The North Star School

Welcome to May, North Star Community!

We are very excited to celebrate Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week May 6-10. We are grateful for all the work done each day to support our leaners. Our full faculty is amazing! Thank you to our parent community who can take a moment to thank a teacher or staff member. WE know the recognition is appreciated. Please know that May is a VERY important month. There is little time left until the end of the school year and we need our students to attend every day and work through any credit/grade recovery plans that have been developed for them. We ask for your support by reminding your students to check in with their teachers to see where they stand academically.

In addition, SOL testing is taking place and will continue through the month. Please remind your child how important it is to be prepared. If you have any questions about your child’s current status in classes or the plan to prepare them for SOL’s, please contact the class teacher directly. You can find the Staff Directory at this link. One additional item to note is that any student who is currently failing a class will be added to a list for our Summer Credit Recovery Program. Additional details will be share about the program soon. Please encourage your student to stay on pace. Have a great month ahead!

Senior Parents: Mark your calendar for Thursday, June 6th. We will be celebrating all graduates (January & June). More information to come.

Date: June 6th

Time: 1pm - 2pm

Location: The North Star School

Summer Credit Recovery dates have been set. Students that receive a failing end of term grade in any course (Term 1 & Term 2) can participate.

Dates: June 20-28th

Location: The North Star School

Look out for more details in the upcoming weeks. Students should make every effort to complete their credit and grade recovery plans PRIOR to the last day of school.

Spring Standards of Learning (SOL) testing begins the Week of May 13th.

We are excited to Test for Success at TNSS! Students will be working toward graduation Verified Credits. Please encourage your students to prepare, study, and be present for the day of testing. It is important that the students are present on the testing day. The Chromebook should be fully charged for testing, and chargers brought with them. Students will not be permitted to have cell phones, personal electronic devices, smart watches, or Bluetooth ear buds in the testing environments.

SOL Testing dates:

Monday, May 13th: Math

Tuesday, May 14th: Science

Wednesday, May 15th: EOC Reading

Friday, May 17th: History

We want to work together to create a positive and successful testing environment for your student! Let’s ROCK the TEST!

We have a lot to celebrate in the month of May. Check out our calendar to participate in events:

To commemorate Arbor Day, a group of students, selected by the Science department, participated in a Tree Planting with the Leesburg Arbor Society and the Leesburg Mayor's office here at North Star.

Show your support for our talented students and check out Art's latest exhibition at the Thomas Balch Library at 14 Loudoun Street SW. It ends on May 1.

In the library at NSS, in honor of Earth Day, there is a showcase of stunning pieces of art created from recycled plastic, drawing inspiration from renowned artist Dale Chihuly and other notable figures. Other pieces are made from cardboard and plastic bottles. Don't miss out on this unique and inspiring display!

Our Spanish class recently completed a unit on Hispanic-speaking countries. As part of this project, we created brochures highlighting specific countries and delivered oral Spanish presentations covering products, famous people, and interesting facts.

As we near the end of the year, it's essential to ensure everyone is aware of the new requirements for successfully completing SSGS content courses. Below, we've outlined key details regarding verified credits and available support for students facing challenges:

Verified Credits Requirements:

• Students must have a passing classroom grade to obtain verified credit.
• Minimum qualifications for Locally Awarded Verified Credit (LAVC) include passing the class, complete and pass 3 of the essays, and passing the essential standards.

This is what we are doing to help support your student:

• Social Sciences and Global Studies staff held two testing days in April for students to complete necessary work; and will have two future sessions in June.

• Teachers will be accessible through the end of the school year during advisory periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays to assist students requiring time to complete their verified credits for the following courses: USVA History, World History I, World History II, and World Geography.

• Our department has teamed up with English classes to help integrate writing.

We believe that with the right support and guidance, every student can succeed. Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. Together, we can ensure a successful academic journey for all our students.

