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Volume 3, Issue 25; March 2, 2025

🌟CRES All-Stars!🌟

📚🎉 Read Across America Spirit Week is here! 🎉📚

Check out the exciting lineup above and join the fun as we celebrate the joy of reading with dress-up days! 👀✨ #ReadAcrossAmerica #CRESLovesReading 📖❤️

Dear CRES Community,

Tomorrow is SEL Day 2025, a time to recognize the importance of Social-Emotional Learning in helping students develop skills like self-awareness, relationship-building, and responsible decision-making. At Centre Ridge, we prioritize SEL every day through morning meetings, our Brain Lab, and a schoolwide commitment to fostering a supportive and caring environment.

As we celebrate the power of connection and learning, we are also excited to kick off Read Across America Week next week! This nationwide celebration promotes a love of reading and highlights the joy of exploring stories. Stay tuned for fun activities that encourage students to engage with books and build lifelong literacy skills.

Thank you for your partnership in supporting both the social-emotional and academic growth of our students!

Every Day Counts at CRES! Help us reach our goal of 6% or less this year! To ensure transparency and celebrate our progress, we will be sharing weekly attendance data and updates in our newsletter. By highlighting this important information, we aim to keep our families informed and energized about our collective efforts to encourage regular school attendance.

We want to take a moment to highlight an important issue regarding student attendance, particularly for our students with disabilities. A significant number of our chronically absent students have individualized education plans (IEPs), and missing school can have a profound impact on their progress. Consistent attendance is essential, not only to ensure that we can fully implement their IEPs, but also to support their growth in an environment that meets their specific needs.

When students who already face academic challenges miss school, it creates additional obstacles that can be difficult to overcome. As a school community, we are committed to providing every student with the resources and support they need to succeed, and regular attendance plays a critical role in making that possible.

Thank you for your partnership in ensuring our students have every opportunity to thrive.

Together, let’s make every day count!

Yearbooks: Order Now! Early Bird Pricing: $22 After April 1st, the price goes up to $25, so act fast!  Use this link to order your CRES 2024-2025 yearbook. Enter Yearbook ID Code 11001925 and click Next.  Enter your students First Name, Last Name, Grade and click Next. Choose package and or a la carte items and click Next.  Checkout and receive purchase confirmation.

Attention 6th Grade Families: 

The school will be gifting one yearbook to each 6th grader! If you would like to personalize, order an extra yearbook, or purchase additional items, these options are available through paper forms only.

FCPS News Updates

🐻 It’s Kindergarten Registration Time!

Attending kindergarten provides children with an opportunity to learn and practice the essential social, emotional, problem-solving, and self-regulation skills they will use throughout their lives. Fairfax County public schools typically conduct kindergarten registration events, including orientation, between January and April. Eligible children can also be registered throughout the summer, but registering your child early helps us prepare and ensure we have the teachers and resources needed on the first day of school. 

Families should prepare for registration by gathering documents and completing forms on the FCPS kindergarten registration webpage. FCPS offers support and resources for all families to help with registration and the transition to kindergarten. For support in other languages, visit the kindergarten registration webpage.

✨ A strong start is Goal 1 of the 2023-30 Strategic Plan. 

🤝 2025 Family Summit - Beyond Labels: Nurturing a Culture of Belonging! (an Extension of the Special Education Conference)

Families, educators, and community members are invited to the 2025 FCPS Family Summit: Beyond Labels: Nurturing a Culture of Belonging. Fairfax County Public Schools will be hosting the free, in-person event in collaboration with valued community partners. The summit will be held Saturday, March 15, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at South Lakes High School.

This event will feature: 

• Opening Session: Julie Causton and Kristie Pretti-Frontczak — best-selling authors, motivational speakers, and advocates for inclusion — will share practical tools and evidence-based strategies to empower and assist all families, with a special emphasis on parents of students with individual education programs (IEPs) and 504 Plans.
• Breakout Sessions: Learn more about special education and global topics that benefit all families.

• Student Showcase: FCPS students will share their efforts in fostering inclusivity through posters, essays, videos, songs, art, and other mediums.
• Exhibitor Hall: Discover valuable resources and services in the community to support families.
• Networking Opportunities: Connect with other families, staff, and community partners.

Childcare will be provided. Special education staff will be available to care for children with high support needs. You may sign up for childcare during the registration process. 

Learn more about this event and register today! Contact FamilySummit@fcps.edu for more information.

📖 Supporting Academic Growth and Reading on Level by Third Grade

The FCPS Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Advertised Budget invests in academic growth and excellence for each and every student, which is one of the priorities of the FCPS Strategic Plan. 

Across FCPS, teachers, staff, parents, and even older students are invested in helping our youngest learners grow their love of reading from a strong foundation. 

The goal is for students to move from “learning to read” to “reading to learn” by the end of the third grade. Reading on grade level is connected to other Strategic Plan goals, including completing advanced coursework and graduating on time. 

