Good afternoon families!!
I wanted to congratulate and welcome Ms. Maura Donahue as the new principal of Cherry Run!! I will be working with Ms. Donahue to create opportunities for her to visit the school, meet with staff, and just as importantly, meeting the community! Once we have some dates that she is available, we will notify the community and host a meet-and-greet in the cafeteria. Please stay tuned and more information will follow!
If you have a K student, please make sure you register for the orientation next Monday @ 2:45. Immediately after the orientation, the PTA is hosting a 'play date' on the playground and providing Ice-Pops for the kids. Pre-Registration is not required, but it does speed up your check-in process! There is no need to register for the play date.
There is a lot of new information in the newsletter below. The Family Liaison corner is chock full of information, along with sections on the SEL Screener reports, and section for the school health survey.
Just a reminder that next week starts our SOL testing, as well as other EOY assessments. Students need to be on time to participate in scheduled assessments. Once a testing session starts, kids cannot enter the room and will need to take the makeup. Please schedule around assigned tests if possible. As always, please keep sick kids home!!
Have a GREAT week!
Sincerely,
Mark Bibbee
Principal
Cherry Run ES
May 5 - Kindergarten Orientation - 2:45-3:45 - Library
May 6 - Interims come home - 1's and 2's only
May 8 - Family Math Night - 6:00-7:00 - Cafeteria
May 12 - 3 Hr Early Closing - Dismissal at 1:05
May 20 - Monthly PTA Meeting - 7:30-8:30 - Cafeteria & Online
May 26 - Memorial Day - No Students - School is CLOSED
 Walk up registration for Orientation is welcome!
To speed up the check in process, please use this link: https://forms.gle/MczTWV69PSk3mFXRA to let us know the names of those who will be attending the orientation.
(This form is to allow for a quicker sign in process. Labels will be preprinted for those who fill it out ahead of time and you won’t have to wait in a long line to sign in at the computer. **IDs are required no matter what.)
**STICK AROUND FOR KINDER PLAY DATE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING ORIENTATION ON THE PLAYGROUND! POP-ICE ARE PROVIDED!! **
Cherry Run Family Math Night
Thursday, May 8, 2025 (6:00-7:00 PM)
Come join us for fun math activities and games in the cafeteria.
All grade levels welcome!
Debbie Hollings
Advanced Academic Resource Teacher
Cherry Run Elementary
Information about AAP :
https://www.fcps.edu/academics/elementary/advanced-academic-programs
From Cherry Run’s Family Liaison
This month, we proudly celebrated the Month of the Military Child with our amazing Purple UP event on Wednesday, April 9th, held after school.
We welcomed over 250 students and families who enjoyed an afternoon full of music, a bounce slide, seed planting, musical chairs, playground clean up and more! Our fantastic Purple UP team wore their special event shirts, and the bounce slide was a huge hit—all made possible through a generous grant from Educate Fairfax.
A huge thank you to all our volunteers who helped bring the event to life, from setting up the balloon arch and hanging maps to keeping things running smoothly throughout the afternoon.
And a special shout-out to Ms. Angela Lock and Ms. Stacey Rubino—thank you for your dedication in
Happy Month of the Military Child!
Military Families:
Exploring the Parts of an IEP: An Interactive Activity (Squared Away 2025)
May 6 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Are you a military-connected family member who is or will be stationed in Virginia?
Do you need help understanding the special education services and supports available to your child with a disability?
Join us for our live ONLINE “Squared Away” sessions to learn strategies for participating in your child’s special education journey.
Register for one or more of the following sessions!
All sessions will be from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. EST.
- Next webinar: May 14, 2025 – Building Your Child’s Team
Expecting a PCS this summer? Don’t do it alone, let our Family Liaison help you! Contact Stacy Huisman at dshuisman@fcps.edu for help with school transitions, connecting with School Liaisons around the country or overseas. She has more than 20 years of experience supporting military families through school transition. She’s a good listener and will meet you for coffee, too!
