Falcon Press 6.13.24

Access the Falcon PressEnd of School year

We cannot thank you enough for helping us have such an amazing year here at Forestdale!  Thank you for sharing your most precious gifts with us, and allowing us into your lives.  Having the opportunity to develop such deep relationships with your children is a blessing that we do not take for granted.  

This week, we hosted our Sixth Grade Promotion Ceremony and celebrated our Falcons moving onto middle school.  Some of these students have been Falcons for 7 years!  Watching our Sixth Graders grow throughout the year and mature into themselves has been a joy.  The strengths they bring to our community and the relationships they have developed with one another will be missed.  After our promotion ceremony, we celebrated with our Sixth Grade families and students with a cook-out, which was both fun and delicious!  Thank you to all of the families that were able to join us for this proud moment in our students’ lives.  

On Wednesday, our students showed off in our annual talent show.  This event was a beautiful showcase of our diverse and gifted student body.  Talents from singing to dancing, from piano to trivia, from joke-telling to rubix cube-solving were on display. Our Falcons were so brave to get up in front of all of their classmates, teachers, and parents in attendance, and our audience members were supportive and respectful.  One of our Sixth Grade students performed in his seventh Forestdale Talent Show!  It is a tradition we value and look forward to each year.  

Wednesday afternoon we said tearful goodbyes and gave many hugs as we wrapped up the end of the school year with our students.  We then took a moment to celebrate as a staff, taking a look back at how far we have come this year and how much growth we have seen in our students and ourselves.  One celebration to share with you all - As of this morning, Forestdale Elementary School has decreased our percentage of students who are considered chronically absent from 25.9% at the end of the 2022-23 school year to 14.9% at the end of the 2023-24 school year!  This 11% decrease is due in large part to the commitment you as families have made to ensuring your students are here at school and ready to learn every day.  Thank you for working with us so intentionally on this goal throughout the year.  We look forward to continuing our focus on attendance moving into next school year!  

Thank you again for all of your support throughout this school year - We are so proud to be a part of the Forestdale community. 

Amy A. Willis, Assistant Principal

Heber Paredes, Principal Designee


Summer Office Hours

Summer Office Hours

The school office will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. beginning Monday, June 24, 2024.  We will be accepting student registrations all summer.


Summer Learning Letters

Summer Learning Welcome letters will be mailed to students who returned their invitations next week. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Mrs. Gordon at ktburke1@fcps.edu until June 21st. Ms. Erin Cooper, the Summer Learning Coordinator, can be reached starting July 6th at epcooper@fcps.edu.  


INOVA Back to School Pediatric Health Fairs

Inova Cares Clinic (ICC) will provide children ages 5+ with free school entrance physicals and immunizations at summer health fairs for children on Medicaid or who are uninsured. The clinics will take place 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on the following dates:

  • Saturday, June 29, at ICC for Children - Manassas
  • Saturday, July 20, at ICC for Children - Herndon
  • Saturday, August 17, at ICC for Children - Falls Church

Appointments are required. No walk-ins will be allowed. Call 703-698-2550 for an appointment.


Virtual Mental Wellness Consultations

This summer, the FCPS Office of Intervention and Prevention Services will offer virtual Mental Wellness Consultations from Monday, June 24, through Friday, August 2. Any FCPS parent or secondary student can schedule a 45-minute consultation with a school psychologist or social worker by phone or videoconference. 

 

Parents of students in any grade level can request a consultation to receive guidance on how to support their child’s social, emotional, and academic success. Information about community resources will also be provided.

 

Middle or high school students can request a consultation to receive guidance and support for concerns related to anxiety, mood, behavior, peer or family interactions, or school transitions and changes. Strategies and tools can also be provided to address academic challenges such as organization and time management.

 

We encourage all families to take advantage of this service. Request a consultation or call and leave a message at 703-503-2520.


Summer Camps

Summer Fun for All! Summer Camps and Adapted Recreation

The Family Resource Center (FRC) has a list of dozens of summer camps including general camps, camps for students with a variety of needs, and camps for children of military personnel. 

They’ve also prepared a list of adapted resources, sorted by activity, that are inclusive for children and adults of various physical abilities. 

Learn more by calling 703-204-3941, emailing FRC@fcps.edu, or visiting the FRC webpage.


Welcome to Kindergarten

Register for Kindergarten 

Do you or a neighbor have a child will be 5 years of age by September 30, 2024, and do you plan on sending them to kindergarten for the 2024-2025 school year?  If your child is ready for kindergarten, call the school so we may add you to our list of rising kindergarten students.

Please fill out the form on our website here so you are put on our list of incoming kindergarten families for 2024-2025.  Please share this information with any neighbors who have a child that meets the above criteria.

All the forms needed for registration can be found on the FCPS web here