Last fall, FCPS introduced a new reading curriculum that aligns with evidence-based literacy instruction. Between fall and winter, reading screener results show more than a 4% increase in the number of students in kindergarten to third grade approaching or meeting expectations. Similarly, 3.4% more third graders demonstrate strong foundations of reading and 8.4% more third graders are mastering grade-level standards. 

Discover how an elementary school employs a science-based approach, including phonics, to supercharge students' reading.

Learn more about the FCPS FY 2026 Advertised Budget. View the Budget Development Calendar to stay up to date.

🚀 Prepare for a Summer of Learning and Fun

Registration will be available soon for summer camps offered by Fairfax County Public Schools for all students. Career and Technical Education (CTE) camps and Institute for the Arts (IFTA) camps will be held in July at Lake Braddock Secondary School from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bus transportation will be available from select FCPS middle and high schools. Registration begins for these programs on Monday, March 10, and ends Friday, June 6.

Tech Adventure Camp (TAC) is a week-long exploratory camp designed to allow current K-5 students to explore activities in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), culinary arts, health, trades, and business and marketing areas. Watch this video about CTE camps.

E-IFTA is a weekly arts camp for students in grades 2-5 who love to sing, dance, act, perform, make, and create. Students take part in four daily classes related to dance, music, theater, and visual art. They work with FCPS fine arts teachers who create fun and engaging classes. 

For more information, see the Summer Learning page.

🗣️ Connect With Your Kids: Simple Steps to Stronger Communication

Teens skip things that don't interest them, including lectures from their parents. How do you connect with your children and really know what's going on in their lives? How can you become “unskippable”?

Effective communication can build trust and understanding, but it takes thought, planning, and effort. 

The latest Healthy Minds Blog offers practical strategies to improve communication and build strong, lasting relationships:

• Ditch distractions and create a safe space where your child feels comfortable opening up.
• Listen actively and validate their feelings, even if you don't agree.
• Ask "how" questions instead of "what" questions to get them talking about their experiences.

For more tips and techniques, read the full article on the Healthy Minds Blog, which shares information related to youth mental health and wellness.

For support on talking with your teen about difficult subjects like fentanyl, discover how to Become Unskippable.

FCPS News: In Case You Missed It!

In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics and others:

• Summer Camps and Learning Opportunities
• Supporting Academic Growth 
• Preparing for Tough Conversations With Your Child

Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.

Ronnie Ram's Homerun Highlights!

We love highlighting learning experiences that support the acquisition of Portrait of a Graduate attributes and skills across our classrooms!

For more information on Portrait of a Graduate, ask your child how they are a communicator, collaborator, critical and creative thinker, goal-directed and resilient individual, or ethical and global citizen. Or, click here!

Please click on our main hashtags, #CRESSchoolofDreams and #CRESAllStars, for more awesome highlights from Centre Ridge!

We will continue to expand our social media presence this year!

Twitter and InstagRAM

DedicatED: For Parents and Teachers

Listening to great books being read aloud is a powerful way to support children’s literacy development. 📖✨ Storyline Online offers a fantastic collection of stories read by celebrated actors, helping to improve reading, writing, and communication skills while also fostering concentration, logical thinking, and a lifelong love of reading! Available 24/7, Storyline Online provides families and educators with engaging read-alouds, each paired with curriculum resources designed to strengthen comprehension and language skills—especially for multilingual learners! Check it out and enjoy a great story together! 🎧📚.

Family Literacy Program: Learn English! Who: For parents with children in FCPS or with children from 3-5 years old. When: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 am-12 pm (You can join anytime!) Where: At Centre Ridge Elementary! For more information, please contact Mary Pierri, our Family Liaison, at (703) 227-2600.

Please Mark Your Calendars!

Great news! Centre Ridge Elementary School's events are now easily added to your own personal calendar. To find out how to download our calendar feed, please go here.

See the complete 2024-2025 school year calendar.

Food Distribution at Centreville Library

14200 St. Germain Drive, Centreville, VA 20121
The food distributions will be offered from 5:30-6:30 PM
on the following dates in 2025:
Thursday, March 27, 2025
Thursday, April 24, 2025
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Thursday, June 26, 2025

Free food, clothes, household items, toys, furniture, and diapers

Second Saturday of each month

Distribution from 7:30-9:30 am

March 8
April 12
May 10
June 14
July 12
August 9
September 13 
October 11
November 8
December 13

Centreville United Methodist Church
6400 Old Centreville Road
Centreville, VA 20121
Tel: 703-830-2684
www.centreville-umc.org

FCPS Cares Program Recognizing employees who go above and beyond FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize those who go above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the outstanding work of FCPS, and more specifically, Centre Ridge employees.

Ram Reflection To provide feedback directly to Dr. Hertzberg, please use the QR code, or click on this link. Thank you, in advance, for sharing your thinking!

14400 New Braddock Road Centreville, Va 20121 | Main Office: 703.227.2600
Attendance: 703.227.2648 | Web | Twitter | Facebook