Favorite Military Family Resources/Organizations:
National Military Family Association
Partners in Promise
Bloom Teens
Our Military Kids (National Guard and Reserve)
Military One Source (Parenting)
From Fairfax County
Neighborhood and Community Services has been hard at work on a public-facing food access website, with links to food resources across the county (and federal programs, like SNAP), so that community members can go to one location for all things food. Please explore this link for resources and share it with families: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/neighborhood-community-services/food-access.
Fairfax County Park Authority
Spring/Summer Camps – Registration now open! Parktakes Spring Classes Now Registering!
Seasonal Celebrations and Adult Summer Camps Teens in Action Teens in Action offers an engaging, healthy and affordable recreation program for youth ages 12 to 18 to learn, play and serve. Activities include team sports, games, arts and crafts, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programming, service projects, cultural field trips and much more! Free nutritious lunches and snacks are served. Admission to Teens In Action is FREE.
NEW Braddock Bark 2025 Free fun-filled family event for families and their furry companions. Hosted by Braddock District Supervisor on Sunday, May 18, 2025, 1 to 4 p.m. at Lake Accotink Park 5650 Heming Ave, Springfield, VA. For more information contact braddockevents@fairfaxcounty.gov
NEW Summer Extravaganza hosted by Fairfax County Public Schools Discover Exciting Summer Learning Activities and Ideas! Have an unforgettable experience at the FCPS Summer Extravaganza! FCPS invites all families to get a jump on summer learning by participating in engaging, educational, and enriching activities for Fairfax County students.
- May 10, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
- Woodson High School – 9525 Main St, Fairfax, VA 22031
- Event Website
- Social and Emotional Learning Screener: Parent Reports
Students in grades 3-12 took the SEL Screener during the month of March. The screener provides information on their SEL skills such as achieving goals, understanding and managing emotions, establishing and maintaining relationships, and making responsible decisions. The screener also asks students how much their school community makes them feel valued, included, and supported.
Individual student SEL Screener results are available to families in the Documents section of SIS ParentVUE. Families who do not have an active ParentVUE account will receive their results via postal mail.
For support in understanding your individual student’s results or for ideas on how to support them at home, please review the SEL Screener Results Family Guide or reach out to our school staff with any questions.
- Evaluación del Aprendizaje Social y Emocional: Reporte de los Padres
Los estudiantes entre 3er y !2do grados tomaron en el mes de marzo la evaluación SEL Screener o evaluación del aprendizaje socioemocional, mediante el cual proveen información acerca de sus habilidades socioemocionales como alcanzar metas, entender y manejar las emociones, establecer y mantener relaciones personales y tomar decisiones responsables. Esta evaluación también les pregunta a los estudiantes qué tanto su comunidad escolar les hace sentir valorados, incluídos y apoyados.
Los resultados individuales de cada estudiante de la evaluación SEL están disponibles para sus familias en la sección de documentos de SIS ParentVUE. Aquellas familias que no tengan activada una cuenta en ParentVUE, recibirán los resultados en el correo.
Para encontrar asistencia entendiendo los resultados individuales de su estudiante, o ideas para apoyarlo en casa, por favor revise nuestra Guía Familiar o contacte al personal de la escuela y haga cualquier pregunta que tenga.
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✅ Share Feedback With County Health Department on School Health ServicesThe Fairfax County Health Department and Fairfax County Public Schools School Health Services invite parents/caregivers of FCPS students to participate in a survey on satisfaction with school health room services. The survey takes about five minutes to complete and will be open until Monday, May 5.
School health rooms (clinics) are managed by public health nurses and school health aides. Those staff provide care for students who become sick or injured during the school day, who require medications during the school day, and/or who have a chronic health condition that requires management during the school day.
Additionally, the school health room staff:
- Provide health education, communicable disease prevention, and health screenings.
- Work with schools to help address the root causes of population health disparities so that all students have equitable access to educational and health opportunities.
- Ensure that students have care for minor injuries and illnesses, and chronic health conditions, thus helping to minimize health barriers to learning.
Survey results will provide a basis for quality improvement of school health room services as well as inform future planning for schools.
