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Friday Folder Materials for Families to Review
Food Resources for Students and Families
FWES Twitter- @fwesibpyp (if you are not on Twitter- you can follow FWES Twitter messaging at FWES Website
FWES PTA Twitter- @fwespta
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21- The handbook has been updated to reflect items related to the return of students to campus. As information is updated or changed, it will also be updated in the handbook for families. Update dates will be noted on the first page of the Handbook.
FWES Handbook Highlights and Updates for F2F Families
Spanish Version Arabic Version
5-14-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 4 minutes)
FWES Next Week:
IB- Balanced
May 17
May 18- VA Math EOG 3rd-5th- Arrival 8:20-8:30am BUS LOT!!!
Kinder Welcome Wave Parade 4:30-5:15pm
May 19
May 20- VA ELA EOG 3rd-5th- Arrival 8:20-8:30am BUS LOT!!!
May 21
Last Call for Exhibition Food Drive Action Project Support- Please send in items by Tuesday, May 18th to help!
FWES End of Year Calendar of Events 2021 Mark your calendars- its a busy 6 weeks coming up!
FROM WAKE COUNTY TECHNOLOGY
Broken Chromebooks Can No Longer Be Replaced This School Year
As we near the end of the school year, Technology Services is unable to continue supplying refurbished devices as replacements for broken Chromebooks. We are currently preparing devices to distribute for the upcoming school year. All students who do not have a district device will be assigned one at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year.
LET’S start looking for those library books …Please start looking for any library books that you have finished reading and need to return to school. They can be placed in the boxes outside the library doors. If you can’t remember what you have checked out - send an email to Mrs. Grice (egrice@wcpss.net) and she will let you know. All books need to be returned by June 1st … Thank you !!
WCPSS Job Fair-Support Positions May 26th:
The district will hold this virtual event on May 26 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. to recruit for the following positions:
- School Counselor
- School Social Worker
- School Psychologist
- School Bus Driver
- Child Nutrition Services Cashier and Manager
- Custodian
- Instructional assistant
- Bookkeeper
- Lead Secretary
- Receptionist
- Data Manager
FWES PTA Updates:
General Body Meeting
May 17th at 6PM Meeting Link
We will elect the PTA Leaders for 2021/22, pass the interim budget, discuss technology needs, celebrate successes, and look forward to next year.
May 17th Family Presentation 7pm after General Meeting
Information for Dr. Rangel’s presentation: How to Talk To Our Kids About Race
English:
For some families, talking to our kids about race in America is a necessity. For others, it's a difficult conversation we might not know how to start. Join us Monday, May 17th to learn strategies for navigating these conversations at home. Wake County's Director of Equity Affairs, Dr. María Rosa Rangel, will lead an interactive workshop for FWES parents on talking about race and racism with children of all ages. Dr. Rangel's talk will start at approx. 7pm on May 17th, promptly after the PTA Board meeting. Because of the challenging and open discussion she has planned, this workshop may not be appropriate for young children to hear. The workshop will be offered in Spanish and English at the same time.
Meeting Link Presentation Link
Spanish
Para algunas familias, hablar con nuestros hijos sobre el tema de raza en los Estados Unidos es una necesidad. Para otras familias, esta es una conversación difícil que tal vez no sabemos cómo iniciar. Acompáñenos el lunes 17 de mayo para aprender estrategias sobre cómo abordar estas conversaciones en el hogar. Glendy Rodriguez, Maestra y Representante de la Academia Familiar de WCPSS, dirigirá un taller interactivo para las familias de FWES sobre cómo hablar sobre la raza y el racismo con niños de todas las edades. La charla de la Sra. Rodriguez comenzará aproximadamente a las 7:00 pm el 17 de mayo, inmediatamente después de la reunión de la junta directiva de la asociación de padres y maestros. Este taller tal vez no sea apropiado para los niños pequeños, porque será una discusión abierta sobre un tema difícil. El taller se ofrecerá en español e inglés al mismo tiempo.
Para unirse a la reunión, haga clic en el siguiente enlace: (https://meet.google.com/wvq-wgsj-wxt). Necesitará una cuenta de Google para conectarse a la reunión. Si no tiene una cuenta personal de Google, puede conectarse con la cuenta de su hijo o hija.
Este evento está organizado por el Comité de Diversidad, Equidad e Inclusión de la asociación de padres y maestros de FWES. La charla de la Sra. Rodriguez comenzará aproximadamente a las 7:00 pm.
Looking to celebrate your 5th grader? Or our amazing school? Or thank a wonderful staff member?
The PTA has partnered with Lew Wilson Arts in Apex for an on-going fundraiser. They have painted the school and will print it on wooden ornaments that can be personalized. As well as two different sized prints that come already matted and shipping is free! This is a great option for end of the year teacher gifts or 5th grade families leaving FWES. The bonus is that for all FWES related sales, our PTA and school get 20% back.
To purchase, visit: Lew Wilson Art
RCITY ROCKS Anniversary celebration! May 10-15th, 25% of your receipt will be donated back to FWES PTA. And, there will also be gift card giveaways all week! Please text your receipt from any participating business to FWESPTA@rcityrocks.com. Haven’t joined yet, no problem, first text JOIN to FWESPTA@rcityrocks.com, once you receive your confirmation, than text any and all receipts from these wonderful businesses!5-7-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (longer today- lots of info- 16 minutes)
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing your appreciation with the incredIBle FWES staff this week! As you know they are amazing and have worked so hard to create successful learning experiences for students this year and your efforts to show them how they made a difference warms my heart. I am so blessed to work with such a fantastic team of educators- so you and I are very lucky!!!
We are getting really busy at school with End of Year Events. The list of events linked below is being updated weekly- so be sure to always check it for additional events or details added each week. Thank you for making note of the events that involve your students or your family!
Next week is our last FWES Spirit Week of the year with a huge thank you to our students who submitted their ideas for spirit days they'd like to have! Take a look at the link below and begin to get ready this weekend for the days next week.
We've got only 5 weeks to go, but our teachers have a lot of instruction prepared for students- so your partnership in making sure learning stays a focus for your student at school and in VA is critical to their success! Thank you!
With much appreciation and love,
Winston Pierce
FWES Next Week:
IB Learner Profile- Balanced
P2- Other People Mindset
Monday, May 10- Favorite Color Day
Tuesday, May 11- Book Character/Stuffed Animal Day
Wednesday, May 12- Beach Day
Thursday, May 13- Asynchronous Learning Day; Pajama Day! District 9 BAC Meeting 5:30pm with Karen Carter
Friday, May 14- Twin Day; Q4 Interim Reports Home
FWES Friday Folder Items:
5th Grade Talent Show Proposals Due TODAY!
5th Grade Exhibition Presentations 2021: Due to COVID our exhibition presentations this year were all recorded for viewing by our school community. We invite you all to enjoy seeing how amazing our 5th graders exhibit the IB Learner Profile components they have learned in their time at FWES- along with their passions for following the IB Mission to “build a better and more peaceful world”.
End of Year Events Calendar 2021: All year end activities are listed here so families can mark your calendars.
Summer Learning Camp: The NC Legislature has set requirements for schools to offer Summer Learning to students who meet a certain set of academic criteria and may need support due to COVID learning situations the last year. If your child meets that criteria- invitations were sent home this week and are due back no later than May 12th.
Note: While the program is 6 weeks, students are welcome to attend any and all weeks they are available to attend- if your student can only attend 4 of the 6 weeks- please go ahead and sign up!!! Even if your student can only attend 3 weeks- please sign up! We want to provide any learning support we can for your student to help them have success next year!
Traffic Pattern Reminders: Cary Police Department will be monitoring our arrival and dismissal traffic patterns for the safety of everyone. Please remember to follow the safety guidelines shared earlier this week:
- Right Turn In/Out ONLY! Traffic in/out of Farmington Woods is right turn only on arrival and dismissal!!!
- Please review the video in our Carpool Procedures document if you are new to FWES or this process
- This procedure was developed in partnership with the Cary PD for the safety of pedestrians and drivers- cooperation is a must!
- Stay in the Middle of Hampton Valley Road- Don't Pull Over to the Curb- Cars arriving from Cary Parkway onto Hampton Valley Road (which is all cars due to right turn in only)- should NOT pull over to the curb- Hampton Valley Road is a single lane road with a double yellow line- cars MAY NOT pass other cars, so our vehicles waiting should be in the middle of the lane while waiting.
- Two lanes of traffic presents even more danger for our pedestrian traffic- of which we have a lot during arrival and dismissal and the safety of everyone it our priority.
- Cary PD pulled over two vehicles today for passing our carpool line and issued tickets. We can assist in making sure it does not appear that passing is OK
- Cell Phones Not Allowed in Carpool Loop- Please remember that the safety of our students, pedestrians and staff on duty each morning and afternoon are our top priority. Drivers need to refrain from being distracted by using cell phones when driving through the carpool loop.
Virtual Academy FWES Update for 2021-22: The window for Virtual Academy registration for 2021-22 has closed. At Farmington Woods, we have 33 students registered for Virtual Academy next year:
Kinder- 3 students;
1st- 6 students
2nd- 4 students
3rd-4 students
4th-7 students
5th- 7 students
As you can see there will not be enough students at any grade level to create a full VA classroom at each grade level at FWES. While FWES will have one teacher assigned to one of the grade levels for VA (based on the total number of students we need to give a “position” to serve VA students- we do not know which grade level yet)- all grade levels of VA classrooms in 2021-22 will have students from other Western Area Elementary Schools and all but one will have homeroom teachers from other Western Area Elementary Schools, too.
As was described throughout the WCPSS VA registration process, it also means that students in the VA may not be able to receive our IB/PYP components to the extend they did this year, such as Spanish, Mandarin, Units of Inquiry and Exhibition (5th grade). Nothing is off the table at this point, but based on our enrollment, adjustments will need to be made.
More information on how schools will be paired will begin with Central Office next week. As additional information is available, I will, of course, share with our VA families.
Masks outside update: At this time, based on the Governor’s order and DHHS guidelines, students, staff and visitors no longer are required to wear masks outside for recess, lunch, etc. when in small gatherings- like classrooms eating snack or having recess.
Masks are still required of all individuals when inside the school building.
In the WCPSS messaging yesterday to families, it indicated that schools and staff may not require students to wear masks outside. Teams are developing a process for the storing of masks when outside and putting them on before returning inside. It is probably a good idea to make sure your child has one extra mask in his/her bookbag daily- just incase there is a lost mask during the day. The school has the state issued masks to share but many students prefer their “own” masks.
If you prefer your child wear his/her mask when outside- you will need to communicate that with your child as school staff cannot make that request of your student. Thank you!
Mrs. Smith, art teacher update: I would like to share with families that Mrs. Smith will be out for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year beginning Monday, May 10th. She asks for your thoughts and well wishes as she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and will be having surgery and treatments to follow. She wanted to emphasize to the FWES community the importance of early detection as her condition was found during a routine annual mammogram. She is strong and incredIBle and is ready to “fight like a girl”! Thank you for your support and flexibility as we work to cover our Art special these last few weeks and for understanding when a substitute may not be available, as it is a busy time of year for our substitutes, too!
Picture Book Winner 2021- Thank you to those students who voted for the 2021 NCCBA Picture Book. Despite the COVID the State of North Carolina collected almost 50,000 votes. And the winner is : Be Quiet ! written and illustrated by Ryan T. Higgins. Be Quiet ! won with 12.348 votes.
LET’S start looking for those library books …Please start looking for any library books that you have finished reading and need to return to school. They can be placed in the boxes outside the library doors. If you can’t remember what you have checked out - send an email to Mrs. Grice (egrice@wcpss.net) and she will let you know. All books need to be returned by June 1st … Thank you !!
FWES PTA:
PTA General Membership Meeting- Year End Updates; Voting for new Officers; Voting for Interim/Summer Budget and other year end items- Monday, May 17th 6-7pm
How to talk to your Kids about Race- Monday, May 17th 7-8pm
For some families, talking to our kids about race in America is a necessity. For others, it's a difficult conversation we might not know how to start. Join us Monday, May 17th to learn strategies for navigating these conversations at home. Wake County's Director of Equity Affairs, Dr. María Rosa Rangel, will lead an interactive workshop for FWES parents on talking about race and racism with children of all ages. Dr. Rangel's talk will start at approx. 7pm on May 17th, promptly after the PTA Board meeting. Because of the challenging and open discussion she has planned, this workshop may not be appropriate for young children to hear. The workshop will be offered in Spanish and English at the same time.
