Dear Island Creek Families,
On behalf of the entire Island Creek Elementary School Staff, we welcome you to the new school year! We hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer break.
The Island Creek staff is committed to supporting every student to ensure they learn and develop academically, socially, emotionally, and behaviorally at high levels. With input from staff, students, and families, we developed Island Creek's new Vision and Mission statement last year, and will be exemplifying: Engaging Every Child, Advancing Every Day!
The Island Creek Family Handbook is located here and we are currently updating the Famiy Quick Guide.
We look forward to an amazing school year with every child actively engaged in high levels of learning daily. We look forward with continuing to support our Island Creek Community through our commitment to a strong home-school partnership.
All our best,
Jen Fallert, Principal
Karen Baxter, Assistant Principal
Denise Cash-Pinckney, Assistant Principal
Students’ individual classroom teacher assignments will be emailed directly to families after 4pm on Wednesday, August 14. We are still registering students; therefore, are unable to finalize class rosters. As Island Creek is a dedicated Professional Learning Community, teachers at every grade level collaborate interdependently throughout the school year to support the academic and social-emotional achievement of all students. All teachers are highly qualified and were selected as members of the Island Creek staff because they meet the high standards and expectations we have in our community. We appreciate your support of our talented teachers.
Who: Families and Students
What: Open House: families and students are invited to meet their new teachers, bring school supplies, stop by the clinic and/or cafeteria, and sign-up for scouts, PTA, etc. This is a drop in and out event.
When: Thursday, August 15 (3:00-5:30); this is a drop in and out event
Where: To assist with traffic flow, please enter through the Main Entrance (Door 1) and exit from the cafeteria (Door 6) or kiss and ride (Door 2).
How: Island Creek Staff will be wearing navy blue staff shirts and are happy to suport students and families with locating classrooms.
Kona Ice is expected to be on campus around 3:30.
Island Creek Staff will be available to help students find their classroom on the first day of school, Monday, August 19. Doors to school will open at 8:20 a.m, and school officially begins at 8:35 a.m.
Due to our concern for safety and our desire to begin establishing important routines on the first day of school, we do not allow parents/guardians to walk children to classrooms on the first day of school, with the exception of our kindergarten students and new to Island Creek students. Please note the exception for our kingergarten students and new students is only for the first day of school.
Parents of returning students in Grades 1 – 6, please say “goodbye” at the front door. We will have plenty of staff on hand to help your child find their classroom once they are inside the building.
To ensure school staff have time to teach and reinforce cafeteria routines and procedures, we will be delaying the visitation of family members during lunch until October 1.
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Support Your Child’s Success
Access your student’s attendance records, grades, and assignments at any time with SIS ParentVUE. Caregivers should receive an activation code when they register their child.
Once you have activated a ParentVUE account for an FCPS student, you will keep the same account until the student graduates. Information about students in the same family can be accessed through the same ParentVUE account. Access SIS ParentVUE by using an app on your iPhone, iPad, or Android devices.
Need help creating a SIS ParentVUE account? This video walks through the steps. Find out more about SIS ParentVUE.
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Now would be a grea time to download important FCPS apps and bookmark key pages to set you up for the school year. Below are our recommendations and their specific use.
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ParentVue - The SIS ParentVUE Account (Student Information System ParentVUE Account) is the FCPS secure solution for accessing information about your child's attendance, class performance, demographic data, and link to Schoology. It provides an additional conduit for communication with your child's school.
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Here Comes the Bus- Know when your bus is approaching your stop! Here Comes the Bus® app is a school bus tracking app that provides real-time bus location. This helps parents and students get to the bus stop on time. Here Comes the Bus® utilizes our GPS data and available on multiple devices. FCPS school district code 28982 and you will need your ParentVue app set up first.
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Talking Points - TalkingPoints is an easy and safe way families can communicate in their home languages with their child’s teachers for free. We will be using this platform to communicate with you about your child’s education and progress.
Bus Routes will be posted to SIS ParentVUE accounts the week of August 12.
Walkers will use Door 1 (the main entrance). We welcome all students into the school at 8:20 am, and students need to be in class by 8:35 am. We ask that parents/guardians say goodbye to their walkers at Door 1 beginning the first day of school for returning students in Grades 1-6 and for all students in Grades K-6 starting Tuesday, August 20. We always have staff members to ensure students get to their classrooms safely. Please note the arrival time of your child(ren), as we do not have school staff available to supervise students before 8:20.
