Dragon Tales
The Arcola Newsletter with All the News at Arcola!
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March 16, 2024
Arcola Families,
Tomorrow is the last day to complete the LCPS Annual Stakeholder Survey. If you haven't filled it out yet, it can be found here.
The PEP Meeting and PTA Meeting from this week were rescheduled to Tuesday, March 19th. Please come join us for PEP at 5PM and for the PTA meeting at 7:30! We would love to have more parents join us for these meetings.
Additionally, if you or anyone you know, are interested in serving on the PTA Executive Board next school year, please send me an email at andrew.stevens@lcps.org. We are seeking parent volunteers to fill several positions for next year. Our school cannot fully function without the dedication of several PTA volunteers each year.
After establishing a steady decline in tardies recently, Daylight Savings Time (DST) wreaked havoc on our totals. In fact, this week yielded the highest number of tardies we've ever seen in the history of Arcola! Now that we've had a full week to adjust, I'm confident that we CAN get back to lowering the trend! With only one more week of school in March, please use this as an opportunity to balance out our monthly average. Every student who arrives ON-TIME helps tremendously with this goal!
Dates to Remember:
March 19 - PEP Meeting 5-7PM in the library. To attend, fill out this form.
March 19 - PTA Meeting 7:30PM in the library.
March 25-29 - SPRING BREAK!
We hope to see you soon!
Andrew Y. Stevens
Principal
HOT OFF THE PRESS
Donna Barbic Announces Retirement
After 17 years supporting students at Arcola, Donna Barbic has officially announced her retirement. Since our doors opened in 2007, Mrs. Barbic has profoundly impacted the lives of countless students and teachers, while serving in her role as a Special Education Teacher Assistant. Known for spreading love and humor to all, she has a knack for story-telling, in which she often "makes a short story long!" Mrs. Barbic and her husband, along with their dog Hans, are relocating to sunny Florida. Although her younger son Grant will still be up in Northern Virginia, Donna is looking forward to living closer to her son Austin. Her last day at Arcola is next Friday, March 22, 2024. Please feel free to send her any cards or words of congratulations as she finishes out her amazing career this coming week. All emails can be sent directly to donna.barbic@lcps.org.
Smart Watches Causing Distractions During Instructional Time
There has been a noticeable increase in the use of student smart watches during instructional time. As a reminder, per LCPS Policy 8650, students are permitted to have personal electronic devices in school, however they should not be used during instructional time. This applies to cell phones, smart watches, video game systems and other personal technology items. Parents, we need your help with this because the majority of the use of smart watches during instructional time is between you and your child. Please do not send messages to your child during the school day. If smart watches or cell phones become a distraction, students will be required to keep them in their backpacks until the end of the school day.
Kindergarten Registration
The online pre-registration portal for kindergartners and all new students is open! Once pre-registration has been submitted, the school will contact parents/guardians to schedule a registration appointment. Parents/guardians may also contact their zoned school directly. Registration appointments will occur starting March 1. Pre-registration is only for:
Students, grades kindergarten to 12, who are new to LCPS
Current LCPS pre-kindergarten students entering kindergarten
Students who were formerly enrolled and may be returning to LCPS
February Attendance Rate Data
Lightspeed
LCPS has partnered with Lightspeed Systems to foster safe and secure device usage in Loudoun County. You will receive a weekly summary of your child's LCPS device usage and have meaningful conversations with your children about Digital Citizenship and Internet Safety.
Career Units Beginning in March
Beginning in March, our School Counselors are starting Career Units. Please click the links below for more information.
Academies of Loudoun STEM Opportunities
We want to ensure that every LCPS family is made aware of the STEM opportunities that will be available to them in the coming years at the Academies of Loudoun.
The Office of Admissions and Outreach has created a video that contains important information about our curricular programs, the admissions process and the criteria associated with applying to the Academies of Loudoun.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Office of Admissions and Outreach at (571) 252-1992 or at AcademiesAdmissions@lcps.org
Link to 5th Grade parent video: https://vimeo.com/671215445
VGA Sample Report
The Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) Office of Student Assessment, has created new Virginia Growth Assessment (VGA) Reports to increase ease of understanding the assessment information for parents/guardians.
