Cub Run Family Newsletter

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Take a moment and join us in celebrating our Cubbies' C.A.R.E.S. certificate achievement for serving their school community and exhibiting C.A.R.E.S. behaviors all quarter long!


Upcoming Dates

October 31: End of the First Quarter; 2-Hour Early Release-Dismiss at 1:25PM

October 31: Storybook Character Day

November 1: Religious/Cultural Observance: Diwali, All Saints Day, Dia de los Muertos- Student Holiday

November 3: Daylight Saving Time Ends

November 4: Student Holiday-Teacher Workday-No School

November 5: Student Holiday-Teacher Workday-No School

November 8: Principal’s Walking Club-8:05am & Honoring Our Veterans

November 11: Veterans Day-No School

November 15-22: PTA Fall Book Fair

November 20: Virtual Family Life Education (FLE) Parent Preview Night

November 21: Thanksgiving Luncheon

November 22: PTA Family Game Night; 6:00PM

November 25: Picture Retakes

November 27-29: Thanksgiving Holiday-No School

December 9: Elementary Early Release Monday-Dismiss at 12:25PM

December 12: PTA Meeting-In-person & Virtual; 7:00PM


Cubbie News

Dear Cub Run Families and Friends, 

As we wrap up the first quarter of the school year, we want to take a moment to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support and partnership. It has been a fantastic start to the year, filled with learning, growth, and community building.

Our students have demonstrated remarkable dedication and perseverance, and we are incredibly proud of their achievements. They have embraced our C.A.R.E.S. expectations and have been earning C.A.R.E.S. tickets for their positive behaviors. We encourage all students to continue striving for excellence and embodying our school's core values.

We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our dedicated staff members who work tirelessly to create a positive and engaging learning environment for our students. Their commitment to our students' success is truly inspiring.

We hope that all families have taken the opportunity to sign up for first quarter conferences. These conferences are a valuable chance to connect with your child's teacher and discuss their progress. As we move forward into the second quarter, we remain committed to providing our students with the highest quality education and fostering a strong sense of community. Together, we can continue to achieve great things.

Warm regards,

Melissa Miller & Nausheen Haider


Safety Reminder for Arrival & Dismissal

We’ve noticed a rise in unsafe behaviors on Sully Station Drive and in our bus loop during arrival and dismissal times. To help ensure the safety of all students, please use the Kiss and Ride/Car Rider line when dropping off or picking up your child.

If you’re parking and walking, kindly use the designated parking areas near the crosswalk and cross at the marked crosswalk where our dedicated crossing guard is present. 

We’re also concerned about students crossing Sully Station Dr. at points without crosswalks. It’s crucial for everyone’s safety that we avoid parking along Sully Station Drive and walking through the bus loop, as buses are frequently coming and going with students.

We understand that it may be inconvenient to walk to the crosswalk, but not doing so puts our students at risk. Please discuss the importance of crosswalk safety with your child and encourage them to always use the sidewalks as they make their way to Door 4.

Thank you for your cooperation in following these procedures to help keep our school community safe.


Calendar Reminders

Thursday, October 31, is the last day of the first quarter, and a two-hour early release for students. Dismissal is at 1:25pm.

Friday, November 1, is a holiday this year for Diwali and All Saints Day & Dia de los Muertos. All schools and offices will be closed. 

We wish a fun Diwali to all celebrating! Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs & some Buddhists. The festival represents the symbolic victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil. #OurFCPS.

This week we recognize those in our community observing All Saints Day and Día de los Muertos. For Catholics, All Saints Day (November 1) celebrates all those who are with God in Heaven, known and unknown. All Souls Day (November 2), known in Mexico and Latin America as Día de los Muertos, is a day of remembrance and prayer for all those who have died, especially for the souls who may be in purgatory. These special days are celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans, and some Protestants throughout the world. #OurFCPS

Sunday, November 3, at 2 a.m., Daylight saving time will end. Don’t forget to move your clocks back one hour! 

Monday, November 4, is a school planning day, no school for students. 

Tuesday, November 5, is a teacher workday, no school for students. 


Cub Run Storywalk

Thank you to our own first grade teacher Mrs. Cousino (and her awesome husband and son) for spending their time and energy to bring our Cubbies a story walk!

We are excited to announce that our new Cub Run Storywalk is open and available to our Cubbies and families! Please come out behind our playground and check out our current book, Lost, by David McPhail.

storywalk

Elementary School Language Arts Grading Updates

Our teachers have been hard at work teaching with the new Language Arts curriculum, and we are excited to help all of our students become strong readers and writers! This year we also have new assessments, which is how we check if your student needs extra help with reading and writing, and new Standards of Learning (SOLs).

