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Emerick E.S. Newsletter
Second Quarter 2023-2024
Principal's Message
Dear Emerick Families,
We hope this message finds you well. We wanted to take a moment to share some exciting news with you. Last Friday, our fifth-grade students put on a spectacular musical performance from the Broadway Junior show titled, Seussical. They worked incredibly hard, and we are so proud of their dedication and talent. We hope that many of you were able to attend and witness their amazing performance.
In addition to the musical, we wanted to inform you that we are currently wrapping up our academic testing. It is an important time for our students as they demonstrate their knowledge and skills. We encourage you to log in to ParentVue and review the testing results. Your involvement in your child's education is crucial, and we appreciate your support.
We also wanted to remind you that report cards will be available on January 30th in ParentVue at 4 o'clock. Please take the time to review your child's progress and celebrate their achievements. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to reach out to your child's teacher. They are always available to provide support and guidance.
We would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support. Your involvement in our school community, whether it's volunteering, attending events, or participating in parent-teacher conferences, has been invaluable. Your encouragement and dedication to your child's education make a significant difference in their success. We are deeply thankful for the trust you place in us to educate and nurture your children daily.
Thank you once again for your continued support. We look forward to celebrating the end of the school year with you and your children.
Warmest regards,
Mrs. Haddock
Meet the New Superintendent - Community Listening Session
We hope that you can come out to Loudoun Valley High School, to meet our new Superintendent on February 29th at 7:00- 8:00 PM for Community Session and 8:30 PM Meet and Greet time. With this meeting, the evening plan is to help facilitate a successful transition with the new Superintendent in three key areas: developing relationships with the community, accelerating the Superintendent's learning about the LCPS, and building on success while making meaningful changes. We hope you can place this on your calendar and give him a nice welcome.
Reading and Writing
Susan Lyons, Reading Specialist
Happy 2024! Each New Year we look to start fresh, set goals, and create new habits. Research says it takes at least 40 repetitions to make an act a habit, so let’s give it two months of effort to make reading a habit instead of homework! Here are some ideas:
Make it routine – have a set time every day for just 15-20 minutes. In the business of life—after-school activities, homework, time for family dinner—fit reading into that routine. Once again research shows the long-term impact of a student who reads for 20 minutes a day versus one who does not.
Books everywhere – in the car, in your purse, in the family room, in the doctor’s office! Keep books everywhere!
Go Device Free – at the dinner table, in the car, when with friends. Literacy includes language development, so make the time to talk. Playing board games and card games, listening to audiobooks, and chatting about them, all will yield gains. And along the device free time route, set limits. Devices in public spaces, devices only for homework during the week and devices plugged into an adult’s room at night are a good start.
Books and magazines as gifts – include a magazine or book with each gift whether it be a Valentine’s treat or a Birthday gift. There are TONS of kid magazines that relate to any interest.
Browse the library on a cold winter day – there may be a book or series out there that you never knew was calling your child’s name!
Family book club –wish you had time to read a book, too? Join your child with a chapter book. It’s a great way to connect and extend thinking.
Technology
In the 2nd Quarter, Kindergarten, First and Second Graders worked with tools like Wixie and Canva to create posters about what makes them a special member of the Emerick Community.
Students in Grades 3 through 5 have also been working with Canva to create posters, but they have also been working with WeVideo to create GIFs to showcase their talents.
In the 3rd Quarter we will be adding tools to the technology tool belt that will help our students solve authentic problems in their Deeper Learning assignments.
Kevin Heenan
Instructional Facilitator Technology
Music
Kindergarten: We have been working so hard in kindergarten! Students have been working hard on their ear training! I am so impressed with how much they are improving in hearing skips in music, and they can sing their major scales with accuracy. This is quite impressive at this age. We are currently going through our unit on instrument families, and they are having so much fun identifying different instruments in class.
1st Grade: These students are doing so well in diving deeper into singing techniques! These students are showing exceptional progress with singing major scales, particularly audiating Re-Ti skips, which is a challenge at any age, let alone first grade! We are even building our vocabulary with some Italian words! We are finishing up a unit on Tempo in music, which includes some Italian vocabulary. Soon, we will build upon our instrument knowledge with a new instrument unit beginning next week. I am thoroughly impressed with how well these students sing in a group, and I am excited to watch them grow!
2nd Grade: I am very pleased with the progress of this group! The students are doing a great job learning singing techniques and following the conductor. I am just now starting our music for our 2nd-grade performance! Our songs and speaking lines will pertain to the importance of music! The students will have an opportunity to utilize their own voice and help plan our speaking parts for this performance. Encourage your students to ponder upon what music means to them, to get their minds and hearts in the right place! In addition, The students are audiating complicated pitch patterns, as well as reading complicated rhythms with great success. We are building music literacy at a quick pace, and I am impressed with how quickly these students catch on. We just finished a unit on dynamics, and I am excited to apply this new knowledge to our performance! I just uploaded the songs to Schoology, so please encourage your students to listen, learn, and practice these songs at home.
