Chris Yung Elementary
Full STEAM Ahead
November 2021
Chris Yung Elementary School publishes a school newsletter each month. It is posted on our website and sent out electronically via School Messenger. Check out the latest newsletter for news, updates and upcoming events.
Important Dates to Remember
Nov. 1: Parent/Teacher Conference Day: School Closed
Nov. 2: Election Day: School Closed: Teacher Workday
Nov. 3: 2nd Quarter Begins
Nov. 4: Diwali Day: School Closed
Nov. 7: Daylight Savings Time Ends (Turn Clocks Back One Hour)
Nov. 10: Report Cards Emailed Home
Nov. 11: Veterans’ Day: School Closed
Nov. 16: Advisory Council Meeting @ 6:30 & PTO Meeting @ 7:30 (VIRTUAL)
Nov. 24-26: Thanksgiving Break: School Closed
Dec. 3: Fall Picture Make-Up Day
Principal: Kathy Notyce
Assistant Principal: Ann Quattrone
Mission: Working collaboratively to achieve success.
Vision: A World Class school committed to excellence.
Principal's Message
Dear Chris Yung Families,
Happy Fall! The colors are in full swing and the cool temperatures are upon us. During this month, we will celebrate several holidays that allow families to come together and enjoy the beauty of the season. Diwali is celebrated on November 4. This holiday symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.” We will celebrate Veterans Day on November 11 by showing appreciation to our veterans who provided service and made sacrifices for our Country. Thanksgiving is such a special time to get together with family and friends to share a meal and enjoy traditions. We have a lot to be grateful for At Chris Yung Elementary School. We have a dedicated and caring staff which includes our custodial team, cafeteria staff, office staff, nurse, paraprofessionals and our teachers. I remain grateful for the opportunity to work with them to support our children. We have amazing parents who are supporting their children and working full time. I couldn’t be prouder of the PTO and Advisory Council members for all they do to support our students and families.
As we begin the second quarter of the school year, high standards and expectations for academic achievement and responsible behavior remain our focus. Now that we are in our seventh year of existence as a school, we’ve built a culture on high expectations for everyone. Our students understand what it means to be quality students both academically and behaviorally and we’ll continue to hold them accountable for their choices.
Thank you for your continued support in making Chris Yung a World class school. I wish you and your family a beautiful fall season and happy holidays!
Kathy Notyce
Chris Yung Principal
Parent Teacher Conferences
Parent Teacher Conferences will take place on Monday, November 1. The conferences provide a two-way avenue of communication between teachers and parents which can be a huge benefit for students. Teachers will discuss your child’s progress, reading levels, share data etc. At the conclusion, you will have a clear picture of how your child is developing as a learner as well as their strengths and areas of growth. You are encouraged to share your questions along with information that will help the teacher to better understand your child’s needs. We invite students to attend conferences along with their parents especially in the upper grades as many of the conferences will be student led. Please keep in mind that conferences are scheduled for 15 minutes and teachers have a full schedule so please be on time. If you need an interpreter, please notify the teacher ahead of time so that arrangements can be made to support you in the language of your choice.
Report Cards
Report Cards will be emailed on November 10. Please review the Report Card carefully with your child. If you have questions about conferences or the Report Card, contact your child’s teacher or call the school at 571.598.3500. The success of our students lies in the hands of parents, school staff and students all working together to achieve academic success. This is our time to aim high and expect excellence.
Gifted Education Testing
During November, the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT®) will be administered to third grade students and the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test – 3rd Edition (NNAT3) will be administered to second grade students in Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) as part of the universal screening process for Gifted Education.
The Naglieri, for second grade students, is a 30-minute online test that will be administered by the classroom teachers in the classroom setting. The testing date is November 3 at 9:30 am. Third grade students who did not take the test last year due to virtual instruction will also be taking the Naglieri test on the same date and time with their classroom teachers.
