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The Feather Report
Volume 2, Issue 12
 Fourth grade students had a unique experience this week when representatives from Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly took them on an in-school field trip to learn about the ways that Native Americans from this area used plants and animals for food, shelter, and entertainment. Students had the opportunity to pet a deer hide, touch and smell buckskin, and break apart and grind dry corn, a staple food for people from the area.
Leadership Ledger
Westlawn Families,
Thank you to all our Westlawn Families able to join us for last weekās International Night of Celebration! Itās always a party when the Westlawn community comes together! And a big thank you goes to the Westlawn Multi-Lingual Learner Team, as well as the Westlawn PTA, for making it all possible. Check out this beautiful reel created by Ms. Ciro Torres!
This was a wacky week, filled with early release days and all the hustle and bustle that comes with the end of a marking period. Today marks the last day of the first quarter (can you believe it?!?), and teachers will be uploading grades early next week. First quarter grades will be available in ParentVUE on Monday, November 10th, and progress reports will be sent home with children on Thursday, November 13th. Need to create a ParentVUE account? It isnāt too late! Contact Ms. Caballero at 702-241-5100 for a unique code and to set up an appointment for support.
If you donāt already have a family conference scheduled with your childās teacher we recommend families send a message via TalkingPoints to that teacher directly. Conferences are an excellent way to both receive and update on your childās academic and social performance in school, as well as identify areas to support your child at home.
And finally, November 3rd and 4th are student holidays. Westlawn is a polling site for the November 4th elections, come out and vote, and while youāre here pick up a sweet treat at our Westlawn PTA Election Day Bake Sale!
In partnership,
Christoph Hill, Stephanie Carpenter, Shana Curtis, Erin Theiss
Proud Principals
News
Food Resources and the Westlawn Community
We know how important it is for our students to get the nutrition they need to learn and grow, and how challenging that can be for families. We have a few resources to share:
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Food bags for the evenings and weekends: we partner with several organizations that provide bags of food for students to take home in the evenings and over the weekend. If your family would like to be added to the list for food bag distribution, please contact our social worker, Ms. Cortez, via TalkingPoints, email, or by calling her directly at 703-241-5190.Ā
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Free meals at Westlawn for students: all students are eligible for free breakfast and lunch at Westlawn without any paperwork. Students simply take breakfast when they come into school in the morning from the breakfast carts, or go through the lunch line and put their PIN into the keypad so the cafe staff get an accurate idea about how much food to prepare each day.Ā
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Sharing table and refrigerator: we have a sharing table and refrigerator where students can donate unopened, uneaten food from their Westlawn lunch to a central area for other students to take.
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Cheap meals website: we recently became aware of a website that features inexpensive, easy-to-prepare meals: Budget Bytes. Each recipe has a breakdown of the total cost and the price per serving, and you can filter recipes in several ways, including by various prices, by protein, and by special dietary needs.
And, if your family finds themselves in a position to give to others? Weāve learned that food banks appreciate cash because they can make your dollars go farther than you can at the grocery store due to the special relationships they have with providers. Families also might consider building a Little Free Pantry, since none are currently registered in 22042. Finally, consider using your extra FSA money to purchase hygiene supplies or OTC medications to donate to local shelters, food pantries, or places or worship with community outreach programs. These products are expensive and not often donated, though they are frequently needed!
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Full-Time AAP Services Webinar Recap
On October 28 Mrs. Maxwell held a virtual meeting around the process to refer a student for full-time AAP services. Watch the recording. During the meeting, a question was asked about curriculum topic progression by grade. Learn more by scrolling down to Grade Level Information and choosing the appropriate grade-level button.
Reminder: the deadline for referrals is December 15. Please reach out to Mrs. Maxwell with any questions on TalkingPoints, by email, or by calling the main office at 703-241-5100.
We Are Still Hiring!
We have been provided with a new staff position at Westlawn, and are hoping to hire someone to join our team as an instructional assistant in a Category B Special Education classroom. Candidates must have the minimum of a high school diploma. Other requirements and the application are available online; just search for Westlawn. Interested candidates are asked to email Mr. Hill in addition to completing the application. Families are encouraged to share this opportunity with anyone they think would be a good fit!
What does it mean to be a Title I school?
In this weekās Community Conversation we talked about what it means to be a Title I school, and how we spend our Title I funds at Westlawn. Interested families are encouraged to view the recording or the slides (English | EspaƱol) to learn more.
SIS ParentVUE End-of-Quarter Closure
The Gradebook in SIS ParentVUE and StudentVUE will be closed for the end of the first quarter from Friday, October 31, at 4 p.m. to Monday, November 10, at 6 a.m. Activate your ParentVUE account to easily access grade reports.
Reminder: Give Us Your Plastic Film
We are still collecting plastic film as we work toward earning a free Trex bench to add to our apple tree grove and are currently 51% of the way toward completing our goal! Bins for plastic film donation are located inside the door near kiss and ride and in the main lobby. Help us reach the 1,000 pound goal by sending your child to Westlawn with clean and dry bread bags, newspaper bags, carton overwrap (the stuff that they use to package waters together), and even plastic bubble mailers! Learn more about what we can collect.
Reminder: Students Get Immunized for Free!
