|
English | Español | አማርኛ | 中文 | 한국어 | Tiếng Việt | العربية | فارسی | اردو
The Feather Report
August 28, 2026
Photo of the Week
 The first week is all about connection, especially in kindergarten, where our newest Eagles have a chance to make new friends! You can read more about the first week in Ms. Rubinger’s kindergarten in our brand new newsletter section “Zoom into the Room” which debuts at the bottom of this newsletter!
Leadership Ledger
Westlawn Families,
What a wonderful first week of school at Westlawn! It has been so exciting to welcome our students back into the building and see our classrooms and hallways filled with learning, laughter, and energy once again. I am incredibly proud of how smoothly our community has settled into the new school year, and I want to thank our students, families, and staff for helping us get off to such a positive start. We have been especially impressed with how well Kiss & Ride is running—thank you, families, for your patience, preparation, and partnership!
We continue to work closely with FCPS Transportation to address bus timing and assignment concerns. Please keep in mind that several bus numbers changed over the summer, so we encourage families to double-check their child’s current bus information. We appreciate everyone’s flexibility as transportation routines continue to settle into place. Please contact the Transportation Office at 703-446-2050 with any additional questions. For concerns after 5:30 p.m., contact the FCPS Office of Safety and Security at 571-423-2000.
Finally, while breakfast and lunch are free for all Westlawn students this year, families who may qualify should still complete the free or reduced-price meal application. Qualifying can provide additional financial support for opportunities such as clubs, camps, and other programs throughout the year, so completing the application can make an important difference beyond daily meals.
Thank you for such a terrific start to the year! I am grateful for the care and partnership that make Westlawn such a special community, and I look forward to all that we will accomplish together this year!
In partnership,
Christoph Hill, Stephanie Carpenter, and Erin Theiss
Proud Principals
News
Welcome New Staff Members!
Over the next few weeks we will introduce you to the newest faces at Westlawn!
We are thrilled to welcome Ms. Armstrong to our school community as a new 5th Grade Classroom Teacher!
In the classroom, Ms. Armstrong brings a love for learning—math was her absolute favorite subject growing up, and her favorite children's book is The Slow Train to Oxmox. Outside of school, she enjoys the color purple, grabbing a bite at Lazy Mike’s, watching Shrek 2, and jamming out with games like Rock Band.
Please join us in giving Ms. Armstrong a warm welcome to our school!
|
We are thrilled to welcome Ms. Johnson back to our school community as our new CCT Lab Specialist! Ms. Johnson is a familiar face thanks to her many days as a substitute teacher, including as a long-term substitute for Ms. Sharelle White last year.
Ms. Johnson loves bringing joy and creativity to school—and a good laugh always brightens her day! Her favorite children's book is Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys Cuban salsa dancing, dreaming of trips to Copenhagen, and enjoying delicious food from Padaek. If she weren't in education, she would love to be a writer!
Please join us in giving Ms. Johnson a warm welcome to our school!
|
We are delighted to welcome Ms. Meredith to our school community as our new Enhanced Autism Classroom Teacher!
Ms. Meredith is excited to join such a supportive and welcoming community. Growing up, her favorite subject in school was music, and her favorite books were the Junie B. Jones series. Outside of school, she enjoys arts and crafts, spending time with her pets, playing Mario Kart, and roller skating—a hidden talent of hers! A big fan of the fall season, Halloween, and the colors purple and green, Ms. Meredith also loves cozying up with a good slice of pizza or some sour candy.
Please join us in giving Ms. Meredith a warm welcome to our school!
|
We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Rowland to our school community as a Special Education Instructional Assistant!
Mr. Rowland is most excited to get to know our students, staff, and community members. He holds his elementary school memories close to heart—in fact, three of his best friends today are from his kindergarten class! Outside of school, Mr. Rowland loves fueling up with coffee, enjoying a classic PB&J sandwich, playing Fortnite, and listening to live Phish albums to brighten his day.
Please join us in giving Mr. Rowland a warm welcome to our school!
|
We are excited to welcome Ms. Thomas to our community as a 6th Grade Classroom Teacher!
Growing up inspired by her parents, Ms. Thomas brings a wonderful set of experiences and hobbies to our school. She spent several years living in Taiwan from 2022 to 2025 and loves watercoloring, reading, and relaxing at the beach. Outside the classroom, you might find her sipping a warm cup of Earl Grey tea, snacking on popcorn or sushi, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, or listening to her favorite song, "Sunflower" by Post Malone and Swae Lee.
Please join us in giving Ms. Thomas a warm welcome to 6th grade!
|
FCPS Cares
Did a Westlawn staff member go above-and-beyond this month to help you or your child? Please submit their name for an FCPS Cares award! FCPS Cares stories are shared throughout FCPS and give everybody the warm-and-fuzzies inside. Learn more about FCPS Cares.
Reminder: Staff Wish Lists
We have had several members of our amazing community ask us about staff wish lists! We have published the lists that staff members have shared on our website. Thank you for anything you can contribute to help a staff member make this year extra-special for Westlawn students! If you want a staff member to share a list, please contact Ms. Dushok, and she will be delighted to make a request on your behalf.
Also: our staff sends a big thank you to the anonymous folks who have gifted things from wish lists! Sometimes gifts arrive without identification as to the sender, and we don’t know who sent them! Please rest assured that your recipient is very grateful for your generosity!
Reminder: SEL Screener Parent/Guardian Notification
The Spring 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.
