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Are you receiving Lane ES updates but no longer have students here? Now is the time to update your FCPS News You Choose here.
The Lion’s Roar
Monday, August 26, 2024
Lane Lions of all ages, shapes, and sizes returned to school this week excited for another year of learning. First graders added to the den by creating their own lions from paper plates.
Upcoming Events
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Wednesday, 8/28 – PTA Fall Enrichment "Cub Clubs" registration opens
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Friday, 8/30 through Monday, 9/2 – Labor Day Holiday
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Saturday, 8/31 – PTA fall spiritwear sale free ship-to-school offer ends
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Tuesday, 9/3 – Friday, 9/6 – Kindergarten Color Week 1
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Tuesday 9/3: Favorite Color
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Wednesday 9/4: Orange
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Thursday 9/5: Green
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Friday 9/6: Purple/Pink
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Thursday, 9/5 – PTA Meeting, Cafeteria/Zoom, 6:30 p.m.
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Friday, 9/6 – “Family Friday Breakfast Bites” potluck for kindergarten families – 8:30 a.m., Cafeteria
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Monday, 9/9 – Friday, 9/13 – Kindergarten Color Week 2
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Monday, 9/9: Yellow
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Tuesday 9/10: Black and White
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Wednesday 9/11: Red, White and Blue (for Patriot Day)
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Thursday 9/12: PTA Read-a-thon Storybook Character Day
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Friday 9/12: Rainbow
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Thursday, 9/12 – PTA Read-a-thon Storybook Character Day and Kick-Off Celebration
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Friday, 9/13 – “Family Friday Breakfast Bites” potluck for 1st grade families – 8:30 a.m., Cafeteria
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Monday, 9/16 – Early Release Monday, dismissal at 1:05 p.m.
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Friday, 9/20 – “Family Friday Breakfast Bites” for 2nd grade families, 8:30 a.m., Cafeteria
In This Issue
- Labor Day Long Weekend Ahead, No School This Friday or Next Monday
- “Family Friday Breakfast Bites” Grade-Level Gatherings Begin September 6th with Event for Kindergarten Families
- Introducing TalkingPoints Topics – Customize Your School Communication!
- Safety Drills During the School Year
- Required Parent/Guardian Consent for Use of Digital Resources
- Lightspeed Parent Report on Child’s Device Activity
- REMINDER: Update Immunizations and Record
- Would You Like to Volunteer at Lane? Please Review Our Volunteer Orientation Online
- From the Shelves of the Lane Library: Volunteers Needed!
- It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for Music Electives!
- Health Information and Emergency Care Forms
- PTA News: Spiritwear sale, first meeting September 5th, membership drive
News & Notes
Labor Day Long Weekend Ahead, No School This Friday or Next Monday
Please note that there is no school this Friday, August 30th, or next Monday, September 2nd, in honor of the Labor Day holiday.
Labor Day falls on the first Monday in September each year. It's the day to honor and remember all working people and celebrate those who've fought for workers' rights. We hope your family enjoys a restful holiday.
School will reopen on Tuesday, September 5th at the regular time.
“Family Friday Breakfast Bites” Grade-Level Gatherings Begin September 6th with Event for Kindergarten Families
Over the summer, we reviewed the results of the 2024 Family Engagement Survey and discovered that our parents are craving more chances to connect with each other and the school in comfortable, informal settings. This year we hope to answer that call in a variety of ways. The first will be a series of casual grade-level gatherings called “Family Friday Breakfast Bites.”
These potluck sharing events will be held on Friday mornings before school from 8:30 to 9:15 a.m. throughout the fall. Families can attend together to enjoy a light breakfast and family fellowship with other Lane lions in the same or similar grade levels before students go off to class. Parents and other family members who attend may stay a bit longer to continue conversations and ask questions of family liaisons and other staff members who may be present.
The first "Family Friday" will be held on Friday, September 6th. All kindergarten families are invited to attend. We just ask that each family bring a breakfast dish or item to share (muffins, donuts, casseroles, etc.). If you are a kindergarten family that would like to attend, please RSVP here and let us know what you’ll be bringing.
We look forward to seeing our kindergarten families on September 6th! Here are the dates for the other grade levels:
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Friday, September 13th – 1st Grade Families
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Friday, September 20th – 2nd Grade Families
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Friday, October 18th – 3rd & 4th Grade Families
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Friday, October 25th – 5th & 6th Grade Families
Sign-ups for these events will be posted in the coming weeks!
Introducing TalkingPoints Topics – Customize Your School Communication!
We know three things about communication at Lane:
- Our families want to be informed and up-to-date.
- TalkingPoints – the texting platform and mobile app – is a popular and convenient way to relay that information.
- We already send out a lot of information, but we receive even more, which may be of value to our families.
What we don’t know is which extra information which families would like to receive. So this year we are introducing TalkingPoints Topics, so you can choose the type of additional announcements and reminders you would like to receive through text messages or the TalkingPoints App. |
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Please note that all families will automatically receive basic TalkingPoints schoolwide messages from our family liaison, Melanie Crosby Hardy, and classroom-specific information from their children’s teachers.