Como hablar con nuestros hijos sobre la raza- Lunes 17 de Mayo 7-8pm
Para algunas familias, hablar con nuestros hijos sobre el tema de raza en los Estados Unidos es una necesidad. Para otras familias, esta es una conversación difícil que tal vez no sabemos cómo iniciar. Acompáñenos el lunes 17 de mayo para aprender estrategias sobre cómo abordar estas conversaciones en el hogar. Glendy Rodriguez, Maestra y Representante de la Academia Familiar de WCPSS, dirigirá un taller interactivo para las familias de FWES sobre cómo hablar sobre la raza y el racismo con niños de todas las edades. La charla de la Sra. Rodriguez comenzará aproximadamente a las 7:00 pm el 17 de mayo, inmediatamente después de la reunión de la junta directiva de la asociación de padres y maestros. Este taller tal vez no sea apropiado para los niños pequeños, porque será una discusión abierta sobre un tema difícil. El taller se ofrecerá en español e inglés al mismo tiempo.
Para unirse a la reunión, haga clic en el siguiente enlace: (https://meet.google.com/wvq-wgsj-wxt). Necesitará una cuenta de Google para conectarse a la reunión. Si no tiene una cuenta personal de Google, puede conectarse con la cuenta de su hijo o hija.
Este evento está organizado por el Comité de Diversidad, Equidad e Inclusión de la asociación de padres y maestros de FWES. La charla de la Sra. Rodriguez comenzará aproximadamente a las 7:00 pm.
RCITY ROCKS Anniversary celebration! May 10-15th, 25% of your receipt will be donated back to FWES PTA. And, there will also be gift card giveaways all week! Please text your receipt from any participating business to FWESPTA@rcityrocks.com. Haven’t joined yet, no problem, first text JOIN to FWESPTA@rcityrocks.com, once you receive your confirmation, than text any and all receipts from these wonderful businesses!
4-30-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (8 minutes)
Happy Beautiful Friday!
We've had a great week and ended it with a surprise celebration for Mrs. Clinkscales who is a top 10 Finalist for WCPSS Instructional Assistant of the Year. Take a look at Twitter for the fun we had celebrating her!
Cary Chamber of Commerce shared the FWES Top 5 Finalists for the Honor A Teacher Teaching Excellence Award this week. Thank you for your time in nominating 14 of our incredIBle teachers! Our finalists are Jocelyn Bulla, Paige Ingalls, Shannon Morrissette, Brandy Smith and Kathryn Thompson.
It was perfect timing as we move into Teacher Appreciation Week next week! Take a look at each day on the calendar below for ideas on how you can show your appreciation- in the building or from home! We have wonderful staff here at FWES and all of them deserve appreciation and recognition.
In the next week there may be changes to the mask wearing requirements for schools.... but for now, it remains the same and masks are required by students and visitors in all areas of our campus- including outside during arrival and dismissal. Your patience until we get official guidelines is appreciated!!! We only want to continue to provide a safe learning environment for our students and staff!
Have a great weekend! With a sunny smile, Winston Pierce
FWES Next Week:
IB- Balanced
P2- Leadership
Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week!!!
May 3- Mail Monday- send email or note to teacher
May 4- Talent Tuesday- create portrait of your teacher
May 5- Regular School day; **Note Tech Migration overnight on 4th- may be some tech delays this morning- thank you for your patience! Wonderful Words Wednesday- add your words to the FWES Appreciation Cloud
May 6- Tacky Thursday- We are “crazy” for you! Dress Crazy!; 6:00-7:00pm "Consejos de aprendizaje de verano"
May 7- 5th Grade Talent Show Proposals Due; Flip Grid Friday- Show your love for FWES Staff via Flip Grid
FWES Friday Folders:
Magnet Schools Of America Magnet School of Distinction Award Celebration- Watch our celebration video that was shared at the National Virtual Celebration this week!
FWES End of Year Calendar of Events 2021 Mark your calendars- its a busy 6 weeks coming up!
Exhibition Food Drive Flyer- May 3-10; Please send in donations next week for this Exhibition Action Project
Spirit Week- May 10-14- What do you want to do?
May 2021 Spirit Week Ideas: Students are invited to share thoughts about days we might schedule May 10-14 as our last Spirit Week of the Year. Send your thoughts here by Tuesday, May 4th!
5th Grade Talent Show Information: Please review the information linked about the Virtual Talent Show and the deadline of May 7th to submit a proposal to participate.
LET’S start looking for those library books …Please start looking for any library books that you have finished reading and need to return to school. They can be placed in the boxes outside the library doors. If you can’t remember what you have checked out - send an email to Mrs. Grice (egrice@wcpss.net) and she will let you know. All books need to be returned by June 1st … Thank you !!
4-23-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (10 minutes)
Happy Friday to all!
What a great week as we had our 8th first day of school on Monday, welcoming back many more IB Learners to our building! The work that is continuing in our building and VA classrooms is incredIBle and a true example of the amazing talents of our staff. The spring is the time when our 5th Grade IB Learners complete Exhibition and they are well on their way, as their draft presentations were reviewed this week by a panel and they received feedback for reflection and will continue to make revisions before recording the final presentation. So many of our 5th graders have been part of our school family since kindergarten and watching their confidence, knowledge and critical thinking as they prepare is a beautful example of how the PYP supports our students growth as learners.
We are excited next week to finally find out the Instructional Assistant of the Year for WCPSS with a special event on Thursday. Farmington Wood's own Alison Clinkscales is one of the 10 Finalists for the recognition and we know, no matter the outcome, that is is clearly THE BEST! Stay tuned....
There is important information in my video message and below about family consideration of Virtual Academy for the 2021-22 school year. The registration window is open through 5pm on May 2, 2021. If this is an option you are considering, please review the information carefully.
Have a wonderful weekend and next week we'll finish out April together!
Winston Pierce
IB Learner Profile- Communicator and Reflective
P2- Purpose: You have beliefs about the meaning of life and your life’s purpose. You seek to be part of something greater than yourself.
This Week at FWES- Non-Complicated Week ahead….
Mon, April 26
Tues, April 27
Wed, April 28- Asynchronous Learning Day
Thurs, April 29- WCPSS Instructional Assistant of the Year Celebration! Congratulations Alison Clinkscales a Top 10 Finalist!!!
Fri, April 30
FWES Friday Folder Items:
Calendar Change: As most you know by now, the district has moved our Remote Learning Asynchronous Day on May 5th to Thursday, May 13th (which had originally been a Teacher Workday that was moved when additional students were returning K-12 in Plan A in April). To understand the adjustment, May 13th is an important day for Muslim families in our school community as it is the last day and celebration day for Ramadan- Eid al-Fitr. While more advance notice would have been helpful for all, we are happy that families have the opportunity to celebrate an important cultural tradition as a family!
Virtual Academy for 2021-22 Registration: The registration window will be open through 5:00pm on May 2nd.
Community Open House Video for more information and Frequently Asked Questions.
For the 2021-22 school year, WCPSS is offering full Face to Face instruction for all students and looks forward to the return of students to campus. As the pandemic still has a presence in our community, the Virtual Academy is available for families with risks and health concerns. It is important to note that after the 2021-22 school year, Virtual Academy is likely no longer going to be connected to a current WCPSS school but a separate school program (like a magnet school).
It is also important to read the Virtual Academy information carefully about participation in our magnet program if you choose Virtual Academy for 2021-22- which will be MUCH different from the experience this year. As I shared with an incoming kindergarten parent with questions, it is important to note that students in VA next year may not receive all the magnet options we have available at FWES such as Chinese and Spanish or the full IB Programme of Inquiry as we were able to do this year. If there are not enough students to create a full classroom of VA students at Farmington Woods at a grade level, students may be combined with students from other elementary schools for their VA experience, eliminating the elements of our magnet program. It is not yet clear how this will manifest until we have final enrollment numbers.
Note: FWES will not be able to provide information about how much of our IB/PYP program can be implemented in Virtual Academy next year until registration is completed and decisions about teachers and the possibility of pairing with other schools has been determined at the district level. We will not be hosting a Q&A until all of the decisions have been finalized.
5th Grade Talent Show Information: Please review the information linked about the Virtual Talent Show and the deadline of May 7th to submit a proposal to participate.
LET’S start looking for those library books …
Please start looking for any library books that you have finished reading and need to return to school. They can be places in the boxes outside the library doors. If you can’t remember what you have checked out - send an email to Mrs. Grice (egrice@wcpss.net) and she will let you know. All books need to be returned by June 1st … Thank you !!
Writing Contest form Wake County Public Libraries:
Attention, aspiring authors of all ages—it’s time to fire up your keyboards or sharpen your pencils for WCPL's writing contest.
Who can enter?
- School aged children (Kindergarteners - 5th graders)
What are the contest dates?
April 1-30, 2021
When will winners be notified?
June 1, 2021. Our librarians read and evaluate each story. Last year we received over 400 submissions!
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child,
4-16-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (10 minutes)
We did it! Completed our IB Evaluation Visit today and what exciting informal feedback we got about the implementation of PYP on our campus! The team has also been so impressed by your students, as they watched them learn and even asked them a few questions, the level of understanding and joy as learners was apparent.
Our next big event is the welcoming back of 43 students on Monday to Face to Face instruction at school for the last quarter! We have made adjustments and will be ready! If you are one of those families, please be on the lookout for a separate email with reminders to help you prepare for the return to campus.
Next week there is also NO Asynchronous day- so a full 5 days with students that we look forward to as well!
We appreciate the support from our FWES PTA and United Arts Council of Wake County for the ability to continue our rich Cultural Arts programming throughout the year. Next week is our last event with Carolina Opera- we look forward to our students learning and enjoying this performance.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Winston Pierce
April 19-23, 2021 at FWES
IB Learner- Communicator and Reflective
P2- Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence
Administrative Assistant Appreciation Week! - Thank yous to Peggy Farr, Marcia Tracy-Dale and Kim Fish in our FWES Office for all they do to support the smooth and efficient running our our school. Please be sure to show them your thanks this week!
April 19- 4th Quarter New Face to Face students return
April 20
April 21- Administrative Assistant's Day; Regular School Day! PTA Spirit Day at Papa Murphy's 1-8pm- register here and tell them Farmington Woods sent you (tell your friends, too!)
April 22- 5th Grade Exhibition panel reviews; Earth Day- celebrate and share with FWES PTA for FWES Celebration!
April 23- 5th Grade Exhibition panel reviews
FWES News and Information:
VA Families in 3rd-5th Grades- EOG participation form due! If you have not yet notified the school about your child's intent to participate in the EOG testing- please complete immediately so we can finalize our planning for May, 2021.
Writing Contest form Wake County Public Libraries: Attention, aspiring authors of all ages—it’s time to fire up your keyboards or sharpen your pencils for WCPL's writing contest.
Who can enter?
- School aged children (Kindergarteners - 5th graders)
What are the contest dates?
April 1-30, 2021
When will winners be notified?
June 1, 2021. Our librarians read and evaluate each story. Last year we received over 400 submissions!
Child Nutrition Services is proud to introduce our WCPSS families to a new interactive menu website called MealViewer. On this website, families can:
- Set up multiple profiles at the schools of their choice
- View 5 weeks of menus for breakfast and lunch
- See any menu changes posted by the manager at each site
- Choose menu items based on allergens
- View nutrients for each menu item
- Add nutrients for meals eaten, even partial meals
- Submit ratings on your favorite items
Reminder about WCPSS Attendance Policy Changes:
Updated Plan A Attendance Policy: With the return of students to WCPSS campuses under Plan A, changes have been made to the attendance policy for students enrolled in Plan A.
- ONLY Plan A students with excused absences (see Policy 4400 for excused absence codes) or COVID illness/quarantine will be provided remote/virtual learning experiences when not present at school.
- Families who have an excused absence should communicate with teachers ASAP (email the teacher in the AM; call the front office, etc.) to ensure the student is assigned to remote/virtual learning access
- Students who do not attend school in person under Plan A with an excused absence- will not be provided with remote/virtual learning during the absence and will be coded with an unexcused absence.
- Students who miss the bus, do not have family to bring them to school, oversleep, travel or other unexcused events will no longer be able to access live instruction when not in attendance at school.
- Students who miss school due to an unexcused absence can still access class assignments in the teacher’s Google Classroom, to make up missed work, but without live instruction to support learning.
- The intent of the updated WCPSS policy is to ensure that students access the in person learning they have selected to maximize their learning success during this last quarter of the year- along with making sure teachers have consistent classrooms of students to focus their instruction.
Política de asistencia actualizada para el Plan A: Con el regreso de los estudiantes a los campus de WCPSS bajo el Plan A, se han realizado cambios en la política de asistencia para los estudiantes inscriptos en el Plan A.
- SOLAMENTE los estudiantes del Plan A con ausencias justificadas (consulte la Política 4400 para conocer los códigos de ausencias justificadas) o enfermedades COVID / cuarentena recibirán experiencias de aprendizaje remoto / virtual cuando no estén presentes en la escuela.
