Haymarket Happenings
January 2020
Our Vision and Mission
Haymarket Cubs climbing towards excellence in all that we do.
Mission:
Building relationships with our school community in order to empower and engage our students to:
- meet high expectations
- think creatively and critically
- be responsible, caring, and respectful people of good character
Our Information
Email: baldwisl@pwcs.edu
Website: https://haymarketes.pwcs.edu/
Location: 15500 Learning Lane, Haymarket, VA, USA
Phone: 703-468-2800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaymarketES/
Twitter: @haymarketcubs
Ringing in the new year!
Dear Haymarket Families,
Let me begin by wishing you all a Happy New Year filled with many successes and continued progress. During winter break, I hope you had the chance to catch up with friends and family and enjoy some rest and relaxation. I certainly spent some time reflecting on 2019 and thinking about the work and opportunities that lie ahead in 2020.
One of the things I appreciate most about our Haymarket staff is that we are not silent about the things that matter and together we continue to provide a high-quality service for children and families. At Haymarket, we place great value on seeing our students showing continued success and academic progress as they move through their academic journey while here at Haymarket. I am excited to begin our work for the second half of the school year to ensure that learning continues. As we ring in the new year, we see this as an opportunity to check in with students and families to ensure that our students are on-track, prepared and ready for the second half of the year. What I have observed, as we approach the midpoint of the school year, is that students are academically strong and that our instructional and support team remains energized.
Here are a few ideas to ensure your child is successful at Haymarket:
1. Monitor your children’s schoolwork. One way to do this is to have them check in with you after school and share how their day went. A good opening question to help them communicate about this is to ask, “What did you learn in school today?” I ask this question every night to my two girls during our dinner. Sometimes I get …”nothing” and I follow-up by asking a more specific question about one of their subjects. I also ask things like, "what made you laugh today?" and "what did you do that showed kindness today?" Also, because my children are younger, we check their backpacks every night and discuss any school papers that are brought home. You can further monitor your child's progress in each Standard of Learning by checking ParentVUE on a continuous basis and following up with his or her teacher with any questions you have.
2. Make sure your children get to school and on time. The more students are in school, the higher their achievement. Children cannot learn if they are not in school. In addition, poor attendance causes students to get behind in their learning and catching up can be very difficult when they return. Being tardiness causes a disruption not only to your child, but also to all of the children in the class, PLEASE make sure your children are walking in our doors by 9:15 a.m. so that they are in their classrooms and ready to learn.
3. Reward your children’s efforts for trying their best. Rewarding students for high grades is not as effective as rewarding them for their effort. Children want to make their families proud. The best way to motivate effort is to notice it, praise it, and reward it...and rewards don't have to be tangible items! It can be a one-on-one "date night" for ice cream, a movie, a board game, etc.
4. Finally, be engaged and involved! How important is parent involvement and engagement in their children’s education? Tremendous! Study after study shows that it may be the top factor leading to student success. We are committed here at Haymarket to a partnership with all of our families. By working together, we can make a difference!
I leave you with this...we look for comfort and joy, peace on earth, goodwill toward all. How do we model and teach these to our children? What do we expect of each other and what positive steps can each of us take to help make this part of the world a kinder, gentler place for us and those with whom we live, learn and play?
Upcoming Events
Tuesday, January 14th - Strings Concert (7:00pm)
Friday, January 17th - SCA Sponsored Crazy Hair Day
Tuesday, January 21st - PTO Meeting (6:30pm)
Friday, January 24th - Early Release (12:35pm)
Friday, January 24th - End of 2nd Quarter
Monday, January 27th - No School for Students - Teacher Workday
Tuesday, February 4th - Report Cards go home
One School, One Book Starting!
We are excited to announce that during the month of January, Haymarket Elementary will once again be participating in a school-wide book club called “One School, One Book!” The whole school will be reading Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard & Florence Atwater.
Each class will read and discuss the book, learn new vocabulary, and enjoy cross-curricular activities related to the story to build comprehension.
