Lucketts Ledger September 2014 - Loudoun County Public Schools

Lucketts Ledger
14550 James Monroe HWY
Leesburg, VA 20176
Phone ~ 571-252-2070 Absentee Call-In ~ 571-252-2071
Absentee Email: luckettsabsentee@lcps.org
September 2014
Principal
Carolyn Clement
Important Dates to Remember
AUGUST
August 28th
Back To School Night/Open House
6:30-8:00pm Meet the teachers and specialists
SEPTEMBER
Tuesday, September 2nd
First Day of School
Tuesday, September 9th
First day of Futura Classes
Thursday, September 11th
PTA Meeting 7pm
Tuesday, September 16th
Odyssey of the Mind Info Night at Tolbert Elementary
Thursday, September 18th
Picture Day
Watch DOGS Info sent home
OCTOBER
Wednesday, October 1st
Interims Sent Home
Thursday, October 9th
PTA Meeting 7:00PM
Monday, October 13th
NO SCHOOL—Columbus Day
Tuesday, October 14th
Moveable Monday
Saturday, October 25th
PTA Fall Festival
Friday, October 31st
End of the 1st Quarter
Lucketts Elementary School
Welcome back to all of our familiar faces and Welcome to
our new families! We have so many exciting things happening here at Lucketts! With this first newsletter of the school
year, I want to highlight some of them:
PBIS: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework. PBIS is a research and evidence based practice for creating a common vision of behavioral expectations through
consistent language and practices among staff and students.
PBIS is a framework of tiered approached to address ALL the
needs of ALL the members of the school community. Research has shown that schools implementing supportive and
positive school climate strategies are more successful in creating environments conducive to learning. Recent incidents
of school violence, including harassment direct at students
with disabilities and/or gifted and talented, have drawn
attention to the unacceptable cost of not assuring a safe and
positive climate in our schools for all students. Through the
PIBS framework, we are proud of our efforts at Lucketts Elementary School to promote a positive and safe learning environment for all students.
NOVEMBER
November 3rd & 4th
Student Holiday
School Hours
7:50 am - 2:35 pm
Tardy—students not in their classrooms by the time the school bell
rings at 7:50 am
Kindergarten Hours
AM 7:50-10:50 am
PM 11:35 am - 2:35 pm
Necesita Ayuda?
Un interprete estara desponible para ayudarlos a comunicarse con
los maestros(as) de sus ninos o para ayudarles con formularious escolares, y/o para proveer informatacion desde las 2:30 PM hasta las
4:30PM Monday los miercoles y desde loas 11:00AM hasta las
12:00PM Thursday, las 11:00AM Friday hasta las 12:00PM.
Need Help?
An interpreter is available to help you communicate with your child’s
teacher, fill out school forms, and/or to provide information about assistance available to the community every Tuesday and Thursday
from 11:30am—2:00pm.
September 2014
Lucketts Elementary School
Continued from Page 1
PBIS - We will continue Parent Loot this school year.
Parent loot allows you as parents to reward your children
for showing respect in a daily environment at home.
Parent Loot can be downloaded from the website. We
will share examples of students earning parent loot on
the WLUC morning news show.
ties for our students. The STEAM event will be a culminating activity celebrating the importance of STEAM at
Lucketts. Look for more information about this event later
this year.
Student Leadership - We will continue our emphasis on
developing our students as leaders Developing our students as leaders is something that we work on everyday
at Lucketts ES. The emphasis on leadership is particularly evident throughout the fifth grade. Our fifth graders
are setting a good example for students in other grades
as they fulfill leadership roles in many ways: WLUC
Morning News Show, Message Managers and Student
Ambassadors. The leadership experiences at Lucketts
are helping to build our leaders for the future.
Lucketts Elementary School Website – We continue
to enhance our website. I encourage you to check our
website for frequent updates from your child’s teacher,
pictures of events occurring in the school and important
dates. Your feedback on the website is always welcome. CLARITY Parent Portal – This is the third year for the
parent portal. The CLARITY Parent Portal is a wonderful
Technology – Our students will continue to use technol- opportunity for you as parents to receive “real time” comogy every day in the classroom. In addition to the class- munication about your child’s progress. We are sending
room computers each classroom has an IPAD and a
home a Parent Portal Login Request Form in the openPromethean Board. Our teachers are ing packet and posting the form on the CLARITY section
excited about enhanced learning exof the Lucketts Elementary School website. Once we
periences available to our students in receive the completed Login request form, each parent/
this area. We have two Apple TVs and guardian (who has legal access to a child's records) can
two Actiview cameras available for
have their own unique log-in and password per child.
classroom use. In addition, we now
Please use a separate form for each parent or guardian
have another 29 laptops and 10 new chromebooks to
who would like Parent Portal access. Forms should be
use in our classrooms. Teachers have been trained on
returned to the office. Once we receive information
the use of these items.
about the timeline for the Parent Portal to open we will
offer parent training onsite here at Lucketts.