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Comparta su Opinión con el Departamento de Salud del Condado acerca de los Servicios de Salud de la Escuela
El Fairfax County Health Department, FCHD (Departamento de Salud del Condado de Fairfax) y los Servicios de Salud de Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) invitan a los padres y cuidadores de los estudiantes a participar en una encuesta acerca de su nivel de satisfacción con los servicios de salud ofrecidos en las enfermerías de las escuelas. La encuesta toma alrededor de cinco minutos en completarse y estará disponible hasta el lunes 5 de mayo.
Las enfermeras (clínicas) son manejadas por enfermeras y ayudantes médicos de la salud pública. Este personal ofrece cuidados a estudiantes que se enfermen o se lesionen, que requieran medicación durante el día escolar, y/o sufran de alguna enfermedad crónica que exija atención durante el horario escolar.
Adicionalmente, el personal de la enfermería escolar también:
- Ofrecen educación sobre la salud, promueven la prevención de enfermedades y hacen evaluaciones de salud.
- Trabajan con las escuelas para abordar las causas originales de las disparidades de salud observadas, para que todos los estudiantes tengan acceso equitativo a oportunidades de salud y educativas.
- Se aseguran de que los estudiantes tengan la atención que necesiten con lesiones o enfermedades menores y con aquellas que sean crónicas, ayudando a minimizar las barreras al aprendizaje.
Los resultados de la encuesta ofrecerán las bases para hacer mejoras cualitativas a los servicios de las enfermerías escolares, así como para informar la futura planificación del sistema de escuelas.
- Pre-K Program Accepting Applications for Fall
The FCPS PreK Program serves 3 and 4 year old students with a high quality, full-day preschool program with no cost to families at 78 Fairfax County elementary schools.
Students may qualify with a variety of economic or educational risk factors. Learn more about the Pre-K and Early Head Start Program by watching this video (English) or video (Spanish).
Spaces fill quickly, so complete an application online now or call 703-208-7900 (English) or 703-208-7901 (Spanish) for more information.
- El Programa de Pre-K está Aceptando Inscripciones para el Otoño
El Programa PreK de FCPS les ofrece a estudiantes entre los 3 y 4 años de edad, programación preescolar de alta calidad de forma gratuita, en 78 escuelas primarias del Condado de Fairfax.
Los estudiantes podrían calificar para inscribirse dependiendo de una variedad de factores de riesgo económicos y educacionales. Conozca más acerca de los programas Pre-K y “Early Head Start”, viendo este video en inglés, o este video en español.
Los cupos se acaban rápidamente, no espere para completar su inscripción online, o tenga más información llamando al 703-208-7900 (en inglés) o al 703-208-7901 (en español).
SOL testing will be taking place in the month of May this year for students in grades 3-6. The SOL assessments are content assessments that measure a student's growth in Reading, Mathematics, and Science (5th grade only). These tests will be conducted during the dates listed in the table above. Please mark your calendar - it is important that your child attend school on the dates designated for them to test. Please ensure your child gets plenty of rest the night prior.
- 🐻 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.
** You can also reach out to Ms. Yasmin Naldo, our school registrar!
- ¡Es el Momento de Inscribirse para el Kindergarten!
Asistir al kindergarten ofrece a los niños la oportunidad de aprender y practicar las habilidades sociales, emocionales, de resolución de problemas y de autorregulación esenciales que usarán durante toda su vida. Las escuelas públicas del Condado de Fairfax normalmente llevan a cabo eventos de inscripción para kindergarten-incluyendo orientación-en la primavera durante Lunes o Abril. Los niños elegibles también pueden inscribirse durante el verano, pero inscribir a su hijo temprano ayuda a las escuelas a prepararse y asegurarse de que tengan a mano los maestros y recursos que necesitan el primer día de clases.
Después de determinar a qué escuela asistirá su hijo, las familias deben prepararse para la inscripción reuniendo documentos y completando formularios, los detalles se pueden encontrar en la página web de inscripción de kindergarten de FCPS. FCPS ofrece apoyo y recursos para todas las familias para ayudar con la inscripción y la transición al kindergarten. Para apoyo en otros idiomas, visite la página web de inscripción de kindergarten.