The CogAT, for third grade students, is a series of three paper pencil tests in the areas of verbal, non-verbal and quantitative reasoning. These tests will also be administered by the classroom teachers in the classroom setting. The testing dates are November 8, 9, and 10 and will be administered at 9:30 am each day.
We encourage you to make note of these dates and ensure your child arrives at school on time and to avoid scheduling appointments, if possible. Make-up dates will be determined on an as needed basis. Testing reports will be made available to parents once the school has received them from the Division Testing Office.
For questions, please contact the school at 571 598 3500 or the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Quattrone, at quattrae@pwcs.edu.
Turn Back the Clocks
Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour before you go to sleep Saturday, November 6. At 2:00 Sunday morning, clocks in the United States will officially be on Standard Time. Enjoy an extra hour of sleep!
Kiss N Ride Reminders
To ensure the safety of all students, we need your support. Please adhere to the following procedures:
- The Kiss N Ride line is a no passing zone
- The first car in line in both the AM & PM need to drive down to the end of the sidewalk
- Staff members will indicate when it is safe to move vehicles forward
- Children must remain in the car until a staff member indicates that it is time to exit the vehicle
- Parents should remain inside the vehicle
- Children will exit and enter from the passenger side of the vehicle to ensure they stay safely on the sidewalk. They will walk to the far side of the sidewalk near the grass.
- Drivers need to stay in the line and wait for the car in front of them to proceed through the Kiss N Ride line
- Drivers without a number will have to park in the parking lot and go into the office with proper Identification to pick up their child
Thank you for your continued support to ensure student safety!
Advisory Council and PTO News
The PTO committee recently sponsored Penny Wars which allowed students to compete as grade levels to raise money. Our students enjoyed the competition and I’m excited to announce that they raised $2,938.25. Thank you to all our Chris Yung families for supporting this fundraiser. The team winners are as follows: 1st Place: 3rd Grade ($1,028) and 2nd Place: 2nd Grade ($333). Mrs. Notyce and Mrs. Quattrone were so proud of our students for collecting money for the PTO! To show our appreciation all grade levels have earned 15 extra minutes of recess for their fantastic participation in the Penny Wars! The PTO has planned a Chick-fil-A fundraiser on Wednesday, November 10 at 5:00-8:00. I hope you’ll stop by and purchase dinner for the family.
The next Advisory Council meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 16 at 6:30. During the meeting, we will be voting on the approval of the By Laws. Additionally, our reading specialist, Mrs. Morgan will be providing reading strategies, and ways you can support reading at home. The PTO meeting will be held at 7:30 that evening. All parents are invited to attend these virtual meetings and get involved with the awesome work that these committees are doing to support our students and staff.
Mrs. Ter Weele, Advisory Council Chairperson
Mrs. Guercio, PTO President
Free Breakfast & Lunch for all Students
Grab & Go Breakfast is available for all students. They should enter Door 1 to go to the cafeteria and pick up a breakfast to eat in the classroom. Due to severe allergies in some classes, some students eat breakfast in the cafeteria. In such cases, students have an assigned table and seat.
Lunch: All students wear a mask into the cafeteria and keep it on until they are seated. After eating lunch, students put their mask back on for duration of their lunch time.
You can access The PWCS Menus here or sign up to receive the monthly menus emailed to you here.
Password Reset
Looking to reset your child's password? Click on the "Password Reset" quick link on the Chris Yung webpage, in the MyPWCS mobile app or by going to Password Self-Service page.
STEAM Corner
Teaching Effective Communication Through STEAM
Effective communication is a key to preparing our students for the future. Can you communicate effectively within a group setting? Think about all the times we as adults are asked to communicate with others? How often do we encounter struggles? What strategies do we have to work through communication difficulties? Part of our goal at CYES is teaching our students ways to effectively communicate and one of the main ways we do that is through STEAM Education.