FCPS, in partnership with Inspire Health Alliance, will be providing school-required immunizations and optional flu shots for all FCPS students with no out-of-pocket costs. Immunization clinics will take place from 3 to 6:30 p.m. at Willow Oaks Administrative Center on:Ā Ā
- Thursday, November 6
- Tuesday, November 18
- Wednesday, November 19Ā Ā
- Thursday, November 20
A clinic will also take place at Frost Middle School on Saturday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Additional dates will be made available throughout the school year.
Participation is voluntary. Parents or guardians may schedule an appointment for their student. Learn more about immunization resources.
FCPS News
In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:
- The FCPS Mobile App
- Understanding the Annual Youth Survey
- Resources for Families
Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.
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Dates and Events
November 3: No School for Students (Parent Conferences)
November 4: No School (Election Day)
November 5: Westlawn Color Day: Wear Brown
November 11: No School (Veterans Day)
November 12: Westlawn Color Day: Wear Gray
November 12: Multi-lingual Family Breakfast - families of multilingual learners are invited to join Westlawn staff for a light breakfast and a presentation from the ESOL team in the Westlawn cafeteria from 9:00-9:45 am.
November 12: Early Release Wednesday - Students will be released at 12:30 PM. Childcare is available for the families who requested it in September. If you do not remember what you requested, please contact our main office at 703-241-5100.
November 12: Restaurant Night at Red Robin - Save the Date!
November 12: In-Person PTA Meeting at Westlawn from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM
November 14: PTA Bingo Night from 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
To see more schoolwide and community events, remember to check out our website calendar! You can also subscribe to our calendar to make it even more convenient. Click on the little calendar icon in the top right corner of the calendar page of our website to add all current and future events to your cell phone calendar.
Engage with Westlawn
PTA Bake Sale Needs Bakers and Table Volunteers
The annual PTA Bake Sale will take place on Election Day, November 4. We need volunteers to donate treats and volunteers to staff the tables! Learn more and sign up.
Join a Community Conversation
Join us on Wednesdays at 11 AM on Zoom to hear the important news from the school from Principal Hill! If you miss a Community Conversation, you can catch up with slides and recordings on our website.
Volunteering in FCPS in 2025-2026 requires you to fill out an online application, and then select the school(s) where you want to be. Learn more and apply today!
Mind Matters
Boredom Busters for Home
As we head into a long weekend, hereās a few free or almost-free ideas to help you keep your child engaged in the learningā¦ and they may be so fun they wonāt even know it! A trip to somewhere new like a nature center or museum is always a great choice, but many things can be done right at home too. Give something a try and see what sparks your childās interest!
- Borrow games from the public library of things, right in our neighborhood at Thomas Jefferson Library.
- Create a box of props and leftover costumes for imaginary play.
- Have a book club where everyone reads the same book and discusses it as you go. Book club kits are also available at the Thomas Jefferson Library!
- Listen to an audiobook together and make predictions or make up background songs for some scenes to match the action.
- Take a nature walk and see what critters or interesting plants you can find. Be scientists and make observations on paper and sketch them.
- Try to solve a problem in your home or yard: brainstorm ideas then draw and label your favorite solution. Examples: the towel keeps slipping off the rack and ending up on the floor; there isnāt enough space in the closet for all the shoes; no one takes charge of shared tasks like feeding animals; etc.
- Practice keyboarding or cursive writing.
- See how many ways you can sort and categorize your Halloween candy! (By size? By shape? By flavor? By Color? What else . .?)
Tech Talk
Letās Talk Voting
Tuesday is Election Day, and we hope you vote! We also encourage you to take your child into the voting booth with you so they can see how it works so that--one day when theyāre eligible--they will also make the choice to have their voice heard!
Many online resources related to voting and talking with children about voting are refreshed every four years during a presidential election year, so many of the ones you find out there are only about a year old. We really like PBS Kids (For Parents) on Voting, which features resources in a variety of formats for children ages 2-8. Even better, there are several ideas for craft projects that your child might want to engage in on Tuesday when they are home from school.
Older children (or even you!) might be interested in browsing the Virginia Department of Elections website. Their Voter Pocket Guide (English | Spanish | Vietnamese) is a compact resource with a lot of details about what to expect when voting, requirements for identification, and other little bits of āadult lifeā that children are curious about. This authentic text can also help students in the classroom by providing them with background knowledge about elections.
Finally, the unofficial results map is a dynamic map that allows people to track the votes as polls close across the state on Election Day.
Is there a technology topic you want us to tackle in a future issue? Email your questions to Ms. Dushok (school based technology specialist) and Mr. Dinkins (technology support specialist).
Soaring Staff Spotlight
This week the Soaring Staff Spotlight is on Kristal Cutler!
Mrs. Cutler is a music teacher here at Westlawn. Letās learn more about Mrs. Cutler!
What is your favorite thing about working at Westlawn?
Making music with my friends!
What is your favorite childrenās book?
My favorite childrenās book is Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.Ā
What is one talent or skill you have that most people donāt know about?
I write original music, stories, and I am writing a musical.
What is your favorite holiday?
Halloween and Christmas
What is your favorite hobby?
Playing board games and app games.
What is your favorite family-friendly video game?
Tetris
What song always makes you smile?
Mr. Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra
What is one thing that always makes your day better?
Having time to be still and not be rushed.
Is there someone you hope to see featured in an upcoming Soaring Staff Spotlight? Tell us by text to 571-355-2321.
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