Harmony Newsletter

Parents,

Despite some unique concerns this week, students were engaged in lessons from each of their teachers. We are proud of them and happy to be here for them and with them. As always, please reach out to the staff or me with any questions.

I hope you have seen this link but if not please discuss it, as appropriate, for your family. Have a wonderful weekend.

Comments from LCPS Superintendent, Dr. Aaron Spence https://www.lcps.org/article/1761455

Sept 16/17 - Bus Evacuation Drills in AM

Sept 25 - Pictures for A-day Students (out of Resource)

Sept 25 - PTA Meeting (6 PM)

Sept 26 - Pictures for B-day Students (out of Resource)

Sept 26 - Book Fair Family Night (5 PM to 7 PM)

Oct 4 - LCPS Professional Development Day

Nov 13 - 6th Grade Awards Night (Last Name A - L) @ 7 PM

Nov 13 - 6th Grade Awards Night (Last Name M - Z) @ 8 PM

Nov 14 - 7th Grade Awards Night @ 7 PM

Nov 14 - 8th Grade Awards Night @ 8 PM

School Website Link

Our second Fire Drill will be the week of September 16. If you have feedback, please share with those below.

In additional to drills, during the year we will be going over some scenarios to help the students think through situations. Our first one will be on, "What to do in an emergency if you have a substitute teacher." This situation helps kids help the class which means they need to know which way to evacuate, how to take attendance, or where to "lock down" in the room. We will cover this with the kids this month but please feel free to start the discussion with your child.

Contact names are below for any questions.

• School Security Officer, (SSO), Josh Stillwell (joshua.stillwell@lcps.org)
• School Resource Office (SRO), Loudoun County Deputy Chris Salter (christopher.salter@loudoun.gov)
• 7th Grade Dean and School Safety Contact, Justin Dailey (justin.dailey@lcps.org)
• Principal, Eric Stewart (eric.stewart@lcps.org)

School Phone is 540-751-2500 (then dial zero to reach the main office)

Want to make sure your kids are able to look at a new word and have an idea what it might be? One way is to have a foundational knowledge about some root words. Three starters are: "bene" (meaning good), "mal" (meaning bad), and "magn (meaning large or great). We will add some periodically in this newsletter. It would be nice to go over with your kids. Examples include:

beneficial, benefactor, and beneficiary

malignant, malign, and malicious

magnify, magnanimous, and magnificent

...from a student, "I would like to nominate my science teacher, Mrs. Hicks. She is super kind, makes us all laugh each and every day. She makes our warm ups fun, gives us stickers for answering questions right, and super awesome. I love science, and she just makes it even better. Even when it is not a science day, she says hello to me in the hallways. She is an overall amazing teacher, and that is why I would like to nominate her. Thank you. AH."

...from a teacher, "I would like to give a shout out to Karen Grubbs! She took the leadership to set up a classroom and has been running the class and supporting students while the teacher was out."

and a proper way to receive thanks; Ms. Grubbs wrote back, "Cheri, Thank you for the shout out. Your thoughtful acknowledgment is truly appreciated. I cannot take full credit as we all worked as a team in the classroom and the support that we received from you, Ms. Bosse, and Ms. Hatch made for a much smoother transition for the students. Thanks again."

(Parents, students or staff - If you would like to recognize a staff member, please email eric.stewart@lcps.org)

If you haven't had a chance to meet your child's teachers, please find them in this list and hear all about their classes from the videos. Contact them if you still have questions.

Back to School Link

Here are some tech tips for parents that might help with Chromebooks and Schoology.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1quM1dlXaqEnnXWPTtu0Dt4sZCFGljZksx2Zum7r_dz4/edit?usp=sharing

Congratulations to our 24/25 school year Equity Ambassadors!

Teresa Alvarenga Lopez, Hugo Arnold, Gioia Metallo, Zoe Mendez,

Hya Uslam, and Edward Berendt were chosen to represent Harmony at the LCPS Equity Council.

These students will work together to create quarterly activities for students emphasizing our Harmony values of kindness, respect, and understanding. Our first activity of the school year will be celebrating Hispanic Heritage month. Stay tuned for ideas on ways you can celebrate and learn at home!

Hispanic Heritage month is celebrated September 15-October 15. Kick off the month with a virtual tour of the Molina Family Gallery at the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

Our first PTA meeting is September 25 at 6 pm in the Harmony library (and virtual).

Link for virtual option - https://meet.google.com/ivg-oacq-jyd

Juggling Club had a huge turnout Sept 11. It is not too late to join our talented jugglers.

Many other clubs have started so make sure you are listening to our announcements and that you are contacting club sponsors if you are not on their contact lists.

Great project idea here. Students in Tech Ed used a 3-D machine to create little prizes and the school bought some vending machines (pictures attached), and teachers will be giving out "tokens" that will fit into the machine for kids to win a prize.