Whittier Weekly Newsletter
May 16, 2021
Finishing Strong
Dear Whittier Families,
Tomorrow we will have 441 of our students present at school. This represents all of the students whose families were ready for four days a week at this time. I know you are as excited as we are. We still have two important considerations to work together on related to health and safety:
- positive Covid19 cases have two impacts, one is very serious health impact that it can have on individuals and families. The other is the disruption to learning, school operation, and family routines that happens when we have to quarantine. For those two reasons, we will continue to be vigilant about health protocols - distancing, mask-wearing, and sanitizing.
For parents of 5th Graders, some fantastic planning has been in the works for several months to celebrate our 5th graders. Some dates are below:
June 9th: 5th Grade Awards Ceremonies 6:00-7:00 pm in GoogleMeets (teacher's will share specifics)
June 14th: School Spirit Week to Honor our 5th Graders: Wear Neon
June 15th: School Spirit Week: Be a Good Sport: Wear Fitness Gear or Sportswear
June 16th: Spirit Week: Hats Off to a Great Year- Wear a Favorite Hat (This is a 2-hr early dismissal day)
June 16th: Mark your calendars please. 5th Grade Clap-out @ 5:00 pm in Car-rider loop. Students and families drive through and pick up 5th Grade Goodies Buckets and Legacy Gift. Staff will be there to cheer you on and celebrate you.
June 17th: Last Day of School. The annual Flag Lowering Ceremony will be recorded at 9:00 am and broadcast to students and families.
Spirit Week: Red White & Blue- Show Your School Spirit
Yearbook ordering information is in the button below. Grab a yearbook as a keepsake of this most unusual of years.
If you know someone who has a pre-k or kindergarten student who will come to Whittier in the fall, please encourage them to contact the school or to go online to enroll now at: FCPSEnrollment
As always, we are committed to serving you. Please let us know what you need.
Sincerely,
Lorcan OhEithir, Principal
Measuring Growth and Progress
Parents of 1st-5th Graders
Your child will be taking one or more Performance Series tests, provided by Scantron®. These tests help identify areas for future instructional focus and measure student progress. Students take these tests online, and they can use a PC, Mac, Chromebook, or iPad (except mini).
To ensure that your child has a positive experience taking this test, please note the following:
· Performance Series tests are presented in a pop-up window. If the browser on your student’s device has a pop-up blocker turned on, the test will not launch. For specific instructions on how to turn off pop-up blockers on your browser, do an internet search on “pop-up blocker <browser name>.”
· We recommend that you clear the cache and cookies on the testing device. For specific instructions for doing this on your browser, do an internet search on “clear cache and cookies <browser name>.”
· We recommend that if you are testing on your personally owned device that you review this document that provides guidelines for supported browsers and operating systems.
System Requirements for Performance Series Testing at Home (pdf)
If your child attends in person learning on assessment day, please have your child bring a fully charged chromebook to school with him/her.
Your child will need the following information to access his or her test(s):
Math:
Grades:3rd, 4th and 5th: May 18th During Math Block
Grades: 1st and 2nd: May 27th During Math Block
Reading:
Grades: 3rd, 4th and 5th: May 20th During the ELA Block
Grades: 2nd: May 25th During the ELA Block
Test Site URL: http://test.edperformance.com/Auth/Login/Org
Site ID: 52-3404-4766
Student ID Number: Specific to each individual student.
For younger students, you might need to help them enter their student IDs, verify their names on the screen before the test starts, and show them how to select their answers, but you should not assist them in answering the test questions.
Please note that most students will see some test questions about topics or skills they have not yet learned. Students should be encouraged to answer those questions with their best guess and move on.
The following resources are available to your child, to prepare for taking these tests.
Information About Adaptive Tests
Taking a Performance Series Test at Home: Grades K–2 (pdf)
Taking a Performance Series Test at Home: Grades 3–12 (pdf)
Directions for Logging On to Performance Series (video)
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s classroom teacher or the front office.
Counselor's Corner with Mrs. Reese and Mrs. Leatherman
What’s New and What is the Same? We have updated the ABC’s of Hybrid Learning to welcome all of our students who will be joining us next week. The new information is highlighted on the corresponding slides.
The ABCs of Hybrid Learning for May
Mental Health Matters Campaign: May is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Month
Thank you Peer Mentors for your support!
Please continue to check out our Schoology page with resources for your child’s mental health for the rest of the year. Take some time to talk about the importance of Mental Health and Self Care with your child. Please take time to check out this calendar and try to do as many as you can with your child this Month.
Lessons this Month:
Grades K-2 will be learning about Careers. We will also be focusing on our final habit of the year, Habit #6 Synergize- working together is better.
Grades 3-5 will continue to focus on Self Care and Mental Health throughout the month of May. Beginning the second week in May, we learn about Careers. Fourth Graders will have the opportunity to apply for Leadership Positions for the upcoming fifth grade year. Mrs. Reese will be coming to 4th grade classes to present information about these leadership opportunities.
Student Small Groups Schedule
Our small groups continue to meet virtually. The virtual schedule for groups is posted on the Counselor’s Corner Schoology Page.
HYBRID Mrs. Leatherman's Google Meet Codes
Hybrid Schedule: Mrs. Reese's Groups Fifth grade group will meet on Tuesday at 1:00 on May 11th, and May 19th due to the asynchronous schedule. The code is: WHESREESE
Mrs. Leatherman 240-236-3135 Kirsten.Leatherman@fcps.org
Mrs. Reese: 240-236-3170 Lisa.Reese@fcps.org
Library Book Exchange
Library Book Exchange News!
Virtual students:
Thank you for coming by last Wed for our last virtual book exchange for this school year. Families may return all library books on Wed., May 26 between 3:00-4:00pm in the front of the school or return them to the front office by June 1.
Cohort A and B students:
If your child would like to check out library books, they will need to place their holds in LS2PAC by 4:00pm Sun., May 16. Ms. Dattoli will check out the books to your child and deliver them to their classroom during the week of May 17. Students will return their old library books in their classroom bin by May 17. This will be the last book exchange for this school year. Students will then return all library books by June 1. Questions? Email Ms. Dattoli at tina.dattoli@fcps.org.
Whittier Elementary PTA Needs YOU!
At this time, we are in great need of candidates for these positions. All that is required is a big heart and some time.
If you appreciate all the activities sponsored by the PTA and feel you might be up for the challenge of volunteering while also being an active member at WHES, please consider taking a role on the PTA Executive Board for the 2021-2022 school year. Whittier has a strong and active PTA and the executive board plans many activities that enrich the lives of our children and teachers during the school year. We are currently looking for volunteers to run for all open board member seats.
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer.
This has been a tough year for our school and PTA and any support you can give the school is important for our students and school community. The incoming executive board sets the goals for each year with regards to activities, so a new board would decide how many activities to take on. The current board will help you transition into your roles with any assistance and guidance over the summer.
If you are interested in running for a position or have questions, please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Leembruggen. (sleembruggen@me.com 240-481-4349)
Whittier Elementary School - Believe, Achieve, Succeed
We will also communicate through our school website
Follow me on Twitter @fcpsOhEithir where I will communicate school news and happenings
Email: lorcan.oheithir@fcps.org
Website: https://education.fcps.org/whes/home
Location: 2400 Whittier Drive, Frederick, MD 21702, USA
Phone: (240) 236 3100
Twitter: @fcpsOhEithir