Sycolin Creek Chronicle
June Edition
Principal's Corner
Dear Sycolin Creek Community,
Thank you for another wonderful and productive school year. I can’t thank everyone enough for your endless hours of volunteering, chaperoning, reading, organizing, donating and doing whatever was necessary to support students—both at home and at school. Special thanks to our PTA who, as usual, went above and beyond the call of duty to provide whatever was necessary to add to our students’ already rich school experience.
That experience could not occur without the endless energy, skills and devotion of the Sycolin Creek staff. Thanks and well done to an incredible group of professionals.
A final word to the Sycolin Creek students: Thank you for all your hard work throughout the school year. I am so honored to be your principal; you make me proud to be a Salamander. You keep me laughing and I am grateful for your joy, astute insights and amazing talents. Best wishes to our graduating fifth graders, whom I will miss greatly—please come back and visit. Everyone have a safe and happy summer break.
Respectfully,
Derek Racino
Principal
Field Day - Friday, June 7
Calling all Parents, Guardians, Aunts, Uncles...
Field Day is an exciting day for the students, which provides them the opportunity to participate in fun, organized activities, and games. We need many volunteers to run these activities. We accept all volunteers. If you would like to volunteer to run a station, please complete the information linked below, and return this sheet to your child’s teacher by THURSDAY, MAY 30th, or as soon as possible. Mark your calendar for the time block you sign up for, and you will receive a form to confirm your volunteer position.
Sincerely,
The PE Team
Bell Schedule Change for 2024-2025 School Year
On May 21, 2024 the School Board Finance and Operations Committee heard information from the Transportation team proposing an adjustment to the timing of the bell schedule for 10 LCPS elementary schools with the earliest bus stop pick-up times. Because some of our students had a very early school bus pick-up, we are adjusting our morning bell schedule to start at 7:45 a.m. for the next school year. This will allow buses to run a bit later in the morning. We are hoping this later pick-up time and slightly later bell time will allow for better service for all our students and families.
We will be posting this information in an updated bell schedule for next year and providing reminders about the adjustment prior to publishing the transportation routes for next year.
If you should have any questions, please contact 571-252-1700 or email us here.
Transportation Office
Star Salamander Students for the month of May in P.E.
Congratulations to our PE Star Salamanders for the Month of May:
5th Grade - Gavin Gichini & Kruthik Badrinarayanan
4th Grade - Logan Moore & Alyssa Thompson
3rd Grade - Clayton Cooney & William McCarthy
2nd Grade - Zay Moore & Saoirse Maguire
1st Grade - Micah McKennon & Reagan Graham
Kindergarten - Austin Patterson & Danielle Chrosniak
PE Star classes for the month of May are Ms. Bowns' & Mrs. Diehl's 1st Grade Classes.
Annual Mander Mile Results
Congratulations to our 2024 MANDER MILE top 3 Finishers! We would also like to thank all of the finalists from 4th and 5th grade!
5th Grade Boys
Elijah Park - 6:12
Siddhan Mallya - 6:35
Atticus Johns - 6:39
5th Grade Girls
Ashley Frese - 6:59
Brooklyn Siller - 7:02
Katie Chung - 7:11
4th Grade Boys
Tanner Drew - 6:53
Ajay Pillai - 6:54
Jack Cerniglia - 6:59
4th Grade Girls
Maddyn Fay - 7:10
Brooklynn Roberts - 7:21
Sofia Katrandzhiyska - 7:42
Art News
It’s been a great year and the kids have made some beautiful works of art. Please watch for the remaining works to be coming home soon. There are still a few classes finishing up clay, so if your child hasn’t brought theirs home, they should be soon.
Art Stars of the Month
Kindergarten - Mrs. Hose’s Class
First Grade - Mrs. Diehl’s Class
Second Grade - Mrs. Winn’s Class
Third Grade - Mrs. Henretty’s Class
Fourth Grade - Mrs. Hermens' Class
Fifth Grade - Mrs. Wong’s Class
I will miss them over the summer but I'm already planning for the coming year.