3rd Grade: We have been working hard in 3rd grade music! Not only have these students shown particular acceleration in music learning, and we are beginning to read music! In class, we are working hard on preparing how to sight-read. The students have the skills to be able to sing and play unfamiliar music! We are on track to begin reading music very soon! I even have been getting the students to successfully audiate complicated skips in singing without my help. They are on the right track to becoming strong musicians.
4th Grade: We have been so busy in 4th grade! I continue to be quite impressed with this group. The students have begun some basic sight-singing excerpts, and they are doing such an amazing job! We are building on our music literacy and preparing to start recorders! You should have received information on this, and for those who reached out needing a recorder, I will be reaching out very soon in order to begin paying for your recorder. We will be getting started on recorders very soon, and I know the kids are very excited about this!
5th Grade: We continue to have a very busy year! As soon as the musical is completed, we are going to begin 5th 5th-grade chorus! I already have the music selected, and I am very excited about this! I will reach out to everyone about the chorus after this week. In addition, I have sent an email about the All-County Chorus, which will take place May 3rd and 4th. This event is a big deal for our county, and it is just an experience your child will remember forever. I will hold auditions for those interested during class from January 29th-February 2nd. I will choose three students to attend. Please check your email to fill out the form if your child would like to audition. I look forward to getting started with all the chorus things!
Haven Clippinger
Guidance
Counseling Corner
Mrs. Collins and Mrs. Nole
Hi Emerick families! Can you believe we are halfway through the school year already? Prior to winter break, we wrapped up our big unit on bullying prevention. The definition we use for bullying here in Loudoun County is:
when someone keeps being mean to someone else on purpose. The person it is happening to hasn’t been able to make it stop. It is unfair and one-sided.
The students learned the 3 R’s which are to Recognize, Report, and Refuse. We also talked about ways to be a supportive bystander.
Kindergarten and first graders will be learning the importance of not giving up when trying something new. They will also learn about different feelings and strategies for managing those emotions.
Second graders are learning about respecting other’s differences. They will also learn how to control anger and other big feelings.
Third graders are working on conflict resolution strategies and how to use I-statements.
Fourth graders are focusing on building healthy friendships and setting boundaries in friendships.
Fifth graders are learning about goal setting and how to come up with a plan to reach their goals. They will also learn to consider multiple perspectives when handling conflicts.
Our big unit in the third quarter is all about career exploration! Be on the lookout in the upcoming weeks about Career Day which will be on March 22!
Please remember that your school counselors and the UMHT (unified mental health team) at Emerick are here and available to help. Please do not hesitate to reach out if your child or your family is struggling in any way. We welcome the opportunity to help in any way we can.
Mrs. Collins jennifer.collins@lcps.org
Mrs. Nole amy.nole@lcps.org
Physical Education
During the second nine weeks, students worked on their jump rope, basketball, and throwing skills. While working on these skills, students learned the major bones of the body. During the third nine weeks, students will begin with floor hockey and have a grade-level hockey tournament. Students will then start a bowling unit and finish with a volleyball unit. Our volleyball unit will also conclude with a grade-level tournament. During each unit, students will begin learning the major bones of the body.
Our annual 5th grade sportsmanship day will be held at Mountain View this year in the morning on March 2nd. Just a reminder that we are still having our morning jogging club as long as the temperature is at or above 32 degrees. Please remind your runners to keep those ears and fingers covered when coming out to run.
John Frye
Physical Education Teacher
Library
Library
We have begun to read our 10 selected books for this year's Virginia Readers' Choice Award. Students in grades Kindergarten through 5th Grade will listen to these stories and then vote for their favorite book. Our votes will be combined with other students throughout Virginia to choose a winner. Skills to focus on this coming quarter are story retelling, identifying parts of a story, research skills, and fostering a love of reading.
Deeper Learning Showcase
3rd through 5th grade students will soon begin working on their projects and presentations for our 2nd annual Deeper Learning Showcase. Students will showcase something they have learned and created this school year to showcase their critical thinking skills. Please mark your calendars for our Showcase on April 12th. More information to come!
Accelerated Reader Reminder
By this time in the year, some students have already reached the yearly goal (see below for grade level goals) to earn their ticket to our end-of-year AR celebration. To check your child’s point levels in Accelerated Reader, ask them to log into their account and look at their “progress” link in the upper right-hand corner.
Year End Goal to earn your way in:
2nd graders must earn 50 points
3rd graders must earn 65 points
4th graders must earn 75 points
5th graders must earn 80 points
Please note: Students in grades 2 - 5 may take AR tests from 7:40-2:45 Monday through Friday at school only.
Erica Allder
School Librarian
Gifted Education
The gifted department has created a video that outlines the spring evaluation process. There is one video for 3rd grade and another for the 4th and 5th grades.
