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We were so excited yesterday to celebrate a successful Open House and Resource Fair! We cannot wait to welcome our students back on Monday. Check out our reel to see the highlights, and follow us on Instagram for more Belvedere updates!
Monday, August 24 - First Day of School
Wednesday, September 2 - First Belvedere PTA Meeting
Friday, September 4 - Labor Day Holiday - Division Closed
Monday, September 7 - Labor Day Holiday - Division Closed
Monday, September 21 - Yom Kippur - Division Closed
Wednesday, September 23- Back to School Night
Monday, October 12 - Staff Development Day - Student Holiday
Dear Belvedere Families,
Welcome to the 2026-2027 school year! We hope you had a wonderful summer, and we are so excited to welcome our students back to Belvedere. We cannot wait to see our hallways filled with students and begin another year of learning, growing, and making memories together.
Thank you to all of the families who joined us for Open House. It was a huge success and so well attended! It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, welcome our new families, and see the excitement building for the year ahead.
As we get ready for the first day of school, we want to share a few important reminders. Arrival and dismissal, including Kiss and Ride, typically take a little longer at the beginning of the school year. With new routines, new students, and many families learning our procedures, it takes some time for everything to run smoothly. We appreciate your patience and ask that you plan for a little extra time during the first several days. Our priority is always making sure students arrive and leave school safely.
If you have not already done so, please make sure your child's classroom teacher knows how your child will be going home on the first day of school. If there is a change to your child's dismissal plan at any point, please communicate that change directly with the school's front office. Changes should not be communicated only to the classroom teacher. This helps us ensure that we have accurate information in the office and that every child is dismissed safely.
Thank you for your partnership, patience, and support as we begin the new school year. We are looking forward to seeing our students and starting a wonderful year together!
Warmly,
Cecilia Vanderhye, Tara Boone, and Jess Duvel
Belvedere Elem Administration Team
We are looking forward to welcoming students back to our classrooms on Monday. Use the following list to help make sure your child is ready!
☑️ Sign Up for SIS ParentVUE
Access your student’s attendance records, grades, and assignments at any time with SIS ParentVUE. Contact our registrar at ssjaks@fcps.edu if you need an activation code. Find out more about SIS ParentVUE. Also, download the new ParentVUE mobile app so you can access your child’s records easily from anywhere!
☑️Update Your Contact Information
Be sure you receive important information! Update your phone number(s) and/or email address(es) by clicking “My Account” and reviewing the “Online Verification/Update.” On that form, you can also update immunization records, health information, and emergency contacts.
☑️ Update Immunizations and Records
Immunizations are required for all students to attend school in Virginia. This is an important part of protecting them from certain diseases and keeping them healthy.
When your child is immunized, remember to request a copy of their immunization record and bring that to our front office or submit the record via SIS ParentVUE as soon as possible. Find more information on FCPS’ website.
☑️ Learn About School Meals
Families need to provide their children with money to purchase meals at school or send them with a packed lunch. Alternatively, families may apply to receive free and reduced-price meal benefits, pending approval.
☑️ Bookmark the School Year Calendar
Be sure to bookmark the FCPS school year calendar to keep track of school holidays, breaks, and observances:
- Days marked blue with an “H” are student holidays. Schools are closed on these days.
- Days marked orange with an “O” are religious and cultural observance days (or evenings, if only half marked). There is school on these days, but certain events that cannot be made up may not be scheduled on these days.
- Days marked as TW, SD, and SP and in pink are holidays for students but working days for teachers and staff.
Please note that some holidays and observances, such as Eid al Fitr, may shift, and the calendar may be adjusted.
Update Your Child’s Immunizations and Records
Please check with your healthcare provider as soon as possible to make sure your child is up-to-date on the immunizations required by the state of Virginia. Prior to the start of school on Monday, August 24, please submit your child’s immunization documentation. If your child has an appointment to receive their required immunizations after August 24, please submit an Immunization Action Plan to confirm the appointment.
You can check your child’s immunization compliance and submit their immunization record in SIS ParentVUE. Records may also be delivered to a school’s front office. If needed, families may also provide other immunization documentation including a healthcare provider’s written statement of a permanent or temporary medical exemption or a notarized Religious Exemption Form. Please visit the FCPS How to Submit Immunization Documentation webpage for step-by-step instructions on how to submit each of these items.
Immunization Events for FCPS Students
FCPS, in partnership with Inspire Health Alliance, will be providing school-required immunizations and optional flu shots for all FCPS students, ages 18 and under, with no out-of-pocket costs. Multiple events will take place at designated FCPS locations. Additional dates will be made available throughout the school year. Parents or guardians may view upcoming events and schedule an appointment for their student. Participation is voluntary.
Additional immunization resources are also available.
As part of the ongoing commitment to strengthening layered safety and security programs, FCPS will implement a new student ID system for students who ride our school buses.
The implementation of the student IDs is designed as an additional safety measure for our 130,000 FCPS students who ride the bus each day, ensuring they are on the right bus and that they get on and off at the correct bus stop, as well as making sure only authorized students are on our buses.
The IDs will be provided to students who ride the bus. Those students will be expected to tap on and tap off the bus. The student IDs do not track student movement. The only information available is when a student taps on or off a bus. Much like our Here Comes the Bus app, our new app will allow parents/guardians to track the progress of the school bus.