- Las familias que tienen una ausencia justificada deben comunicarse con los maestros lo antes posible (envíe un correo electrónico al maestro en la mañana; llame a la oficina principal, etc.) para asegurarse de que el estudiante esté asignado al acceso de aprendizaje remoto / virtual.
- Los estudiantes que no asistan a la escuela en persona bajo el Plan A con una ausencia justificada, no recibirán aprendizaje remoto / virtual durante la ausencia y tendrán una ausencia injustificada.
- Los estudiantes que pierdan el autobús, no tengan familiares que los traigan a la escuela, se queden dormidos, viajen u otros eventos injustificados ya no podrán acceder a la instrucción en vivo cuando no asistan a la escuela.
- Los estudiantes que faltan a la escuela debido a una ausencia injustificada aún pueden acceder a las tareas de la clase en Google Classroom del maestro, para recuperar el trabajo perdido, pero sin instrucción en vivo para apoyar el aprendizaje.
- La intención de la política actualizada de WCPSS es garantizar que los estudiantes accedan al aprendizaje en persona que han seleccionado para maximizar su éxito en el aprendizaje durante este último trimestre del año, además de asegurarse de que los maestros tengan aulas consistentes de estudiantes para enfocar su instrucción.
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child,
FWES PTA Updates:
Virtual Dance Party Tonight- 5:00-5:30pm ECS I, Pre K and Kinder and 1st; 5:30-6:00pm 2nd-3rd; 6:00-6:30pm 4th and 5th
April 21st 1-8pm Papa Murphys- phone or walk in only- mention you are from FWES https://www.groupraise.com/events/186020
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY- Earth Day is April 22nd! FWES PTA wants you to show us how you and your family celebrate. Either take a picture of yourself doing something nice for Mother Earth (examples are doing a neighborhood or greenway trail litter sweep, planting a garden or flowers, begin a compost pile or compost scraps if you already have one, or anything else you can think of). You can also draw a picture of doing something nice for our planet.
We would like to make a Google slide of all the pictures, so please email them to advocacy@fwespta.org by April 26th.
BOOK FAIR
Our spring book fair is in full swing! Please visit the following link to check out the selections at Scholastic: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/farmingtonwoodselemschool
Don’t forget – if we sell 375 books our students can watch our favorite librarian, Ms. Grice, get silly stringed!
OPEN PTA BOARD POSITIONS FOR 2021-‘22
Looking ahead, the there are a number of spots open on our PTA Board of Directors for next year. Please visit Open PTA Positions for the complete list. There are lots of opportunities for you to get involved, both in person and at home!
And finally, we wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support. Every little bit helps strengthen our school community and we have somehow managed to find a way to come together even through these unprecedented times. On behalf of the entire PTA, THANK YOU FWES! #FWESSTRONG
4-9-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (8 minutes)
Happy Friday to All!
We got our feet wet this week with a two day week but from here on out, we are pretty much learning as usual! Spring Break was wonderful but there is still much to learn and complete to end the school year strong. Thank you for supporting your child as a F2F or Virtual Academy student to stay focused on learning as a priority!
There is quite a bit in the folder below for your review. Thank you to our 3rd-5th Grade VA families for letting us know about EOG participation by Wednesday, April 14th, Spring Virtual Book Fair links and PTA Virtual World Dance is on Friday, April 16th with more details soon!
Have a wonderful weekend!
April 12-16, 2021 at FWES
IB Learner- Communicator and Reflective
P2- Fairness
School Library Media Coordinator Appreciation Week!
April 12- FWES Spring Book Fair Begins- see links and info below; 6:30 FWES PTA Board Meeting
For our families who celebrate, today is the 1st day of Ramadan! Ramadan Mubarak and Ramadan Kareem!
April 13- Teacher Assignment notifications sent for students returning April 19th.
April 14- VA Families in 3rd-5th Grades- EOG participation form due! Asynchronous Learning Day- complete assignments in Google Classroom to be marked in attendance; IB Evaluation Visit Begins at FWES
April 15- IB Evaluation Visit Day 2
April 16- IB Evaluation Visit Day 3; PTA Virtual World Dance 5:00-6:30pm (more info and log in information to come)
FWES News and Information:
School Library Media Coordinator Appreciation Week! Please share with Mrs. Grice how much we appreciate all she does to support our schools, our PYP implementation and the passion for reading she shares with everyone!
Updated Plan A Attendance Policy: With the return of students to WCPSS campuses under Plan A, changes have been made to the attendance policy for students enrolled in Plan A.
- ONLY Plan A students with excused absences (see Policy 4400 for excused absence codes) or COVID illness/quarantine will be provided remote/virtual learning experiences when not present at school.
- Families who have an excused absence should communicate with teachers ASAP (email the teacher in the AM; call the front office, etc.) to ensure the student is assigned to remote/virtual learning access
- Students who do not attend school in person under Plan A with an excused absence- will not be provided with remote/virtual learning during the absence and will be coded with an unexcused absence.
- Students who miss the bus, do not have family to bring them to school, oversleep, travel or other unexcused events will no longer be able to access live instruction when not in attendance at school.
- Students who miss school due to an unexcused absence can still access class assignments in the teacher’s Google Classroom, to make up missed work, but without live instruction to support learning.
- The intent of the updated WCPSS policy is to ensure that students access the in person learning they have selected to maximize their learning success during this last quarter of the year- along with making sure teachers have consistent classrooms of students to focus their instruction.
Política de asistencia actualizada para el Plan A: Con el regreso de los estudiantes a los campus de WCPSS bajo el Plan A, se han realizado cambios en la política de asistencia para los estudiantes inscriptos en el Plan A.
- SOLAMENTE los estudiantes del Plan A con ausencias justificadas (consulte la Política 4400 para conocer los códigos de ausencias justificadas) o enfermedades COVID / cuarentena recibirán experiencias de aprendizaje remoto / virtual cuando no estén presentes en la escuela.
- Las familias que tienen una ausencia justificada deben comunicarse con los maestros lo antes posible (envíe un correo electrónico al maestro en la mañana; llame a la oficina principal, etc.) para asegurarse de que el estudiante esté asignado al acceso de aprendizaje remoto / virtual.
- Los estudiantes que no asistan a la escuela en persona bajo el Plan A con una ausencia justificada, no recibirán aprendizaje remoto / virtual durante la ausencia y tendrán una ausencia injustificada.
- Los estudiantes que pierdan el autobús, no tengan familiares que los traigan a la escuela, se queden dormidos, viajen u otros eventos injustificados ya no podrán acceder a la instrucción en vivo cuando no asistan a la escuela.
- Los estudiantes que faltan a la escuela debido a una ausencia injustificada aún pueden acceder a las tareas de la clase en Google Classroom del maestro, para recuperar el trabajo perdido, pero sin instrucción en vivo para apoyar el aprendizaje.
- La intención de la política actualizada de WCPSS es garantizar que los estudiantes accedan al aprendizaje en persona que han seleccionado para maximizar su éxito en el aprendizaje durante este último trimestre del año, además de asegurarse de que los maestros tengan aulas consistentes de estudiantes para enfocar su instrucción.
IB Evaluation Visit- April 14-16, 2021
All IBO World Schools are evaluated by the IBO to review and ensure that the IB Programme is being implemented as designed. PYP schools are evaluated every 5 years. This week from Wednesday-Friday, we will welcome a virtual team of IB Educators (Principals/Assistant Principals and PYP Coordinators from other schools in the Americas Region are typically members of the visiting team) to our school for our school’s PYP Evaluation. Typically the evaluation team is on campus for the evaluation but due to current safety concerns, they will be completing all the necessary steps virtually. We are so proud of the work of our amazing staff and students that we look forward to sharing it with the team! We also look forward to their reflection and feedback to help us grow!
During these three days our evaluation team members will discuss the important Standards and Practices for PYP schools to demonstrate and ask questions to assess our understanding and implementation of the following groups:
- Meet with WCPSS Leadership (Chiefs, Area Superintendent, etc.)
- Meet with all teams at the school
- Meet with a group of students
- Meet with a group of parents
- Visit (via iPad cart) all F2F classrooms
- Visit all VA Virtual Classrooms
- Meet with the Instructional Leadership Team
- Review all PYP documents (Units of Inquiry, Programme of Inquiry, Policies, Teacher Credentials, etc.)
Following their visit, they will send in a report to the IBO that will be shared with our school within 4--6 months of their visit. The report will share commendations and recommendations to provide us with feedback on our successes and where we can also grow.
We thank our families for your continued support of our IB program and for sending our always hard working staff your best wishes during this important three day event!
WCPSS Special Education Sessions for Parents- April, 2021
- April 13 - Understanding Transitions
- April 21 - All About Related Services
- April 27 - Parent Advocacy
Sessions will be from 6:30-7:30pm. Use the link above to register to attend.
Family Technology Support Help Phone Line Update: The Staff Help Desk and Remote Learning Help Desk are merging into one Technology Help Desk. The telephone number will remain the same for staff, 919-664-5700.
NCCBA … North Carolina Children’s Book Award - we voted and as a school we chose The Good Egg by Jory John as our favorite. It is about a very good egg who learns to relax and not try to be perfect ALL the time. Our votes for each of the books will be sent in and we learn the winner for the state soon. Will The Good Egg win for the entire state? Thank you to those students who voted!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR IS COMING …. Are you ready for some new books to read? Well look at the Virtual Book Fair, I bet there are some good ones there! If we sell 375 books, Mrs. Grice has agreed to get Silly Stringed. Go to this link to see the Virtual Book Fair (https://bit.ly/2Q31z44) . Need help navigating the Book fair site? Watch this video (https://bit.ly/3rVCAN9), it will show you how to place your order. Can we make the 375 book goal ??
Here is a link to the Scholastic Flyer!
NC Museum of Art- Family Outing- Golden Mummies of Egypt
- Read about how to get a family pack to visit this extraordinary learning opportunity!
FWES Yearbook- Don’t miss out- order now, only pre-orders are guaranteed!
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child,
3-26-2021
Due by 5pm today!
Cary Chamber Honor A Teacher Nomination 2021- due 3/26/2021 by 5pm
Mrs. Pierce's Message (5 minutes)
Happy Spring Break Friday to our FWES Families!
We have had a very busy, complicated, ever changing year, but always working to maintain our FWES identity and celebrate our students as IB Learners. I cannot be more proud of the learning that is happening in Virtual Academy and in Face to Face classrooms. Students, Teachers and Families have worked sooooo hard this year, that getting the chance to catch our breath next week, get away from a screen and to refresh for the home stretch is a much needed reality. I send you all best wishes for a great week- whether filled with adventures, filled with time outside, filled with no school work.... but mostly filled with what makes you and your brain happy!
When we return on April 8th (note new date for return and new calendar linked below) we will be in the final leg to maximize learning this year and we all want to be ready to put in our best energy and effort!
Sending sunshine wishes (and a few showers to wash away the pollen) to all!
Winston Pierce
FWES Next Week-
Spring Break- Enjoy!
Thursday, April 1st- Deadline for submitting changes to instructional placement for remainder of school year- see info on School Messenger Page
FWES After Spring Break-
IB Learner Profile- Communicator
P2- Identifying and Appreciating the Good in Others
National Assistant Principal’s Appreciation Week- Thank you Mr. Beamish!!!
Monday, April 5- No School- Calendar Out Day
Tuesday, April 6- Teacher Workday- No School for Students; Information to families requesting an instructional placement change
**Wednesday, April 7- Teacher Workday- No School for Students- **newly added Teacher Workday
Thursday, April 8- Students return from Spring Break! 12:00pm PYP Parent Lunch and Learn (see below for details); Board Advisory District 9 Meeting 5:30pm
Friday, April 9- Report Cards go home with Students for Q3
FWES Friday Folder Items:
Updated WCPSS Second Semester Calendar 2021
PYP Parent Lunch and Learn- April 8th at noon:
Join us for the first Engaging in PYP - Parent Lunch and Learn on April 8th @12:00pm. WCPSS PYP coordinators will guide you through ways you can support your child in becoming the learner profile. MEET LINK HERE
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child.
3-19-2021
Great week with all of our F2F students back!
FWES This Week:
IB Learner: Knowledgeable Never Stop Learning (FWES theme)
P2-: Humor: You like to laugh and bring smiles to other people
FWES This Week (a quiet 1st week of Spring)
March 22- Last day to submit SSA Test Request by 3:45pm
March 23
March 24- Asynchronous Learning Day
March 25
March 26-Last Day to nominate an FWES Teacher for the Cary Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Teaching Award!
Happy Spring Break!
March 29-April - 5; April 6th (Teacher Workday)- Spring Break! Enjoy the break to refresh and prepare for the last quarter of the year.
*Note: The WCPSS Board of Education has a specially called meeting on Monday, March 22nd and there is a potential calendar change to make Wednesday, April 7th another teacher workday. Families will be updated if there is a change.