Notice the new report includes fall and winter 2023 vertical scaled scores, as well as VDOE’s parent and caregiver resources. This report, combined with teacher input, classroom work, report cards, and the VGA Student Detail by Question Reports (SDBQ), which are already uploaded into the Documents Tab of ParentVUE, are intended to give families an expanded picture of student progress. At this time, vertical scaled scores on these reports are not necessarily indicative of where your student will score on the spring SOL assessments.
Please reach out to your student’s teacher for more information.
Mercer Middle School Music Elective Information for 5th Grade Students (BAND)
- Test Drive Dates:
- March 20th, 2024 (you must attend this test drive if you did not attend the first one)
- Sign up for a test drive here: click here
- Please plan to stay the whole allotted specific time that you sign up for, meet us at the front of the school and we will start in the auditorium
- 6th grade is the only grade you can join band! come check out the test drive if you want to see what MMS band is like!
- Test Drives are for Band instruments only: flute, oboe, clarinet, alto saxophone, trumpet, french horn, baritone/euphonium, tuba, percussion
LCPS Instructional Awards Program
HRTD is proud to announce the LCPS Instructional Awards program. Included in these recognitions are the following, including four new award categories:
Professional Employee of the Year
Administrative Support Employee of the Year
Instructional Support Employee of the Year
Student Services Support Employee of the Year
Substitute of the Year
A complete list of job titles included in each award division can be found here: LCPS Instructional Awards- eligible positions
With the addition of these four categories, all school-based employees are now eligible for an award! We encourage all schools to submit at least one nomination.
Nominations can be submitted by staff, parents, students and/or community members for an outstanding employee based on their exemplary performance. Self-nominations will not be accepted. A selection committee composed of current LCPS staff members and community members will review nomination materials and use a standardized rubric to determine winners. Performance and past evaluations will be considered.
2023-2024 LCPS Instructional Awards Nomination Form
Completed nomination forms must be received by 5:00pm on Friday, March 22, 2024. If you have questions, please contact Carrie.Simms@lcps.org
Parent Guidance
Loudoun County Public Schools is offering new resources for all staff and parents/guardians to use to support students through www.parentguidance.org. You can learn more about this initiative by clicking here.
These resources include easily accessible video-based courses on difficult parenting topics, individualized parent coaching for any LCPS parent/guardian, on their schedule in their home, and weekly interactive webinars to let parents know the mental health needs of our students are a critical concern of Loudoun County Public Schools. Your unified mental health team members are ready to assist parents in accessing the support. You can watch this video about the services available.
Care Solace
Beginning January 29th, LCPS will launch Care Solace, a care coordination service to help students, staff, and families find mental health and substance use treatment matched to their needs. Care Solace’s multilingual and culturally sensitive Care Companion™ team is available 24/7/365 to quickly connect individuals to community providers regardless of need.
How Students, Staff & Families Can Access Care Solace Services:
Care Solace is available to all members of the LCPS community – staff, students and their families – and can be accessed by calling (888) 515-0595 at any time. A dedicated Care Companion™ will help research treatment options matched to their needs, secure appointments, and follow up to ensure satisfaction with the provider and treatment.
Staff and family members can also search for help on their own at: https://www.caresolace.com/loudoun
Resources:
Care Solace Admin Best Practices Information
Marketing Materials - English and Spanish
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h1G4bxRUMDAkf35Qv-k5AFd0QsVIqJrY/view
PTA Updates & News
When you sign up for the Shop to Give program through Givebacks, Arcola PTA will receive a donation every time you shop or dine at over 25,000 participating merchants - at no cost to you! Plus, we’ll receive a $5 bonus donation after your first qualifying purchase!
Simply sign up, link your card for in-store offers, and add the desktop and mobile browser extensions for online offers.
SIGN-UP TO SUPPORT ARCOLA PTA WITH SHOP TO GIVE: https://www.givebacks.com/join/arcola
LCPS Family Workshop
Take a look below for info on LCPS Family Workshop
Looking to next year...
Next Year's LCPS Student Calendar
As you plan ahead and/or if you had to take a trip during the school year, please use next year's calendars (LCPS has the next few years planned) to plan the leave around already scheduled days off from school to minimize the days missed of school. We know you agree that it is imperative for your students to be here every single day. Yet, we also know that other aspects of real life occur and it might be nice to know the days for next year (or the year after) to perhaps plan around with the LCPS scheduled days off of school. Please see below for next year's calendar and/or go HERE for more information and subsequent year calendars.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
Arcola Elementary School is located in Aldie, VA.