (Grades K, 1, 3, 5) kmpickett@fcps.edu by May 1, 2024.
School-based services include Subject-Specific Differentiation (Level 2) and Part-Time AAP services (Level 3). Please read the attached document for more details on the levels of service.
https://florises.fcps.edu/announcements/aap-spring-updates-and-newsletter
PTA International Night
The Floris PTA is thrilled to invite all of our students and families to participate once again in International Night which will take place in the Floris Cafeteria the evening of Wednesday, April 17. More details will be forthcoming!
International Night is a celebration of the diversity of our students and families from different parts of the world. It's an event that will showcase many different countries and allow all of our families the opportunity to learn about new cultures and traditions.
Last year we had 13 different countries represented and we are currently looking for parents to volunteer to host a country of their choice this year! Each country will be able to bring items to decorate their table and can offer things like traditional cultural items, food, etc. We are able to accommodate 2 families hosting each table/country.
If you would like to volunteer to host a country, please contact
Silvia.yona.22@gmail.com by March 15. Thank you!
Floris Soaring Eagles
We have brought back our online tradition here at Floris that gives the community the opportunity to say thank you and/or show appreciation for all our staff do each day to make Floris amazing!
Floris Soaring Eagles are compliments, kudos, etc. that we will share with the staff. Just click HERE to access the Floris Soaring Eagle Google Form and share your appreciation.
You can also recognize staff with the FCPS Cares. The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care.
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We represent the leadership of Tomorrow’s Women in Science and Technology (TWIST), a student organization at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST). Each year, we promote STEM through our annual flagship outreach event, Techstravaganza, and we would like to invite your school’s students to attend! Techstravaganza is a free, public, hands-on STEM activity fair for elementary and middle school students in Northern Virginia. In previous years, we've hosted more than 4,500 students and 70 labs presenting STEM activities. Our exhibitors range from TJHSST clubs and our own TWIST volunteers to organizations like NASA SCaN, Art of Problem Solving, George Mason University, American Society of Naval Engineers, and the National Air and Space Museum. This year, we will be holding the 20th annual Techstravaganza on Saturday, May 18, 2024 from 10 AM to 4 PM at TJHSST. Admission is free, food will be for sale, and we hope that you can spread the word in your school. Here is our registration link: https://tinyurl.com/techstrav24, and attached are flyers (in English and Spanish) that can be used to advertise this event. We would appreciate you sharing this with families in a newsletter or your school's social media. Please let us know if translating the flyer into other languages will help. More information about the event can be found on our website at tjtechstrav.org. Thank you so much, and please let us know if you have any questions!
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Please remember you can find the breakfast and lunch menus and nutritional facts at FCPS Nutrislice- Floris
March 11: Observance Day, Ramadan
March 18-22: College and Career Week, details to follow
March 20: PTA Meeting and Science Fair
March 22: End of 3rd Quarter
March 25-29:
- Spring Break
- All FCPS Schools Closed
- Floris Main Office Closed
April 1:
- No School for Students
- Teacher Workday
April 2:
- No School for Students
- Staff Development Day
- Kindergarten Orientation, 9:00-9:45am, cafe (enter via Door 6)
April 4: National School Librarian Day
April 9: PTA Assemblies in the gym
April 10:
- Holiday- Eid al Fitr
- All FCPS schools and offices closed
April 11: Book Fair Set-Up
April 12-18: Book Fair
April 16: Chorus Performance, cafe/stage
April 17:
- Book Fair Parent Buying, 5:00-8:00pm, library
- PTA Meeting, 6:00-6:30pm, café
- PTA International Night, 6:30-8:00pm, café and gym
April 18: Westfield Pyramid Art Show
April 19:
- 6th grade Field Trip- National Art Gallery
- 2nd grade In-House Field Trip
April 24:
- Administrative Professionals' Day
- Observance Day- Theravada New Year
April 26: Field Day for K-2nd- field and blacktop, 10:00am -12:00pm
April 29: Rain date for Field Day for K-2nd- field and blacktop, 10:00am -12:00pm
May 2:
May 3:
May 7: Band Concert, 6:30pm, cafe, enter via Door 6
Find the 2023-2024 School Year Calendar
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