**You are invited to join us on Friday, February 7th at 6:00 pm for our Family Literacy Night. We will celebrate the end of our “One School, One Book” event with a variety of literacy activities. At 7:00 pm, our PTO will show the movie of Mr. Popper’s Penguins. We hope to see you there!
Thank you to our PTO for generously buying the books and coordinating the movie night!
Somerset Crossing Now Open!
Guidance at a Glance (from Mrs. Schenck, Mrs. Vaneman, and Mrs. Plitt)
Happy New Year and welcome to a new decade! This is often a time of year when we reflect on the last year and think about dreams or goals for the year ahead. Our children can join us in thinking of goals for their year as well. Goals will look different depending on age, but teaching children how to set both short-term and long-term goals teaches them many life skills, including the following:
· Responsibility: Success or failure depends on what they put into meeting their goal.
· Time management: They learn how to manage their time to meet their goals.
· Self-confidence: Nothing beats the feeling of meeting your own goal.
· Resilience: They learn to cope with small setbacks that might stand in their way.
· Perseverance: They learn to keep trying and rework their steps until they meet their goals.
Next month, we’ll look at some strategies for parents to help your children develop and set specific goals.
Grade Level Lesson Updates:
- Kindergarteners and first graders are learning about worries, and we discussed that we sometimes call it anxiety. Second graders are working on coping with anger and worries and coming up many ideas for helping themselves stay calm! We discussed how to handle or lessen our worries. In all three grade levels students are encouraged to talk to an adult about anything that worries them.
- Our 3rd-5th grade students will be having a voice and sharing their feedback with the PWCS' Division-wide student survey. Students are always encouraged to talk with their teachers, counselors, trusted adults and parents with any concerns.
Multilingual Books in the Library
Did you know the Haymarket Library has a multilingual section with bilingual books (English and other languages), books written completely in another language as well as word to word bilingual dictionaries and picture dictionaries? Students are welcomed to check out dictionaries for the entire school year to use when completing assignments at school or at home. Please ask an ESOL teacher or a librarian for help checking out a dictionary. Dictionaries need to be returned at the end of the school year. Books can be checked out following the same library policies as other books.
Being multilingual has many benefits. One benefit of having exposure to other languages is that it promotes higher levels of abstract thought. To read about additional benefits, visit https://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/talk-read-sing/bilingual-en.pdf
Change in Dismissal and Pick Up Time? Read this!
School Closures/Delays
Retention Information
Parents of students being considered for retention in their current grade will be notified by the classroom teacher and a phone or in person conference will be held before January 30, 2020. Prince William County School System requires that a formal notice be sent at the end of the 2nd grading period to families of students who are being considered for retention. It does not mean your child is definitely going to be retained. The final decision about retention is not made until May. If you have questions please contact your child’s classroom teacher.
Transfers for 2020-2021 School Year
If your children are transfer students at Haymarket Elementary currently, or your family will be living outside the boundaries and you would like your child to attend Haymarket for the 2020-2021 school year it is time to do the paperwork. Student transfers are granted for a period of one year and then a new application must be filed for the upcoming year. Transfers are granted to accommodate the parents/guardians of elementary school children when both parents are employed full-time outside the home and it is necessary for someone in a different school attendance area to care for the student before and/or after school. A transfer to another school is considered a privilege. If a request for a transfer is denied, the parent/guardians have the opportunity to appeal a request in writing,and send to the principal of the school. It will then be forwarded to the Supervisor of Student Services where the case will be reviewed by the Director of Student Services. The decision of the Director of Student Services is final. Parent must submit the Transfer Request form to the base school principal beginning January 2nd and no later than April 30th. Transfer forms may be picked up at Haymarket Elementary from the main office.
Kindergarten registration dates for the 2020–21 school year are scheduled for Thursday, April 2, and Thursday, April 16, 2020. A child who is five years old on or before September 30, 2020, will be allowed to enroll in kindergarten in PWCS. Children who do not meet the age requirement for kindergarten will not be enrolled in kindergarten or assessed for placement in kindergarten in PWCS. Parents of children who speak or understand a language other than English will be asked to call one of our Central Registration Services sites.