If you’d like to receive additional information, such as Week-at-a-Glance school calendar reminders, PTA announcements, and parenting resources, please complete this form or fill out the paper form you will receive in this week’s Wednesday Folder.
Kindergarten Color Weeks – Help Our Littlest Lions Learn Their Colors!
Our kindergarten classrooms are about to get really colorful, as our youngest students celebrate and learn about a different color every day. Staff and students in other grades are encouraged to showcase the rainbow along with them these two weeks by also wearing the designated color of the day. Here’s the schedule:
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Tuesday 9/3: Favorite Color
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Wednesday 9/4: Orange
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Thursday 9/5: Green
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Friday 9/6: Purple/Pink
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Monday, 9/9: Yellow
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Tuesday 9/10: Black and White
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Wednesday 9/11: Red, White and Blue (for Patriot Day)
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Thursday 9/12: PTA Read-a-thon Storybook Character Day
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Friday 9/12: Rainbow.
Please encourage your child – no matter what grade level – to join the colorful fun!
NOTE TO KINDERGARTEN PARENTS: Because Kindergarten is also working on listening skills, students will be told what color to wear the following day. Our hope is that students will listen and tell you the color at home. Please don’t share the secret!
Safety Drills During the School Year
Keeping students and staff safe is a priority for FCPS. Each school has an emergency preparedness plan to respond to incidents such as fires and tornadoes. Schools are required by state law to practice emergency drills, including lockdown drills, each year.
Two fire drills and the first lockdown drill of the school year must take place within the first 20 days of school. We completed our first fire drill last Thursday, and all the students did very well! Kindergarten students are exempt from practicing the first lockdown drill.
Schools are required to notify parents and guardians at least 24 hours before a school conducts a lockdown drill. However, schools are not required to give the specific date and time of the drill in advance.
Your child may come home and talk about their experience during the drill. We encourage you to talk with your child about the importance of being prepared for emergencies. Please review these frequently asked questions to support your students before and after school lockdown drills.
You can learn more about safety and security protocols and language by watching these two videos:
FCPS also provides information on its Frequently Asked Questions about Lockdown Drills page and in the document Parent/Guardian Tips to Support Students Before, During, and After Required Lockdown Drills.
Required Parent/Guardian Consent for Use of Digital Resources
Thank you to all the parents and guardians who have already signed off on the Digital Resources Parent Consent Form, which is required for each student enrolled in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). If you have not yet signed this form, please do so as soon as possible. You must fill in the form for each child enrolled at Lane.
FCPS uses a variety of resources to support student learning. FCPS conducts the same technical evaluations for all products that use student information. In cases where FCPS contracts with a vendor to host student information, FCPS requires that the vendor adheres to the security and privacy requirements specified in a confidentiality agreement included in their contracts. FCPS does not have contracts with every instructional tool vendor. Many valuable instructional tools are governed by Terms of Service (TOS) and include both free and paid tools. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year require parental consent. Your child may use digital tools that do not collect, use, or share any personal information.
You can find more information about digital resources on the FCPS website: https://www.fcps.edu/family-resources/technology/digital-resources/consent.
This page also contains a link to the consent form. You can access the consent form directly at this link: https://digitalconsent.fcps.edu/ispb/is01/r/pdcp/login.
Please note that you must use your ParentVUE credentials to access this form.
View this video to guide you through completing the form.
If you do not yet have a ParentVUE account, please contact our family liaison, Melanie Crosby Hardy, at macrosby@fcps.edu to receive an access code and instructions for setting up your account.
Lightspeed Parent Report on Child’s Device Activity
FCPS has tools to help parents know more about their child’s activity on any FCPS device. These tools are provided at no cost to families by Lightspeed, the school division’s internet content-filtering service.
Parents may sign up for a weekly Parent Report, which will provide a list of the top sites your child visited. The report also offers parents the ability to sign up for free access to the Internet Use Parent Portal. Through the portal, parents may pause their child’s access to the internet on their FCPS device during non-school hours.
Learn more about Lightspeed Parent Reports.
REMINDER: Update Immunizations and Records
Please check with your healthcare provider as soon as possible to make sure your child is up-to-date on the immunizations required by the state of Virginia. Starting Monday, September 30th, students who have not provided proof of immunization will not be allowed to attend school.
You can check your child’s immunization compliance and submit their immunization record in SIS ParentVUE. Records may also be delivered to a school’s front office.
If your child needs a vaccine, please make an appointment with your healthcare provider, visit the Fairfax County Health Department website for a list of child immunization clinics, or access other local services. If needed, families may also provide other immunization documentation including a healthcare provider’s written statement of a permanent or temporary medical exemption or a notarized Religious Exemption Form.
Find more information on immunizations on the FCPS website.
Would You Like to Volunteer at Lane? Please Review Our Volunteer Orientation Online
The spirit of service and volunteerism is strong at Lane! We always appreciate any support you can provide and offer a variety of ways that you can help.
We ask that all family members who’d like to volunteer at school complete an orientation that covers responsibilities and expectations. We understand that it can be difficult for families to attend information sessions, both during the school day and in the evenings, so this year we have put the information online. Please review these slides at your convenience before scheduling your first day of volunteering.
