Flower Valley Weekly Newsletter

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We inspire all children to become critical thinkers who are imaginative, adaptable, and collaborative. We strive to cultivate peaceful, life-long learners who contribute positively to the community around them.

Dear Flower Valley Community,

I hope you have all had a wonderful week. We have so many fun and educational events coming up in the next few weeks. Please be sure to check out the newsletter for all of the details about the Scholastic Book Fair, FVES Math Night, our harvest celebration, Mental Health Awareness Week, and our FVES Family Open House.

The PTA sponsored Scholastic Book Fair and FVES Math Night are both this week. The book fair is all week, and FVES Math Night is October 19th. FVES Math Night is also a great opportunity to visit the book fair with your child. Hope to see you there!

We would also like to hear from you. As we begin to plan for the FVES Open House, we are looking for your input. Please check out the information below and complete the parent input survey to help us plan an amazing visit for your family.

I hope you all have a wonderful and restful weekend!

With Firefly Pride!

Dr. Fish

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Resources Related to Our School Improvement Plan

• Growth Mindset
• Open Source Phonics

Upcoming Events

• Book Fair: Week of October 16th
• Math Night at FVES: October 19th
• Harvest Festival and Parade
• Mental Health Awareness Week
• FVES Family Open House

PTA Corner

• Book Fair
• Scratch Kitchen Restaurant Fundraiser
• Masquerade

Information from Previous Newsletters:

• Transportation Information

• Need a Chromebook for home?

• School Lunch
• Zones of Regulation
• ParentVue
• Reading: Open Source Phonics
• Health Information
• Covid Updates
• Seasonal Roots
  

FVES Parent Handbook

It is so important for our children to believe in themselves and their ability to learn and grow. Below are 25 growth mindset affirmations that you can incorporate at home to support your child's growth and their belief in themselves.

MCPS has partnered with Open Source Phonics to provide free access to resources for families. Open Source Phonics is a program that provides 120 step-by-step lessons on phonics patterns, spelling rules, and decodable stories to practice skills and increase fluency. The lessons are designed to be stress-free for families and students. We are excited that families can use this free resource to help their children practice phonics and fluency skills at home. Families can visit Open Source Phonics for more information. MCPS Families can use the document linked here for more information on how to use the resources.

The FVES Book Fair is coming Oct. 16th-20th! Students will visit the book fair with their teachers and create a wish list for you to consider. They will be able to purchase books on their class "buying day" by either cash, check made out to Flower Valley PTA, or eWallet. For more information, click here. You can also come in with your student(s) and shop after school Mon. - Thurs. from 3:30-4:00 and Thurs. evening 6pm-8pm.

If you're interested in volunteering, please visit the sign-up here: https://bit.ly/FVESBookFairFALL2023

Math Night will be held at Flower Valley on Thursday, October 19, 2023 from 6 until 7:30pm. This is a chance to interact with friends, family, and teachers with a focus on math. There will be activities for all ages, estimation jars, games to take home, and more! Feel free to stop by the Scholastic Book Fair which will also be open from 6:30 until 8:00 pm that evening. Please make sure to return the form that was sent home in your child's Thursday folder this week. We can't wait to see you at Math Night!

We are excited about our upcoming FVES Harvest Celebration. Let’s get ready to have some fun, show our Firefly school pride, and help out our community! Our Fireflies will be collecting canned goods all week to help support those in need in our community. They will also be preparing for our parade by decorating FVES themed harvest collection wagons (lunch carts) to show their school pride and to collect canned goods the day of the parade. Students are encouraged to show their school pride by wearing our school colors, spirit wear, flowers, and/or fireflies. We are looking forward to providing an opportunity for our students to enjoy time celebrating with one another, show their school spirit, and support our community. See the details below.