At its most basic level, we hope students can do the following:
1. Speak clearly.
2. Listen to others.
3. Ask and answer questions.
At the younger grades, we start by having them ask and answer questions about challenges or driving questions, share their ideas out loud and listen to others sharing ideas. This progresses into two partners working together effectively to answer a driving question or real-world problem. Ask your first or second graders what a LEGO buddy is and see if they can identify the keys of effective partner work for you. Our hope that they can both imagine solutions and then plan a single design to be built together. By continuously exposing them to real-world challenges in a partner setting we are there to support difficulties that may arise and give them strategies to solve problems.
As our students get older the key points we look for progress slightly to be applied within a larger group setting. In many cases, our students are using the engineering design process to address a real-world problem within a group setting. Our goal is for students to gather information, use that information in a group of 3 or more and present that solution out as a final design. Ask your students how they are doing in school working in a group? See if they can identify strategies to solve problems when they don’t agree with the ideas of others in their group.
The process of effective communication is one that students will be working on for the rest of their lives. Through STEAM at CYES our goal is that we have laid the groundwork for your students to see success as they grow older and eventually move on from CYES.
If you have questions, comments or concerns about promoting effective communication at home please feel free to reach out!
What’s happening with STEAM at CYES?
Stay up to date on various STEAM project happening at CYES on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching @cyesSTEAM .
Mrs. Kaitlin Chidester
CYES STEAM Coach
Literacy and Math at Home
Since we have many short breaks from school in November and December, here are some ways to keep literacy alive in your homes. As always, continue to use Lexia, Dreambox and myOn.
Below are some fun ways for students to continue to engage in academic activities while having fun and spending time with family!
- Help write the grocery list
- Read the labels and prices to you at the grocery store
- Write a list of gift ideas
- Find gift ideas in magazines or catalogs and read the descriptions and prices
- Write thank you notes
- Read road signs as you are driving
- Play board games
- Read recipes and help with measurements
We will also be creating a school wide myOn winter book folder that students can go in, select holiday and winter books and read them or listen to them being read for enjoyment! All students can access this in their myOn account through Clever.
Mrs. Melissa Morgan
Reading Specialist
Technology Corner
Numerous studies have supported the idea that overall student motivation and engagement in learning is enhanced by the implementation of instructional technology! This year we are focusing on using technology to be actively ENGAGED in our learning and to CREATE in all grade levels! You might hear your learner talking about game-based learning platforms such as Kahoot! and Blooket where they answer questions, earn points and compete in strategic challenges! Many grade levels are using a platform called Lumio where a student device becomes a digital whiteboard or place to manipulate math tools, letters or words and teachers can see what each child is doing in real-time! Flipgrid is one of our favorite tools here at Chris Yung and how we are able to create digitally or share the projects we create in other ways! Check out some of our latest cotaught lessons!
Kindergarten- We are focused on learning to use the iPad efficiently! We recently created a paper pumpkin that we snapped a picture of in the app ChatterKids and orally shared a pumpkin fact which was then shared on Flipgrid!
1st Grade- We are focused on being engaged with our learning through Kahoot and Lumio! Our most recent lesson was using Lumio to identify, count and exchange coins!
2nd Grade- We have been creating a digital Famous American Wax Museum on Flipgrid!
3rd Grade- We have been using Padlet to analyze and share data that we create!
4th Grade- We are using Lumio to boost engagement with our language arts word work and during math!
5th Grade- We have been focused on using technology such as Flipgrid and Adobe Spark to create! In math we've loved using the Ozobot, a small coding robot to practice some of our most tricky math concepts.
Mrs. Nikki Jones
Instructional Technology Coach
Counselor's Corner
Classroom Counseling Lessons
In October, our counseling curriculum focused on the Zones of Regulation and managing strong feelings. Students in all grades learned about the Zones of Regulation and how their emotions play a role in self-control. Students were presented with a visual to help them conceptualize the zones and understand the dangers of reacting too quickly while in the yellow or red zone. Our big focus was on “keeping small problems small.” Students understand that the goal is to remain in the green zone, which is where the best learning and decision-making occurs. We discussed triggers and indicators of the yellow and red zone and identified strategies for getting back to the green zone.
