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Dear Whitman Families,
As we step into May, it's hard to believe how quickly this school year has flown by. This is a time of reflection, celebration, and anticipation as we prepare to wrap up another successful year at Whitman Middle School.
Our students continue to shine both in and out of the classroom—from academic achievements to artistic performances and athletic competitions. We’re especially proud of our 8th graders as they prepare to transition to high school, and we look forward to celebrating their accomplishments at upcoming end-of-year events.
Please take a moment to check the calendar for important dates, including testing, concerts, and celebrations. Your continued support makes all the difference, and we are grateful for our amazing Whitman community.
Let’s finish strong!
John Flowers
Principal
As we approach the end of the school year, we’re excited to share some upcoming events planned to celebrate our students’ hard work and accomplishments! We want to make sure all students are able to participate and enjoy these special moments, so please review the important details and requirements below.
🎉 8th Grade Formal – "A Night in Paris"
We’re thrilled to announce our 8th Grade Formal will be held on Friday, June 6th from 6:00–8:00 PM. With the magical theme “A Night in Paris,” this will be a special evening for our 8th graders to dress up and celebrate the end of their Middle School journey together.
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Tickets: $5 each, sold in the cafeteria during lunches on May 29th, May 30th, June 2nd, and June 3rd.
🎈 Activity Days – 7th & 8th Grade
On June 9th and 10th, we’ll be hosting Activity Days for our 7th and 8th graders. Students can look forward to yearbook signing, dunking their favorite teachers in the dunk tank, inflatable obstacle courses, and more fun activities to close out the school year!
✅ Participation Requirements
These events are privileges, and we want to ensure students are meeting expectations leading up to them. To be eligible to participate, students must meet the following guidelines:
We ask for your continued support in reminding students that good attendance and good behavior are still expected every day through the end of the school year.
💃 Help Needed for the 8th Grade Dance
If you’re interested in contributing to the dance, Ms. Rivers is looking for:
Please contact her at abrivers@fcps.edu if you’re able to help!
Thank you for being such a supportive part of our school community. Let’s finish the year strong and make these events ones to remember!
Virginia SOL testing begins Monday, April 28 - May 30. The Virginia Board of Education allows elementary and middle school students who fail their spring Standards of Learning (SOL) tests by a narrow margin to retake the test before the end of the school year.
Retesting is available when a student fails their first SOL attempt with a score of 375-399. (A score of 400 is considered passing for SOL tests.)
Parent/guardian permission is required for the school to retest any student in grades 3-8. If you believe that your student would benefit from a second opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills on the spring SOL test, please complete this permission form using this link - http://bit.ly/4inRc2x
A decision not to allow retesting will not impact your student’s course grade or academic record. See the notification of testing letter at https://www.fcps.edu/node/42716 for more information about the SOL tests given in grades 3-8.
Each spring, FCPS high schools offer pre-participation physical exams for student-athletes. Middle school student-athletes are eligible to receive an athletic physical free of charge through this program. If you are interested in this opportunity, please do the following:
NOTE: Legislation introduced in the Virginia General Assembly and recently signed into law will result in two significant changes to the athletic pre-participation examination (physical) requirements for FCPS student-athletes:
- Beginning July 1, 2025, athletic physicals will be considered valid for a period of 14 months from the date the form is signed by the medical provider completing the exam. This is the date on page 3 of the FCPS Middle School Sports Athletic Participation/Parent Consent/Physical Examination Form (revised January 2021).
- Beginning May 1, 2025, FCPS student-athletes are EXPECTED to have athletic physicals completed on the new FCPS Middle School Sports Athletic Participation/Parental Consent/Evaluation Form (revised April 2025).
Having the athletic physical exam completed at one of our high school events ensures a complete, valid physical is on file and ready to go next fall. Questions??? Please contact the Middle School Afterschool Program Specialist or the FCPS Office of Student Activities and Athletic Programs (FCPSSAAP@fcps.edu).
 
 
NEW DATE: May 10th
As part of our commitment to creating a safe and focused learning environment for our students, our school is using a classroom management tool that will help teachers better connect with student devices during classes. We are continuing to expand our use over the coming weeks. This tool will provide teachers with a number of helpful features:
- Easily view student screens in real time from the teacher console to see which students may need guidance or support.
- Focus student attention on a particular website on their device to minimize distractions.
- Pause student access to the internet to focus on other classroom tasks.
We believe this classroom management tool will allow us to maximize class time to support your student’s learning while at school. Please note that student devices will not be monitored outside of school hours. The regular filters remain in place on school devices, but once they are home, teachers cannot monitor students. As parents, we would like to encourage you to sign up for your own Lightspeed reports, which will allow you to see how your child is spending time on the computer during and after school hours.
Como parte de nuestro compromiso de crear un entorno de aprendizaje seguro y centrado para nuestros estudiantes, nuestra escuela está utilizando una herramienta para el manejo de la clase que ayudará a los maestros a conectarse mejor con los dispositivos de los estudiantes durante las clases. Seguimos ampliando nuestro uso en las próximas semanas. Esta herramienta proporcionará a los maestros una serie de características útiles:
- Los maestros podrán ver fácilmente las pantallas de los estudiantes en tiempo real desde su consola para ver qué estudiantes pueden necesitar ayuda o apoyo.
- Enfocar la atención del estudiante en un sitio web en particular en su dispositivo para minimizar las distracciones.
- Poner en pausa el acceso de los estudiantes al Internet para que puedan concentrarse en las tareas de la clase.
Creemos que esta herramienta para el manejo de la clase nos permitirá maximizar el tiempo de clase para apoyar el aprendizaje de su estudiante mientras está en la escuela. Por favor, tenga en cuenta que los dispositivos de los estudiantes no serán monitoreados fuera del horario escolar. Los filtros regulares permanecen en los dispositivos de la escuela, pero una vez que están en casa, los maestros no pueden controlar a los estudiantes. Como padres, nos gustaría recomendarles que se suscriban a sus propios informes de Lightspeed, para que puedan ver cómo su hijo pasa el tiempo en la computadora durante y después del horario escolar.
Embark on a weeklong adventure through the cosmos in the award-winning Mason Space Exploration Center Camp. Registration is now open to all aspiring scientists, grades 4 through 9, with sessions available from June 16th to August 4th on both the Fairfax and SciTech campuses of George Mason. Campers will learn to code, launch rockets, and safely observe solar storms!
More information, as well as pricing and links to sign up, can be found at science.gmu.edu/MSECSummerCamp.
The pricing is $500 a week (although Week 1 is Discounted), and there are seven weeks ranging from June 16th to August 4th . The week of Independence Day has no Camp.
The last day of school will be Wednesday, June 11th. We will have a 2-hour early dismissal. Students will be dismissed at 12:15pm.
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