FWES Friday Folder:
Power Packs/Programa de Comida
Please use the link above to sign up for the Power Pack supplemental food program for your student. Power Packs go home with students on Fridays.
WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration Test Request Window for 2021-2022 The window for parents to make a test request students for SSA is Feb 22- March 22, 2021. Requests and/or questions should be sent to Diane Rowe, FWES SSA contact.
Cary Chamber Honor A Teacher Nomination 2021- due 3/26/2021 by 5pm
Excellence in teaching – we know it when we see it. It can be the teacher who spends extra time with the students who need it most, or the teacher who is creative enough to inspire a real love of learning in a student. Perhaps it’s a teacher who cares enough to be involved with their students beyond the classroom. Whatever their methods, certain teachers make a real impact on students and their learning abilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the great importance of the role that teacher's play in our society.
We would like to recognize one such teacher at Farmington Woods Elementary and we need your help. The Cary Chamber of Commerce has been a leader in supporting education in our community through numerous programs and activities. One of the most critical needs of Wake County schools is that of attracting and retaining the best classroom teachers. With the Cary Chamber of Commerce's Honor a Teacher Program we hope to help our school system in meeting that challenge.
Building on the success of the Discovery Award first sponsored by the Ashworth family in 1991, followed by the Clara Knoll Award in 2000 by Barry and DJ Mitsch, the Cary Chamber has secured sponsors to develop a teaching awards program for all schools in the Cary Area.
We are asking our community to nominate teachers for this award. Included with your nomination, please describe why you feel this particular teacher deserves this award. Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, March 26th at 5:00pm. These nominations will then be narrowed down to finalists that will be interviewed by a designated committee.
If you have any questions, please email Perry Price, Director of Education & Government Relations, at pprice@carychamber.com.
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child,
North Carolina Children’s Book Award ...This year there are 10 books hoping to win this award. Go to your Media/ Technology google classroom to see the books - listen to them - and vote for your favorite. All voting must be completed by the end of March. (Available to K - 3 grades only)
3-12-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 12 minutes for all- 12:45 mark starts 5 minutes of info for F2F families)
Clocks Spring Forward- make sure you have them all adjusted so you are on time tomorrow for the bus and carpool! Welcome Daylight Savings Time and more daylight!!
Welcome Back 4th/5th Graders!
We are excited to be able to have all of our students who chose Face to Face instruction for the spring semester back in our building this week! Farmington Woods just feels better to everyone when our students are in the building. We continue to be so proud of the IB Learners who are enrolled in Virtual Academy this year and are learning with their VA teachers. It has been a challenging year but the best part is no matter where you are as a learner, you are still part of the FWES Family!
I cannot believe we are almost to the 4th Quarter (it begins 3/26/21)- students have learned so much but there is still much to accomplish. It is also time when we begin planning for the end of the school year, however, at this time there are so many unknowns that we cannot do too much specific planning. The biggest factor is the EOG testing, as of today, it is still required to be completed for all face to face students and to be available to all virtual academy students who want to participate. EOG testing is typically during the last 10 days of the year (May 27-June 10), but in order to accommodate VA students, it is likely the EOG testing window may need to be extended to the last 20 days of the school year (May 13-June10)… all of which is not yet confirmed by DPI- so we will wait due to the impact this schedule may have on scheduling…. But do know we are ready to plan some fun for our students when we know a little more!
I am thrilled with the decisions that have allowed educators and all school personnel to seek and receive vaccines if they desire! Please note, however, that as our staff will begin to rotate back through for their 2nd dose, we worry there may be some scheduling challenges as staff may not feel well or have temporary symptoms as a short term side effect. I ask for your flexibility and understanding if we have to be creative in our delivery of instruction due to these circumstances in the next several weeks. We want our staff to feel safe and to be well, so we will all work together to make sure we continue to provide for our students, too.
Respectfully, Winston Pierce
FWES This Week:
IB Learner: Knowledgeable Never Stop Learning (to 4:11 mark) - our "song" this month but a song that all students will learn when we can "sing" at school- it speaks to our FWES purpose!
P2-: Love of Learning-You master new skills or learn new topics on your own or in school.
FWES This Week (a calm one to adjust to more students in the building:)
March 15- Welcome Back all 4th/5th Graders! FWES welcomes District 9 Board Member Karen Carter to our campus for a visit.
March 16
March 17- St. Patrick’s Day!
March 18
March 19-
FWES Friday Folder:
Power Packs/Programa de Comida
Please use the link above to sign up for the Power Pack supplemental food program for your student. Power Packs go home with students on Fridays.
Last week! WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration Test Request Window for 2021-2022 The window for parents to make a test request students for SSA is Feb 22- March 22, 2021. Requests and/or questions should be sent to Diane Rowe, FWES SSA contact.
North Carolina Children’s Book Award ...This year there are 10 books hoping to win this award. Go to your Media/ Technology google classroom to see the books - listen to them - and vote for your favorite. All voting must be completed by the end of March. (Available to K - 3 grades only)
Cary Chamber Honor A Teacher Nomination 2021- due 3/26/2021 by 5pm
Excellence in teaching – we know it when we see it. It can be the teacher who spends extra time with the students who need it most, or the teacher who is creative enough to inspire a real love of learning in a student. Perhaps it’s a teacher who cares enough to be involved with their students beyond the classroom. Whatever their methods, certain teachers make a real impact on students and their learning abilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the great importance of the role that teacher's play in our society.
We would like to recognize one such teacher at Farmington Woods Elementary and we need your help. The Cary Chamber of Commerce has been a leader in supporting education in our community through numerous programs and activities. One of the most critical needs of Wake County schools is that of attracting and retaining the best classroom teachers. With the Cary Chamber of Commerce's Honor a Teacher Program we hope to help our school system in meeting that challenge.
Building on the success of the Discovery Award first sponsored by the Ashworth family in 1991, followed by the Clara Knoll Award in 2000 by Barry and DJ Mitsch, the Cary Chamber has secured sponsors to develop a teaching awards program for all schools in the Cary Area.
We are asking our community to nominate teachers for this award. Included with your nomination, please describe why you feel this particular teacher deserves this award. Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, March 26th at 5:00pm. These nominations will then be narrowed down to finalists that will be interviewed by a designated committee.
If you have any questions, please email Perry Price, Director of Education & Government Relations, at pprice@carychamber.com.
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child,
For All Face to Face Families:
WCPSS made the decision several weeks ago to explore moving all elementary schools to Plan A for the remainder of the year. Although a law was passed last week by the NC Legislature, at this point, it does not impact WCPSS or our school. Families who chose face to face instruction are back for daily instruction and families who chose VA will continue to access learning virtually for the remainder of the 2020-21 school year.
Note: Many VA families have made the request in the last several weeks to have students move from VA back to the face to face instructional program. Unfortunately, because we have to staff classrooms (and maintain class size law) based on the family choices for the 2nd semester, we have had to start a waitlist for these requests. At this time there just is not space in our F2F classrooms at this time for more students.
All of our K-5 Face to Face students are on campus under Plan A- which requires social distancing to the extent possible during instructional times.
While we wish this return meant business as usual from March, 2020- it cannot due to the safety regulations all public schools must still follow under Plan A:
Strong Schools NC- Public Health Toolkit- updated 3-3-2021- the information shared below can be found in this document as it outlines all of the requirements schools must follow in Plan A; while we also must comply with all WCPSS guidance, too.
Safety procedures that remain in place under Plan A:
- Students will continue to need to complete a daily health screening before entering the building each day
- Bus riders must have a completed attestation statement on file in order to ride the bus (and a bus tag on their bookbag- please transfer it to a new bag if they switch:)
- Students will continue to be required to wear masks at all times during the school day (except when eating and drinking)
- Students will need to use their own supplies in the classrooms (no sharing)
- Students will need to remain in their assigned seat during the instructional time of the day (getting teacher permission to move about the classroom)
- Assigned seating is the best way to provide for contact tracing should a student in our community test positive. If seating is not assigned in all spaces, we will not know who has been within 6ft for more than 15 minutes to know about potential exposures. We would not want to have to quarantine an entire classroom- yikes!
- Partner and small group discussion work can happen but with distancing (so not under tables, in a classroom corner, on the floor by a bookcase, as it may have looked in the past- but with those seated near you- and everyone staying in their seats to chat)
- Daily schedules will include required hand washing times- before eating,after using the playground, after using the restroom, after coughing or sneezing and other times as the teacher determines
- Playground and other campus play areas can be used
- Classes must play in their assigned recess area and not intermingle with other classrooms due to contact tracing requirements
- Playground structures may be used
- Sports equipment cannot be used at this time (4th and 5th graders on rotation had been allowed to bring a ball and ONLY the student would use the ball- that worked when we had only 8 students the teacher was supervising- it will be impossible with 25 students to make sure only individual students handle their own equipment so we must start at this point) Your cooperation as a family is appreciated!
- Students must maintain 6 ft social distancing during eating and drinking and may not move around or talk while eating.
- Students have been doing a wonderful job with this new requirement as of February. It is not fun, but it is safe.
- K-3 students with 6ft distancing in their classrooms eat in the classroom or outside. Those who need more space spread between two rooms inside or use an outside area.
- Due to the size of 4th/5th grade classes, they will always eat outside or in the cafeteria (spread out in marked seats, quiet and facing the same direction) in order to get the 6ft of distance required for eating and drinking.
- Movement in and through the building will require social distancing in the class lines.
Other protocols that will remain in place for families:
- Families may not send students to school who are not feeling well- than you for keeping our school safe for everyone.
- Symptom presence during the school day continues to mean that students will go to our Care Center and will have to be picked up immediately.
- Visitors and volunteers are not allowed in the building at this time.
- Transportation changes may not be made for students over the phone for security reasons. Changes should be sent to the teacher in writing the morning of the change- the old fashioned NOTE:) (email is NOT always guaranteed if a teacher cannot check it during the day). Talking points texts can also be used the day prior or before the start of the school day to share a transportation change.
- Families needing to sign out students from school will need to be prepared to show photo ID at the front door for verification- students will also be signed out at the front door.
- Library books can be picked up daily from 10am-2pm in at the front of the school
- Students will not be allowed to re-enter the school after leaving for dismissal to retrieve left items as we are one way “out” at dismissal.
Some changes we can prepare for include:
- Longer lines waiting for health screens at buses, walkers and carpool each morning
- All items brought to school to be shared (school supplies, art supplies, craft supplies, individually packaged snack items, etc.) are required to sit for 72 hours before being distributed.
- Snacks may not be sent for celebrations due to this required waiting period
- Adjustments to procedures as are needed the next two weeks to make sure safety is a priority. With an additional 70+ students in the building there may be some adjusting needed.
Reminder Documents for 4th/5th Grade Families Returning
Before and After School Care Registration: The Taylor YMCA is taking care of the Before and After School programming at FWES for the 2020-21 school year. They provide for our students on the FWES campus. Please use the link above if you need to register your child to be part of the program. Students on cohort rotations (4th/5th graders) may register for only the weeks they attend in person instruction.
Please take time to review all the information included at the link below to best prepare for your student's return to FWES.
F2F Families- Updated Information for return- Spring, 2021
3-5-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 5 minutes)
Welcome to March!
We've had that taste of spring and it is on its way.... and thank goodness for the sunshine!!!
Read Across America Week was so much fun and we saw such a variety of "characters" at school and on screen for our daily themes! Please continue to make reading joyful each day as it truly is a what gives IB Learners the opportunity to explore the world!
I got ahead of myself last week- THIS week is Social Worker Appreciation Week- so if you did not get a chance to thank Leah Frahm for all she does to support students and families at FWES- there is still time!
As we move toward the end of the 3rd quarter, we continue to need students to participate and complete assignments- whether they are F2F at school, enrolled in Virtual Academy and everyone on Asynchronous Days! Our staff are working hard to insure students learn as much as possible to be ready for next year, but your support and partnership is essential. In reviewing your child's interim report, you can identify the areas where your child may be struggline. Please note that students can access Dreambox (for math practice and filling in any math understanding gaps) in their Wake ID portal from home and effectiveness is maximized when students COMPLETE 5 or more lessons per week. In addition, iStation is also accessible with reading support lessons. If you have questions about your child's learning needs and what you can do to support them at home- please reach out to the teacher. Thank you for making sure your child is participating and engaging in all learning opportunities provided for these last 12 weeks of the year!
Just to keep you informed, I will be away from school this week, returning on Thursday, March 11th. I am a member of the International Baccalaureate Educator Network and support the IB/PYP by serving on school evaluation teams across the country. I will be working to complete the 3 day evaluation process of a school in Georgia this week. I look forward to the experience, in particular as FWES is preparing for our own evaluation in April of this year. If you need immediate assistance, please reach out to Mr. Beamish (mbeamish@wcpss.net). I will review any email received when I return on Thursday and respond as quickly as I can. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding!
