HUSKY HIGHLIGHT

October is National Bullying Prevention Month. "Unity Day" is Wednesday, October 16th. Unity Day is a day for us to come together as a school and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion. We ask that you wear orange to school on that day to show your support. Here is a link to the flyer.

We are excited to announce that HFES has started it's first "Paw"dcast!!! The "Paw"dcast is an audio only production run and produced by a team of fifth graders at Hutchison Farm Elementary School. Members apply to be part of this Educational Leadership Team which is supervised by Mrs. Wetton, Instructional Facilitator Technology. All decisions about The "Paw"dcast, including who to interview, what questions to ask, and communicating with interviewees are made by the team of 5th grade students. The team meets three times a week for 15 minutes and the members of the team change quarterly. We hope you enjoy listening to our sessions!!

Meet Ms. Vindigni, a member of our Hutchison Farm Staff!!

https://www.wevideo.com/view/3559498697

Last year's inaugural Veterans Day Program was a huge success! We plan to make it an annual event. This year our Veterans Day celebration is scheduled for Monday, November 11 at 8:45 AM in the HFES gym.

If you have an American veteran in your family, we would like to invite them to our Veterans Day program. Please see the link below for the google form where they can RSVP. Please be aware that we are only inviting Veterans to join us for the event due to space limitations. However, the event will be livestreamed so everyone can watch the program from home. The link will be provided closer to the event.

Also, next week a letter will come home about our Wall of Honor. If you have a veteran in your family who is not able to come or is no longer living, you can honor them with a "Brick" on the Wall of Honor. The due date for the google form and the "brick" is Tuesday October 29.

In preparation for the event, we would like to ask that our students wear clothing with the designated colors as they will be a part of the assembly.

Grades K-1- Red

Grades 2-3- White

Grades 4-5- Blue

Thank you for participating in this very special event!

Veterans Day Google Form

Dulles South Food Pantry is a community driven non-profit serving Dulles South residents and the surrounding area, providing nutritious food, personal supplies, and life changing social services to our neighbors in need. Please see the attached flyers for more information.

We are seeking clothing donations for our school closet! If you have any of these items please send them in with your child to drop off in the front office.

We are seeking unopened/unused:

• Underwear child sizes small, medium, large, XL
• Socks – child sizes XS-large
• Pants sizes 5-12
• T shirts in a variety of youth sizes

Thank you so much for considering donating to our Husky closet! If you have any further questions, please reach out to members of our Unified Mental Health Team.

School Counselor, Courtney Hurley, courtney.hurley@lcps.org

School Counselor, Emily Fox, emily.fox@lcps.org

School Social Worker, Valerie Evans, valerie.evans@lcps.org

We want to let you know about a sweet volunteer opportunity that supports our students and cafeteria staff. We invite you to be part of the HFES Scoop Troop (no ice cream scooping actually involved). Adult relatives of HFES students can volunteer to push our ice cream cart in the cafeteria – distributing frozen treats such as ice cream, popsicles, and Italian ice to students with “ice cream tickets” (purchased in the cafeteria line that day). We’d love extra hands to distribute frozen treats to students when they’re ready to eat them (so the treats don’t otherwise sit on students’ trays and melt).

Slots are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. and 12:15-1:30 p.m.

Here is the link to sign up: https://bit.ly/scoop-troop-hfes Please contact hfes.scoop.troop@gmail.com with any questions.

Thank you for considering this opportunity!

Friday, October 18th from 6:00-8:00 pm

Join us for a fun evening of bingo! Pizza, drinks, snacks, raffle basket tickets, and spirit wear will be available for purchase.

Pre-purchase bingo cards and raffle tickets, sign up to volunteer, and RSVP here! Each pre-order and volunteer will receive a free raffle ticket! Be sure to RSVP, space is limited.

Can't make it to bingo night? You can still support the PTA by purchasing raffle tickets for a chance to win great prizes!

*We are accepting raffle basket donations until Monday, October 7th. Please send items in with your child or drop them off in the bin outside the front door. Details about raffle baskets can be found here*

Questions? Contact Misha Gilani (misha.tahir88@gmail.com) or Brittany Jones (bcv725@gmail.com).

Support the PTA!

Please consider joining the PTA and/or making a donation. Our PTA is committed to supporting the students and staff at Hutchison Farm Elementary School through community programs, events, and financial resources. We need YOU!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Kona Ice Back to School Social!