It is possible that the ID program will expand in the future to include uses such as library cards and meal payment. Learn more about the new transportation system and student ID cards.
Check out some tips to help your child get through the lunch line quickly and have more time to eat:
- Teach your child their student ID number to receive meals at school.
- Sign up for and add money to MySchoolBucks to purchase meals at school.
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Apply for free and reduced-price meals. Students who were approved for free and reduced-price meals last year are eligible for the first 30 days of school this year (or until a new application is processed). Families should submit a new application as soon as possible, so eligible students continue to receive meals at no cost.
If your child has any food allergies, learn how to submit accommodations for dietary restrictions and allergens.
Access menus for breakfast, lunch, and other school meals, as well as allergen and nutrition information.
At Belvedere Elem, we acknowledge that parents are our students' first and most important teachers. Parents now have greater control over their child’s FCPS-issued device outside of school hours through Lightspeed Parent Portal.
In addition to monitoring weekly internet activity, parents can now also customize web access at home on FCPS devices through Lightspeed using Schedules and Web Rules.
With Schedules, you can set tailored times to automatically pause or restrict internet access. This makes it easier to enforce rules around homework time, family dinners, weekends, or bedtime.
In Web Rules, you can create Custom Block Lists to block specific, individual websites they do not want your child accessing at home. This allows parents greater control over what is happening online, under their own roof.
These new custom controls take effect at home, outside of school hours, and when the device is off the FCPS network. They will not override standard district filtering policies during the instructional day.
Customize Your Lightspeed Settings
All parents should be receiving weekly Lightspeed Online Student Activity Report emails. To set up these new features, click the “Log in or Register” button at the bottom of your weekly Lightspeed Online Student Activity Report email.
Visit the FCPS Lightspeed Parent Portal Guide for more information. If you have additional questions, submit a Parent Technology Support Ticket.
Parents are encouraged to discuss internet boundaries with their children so that they can understand the reasoning behind any limits and the differences between access at home and at school. Get tips on talking to your children about technology safety.
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 the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener webpage.
Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to challenging all students through talent development and differentiated instruction. A continuum of Advanced Academic Programs (AAP) services is available to students in Grades K to 12 and is designed to match services to each student’s unique academic needs.
Identification for Subject-Specific and Part-Time AAP services occurs throughout the school year. Full-Time AAP services have two identification cycles:
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Fall identification: Students in grades 3 to 7 who have enrolled in FCPS since January may be referred by October 15.
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Spring identification: Any FCPS student in Grades 2 to 7 may be referred by December 15.
FCPS uses ability testing as one consideration in the holistic identification process for AAP services:
- All students in Grade 2 take the Naglieri General Ability Test (NGAT).
- Students in Grades 3 to 6 who do not have a multi-domain ability test score take the NGAT.
- Students in Grades 3 to 6 may retake an ability test one time. Families may request the ability test retake by contacting Tara Boone, school testing coordinator, at taboone@fcps.edu by September 30.
Families are invited to attend two AAP information meetings led by [NAME], our Advanced Academic Resource Teacher (AART):
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AAP Continuum of Services: Thursday, September 17th.. Families will learn about the continuum of advanced academic services available to FCPS students.
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Full-Time AAP Identification: Thursday, November 12th. Families will learn about the referral and identification processes for Full-Time AAP services.
For more information, please contact Jaclyn Walsh, AART, at jwalsh@fcps.edu or visit the FCPS Advanced Academic Programs webpage.
Join the Belvedere PTA!
Belvedere PTA membership is $10 per caregiver or $5 for Teachers/Administrators/Staff.
Joining the PTA comes with no commitments or expectations. We simply hope you will join us to further build the Belvedere Elementary School community. Joining the PTA does not commit you to volunteer time. Your membership means that you support our efforts and our goals. In addition, your membership gives you voting privileges at our general meeting and teacher-members also qualify for the BES PTA mini-grant program, which is funding for projects and other classroom needs.
Annual membership is open now! If you have questions, please reach out to bespta.va@gmail.com and a Board member will be in touch.
Save the Date: Sept. 2 Community Meeting
The new school year’s first community meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 2, at 6:30 pm. We will discuss and vote on the annual budget, share calendar ideas and and ask the community for their thoughts on what we should focus on for the next nine months.
Get Ready for Day One with the FCPS App!
🎒As we gear up for the first day of school, make sure you have the FCPS mobile app downloaded! It's the quickest way to check the school year calendar, view lunch and breakfast menus, find school contacts, and jump to ParentVUE or Schoology from your phone.
Download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
☎️Family Information Line Available in Nine Languages
Parents/caregivers who speak Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, or Vietnamese may call a telephone information line for general information about FCPS. View the list of phone numbers.
📲Follow FCPS on WhatsApp
Is WhatsApp one of the ways you stay connected with family, friends, and your community? Now you can use it to stay connected with FCPS, too.
Follow the new FCPS WhatsApp Channel for helpful information and reminders throughout the school year, including important announcements, upcoming dates, tips for families, and more.
FCPS This Week
In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:
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- Get Ready for Day One With the FCPS App!
- Learn About School Meals
- Managing Technology at Home
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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