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 TLES Families,
Thank you to all the families who attended our Back to School Night last week. Your support and involvement mean so much to our school community, and we are grateful for the opportunity to connect with you. We look forward to working together this year to ensure a successful and enriching experience for all our students.
This year's Back to School Night attendance was fantastic! It seems that offering childcare made a difference in getting more families to take part in this very important beginning of year event. Our Pizza, Popsicles & ParentVue event that took place just before Back to School Night also seemed to contribute to getting more of our families in the building that evening. We will plan for similar accommodations next year to maintain high family engagement.
We are deeply saddened by the news of the two recent school shootings, and our hearts go out to all those affected by these tragic events. The safety and well-being of our students and staff are our top priorities, and we want to assure you that we remain fully committed to maintaining a safe and secure learning environment. We continuously review and update our safety protocols, conduct regular drills, and work closely with local authorities to ensure we are prepared for any emergency.
One component of a safe and secure school campus is ensuring that all family members are aware of school safety procedures. Thank you to all of our car riders for driving slowly and safely through our car rider drop-off/pick-up loop (Kiss 'n Ride) during arrival and dismissal. We do monitor this in person as well as through our external camera system to ensure the safety of all of those driving and walking on our campus during these higher traffic times. Thank you for ensuring you present your identification and state the purpose of your visit every time you enter through Door #1. When visiting TLES, thank you for always wearing a visitor name tag so that all staff are aware that you have been vetted through our ScholarChip Visitor Identification System upon every visit. After 8:50am each morning, all doors are closed and secured for the entire school day in addition to securing the front and rear gates around our property. Thank you for your continued support following school safety procedures as we work together to keep our school community safe.
Please also know that FCPS has a committed team that focuses on school safety every day. They constantly access our security protocols in partnership with local and national experts to ensure that we are doing everything possible to keep our staff and students safe in our buildings.
The following two resources may be helpful if your child has questions about what happened and/or is expressing concern:
Helping Children Cope with Tragedy
Talking to Children About Violence
Our guidance counselors are available to support and provide additional resources; please reach out as needed.
We will continue to be diligent in our safety protocols and processes, continue to foster a community built on a foundation of respect and kindness, and continue to take care of one another.
Thank you,
Ben Chiet, Sarah Buchanan & Ashley Vaccaro
Updates from the FCPS Language Arts Team
📚Virginia Literacy Act
FCPS created a video to share the changes in curriculum, assessments, and interventions that are part of the Virginia Literacy Act that goes into effect across all schools in Virginia. Watch the Literacy Back to School Night Message.
Curriculum
Under the Virginia Literacy Act, FCPS adopted the approved program, Benchmark Advance. In each grade level, our instruction will focus on nine units, each of which focus on a single Knowledge Strand or topic/concept. This is aligned from Kindergarten to 6th grade. Because the goal is to build knowledge and vocabulary while teaching students the skills they need as readers, there are literary topics, science topics and social studies topics that are aligned to the Virginia Standards of Learning (VSOL). The stories and articles students read will be split evenly between fiction and nonfiction to ensure they can read a variety of texts.
 Benchmark Advance develops students’ background knowledge on topics related to science, social studies and literary studies over the course of multiple years. For example, the unit on government and citizenship begins with a focus on rules at home and at school in kindergarten and culminates in the unit, Beyond Democracy in sixth grade, which teaches students about various forms of government used around the world.
 Benchmark Advance has created a Caregiver website. Visit their website to learn more.
Assessment
Students in grades K-2 and identified 3rd graders will be assessed using the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS), a new test of foundational reading skills developed by the state of Virginia in partnership with the University of Virginia. For more information about VALLSS you can review the Parent Brochure. You will receive a Testing Notification if your child will be participating in the VALLSS.
Students in grades 3-6 will be assessed using iReady, an assessment that measures reading foundations as well as reading comprehension, this is the screener that has been used in FCPS for years. You will receive notification of results for either the VALLSS or the iReady.
Intervention
While all students who demonstrate areas of need will benefit from differentiated support in the classroom, students with high levels of risk will get interventions in addition to their core instruction that is focused on their areas of need. This additional support will be documented in a reading plan. Assessment results and reading plans will be discussed with families at conferences. For students with disabilities with significant reading needs, these plans will be discussed in an IEP meeting. Reading plans will include: Area of Need, Yearly Goal, Quarterly Objectives, and Quarterly data to progress monitor goals. These plans will be visible to you in ParentVue, so be sure to have your account up and running this fall.
Resources for Families
Here are some of the resources that the Virginia Literacy Partnership (a partnership between the Virginia Department of Education and the University of Virginia) has posted for families.
⭐Blue Star Welcome Week⭐
Every year, approximately 600,000 military-connected families relocate. Most of these families move to new duty stations, while some transition out of the military and others transition in. Most of these moves take place over the summer, and Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to ensuring our military families feel welcomed and a sense of belonging to their local community.
Blue Star Welcome Week is an opportunity for our community to welcome our military-connected families and show them our appreciation for their service and sacrifices. Throughout the week, FCPS will help ease their transition through events, messages, actions of welcome, and opportunities to make meaningful connections. Please help us welcome our military families during Blue Star Welcome Week, September 21 - September 29, 2024, and throughout the year! #BlueStarWelcomeWeekFCPS
🎓Advanced Academics Program (AAP) Information Session
All families are encouraged to attend a meeting on September 25 @ 6:00pm to learn about the levels of AAP services.
Parents or guardians may request a one-time retest of either the CogAT or the NNAT in grades 3-6. Requests must be made in writing (email or paper) to our School Testing Coordinator, Ashley Vaccaro, and Advanced Academic Resource Teacher, Alyssa Grabel. Deadline for the request is September 15.
Please read the Fall AAP Newsletter below!
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Updates from the PTA
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Renew your PTA Membership
PTA memberships need to be renewed every year. Whether you're a returning member or a new one - we can't wait to get to know you better. You can renew or sign up by clicking here. Our first general membership meeting will be Wednesday October 9th.
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Re-Link your Harris Teeter VIC Card
VIC cards have to be linked EVERY YEAR, so even if you've linked your VIC Card before it's likely time to do it again! The more people linked to Timber Lane, the more Harris Teeter will donate, so encourage your family and friends to choose Timber Lane as their linked school!
Click here to learn how. (Timber Lane Elementary School ID: 5777)
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Sign Up as a Room Parent
We hope you had a great time at Open House this week. We also hope some of you decided to sign up as 2024-2025 Room Parents! Many classrooms have more than one room parent, so you can connect with other parents and share the responsibility.
If you're interested in signing up as a Room Parent this year, or simply want to learn more about what it means to be a Room Parent, email Chelsea Gurney at roomparents@timberlanepta.com.
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