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A Message from Mr. Morris

A Message to Our Community: Focusing on School Safety and Behavior

I want to share an update about our positive school environment and ongoing commitment to student well-being at our school. We are proud that our school remains a safe and joyful place for learning, and we appreciate your partnership in maintaining this strong culture.

Acknowledging and Managing Student Behavior

As with any vibrant community, we are managing student behavior. So far this school year we have seen an increase on some of the frequency, intensity, or duration of some student behaviors. It's important to stress that these behaviors are manageable, and the overall school environment remains overwhelmingly positive. Unfortunately, sometimes student behaviors disrupt a school day. Although we work tirelessly to prevent it, disruptive behaviors still occur. The great news is our school is full of skillful educators that work to problem solve student supports every day here at SLES. They’re good at it, too!

Our administration and staff are constantly working to keep our school safe. When disruptive behaviors occur, we address them through a variety of proactive and responsive measures:

We may ask students to move to a different location or strategically ignore some behaviors from students to de-escalate a situation.
We work directly with students, teachers, and families to help manage and improve behavior.
In most instances of disruptive, unsafe behaviors, we communicate directly with all the families involved directly. Depending on the incident, we may communicate with a larger group of families as needed.

When You Hear Concerns from Your Child:

If your child shares a concern with you about an incident at school, please know that in many cases, we are already aware and acting. Our response may involve:

Investigating the situation to gather more information.
Providing appropriate consequences for students involved, implementing interventions and monitoring.
Working with families, teachers, and students to address the root causes, plans for support.
Providing additional resources to a teacher, a classroom, or an individual student.

We empower you to partner with us by thoughtfully processing your child's reports. If you hear something concerning, consider these constructive steps:

Verify the Information: Help your child determine if the report is true or gossip. Ask them if they saw or heard the incident themselves or if they are relaying something another student told them.
Ask if they think or know if an adult at SLES knows about what is going on.
Determine Involvement: Ask how your child was involved (directly, indirectly, advocating for a friend, observed the incident, in the class, hall, at lunch, etc.).
Share Your Concerns: You are always welcome to email your child's teacher for clarification and further understanding. If your concerns are not fully addressed, please reach out to the school administration.

We prioritize student safety in every decision and action we take. Your concerns are valued, and we deeply appreciate our community's trust that when incidents occur, there are many dedicated adults working to ensure Stratford Landing remains a joyful, safe space for everyone.

Thank you.

Important Dates

Standard School Year Calendar

SLES PTA Calendar

Thursday, October 2 | Yom Kippur - No School
Monday, October 13 | Indigenous Peoples’ Day (Staff Development Day for Staff) - No School
Wednesday, October 15 | Three (3) Hour Early Release Wednesday, dismissal at 12:55 pm
Monday, October 20 | Diwali - No School
Friday, October 24 | Rock N Run at SLES, all day
Sunday, October 26 | PTA Trunk or Treat, 4:30 pm
Thursday, October 31| End of First Quarter, Two (2) Hour Early Release, dismissal at 1:55 pm

Principal’s Hour – RESCHEDULED Monday, Oct 27, 6:30 – 7:30 pm

No need to RSVP. Use this link to join virtually https://meet.google.com/pxn-gaek-dgb. We look forward to engaging with our families.

We’ll address two topics:

Our First Quarter of School (Reflection and Overview, Q&A session for families)
Our Math Moment – share SLES’ renewed focus and vision for math instruction

Take the K-12 School Start Times Survey

FCPS is continuing to explore options for adjusting school start times, with the primary goal of starting the middle school day at 8 a.m. or after. In order to minimize any cost for this project, elementary and high school start times would need to shift as well.

Providing feedback opportunities for the community is a critical part of this effort. Since 2024, FCPS’ consultant has hosted five community forums and administered two surveys. That feedback helped in developing two options for adjusting school start times. The options are designed to support student well-being, align with research, and balance transportation logistics.

We invite you to provide input on the two options by taking a short survey. This voluntary survey will close on Tuesday, September 30. Visit the FCPS website for more information on adjusting school start times.