Goooooood Morning #OneFamily!

Welcome back to a warm Spring week finally! 4 days this week! We can do it!

Let's get this week rolling!

Here is a rundown of the latest information to keep you in the know!

• Congratulations to our Conway Dance Team, 3rd grade musical participants, Conway Chorus, and Conway artists! What an incredible weekend to display your talents! Thanks for representing Conway with excellence! Thanks to all the parents who were able to get your kiddos there to be a part of the Fine Arts Festival! A huge thanks to Missy Walsh, Bonnie Johnson, and Marlena Owate for all their efforts to support our kiddos and to prepare for this great weekend. Thanks also for giving part of your weekend to make this possible for our #OneFamily!

• Opting In for Buses Next Year: Next Year, they will not route your kiddo unless you opt them in by the end of this year. Please make sure to take a look at the email they sent out or the transportation section below. I know it seems early to start talking about next year, but they are doing this so they can be sure to fix the many issues we had at the beginning of this year. Thanks so much!

• S.T.E.A.M Night: Our annual S.T.E.A.M Night for our kiddos and families to enjoy will be on May 1 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. It is open house format so come on by anytime during that window. We are looking for anyone that would like to lead a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts or Mathematics experience for our kiddos. If you would be willing to share your profession or provide our kiddos experience that will inspire the next scientist, doctor, artist, engineer, etc. we would LOVE to have you. Please email me if you are interested!

• SOL Schedule: Below is the SOL Schedule for the end of the year. These are mandated tests that we are required by VDOE to give all 3rd - 5th graders. They are really important for us to be able to assess our students' growth and understanding of what we taught this year. In addition, they are how people evaluate our effectiveness as a school. A pass rate is not required to go on to the next grade level. We will share over the next few weeks how you can support your kiddos at home. For now, we wanted to make sure you had the schedule so you can begin to add them to your family schedule.

• Spring Portraits are now available to view and order online! All orders will include free shipping for the next two weeks until April 15th. Please share the link and image below with your Families. Please remember, the online code is the Student ID Number. vosphoto.com/uc. Parent questions/concerns regarding portraits can be directed to underclass@vosphoto.com

• 4th Grade Field Trip: On Thursday, 4th grade is heading to Jamestown. It's an epic trip and I am so excited to get them back on this. They are going to be coming back late and will need picked up. 4th grade teachers have started to communicate about this. We will have families come in the car rider doors (the doors on the front of the building to the far right when you are facing Conway) and will find your kiddos' teacher in a section in the gym. If the person picking up has not ever met the teacher, please ensure they have an ID so we can expedite the dismissal process. Don't worry. We will all be around to help out. So you don't have to remember all of this for Thursday! We go got you. Just don't forget your kiddo so they don't have to clean the school with me :)

• Upcoming Events:

• April 18th and 21st - No School for Good Friday and Easter
• April 23rd: NWEA MAP Math assessment for 2nd grade
• April 29th: 3rd - 5th Grade Reading S.O.L Assessment
• May 1st: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM - S.T.E.A.M Night
• May 5th - May 9th: Teacher Appreciation Week
• May 10th: COUGARPALOOZA!!!!! 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Have a great week! Happy Easter to all our Christian Families!

JR

Teacher Recruitment time is HERE! Every year, we have a few teachers that unfortunately have to move on from Conway to other parts of the world. And because we always want to ensure the best of the best are in our classrooms teaching our kiddos, we go on a major recruitment journey with our entire community to find those special people. This is where we need EVERYONE's help. Use all of your networks, social media feeds, friends, groups, church groups, etc. and let your teacher friends know Conway is searching for a few teachers for next year: a special education teacher and 1 or 2 general education teachers. Have them reach out to Jess, Krsytyne or me ASAP if they are interested. We will finalize hiring for next year hopefully by early April. Thank you so much for helping us remain fully staffed with the best of the best for our kiddos.

Autism Acceptance Month

National Arab Heritage Month

• Monday:
• 3:30 - 4:30 - Conway Dance Team Practice.
• Tuesday: Tax Day ! :(
• 3:30 - 4:30 - Slime Club
• Wednesday:
• 1st grade field trip (Perez, Hillmann, Beltz and Howard)
• Thursday:
• 4th grade field trip - Picked up from school by 5:15 PM.
• 1st grade field trip - (Shannon, Reed and Wiles)
• Friday: No School - Good Friday.
• Monday: No School - Easter Monday

To request transportation for your student(s) for the 2025-2026 school year, you must complete the Transportation Opt-In Selection Form by May 1, 2025. Please note, you will need to complete the survey for each child in your household. To access the form, you will need your student(s)’ ID number. This video explains how you may find your student(s) ID number.

We understand that circumstances may change during the school year and we are asking that you make the selection that meets your needs for the first 60 days of school. You will be able to change your transportation selection by contacting your student’(s) school. It is critical that if your child requires transportation, you must complete the Transportation Opt-In Selection Form. Please note, if your child receives transportation as a related service per your child's IEP or 504, your student will be automatically routed for a bus based on our internal procedures. Further, any student in a designated walking zone or who purchases a high school parking pass will not be eligible for transportation.

Opting into transportation, rather than assigning all students to a bus regardless of need, will allow us to create more efficient bus routes, reducing unnecessary stops and shortening ride times for students. By ensuring our buses are being used by those who require transportation, we can improve on-time arrivals and enhance the overall experience for families and drivers. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact your child’s school administrator for more information.