Dr. Bennett
Music News
In May, the All-County Chorus members, Emilia Boyer, Ellie Crisp and Brooklyn Edwards, performed along with about 180 other 5th graders at Riverside High School. Congratulations to the fifth grade students! They did a terrific job performing for their DARE compositions. Officer Kamps and the others in attendance were very impressed by their hard work and creativity. Third, fourth and fifth graders have been learning how to play chords on the ukulele this month, while second graders have been playing autoharps. First graders and kindergarten students have been singing patriotic songs.
Our Rock Star Music Classes for May are:
Kindergarten – Ms. Whittaker; 1st Grade – Ms. Bowns; 2nd Grade – Mrs. Brosan; 3rd Grade – Mrs. Anderson; 4th Grade – Ms. Bowman; 5th Grade – Mrs. Trainor
SEARCH Updates
In Kindergarten, students will continue to use Keva planks to build structures that match given pictures. First grade students will also use these planks to build more complex 3-D structures. Second and Third grade classes may have some make-up SEARCH lessons.
Summer is a great time for students to continue using their SEARCH Thinking Keys! In addition to reading over the summer, encourage students to play strategy games and complete puzzles. The web site https://krazydad.com/ has lots of printable puzzles, including mazes, Sudoku, and more. Board games are great for logical thinking and problem-solving. Allowing students to be "bored" over the summer allows for creative play solutions. If you are traveling - or even if you are staying home, a great idea that works for kids of any age is to provide blank journals for your child to fill with their summer break impressions and memories. I hope students have a wonderful summer!
Top Winners for WordMasters this Year
We would like to congratulate all of our WordMasters participants for doing an incredible job this year. The following students are the top performers for this school year.
3rd Grade:
Gus Maslowski - First Place
Aidan Pradhan - Second place
Katelyn Seffens -Third place
4th Grade:
Chaitra Tiparthy - First place
Noah Hanley - Second Place
Maddie Thoma - Third Place
5th Grade:
Allen Chang - First Place
Vibhav Pinisetti - Second place
Emilia Boyer - Third Place
Medication
Students with medication in our clinic (pills, inhalers/spacers, epi-pens, diabetic supplies, etc.) must be picked up by parents. Parents should make an appointment with Mrs. Rebecca Bean, our Health Clinic Specialist at rebecca.bean@lcps.org or call 571-252-2910. Any medication not picked up by June 17 will be destroyed. Medications cannot be included with student classroom belongings. We are unable to make exceptions to these guidelines. If you need to designate an adult other than the parent to pick up, you MUST contact our front office and provide the person’s name and the person picking up MUST present ID.
Staff Appreciation Week
On behalf of Sycolin Creek’s staff, we are so grateful for the emails, videos, snacks, signs, and letters of appreciation that we received during the first week of May. Most of us chose this profession, not only for our pure love for children but our desire to be around children. Your notes of encouragement and appreciation truly helped to bring joy to our staff. Thank you!
Lunch Accounts
Any money that is currently in your student’s lunch account will carry over to any LCPS building next year.
Sprouts' Ordering Information (School Supplies)
Sprouts Supply Kits - Take away the stress of back to school shopping this August and order your school supplies through Sprouts and the PTA! Rest assured, you can order now and have exactly what your child needs for the upcoming school year. Sprouts School Supplies for the 2024-25 school year are ready for purchase! Order can be placed using THIS website by using our school code SCES002. All orders must be placed by no later than July 9, 2024.
Attendance Reminders
If your child will be absent/tardy due to illness/appointment or other circumstances, please call our absentee call in line at 571-252-2911 or visit our Sycolin Creek website at https://www.lcps.org/sycolincreek and complete the online absence form. Families are able to submit absences via ParentVUE. Should you need to speak to someone in the school office, please call 571-252-2910.
Sycolin Creek Elementary School
Email: derek.racino@lcps.org
Website: lcps.org/sycolincreek
Location: 21100 Evergreen Mills Road, Leesburg, VA, USA
Phone: (571) 252-2910
Twitter: @Sycolin_Creek