Have a great week! Winston Pierce
This week at FWES:
IB Learner: Knowledgeable Never Stop Learning (to 4:11 mark) - our "song" this month but a song that all students will learn when we can "sing" at school- it speaks to our FWES purpose!
P2-: Social Intelligence-You are aware of other people’s thoughts and feelings. You understand why they do things.
4th/5th Graders Cohort 2 attend March 8-12! 4th/5th Cohorts 1 and 3 learn remotely from home
Monday, March 8- 6:30pm FWES PTA Board Meeting
Tuesday, March 9-
Wednesday, March 10- 9:30am NC Severe Weather Drill (no practice just discussion in all classrooms about procedures); 5:30pm District 9 Board Advisory Council Meeting
Thursday, March 11-
Friday, March 12- Teacher Workday- no school for students
FWES Friday Folder:
Power Packs/Programa de Comida
Please use the link above to sign up for the Power Pack supplemental food program for your student. Power Packs go home with students on Fridays.
Cary Chamber Honor A Teacher Nomination 2021- due 3/26/2021 by 5pm
Excellence in teaching – we know it when we see it. It can be the teacher who spends extra time with the students who need it most, or the teacher who is creative enough to inspire a real love of learning in a student. Perhaps it’s a teacher who cares enough to be involved with their students beyond the classroom. Whatever their methods, certain teachers make a real impact on students and their learning abilities. The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the great importance of the role that teacher's play in our society.
We would like to recognize one such teacher at Farmington Woods Elementary and we need your help. The Cary Chamber of Commerce has been a leader in supporting education in our community through numerous programs and activities. One of the most critical needs of Wake County schools is that of attracting and retaining the best classroom teachers. With the Cary Chamber of Commerce's Honor a Teacher Program we hope to help our school system in meeting that challenge.
Building on the success of the Discovery Award first sponsored by the Ashworth family in 1991, followed by the Clara Knoll Award in 2000 by Barry and DJ Mitsch, the Cary Chamber has secured sponsors to develop a teaching awards program for all schools in the Cary Area.
We are asking our community to nominate teachers for this award. Included with your nomination, please describe why you feel this particular teacher deserves this award. Nominations must be submitted no later than Friday, March 26th at 5:00pm. These nominations will then be narrowed down to finalists that will be interviewed by a designated committee.
If you have any questions, please email Perry Price, Director of Education & Government Relations, at pprice@carychamber.com.
PreK Registration for 21-22 https://www.wcpss.net/Page/38130
For children who will be 4 years old by August 31, 2021- Applications Due by April 30th!!!
WCPSS offers a free, high quality pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-old children. They will experience a full day with their classmates learning skills appropriate for their age through exploration and discovery. The goal of our preschool program is to prepare children to enter kindergarten ready to learn and succeed.
Our preschool classrooms are located in WCPSS elementary schools and follow the same hours of the elementary school day. Transportation may be an option for children assigned to their base school. Families will have the opportunity to participate in school breakfast and lunch for their child.
WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration Test Request Window for 2021-2022 The window for parents to make a test request students for SSA is Feb 22- March 22, 2021. Requests and/or questions should be sent to Diane Rowe, FWES SSA contact.
North Carolina Children’s Book Award ...This year there are 10 books hoping to win this award. Go to your Media/ Technology google classroom to see the books - listen to them - and vote for your favorite. All voting must be completed by the end of March. (Available to K - 3 grades only)
2-26-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 6 minutes)
Happy Friday Families!
We had a great full week with our students this week and look forward to the first return of our Cohort 1 students in 4th and 5th grades next week, too!
I am so proud of our students and teachers who are face to face each day. Remembering and following all the safety protocols is hard and can be a challenge, but students understand the "why" and are cooperating every step of the way. We want to keep our FWES Family healthy and safe and together we can continue to be #FWESstrong!
Next week is Social Worker Appreciation Week and we are thankful for the dedication and hard work of Leah Frahm as she serves to support families and students' needs at FWES. Please take a minute to thank her for all she does to make sure our school family is well taken care of each day to be ready for learning!
We look forward to Read Across America Week next week with some fun book and spirit wearing days- check out the flyer below for more details- what a great way to combine the fun of reading with having fun dressing up!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Winston Pierce
IB Learner Attribute for March: Knowledgeable
P2 Character Strength March 1-5: Enthusiasm
School Social Worker Appreciation Week!
Read Across America Week!
Monday, March 1- Silly Book and Outfit
Tuesday, March 2- Famous Person Book and Dress Like Them; SSA Info Session with Mrs. Rowe 6:00pm- https://meet.google.com/fpm-khqy-yks
Wednesday, March 3- Asynchronous Learning Day; 3rd Grade Materials Pick Up 10-11am; Influential Athlete Book and wear your favorite sport gear/team
Thursday, March 4- Culture Book and dress to represent your culture; SSA Info Session with Mrs. Rowe 12:00pm- https://meet.google.com/cux-noqg-etx
Friday, March 5- 9:45-10:45am New Magnet Student Welcome Event (only for new magnet students and families); Favorite Book and Wear Favorite Color
Cohort 1 4th/5th graders attend F2F This Week!
F2F Family Information about Return to Campus at FWES
FWES Friday Folder Information:
WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration Test Request Window for 2021-2022 The window for parents to make a test request students for SSA is Feb 22- March 22, 2021. Requests and/or questions should be sent to Diane Rowe, FWES SSA contact.
Parent SSA Virtual Information Sessions- Tuesday, March 2 at 6:00pm or Thursday, March 4 at 12:00pm- links above and on the FWES Website to join.
Power Packs/Programa de Comida
Please use the link above to sign up for the Power Pack supplemental food program for your student. Power Packs go home with students on Fridays.
Read Across America flyer (bitly.ws/bUmy)
Read Across America promotes reading for children and young adults. Many schools, libraries, and community centers across the United States participate in the week by bringing people together to take part in reading books. This year we have created a week-long suggested book list. Please feel free to read as many each day as you wish . There is a youtube read- aloud linked behind each book cover. Dress up if you want to … but be sure to READ !!!
WAKE Up and READ … We completed our book collection this week. Thank you to everyone who donated books to this project. Farmington Woods will be delivering 728 books to the Wake County WAKE Up and READ program.
2-19-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 7 minutes)
Well- what a roller coaster return week.... but we ended it without rain and a building and computer screens with IB Learners in them!!!
Our F2F students and families did wonderful with the return to campus this week, including those new to the protocols for safety and those who had been here 2nd quarter but had to learn NEW Updated protocols. I am so proud of our students and their understanding of the need to keep each other and our staff safe while on campus. I am also so thankful for the dedicated staff at FWES and their work to assist with the extra amount of duties and supervision we need to insure safety and success! We look forward to welcoming Cohort 3 of our 4th and 5th graders next week with the same success.
Please make sure you have an updated version of the Spring, 2021 calendar in your home, as there are changes to the Asynchronous Days and cohort rotations!
Traditional- Semester 2 Calendar 2020-21 updated 2-16-2021 at the WCPSS Board of Education Meeting
Have a wonderful weekend- bundle up but enjoy the sunshine!!!
IB Learner Attribute for February: Caring
P2 Character Strength Feb 22-26: Celebrating Others Success
February- Black History Month
FWES This Week:
- FWES PTA and United Arts Sponsored Cultural Arts- GEMS: The World’s Wisdom Stories with Doug Berky
- FWES Celebrates Bus Driver Appreciation Week
Monday, Feb 22- Cohort 3 4th/5th Graders Return to Campus! (Cohort 1 and 2 4th/5th graders participate in virtual learning)
Tuesday, Feb 23- WCPSS Magnet Notification Day! 2nd Grade Weather Guest Speaker Event
Wednesday, Feb 24- Asynchronous Learning Day-Assignments in Google Classroom; Select VA 3rd Graders to FWES to take BOG Reading Test; 1-2pm 1st Grade Materials Pick Up Event; FWES PTA Spirit Dinner at Mod Pizza, Waverly Place 5-9pm (see link for info and online order code below)
Thursday, Feb 25- BOG Reading Test for NEW face to face 3rd graders given 9:30am-12:30pm, WCPSS Family Academy for ESL Families 6:00pm
Friday, Feb 26- FWES Spirit Day- Wear FWES Shirts!FWES Friday Folder Information:
FWES PTA Spirit Night- February 24th at Mod Pizza Flyer
Family Academy en Espanol- Thursday night at 6:00pm join the WCPSS Family Academy for a Coffee Chat with ESL families to provide information, support and answer questions about Spring Semester learning. Family Academy Coffee Chat
Raleigh Parks and Rec Black History Month Activities- Several activities and events for families to learn about the impact of African Americans and Black History here in Wake County. There are independent activities, trolley tours and other ways to explore with your family.
WCPSS Single Subject Acceleration Test Request Window for 2021-2022 The window for parents to make a test request students for SSA is Feb 22- March 22, 2021. Requests should be sent to Diane Rowe, FWES SSA contact.
Mrs. Rowe will be having some virtual parent information sessions during the window to share more info and answer questions, too!
WAKEUp and READ …. We will continue to collect books this week. So far we have collected 443 books !!! Can we make 700? Books can be placed in boxes outside the Inquiry Center doors or in the box labeled for WAKEUp and READ during library book pick up times
RETURN TO “NORMAL” Library Book Pick-up beginning WEDNESDAY, FEB 17th !!!
- Monday - Friday 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool loop
- REMEMBER to wait until you get the email from Mrs. Grice to come get your books
- Student who are in school will have books delivered to their classrooms
2-12-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 7 minutes)
Happy Long Weekend FWES Families!
Reminder that today there was no school due to President's Day and there is no school again tomorrow, as it is a Teacher Workday for our incredIBle hard working teachers. We return to our instructional schedules on Wednesday of this week.
We have been busy planning for the return of our students to campus and continuing our work with 3rd Quarter learning, too. We continue to monitor all of our students for their participation in learning through attendance during live lessons and completion of assignments. Thank you for carefully reviewing your teacher's schedule and make sure that your student completes assignments and when appropriate attends live instructional times to maximize their learning.
Our campus continues to have construction work completed on the new FWES roof that is being installed. Unfortunately, all of this awful rain in 2021 has the project a little behind- so the materials and construction will be continuing after the return of students to the building. We are working closely with the WCPSS Site Manager and the contractors to limit the impact to student learning. If the weather allows, work will continue over the cafeteria and front office area this week.
Have a great short week!
Winston Pierce
IB Learner Attribute for February: Caring
P2 Character Strength Feb 15-19: Humility- You do not seek the Spotlight. You let your actions speak for themselves
February is Black History Month
FWES This Week:
Monday, Feb 15- No School- calendar out day; President’s Day
Tuesday, Feb 16- No School- Teacher Workday; Medication Drop Off 9:00am-3:00pm
Wednesday, Feb 17- Return of F2F students to FWES! PreK, ECS and K-3- ALL students return; 4th/5th Cohort 2 returns
F2F Family Info (additional messaging coming)
Thursday, Feb 18
Friday, Feb 19- Interim Reports for Q3 Home; Retention Risk Notification Letters Mailed Home (below grade level in ELA and/or Math)
FWES Friday Folder Information Items:
Raleigh Parks and Rec Black History Month Activities- Several activities and events for families to learn about the impact of African Americans and Black History here in Wake County. There are independent activities, trolley tours and other ways to explore with your family.
Family Behavioral Health Resources- This school year has been challenging to everyone. Please check out these resources that can support your students and your family as challenges arise related to your emotional well-being.
There is a series- Keeping your Kids Emotionally and Physically Safe- with several sessions coming up soon!
FWES PTA Spirit Night- February 24th at Mod Pizza Flyer- Mark your calendar for NEXT Wednesday to support the FWES PTA at Mod Pizza- Waverly Place. If you order online, use the code on the flyer to support FWES!
RETURN TO “NORMAL” Library Book Pick-up beginning WEDNESDAY, FEB 17th !!!
- Monday - Friday 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool loop
- REMEMBER to wait until you get the email from Mrs. Grice to come get your books
- Student who are in school will have books delivered to their classrooms
WAKE Up and READ …. We will continue to collect books daily through Feb 26th. Books can be placed in boxes outside the Inquiry Center doors or in the box labeled for WAKEUp and READ during library book pick up times
Inquiry into a Bald Eaglet: Want to watch a bald eaglet? … try the NorthEast Florida Eagle Cam https://nefleaglecam.org/ .NE24 has hatched and is being cared for by parents Gabby and Samson … there is one more egg (we are hoping it will hatch also)... they are usually feeding NE24 in the morning
Meal Benefits Applications: Important: Complete a Meal Benefits Application by Feb. 26, 2021
Parents, please consider applying for meal benefits by Feb 26. For every student that turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the student and teachers at the school. These funds provide additional teachers and staff for the school which means more services for students, especially students that are struggling in reading or math. These funds also are used for materials and supplies for students and teachers. These are valuable resources that teachers can use to improve student achievement.