Link to the PTA Website for ways to join, volunteer, see events, and more

PTA Meetings will be held monthly at the school with a virtual option from 6:30 - 7:30 pm.

10/10, 11/7, 12/5, 1/9, 2/6, 3/6, 4/3, 5/8

Stay Connected

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram at @hfes_pta_southriding for regular updates and reminders.

The Mighty Husky Program is Back!

Hutchison Farm’s Mighty Husky Program is back! The purpose of this program is to provide positive role models for our students. Through this program, parents, guardians, and other adult relatives of HFES students can sign up to spend 1 day (roughly 4 hours) volunteering in their child’s classroom and around the school.

Daily activities for Mighty Huskies can include: greeting students as they arrive to school, participating in the morning announcements, helping out in your child’s classroom, monitoring the Husky Café, assisting students in the library, and more. Mighty Huskies also award students with “Pawesome Awards” for exemplary behavior and Husky pride.

The program kicks off Sept. 16, with openings on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays through December. Later this year, we will notify you when 2025 slots become available.

Here is the link to sign up: https://bit.ly/hfes-mighty-husky Due to high demand, please select only one date. (If you have multiple children at HFES, you will spend time in all of their classrooms.)

Please direct any questions to our Mighty Husky coordinator: mightyhuskies@hfespta.org

Stay Connected

Follow us on Facebook or Instagram at @hfes_pta_southriding for regular updates and reminders

Exciting news! LCPS has launched a new app designed to keep families connected and informed with just a tap. The app allows users to conveniently access documents, news updates and emergency notifications in one place. It’s a must-have for students, families and staff, and is available for download from the Google Play or Apple App Store (just search for “Loudoun County Public Schools”). With this mobile-responsive tool, you can receive important updates directly from your school and stay informed on the latest features. The LCPS website and app also offer a centralized feed for all division news, events and announcements, providing a reliable way to stay updated than relying on multiple social media sites.

The Division of English Learners, Family and Community Engagement (EL FACE) Office cordially invites new EL families to:

The Welcome to LCPS EL Family Workshop is designed to provide a brief orientation to new EL families about the U.S. School System and LCPS. Sessions are held at the Historic Douglas High School in Leesburg from 6:30-8pm on the following Thursdays:

• October 10th
• November 7th
• December 5th
• April 3rd
• May 1st
• June 5th

See Welcome to LCPS flyer to learn more. Please include this item in your regular communication such as school newsletters.

Contact Sarah.Ocampo@lcps.org, DEL FACE Supervisor, with any questions.

This update has been shared with EL Leads, EL teachers, and Family Liaisons and can be found on the Division of EL Landing Page and the Division of EL website.

The safety and security of everyone on our campus is a priority. When visiting the school, there are many important details to remember:

Visitors to the building MUST have a pre-arranged appointment before permitted entry into the building. This would include the visitor arranging a time to meet for a conference with a staff member, a prearranged time for volunteering in the school, and/or scheduled appointment with a member of the staff.

There will be special circumstances when entry will be permitted for visitors when prearranged appointments have not been made, however, we would like to promote this practice to place safety and security at the highest level of importance for our students and staff.

Visitors to the building will follow the procedures below:

1. All individuals should have a pre-arranged appointment with an LCPS employee prior to given entry into the building.

2. All individuals must have a photo identification.

3. After provided with entry, the visitor will be asked to report to the front office to be logged into our Raptor system.

4. ALL visitors that leave the front office and visit any part of our school will need to wear a visitor badge and it must be visible for all staff members to see.

5. ALL visitors must enter and exit the building using the front entrance near the flagpole.

VISITORS IN THE BUILDING MUST HAVE A PURPOSE FOR THIER VISIT.

Thank you in advance for adhering to these requirements.

This website offers comprehensive mental health services, support and resources provided by LCPS Unified Mental Health Teams (counselors, psychologists, social workers, school nurses, and student assistance specialists) who can assist and direct families to the right level of services or interventions.

