Discovery Weekly Newsletter
Week of April 5
Administrative Update
Good Evening,.
Per LCPS Interim Superintendent Scott Ziegler's announcement, students who selected Hybrid Learning for the 2nd semester will begin attending school in-person 4 days per week as of April 20.
This is a significant change to our current pandemic practices, and it was not something that we had planned for prior to this announcement. This is an exciting announcement as we continue to inch towards a sense of normalcy.
What does this mean for hybrid students? Daily class sizes will now double going to approximately 20-25 students. In order to accommodate the larger class sizes that will result, with physical distancing being reduced to 3' or less based on the situation. Everyone will continue to wear masks and hand wash/sanitize as much as possible. In the cafeteria students will also sit 3' apart or less, and while they eat they will not be wearing masks. Our custodians and staff will continue our enhanced cleaning practices. Desks shields will still be affixed to each desk and air purifiers will still run in each classroom with students.
Unfortunately, due to the doubling of class sizes and our need to maintain as many of the COVID mitigation protocols, including physical distancing, moving from DL to hybrid most likely will be difficult to honor, if requested. My heart hurts just writing that as we want all students back at Discovery. I know many DL families chose DL because of the consistency it provided when compared to the current hybrid model (2 days in-person, 3 days asynchronous). That decision was made back in November. A lot has changed since that time and I totally understand. As we enter this new planning phase I want to share that I am sorry we won’t be able to honor every request made by all families.
As we enter the last quarter and make these changes, I remain positive with all the wonderful learning that has occurred and continues to occur every single day in both distance and hybrid learning. Our students--your children--are growing! Our students have added new skills and continue to make academic progress. Despite our "distance", I suspect they will have grown in other ways that we just can't fully see yet. They will appreciate more of the little things each day; they will cherish their friends, their teachers, and being able to spend time with each other without a cloud of anxiety around the pandemic. Personally, I will cherish being able to see ALL our Trailblazers at Discovery.
The end of this pandemic is in sight. There may not be a hard ending, but it'll end nonetheless.
Stay strong! Don't let up! Stay safe.
Save the Date
April 5
April 12
PTO Update
Your PTO welcomes you back to school! We hope you had a restful Spring Break! Get ready to dance your way into the 4th quarter...
That's right.... this year’s main fundraiser is the Discovery Elementary Dance Fit! The program kicks off next week on April 13, however registration is open now. See below for all of the exciting details!
Parents be sure and take note that Friday, April 16, will be an asynchronous learning day for all students and staff so that staff can adjust classroom layouts and prepare the building for shifting to 4-day hybrid learning on April 20.
Save the Date for our upcoming Spirit Day at Sweet Frog on April 13!!
Erin Sullivan & Kristin Stephens
PTO Presidents
discoverydonationsandevents@gmail.com
Stay Connected:
Instagram @discoveryPTO
FB @discovery.pto.trailblazers
Twitter @discoverypto1
Get ready for Discovery's Dance Fit Fundraiser!
Parents and Families—this year’s main fundraiser is the Discovery Elementary Dance Fit! The program kicks off next week on April 13. BUT you may begin to register NOW at www.funrun.com. Look for our school code: 534-599
Families will begin to gather pledges for every minute your student dances (30-35 minutes dance) on the Dance Fit day, which will happen on April 22. This year our goal is to raise $20,000 for school-wide technology upgrades & the 5th graders are raising money for their end-of-year promotion!
Students will also experience an amazing character theme, SPORTS CITY NOW! Booster’s most exciting theme yet teaches students how to navigate social-emotional awareness by learning from real kid-athletes…just like them. While they’re teaming up with the Sports City Now team, our students will learn five character traits that will help strengthen themselves and our world.
There is no pressure to give, but we invite you to help our school by getting pledges from family and friends and entering them on FUNRUN.COM. This event will be hosted virtually, so whether your student is at home or in school, they can participate!
Thanks so much for your support!
#takeouttuesday Spirit Night at Sweet Frog
PTO Board Elections & Volunteer Positions Coming Soon
Discovery Elementary School is looking for volunteers to join our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for the upcoming school year. No previous PTO experience is necessary! Stay tuned in the coming weeks for information on the upcoming PTO Board Elections.
Ways to Support Discovery Elementary
Shop Amazon Smile
Do you use the Amazon app? Now you can support Discovery while doing it. Simply add Discovery Elementary School PTO as your charity within Amazon Smile. Make sure it is the Ashburn VA Discovery and help us earn money while you shop. It’s that easy. To learn how to sign up for Amazon Smile, visit this link.
It Only Takes a Moment
Help Discovery earn money while doing your grocery shopping by linking our school to your card today. You can go through the app, website, or send us the info and we will do it for you. This easy, once a year, sign up will help us out all year, so please relink every year!
To link your Harris Teeter account, you may click here to link directly to the Harris Teeter website. (NOTE: Discovery's code is 2009.)
Parent Resources
Staff's Favorite Things & Amazon Wish Lists
Curbside Library Pick Up
Reserve your books for CURBSIDE PICK-UP each Monday, (that is not a holiday) at Discovery from 8:00 am-2:30 pm in the lobby. Scan the barcode above to reserve!
Please bring your ID to buzz in the school and the reserved books are on the carts by grade to the right. Please reserve by 12:00 pm the Thursday prior so that we have time to get the books ready. Please RETURN any books you have out to the blue bin in the lobby.
For more information, click here.
LCPS Meal Services
Join our PTO
We'd love to have you! Please fill out the membership form to join the Discovery PTO.
PTO membership conveys voting rights, but it does not obligate you to volunteer or attend PTO events. All dues go to supporting classroom improvements. Thank you in advance for supporting Discovery Elementary School!
PTO Parent Toolbox
- PTO Membership
- Fundraising & Spirit Nights
- School Activities
- and much more...
Parent Liaison Services
Discovery's Parent Liaison job is to connect you to county resources and help you navigate through all the information. There are always new resources and information that we feel are important to share with you. We encourage you to visit this link often throughout the year as it will be updated on a continual basis.
Shop Discovery's Spirit Wear
Discovery Elementary Home Page
Discovery's Community Pantry
We will be accepting donations all year round and you can easily shop through this link to support the pantry.
To register to receive pantry items, please apply using this link: Application Form
If you have any questions, please contact, Neremaan Qureshi.
Get Social
Contact Us
Website: https://www.lcps.org/des
Location: Discovery Elementary School, Grace Bridge Drive, Ashburn, VA, USA
Phone: 571-252-2370
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discovery.pto.trailblazers/
Twitter: @discoverypto1