Also, the NC Department of Health & Human Services will soon begin collecting free and reduced lunch data from WCPSS to determine families that will receive additional Pandemic Electronic Benefits (P-EBT) that will be issued in the coming months! By not applying for these meal benefits, you will miss the opportunity to receive direct P-EBT funds for your family!
Yes, meals will still be free for all students through June 2021 but we still need you to complete a meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for this extra funding next year. Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2020-21 school year can be found at www.wcpss.net/meals. Help our school continue to receive this funding by completing an application online at MySchoolApps.com. Paper applications can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.
2-5-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (9 minutes)
Hello FWES Families!
We hope you have had a great week. Mr. Beamish and I have been enjoying joining many classrooms in the last two weeks and continue to be amazed at the incredIBle teachers and students we see accessing learning virtually each day! We are so very thankful for your support in engaging your students during these challenging times.
While the WCPSS Board of Education voted to return students to campuses beginning for FWES on Wednesday, February 17th- there are still several additional details that will be developed and shared in the coming week and weeks ahead as it relates to having students on campus and schedules. There may be the need to adjust cohort rotations for 4th quarter to insure equitable access to face to face instruction by all rotating cohorts and the possibility of changes to the asynchronous learning days. Families will be informed by the district as that information is available and I will, of course, also try to share information as it may impact our students and families at FWES.
Have a great weekend and keep an eye on some possible winter weather toward the end of next week!
Take Care, Winston Pierce
FWES This Week- February 8-12, 2021
IB Learner Attribute for February: Caring
P2 Character Strength Feb 8-12: Love- You value close relationships with others and being close to people.
February- Black History Month- Read Aloud Book List to Celebrate Black Culture (check some of them out from FWES!!!)- oops- link is no longer available on PBS Kids- sorry!
February 8th-12thMonday, Feb 8 FWES PTA Board Meeting 6:30pm
Tuesday, Feb 9
Wednesday, Feb 10 10:00am-2:00pm Library Book Pick Up
Wake Up and Read Book Drop Off
Thursday, Feb 11 3:00pm WCPSS Teacher of the Year Virtual Celebration- FWES Celebrates Susan Combs!
Friday, Feb 12 Chinese New Year Begins!!!
Possible Snow:) Inclement Weather Information for Families
10:00am-2:00pm Library Book Pick Up
Wake Up and Read Book Drop Off
Face to Face (F2F) Return of Students Information
PreK, ECS and K-3 F2F Students return to Daily In Person Instruction, beginning Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
4th and 5th Grade F2F Students return to Cohort Rotation* In Person Instruction beginning with Cohort 2/B on Wednesday, February 17, 2021
*Cohort assignments will be sent to families by Monday, February 8th.
- February 22-26, 2021- Cohort 3/C
- March 1-5, 2021- Cohort 1/A
- March 8-9, 2021- Cohort 2/B Asynchronous Learning Days March 10-11 and Teacher Workday, March 12th
- March 15-19, 2021- Cohort 3/C
- March 22-26, 2021 Cohort 1/A
Medication Drop Off: Medication for new F2F students to have at school may be dropped off on Friday, February 12th or Tuesday, February 16th from 9:00am-3:00pm. Please find more information and required forms in the F2F Family Resources document below.
Before and After School Care Registration: The Taylor YMCA is taking care of the Before and After School programming at FWES for the 2020-21 school year. They provide for our students on the FWES campus. Please use the link above if you need to register your child to be part of the program. Students on cohort rotations (4th/5th graders) may register for only the weeks they attend in person instruction.
F2F Family Resources (for new F2F Families and to review for returning F2F Families): Please find information to assist you and your student in the transition back to the campus for learning during the 2nd semester.
WCPSS will be sharing additional information and updates throughout the week next week. Any new resources will be added to this document for FWES families, too.
FWES Friday Folder Information:
February is Black History Month: Read Aloud Books: Families may want to check out some great read aloud resources that celebrate Black Culture during Black History Month. The FWES Media Center has many of these titles available, too, for check out and pick up at FWES! Enjoy reading and celebrating together!
Lack of Participation Letters: WCPSS and FWES are concerned about our students who are not actively participating in learning regularly (missing live instruction, not completing assignments or a combination of the two). Families have or will receive letters regarding a student's lack of participation within the next week. Please use the informatino provided in the letter to monitor your child's schedule and help them regularly link to live learning/assignments and please reach out to your child's teacher if you have questions.
If you have family challenges and need support of our School Social Worker or Counselor, please reach out to Mrs. Pierce (awpierce@wcpss.net) and she will be happy to connect you and work with you to get the support needed so your student can maximize their learning time this year!
Wake Up and Read Book Donations- FWES will be collecting during library book distribution. Clean off that bookcase now and get them ready for next Friday's pick up! Take Action! Check out the website as volunteers will be needed at the end of the drive to sort and prepare books for students- another great way to take action!
Family Behavioral Health Resources- As shared in this week's note, the district and community partners have put together many options to support behavioral health of families during the pandemic- adults and children. This resource has several sections and many options for parents and families to explore- all at no cost! If you, too, have now realized we are in our 4th season of the year since the pandemic started and could use some new strategies for getting through it all- please take a look!
Dreambox Math! All students at FWES have access to Dreambox Math in their Wake ID Portal- it looks like a blue and green lower case "d". This adaptive program allows students to practice math calculation and problem solving skills based on their current understandings. One of the challenges with the pandemic is the the possibility of learning gaps for students. In math, these gaps can create additional gap later- so to mitigate any gaps or learning loss- Dreambox will monitor your child's responses to questions and problems and if there are errors- will adapt to your child and give them practice and some reteaching of skills or concepts they struggled with when problem solving. Teachers get diagnostic information on students who use Dreambox regularly of where students may have these gaps and they can support them within the math lessons and small group work, too.
- Please help monitor and have your student complete at least 5 lessons each week (they are engaging and fun- we have one student who has averaged almost 30 lessons a week, so 5 is very doable). There is a parent portal where you can see what your child has "completed"- need to complete the lesson, not just start it.
- Don't help your child (or let older siblings or grandparents help)- or the adaptive part of the program cannot work and your child will not fil in learning gaps but be moved forward to skills that are too challenging and frustrating
- Ask your teacher if you are not sure how to log on or have questions about your child's access or parent reports
IB Family Survey 20-21 - Last call for survey responses! This was sent out in December, but we would LOVE to have a few more families respond with information and feedback. Please respond by February 12th. Questions? Contact: Anna Goodrum - Magnet Coordinator
As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, it is a requirement that each school undertakes a formal evaluation process every five years- addressing all aspects of the Primary Years Program. During this year of evaluation, it is required that all stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, administrators) reflect on the standards and practices of our IB PYP. Farmington Woods IB/PYP is being evaluated by the IB Organization in the 2020-21 school year. The formal process will take place over several days in the Spring of 2021, but we are currently in the process of organizing data and documents to share with the visiting team. Your input is important as we work to create an effective PYP school community.
Important: Complete a Meal Benefits Application by Feb. 26, 2021
Parents, please consider applying for meal benefits by Feb 26. For every student that turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the student and teachers at the school. These funds provide additional teachers and staff for the school which means more services for students, especially students that are struggling in reading or math. These funds also are used for materials and supplies for students and teachers. These are valuable resources that teachers can use to improve student achievement.
Yes, meals will still be free for all students through June 2021 but we still need you to complete a meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for this extra funding next year. Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2020-21 school year can be found at www.wcpss.net/Page/1849 . Help our school continue to receive this funding by completing an application online at MySchoolApps.com. Paper applications can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.
1-29-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 8 minutes)
Happy Friday and happy end of January!
The snow was beautiful and a reminder of how many seasons have passed since we last saw each other at FWES- wow! Hard to believe and hard on everyone. Please be sure to review the information below about Family Wellness training and workshop opportunities (virtual of course) that can support you and support you support your students, too. We just received this information this week, so sign up as some sessions have limited registrations. We want to see you all again when it is safe, but in the meantime want you to take care of yourselves and our incredIBle IB learners, too!
The WCPSS Board of Education will be having a work session on Tuesday at 3:00pm and then a Board Meeting at 5:30pm with the expected primary point of discussion will be related to the return of students to school campuses. These meetings are broadcast live on YouTube- WCPSS Channel.
We are excited to transition into February and move to our next IB Learner Profile attribute of Caring, because our FWES community of students, families and staff are the MOST caring groups around! You can start next week by recognizing National School Counselor Week and showing caring to Jennifer Thakur and Hanna Normandeau our wonderful, caring counselors. We appreciate all they do to support our entire school community with a clear focus on supporting our students so they can learn.
Have a wonderful weekend- watch for a possible taste of winter again on Sunday night, too!
Winston Pierce
FWES This Week- February 1-5, 2021
IB Learner Attribute for February: Caring
P2 Character Strength Feb 1-5: Integrity
February- Black History Month
February 1st-5th- School Counselor WeekMonday, Feb 1
Tuesday, Feb 2 Groundhog Day! Sir Walter Wally live event on You Tube 12:00-12:30pm
3:00pm WCPSS Board of Ed Work Session
5:30pm WCPSS Board of Ed Meeting
6:30pm PTA General Body Membership Meeting
7:00pm Q&A with Jennifer Thakur, School counselor- Emotional Wellbeing during pandemic
Wednesday, Feb 3- Asynchronous Day- no live meets
10:00-11:00am Materials Pick Up
2nd and 5th Grades
**No Library Book Pick up due to supplies today
Thursday, Feb 4 8:00am FWES SIP Quarterly Review
Friday, Feb 5 10:00am-2:00pm Library Book Pick Up
Wake Up and Read Book Drop Off
FWES Friday Folder Information:
FWES PTA General Membership Meeting- Tuesday, February 2nd 6:30pm- followed by Counselor Q&A at 7:00pm
The PTA will be having our next General Body Meeting on 2/2/2021 at 6:30 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to check in and find out how you can stay connected to and continue supporting FWES during these unprecedented times.The slate will include:What has your PTA been up to?President's Check-InElecting our new Vice President of Services Lynn O'BrienOpen Positions for next yearThe meeting will be followed by a Q&A session with Jennifer Thakur to start around 7:00pm. She is joining us to answer questions around socialization during Covid, navigating virtual learning, and more. Please use the following link to submit any questions you may have for her:All questions must be submitted by Friday, January 29th.Hope to see many of you there!Family Behavioral Health Resources- As shared in this week's note, the district and community partners have put together many options to support behavioral health of families during the pandemic- adults and children. This resource has several sections and many options for parents and families to explore- all at no cost! If you, too, have now realized we are in our 4th season of the year since the pandemic started and could use some new strategies for getting through it all- please take a look!
Dreambox Math! All students at FWES have access to Dreambox Math in their Wake ID Portal- it looks like a blue and green lower case "d". This adaptive program allows students to practice math calculation and problem solving skills based on their current understandings. One of the challenges with the pandemic is the the possibility of learning gaps for students. In math, these gaps can create additional gap later- so to mitigate any gaps or learning loss- Dreambox will monitor your child's responses to questions and problems and if there are errors- will adapt to your child and give them practice and some reteaching of skills or concepts they struggled with when problem solving. Teachers get diagnostic information on students who use Dreambox regularly of where students may have these gaps and they can support them within the math lessons and small group work, too.
- Please help monitor and have your student complete at least 5 lessons each week (they are engaging and fun- we have one student who has averaged almost 30 lessons a week, so 5 is very doable). There is a parent portal where you can see what your child has "completed"- need to complete the lesson, not just start it.
- Don't help your child (or let older siblings or grandparents help)- or the adaptive part of the program cannot work and your child will not fil in learning gaps but be moved forward to skills that are too challenging and frustrating
- Ask your teacher if you are not sure how to log on or have questions about your child's access or parent reports
IB Family Survey 20-21 - Last call for survey responses! This was sent out in December, but we would LOVE to have a few more families respond with information and feedback. Please respond by February 12th. Questions? Contact: Anna Goodrum - Magnet Coordinator
As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, it is a requirement that each school undertakes a formal evaluation process every five years- addressing all aspects of the Primary Years Program. During this year of evaluation, it is required that all stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, administrators) reflect on the standards and practices of our IB PYP. Farmington Woods IB/PYP is being evaluated by the IB Organization in the 2020-21 school year. The formal process will take place over several days in the Spring of 2021, but we are currently in the process of organizing data and documents to share with the visiting team. Your input is important as we work to create an effective PYP school community.