Parents as Educational Partners (PEP) Class— Our
PEP program will begin in October; We will meet once a
Watch DOGS Program – We will continue
month. The PEP parent outreach class is designed to
the popular Watch DOG dad program at
educate and empower our ELL parents to become deciLucketts Elementary School this school year.
sion makers and advocates for their child’s education.
The goal of the Watch D.O.G.S. program is
Ramon Rodqiguez and Nancy Little will be co-teaching
to help every school be positively influenced
these classes; we are hopeful that it will increase parent
by the committed involvement of fathers and father figinvolvement and parent knowledge. Why offer PEP? To
ures in the lives of students. The D.O.G.S. in Watch
increase parent involvement, parent knowledge and to
D.O.G.S. stands for Dads of Great Students. The Watch
improve language skills of ELL parents. Our goal is to
D.O.G.S program is a K-12 program that is approved by
develop and maintain strong school home partnerships
the National Parent Teacher Association.
and promote a climate that supports equity, diversity,
and collaborative behaviors for everyone in our school
Guidelines and Expectations of all volunteers will be excommunity.
plained along with the sign-up information in a letter sent
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math
(STEAM) – At Lucketts, we put our
own twist on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math initiative by including the Arts, or
STEAM. We will host an event that
will focus on Science, Technology,
Engineering, Math activities
through fun and challenging activi-
home with your child on Thursday, September 18th.
Please check the Thursday Folder.
We look forward to even more participation this year and hope
that more dads/father figures can participate.
Look for the sign up information on September 18th
September 2014
Library News
Staff Changes
Stephanie Daddio
My name is Stephanie Daddio and I am the new Technology Resource Teacher at Lucketts. I have enjoyed the past two years as the
Technology Assistant but I am very eager to teach lessons and assist
students and teachers with learning the equipment and programs. I
recently completed my Bachelors in Elementary Education from University of Phoenix in December 2013. I am split between two
schools—Lucketts and Aldie. I am at Lucketts on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I am at Aldie on Tuesday and Friday. When I am
not teaching, I enjoy coaching and reffing lacrosse, exercising,
spending time with my family and friends, reading and going on hiking adventures.
Welcome readers! This year in the Lucketts Library we have lots of
changes. Mrs. Varachi is our new librarian, and we no longer have a
library assistant. If any parents are interested in helping out in the
library by shelving books, please email Mrs. Varachi at christine.varachi@lcps.org. Students in grades K-3 are visiting the library
twice a week this year! The students have their lesson during the
first visit, and check out their library books during the second visit. Fourth and fifth grade students visit the library once a week, but
for an hour-long session that combines a lesson and book checkout. This week, students learned the library rules and talked about
ways to respect each other, themselves, and the materials in the
library. Mrs. Varachi can’t wait to start getting to know all of the Lucketts readers!
Art News
Welcome back to the Lucketts Art Studio with Mr. Bender. Each student will be creating a personal collage of events that happened to
My name is Jennifer Steeprow and I am so excited to be joining the them this summer. We will be Brainstorming Ideas, Creating Ideas,
team at Lucketts Elementary as the music teacher! I live in Leesburg Sharing Ideas, Lessoning to Ideas, and Responding to Ideas. During
with my husband and two children who attend Balls Bluff Elementhe Month of September, all student will discuss and answer the
tary. During the 2014-2015 school year, I am at Lucketts on Monday, question, “WHAT IS ART,” in their own words and design a puzzle
Tuesday, and Wednesday, and I travel to Cool Spring Elementary on piece that will be incorporated into our School Wide collaborative art
Thursday and Friday. If you need to reach me, please feel free to
work Titled, “Piecing Together the Meaning of Art!” Checkout this
email me at Jennifer.steeprow@lcps.org. I look forward to working
Artwork out in the Cafeteria at the end of the month. IF you would like
with your little musicians as we explore the world of music together! to join your son or daughter in the Art Studio on any Thursday or Friday, check out my schedule online on the Lucketts home page under
Specialists/Art.
