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The Feather Report
Volume 2, Issue 25
 Each day, students in Ms. Whaley’s first grade classroom practice their writing on individual whiteboards. For each lesson, Ms. Whaley observes students using the whiteboards and selects one student to write the phrases on sentence strips using a special pink lap desk. The sentence strips are then displayed for a whole-class editing lesson later in the week.
Leadership Ledger
Westlawn Families,
It’s hard to believe how quickly this school year is flying by—it’s already time to order our Westlawn yearbook! Our yearbook is more than just a book; it’s a celebration of the memories, milestones, friendships, and joyful moments that have filled our halls all year long. From classroom projects to concerts, spirit days to STEAM activities, every page captures what makes Westlawn such a special place for our students and families. To order a yearbook, go to https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/ and enter school code 15398626. Orders are due by May 1.
To help make this year’s book even more meaningful, we would love your help! If you have photos of students participating in Westlawn events this year, please consider sharing them with us. Whether it’s a classroom celebration, a field trip, or a special school event, your pictures help tell the story of our community. Please send any photos to Ms. Dushok via TalkingPoints, and we’ll do our best to include as many as possible. Thank you for partnering with us to make this keepsake truly representative of our amazing students!
As we turn the calendar to March, we are also looking forward to celebrating the joy of reading all month long. Reading opens doors, sparks imagination, and builds lifelong learners—and we can’t wait to highlight that excitement throughout our school. Thank you for continuing to support learning at home and for being such an important part of the Westlawn family. Together, we are making this a year to remember!
In partnership,
Christoph Hill, Stephanie Carpenter, and Erin Theiss
Proud Principals
News
SOL Questions and Answers
Do you have questions about the SOL? We have answers! You can learn about SOL logistics, score reporting, retakes, and more! If you have any questions that are not answered by the article, please send them to Ms. Dushok so she can track down the answer.
Support Our Schools on Give-Education Day – March 4!
On March 4, families are invited to support Educate Fairfax, the official nonprofit foundation for Fairfax County Public Schools. Educate Fairfax funds classroom innovation grants, provides essential supplies, supports student scholarships, and helps meet critical needs across our schools. Last fall, 129 grants benefited more than 47,000 students.
Westlawn has directly benefited from Educate Fairfax grants! Last year, our librarian Ms. Heyer received funding to purchase additional Playaways for students, and this year Ms. Roundtree was awarded a grant to support her Global Classroom Project.
Every gift makes a difference. Consider making a donation and inviting your employer or company to join as a community partner.
Reminder: Reading-Themed Fun Clothing Wednesdays
March is Reading Month at Westlawn in honor of Read Across America Day on March 2. We’ll be celebrating the joy of reading all month long with special literacy activities and a series of reading-themed Fun Clothing Wednesdays. Join us as we show our school spirit and our love of books!
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March 4, 2026 – Black, White & Read All Over 🖤🤍 Celebrate reading with a classic Read Across America theme! Wear black and white clothing as we kick off a month of reading fun.
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March 11, 2026 – Pajama Day: Read & Relax (Bring a Book Buddy!) 😴📚 Get cozy for reading time! Wear pajamas or comfy clothes and bring a small stuffed animal or figurine to be your “book buddy” while you read. (Please keep items small and simple.)
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March 18, 2026 – Graphic Tee Day: Graphic Novels in Action 👕📖 Celebrate the power of graphic novels and visual storytelling! Wear graphic T-shirts featuring characters, words, or images—especially those inspired by comics, graphic novels, superheroes, or illustrated stories.
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March 25, 2026 – Hat Day: Hats Off to Reading 🎩📚 Top off our reading celebration! Wear any school-appropriate hat or headband as we give a big “hats off” to readers everywhere.
Pre-K and Early Head Start Programs
FCPS Pre-K and Early Head Start programs provide a high-quality early learning experience for qualifying children with economic and educational risk factors, ages 6 weeks to 4 years, living in Fairfax County.
- Pre-K prioritizes 4-year-old applicants but also accepts applications for children who will be 3 years old by September 30 of the same year.
- Early Head Start is located at three elementary schools — Clearview, Crestwood, and Dogwood — and accepts applications from pregnancy to 2 years old.
Families are encouraged to apply as soon as possible; space is limited and provided based on need, not on a first-come, first-served basis.
Applications are accepted online, by email, by mail, or in person at the program office at 7423 Camp Alger Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia 22042.
If you have a question about the application process or status, please call 703-208-7900 (English) or 703-208-7901 (Spanish).
Programas para Pre-K y de Atención Integral para la Primera Infancia
Los programas para Pre-K y de Atención Integral para la Primera Infancia proveen experiencias educativas tempranas de alta calidad a niños que califiquen para ellos, que enfrenten factores de riesgos económicos y educacionales, que estén entre las edades de 6 semanas a 4 años, y que vivan en el Condado de Fairfax.
- Los programas para Pre-K priorizan aquellos solicitantes de 4 años de edad, pero también acepta solicitudes para niños que cumplan 3 años antes del 30 de septiembre del mismo año.
- Los programas de Atención Integral para la Primera Infancia están ubicados en tres escuelas primarias; Clearview, Crestwood y Dogwood, y acepta solicitudes de cupo desde el embarazo y hasta los 2 años de edad.