Important: Complete a Meal Benefits Application by Feb. 26, 2021
Parents, please consider applying for meal benefits by Feb 26. For every student that turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the student and teachers at the school. These funds provide additional teachers and staff for the school which means more services for students, especially students that are struggling in reading or math. These funds also are used for materials and supplies for students and teachers. These are valuable resources that teachers can use to improve student achievement.
Yes, meals will still be free for all students through June 2021 but we still need you to complete a meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for this extra funding next year. Information about applying for Meal Benefits for the 2020-21 school year can be found at www.wcpss.net/Page/1849 . Help our school continue to receive this funding by completing an application online at MySchoolApps.com. Paper applications can be requested by calling 919-588-3535.
FWES Book Pickup TIMES - THERE WILL BE NO BOOK PICKUP ON WEDNESDAY, FEB 3rd due to supply pick up for 2nd and 5th grades. Book pickup will resume on Friday from 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool. PLEASE return any finished books when you come to get new ones and do not come until you receive an email from Mrs. Grice
Wake Up and Read Book Donations- FWES will be collecting during library book distribution. Clean off that bookcase now and get them ready for next Friday's pick up! Take Action! Check out the website as volunteers will be needed at the end of the drive to sort and prepare books for students- another great way to take action!
1-22-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 5 minutes)
Happy Short Week Friday!
Thank you all for your cooperation and work through the shift to our 2nd semester configuration of classrooms and grade level changes that were needed. Our team is ready to support all students with incredIBle teachers no matter their classroom assignment! Your cooperation with the delay of report cards is also appreciated. Expect to receive your report card no later than Tuesday, but some classes may begin to receive them as early as Monday.
It's been fairly quiet at FWES without staff and students and with our schedules and events....and that will continue into next week, too.
Take care, stay well and use those WWW so those who are ready for Face to Face instruction can get back to school safely!
Winston Pierce
FWES This Week
IB Learner Profile- Risk Taker
P2 Character Strength- Supporting Others When They Struggle
Monday 1/25- 9:30-10:30 iStation Family Support- con interprete de espanol para obener ayuda (Google Meet Code: https://meet.google.com/pyp-ofgw-ajm
Tuesday 1/26- Report Cards for Q2 go home via email; 8:00am SIP Quarterly Review Meeting; 10:45am Virtual Magnet Tour and Info Session about FWES
Wednesday 1/27
Thursday 1/28- Last Day for Magnet Applications to be accepted for 2021-2022! Inclement Weather Info for Families 2020-21- just in case that snowflake on my phone happens to happen:)
Friday 1/29
FWES Friday Folder Items:
FWES Yearbook Updates
- FWES 2020-21 Yearbooks for Sale
- Missed Picture Day or in Virtual Academy- How to take pictures at home for the yearbook. Extended Deadline! Photos are due no later than FRIDAY January 22, 2021.
- FWES Yearbook Ads- Learn how to purchase space to recognize your 5th Grade student in our 2020-21 yearbook.
NEW FWES Book Pickup TIMES - Book Pickup will be Wednesday and Friday from 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool. PLEASE return any finished books when you come to get new ones and do not come until you receive an email from Mrs. Grice
WAKE Up and Read … Collection begins next week !!
Farmington Woods will be joining WCPSS again this year in the collection of books. The county is hoping to get 200,000 books. We need books for babies, toddlers, and elementary school children up to 12 years old. These books need to be new or gently used. Your support will help ensure that ALL children have access to the books necessary to foster a love for reading and literacy skills. We will be collecting books on Wednesdays and Fridays in the front of the school. Our 2021 drive runs January 23 - February 28. To learn more about WAKE Up and Read, please visit www.wakeupandread.org, and follow WAKE Up and Read on Facebook and Twitter.
TSI Notification to FWES Families: Notification per state mandate (an annual announcement from a designation in 2019) - As a parent/guardian of a student at Farmington Woods Elementary, I must inform you that FWES has been designated as a Targeted Support & Improvement Additional Targeted Support (TSI-AT) school by the North Carolina State Board of Education. As stated in ESSA Section 1111(d)(2), North Carolina had to identify schools for targeted support and improvement. TSI-AT schools in North Carolina are those that have a subgroup that is under-performing. FWES was identified based on the EOG test scores of students in our Students with Disabilities (SWD) category that were not comparable to the other subgroups of students at FWES.
As a TSI-AT school, FWES is required to develop a comprehensive plan that specifically addresses how the school will improve student achievement. The plan will also include how our district will support us and monitor the progress of our school. Please find our current School Improvement Plan and supporting documents on our FWES Website under “Our School”---”School Improvement” to review our plan.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: We are currently registering kindergartners for NEXT year. If you have a student who will be 5 by August 31, 2021 or know of one, please make sure that student starts the registration process. Early registration allows our school (and others) to best plan for staffing and space needs prior to summer and best prepare for student arrival in August!
FWES PTA General Membership Meeting- Mark Your Calendars!
We are having our General Body Meeting on 2/2/2021 at 6:30 pm.
* Mtg link will go out later with budget, minutes, and agenda
Meeting starts at 6:30 pm
Topics include:
- Electing VP of Services Lynn O'Brien
- What has your PTA been up to
- Open Positions for next year
- President's check-in
Followed by a Q&A session with Jennifer Thakur, school counselor, to start around 7:00pm. She is joining us to answer questions around socialization during Covid, navigating the emotions of virtual learning, and more. Please submit questions by 1/29. Question Form
1-15-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message (10 minutes)
Happy Friday!
I hope you have had a great week. It was my hope that we would be ending the week preparing for our face to face student to return but due to many data points and current conditions in schools and beyond, for the safety of students and staff, the WCPSS Board of Education voted last night to continue remote learning for ALL K-12 students through the middle of February. Currently the board is scheduled to vote on February 9th with a then expected return of Wednesday, February 17th (Monday and Tuesday that week there is no school scheduled).
This decision means that our Materials Pick Ups planned for VA students in K, 3rd and 4th have now been expanded to include ALL students at each of those grade levels for Tuesday, January 19th- see below for more details. The remaining three grade levels will be scheduling another date for their students in the near future.
At this time we are continuing to move ahead with our newly reorganized 2nd semester rosters, so students who had been reassigned to a new teacher will begin in that classroom on Wednesdsay. If the district were to provide additional guideance between now and Wednesday that would cause us to make a shift back, I will let you know. I appreciate the support of families with the many changes that were necessary to create structures at each grade level where students and staff working with Face to Face students will be safe. It is always challenging when we approach changes, but I have found in my many years as an educator, with family and school adult support, students are resilient and often help us as adults find and see the silver lining! With the clear intent of the WCPSS Board of Education to work hard for the safe return of students to the building as soon as possible, it makes the most sense to begin those configurations at this time.
Please help me welcome two new teachers to our FWES Team. Mrs. Kayla Belote-Perry is joining our 4th grade team. She joins us after teaching 5 years in Durham and is already in love with the IB/PYP program and how engaged her students are as learners! Ms. Syreeta Sutton is joining our team as our Pre K Teacher. Ms. Sutton was serving in that same classroom space as an Instructional Assistant and has been enrolled in a teacher licensure program to taking over the teacher position this week. We are so fortunate to have her knowledge of the classroom, students and families as she makes this transition.
I hope you all have a wonderful long weekend- remember no school on Monday and no school, but materials pick up on Tuesday for half of our school! We will see you online on Wednesday, January 20th to start the 2nd semester of the year! We are at the halfway point of the 2020-21 year!
Take care and love to all- Winston Pierce
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Risk Taker
P2- Perseverance
Monday 1/18- Holiday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Birthday
Tuesday 1/19- No School- Teacher Workday
Medication Drop Off 9:00am-3:00pm in Front Office for Face to Face students 2nd Semester
All Kinder, 3rd and 4th are picking up supplies- Virtual Academy and Face to Face Learners
(February 3rd- 5th and 2nd grade; 1st Grade TBD)
10:00-11:00am- 4th Grade
1:00-2:00pm- Kindergarten AND 3rd Grade
Wednesday 1/20- Start of 2nd Semester! New Classrooms placements begin; New Specials Rotations- Day 1; FWES PTA Spirit Night Chipotle 4-8pm! Spanish Chipotle
Thursday 1/21
Friday 1/22- Report cards for Q2 emailed home; 12:00-1:00pm iStation Questions Session (again from 9:30-10:30am on Monday- Intérprete de español disponible)
FWES Friday Folder Notes:
Inclement Weather Info for Families 2020-21- new procedures this year if schools cannot operate due to inclement weather, please review
Medication Drop Off- Tues 9:00-3:00pm- will accept and reschedule additional times when students are officially returning to campus
Annual WCPSS Asbestos Notification Statement- required family notification letter from WCPSS Maintenance
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: We are currently registering kindergartners for NEXT year. If you have a student who will be 5 by August 31, 2021 or know of one, please make sure that student starts the registration process. Early registration allows our school (and others) to best plan for staffing and space needs prior to summer and best prepare for student arrival in August!
NEW FWES Book Pickup Remote Learning TIMES - Book Pickup will be Wednesday (except 2/3 due to materials pick ups scheduled) and Friday from 10:00 am - 2:00pm in the front carpool. PLEASE return any finished books when you come to get new ones and do not come until you receive an email from Mrs. Grice
Assessment Update: All students K-5 will participate in the middle of year benchmark reading assessment using IStation. Assessments will occur Wednesday, January 20th- Friday,January 29th. Specific details will be shared with families from their individual teacher.
If you have questions about accessing the Istation platform remotely please email Elizabeth Plotkin, eplotkin@wcpss.net.
You may also come to a Q&A session on Friday, Jan 22nd 12:00-1:00pm OR Monday, Jan 25th 9:30-10:30am (Intérprete de español disponible para ayudar) Use THIS LINK for the Q&A sessions. The link is also on the FWES Public Calendar.
FWES Yearbook Updates
- FWES 2020-21 Yearbooks for Sale
- Missed Picture Day or in Virtual Academy- How to take pictures at home for the yearbook. Extended Deadline! Photos are due no later than FRIDAY January 22, 2021.
- FWES Yearbook Ads- Learn how to purchase space to recognize your 5th Grade student in our 2020-21 yearbook.
20th Annual African American Cultural Celebration- NC Museum of History- Registration Information
An online experience: Saturday, Jan. 30, 2021
Join us virtually for our 20th Annual African American Cultural Celebration, the statewide kickoff to Black History Month in Raleigh. Named a Top 20 Event by the Southeast Tourism Society since 2015, this year’s annual celebration will bring together community organizations, authors, artists, musicians, filmmakers, and scholars to showcase the contributions that African Americans, past and present, have made to North Carolina’s history and culture. This year’s digital format will allow the Museum of History to share those contributions in a safe environment to a statewide audience.1-8-2021
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 8 minutes)
Happy Friday! I hope you all have had a great week- we have been so happy to see the wonderful student attendance and participation this remote learning week- remember one more week to go!
The week presented many challenges due to things happening outside of our school community, but a great time to revisit our Positivity Project motto- #otherpeoplematter- and our IB Mission- "....create a better and more peaceful world" as we support our students as learners and those who will make a difference in our world. I continue to carry the P2 strength of the week, optimism, moving into 2021 and seeing our students, families and staff and the strength of our school community fuels that sense of optimism!
We are currently preparing for the return of all K-5 Face to Face students on Wednesday, January 20th. Based on the selections made by families in December, I have worked to reorganize our grade levels and classrooms to serve students in Virtual Academy and Face to Face. Teachers will receive their updated classroom rosters on Monday and will begin reaching out to families about your teacher assignment for the Second Semester, Spring 2021, on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. The WCPSS Board of Education will be meeting again on Tuesday, January 12th with a particular focus on 4th and 5th grade class sizes and of course if there are any changes made at that point, it will be shared with our families.
I am so appreciative of our families and miss you all so very much! In doing virtual magnet information sessions for families, we share an FWES video and I am always almost in tears by the end because I miss our FWES family and all of us being together in our building. We will get through and we will continue to work as hard as we can to serve our students and families the best we can, but I just like it when we are AT school the best:)
Have a wonderful weekend!
Winston Pierce
FWES This Week- January 11-15, 2021- Remote Learning for ALL Students continues
IB Learner Profile Trait- Risk Taker
P2 Character Strength- Prudence- You plan for the future and your future goals by making careful choices every day.
***Grade Level 1st Semester GOLD Celebrations This Week (see teacher communication for details to celebrate Going for the GOLD!)
Monday, January 11- 6:30pm PTA Board Meeting
Tuesday, January 12
Wednesday, January 13- Asynchronous Learning Day- complete assignments in Google Classroom for attendance
Thursday, January 14
Friday, January 15- FWES Virtual Magnet Info and Tours 10:00am and 1:45pm
Note: No School Monday, January 18th- Holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr B-Day; No School Tuesday, January 19th- Teacher Workday (however see below about materials pick up times scheduled)
Friday Folder Information and Notes:
- Materials for 2nd Semester Pick Ups for Virtual Academy Students: Please make a note of the grade levels and times below when materials students in Virtual Academy will need for 3rd Quarter and 2nd Semester will be availble for pick up at FWES. If your grade level is not listed, no additional materials are needed at this time. Additional dates and times will be scheduled in the future.