During the month of November, our focus will be on gratitude. Gratitude is being aware of and thankful for the good things that happen in your life and taking the time to express appreciation. Like other positive emotions, feeling grateful on a regular basis can have a wonderful effect on our lives. According to a 2008 study published in the Journal of School Psychology, grateful children (ages 11 to 13) tend to be happier, more optimistic, and have better social support. They also report more satisfaction with their schools, families, communities, friends, and themselves. Grateful children also tend to give more social support to others.
Being grateful is more than saying thank you. Gratitude is different from other caring emotions such as empathy and compassion because it's learned. The good news is there are many things parents can do at home to foster a stronger sense of gratitude. Here are a few strategies to try at home to help your child feel more grateful:
- Teach your child to say thank you on a consistent basis
- Establish a gratitude routine
- Model gratitude
- Perform acts of kindness together
- Ask gratitude questions
- Create a gratitude project together (ex- gratitude jar, gratitude journaling, etc.)
- Look for the silver lining (learn to find something positive in every situation)
Small Groups
The purpose of small group counseling is to provide a safe environment for practicing new skills and increasing awareness so that students can continue to be successful in school. If you feel your child could benefit from small group counseling, please contact Dr. McClurg (grades 3-5), Ms. Poore (grades 1-3) or Ms. Brown (kindergarten).
Middle School Specialty Programs – Information for 5th Grade Students
Now is the time for 5th grade students to begin thinking about middle school. Students and their parents are encouraged to investigate the variety of specialty programs available to students in middle school.
If you missed the general information session that was offered in October, you can find a recording of that session here: Middle School Programs - Prince William County Public Schools (pwcs.edu)
In addition to the county-wide information session, information sessions will also be hosted by each middle school to allow students to visit the school site and explore that specific program further.
Marsteller Middle School Math and Science Program Information Session 11/8/2021 @ 6:30 p.m. (Zoom) Contact Ms. Adkins for more information: adkinsk@pwcs.edu
The application deadline is February 01, 2022 for most programs. Please note that the application process may take some time to complete therefore it’s recommended that you begin the process early. Please contact Dr. McClurg if you have questions about your options or need support with this process.
Stay in Touch
We are so excited to have our CYES family back in the building together. While we have faith that our students will continue to excel on all levels, we recognize that some students may need extra support as they transition back to a regular full-time schedule. As always, reach out to the counselors at any time. We are here to support all CYES families.
Ms. Poore (Grades 1, 2, 3): poorepb@pwcs.edu
Dr. McClurg (Grades 3, 4, 5): mcclurlm@pwcs.edu
If you or your child would like to request a meeting or individual counseling with Dr. McClurg, you may email or complete the online Counseling Request Form.
Dr. McClurg is also on Twitter! Follow me @CYEScounselor to stay up-to-date on all things related to CYES School Counseling.
Stay Connected
Communication is very important to your child’s success at school, and we want to keep you informed of what is going on at Chris Yung. Please remember communication is a two-way process and you are encouraged to get in touch with your child’s teacher or administrators as needed. We will use electronic communication frequently, so if you do not have access to a computer at home, please be sure to contact your child’s teacher to let them know, so they can send you information in your child’s backpack. We don’t want you to miss important information.
Below are a few ways to stay informed about Chris Yung and PWCS.
For an inside look at what is going on in PWCS, tune in to channel 18 on Comcast or 36 on Verizon. You can find district news, school spotlights, school board meetings, student interviews, athletic events, and calendar items.
Chris Yung Elementary
Email: notycekd@pwcs.edu
Website: https://chrisyunges.pwcs.edu/
Location: 12612 Fog Light Way, Bristow, VA, USA
Phone: (571) 598-3500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cyeselementaryschool
Twitter: @ChrisYungES