Harmony Newsletter

On October 11, Dr. Bryan Pecoraro, Harmony School Counselor, received the Student Scholarship Impact Award from the Virginia School Counselor Association.

WOW. WOW. Thanks for all of your hard work.

Oct 14 - No School

Oct 15 - 80's Day

Oct 15 - Orchestra and Guitar Fall Concert (7 PM)

Oct 16 - Unity Day for National Bullying Prevention Day (wear orange for kindness, acceptance, and inclusion)

Oct 17 - Neon Day

Oct 17 - PTA Spirit Night (at MOD Pizza)

Oct 18 - Pink Out Day (for October National Breast Cancer Awareness Month)

Oct 29 - Staff Versus Student Volleyball Game

Oct 30 - Student Holiday (Workday for Staff)

Oct 31 - Student Holiday (Workday for Staff)

Nov 1 - Holiday

Nov 4 - Student Holiday (Staff Professional Development Day)

Nov 5 - Student Holiday (Staff 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

Nov 18 - Picture Retakes

Nov 19 - 8th Grade Signs of Suicide presentations start

School Website Link

So far this year we have completed: Bus evacuation drills, two lock down drills, two fire drills, and an Earthquake drill. 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)

Link to 6th Grade Curriculum

Link to 7th Grade Curriculum

Link to 8th Grade Curriculum

From the Week of Oct 7:

VIDEO LINK and CLUBS FOR OCTOBER

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Girls’ Tech Day was developed to promote and encourage girls and women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

Students engaged in panel discussions and STEAM-related interactive activities on October 5. Congratulations to the following girls for attending:

Hailey Adams

Mylene Archila

Charlotte Lilienkamp

and chaperone Ms. Jessica Lilienkamp

Parents play a vital role in supporting a student’s education and establishing homework routines is one important step. Here are a few things you can do at home to make homework time easier and more productive:

1. Set up a consistent space (away from distractions) for work to get completed.
2. Arrange for a consistent schedule for completing homework. Will your child come home, get a snack, and then complete homework or will homework time be immediately following dinner. Find a time that works best for your schedule and try to keep it consistent.
3. Encourage your child to communicate with his/her teachers when they have questions or need clarification. Help them send a respectful email with their questions. While they might still need to see the teacher in person to understand a problem, their teacher will be able to see that they were attempting the work.
4. Phones can be a major distraction during work time. Have your child work for 20 minutes, then earn some phone time before returning to work, if necessary.

Lexia is a reading program that provides targeted reading instruction tailored to individual student needs and levels.

Why is Lexia important? In addition to supporting targeted reading needs, it supports our school's School Improvement Plan (SIP). We will all benefit in our class from improving reading skills.

This week we recognize several teachers!

When 6th grader, Katy Sundaram, went home she told her parents, "Ms. Hicks is so enthusiastic! She's had her coffee." We love Ms. Hicks.

Three teachers were recognized as the October "You Knocked My Socks Off" award winners. They are:

Josh Stillwell ("Knocks my socks off with his consistent and relentless pursuit of School Safety. He is vigilant, enthusiastic, and pro-active.")

Karen Grubbs ("Knocks my socks off with her positive, can-do attitude. She's always up for a challenge, tacking each one with enthusiasm and determination.")

Julie Yearwood ("Knocked my socks off with her small group instruction and class station rotation. She quietly works to challenge students in their critical thinking and ensures they are able to apply the knowledge learned in science.")

October Buzzworthy Teachers. Seventy (70) emails went out to staff members from 272 separate students who said kind things about them. WAY TO GO STAFF. Thank you students.

And, our favorite...this from a student named Ilia whose unself praise for others made her think of our custodians, "They just contribute to the school so much. The cleanliness of the school is because of them, and I can say, having visited at least four other schools within the year, this is among the cleanest. All because of these people who certainly deserve an award for their service."

Thank you parents and staff for submitting names. If you would like to recognize a staff member, please email eric.stewart@lcps.org)

Our Student Council Association is collecting SCHOOL SUPPLIES & other needed personal items listed on your collection boxes for HURRICANE DISASTER RELIEF. This will assist the Buncombe, NC school system throughout the month of October.

Please bring in any new supplies and place them in the box at the entrance to your grade level house.

THANK YOU for YOUR GENEROUS HELP and SUPPORT!

Volleyball Intramural Sign Ups are live and can be found by using the QR code on the attached flyer or by using the following link: https://lcps-ar.rschooltoday.com/home. Games will be Thursdays beginning the week of November 11th and continue through the week beginning January 13th, when the playoffs will determine our school Intramural champion.

Game times will be immediately after school with a goal to finish between 5:00 and 5:30. I will be able to provide a smaller window for the finishing time once we have met a time or two. If enrollment is high enough, a second day of the week may need to be added. Students on the Intramural Champion team will advance to play the other middle schools at Heritage High School on January 25th beginning at 9am. When registering your students, please remember to include their email on the registration. Email is our primary form of communication and is supplemented by the occasional morning announcement.

Volleyball Intramurals are student led and students are able to form their own teams. All students included on their team must be registered with the Intramural. Team members who are not registered will be removed from the team’s roster. All registered students will receive an email with the team registration form the first week of November. If you have any questions, please email at joshua.young@lcps.org. I’m looking forward to a great Intramural Volleyball season.

Josh Young

Intramural Coordinator

Auditions will be held:

November 19 (6th and tech crew)

November 20 (7th and 8th grade)

November 21 (call-backs and dance crew) from 3:45 until 6 pm.