FCPS News
In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:
- Everything You Need to Do in SIS ParentVUE
- Permission Forms for School Resources
- Follow Multiple Schools in the App
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
September 4 and September 7: No School for extended Labor Day Weekend.
September 10: Join us for the first PTA meeting of the year, including an ice cream social! Ice cream scooping starts at 5:30 PM. Childcare and interpretation will be provided.
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
Join the PTA!
The PTA is excited for the start of another amazing year, and is hoping to make it the biggest one yet! You can show your support by joining the PTA today!
Reminder: Be Prepared to Volunteer in 2026-2027!
FCPS now requires many volunteers to pass a background check. If you want to volunteer in 2026-2027, we recommend that you start the application process now. Then you can complete the background check over the summer and be ready to volunteer when school starts back up in August. Apply now to become an FCPS volunteer.
Mind Matters
Do you have a student in grades 3-6? Have you seen their AGENDAS yet? Please take a moment if not to find it in the backpack and have your student share with you how they keep track of all the things! This year we are excited that our agendas are dual language to help our Spanish speakers. This is one way AVID is a part of our school here at Westlawn! AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a system to help students gain all the support skills needed to be successful past high school: things like planning ahead, keeping track of assignments, being organized, keeping good notes, collaborating, and learning about careers and colleges. See if you can make a plan to check agendas with your student every day and ask them about the things they have written. Happy new school year!
|
Tech Talk
Digital Resource Consent
The beginning of the year means that it is, once again, time to collect digital resource consent from all families! Here are some facts about digital resource consent and why we must collect it:
- We are required to collect digital resource consent each year by law. (Since this is a law, we must also collect consent from kindergarten families, even though most kindergarteners are not using a device this year!)
- Providing consent means that your child has permission to access FCPS-approved digital resources such as Google Arts and Culture, Google Earth, Padlet, and Tinkercad. A full list of programs is available in the Parent Digital Consent Portal.
- To become approved, a digital resource must pass a rigorous screening process where FCPS looks at data security, age-appropriateness, and other factors.
- Classroom teachers determine which of the approved digital resources are used in the classroom. They make decisions based on student needs and the FCPS curriculum.
- Families can revoke consent in the Parent Consent Digital Portal.
Ms. Dushok has already processed approximately half of the digital resource consent signatures collected during Welcome to Westlawn. She will process the second half next week. She is working backwards, starting with sixth grade and working down to prekindergarten. Once Ms. Dushok processes the signatures from Welcome to Westlawn for an entire grade level, she sends a message requesting consent to families who have not yet provided consent via the event or in the Parent Digital Consent Portal. If your child is in grades 3-6, you may have received a message this week! Her goal is to have 100% of consent signatures on file for the fifth year in a row, leading all schools in Region 2.
ParentVUE: Your Portal to the World of FCPS
ParentVUE accounts make it easy to keep track of everything for your child within FCPS. You can use it to keep track of attendance (and submit absences), see major test scores such as SOL scores, and see health information, such as the allergies we have listed for your child and the immunization records we have on file. Eventually, starting in middle school, you will also be able to track your child’s grades in each class through ParentVUE. The username and password you use for a ParentVUE account is also used to access the Parent Digital Consent Portal, Schoology, and the Here Comes the Bus app.
To create a ParentVUE account you need a unique code from our SIA, Ms. Caballero. The code is used in conjunction with the email address we have on file for you. Both parents or guardians are able to have ParentVUE accounts as long as we have both email addresses on file.
If you want to edit or add the email address(es) we have on file, or you want to get the code to create a ParentVUE account, please contact Ms. Caballero at 703-241-5100.
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).
Zoom into the Room
This week we are zooming into Ms. Rubinger’s kindergarten classroom, where the school year is off to a vibrant and joyful start as young learners take their very first steps into the school community. For many of these eager students, entering a formal classroom environment is a brand-new adventure, making the establishment of daily routines, positive expectations, and reassuring habits a central focus of their week. Ms. Rubinger and Mrs. Stoch cultivate a supportive and uplifting atmosphere from the moment children step through the door each morning, assisting with backpack tags, daily organization, and warm welcomes that help every child feel safe, confident, and ready to learn.
Throughout the week, the kindergartners have been actively practicing essential life and learning skills designed to foster both personal independence and a strong classroom community. Students are mastering key daily routines, such as proudly taking turns to place their individual name tiles onto activity selection boards and practicing calm, focused transitions when moving from outdoor recess back to their working tables. Interactive literature also sparked lively engagement during storytime with David Shannon’s popular David books, leading into an activity where students considered decision-making and sorted various classroom behaviors into "good choices" and "poor choices." To help them navigate their wider school environment with confidence, the class embarked on an exciting campus-wide scavenger hunt, discovering key places and becoming comfortable with their new surroundings.
Every day brings fresh opportunities for growth as students express their unique personalities, silly humor, and eagerness to share more of themselves with classmates. Looking ahead, the class is excited to expand its morning community by welcoming EAC friends into their daily morning meetings, deepening connections across the school. Guided by encouragement, structured routines, and plenty of shared smiles, Ms. Rubinger’s class is laying a strong, joyful foundation for an extraordinary year of learning together.
Top: A student smiles as she checks off locations on the scavenger hunt she has attached to her clipboard. Middle: Students take turns attaching their name tile to the hook and loop choice board for afternoon center choice time. Bottom: Two students sort activities into columns for “good choice” or “poor choice.”
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 | Contact the Newsletter Editor
|