We will be celebrating our North Star teachers during Teacher Appreciation week, May 6-10. If you are interested in donating to the continental breakfast on May 7th, please sign up here.

All donations can be sent to school on Monday, May 6th with your student.

The Deeper Learning Team presented this month to the staff a useful technique when utilizing generative artificial intelligence. The professional learning for teachers revolved around a concept on how to get a variety of outcomes that related to differentiation with their lessons. The term "prompt engineering" relates to statements written in AI that will generate the best possible outcomes. Teachers are now seeing the abilities to re-create their lessons in minutes, have them connected to the VDOE standards, and see revolve them around a variety of different outcomes such as LCPS's Profile of a Graduate, Webb's Depth of Knowledge, Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, and more. Where our dedicated teachers have spent unlimited hours re-designing their lessons to meet the needs of their students during any period of time in their careers, prompt engineering will help them fine tune this practice and what may take hours, can be done in minutes. This is not to say that AI will ever replace teachers, but it looks like it will be a nice assistance for them to use when needed. View here to see the presentation for staff.

You too can look up prompt engineering for any particular subject matter such as cooking or trip planning and come up with the perfect question or statement to get the best results. Currently, LCPS is supporting Microsoft's Co-Pilot for AI while a board determines which apps and programs it is going to support for our district next year. If you'd like to know more, you can go to this link and explore where LCPS is on decisions about AI.

The North Star School is proud to announce that we have been certified as an ENERGY STAR building. We are proud to do our part for the environment!

ENERGY STAR is the government-backed symbol for energy efficiency, providing simple, credible, and unbiased information that consumers and businesses rely on to make well-informed decisions. Since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped American families and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs and achieve more than 4 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions.

Attendance: Addressing chronic absenteeism and promoting student attendance is an important issue for LCPS. Please review Policy 8140, Student Attendance Requirements and Procedures which outlines what types of absences are categorized as excused or unexcused absences

Fentanyl: Please click on this link to view an important message from Dr. Spence, LCPS Superintendent, regarding recent events in our schools pertaining to fentanyl. As a school community, it is essential that we all are aware of this epidemic and how to access resources for information and support.

SNAP Provides Eligible Families Access to Healthy Food.

The SNAP in Schools initiative from the Virginia Department of Social Service, which is based on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), helps develop partnerships to bridge the gap of food insecurity among school-aged children. The objectives of SNAP in Schools are to reduce food insecurity in school-aged children, to increase the number of students directly certified for free school meals through SNAP, and to increase the number of students eligible without application for the summer EBT program.

Access the CommonHelp portal link to submit online SNAP applications.

Deadline: June 14, 2024

Please see the fliers below for more information:

• English

• Spanish

Contact Names for additional assistance:

Beth Mills

Teresa Lucas

Check out this article on Common Sense Media to find tips on how to support your student with online privacy and safety.

Students, staff, and the community collaborated on our year-long giving drive, partnering with the Parent Liaison to make resources available for our students and families who may need assistance. We received generous donations of over 30 coats, hats, scarves, and other winter wear and toiletries. These are available by contacting our Parent Liaison, Nida Hanan, at Nida.Hanan@lcps.org or the North Star School.

If you are interested in making a contribution, we are accepting new or gently used clothing, toiletries, non-perishable food, and gift cards North Star Contributions

North Star Seniors and Parents: Be sure you stay up to date on important information!

Sign up to receive Remind texts by texting @6g24h3 to 81010.

To better access information from your home school about graduation events, visit this slideshow.

May 10: End of Marking Period 3

May 13-17: Spring Non-writing SOL test

May 27: Holiday (Memorial Day)

June 6th: Senior Celebration & Field Day

June 14: Last Day of School

We are North Star!

Website: https://www.lcps.org/site/default.aspx?DomainID=28154
Location: 715 Childrens Center Rd, Leesburg, VA 20175
Phone: 571-252-2920
Twitter: @NorthStarLCPS