Colt Crusader
A newsletter for the families of CFES - Week of 5/11
Weekly Edition
2828 Pleasant Acres Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23453
757-648-2240
http://www.christopherfarmses.vbschools.com
Follow us on Twitter @cfescolts
Principal: Robyn Backer , @Robyn Backer
Asst. Principal: Patti Porter, @sunsetzzz15
Message From Ms. Backer, Our Principal
Hello CFES families! Thank you for all of your support this week for Teacher and Staff Appreciation week. Our staff really felt the love with notes from students, pictures, and virtual greetings. A HUGE thank you to our PTA who were able to provide our staff with a drive thru celebration featuring small baskets for all staff and an amazing raffle. It was fantastic to be able to see some of the staff, while maintaining social distancing guidelines.
On Thursday, Dr. Spence provided some updated guidelines about the end of the school year.
- May 29th - The last day for seniors to receive work as part of the ELP.
- June 5th - The last day for all other students to receive work for ELP. Students may submit assignments through June 10th.
- June 8th - June 12th - For the last week of school, we will focus on closing out the 2019-2020 school year, with a focus on social emotional learning and virtual celebrations! Stay tuned for more information from your child's teacher about virtual celebrations for the end of the year.
As a school, we are working on a plan for parents to pick up the remaining supplies for students. This will be communicated in the next few weeks; we really appreciate your patience on this. A reminder that year books should be coming in at the end of May and we should be able to coordinate pick up with student belongings pick-up. We are also EXCITED to announce that we are in the process of finalizing plans for a virtual celebration for our 5th grade students. Stay tuned for more details.
As mentioned in our morning messages this week, we ran a participation total based on work completion for week 1 and we are at 75%! I am so impressed with that number as I know many of our families have been stretched in many, many different directions and have had to adapt to a new way of schooling. We have many different support options if your child is having a difficult time completing their work. Please don’t hesitate to email myself, Mrs. Porter or your child’s teacher to discuss these options. We want to keep as many of our students engaged as possible! Let’s see if we can get that number to 80%. We can do this!
In the meantime, I want to take a minute to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! I hope you and your families have a wonderful weekend, stay safe and healthy! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to reach out.
-Ms. Backer
Celebrating this week's #Goodphonecalls of the day!
Kinley, 2nd Grader - Mrs. Minehan
Tia, Kinder - Mrs. Kane
Maddox, 2nd Grader - Mrs. Minehan
Esteban, 5th Grader - Mrs. Cochran
Jeanine, 5th Grader - Mrs. Bagnall
Field Trip Refunds
For our 3rd and 4th grade families, you have the option of requesting a refund or transfer your child’s field trip money to their fourth/fifth grade teacher to be used towards a field trip during the 2020-2021 school year.
For our 5th grade families, you have the option of requesting a refund or donating the $6.00 to the fifth-grade classes at Christopher Farms Elementary School for the 2020-2021 school year.
Please complete the form below by Friday, May 1. If you have any questions, please email to wende.phillips@vbschools.com
VIRTUAL PARENT CONNECTION
VBCPS will host the next Virtual Parent Connection Webinar on Thursday, May 14, featuring Dr. Fran Prolman. The topic will be “Staying Sane While Teaching Your Own Children.” Please look for more information on our website. The event is first come, first served with a capacity of 500 participants.
If you’d like to attend use this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83221401837?pwd=NDdMN1NSMWlLRXdpbVNGUDdRanlYQT09
Password: 4hVSLv
Counselor Corner:
Last week, we introduced our new graduate profile trait of being resilient learners. If students chose to view the optional lesson they heard about how taking care of oneself and being balanced with our mind, body, heart and soul leads to resilience. Balance and care includes eating well, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep, so that you can control stress more easily.
Some of us adults need to heed this advice too. We often get caught up in taking care of others and forget to take care of ourselves. Please take some time to check out the resources shared on our resource link. They are not only for students but families too. The PGICast Bloom Where you Are Planted bit.ly/BloomPGICast offers some great suggestions, because maintaining balance and self-care during this unique time is more important than ever!
This week’s lesson introduces students to practicing thought awareness. Resilient people don’t let negative thoughts derail their efforts. Instead, they are mindful and observe their present state and what they can control. The story of Howard B. Wigglebottom making the best out of a situation may be helpful if your child is currently feeling like they aren’t able to control the world around them.
We hope you check out this week’s optional lesson on Resilience (Week 2) when your schedule allows. Please also remember Mrs. Beda and Mrs. Yoshida are available via schoology email or vbschools email for any questions or concerns.
Music assignments for the week of 5/11
Kindergarten
https://vbschools.schoology.com/course/2200810619/materials?f=202825730
First Grade
https://www.loom.com/share/bf405e156de548668d21c9fe07431d60
Clever/Wixie
Second Grade
https://www.loom.com/share/c0dac2f0851c48abb5b3d04232da0cab
https://musicplayonline.com/listening/
Third Grade
Watch String, Brass, Woodwind, and Percussion
https://www.loom.com/share/c0dac2f0851c48abb5b3d04232da0cab
https://musicplayonline.com/music_game/what_instrument_do_you_hear/pages/page_1.html
Fourth Grade
http://www.musicplayonline.com/
Clever/Wixie - Naming Orchestral Instruments
Fifth Grade
https://www.loom.com/share/3ebf7069363e4741872a906906e09eef
Clever/Wixie - Create your own melody and record
VIRGINIA BEACH PUBLIC LIBRARY ONLINE RESOURCES
Check out these awesome resources that have been provided by the Virginia Beach Public Libraries for the summer!
Virtual Programming - Virginia Beach Public Library is excited to pilot online programming for children of all ages during our extended building closure. Check out our virtual youth book club for grades 3rd – 5th! To see the full list of events, please visit our Event Calendar, making sure Digital Program is selected in the navigation bar under Library Branch.
Student Accounts - Virginia Beach City Public Schools and Virginia Beach Public Library have partnered to provide year-round digital public library access to all K to 12 students. For more information visit https://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/libraries/Using-the-Library/Pages/vbcps-student-account.aspx.
Check out our CFES Artist spotlight!
This week the Artist Highlight goes out to Isabelle Green! she got creative and completed the chalk the walk activity on schoology. Thank you for bringing color to your neighborhood!
Art Assignment from Ms. Jones
This week we will be creating artwork based on Giuseppe Archimboldo. He created portraits of people by arranging food to make up a face and body! Our challenge will be to create a face using a plate as the head, and anything that you find around the house to make the parts of the face. Have fun, and don't forget to send in pictures through email (meejones@vbschools.com), or through schoology!
WAYS TO STAY IN TOUCH WITH CFES HAPPENINGS:
- Check our website weekly: https://christopherfarmses.vbschools.com
- Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/cfescolts
- Download the VBSCHOOLS app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
- Make sure the school has your updated phone number and email address in order to receive Alert Now communications
- Follow your child's progress on Parent Portal: https://www.vbschools.com/parents/parent_portal
Proud Principal
Email: robyn.backer@vbschools.com
Website: https://christopherfarmses.vbschools.com/
Location: Christopher Farms Elementary School 2828 Pleasant Acres Drive Virginia Beach, Virginia 234
Phone: (757) 648-2240
Twitter: @RobynBacker