FDES Specials "Dream Team"

As we head into the final stretch of the school year, our art room is buzzing with creativity! A huge thank you to everyone who attended and supported this year’s Art Show—your enthusiasm made it a truly special event.

Looking ahead, we are seeking parent volunteers who may be willing to come in regularly to help prep for next year’s Art Show. Your support behind the scenes makes a huge impact! If you’re interested, please contact me at westmanj@wps.k12.va.us.

This quarter, students will continue exploring a wide range of materials. By the end of the year, every student will have had the opportunity to work with clay, an alternate sculpture material like papier-mâché, plaster, or 3D paper, paint, drawing, printmaking, and more! Our curriculum is designed to give young artists hands-on experience with a variety of mediums, ensuring a well-rounded creative journey.

Let’s make the most of this last quarter and keep the inspiration flowing!

Quarter 4 is here!

👀 Updates coming (*newsletter will be updated by April 1 with performance dates and times)👀

Dates and information on music nights coming from Ms. Wygal:

K-1 "Pajama Party" Musical

2-5 "The Champion" Choral Presentation

In the FDES Music room, we explore the rich world of music through singing, listening, analyzing, understanding cultural influences, and building music literacy. To master pitch, we rely on the solfeggio system, while for rhythm, we sharpen our skills using the Ta-Ka-Di-Mi method. Our musical journey comes alive with the help of instruments like pianos, bells, boomwhackers, tablets, and, most importantly, our own voices!

Our curriculum focuses on the Elements of Music—melody, harmony, pitch, beat, rhythm, timbre, form, and texture. By creating, performing, responding, and connecting, we delve into the rhythms that drive our favorite songs, the harmonies that inspire us, and the dynamics, melodies, and more that make music so captivating!

My classroom goal is to have my students experience the joy and power of music- to become informed, lifelong appreciators of music!

View the WPS Elementary Music Curriculum for grades PreK through 4th:

https://pub.lucidpress.com/WPSElementaryMusicCurriculum/

View a document on Empowered Learning in music classrooms created by the WPS K-12 music educators.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns: connect through TalkingPoints!

Meet Ms. Wygal:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r_hDTMdQIORL5uuSlbmbrqtOO9yhMRB5GbGlpZ9Pmts/edit?usp=sharing

We have completed our third nine weeks, and are starting our last stretch! Students have been working on throwing activities, yoga, juggling, basketball, and drum fit. As we start our last units, the students will see hockey, scooter hockey, mini golf, and our end of the year obstacle course. We are looking for field day volunteers for our event that will take place on Thursday, May 22nd, 2025. In case of rain, we will have Friday the 23rd for our secondary date. The sign -up sheet to volunteer is located here. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eu0eZ0yHnYhH1x62JKHa3WqcQOSVZi6TR6aq6dWxgXA/edit

I want to take the time to thank our families for their contributions to the American Heart Association this year for our Kids Heart Challenge. Any Student who donated $50 will get the chance to slime Mr. D after our field day event. Please reach out with any questions about field day! Thank you!

Fourth Quarter News!

From the desk of Mrs. Cusick

Quarter 4 Update: Coming soon