Flower Valley Weekly Newsletter
Week of February 19, 2024
Dear Flower Valley Community,
Thank you to everyone who supported our Week of Kindness festivities. The students had a blast! I was, unfortunately, under the weather the day of the parties, but Mrs. Haden took a few pictures and shared them with me. I included them below. :) I hope your child enjoyed the fun. I also can't thank the PTA enough for organizing all of the special deliveries for staff. It made us all feel so loved. We have the best students and families EVER!
This upcoming week is a four day week. There is no School Monday. We are also excited for our choral concert Tuesday evening at 7:00PM in the APR. Please come out and enjoy the many talents of our students. Finally, our PTA has organized a fun game night for families Saturday, February 24th. The details are below.
Our Lost and Found is overflowing again. Please encourage your child to check it out. Feel free to stop by FVES to peruse the items as well. We would really love to reunite your child's belongings with them.
Finally, MCPS just released information regarding a make-up snow day. Details are below.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Dr. Fish
All Google links embedded within the newsletter can be translated into numerous languages by clicking "Tools" and scrolling down to "Translate Document". A drop-down menu will appear where you can choose the language.
Student Voice Survey Summary
MCPS Family Survey
MCPS Make-up Snow Day: Asynchronous Learning April 22nd
Health Curriculum Information
Attendance Meeting Resource for Spanish Speaking Families
PTA Corner
Save the Date
Career Day - Volunteer Opportunity
Information from Previous Newsletters can be found in the FVES Parent Handbook linked here. The document can be translated by clicking "File", scrolling down to "Language", and then selecting your preferred language.
Thank you to our students and families who provided their input on our mid-year survey. We truly appreciate your input, as this is how we can continue to improve for our students. Below, you will see some highlights from the student survey results. Next week, we will share the summary of our parents' feedback. We look forward to continuing to reflect upon our current practices and the needs of our students in order to provide a nurturing, inclusive, and academically rigorous experience for all of our students.
Student Summary
- 90% of students believe people at FVES care about them
- 88.5% of k-1 students have a friend to play with at recess
- 91.9% of 2-5 students have a friend to play with at recess
- 95% of our students know what the Zones of Regulation are (This connects directly to our work focused on student well-being. The Zones of Regulation help students identify and problem-solve how they are feeling.)
- 92% of students know they can do hard things if they keep trying (This represents our School Improvement Plan work around helping students develop a growth mindset.)
- 91.7% of k-1 students feel comfortable asking questions in class.
- 78.8% of grades 2-5 students feel comfortable asking questions during class.
We asked students in grade 2-5 to share some responses to open-ended questions about what they love about FVES and what they would like changed. Below are the highlights.
- Students overwhelmingly expressed how much they love the staff at FVES.
- Many students shared that they love math class.
- Students love their friends.
- Students love lunch and recess.
- Some of our older students do not like the Firefly mascot.
- Students would like less arguing when playing soccer at recess.
- Several students wanted a swing set, but we are not able to do that due to safety.
- We did have a student ask for a pool and water slide and another ask for limos instead of buses. That gave us a good chuckle. :)
- Some of our older students wanted there to be less drama with friends, and they wanted students to not talk meanly to one another.
Next Steps:
- Staff are supporting the development of new friendships for students who shared they are struggling to find a friend.
- We are working on developing other strategies to support students' comfort asking questions during instruction.
- We have purchased goals and pinnies, and we have a staff member dedicated to supporting soccer at recess.
- We have submitted a request for more 4-square and hop-scotch games on the blacktop. We are also scheduled to get more blacktop area this summer for next year given we lost some of this area to the portables this year.
- We are supporting students' development related to peer interactions via our social-emotional lessons during homeroom as well as the counseling lessons during specials.
While we just collected your input during our mid-year survey, MCPS is also collecting this data to help us improve. Please see the message below from MCPS. We truly appreciate you taking the time to provide your input to help us continue to improve for our FVES students.
Help Improve Our School!
We want to improve our teaching and make our school a more welcoming place for all students and families. Please fill out this survey to help us understand what we need to do better. It will take about 10 minutes.
Why is your feedback important? It will help us...
improve the way we teach your children,
make our school more welcoming,
work as partners with families to help all students succeed.
Will anyone at the school know who filled out the survey?
No! Your answers are confidential.
How will the responses be used?
The responses will guide the school leadership team as they make changes for the upcoming school year.
At our last PTA meeting, Dr. Kapunan, Chief Medical Officer for MCPS, spoke about the dangers of vaping and how parents could support their students. The presentation can be accessed below. Additionally, an overview of the MCPS health curriculum as well as parent resources can be accessed here. Teachers will be including health topics in grade level newsletters when those lessons occur to help families continue the conversation at home. Key concepts for each grade level can be accessed here.
-Game Night with Bingo and Kahoots is coming Saturday, February 24th from 6:30-8pm. Look for flyers in backpacks this week. The Book Donation bin is in the FVES lobby. Bring in children's books for ages K-5th grades and get a card for each.
-We are also looking for volunteers to help with day-of logistics. If you are interested in volunteering please use the Sign Up Genius link below.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050545ABA72FA1F85-47738577-fves#/
-The Carnival and Silent Auction will take place on May 19th. We are still looking for items to bid on at the silent auction. If you own your own business or would like to donate an item as an individual, please email FVES.silentauction@gmail.com. Example donations include gift cards, basket of themed items, admission tickets, actual items, etc. We appreciate your support!
Winter Chorus Concert: February 20th at 7PM - Note the date change due to snow days.)
FVES PTA Game Night: 2/24 6:30-8PM at FVES
PTA Sponsored Silent Auction and Basketball Game: Saturday, March 2nd at RHS
Reading Night: March 6th, 6:30-8:00PM
STEM Day: March 22nd
International Night: April 15th (Tentative)
PTA Sponsored Book Fair: April 15th-19th
PTA Sponsored STEM Night: April 18th, 5:30-7:30
Career Day: May 3rd
PTA Sponsored SAVERS Donation Drive: May 4th, 9:30-1:00
Field Days: May TBD
PTA Sponsored Carnival: May 19th, 2-5:00
Spring IM Concert: May 30th at Rockville High School at 7PM (tentative)
5th Grade Promotion: June 12th at RHS
5th Grade Fun Day: June 13th
Flower Valley Elementary School
Be bright! Be kind! Be you!
We inspire all children to become critical thinkers who are imaginative, adaptable, and collaborative. We strive to cultivate peaceful, life-long learners who contribute positively to the community around them.
Email: Angie_L_Fish@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/flowervalleyes/
Location: Flower Valley Elementary School, Sunflower Drive, Rockville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-1780
Twitter: @AngieFish_FVES