• Date: October 27th

• Parade Time: 2-2:30

• Party Time: 2:30-3:10

In the coming days, your child’s homeroom teacher will be reaching out for donations of food, party crafts and supplies, paper products, and school spirit float decorations - all of the blue, yellow, firefly, and flower decorations you can make or donate. Students will be using their class lunch carts as their harvest collection wagons. Items will be collected as an entire grade level and will be evenly distributed amongst all homerooms. We appreciate any donations you are able to provide.

We welcome volunteers for the party. If interested, you will be able to sign up to volunteer at the party. We want to make sure all families have an opportunity to volunteer for at least one field trip or party. Your child’s teacher will notify you if you are selected to volunteer at the harvest party. Don’t worry, though, all families are welcome to cheer on our students at the FVES Harvest Parade! The path for the parade is below.

No Halloween costumes are allowed; however, students are encouraged to wear school colors and really do it up with school spirit!

• Parents can stand along the route to take pictures. Please do not stop your child on the parade route.

• If it rains, we will have the parade inside for the children.

• After the parade, students will return to their classroom for their fall harvest parties.

• Students will be dismissed for the day at the normal time.

• If you would like your child to participate in an alternative activity instead of the parade, please email your child’s teacher. After the parade, all children will join their classmates for the Fall Harvest Party.

• No Halloween costumes are allowed. Students are encouraged to show their school spirit by wearing lots of blue, yellow, and FVES spirit wear. They can be creative with their school spirit. :)

Mental Health Awareness week will be recognized the last week in October. We have several activities planned for our staff and students. We will be learning more about Zones of Regulation and celebrating spirit days aligned with the zones. We will also be participating in mindfulness activities, and we have a therapy dog visiting recess on one of the days. More details will come as the week draws closer.

We are excited to welcome our families to FVES! While MCPS has not designated a formal open house day for schools this year, we know how much the community values this special time to get a glimpse of their student's experience at FVES. To continue this wonderful tradition, we will be setting aside a day for families to visit before winter break. Originally, we were hoping to hold the event November 17th, but a system-wide conflict has arisen. We are collaborating with the PTA and gathering input from families and staff to identify a date and plan activities. Once we have a date and more details, we will be sure to share them. We will be welcoming all family members on this day, including all of our grandparents who may want to visit. Given we will have a large number of family members enjoying this opportunity, we will be developing a sign-up process to help ensure safety and ease traffic congestion throughout the day.

We would love to hear from you about what works best for your family for open house. Feedback can be shared here. We are looking forward to this wonderful event for our families and our students!

• October 18th is Dine and Support at Scratch Kitchen. Come enjoy some delicious food and have some of the proceeds go back to the PTA. Don’t forget to mention FVES PTA when ordering!
• The Book Fair is coming Oct. 16th-20th! Students create a wish list for you to consider and then purchase books on their class "buying day" by either cash or check made out to Flower Valley PTA or eWallet go to https://bookfairs.scholastic.com/bf/flowervalleyelementarysch. You can also come in with your student(s) and shop after school Mon. - Thurs. until 4pm and Thurs. evening 6pm-8pm.
• The PTA is excited to host the annual Masquerade Event on Saturday, October 28th from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. We are seeking both Parent and SSL student volunteers. Please see the sign-up links below. We are also seeking contributions of festive homemade or store-bought treats. Thank you for your support!

Student sign up:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040949AFAE22AB9-44749654-2023

Baked goods and parent volunteers:

2023 Masquerade Festival - Donate Baked Goods

The FVES staff and the PTA will hold several events this year. Some of the events we are excited to offer are math and reading nights, STEM Night, International Night, a winter musical production, staff/parent basketball, Career Day, our annual carnival, and so much more. We will keep you updated regarding the details of the events throughout the school year. Tentative dates are included below. Please note theses dates are subject to change.

• PTA Sponsored Book Fair: October 16th-20th, during school hours. Evening hours October 19th.