Because of these changes, we are now teaching all of the Language Arts skills your child needs to know (and checking if they need extra help) throughout the whole school year, instead of different skills each quarter. While these skills will be new to your child in the beginning of the year, the goal is for your child to grow strong in all of their new skills by the end of the year.

This means that when you get your child’s progress report next month, it might look different. Your child’s teacher will give you more information on the new progress reporting and how we’re making sure your child is getting any extra help they might need. You can also find more information on FCPS’ Grading and Reporting webpage.

We will also have new ways for you to help your child practice their reading and writing skills at home. These resources are coming soon!


Save the Date: Thanksgiving Lunch - November 21

We look forward to having you join us for our annual Thanksgiving lunch on November 21 during your child’s lunch. We will be sharing the schedule soon.

Adult lunch: $4.75

Student lunch: $3.75

How to pay: Please load the funds onto your student’s lunch account via My School Bucks by November 19. (It takes 24 hours for funds to be loaded)

All visitors must have their ID to check in.


Family Life Education (FLE) Parent Preview Night

Students in grades K-6 participate in Family Life Education (FLE) instruction. Students in Kindergarten through grade three receive instruction in an emotional and social health unit. For more information about FCPS' Family Life Education program, please see the detailed descriptions here. In addition, grade level-specific curriculum lessons are available for review in Schoology. To find those lessons, log into your Schoology account with your SIS login.

Parents/guardians who do not wish to have their child participate in FLE instruction may choose to opt their child out of any or all of the lessons. If you would like to opt your child out of one or more lessons, please fill out the opt out forms online here. If you have already indicated your desire to opt your child out of FLE lessons in ParentVue, you do not need to complete another form. 

A virtual parent preview night will be held on Wednesday, November 20 from 6:30 - 7:30 (link will be sent out via an e-Notify email).


Positivity Project

This week, our school will focus on the character strength of Integrity. Integrity means being honest, truthful, and genuine.

Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching. People with integrity tell the truth and align their thoughts, feelings, and actions. They have the courage to stick to their beliefs, even if it means not following the crowd. Integrity is closely related to honesty and authenticity. 

Integrity is essential for personal growth and well-being. When your thoughts, feelings, and actions are in harmony, you can grow and achieve your goals. Being authentic and genuine makes you more likable and trusted by others, improving your relationships.

To practice and encourage the character strength of integrity at home, please visit The Positivity Project’s mobile-friendly P2 for Families (available in English and Spanish), where you will watch a video together and discuss a quote and three questions. Below are links to this week’s P2 for Families lessons. Click on the grade level that best meets your child’s needs.

Thank you for your support!


FCPS News

Return Your Federal Impact Aid Survey

FCPS is asking all families to fill out a Federal Impact Aid Survey. The form is available in SIS ParentVUE under Online Packets (in the upper right corner after logging in). Please complete it as soon as possible.

For any families who have not completed the survey in ParentVUE, schools will provide paper forms starting Wednesday, November 13. Paper forms should be returned by Wednesday, December 4.

Completing this form for each school-aged child in every household is important. Information from this survey resulted in more than $4 million in funding last year from the U.S. Department of Education. These funds are used to support all Fairfax County public schools and centers.

For more information, please watch this video on Impact Aid and visit the Federal Impact Aid Survey page.

Need to Register for ParentVUE? 

Learn how to activate your SIS ParentVUE account, so you can easily submit your survey. 

Technical support for using ParentVUE or completing the survey online is available by submitting a Parent Support Request ticket. Select SISParent in the Application dropdown menu and type Federal Impact Aid Survey under Issue Description. Or, call the Parent Technology Help Desk at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS).


Lexia Parent Night Information

Want to learn more about Lexia® Core5 & Lexia® PowerUp? Join Lexia® Learning for a parent information night to learn how FCPS is using Lexia® Core5 and Lexia® PowerUp in classrooms across the district to support students' Literacy growth. Topics to be covered during this session include: What is Lexia Core5 and PowerUp and how do the programs support your student's individual learning needs? How does Lexia support teacher planning and instruction? Also included are extra tips for supporting your student.

For more information, contact Theresa Lieteau.

Register to attend one of the Virtual Lexia Family Information Night on:

November 19, 2024 - 6:30-7:30 PM

December 5, 2024 - 6:30-7:30 PM

Register Here. 