Here are the links:
If you have any questions about eligibility for gifted programs, please be sure to contact Mrs. Harrop (jennifer.harrop@lcps.org), she'd be more than happy to answer your questions.
Here is what is happening in the ongoing gifted programs:
SEARCH - K-2 continue their bi-monthly lessons in critical and creative thinking skills.
Grade 3 are using their lesson time to complete the portfolio lessons which are used as part of the gifted evaluation.
FUSION and DCI
Fusion Students are working on their leadership projects. Work is well underway and we are targeting an April finish for the projects.
5th grade Math and Language Arts - we will be starting hands on equations later this month and we are working on Blogs to launch in the spring.
4th grade Math and language arts - we have started hands on equations, and we will be starting our second book study. We will be reading the young reader version of The Boys In the Boat, by Daniel James Brown.
Art
Here’s the latest from the Art Room:
This month all classes are focusing on getting ready for our Cluster Art Show at Loudoun Valley High School Aux Gym. In addition to our art show, this upcoming month we will learn about some new artists, starting our clay unit and creating art inspired by other cultures around the world!
ART SHOW INFORMATION:
Where: Loudoun Valley High School Auxiliary Gym
When: Saturday March 2nd from 2-5pm
Who: This year, we will be making mini works, so all students will be included!!!
What: You are invited to attend our Cluster Art Show! Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 2nd from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. There will be lots of fun things in addition to seeing your students artwork. Hope to see everyone there!
Kindergarten will be learning about South America and making Paper Molas.
1st grade is learning about Australia and will be making aboriginal handprints.
2nd grade is Asia and creating beautiful Ming Vases’ with cherry blossom flowers.
3rd grade will focus on Europe and the Greek/Roman culture and creating a stained-glass window.
4th grade will study Africa and are using their printmaking skills to create African masks.
5th grade is America and will be inspired by the Native Americans and have created their personal spirit animal.
As always, all the artworks will be displayed around the school and out front by the main office/art room. This is a busy month with lots of fun art in store. Hope to see everyone at the art show!!!
Artfully yours,
Mrs. Merlo
Art Teacher | Emerick Elementary
Kindergarten Registration
The online registration portal for the 2024-2025 school year opens on February 1, 2024. Please use the “Enroll / Registration” link at www.lcps.org to complete an online registration. Paper registration forms can also be obtained from Emerick E.S.. Kindergarten registration information and frequently asked questions can be found on the LCPS website.
Documents needed for LCPS registration are…
- Original Birth Certificate or a certified copy
- Proof of Residency
- Parent/Guardian photo ID
- Photo of student
- Student Physical
- Immunization Record
- Tuberculosis Screening
A child may enter kindergarten if they turn five on or before September 30 of the year they enter school. The age requirement is set by Virginia law and LCPS is unable to make any exceptions.
We will begin scheduling registration appointments on March 1, 2024.
Any registration questions can be directed to the Emerick Registrar: Heather Jenkins
540-751-2440.
Trashion Fashion Show at Emerick
TRASHION FASHION SHOW
How can we as eco-friendly
Eagles, turn trash into
treasure?
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We hope this letter finds you well. We are thrilled to share some exciting
news with you – our school will be hosting a Trashion Show on April 22,
2024! This unique event is aimed at promoting creativity, environmental
awareness, and teamwork among our elementary students.
Here's a brief overview of the Trashion Show:
Date: April 22, 2024
Objective: Students will be working together to create fashion outfits for their
teachers using recycled materials. The highlight of the show will be our
teachers strutting down the "catwalk" in these eco-friendly ensembles!
This project is a fantastic opportunity for students to learn about
sustainability and practice their critical thinking skills all while having fun
with their classmates. We are excited to see the creativity of each group as
they come up with innovative ideas for their teacher’s Trashion outfit.
TRASHION FASHION SHOW
How can we as eco-friendly
Eagles, turn trash into
treasure?
How You Can Help:
To make this event a success, we kindly ask for your support in providing the
following recycled materials for your child to use in crafting their teacher's
outfit:
Plastic Shopping/Garbage Bags: Colorful and sturdy plastic bags can be
transformed into unique accessories.
Newspapers and Magazines: Perfect for creating paper dresses or adding
flair to outfits.
Cardboard Boxes: Ideal for constructing costume elements like hats, belts,
or even shoes.
Old Fabric or Clothing: Any gently used fabric or old clothing items that
can be repurposed.
Duct tape, aluminum foil, and paper towel tubes make great add ons as well.
Important Dates:
Please send your materials in beginning the week of March 18th. Students will
begin building their outfits the week of April 1st, so please be sure to send
everything in by then.
Trashion Show: April 22, 2024 (More details to come!)
We appreciate your involvement in making this event a success. If you have
any questions or need further information, feel free to reach out to your
child's teacher or the school office.
Let's make this Trashion Show an unforgettable and eco-friendly experience
for our students!
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Dawn Haddock