• Math Night: October 19th

• Harvest Festival and Parade: October 27th

• PTA Sponsored Masquerade Festival: October 28th, 5:30-7:30

• Mental Health Awareness Week: Week of October 30th

• Family Open House: Date TBD

• Winter Chorus Concert: January 23rd at 7PM

• Winter IM Concert: February 1st at 7PM

• Wellness Week: January/February

• Kindness Week and Party: Week of 2/12 (party 2/14)

• Reading Night: March 6th, 6-7:30

• STEM Day: March 22nd

• International Night: March TBD

• PTA Sponsored Book Fair: April 15th-19th

• PTA Sponsored STEM Night: April 18th, 5:30-7:30

• Career Day: May 3rd

• PTA Sponsored SAVERS Donation Drive: May 4th, 9:30-1:00

• Field Days: May TBD

• PTA Sponsored Carnival: May 19th, 2-5:00

• Spring IM Concert: May 30th at Rockville High School at 7PM (tentative)

• 5th Grade Promotion: June 12th

• 5th Grade Fun Day: June 13th

• Scratch Kitchen - Wednesday, October 18th, 2023
• Creek Lodge Bar & Grill- Wednesday, November 15th, 2023
• Leisure World Ledo’s - Tuesday, December 12th, 2023
• California Tortilla- Wednesday, January 24th, 2024
• Ema Rossi- Wednesday, February 7th, 2024
• Chuck E Cheese - Friday, March 15th, 2024
• Rockville Paisano’s - Tuesday, April 16th, 2024 and Wednesday, April 17th, 2024 from 11:00am-10:00pm
• Rockville Chipotle - Monday, May 13th, 2024
• Villa Maya - Wednesday, June 5th, 2024

Transportation information is on the school website and available here:

• Arrival Schedule
• Departure Schedule
• Department of Transportation Communication to Families (English Version)
• Department of Transportation Communication to Families (Spanish Version)
• What to Know about Riding the Bus (English Version)
• What to Know about Riding the Bus (Spanish Version)
• Link to Check Daily Status of Buses

You are receiving this message because this year, your child’s school is using a classroom cart model for Chromebooks. This means students use an assigned Chromebook while in school, but do not bring their Chromebook home each night. As we move into the winter months and plan for potential emergency closures, your child will need access to a device at home to engage in homework, interactive resources and potential virtual instruction. If your child does not have access to a personal or home computer, a parent or guardian should complete a form to request an MCPS Chromebook. The device will be checked out to your student and will be kept at home for the school year. The device will need to be returned at the end of the school year or sooner if your student is leaving MCPS for any reason.

To request a MCPS Chromebook for home use, please complete this form: Chromebook Form to Distribute to Families

Links:

At Home Request for Chromebook Flyer (English)

At Home Request for Chromebook Flyer (Spanish)

Breakfast and hot lunches are served daily. Lunch menus can be accessed here. Your child will learn about their lunch schedule on the first day of school. The teacher will also let you know about snack time, especially if your child has an early or late lunch.

Breakfast is $1.30, and lunch is $2.55. To learn more about eligibility for Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) and apply for FARMs, click here. Deposits into lunch accounts can be made by any student and can be made ahead of time via the MCPS online payment system, My School Bucks. Details about how to add money to your student’s account can be accessed here.

DFNS encourages all families with students enrolled at non-CEP schools to complete a Free and Reduced-price Meals Application. All meals are free for students who qualify for free and reduced-price meals.

At the October PTA meeting, we shared information about our School Improvement Plan. One strategy we mentioned is called Zones of Regulation. We first implemented this school-wide last year, and we will be continuing to develop this practice at school. Ms. Cheeks shared information last year at a PTA meeting and will be sharing more information this upcoming December. Zones of Regulation is a social-emotional strategy that helps students understand and verbalize how they are feeling and develop a toolbox of strategies to support how they are feeling and how their emotions impact others. A link to the full presentation can be found here.

