Stenwood Hive Happenings

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Hive Happenings Newsletter

Dear Stenwood Families,

As we approach Thanksgiving, we want to take a moment to extend our gratitude to our amazing staff, students, and community. We are so lucky to have such an amazing place to be every day! We will be having a Hive Family Meeting on Tuesday afternoon where we will be celebrating our gratitude.

Yesterday’s Thanksgiving Lunch was an amazing event. We had over 650 guests in addition to our students join us for lunch! We love having so many parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and older and younger siblings! We are so grateful for our amazing kitchen team and all the volunteers who made it possible to have such a wonderful day.

We also had our book fair this week! Many Stingers were seen enjoying new books throughout the week all over the Hive! Thanks again to the volunteers who helped to make that event run smoothly.

And with Thanksgiving coming next week, our Kindergarteners got us marching into the weekend with their annual Balloon Parade throughout the hallways this afternoon. The parade, along with our first flurry of snowflakes outside this morning, made for quite the way to wrap up our week!

We will not be sending out a Hive Happenings next week since it is such a short week. If you know your child will have a planned absence or early dismissal next week, please let the office know as soon as possible, stenwoodes.transportation@fcps.edu. It is also very difficult to do check-outs during Hive Family since our front office staff have Hive Families that they are meeting with, so if you are planning on picking your child up early on Tuesday, please do so before 2:00 PM.

We hope you and your family have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break!

Below you will find additional information about:

Handwashing Reminders - NEW
Thanksgiving - NEW
A Thank You From Mrs. Cole - NEW
Introducing Our New Family Liaison! - NEW
Boundary Review Community Meetings Update - Reminder
Advanced Academic Program (AAP) Full-Time Services Referral Deadline - Reminder
Social and Emotional Learning Screener Results Coming Soon - NEW
School Meals and Free/Reduced Lunch Applications - Reminder
Stenwood is Hiring!
Stenwood PTA

Sincerely,

Erica Riley, Principal
esriley@fcps.edu

Bryan Case, Assistant Principal
bgcase@fcps.edu

Handwashing Reminders

We know that there are a lot of germs going around right now! Here are some good reminders during this season.

Hand Washing Prevents The Spread of the Flu

Your Health Is In Your Hands with the Help from a Shark

Thanksgiving

Schools and offices will be closed November 27^th - 29^th. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Classes will resume on Monday, December ^2nd. Learn more about the first Thanksgiving.

A Thank You From Mrs. Cole

Thank you to all the families who supported the library through the book fair! It was a huge success. 25% of all sales are returned to the library which Mrs. Cole then uses to buy more books for our collection. We also appreciate all the contributions to the classroom libraries.

It’s a joy to see kids excited about books, crafts, and educational games. Make a reminder now that we’ll have another book fair where you can stock up on summer reading and activities. Happy reading!

Introducing Our New Family Liaison!

Hello Stingers! I wanted to introduce a new staff member to the Bee Hive, Adriana Rota. She will be our Family Liaison (FL) here at Stenwood. Adriana is of Italian and heritage and immigrated to the United States over 44 years ago. She graduated from George Washington University and completed her master’s at Johns Hopkins University. After a 35-year career, she retired from the International Monetary Fund, where she had the opportunity to travel and work around the world. Before coming to Stenwood, Adriana was a “Community Liaison” at South County Welcome Center where she introduced new/transferred families to the FCPS System. As a Family Liaison, Adriana brings her cultural richness and international work experience.

As you may know, Family Liaisons are knowledgeable about many county-wide programs, services, and community resources. FL support all families and school staff by:

Facilitating communication
Building relationships
Making families feel welcome, trusted, and valued
Providing FCPS and human service’s resources and information
Encouraging parent engagement in their children’s education
Connecting parents to what their children are learning, and
Promoting understanding of families’ cultural diversity.

Adriana loves to be a busy bee, so please do not hesitate to reach out to her with any and all questions that you may have at 571-495-9496 (Cell #), 703-208-7618 (Office #) and/or email: agrota@fcps.edu.