Jennifer Steeprow
Christine Varachi
My name is Mrs. Varachi and I am happy to be the new librarian at
Lucketts Elementary! I have a B.A. in Elementary Education and
English from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go
Heels!!) and an Masters of Library Science from The Catholic University of America. I started my career in education as a classroom
teacher and then worked as a librarian at Ashburn Elementary
and Liberty Elementary. I am also the author of The Tibrarian Handbook, a professional book for school librarians.
Music News
Welcome back! I am thrilled to be at Lucketts Elementary this year.
We will begin music classes during the first week of school. Each
class will attend music twice a week for 30 minutes each time.
Loudoun County’s music curriculum is based on the National Standards for Music Education and the Virginia Standards of Learning for
Music. Throughout the year, each grade will study several elements
of music including: rhythm, melody, harmony/texture, form, expression, timbre, and genre. In addition, students will learn to identify instruments of the orchestra and will explore different composers and
I've worked in Loudoun County for the past 8 years and have enjoyed their music. Students will be learning about a wide variety of music
every moment. I have two girls a junior in high school and a fresh- through singing, playing, listening, movement, and dramatizaman at Penn State. I am looking forward to a great year at Lucketts. tion. We will have a 4th and 5th grade chorus this year- more information will be coming home shortly. I’m looking forward to having a
fun and exciting year with you and your children!
Teresa Tinston
PE News
In September, We will be learning about the expectations and safety rules for PE class during the first 2
weeks of school. We will also discuss the 3 incentives in
PE: Class of the Month, MVP and Free Choice Day and
play cooperative games. The last 2 weeks of September
we will be working on the skill of overhand throwing with
footballs, nerf balls, and other equipment while playing
various games. For updated monthly PE information,
visit the Physical Education tab on the Lucketts Website.
September 2014
Save the Date Upcoming PTA Events
First Day Information
PTA Meeting—September 11th 7:00 PM
PTA Meeting—October 9th 7:00PM
PTA Fall Festival—October 25th
PTA Bingo Night—November 14th
Check the LCPS Website for transportation information:
www.lcps.org
Bus schedules include numbers, stops, times, and route
information can be found under Quick Links.
Copies of this information will also be available at the
school during Open House.
Volunteers are needed for these events so please consider
volunteering your time.
Thank You
A BIG THANK YOU to all volunteers who donated
their time at the Ice Cream Churn and Lucketts Fair!
Your support is greatly appreciated!
For safety reasons, no cars are permitted to enter the
bus loop area in front of the school where students are
unloading the buses.
Student Dress
Student Meal Prices
2014-2015
Elementary-
Car riders should enter the parking lot on the Lucketts
Community Center side of the building. Students are to
exit the car on the side-walk side and enter through the
side entrance.
September is usually fairly
warm and this is just a reminder that proper school attire is
needed for students.
Students are to dress modestly, conforming to standards of
decency. Tennis shoes or
sneakers are
required for
participation
in PE.
Breakfast $2.10
Lunch $3.10
Click the link for the September menu:
September Menu
The Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee
(MSAAC) works in partnership with LCPS Staff, parents,
and community to further the academic, social, and cultural development of every student and to ensure that
the needs of all minority students are met. The group
meets in the School Board Meeting Room of the LCPS
Administration Building the third Wednesday of each
month at 7:00pm. Please consider being the MSAAC
representative for Lucketts Elementary for the 20142015 School year. Contact Carolyn Clement.
FUTURA
Eligible 4th and 5th grade
students will attend
FUTURA at Balls Bluff Elementary for the 20142015 school year.
FUTURA class will begin the
week of September 9th.
Please check that your child is
dressing properly for school.
Tennis shoes or sneakers are
REQUIRED for PE classes.
Thank you!
More information can be found on the school system
website at www.lcps.org under the Parents tab and then
select Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee.
Next Page
PBIS Matrix
Moveable Monday Schedule
If due to a disability, you need assistance to enable you to participate meaningfully in any activity at Lucketts Elementary School,
please contact the school office at 571-252-2070, at least five working days prior to that event.
September 2014
September 2014
September 2014