Conway's PTA Newsletter: https://secure.smore.com/n/txdgb-conway-elementary-pta-newsletter

Cougarpalooza: Due to schedule conflicts, we had to move the date to our Spring Carnival - Cougarpalooza. It will now take place on May 10th. See flyer above for details.

• Elementary School Redistricting Meetings:

  The School Board and district leaders are reviewing boundary change scenarios due to the construction of Elementary Schools 18 and 19. Community meetings will be held to discuss these proposed division-wide changes. Join us on March 13th at Stafford High School or April 1st at North Stafford High School, both at 6 p.m. Additionally, a public hearing will take place on April 8th at 7 p.m. in the School Board Chambers.

  
  

  Detailed maps of the proposed new boundaries, along with other relevant information, will be available on our Redistricting webpage beginning March 12. Please note scenarios are for consideration only, and may change as we move through the redistricting process. Approval of the elementary school boundaries that will go into effect at the beginning in 2026-2027 is scheduled for the May 13, 2025 School Board meeting.

• Literacy Video: Stafford County Public Schools is committed to building strong readers, and our new Pillars of Literacy video series highlights key strategies to support early literacy development. The first video, Unlocking the Power of Sounds: Phonemic Awareness & Early Literacy, explores how breaking words into sounds helps children strengthen their reading skills.
  

• Book Bag Help for Next Year: I know this is super early, but SCPS is doing things different for book bag help for next year. If your kiddo will need help with school supplies and a book bag next year (even if you are heading to middle school), please fill out this form now. The deadline is this year.

• Having a hard time getting your kiddo to go to school? Here is a great article on how to help with that: https://www.additudemag.com/fear-of-school-refusal-avoidance/?ecd=wnl_additude_250331_cons_adhd_webinar&goal=0_d9446392d6-1cfb8ed2d7-320129622

• 5th Grade Families: Here is an updated Newsletter with all your 6th grade transition information.

• Free or Reduced Lunch Application: If your family is in need of free or reduced prices for lunches, please visit this page for details on how to apply. Unfortunately, this is something that you have to redo every year. I believe you will have until the end of September to complete this form if they qualified last year. See more information below on the flyer.

• Simplified Attendance Reporting: In our ongoing efforts to enhance efficiency and convenience, all attendance will now be reported using ParentVUE. This centralized platform will provide parents with a user-friendly, one-stop location to submit attendance updates quickly and easily for the entire family. By consolidating this process into ParentVUE, we aim to simplify absence reporting for parents and ensure accurate attendance records for our schools. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzRfZTHVro4&t=10s

• Want to know more about Conway, see the schedule for next year, or check out information about lunch? Look no further. Click HERE for those details.

Instructions from SCPS on how to use: Click HERE

ParentVue: I am excited to announce that the English and Spanish ParentVue 'how to' videos are now live on YouTube. They are appropriately called ParentVUE: Your All-in-One Tool for Tracking Your Child’s Education. Click on the links above to view how to register for ParentVue. You don't want to miss out on this parenting tool!

Family University: Weren't able to make Family University? No worries. We have the workshops right here for you. Click on this folder to find quick videos on how to support your child's mathematics and literacy development. In addition, check out our session on internet safety. Please reach out to any of our coaches for additional help or information: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1EjMz--e9wMlpgXc_8fNPpBbRDNggW_Uc

• Report card Information for Parents: Wondering about your child's progress on the last report card? Wondering what something means? Click on the link below for help with what the academic codes mean, what your kiddo learned and were assessed each quarter, and what standard based grading is: https://www.staffordschools.net/k5grading

• Reading Resources: Use this document below to find ways to support your kiddo's reading anytime of year. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m8rFwzDZdI_vTFo-8ujnzPgFwPFt10Yi7d00lQ2a8sI/edit

• Math Resources: Use this document below to help support your child's math learning anytime of year. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GsfYAmeePjmBQft77YCyXMcXO97hDlOzq9dGN85ajN0/edit?usp=sharing

• Here is some information to help keep your kiddo safe on their devices.

• https://www.commonsense.org/system/files/pdf/2020-08/grades-k-5-family-tips-media-balance-well-being-english.pdf

• https://www.commonsense.org/system/files/pdf/2020-08/grades-k-5-family-tips-media-balance-well-being-spanish.pdf

Parent Resources from Virginia Literacy Partnership (UVA)

Click here for FAQs for SCPS Nutrition.

Click here for all things related to SCPS nutrition.

Click here for the online portal to pay for lunches or to see the menu

Nominate a SCPS employee to say thanks for going above and beyond. CLICK HERE to nominate them.

• How to Translate Smore newsletters: If you would like to translate this newsletter into another language, please click on these links for directions on how to do that. Directions in English click here. Directions in Espanol click here. Directions in Pashto click here . Directions in Dari click here.

Follow JR on Youtube @ JR Raybold and on Instagram @Conway_onefamily.

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Email: rayboldws@staffordschools.net
Website: https://www.staffordschools.net/ces
Location: 105 Primmer House Road, Fredericksburg, VA, USA
Phone: 5403611455
Facebook: facebook.com/Conwayelemsch
Twitter: @conwayelemsch