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Dear Parents and Guardians,
I had the pleasure and honor of attending the National Blue Ribbon recognition ceremony in Washington, DC on Friday with Mrs. Pourhashemi. It is truly an honor and privilege to celebrate the school that I have loved all these years! I am so proud of our students, staff, and parents for working together to make our school such an incredible place to grow and learn!
We have an exciting week coming up! As a reminder, there is no school Monday in recognition of Veteran's Day. On Tuesday, we kick off our Blue Ribbon Celebration week! Please see a list of events below. We hope all students dress to impress on Tuesday and 'walk the blue carpet' for some fabulous photo opportunities! All parents are welcome to watch from 8:30am-8:50am in the front of the school.
We look forward to honoring our Veteran's on Thursday, November 14th at 9:15am for our Veteran's Day assemblies.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sincerely,
Amy Briggs
Calendar Reminders
Nov. 10-VFW Fundraiser 1-4pm-RSVP here
Nov. 11-No School-Veteran's Day
Nov. 11-15-Blue Ribbon Celebration Week!
Nov. 12-FLE Preview Night-5:30pm-Virtual (link will be sent out closer to the date)
Nov. 14-Veteran's Day Celebration (9:00 am K-3); 10:00am 4-6)
Nov. 15-PTO Meeting-9:15am-Principal Briggs will share more about our Blue Ribbon award and what it means.
Nov. 19-2nd Grade Music Performance-2:45pm-Cafeteria (Enter door 2)
Nov. 27-29-Thanksgiving Holidays-No School
Dec. 9-3-HR Early Release
2024-25 FCPS School Calendar
Veterans Day Celebration- Nov. 14
On Thursday, November 14th, we will highlight our United States veterans and active military with a Veterans Day Celebration.
We welcome all veteran's from both US and foreign military! We will have two ceremonies on Nov. 14th-9:15am (K-3); 10:00 am (4-6)
We kicked off our first school-wide D.E.A.R time (Drop Everything & Reflect) this past Wednesday. All students had an opportunity to review their grade level Portrait of a Graduate (POG) skill and share with a partner and their class how they grew in their skill, shared evidence of their growth, and shared why it was important. Make sure to ask your child about their POG skill!
 
FCPS Cell Phone Policy
Please reference the FCPS Cell Phone Policy (including smart watches) when sending your child to school. Phone features (texting, internet viewing, and calls) are to be off when school is in session.
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 reports 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!
Literacy Resources for Families Webpage
A new Literacy Resources for Families webpage has been published to the external web to provide families with information about how to support their children with developing literacy knowledge and skills at home. It provides valuable information about the reading and writing resources to be used at home, the VALLSS, Reading Plans, guidance for Parent Teacher Conferences, and training available through the Family Academy.
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).
Tis the season…for flu, strep, covid…and pneumonia. Fairfax is seeing an increase in Mycoplasma Pneumoniae, so if your child is sick (cough, congestion, fever, shortness of breath, fatigue) consider requesting the nasal swab in addition to chest xrays-this testing will ensure appropriate antibiotic therapy-see here.
Wash hands regularly, cover coughs and sneezes, and properly dispose of all tissues in the garbage-if you have any additional questions, please reach to our School Nurse, Sarah Harsher
National School Psychology Week
Next week we celebrate the important work school psychologists do to help all students thrive. We are so appreciate to Erin Rinker, Judy Trigiani (school counselors) and Mr. Steve Handweger (school psychologist) and Erin McRae (Social Worker) for all the care and support they provide our students!
Learn more from the National Association of School Psychologists.
Outstanding Employee Awards
Nominations are now open for the Outstanding Employee Awards! To submit a nomination for a Spring Hill Elementary Outstanding Employee in one of the categories below, please complete the nomination through this Google form link. You may nominate one employee at our school or multiple employees (one individual may only nominate one employee per category.)
All that is required for a preliminary nomination is a paragraph or two about how this employee demonstrates exceptional work in one more of the criteria for that award category. The google form link has more information regarding the criteria for each of these awards.
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LET’S CELEBRATE SPRING HILL’S BLUE RIBBON SCHOOL AWARD!
We are so excited to help Spring Hill celebrate its designation as a 2024 National Blue Ribbon school by the U.S. Department of Education. From November 12 - 15, we will be helping to mark this incredible achievement with lots of fun activities! Check the calendar in this Panther Press or in this week’s Spring Hill PTO Scoop Newsletter for more details.
PTO MEETING FRIDAY 11-15
Please join us for coffee and nibbles at our next PTO Meeting, Friday, November 15, at 9:00 AM in the Spring Hill Cafeteria. We will be continuing the Blue Ribbon celebrations and talking about some of the wonderful activities coming up at the end of the year and in 2025.
VFW POST 8241 - MCLEAN POST
Our local VFW post, located at 1051 Spring Hill Road, is a hidden gem down the road from Spring Hill. Not many people know of it, but it offers a great venue to host events from meetings to birthday parties and anniversaries. (Fun fact: this year’s Bids for Kids will be held at the VFW!) Spring Hill families will be given a special discount should they decide to book the venue. Ben Swincicki is a Spring Hill military parent and our point of contact for the VFW. He can be reached at: Email: bswincicki@yahoo.com Tel.: (703)215-6424 Upcoming VFW Event: Veterans Day Fundraiser, November 10. For more information, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/feed-a-veteran-tickets-1022629852417
LOST & FOUND CORNER
It's the time of year when the crisp mornings turn into warm afternoons...which means the Lost and Found is already overflowing, just two months into school. We'll be updating the website soon with photos and item details! New Spring Hill spirit wear came home with students earlier this week. Now that everyone has the t-shirts, sweatshirts, and long-sleeved Ts, any spirit wear that ends up in the lost and found without a nametag is IMPOSSIBLE to return to the right owner! Please consider purchasing from Mabel's Labels and ensuring that your spirit wear makes it home again!
Congratuations to our Science Olympiad Teams!
This year our two Science Olympiad teams competed Nov. 2nd at Langley High School. SHES Mavericks won 24 medals in 25 events they participated in and SHES Wizards won 17 medals in 21 events they participated in …. What a performance! Even more impressive is that every one of the participants from Spring Hill won at least one medal! Congratulations!
📑Family Handbook
Please take some time to review our Parent Handbook. We wanted to provide our families with this resource as it will help assist you with pertinent information in regards to the 2024-2025 school year.
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