Franklin Sherman Flash - March 16, 2026

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School Priorities Banner listing Family Engagement, Sense of Belonging, and Personalized Instruction

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A smiling student looks up happily while coloring a picture at a classroom table.

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Principal's Message

Dear Franklin Sherman ES Parents/Guardians,

I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to send a quick update about our schedule for this week, as it will be a non-routine week for students and staff.

  • Wednesday: Early Release- childcare if you completed this option on the survey you receive.
  • Friday: No School in observance of Eid

With the combination of early release days and the upcoming holiday, we know this week may require a bit of extra planning for families.

 

This winter has brought several schedule disruptions, and we appreciate your continued flexibility and support. Our students and staff have done an excellent job staying focused and making the most of their learning time despite the changes.

 

To all of our families who will be celebrating Eid, we wish you a joyful and meaningful holiday. 🌙

 

Thank you, as always, for your partnership and for supporting our school community.

Sincerely,

Farris Thomas
Principal
Franklin Sherman ES

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Important Dates

March  Women's History Month

March 18  3 Hour Early Release Wednesday

March 20  Student Holiday

March 27  Q3 End and 2 Hour Early Release

March 30  April 3  Spring Break

April 6  Student Holiday

April 15  Purple Up!

April 20 - 24  Book Fair

FCPS Calendar:  2025-26

Franklin Sherman Calendar

 


Family Engagement Survey

Family Engagement Survey to Open March 9

FCPS is administering our Family Engagement Survey, which will be open from Monday, March 9, to Monday, March 23. Your feedback is critical in helping us to better recognize, understand, respect, and address family strengths and needs in our schools. 

Survey topics include:

  • Welcoming environment
  • Communication
  • Student success
  • Advocacy
  • Family and school partnerships
  • Community partnerships

The survey will be available in English, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Pashto, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. 

Parents/caregivers will receive a survey link via email from FCPS on March 9. A survey link will also be posted on FCPS’ website. Paper surveys will be available at each school. 

 


Purple Up!

April 15, 2026

In recognition of Month of the Military Child, Franklin Sherman will celebrate Purple Up! day. We are inviting military-connected parents and family members to participate in this special event by sharing their experiences.

Share you ideas about how you would like to participate.

The ideas presented in this form are intended to gauge interest and help guide our planning for the final event. If you are interested in participating, please complete the form so we can thoughtfully prepare for the day.

We look forward to celebrating and honoring our military-connected families together!!

 

Military Family Field Day April 18, 2026

Fairfax County Public Schools is excited to celebrate our military-connected children and families with a fun-filled Field Day! As we recognize April as the Month of the Military Child, we invite your school’s clubs, PTA, or office/organization to sponsor an activity for this event! You may also sign up to provide a food/beverage item for purchase as a fundraiser for your organization.

 

Military Family Field Day will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2026, from noon to 2 p.m. at Annandale High School’s football stadium (4700 Medford Dr, Annandale, VA 22003). Set up for the event will begin at 11 a.m., with tear down immediately following the event.

 


The Green Scene

Spring Garden Clean Up!

CLEAN UP RESCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY MARCH 24 AT 4:10PM

We will meet Tuesdays after school. The first meeting/clean up will be Tuesday, March 24 at 4:10 p.m.

Daffodils are starting to peak up in our garden! You know what that means? Its time to get back in the garden. We are looking for parent volunteers to help in our garden to prepare for the growing season. This may include weeding, watering, edging, mulching, general cleanup, planting, and maybe some painting on the tops of our stump seating.

To help, you don’t need to know anything about gardening. If you want to learn, we can teach you. It is a wonderful community to learn and grow in. Any students who come to help must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. Parents/guardians must be registered as a Level 1 Volunteer.

Register and learn more about volunteering.

We are also ordering two more sheds that will need to be assembled. We will let you know when we are ready for that, and if you have tools, please bring them! We look forward to working with you in our wonderful garden! If you have questions please contact our Art Teacher, Ms. Eaton at lreaton@fcps.edu.

 


Our book Fair is coming soon!

Our book fair will run on April 20 - 24.  We are excited to share this event with our students. They will be able to shop during the school hours, and we will stay open until 6:00PM on Thursday for family night. 

To help everything run smoothly, we are looking for parent volunteers to assist with restocking shelves, helping students make their lists and complete their purchases. Whether it’s 2 hours or twice as much, we are very appreciative of your participation. Here is the sign up genius, please enter your name in the slot that fits your schedule. 

We will send home information about accepted payment methods as we get closer to the date of the book fair. 

Thank you for supporting our students and helping make the book fair a success!