Boundary Review Community Meetings Update

Community meetings regarding FCPS’ comprehensive boundary review will take place in each of the division's six regions. You are encouraged to attend the meeting in our region, which will take place on Monday, December 2^nd, 6:30-8 p.m., at Westfield High School Cafeteria. The meeting for Region 6 is closer to Stenwood, it is at Annandale High School on Thursday, December 12^th from 6:45 - 8:15pm.

Please register in advance by clicking on the date. Language interpretation will be available.

If you are unable to attend on this date, view the full list of meetings on the Comprehensive School Boundary Review webpage.

Advanced Academic Program (AAP) Full-Time Services Referral Deadline

The Full-Time Services Referral deadline is December 15^th, though Mrs. Hartman would love families who are planning to refer to turn them in December 9^th - 13^th if not before to ensure she has enough time to review that all required parts have been submitted before winter break begins.

You can find the Referral Form and Parent/Guardian Questionnaire here:

https://www.fcps.edu/academics/advanced-academic-programs-aap/forms-advanced-academic-program-aap

Referrals and optional materials are due no later than December 15^th. Mrs. Hartman prefers to receive materials December 9^th-13^th or earlier to allow her ample time to review the materials and notify parents of any additional information needed or errors found.

You may email Full-Time referrals and optional materials directly to Kaleigh Hartman at kkhartman@fcps.edu in one email. Hard copies are also accepted.
You will receive a confirmation email within 1-2 business days.

Social and Emotional Learning Screener Results Coming Soon

One of the ways FCPS supports the mental wellness of all students is through the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener. In October, students in grades 3-12 took this screener, which gives information about their skills such as achieving goals, handling emotions, building relationships with adults and peers, and making good choices.

The screener also helps students evaluate their school community’s efforts to make them feel valued, included, and supported. Screener data is used to create learning, experiences, and environments for students to succeed.

In early December, families will be able to view student SEL Screener results in SIS ParentVUE. For families who do not have an active ParentVUE account, results will be sent by mail.

Learn more about the screener on the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener webpage. For help understanding your child’s results or ideas to support them at home, review the Family Guide or contact us.

Register for ParentVUE

Learn how to activate your ParentVUE account, so you can easily access your child’s results and other helpful information.

School Meals and Free/ Reduced Lunch Applications

Breakfast and Lunch

Breakfast will be $1.75. Lunch will be $3.25, milk $0.60. Money can be added to your child(ren)’s accounts using www.myschoolbucks.com. You can also write a check to Stenwood Food Services and deliver it to our Food Services Manager at Open House. During the school year, you can find the menu for breakfast and lunch at https://linqconnect.com/public/menu/ESSF44 .

Free and Reduced-Price Status

Students eligible for free or reduced-price meals will continue to receive these benefits through the end of September. A new application must be filled out each new school year and forms are available online now: https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/food-and-nutrition-programs/free-and-reduced-price-meals. Applications are accepted at any time, but we encourage you to apply or renew your application before the end of September. Call (703) 813-4800 if you need help. This must be completed for eligible students to receive free meals.

Stenwood is Hiring!

We are looking to hire Classroom Monitors and Substitutes! If you are interested in any of these positions, please reach out if you have any questions or if you want more information. Here is a link to FCPS’ application portal.

Classroom Monitors: Monitors will work every day students attend throughout the 2024-25 school year, and will directly support classrooms by providing additional supervision to students during lunch or in the classroom. The pay is $17.88/hour. Teachers will provide directions/assignments for monitors and students to complete. Please apply here and email me at esriley@fcps.edu so we can schedule a time to talk more. Please share this opportunity with others who might be interested.

Stenwood Elementary PTA

We hope you join our amazing PTA! If you are interested in volunteering to be a class parent, volunteering in our cafeteria or library, OR just looking to stay connected with the great work of our PTA, you can fill out a survey that will be sent out once class placements have been communicated.

More information about the PTA is available on their website.