- Special Education Conference April 6
- Spotlight on STEM exCEL
- New Program for Hispanic/Latino Families
- ISO Fundraising/Sponsorship Chair
- June 1 Training
- FCCPTA Education Survey Results
- FCPS Family Engagement Survey
- New Treasurer Ann-Marie Ward
- New Military Families Chair Julie Shepard
- PTA After School Programs
- Upcoming Dates & Next Year's Meeting Dates
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Annual FCPS Special Education Conference Saturday April 6
If you've heard a lot about resilience, toxic stress or trauma, learn how to support your student during the session entitled "
Family Matters: Home and School Strategies for Helping Build Resilient Children and Youth.
"
This workshop is co-presented by Jenna White, FCCPTA's Liaison to the
Fairfax County Trauma Informed Community Network
. Learn how families are key to supporting children and teens who struggle with the impact of trauma, disabilities and other stressors that can negatively impact life at home and school. The session offers practical and positive strategies for responding to challenging emotions and behaviors, building resiliency, instilling hope and improving outcomes. Finally, learn about resources within FCPS to support students and families and improve home/school collaboration that really benefits kids!
The 14th Annual FCPS Special Education Conference will be held from 7:45 a.m - 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2019, at Lake Braddock Secondary School, 9200 Burke Lake Rd, Burke, VA 22015. More information and registration
here
.
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Sponsor Spotlight:
STEM exCEL provides Before and After School Enrichment Programs for Kindergarten through 6th grade students throughout Fairfax County. Our Mission is to improve access to STEM education for children starting in grade school through comprehensive, interactive and engaging programs. We provide the most accessible tuition for our STEM computer science programs in all of Northern Virginia. Our student-teacher ratio is always 10:1 or better, which provides students the support and individualized attention to ensure their success. We offer an array of STEM and Art & Design related courses such as: 3D Printing, Programming, Robotics, Comic Book Illustration and Digital Art. Learn more at
stemexcel.org
.
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Opportunity: New Program to Welcome and Involve Hispanic/Latino Families.
FCCPTA is seeking local elementary and middle school PTAs to participate in a new program developed by National PTA. Clave (“key”) is the working name for a five-week program to bridge common barriers in getting Hispanic/Latino parents involved, such as language, unfamiliarity with what PTA is and has to offer and/or general unfamiliarity with American school systems and how parents get involved.
Clave is a set of 5 sessions that share information about PTA and about school resources to make parents feel more comfortable in the school community.
Interested PTAs would be asked to review the lessons this spring, and plan to host the program in the fall. Learn more
here
. Interested? Please contact Stella Pekarsky,
vp.outreach@fccpta.org
.
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ISO Fundraising/Sponsorship Chair.
FCCPTA Chairs have an amazing impact across the County! If you’ve had a great experience fundraising for your PTA and enjoy coaching others, this position is for you! We’re looking for someone to organize sponsorships, identify fundraising opportunities to share with local PTAs, and help secure member discounts at family-oriented venues throughout the County. No re-inventing the wheel here – these programs are already established and poised for growth. Interested? Contact Jane Miscavage,
president@fccpta.org
.
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Clockwise from Top: Health and Wellness Chair Fabiola Green and committee member Theresa Sheipe gathered >100 parent questions about technology last week! Spelling Bee Chair Eliza Morss has grown the County Spelling Bee program -- closing in on 80 local spelling bees! Denise Bolton organized 500+ art entries for this year's Reflections Awards.
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Save the Date: June 1 Training.
We are designing this year’s training to help your new executive board kick off their summer planning – so please encourage your full boards to attend. If your PTA doesn’t hold elections until June, please send interested candidates. If you are returning leaders, we will have new offerings for you. We will send the registration link next week – early bird registration is $10 before mid-May (then $15). Training is an expense that your PTA should cover for its volunteers. If your budget does not allow, please contact Michelle Leete,
vp.training@fccpta.org
.
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Education Survey Results.
Our survey results are in! While parents/caregivers are happy with FCPS, there are still calls for change:
·
Reduce
class sizes
·
Increase
hiring of experienced teachers and school counselors, teacher pay and diversity, safety and security
·
Eliminate
bullying and harrasment, trailer classrooms.
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Please remind parents/caregivers to take the FCPS Family Engagement Survey by April 12.
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) is committed to engaging families in their children’s education and schools and is asking all parents and guardians to participate in the 2019 Family Engagement Survey. The survey asks for thoughts on: Communicating, Opportunities for parents/caregivers to partner, Developing positive relationships, Ensuring student success and more. Survey information will help FCPS strengthen family engagement and continue fostering a Caring Culture throughout FCPS. Click
here
for the survey.
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New FCCPTA Treasurer Ann-Marie Ward.
You may already know Ann-Marie as FCCPTA’s representative on the
ACSD
. In February, our Treasurer Barb Waldmiller retired, and the Executive Board elected Ann-Marie to become Treasurer. We conducted an audit which was approved by membership on March 27…so it’s official! Welcome Ann-Marie! Reach her with questions at
treasurer@fccpta.org
.
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New Military Families Chair Julie Shepard.
FCCPTA is pleased to announce a new committee for military families. Julie is currently reaching out to high schools in Regions 2, 3 and 4. She hopes that by starting at the top of the pyramid, there can be a support in place for the Elementary and Middle Schools. Several schools in FCPS already have military family and/or military connected youth programming but the PTA is working to partner with our schools that have a high concentration on military families that would like to establish programming. If you already have a program in place at your school, would you please send your chair’s contact information to Julie? FCCPTA and Julie will be working to put on a training for our PTA’s on 6/1. If you have a school that is interested, please reach out to Julie and she’s happy to meet with your school PTA or discuss ideas. Contact Julie at
militaryfamilies@fccpta.org
.
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Elementary After School Programs.
THANK YOU to all the elementary PTA volunteers who are working with us to find the best solutions to PTA oversight of after school programs. We continue to take your questions and comments to FCPS and are confident we’ll find solutions that make it easy and realistic for you to comply with Community Use regulations. Brief reminders:
- FCCPTA never discloses contact information of local PTA volunteers to outside groups or businesses.
- Compliance with Community Use regulations will be required July 1, 2020 (these are long-standing regulations that have not been consistently enforced – many of our PTAs already provide the required oversight). This next school year will be a phase-in period. FCCPTA encourages local PTAs with after school programs to try to comply within the next year.
- ADM forms will change soon, and training on how to use these will be held during FCCPTA training on June 1.
- Nothing in the upcoming changes should disrupt contracting with after-school class providers.
The conversation continues among afterschool volunteers in our private
Facebook group
.
Please email Jane Miscavage,
president@fccpta.org
, if you have questions that are not being answered in the Facebook group.
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Collect for Kids
is the annual community program to provide school supplies and backpacks to students in need. Every school in FCPS is touched by need. There are approximately 56,000 students in FCPS that live at or near the poverty level -- and these are only the kids that we actually know about. Some schools have as few as 1 percent of their students living in poverty, while others have over 90 percent of students living in poverty. Many local PTAs support Collect for Kids, and FCCPTA will soon have information for the 2019 drive. To learn more visit
https://www.collectforkids.org
.
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Upcoming Dates
May 22 -- FCCPTA Meeting, Awards & Social, 6:30 p.m., Gatehouse
June 1 -- FCCPTA Training for New Officers and Boards
2019-20 General Membership Meeting Dates
Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Gatehouse Administration Center, 8115 Gatehouse Rd in Falls Church. Meetings are preceded by a 6:30 p.m. Parent Update by Superintendent Scott Brabrand.
September 4
November 13
February 5
May 6
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