 
October Highlights at SVES
October brought a vibrant mix of learning and connection to Sunrise Valley! Grade-level teams came together to review assessment data, allowing us to create meaningful plans to support each student’s growth. We also enjoyed several exciting field trips, each bringing our students' learning to life beyond the classroom.
Our first Principal’s Coffee focused on literacy updates, where we discussed the new Virginia Literacy Act and the Benchmark curriculum. This month also featured a 3-Hour Early Release Monday, giving teachers valuable planning time, and the PTA’s much-loved Annual Fall Festival, which brought plenty of smiles and family fun!
Before School Enrichment is now in full swing, offering activities like chess, intramurals, and coding. We also said farewell to Ms. Blomquist, a beloved teacher of over 17 years, and warmly welcomed Ms. Sam Cappellari to our SVES family. Here’s to all the learning, fun, and connections October has brought us!
Ashley Younger & Jody Delaney
At Sunrise Valley, we use RISE, Responsive Classroom, and RULER as part of our schoolwide framework to support students’ social and emotional needs and to set clear expectations for student behavior.
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RISE
RISE is our school pledge, guiding behavior in every setting—classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, bathrooms, and playground. Teachers model, and students practice, what it means to demonstrate Respect, Independence, Safety, and Empathy. Morning Meetings are used to reinforce RISE in these spaces, and Closing Circles provide an opportunity to reflect on how students showed RISE behaviors throughout the day.
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Responsive Classroom
At Sunrise Valley, Responsive Classroom is a central part of our school culture, promoting a safe, inclusive, and engaging learning environment. We focus on key practices such as Morning Meeting and Closing Circle to build community and help students start and end their day with a sense of belonging. Logical Consequences are used to encourage intrinsic motivation, helping students reflect on their choices and learn from them. Through intentional Teacher Language, we support positive behavior and foster a respectful, collaborative classroom atmosphere that nurtures social-emotional growth alongside academics.
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RULER
The RULER approach, from Yale's Center for Emotional Intelligence, helps build emotional awareness and self-regulation skills to enhance student learning and well-being. At Sunrise Valley, classrooms have a class charter, collaboratively created by students and teachers, that outlines shared emotional goals to foster a supportive learning environment. Students are encouraged to use the Mood Meter—a tool that helps them recognize and label their emotions based on energy and pleasantness levels—enabling them to build self-awareness. Teachers also model strategies like taking a "meta moment," a pause to help students reflect and choose constructive responses, which supports thoughtful and respectful interactions.
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Use the Mood Meter: Encourage your child to identify and share their feelings using the Mood Meter colors. This will reinforce their ability to label emotions and discuss how they’re feeling.
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Model and Discuss RISE Behaviors: Use the principles of Respect, Independence, Safety, and Empathy (RISE) at home by discussing what each behavior might look like in different settings.
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Set Up a Family Charter: Create a family charter with shared emotional goals to build a supportive, respectful atmosphere at home.
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Encourage Meta Moments: When conflicts or challenging situations arise, practice "meta moments" by pausing to think before reacting, helping them learn to choose constructive responses.
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Reflect at the End of the Day: Have a Closing Circle or reflection time as a family to discuss how each person demonstrated positive behaviors and met their goals for the day.
Sentence Starters for Families
- "How are you feeling today? Can you show me where that would be on the Mood Meter?"
- "What does it look like to show respect and empathy at home and at school?"
- "Let’s take a ‘meta moment’ together. How could we handle this situation differently?"
- "Can you share one way you showed independence or safety today?"
- "What went well today, and what would you like to do differently tomorrow?"
- "Let’s come up with our own family charter. What feelings are important for us to have at home?"
We're so fortunate to have a generous PTA that provides enriching field trip opportunities for our students. Thanks to their support, including covering bus costs and portions of entrance fees, October was filled with exciting trips!
Kindergarten visited Great Country Farms, 5th grade explored the Walker Nature Center and had a guest speaker from Amazon Prime Air, and 6th grade ventured to the National Art Museum and George Mason's The EDGE.
 Our 5th graders had a great time at Walker Nature Center – this field trip offered students a hands-on opportunity to explore geology in a real-world context. It deepened their understanding of key concepts like rock formation, earth processes, and natural events, all while directly supporting essential standards from the Virginia SOLs.
Ms. Hansen's class had the exciting opportunity to meet with a software engineer from Amazon Prime Air via Zoom, supporting their Project-Based Learning (PBL). The students gained valuable insights into Amazon Prime Air, the role of an engineer, and the fascinating technology behind drones!
 Kindergarten had the chance to go to Great Country Farm to learn all about pumpkins! We learned about different types of pumpkins, the life cycle of a pumpkin, how pumpkins grow, and had the chance to pick our own pumpkin to bring home!
  This month, our SVES 6th graders went on field trips to the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and George Mason's the EDGE. At the Art Museum, students explored the world of American art, while at the EDGE, they participated in team-based challenge courses centered on the 4 P's: Patience, Practice, Persistence, and Positivity. These challenges focused on building trust, strengthening teamwork, developing leadership, and enhancing communication skills.
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