ParentVue FAQs

The Annual Verification process allows families to update contact information, collect important information about you and your student, including any medical, immunization, language preferences, and emergency information that school staff need to know. MCPS uses ParentVUE to collect this information electronically. Online registration is available now until October 20th.

ParentVue is where you are able to access your student's grades, attendance, test scores, schedules, and so much more. Please see the quick guides below to set your preferences and see where to access all of the information available to you.

There are online registration quick guides in several languages available to support you in this process.

English | Español | 中國人 | 한국인 | Français | Português | Tiếng Việt | አማርኛ

ParentVUE Quick Guides

English / español / 中文 / français / Português / 한국어 / tiếng Việt / አማርኛ

• Navigating ParentVUE Mobile App
• Navigating StudentVUE Mobile App
• Athletic Registration with ParentVUE Online Registration
• Activating Your ParentVUE Account

As new cases of COVID-19 increase locally, we have seen outbreaks occurring in multiple schools across the county. Temporary outbreak precautions for individual classrooms where COVID-19 is spreading rapidly helps prevent spread to vulnerable individuals and to the rest of school. Check out the FAQ page for more information about how outbreaks are managed. The newly approved COVID-19 updated vaccine will be available in our area in the next few weeks. For information about COVID-19, influenza and RSV vaccine availability, refer to Vaccines.Gov.

If your child is sick, please have them stay home and rest until they feel better. It is important for a child to stay home if they have a fever. They may return to school once they are without fever for 24 hours with no fever reducing medications.

If your child has Covid, it is important for them to remain home for 5 days after testing positive. Additionally, they must wear a mask for 5 days after returning to school. Families no longer need to self-report Covid; however, it is important to notify your child's teacher and the main office when your child is out sick.

If you have any questions regarding health related matters, you can contact Ms. Kalter at Marley_S_Kalter@mcpsmd.org.

It is critical for students to be in attendance at school every day. We understand that there are times when students may be ill or may have appointments that require them to be out of school, however, school performance is directly connected to attendance. MCPS has developed an action plan to address absenteeism. Please click here to see the county message regarding attendance.

If your child is going to be absent, please notify the teacher and Mrs. Sintetos at Catherine_G_Sintetos@mcpsmd.org.

**Please remember that vacations are not considered lawful absences. Details regarding lawful and unlawful absences can be found here.

**For absences to be considered excused, a note must be submitted in writing or emailed to Mrs. Sintetos. This includes medical appointments.

Our office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 4:30PM. Below are emails and phone numbers for the following departments:

Administration (240) 740-1780

Dr. Angie Fish, Principal – Angie_L_Fish@mcpsmd.org

Mrs. Kimberly Haden - Kimberly_D_Haden@mcpsmd.org

Main Office Staff (240) 740-1780

Ms. Nevine Peckoo, School Administrative Secretary – Nevine_A_Peckoo@mcpsmd.org

Mrs. Cathy Sintetos, Attendance Secretary – Catherine_G_Sintetos@mcpsmd.org

Counseling Office (240) 740-6680

Mrs. Jennifer Atanda - Jennifer_T_Atanda@mcpsmd.org

Ms. Nicole Bamberger - Nicole_M_Bamberger@mcpsmd.org

All Staff Directory

The parent handbook provides a wealth of information about school policies and procedures. Some of these include volunteer procedures, school parties and birthday celebrations, bullying and harassment reporting, visitor policies, attendance, health policies, safety and security, and so much more. The English version of the handbook can be accessed here, and the Spanish version can be accessed here.

Be bright! Be kind! Be you!

We inspire all children to become critical thinkers who are imaginative, adaptable, and collaborative. We strive to cultivate peaceful, life-long learners who contribute positively to the community around them.

Email: Angie_L_Fish@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/flowervalleyes/
Location: Flower Valley Elementary School, Sunflower Drive, Rockville, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-1780
Twitter: @AngieFish_FVES