 

For FCPS requirements to be a volunteer, please visit this page.  If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Rosalie Essimi at rmessimimen@fcps.edu.

 


Summer Camp Opportunities for FSES Students!!!

We’re excited to share that Franklin Sherman will host Chesterbrook PTA’s Summer Quest Camp in our building this summer as they undergo renovation work! This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to enjoy engaging activities, connect with friends, and stay active right here at FSES.

Registration information and details can be found here:
Summer Quest Camp Sign Up at Franklin Sherman

Be sure to sign up early, as spots fill quickly!

 


Yearbook Sales Are Open!

Here is the link to order. If it doesn’t go straight to Franklin Sherman Elementary in McLean, our code is 732577.

https://www.buytheyearbook.com/en/yearbook

Cost of Yearbooks are $21.50 and to personalize is an extra $5.00.

Deadline to order is Friday, April 17. Please make sure to go online and reserve yours today!

 


FCPS News

FCPS logo

Community Conversations: Share Your Thoughts With Dr. Reid

Community Conversations are opportunities for you to share your thoughts and ask questions of Superintendent Reid. Events will be held from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (unless otherwise noted) on: 

 

FCPS News

In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:

  • Family Engagement Survey
  • Student Honors
  • No School on April 21

Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving this weekly newsletter, please sign up today.

 


PTA News

Franklin Sherman PTA logo

After School Enrichment Programs for Spring

Sign up here - Chess on Wednesday 8:15–9:15 a.m. before school

Sign up here - Art Club grades K–4 Thursdays 4:05–5:05 p.m. after school

Sign up here - morning STEAM class, for grades 3-6

 


Reminders

Class Placement Survey

Submit by March 27

At this time of year we begin the essential task of determining class placements for the next school year. Many factors are taken into consideration and this is a complex but very important process. As parents, you can assist us in determining class placement by sharing your insights about your child with respect to academic and behavioral information.  Please note that we do not accept requests for specific teachers for the upcoming grade placement.  

Completion of the form is optional; however, the deadline for any submission is Friday, March 27. The form will no longer accept responses after that date.   Any input you share will be shared with the grade level team. Please complete one form per child.

Submit the Class Placement Survey Today

 

Kindergarten Registration

Kindergarten helps children learn and practice the 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, in the spring. Eligible children can be registered throughout the summer, but registering your child early helps schools prepare and ensure they have the teachers and resources needed on the first day of school. 

If your child will attend our school, please gather necessary documents and complete registration forms as soon as possible. 

FCPS offers support and resources for all families to help with registration and the transition to kindergarten. For support in other languages, please visit the FCPS Registration webpage.

 

Students Not Returning

Please fill out this student intentions form for each child who WILL NOT attend Franklin Sherman. The parents/care givers of current 6th grade students should fill out the form if their child will not attend Cooper/Longfellow nest year.

 

Dulles Airport Youth Art Walk

Thirteen talented Franklin Sherman student artists have work on display in the Dulles International Airport Youth Art Walk sponsored by the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority.

In conjunction with Fairfax County Public Schools and McLean Project for the Arts. Students at our school collaborated on a mixed media piece (watercolor, colored pencil, crayon, marker, Sharpie, cut paper on paper) last year in their third grade Art class. Two to three students worked together to create work that they thought would be motivating and inspirational for passengers walking by the exhibit at the main level of the main terminal right outside the TSA checkpoint. Several of these student works were exhibited in the McLean Project for the Arts Youth Art Walk around the grounds of the McLean Community Center this past fall. Four of our pieces were chosen, along with several other works from schools around the county. A reception was held last month at the airport.

If you happen to be flying in and out of Dulles this spring break, summer, or whenever, the exhibit will be up for the next year. We are so proud of our Panda artists!

 

 

Lunch with a Panda

We are thrilled to invite you to "Lunch with a Panda."

Submit this Reservation Form to let us know about your visit.

Important Details:

  • This form creates a reservation for 1 parent at a time (if both parents wish to visit for lunch the form must be submitted twice)
  • There are at most 3 reservations available per grade per day
  • Reservations will only become available 1 week in advance
  • If a date does not appear in the list of choices it is either because there are no more reservations available for that day, or the school calendar/schedule of events does not allow us to have lunchtime visitors

 


FCPS Cares logo

FCPS CARES

Want a quick way to recognize an employee or team at Franklin Sherman? Share an FCPS CARES! Families, colleagues, and students are all invited to submit. The FCPS CARES is automatically sent to the recipient(s) and their supervisor, and is posted on fcps.edu. Additionally, each month one school in our region wins a staff celebration party from HR. Celebrate our wonderful staff today!

 


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