Reminders

To Honor Our Veterans-November 8

 

We are excited to be planning our Veterans Day assemblies for our students! We would like to put together a slideshow highlighting Veterans in our Cub Run community. If you or a member of your family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc) have served in any branch of the Armed Forces, please send a photo to be included in the slide show so that we can recognize and appreciate the sacrifices that they have made for our country. All pictures can be emailed to Tracy Cousino at tacousino@fcps.edu.

We are also planning a few other events leading up to Veterans Day and would like to invite any Veterans who would like to read a story to a class/grade level during the week of November 6-8. If you are interested or know someone who would be interested, please email Tracy Cousino (tacousino@fcps.edu) with your availability on November 6th-8th. Please also include the grade level/class of your Cub Run student (if you have one) so that we can best match up readers with classes. 

On Friday, November 8, we would like to invite all Veterans and community members to join us for our Veterans Day assembly featuring a musical performance by our Cub Run chorus and 2nd grade students. The performances will be from 9:00 - 9:45 for students in gr. K-2 and 2:15 - 3:00 for students in preK-3.

We would like to acknowledge all of the Veterans in our Cub Run community as we are grateful for their bravery and service to our country. 

We also invite each grade level to wear red, white or blue to honor our veterans. Please see below for each grade level’s color.

Preschool: Red

Kindergarten: White

First Grade: Blue

Second Grade (our performers): Coch: Red, Jensen: White, Lee: Blue

Third Grade: Red

Fourth Grade: White

Fifth Grade: Blue

Sixth Grade: Red

veterans

Sixth Grade Bake Sale

6TH GRADE BAKE SALE

Outstanding Employee Awards!

To submit a nomination for a Cub Run Elementary Outstanding Employee in one of the categories below, please complete the nomination through this Google form. You may nominate one employee or multiple. All that is required for a preliminary nomination is a short paragraph about how the employee demonstrates exceptional work in the criteria for that category.

Outstanding Teacher

Eligibility: Has at least three years of experience as a teacher (in any school/school district); librarians are included in this category

Outstanding New Teacher

Eligibility: Has up to three years of experience as a teacher (in any school/school district); librarians are included in this category

Outstanding Principal

Eligibility: Has up to three years of experience as a building principal (in any school/school district)                       

Outstanding Leader 

Eligibility: At least one year of experience in their current position as a Schedule-C or School-Based Administrator scale employee (that is not the building principal) at their current location

Common positions in this category: Assistant Principals

Outstanding Professional Employee 

Eligibility: At least one year experience in current position as a Schedule-B employee or other non-instructional employee in a school that supports school leadership at their current location

Common positions in this category: School-Based Technology Specialist, Technology Support Specialist, MTSS Coordinator, Psychologist, Social Worker, School Counselor. Resource Teachers that serve in an administrative role in a school, Special Education Department Chairs, and Reading Specialists.

Outstanding Operational Employee

Eligibility: At least one year of experience in current position as Schedule-A or Classroom Instructional Support Scale employee at their current location

Common positions in this category: Administrative and Office Staff, Custodial Staff, Food Service Staff, IA, PHA, PHTA, Parent Liaison

Please Note: The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, November 15.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Sisk at jeschoensisk@fcps.edu


Cub Run PTA Book Fair

book fair infobook fair b

Westfield Theatre

Westfield Theatre is offering a FREE workshop on Friday, November 1st at Westfield HS from 10am-12pm!

Students in 4th-8th grades can join us for fun theatre games, snacks and a backstage tour. Space is limited Click here to Register!

Westfield Theatre Boosters 4700 Stonecroft Blvd Chantilly, VA 20151

westfieldtheatreboosters@gmail.com

westfield midsummer

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Contacts

Cub Run Main Office: 703-633-7500

Cub Run Attendance Phone Line: 703-633-7575

Cub Run Attendance mailbox: CubRunElem.Attendance@fcps.edu

Technology Support for Families/Parent Help Desk: 1-833-921-3277

Parent Information Phone Lines/Support for parents who do not speak English as their first language: Parent Information Phone Lines

Parent and Student technology support: IT Support Portal

FCPS Free and Reduced Meals Information & Application: Information 

Melissa Miller, Principal, mhmiller@fcps.edu 

Nausheen Haider, Assistant Principal, nfhaider@fcps.edu 

Brittney Kalbaugh, Administrative Assistant, bwood@fcps.edu 

Namrata Saxena, Student Information Assistant, nsaxena@fcps.edu

Christina Davis-Luczak, Office Assistant, cddavislucza@fcps.edu

Michelle Shea, Office Assistant, mrshea@fcps.edu


Be Informed, Stay Involved!