Message from Mrs. Briggs

Dear Panther Families,

What a week we've had! It has been an absolute joy to see our students' smiling faces and feel the energy they've brought back into the school.

Dr. Reid was delighted and impressed with the wonderful atmosphere and sense of community that permeated the building on Back to School Night.

We are excited to share that Spring Hill is celebrating our 60th anniversary this year! We will be holding a Fun Run during the school day on September 26th to celebrate that 'Spring Hill has been running for 60 years!'  We are combining this celebratory event with a Boosterthon fundraiser (sponsored by our PTO) as way to raise funds for the beautification of our wonderful school. Please see details below. You are now able to register for an account.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership.

I hope you enjoy your long weekend.

Sincerely,

Amy Briggs

  Important Dates

2025-26   School Calendar

Get Ready for our Panther Fun Run 

We’re thrilled for this year’s primary fundraiser — Panther Fun Run! Our goal is to raise $60,000 for the beautification of our school, benefiting our students at Spring Hill Elementary. It’s time! You can register your student for our Panther Fun Run! Signing up is easy and comes with a fun prize for your student! ⭐

SIGN UP HERE ⭐

Why are we excited? 

✅ Easy-to-use fundraising platform

✅ Character-building program

✅ Fitness celebration event for every student!

Families will gather donations through MyBooster.com by simply sharing your student’s page with friends and family. Every share makes a difference!

Students will also enjoy 'Star Quest 5,' an exciting character-building adventure where they'll learn essential values through space-themed figures and activities.

⭐ Key Dates:

💻 Sign up opens at MyBooster.com –NOW 08/26/2025

🎉 Kickoff in school – 09/17/2025

👟 Event Day – 09/26/2025 

Stay tuned for more details and follow us on social media for updates!

Early Release Wednesday Consent Form-Due Sept. 1st.

 The Early Release Wednesday Childcare Form is located in your Beginning-of-Year (BOY) Digital Consent App. All families are required to log in and indicate whether their child will need childcare on upcoming Wednesday Early Release Days by September 1, 2025:

• September 10
• October 29
• November 12
• December 10
• February 18
• March 18
• April 22
• May 13

Please log in to the Parent Digital Consent to review and provide consent to a variety or resources/services to include Early Release Wednesday Childcare.

⇒ OPT IN if you have a childcare hardship and require childcare on our limited Early Release Wednesdays.

⇒ OPT OUT, if your child will go home at the early release time, 12:35 p.m.

⇒ PM SACC Student, OPT OUT, they will go to SACC

Reminder: Pets are not permitted on school grounds

Although we love our pets, FCPS prohibits having dogs and any other pets on our school grounds. Thank you for not walking your dogs on our property.

Important Volunteer Information

You may have received information regarding the new volunteer management system, ‘Volunteer FCPS’.  This new system is designed to ensure the safety of your children within FCPS.  Effective immediately, if you are considering volunteering more than twice this year or chaperoning a field trip (even once), you will need to sign up to be a volunteer. We would encourage you to start this process as soon as possible; there are multiple steps that may take some time.  It cannot be completed at the last minute.

The levels of volunteering are:

FCPS has established a tiered system consisting of three volunteer levels to differentiate volunteer requirements.

• Level 1: Infrequent volunteers (monthly or less frequent) who are always supervised do not need a criminal background check. However, they do need a sex offender registry check, which is performed by signing in at the school's visitor kiosk.
• Level 2: Frequent, ongoing, or regular volunteers (daily, weekly, bi-weekly) who are also always supervised are subject to the same requirements as Level 1—no criminal background check, but a sex offender registry check via the kiosk is mandatory.
• Level 3: Volunteers with direct, unsupervised interaction with students must complete a criminal background check, including fingerprinting and child abuse and neglect checks. This applies to roles like mentors, tutors, or field trip chaperones who are alone with students (not accompanied by an FCPS staff member) at any time during the activity.

Please follow these steps to register as a volunteer:

1. Click this link to take you the Spring Hill Volunteer Site: https://volunteer.fcps.edu/custom/501/opp_details/990
2. Click Sign Up and follow the onboard instructions where you will set up an account.  Please select General Volunteering – level 2.  This will allow you to volunteer in all opportunities (including field trips) going forward.
3. Check your inbox regularly and follow the steps to process your application speedily.  You will be notified each time there is a step to complete.

All volunteers (new or returning) will register in Volunteer FCPS, complete a volunteer orientation, and be required to sign in as usual using the visitor kiosk. Some volunteers will also be required to undergo a background check. Visit the Volunteer FCPS website for details.

We thank you for helping to ensure the safety of our students!

Student Smart Watches and Cell Phones

Please remind your child that FCPS is phone-free! For elementary school students, this means:

• Smart watches that serve a dual purpose may be worn, but the phone features (texting, Internet viewing, and calls) are to be off when phone use is prohibited.
• Cell phones and personal devices (airpods, earbuds, headsets, other items connected to the internet) must be off and away for the entire school day (bell to bell).

If you need to reach your child during the school day, please call our main office at [number]. Learn more about FCPS’ cell phone and personal device policy.

SEL Screener Parent Notification and Updates

The Fall Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener will be administered to students in grades 3 through 12 in October. 

Students use the SEL Screener twice a year to share their perspectives on how well their school and community help them develop skills they need to succeed. The screener works by asking questions or presenting statements that students can think about and respond to. This gives students a way to share how well their school community makes them feel valued, included, and supported.

After each screening, results are available in the Documents tab of SIS ParentVUE and mailed to families without a ParentVUE account. For more information including SEL Screener questions and opt-out information, please visit FCPS’ Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener webpage.

A Message from the PTO

10^th ANNUAL BACK-TO-SCHOOL BBQ BLOCK PARTY!!

Friday, September 19 at 5:30 PM (In the Parking Lot By the Large Playground)

It's time to celebrate!  Join us at the 10th Annual Spring Hill Back-to-School Block Party BBQ on Friday, September 19th at 5:30 PM!  From catered food by Mookie's BBQ to DJ'd tunes and games, there's something for everyone!  More details and ticket information coming soon! If you'd like to find out more about volunteering during Block Party, please click here to visit the Block Party Sign Up Genius.

UPCOMING PTO MEETING

Friday, September 12 at 9 AM in the Cafeteria

The next PTO meeting will be on Friday, September 13th at 9 AM in the Spring Hill Cafeteria. So, please bring a friend and join us for coffee and a sweet treat to hear about upcoming PTO events and activities, including Block Party and Book Fair.

WANT TO KEEP YOUR KIDS’ THINGS OUT OF THE LOST AND FOUND?

The Spring Hill PTO’s Lost & Found Team Has a Solution!

The Spring Hill PTO has partnered with Mabel's Labels to make labeling easy for you. Plus, when you purchase from Mabel’s Labels, the PTO receives a portion of the proceeds. It’s a win-win!

There are three ways to ensure that our PTO gets credit for your labels – (1) click on this link (and bookmark the page); (2) click the "Support a Fundraiser" link on the Mabel’s Labels Home Page and enter “Spring Hill Elementary School PTO (McLean)” in the search bar; OR (3) enter “Spring Hill Elementary School PTO (McLean)” at checkout in the Support a Fundraiser bar. 

Did you know that when anything with a label ends up in the lost and found, those items will be returned to your child at school?  So, please label all water bottles and outerwear, as well as hoodies and sweatshirts, even for older kids. Thank you for your support!    

Varsity Tutors Provides On-Demand Support at No Cost

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.

8201 Lewinsville Road McLean, VA 22102 | Main Office: 703-506-3400
Attendance: 703-506-3434 | Web