Animamos a las familias a solicitar cupos lo más pronto posible; el espacio es limitado y se otorga basado en el nivel de necesidad, no en el orden de llegada.
Las solicitudes se aceptan de forma online, por email, por correo, o en persona en la oficina del programa en la dirección 7423 Camp Alger Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia 22042.
Si tiene preguntas acerca del proceso de solicitud o sobre el estatus del suyo, por favor llame en inglés al 703-208-7900, o en español al 703-208-7901.
FCPS News
In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:
- The FCPS Budget
- School Safety
- Community Conversations
Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.
Dates and Events
March 4: Fun Clothing Wednesday: black and white clothes
March 4: Middle School Transition Fair for Students with Disabilities at Luther Jackson MS from 6:30-8:00 PM. Register now to attend.
March 11: Fun Clothing Wednesday: pajamas and stuffies
March 11: Light up with Night with Literacy from 4:30 - 6:00 PM. Volunteer at Literacy Night.
SAVE THE DATE! Techstravaganza at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology will take place on May 16!
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
Volunteer at Literacy Night
The PTA could use some help to make Light Up the Night with Literacy a huge success! Sign up now to volunteer at a station of your choice!
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
Life Skills 101
In order for students to achieve success, there are many non-academic activities that we can help students master. As an example, this month young scholars have been learning how to advocate for themselves. Westlawn is an AVID school and we work on helping students with executive function skills such as organization. Teachers embed these skills into their lessons daily, but parents can help too! Here’s an example of the kinds of things students can learn in elementary school that will help them function in the world in Middle School, High School, and beyond.
- How to try something independently for a while without giving up
- How to respectfully ask a teacher for help (in person and email)
- How to keep track of personal belongings, organize a backpack and desk, and use a planner or agenda
- How to follow multi-step directions independently
- How to read and follow a simple schedule and manage time (finish work within a given time, transition between tasks)
- How to respectfully disagree or solve small conflicts with peers and work productively with a partner or small group
- How to take responsibility for mistakes and make a plan to fix them
- Basic digital responsibility (logging in independently, appropriate online behavior)
- Knowing contact information for parents/guardians, including their own address and adults’ cell phone numbers
Tech Talk
Digital Stories for Kids
It’s almost March, and we are ready to celebrate reading! Westlawn students have access to multiple resources that will actually read stories to them! Most of these resources are available on the Student Technology Links section of our website, under the category Reading. Here are our favorites:
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myOn: myOn is a digital library with hundreds of interactive books that students can read independently or have read aloud to them.
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PebbleGo: PebbleGo is an easy-to-use research database with read-aloud articles, especially great for younger students learning about animals, science, and biographies.
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TumbleBook Library: TumbleBook Library offers animated, talking picture books that highlight the text as it’s read aloud to support emerging readers.
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Unite for Literacy: Unite for Literacy provides free digital picture books with audio narration in multiple languages to support diverse learners.
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Storytime Online: Storytime Online features videos of actors reading children’s books aloud to make storytime engaging and fun.
Students can access these resources using their FCPS device! Simply log in, open a Chrome window, and do a Google search for Westlawn Elementary School or go to westlawnes.fcps.edu. Then scroll down below the homepage photo and click the button to go to Student Technology Links.
We also have another type of digital story in the Westlawn library: Playaways! Playaways are audiobooks that are loaded onto small plastic devices that look like old-school iPods. Students in 3rd grade - 6th grade can borrow one at a time. They can listen to the stories through the plastic devices using headphones. The devices can also plug into most car stereos using an auxiliary cable. Last year the Westlawn library got a whole new cache of Playaways thanks to a generous grant from Educate Fairfax.
Finally, don’t sleep on YouTube! YouTube features thousands of videos of teachers and authors doing read-alouds. If your child is insistent on hearing a certain book and you can’t find it on another platform, search on YouTube!
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 Helen Larkin!
Mrs. Larkin is the speech pathologist at Westlawn. Let’s learn more about Mrs. Larkin!
What was your favorite subject in school?
Language Arts
What is one talent or skill that you have that most people don’t know about?
I excel at being a good friend and am known to be an excellent speller.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
When you start at a school, always get to know the custodian and office staff. They know everything and will be your best friends!
If you weren’t in education, what other job would you want?
Event planner
What is your favorite snack?
Graham crackers
What is your favorite hobby?
Hiking
What is one thing that always makes your day better?
My dog’s kisses in the morning
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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Connect with Westlawn
- Contact the main office: 703-241-5100
- Submit an absence: 703-241-5151 | email the absence box | using ParentVUE
- Contact Ms. Caballero (student information assistant): email Ms. Caballero | 703-241-5100 | TalkingPoints: Silvia Caballero
- Contact Ms. Reyes (family liaison): email Ms. Reyes | 703-241-5125 | TalkingPoints: Hilda Reyes
- Contact Ms. Cortez (social worker): email Ms. Cortez | 703-241-5190 | TalkingPoints: Pamela Cortez
Westlawn website | Westlawn Instagram | Westlawn Facebook | TalkingPoints
View The Feather Report archives | Questions or Comments: Contact the Newsletter Editor
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