Weekly update for January 17, 2025

Dear Columbia friends and families,

It has been another great week at CES, including a special visitor on Wednesday morning. Dr. Ricardy Anderson, Mason District Representative for the Fairfax County School Board, visited with 2nd graders as they learned about authentic and practical examples from government related to their language arts unit of study. We were honored to have Dr. Anderson spend time with us and are thankful to Ms. Nevin and Ms. Wondmagegne for coordinating a successful and engaging learning event!

Also this week, several students were accompanied by Mrs. Eggleton (see below) as they participated in the annual Annandale Pyramid Chorus Concert. Congratulations to Mrs. Eggleton and the talented students who represented Columbia with pride and skill on a high school stage!

As a reminder, please continue to send your student(s) with increased winter weather clothing (hats, gloves, heavy coats) each day to school as the temperatures are forecasted to be even colder next week. 

As we will have a holiday on Monday for Martin Luther King, Jr. day, we look forward to seeing students back here at school on Tuesday, January 21st. 

I hope you have a wonderful three-day weekend!

Take care,

Mike Astudillo

Proud Principal

Columbia Elementary School

Save the Date!

Annual STEAM Night at CES

Thursday, February 20th 

Get ready for an evening of exploration and discovery at our annual STEAM Night! Join us on Thursday, February 20th, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Exciting Activities Await:

• Interactive Exhibits: Explore booths featuring hands-on activities in science, technology, engineering, art, and math. The exhibit hall will be open 5:30 - 7 p.m.
• Mad Science Shows: Don't miss the exciting demonstrations by Mad Science!
  • Show 1 (5:45 PM - 6:20 PM): Families with last names A-J
  • Show 2 (6:30 PM - 7:10 PM): Families with last names K-Z

Next PTA Meeting - Hybrid

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, January 21 at 7 PM. We will meet in-person in the school library. For those who would like to participate virtually, please find the Zoom information below. We look forward to seeing you!

Zoom: Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Meeting ID: 919 0387 3132

One tap mobile: +13092053325,,91903873132# US

Family Night Out - Wednesday, January 29^th

January's Family Night out will be at Taco Bamba (6259 Little River Turnpike, Alexandria, VA 22312). The fundraiser runs from 9 am - 9 pm.  Columbia will receive 20% of the sales from the day. Please mention Columbia Elementary School when ordering at the counter or use promo code GIVE 20 when ordering on the website. Gift cards can be purchased online.

Teacher & Staff Soup Lunch – Monday February 3^rd

Volunteers needed for a Columbia teacher and staff favorite! Monday, February 3^rd is the annual soup lunch. Get those favorite soup or salad recipes out and let’s show the staff how much we appreciate them. You can sign up HERE to contribute. Thank you!  

New Partnership with Papa Johns

We are excited to announce a new partnership with Papa Johns in Annandale. You can now order pizza ANY THURSDAY from 11AM – 11PM for delivery or carryout (carryout until 10 PM). Families will receive 40 percent off their entire order and 10 percent of their order goes to the PTA. This opportunity will last until the end of the school year. Online code “CES4010” - this code will also be accepted by phone in case of issues with the website.

Upcoming Dates

PTA meeting 1/21

Family night out – Taco Bamba 1/29

Teacher & Staff Soup Lunch 2/3

Specials Spotlight

STEAM & FLES with Srta. Alba

Feliz año nuevo! We are almost done with second quarter! Kindergarten has been working on shapes, seasons, and describing pumpkins. First graders and second graders have learned about the seasons and how to talk about the weather in Spanish! They also had a chance to use their laptops to create a snowman.  In third grade, the students have learned about the phases of the moon and interrogative words.  In fourth grade, the students have learned about geography and the water cycle in Spanish.  The fifth grade students learned about animals of the ocean and describing them in Spanish. We also did a fun activity using hour of code with music.  The students remixed their own beats using AI and coding.

Kindergarten students and their shape creations.

Connect with Columbia's Community on Instagram!

Want to see what's happening at school? Follow the CES Instagram page for photos and videos of classroom fun, student activities, and exciting events. It's a great way to stay connected and see learning in action!