Kiss and Ride starts at 8:20 am for arrival. Please follow the line and pull up to Door 2. If you arrive at school after 8:35, please park and bring your child to the Main Office to check-in. Pick-up for Kiss and Ride will begin at 3:20 pm, and please place your tag on your vehicle's rear view mirror. Please have your child/children enter/exit your vehicle on the passenger side. Remember to stay in your car for Kiss and Ride. A staff member or patrol will open your car for your child to exit or enter your car.
The safety and security of our students and our staff are of utmost importance. Every visitor who enters the building is monitored. All visitors entering Island Creek need to have a valid driver’s license and sign-in using the Visitor Management System (VMS). The VMS will issue each visitor a sticker that should always be worn when in the building.
Are Your Child’s Immunizations and Records Up to Date?
In Virginia, it's required by law for students to have certain immunizations to attend school. This is supported by guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Virginia Department of Health, and FCPS Regulation 2101.
Starting Monday, September 30, students who have not provided proof of immunization will not be allowed to attend school.
You can check your child’s immunization compliance by accessing ParentVUE.
Families of students with incomplete immunization records need to provide acceptable proof of immunization to their child's school as soon as possible. You can find the list of required immunizations on the General Registration Immunizations webpage.
If your child’s immunizations are incomplete, here's what you need to do:
- Get your child’s immunization record from one of these places:
- Request immunization records for free through the Virginia Immunization Information System (VIIS).
- If your child was immunized outside Virginia, get records from those states’ systems.
- Request records from your healthcare provider. Some may charge for copies.
- Submit your child’s immunization record to your child’s school.
Families should submit their child’s completed immunization records before September 30.
Please visit FCPS’ website for more information. If you would like to speak with an FCPS staff member, please leave a message at one of the phone numbers below. Thank you for supporting our students' health and well-being.
Student consent forms currently available on ParentVue will be moved to the Parent Digital Consent System (PDC). Families can log into the PDC using their ParentVue credentials to complete consent forms assigned to their child. If you have a new ParentVue account, you must wait 24 hours after it is created to use the PDC.
https://digitalconsent.fcps.edu/ispb/r/is01/pdcp/login?session=2945843123735
Forms available include:
School Counseling Opt-out Digital Resources Consent SEL Screener Opt-Out Family Life Education Opt-out SOL Retest Permission Objection to Release of Directory Information to the Public Objection to Release of Information to Outside Organizations
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Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications Available
According to the Centers for Disease Control, eating breakfast at school is associated with better attendance rates, fewer missed school days, and better test scores. Students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals receive breakfast and lunch at school at no cost.
Families in FCPS that are earning less than 185% of the poverty level can receive meals for their students at no cost. Families should complete the application before the start of each school year. Approved applications may also qualify students for additional benefits.
Apply on the Free and Reduced-Price Meals webpage.
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As you may have heard, a requirement for Elementary Teachers (classroom, special education, and ESOL) from the Virginia Literacy Act includes approximately 27 hours of asynchronous training focused on the Science of Reading and evidenced-based literacy during the 2024-2025 school year. As a result, Fairfax County Public Schools has planned for 7 early release Mondays starting in September.
Please note the dates and times for your calendars listed below. These dates only apply to elementary school-age students.
Island Creek Elementary will release school-age students at 12:20 pm on the following days:
- September 16
- October 21
- November 18
- February 10
- March 10
- April 21
- May 12
FCPS has created a webpage to provide detailed information about the early release Mondays.
As a part of our ongoing efforts to streamline paper processes, parents can now select a number of opt-out’s electronically via ParentVUE. Once you have signed into your ParentVUE account, simply select the “Student Info” tab and click on “Edit Information.” You will find opt-out’s listed there. Parents that do not yet have a ParentVUE account will still be able to use paper forms for notification. If you need to set up your ParentVUE account, you can create one online via the FCPS ParentVUE Registration page.
The FCPS School Year 2024-2025 calendar may be accessed here.
We look forward to welcoming our Crocs to the new school year on Monday, August 19 at 8:20!
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