Once you have reviewed the slides, please fill out our Lane Volunteer Form. Once that is complete you can reach out to your child’s teacher or others on staff to inquire about volunteer opportunities.
Thank you for your cooperation and generous support!
From the Shelves of the Lane Library: Volunteers Needed!
Our librarian, Mrs. Chozick, is in need of volunteer help in the library. Most of the work will be shelving books (training will be provided); occasionally other help will be needed, like making copies or taking down displays, but expect to be shelving books most of the time.
If you can spare just one hour once a week, that would be splendid! As it is most helpful to have volunteers throughout the day and week, so that books can be continuously shelved, volunteer times are on a first-come, first-served basis.
Please contact Mrs. Chozick at schozick@fcps.edu to let her know what times you might be available or if you should have any questions. Thanks so much for considering helping in the library!
It’s Not Too Late to Sign Up for Music Electives!
Is Your Child Interested in Learning to Play an Instrument?
Attention 4th, 5th, and 6th Grade Families! NOW is the time to sign up to learn how to play an instrument in Strings (grades 4, 5, 6) or Band (grades 5, 6 only)! Lessons happen during the school day (during Specials) with a concert at the end of the year! The deadline to sign up is this Wednesday, August 28th! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to be part of these AMAZING instrumental programs at Lane!
There will be a Strings Parent Information Night on Wednesday, August 28th at 7:30 p.m. at Hayfield Secondary School. All families who are new to Strings are encouraged to attend to get information about the expectations for learning!
Does Your Child Like to Sing?
Students in 5th and 6th grade also have the opportunity to join Chorus this year! Chorus lessons happen during the school day, and two concert performances are performed during the school year. Students may choose an instrument AND Chorus. Sign up for Chorus now!
If you have questions, please reach out to the music teachers:
James Piccirello, Strings, jradkisonpic@fcps.edu
Ryan Woessner, Band, rtwoessner1@fcps.edu
Grayson Crouch, Chorus, gcrouch@fcps.edu
Stefan Griffin, Chorus, stgriffin@fcps.edu
Health Information and Emergency Care Forms
The Health Information Form (HIF) (SS/SE-71) and the Emergency Care Information form (SS/SE-3) provide valuable information regarding student health conditions. These forms are critical in the early identification of students who may need healthcare support in the educational environment. Along with the development of Healthcare Plans (HCP) and Action Plans, the Public Health Nurses (PHNs) utilize the information contained in the HIF to develop teaching strategies for FCPS staff in order to meet the requirements of Regulation 2104 Health Services-School Health-Related Needs. (Translations of forms are available on the FCPS registration website.)
These forms are required for all students. You should have received a copy of your child’s Emergency Care Form at Open House or on the first day of school. If you have not yet signed off on it, please do so as soon as possible. If you did not receive your form, please contact the school or download one here, fill it out, and send it in to school with your child.
Enrolling parents/guardians who have a SIS ParentVUE account may submit their Health Form electronically by using the Online Verification/Update packet. Paper copies can be downloaded here.
Thank you to all of the families who have already returned all of their back-to-school forms!
Follow Us on Social Media
Looking for more news? Check out our new school Lane Elementary School Facebook page and find us on Instagram at @laneelementaryfcps!
PTA News
Fall Spiritwear Sale with Free Ship-to-School Option Continues Until August 31st
If you weren’t able to purchase your new Lane wardrobe at one of our events before school started or you couldn’t find exactly what you were looking for, visit the PTA’s online store for even more options. You can have your order shipped to your home now, or you can wait until the end of the month and get free shipping to the school. Details are on the website.
Registration for Fall Cub Clubs Begins This Wednesday!
The PTA and Lane admin have organized an entertaining and educational line-up of before- and after-school enrichment programs, known as “Cub Clubs,” for the fall session. Advertising began on the PTA Facebook page today, and information – including registration links – will be posted on their website on Wednesday.
Offerings this session include karate, science, chess, sports, Zumba, and a Harry Potter club. Some sessions will be taught be Lane staff. Sessions often fill up fast, so be sure to register as soon as possible once the portal opens on Wednesday.
Join the PTA! First Meeting Thursday, September 5th, 6:30 p.m.!
The PTA has been busy these last two weeks – distributing school supply packs, greeting parents at Open House, selling spiritwear, handing out information about the upcoming Read-a-thon, signing families up for membership, and hosting two Restaurant Nights at Rita’s! And this is just the beginning of all the great things they have in store for this school year.
Please consider joining this amazing organization, run completely by parent volunteers. Being a PTA member has numerous benefits – it's a great way to meet new friends and become more involved in your child's school and community. Join on their website!
All Lane parents and caregivers are invited to attend the PTA’s first meeting of the year, which will be held in person in the Lane Cafeteria on Thursday, September 5th at 6:30 p.m. Come and see for yourself how awesome they are, what they’ve got planned, and how you can get involved.
Thanks to Our PTA Sponsors!
The PTA would like to thank these sponsors for their support.
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