Harmony Newsletter

Sept 24 - Odyssey of the Mind Meeting at 7 PM (see flyer at end of newsletter)

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

Last week, one of our teachers saved a student's life by administering the Heimlich maneuver. It all happened fast but thanks to the quick thinking of Michelle Schwartz, we are all happier for it. THANK YOU, MICHELLE.

In additional to drills, during the year we will be going over some scenarios to help the students think through situations. Our second one will be on, "What to do if you are in the cafeteria during an emergency."

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)

“Look, Mom! I am reading!” my reading-resistant teenager shouted from the next room. To my dismay, there were no books to be seen when I entered the room. However, he had managed to turn on the subtitles on the Netflix show he was watching. Not exactly the kind of reading I had in mind! It can be a true challenge to engage our reading-resistant teenagers in reading, but there are a few things parents can do to support reading at home:

1. Read together. Model reading by sitting down at a predetermined time each evening for 20 minutes. You can read individually or engage in a shared book as a family, but making it a habit you model demonstrates the importance to our children.

1. Have a family book club. Discuss the book. Is it a title that you can enjoy the movie together after everyone finishes? Even better.
2. Discuss how reading impacts your daily life. What do you have to read for work? What did you read in the news? The more authentic it becomes, the more our kids are going to engage with it.

1. Don’t give up! They might resist at first, but stay strong. If it’s important to you, it’s worth the push back.

Last week we provided three excellent root words to help with vocabulary development: "bene" (meaning good), "mal" (meaning bad), and "magn (meaning large or great). See if your kids know them. Here are three more:

aqua - water (like aquaman)

scend - climb (ascend)

aud - hear (auditorium)

Parents - This resource will be helpful for you to monitor student internet usage.

Lightspeed for parents – parents can opt in to receive automated weekly emails summarizing their student’s internet usage while using an LCPS device. They can also pause web browsing when their child is not on the LCPS network.

Content Filtering Matrix – This shows which online material is available or blocked for each age level.

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.

The following staff were recognized this month:

1. Lisa Washington

2. Jennifer Colbert

3. Melanie Condon

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

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

During HIVE Time students will continue learning about relationships and problem solving through Second Step Unit 4: Lesson 21. Please review next week’s grade specific topics in the chart below.

For more information about Second Step Middle School, please review the family letter here. Families do have access to view these lessons and other materials by creating a Second Step account using our school specific access code, FAM4B7AAA539. For Second Step Family Access Steps, please click here.

Interested in purchasing a yearbook this year? For a limited time, the yearbook will be $30, until the price goes up on December 1. To guarantee your student receives a yearbook, please go to www.yearbookordercenter.com and type in school code 21667 to order.

Also, if you’re an 8th Grade parent...the Yearbook wants your student’s baby picture! To submit your picture, please follow the guidelines below. Emailed photos will not be accepted. Photos must be uploaded to eShare no later than Friday, 11/22.

• Please send only one baby picture of your 8th grade student.
• The photos will be square in the yearbook, so a close-up of the face is better than a full-body photo.
• Please send a picture of your student by themselves. If you send a picture with a sibling or parent, the other people will be cropped out of the photo which may detract from the quality of the image.
• Follow the prompts in eShare to identify the student by first and last name. You can access eShare by going to www.yearbookshare.com and enter school code 21667.

If you have any questions about anything yearbook, please contact Jennifer Heffron, Yearbook Advisor, at jennifer.heffron@lcps.org.