Student Placements for 2025-2026
While it is still early to be thinking ahead to next year, we want to give you an opportunity to provide information about class placements for the 2025-26 school-year ahead of time. The staff at Cherry Run works hard to place students in an optimal learning situation each year. If you would like to share some information that would help us make those decisions, please send your comments via email to me: mebibbee@fcps.edu, by May 15. Please do not list teacher names. Rather, describe the learning environment in which your child learns best. These emails will be for my eyes only, so please feel free to share anything about your child you'd like me to know. Thank you.
Want to know if your child's bus is on schedule or where the bus is? Here Comes the Bus® is an easy-to-use website and app that enables parents to see the location of their child’s school bus — almost in real time — on a smartphone, tablet, or personal computer.
Parents can track multiple buses if their children don’t all ride the same bus; know exactly when children arrive at school or the bus stop; and receive customized text and/or email notifications about bus locations, schedule changes, or delays.
To get started, download the app from the Apple iOS or Android app store. Check out the Here Comes the Bus and Frequently Asked Questions webpages for more information.
Already using the Here Comes the Bus app? Send your feedback to HCTB@fcps.edu.
Note: eNotify text messaging will continue to be used for reporting bus delays and bus incidents.
- 🚍 Here Comes the Bus (Ahí Viene el Autobús)
¿Quiere saber si el autobús de su hijo llegará a tiempo o dónde está? Here Comes the Bus® es un sitio web y una aplicación fáciles de usar que permiten que los padres vean la ubicación del autobús escolar de sus hijos -casi en tiempo real- en un smartphone, una tableta o un ordenador personal.
Los padres pueden ver la ubicación de varios autobuses en caso de que sus hijos no viajen todos en el mismo autobús; saber exactamente cuándo llegan los niños a la escuela o a la parada de autobús; y recibir notificaciones personalizadas por mensaje de texto y/o correo electrónico sobre la ubicación de los autobuses, los cambios de horario o los retrasos.
Para comenzar, baje la aplicación de la tienda de aplicaciones de Apple iOS o Android. Consulte las páginas web Here Comes The Bus y Preguntas Frecuentes para obtener más información.
¿Ya utiliza la aplicación Here Comes the Bus? Envíen sus comentarios a HCTB@fcps.edu.
Aviso: La mensajería de texto eNotify seguirá utilizándose para informar de retrasos e incidencias en los autobuses.
- 🙋 Student Attendance and Engagement
During the Academic Matters segment of the November 9 School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Michelle Reid discussed student attendance and engagement. Attendance and absenteeism rates are one measure for Goal 2 of our 2023-30 Strategic Plan.
Chronic absenteeism — which is defined as a student missing 10% or more of school for any reason — is a concern across Virginia school districts. Although FCPS continues to outperform the state average in attendance rates, we are tracking chronic absenteeism closely.
Data shows that:
- Missing just 10% of school — just two days a month — negatively affects a student’s academic performance.
- Only 17% of students who were chronically absent in both kindergarten and first grade were reading proficiently in third grade, compared to 64% of those with good attendance.
- Students who fail to read at grade level by the end of third grade are four times more likely than students who achieve proficiency to drop out of high school.
- By sixth grade, chronic absenteeism becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
Attendance is critical for academic success!
Missing School Over the Holidays
Looking ahead to the holiday season, if missing school is unavoidable, please speak with your child’s teachers in advance to create a plan for making up missed work. However, a homework packet cannot make up for the interaction and learning that happens in the classroom.
Visit FCPS’ website for more attendance resources.
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- 📑 Varsity Tutors Provides On-Demand Support at No Cost
FCPS is partnering with Varsity Tutors to provide students and families with extra resources for learning. Every student can take advantage of Varsity Tutors’ services at no cost, including weekly live online classes, on-demand 24/7 chat tutoring, essay editing, and study resources such as recorded content, practice problems, and diagnostic tests. Learn more about online tutoring with Varsity Tutors.
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