Available information includes:

• How to contact your school’s United Mental Health Team
• Resources for parents
• Suicide prevention resources
• LCPS mental and behavioral health services
• Resources for families of LGBTQ+ students and families
• Community resources

To access the mental health website created by the Department of Student Services, please visit: www.lcps.org/MentalHealthServices

• When walking to school and crossing on Center Street, students and parents should cross where the crossing guard is located. Crossing in front of the school at any other location is extremely dangerous during arrival and dismissal time.
• Center Street in front of the school is not a Drop Off area for students. This is extremely dangerous for multiple reasons: it requires students to walk through cars, grassy areas and cross in areas that are not designated crossing areas. Cars pulling in and out of this area as a drop off area has caused concern. I appreciate your support with no longer using this area for such purposes.
• We will continue to ask families to not change transportation to schedule student “play dates.” Changes in transportation do occur for multiple purposes that are required daily (emergency situations, multiple dwellings, daycare changes).

• Need Assistance with your Chromebook: The Department of Digital Innovation has assigned an on-site Digital Experience Specialist to each school. This resource is on-site to assist with technical challenges encountered by staff or students.

• Students withdrawing from LCPS: Students withdrawing from the district should return their assigned computer to their school. You will receive a hand receipt confirming the return of your assigned computer and charger. LCPS will generate an invoice for the replacement cost of any unreturned equipment. We also ask that you remove stickers or personalizations to the computer before returning it.

• Unified Mental Health Team: School counselors and other school members are an available resource if students need someone to talk to or to help them process their feelings about recent events. HutchisonFarmMentalHealth@lcpsorg.onmicrosoft.com

Doors Open: 7:40 AM

AM Tardy Bell: 8:00 AM (Students must be in classroom prior to the tardy bell)

PM Bell: 2:45 PM

Buses Depart: 2:50 PM

Walkers and Daycare Dismissed: 2:50 PM

calendars for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years

HFES Weekly Spirit Days are EVERY FRIDAY!!!!

Wear your HFES Spirit Wear or school colors (green and gold)!!!

October

10/4 Student Holiday

10/10 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

10/14 Holiday - No School

10/18 6:00-8:00 Fall PTA Bingo

10/23 Fall Picture Day

10/29 Grading Period Ends

10/30 Student Holiday

10/31 Student Holiday

November

11/1 Holiday - No School

11/4 Student Holiday

11/5 Student Holiday

11/6 6:30 PM Cluster Chorus Concert

11/7 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

11/8 Report Cards Available to View

11/11 8:45 AM Veteran's Day Program

11/20-22 Hearing and Vision Screenings

11/27-29 Holiday - No School

11/22 Kindergarten Community Helper Parade

December

12/3 Picture Retakes

12/5 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

12/16 JML Music Selection Demonstration for 5th Graders

12/20 8:30 AM Winter Sing Along/Chorus Concert

12/23-1/3 Student Holiday

January

1/9 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

1/20 Holiday - No School

1/24 Grading Period Ends

1/27-28 Student Holiday

1/29 Holiday - No School

February

2/3 Report Cards Available to View

2/6 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

2/10-11 Grade 3 Informances

2/12 Spring Portrait Day

2/17 Holiday - No School

March

3/6 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

3/14 5:30 PM-8:00 PM Spring PTA Bingo

3/19-20 Grade 1 Informances

3/27 6th Grade Red Carpet at JML (5th Grade)

3/31 Holiday - No School

April

4/3 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

4/3 Grading Period Ends

4/4 Student Holiday

4/7 Student Holiday

4/11 Report Cards Available to View

4/14-18 Student Holiday

4/21-25 Book Fair Preview

4/22 10:00 AM 5th Grade Panoramic

4/28-5/2 Book Fair Sales

4/30 4:30 PM-6:30 PM Family Book Fair Night

May

5/8 6:30 PM PTA Meeting

5/22 Kindergarten Showcase

5/26 Holiday - No School

June

6/12 8:30 AM Promotion Ceremony

6/13 Grading Period Ends

6/13 Last Day of School

6/20 Report Cards Available to View

• Student and Family Handbook.pdf
  

• HFES SUPPLYLIST2024-2025.pdf
  

• calendars for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 school years

• Ask the Superintendent

• One LCPS: Forward Together Post-Entry Plan
• LCPS Policy Review
• Office of the Ombuds
• LCPS News Stories
• Meal Prices and Payment Options
  
• Mental Health and Community Resources for Families
• Student Assistance Services
• Attendance Resources
• Fentanyl and Opioid Awareness
• Free On-Demand Tutoring
• Join the LCPS Team

Use @hutlcps to search for Twitter posts about our school!

Email: heidi.smith@lcps.org
Website: lcps.org/hutchison
Location: 42819 Center Street, South Riding, VA, USA
Phone: 703-9574350
Twitter: @hutlcps