- Tuesday, January 19th
- 10:00-11:00am- 4th Grade
- 1:00-2:00pm- Kindergarten and 3rd Grade
- Tuesday, January 19th
- 3rd Grade Families- Read to Achieve Information from NC Department of Public Instruction: Please review the information below regarding the Read to Achieve legislation that requires all 3rd graders to read on grade level by the end of the school year. A session will be set up in the next few weeks to answer any questions you may have- stay tuned.
- Read to Achieve and 3rd Grade Beginning of Grade Reading Test Letter
- Read to Achieve Information Power Point English Spanish
- 3rd Grade Virtual Academy Students- BOG Invitation: Please review the email sent by your child's teacher and respond to the link below no later than noon on Monday, January 11th so we can plan appropriately for providing Virtual Academy students the opportunity to take the BOG on campus at FWES. Thank you!
- Go for the GOLD Celebrations: Our FWES Healthy Schools Leadership Team has planned our annual GOLD celebration events to be virtual this year. Grade levels will communicate with families the day and time(s) that students will be participating. Enjoy the activities and the celebration of our students Giving and Earning Respect, Owning their actions, Leading by Example and Demonstrating Cooperation.... all things that maximize learning!
- Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: We are currently registering kindergartners for NEXT year. If you have a student who will be 5 by August 31, 2021 or know of one, please make sure that student starts the registration process. Early registration allows our school (and others) to best plan for staffing and space needs prior to summer and best prepare for student arrival in August!
FWES PTA News: FWES Board Meeting for January, Monday, January 11th at 6:30pm
- FWES Yearbook Updates
- FWES 2020-21 Yearbooks for Sale
- Missed Picture Day or in Virtual Academy- How to take pictures at home for the yearbook. Photos are due no later than NEXT FRIDAY January 15, 2021.
- FWES Yearbook Ads- Learn how to purchase space to recognize your 5th Grade student in our 2020-21 yearbook.
- Wake County PTA Reflections Contest
- Congratulations to Gwyneth Overton 5th Grader for her 1st Place recognition in the 3D Visual Arts Category, Intermmediate for a piece entitled: The Heart That Matters. Her work will now move on to the state level competition. FWES PTA sponsors our school based Reflections contest annually to allow students the opportunity to share their creativity.
12-18-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 7 minutes)
Happy, happy Friday to our Farmington Woods Families! We have had a great Gift of Reading week and many thanks to our volunteers and supportive families throughout the week. As we head in to Winter Break, I encourage our students to continue to give themselves the gift of reading each day! I also encourage them to take some time to continue to practice math on Dream Box- I look forward to sharing information about our top 5 classrooms for lessons completed when we return on January 4th!
Thank you for the emails and phone calls related to the Spring Semester Confirmation Letters. The systems that generate lists for the school messenger system don't always "play nicely" with the systems used for Virtual Academy registration. We realize there may have been mixed messages sent and we will continue to work with families to insure you are in the placement you expected.
As a reminder, the Board of Education determined that January 4-15, 2021 will be Remote Learning for ALL students. This effort is related to the health protocols that are followed for safety that require extensive quarantining for symptoms and/or exposures. These protocols have created some challenges in schools to provide appropriate adult supervision. There is hope that this time will allow for development of plans by the district to assist with filling of the gaps and provide all students and staff time away from each other so that upon the start of 2nd Semester on January 20th- we are good to go!!!
During this time, staff have been asked to telework, so there will not be someone in the office each day to take your phone calls, however, the messages will be checked regularly throughout the day and returned as soon as possible. Beginning January 4th- email may be the fastest tool for communication with FWES Staff members:)
After a very complex 2020- I wish you all a joy and peace filled break and all the happiness possible for 2021!
With love, Mrs. Pierce
FWES Friday Folder:
Remote Learning for ALL students- January 4-15, 2021. Teachers will communicate schedule information and students should log on Monday, January 4, 2021. FWES News begins at 9:05am!
No library book pick up 1st two weeks in January- reserve books and they will ready when return to campus! More information to come.
Supply Pick up for Second Semester: We are working on details for supply pick up for Virtual Academy students on either January 13th or 19th. More information will be available when we return on January 4th.
Second Semester: Please make sure your calendar indicates- Second Semester begins January 20, 2021.
Face to Face Families- New to Second Semester: More information will go home as the start of the semester gets closer but if you will need care for your student before and/or after school. Please use this link to the Taylor YMCA to get more information and register for the program. The program takes place on the FWES campus but is run by the YMCA.
IB Family Survey: LINK HERE
- As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, it is a requirement that each school undertakes a formal evaluation process every five years- addressing all aspects of the Primary Years Program. During this year of evaluation, it is required that all stakeholders (parents, students, teachers, administrators) reflect on the standards and practices of our IB PYP. Farmington Woods IB/PYP is being evaluated by the IB Organization in the 2020-21 school year. The formal process will take place over several days in the Spring of 2021, but we are currently in the process of organizing data and documents to share with the visiting team. Your input is important as we work to create an effective PYP school community.
- Attached is a series of questions that relate to important components of the IB Primary Years Program. There may be questions you don't understand or are not applicable to you individually. If you are not sure about a question, it is acceptable to mark N/A.
- Thank you for helping us reflect on and improve our practices in the implementation of the PYP.
- If you have any questions, please contact Anna Goodrum, Magnet Coordinator - agoodrum@wcpss.net
12-11-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message ( 6 minutes)
Happy Friday to our FWES Families!
I hope you have all had a great week. I continue to be amazed by the talents of our teachers and the commitment of our students and our families as each day I see students growing and learning- in classrooms and on line. I am also thankful that although some things are different, the foundational principles or our IB/PYP approach are still the core of our planning and our students' engagement in their learning. I had the pleasure of serving on a panel at a Global IB Conference this week (at 2:30am because the conference was in Singapore:) to discuss student voice, choice and ownership in the classroom. And as with all things, we all have things we must do- but I watch our classrooms each day find ways for students to have a voice, choice and ownership as learners and when conference participants asked me questions- I had real world examples from FWES to share with them because of our school's vision and the IB mission.
We are beginning our Magnet Recruiting window and will have our 2nd Virtual Tour on Monday. If you are a magnet family, you got the "feel" of being in our building.... our prospective families can't get that, but we are working hard to provide them with as much as we can in the virtual format. Your word of mouth about the work we do with the IB/PYP structures is a great recruiting tool for us.... so please feel free to send friends and neighbors interested in our school to one of our upcoming sessions. The Magnet application window closes on January 28, 2021.
My heart is full each day because of the FWES extended family I get to be a part of and I wish you all a break that is restful, joyful and peaceful.... hoping that in all that you do, in these difficult times, that your heart is FULL, too.
Sending global wishes for peace on earth and a Happy New Year-
Winston Pierce
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Principled
P2 Focus- Self-Control
Monday, December 14- Exercise your Brain and Read! 10:00 Virtual Magnet Tour
Tuesday, December 15- Tacky Sweater Tuesday- Read Together Day! *Last Day to request books for check out for Winter Break
Wednesday, December 16- Asynchronous Day- assignments on line; Wild Animal Wednesday- read to a stuffed animal today; Spring Semester confirmation letters emailed to families (in the PM)
Thursday, December 17- Lights out and Read (F2F students may bring flashlights to use at school to read- of course VA students do the same at home)
Friday, December 18- Relax and Read- PJs!
Winter Break- December 21, 2020-Jan 3, 2021- FWES Office will be closed. FWES Office will reopen on Monday, January 4, 2021. Happy New Year!
*Note- 1st Semester continues through Jan 15th- if you made a change and received a confirmation letter for 2nd semester- your student begins in their NEW learning environment on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
Jan 4-8: Cohort 2 4th/5th Grade Return; All current K-3 F2F return!
FWES Friday Folder Notes:
Mrs. Moore at the Front Desk is Retiring- send her your well wishes! Well Wishes for Mrs. Moore at FWES
Spring Semester Updates:Spring Semester Starts on Wednesday, January 20, 2021.
- Confirmation of VA and F2F placement for spring will come in a letter on Wednesday, December 16th. No additional changes can be made at this time.
- Face to Face- if you are moving to Face to Face from Virtual Academy and will want to ride the bus- fill out the Bus Registration Form for the 2020-21 school year.
- All bus riders are also required to have completed the Bus Attestation form before riding a school bus. Please go ahead and complete the form now:)
We are beginning to work on the configuration of grade levels and classrooms for the Spring Semester. Information about teacher and classroom placement for the Spring Semester will go home no later than January 16, 2021 but as soon as we can have it ready and we are hopeful it will be before that date. There are many interconnected parts that must be taken into consideration and those take time to process and arrange. There are several grade levels that will require some reconfiguration so it will take some additional time to create classrooms.
Gift of Reading- Theme reading days all next week and families invited to read virtually in classrooms- contact your child's teacher to share your interest in being a virtual reader on Tuesday!
Reading Log- complete on paper or electronic and give/send to teacher- by 12/17 to be included in the drawing for books!
(note you will have to make a copy and save it by your name to access again and make sure your reading is collected on one page)
PTA Cultural Arts Performance this week: We are so thankful for our FWES PTA and their support (along with the United Arts Council of Wake County) in continuing the cultural arts experiences for our students in a virtual format. This week students will enjoy The Beast-Sankofa, a history of African American music from spirituals to hip hop. Grade levels have chosen a time this week to watch the performance and teachers will be sharing that information in their family communications.
Library Book Pick-up
- Monday - Friday 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool loop
- BE sure to request books for the Winter break by TUESDAY, Dec 15th, to allow time for them to be processed for pick up!!
- REMEMBER to wait until you get the email from Mrs. Grice to come get your books
Virtual Academy Students- Pictures for the Yearbook- VA students- Take your yearbook picture at home to be included in the FWES Yearbook. Read the guidelines and submit your photo by January 15, 2021 so you are included in your classroom section. This yearbook will be one for the history books! Guidelines here- due January 15, 2021
12-4-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (8 minutes)
TODAY IS LAST DAY TO REGISTER FOR HOLIDAY FOOD BUNDLES FOR CHILDREN 18 and YOUNGER:
Holiday Food Bundle Registration Link
IB Learner Profile: Principled
P2 Focus: Knowing my words and actions affect others
FWES This Week:
Monday, December 7- Welcome Back Cohort 3 4th/5th Graders! Returning to Campus Family Checklist
Tuesday, December 8- Cohort 3 Pictures
Wednesday, December 9- Last Day for Spring Registration for Elem Families
Thursday, December 10-
Friday, December 11- 8:30am PTA Virtual Coffee Chat- Asynchronous Learning Day- Remote Learning for ALL
FWES the Next Week (Dec 14-18): Gift of Reading!!!
Monday- Exercise your Brain- exercise or fan/team/jersey attire
Tuesday- Tacky Sweater Tuesday
Wednesday- Wild Animal Wednesday (asynchronous day at home)
Thursday- Turn off the Lights and Read (flashlight reading)
Friday- Relax and Read- Pajama Day!
Hi FWES Families!
It was great to see so many of you at the Thursday Q&A session- I truly miss seeing and talking with our families each day! Now is the time for ALL families to consider the Spring Semester and the learning environment that will be best for your student. Information is linked below that will allow you to make a change from your current setting as it relates to Virtual Academy or Face to Face Instruction. Please make a note that the deadline is December 9th for your input.
We are excited to begin preparation for the Gift of Reading at FWES and hope you will consider being a virtual reader to your student's classroom on Tuesday, December 15th. Please review the information link below and reach out to your child's teacher if you are available during the grade level's guest reader time. We cannot have readers IN the building this year, but we've all gotten pretty good at Google Meets and can welcome readers through the virtual format to celebrate reading!
Interim Reports are being emailed to families today as we have reached the mid-point of the 2nd Quarter of the year. Please review your child's information and contact the teacher if you have any questions.
Next week note- The Asynchronous Day is on FRIDAY- not Wednesday.
We are so appreciative of your partnership with FWES to provide support for your child's academic success! Have a wonderful weekend!
Winston Pierce
FWES Friday Folder Information:
Register for 2nd Semester Lighting Our Way Forward- Guide for Reopening
*students in K-3 are currently in Plan A
*students in 4-5 are currently in Plan B
*Beginning Jan 20th- K-5 will be Plan A
It is time for families to consider Spring Semester, 2020 (begins January 20, 2021). Information about registration is linked along with the guide to protocols and policies related to the return of students to school. Please note that beginning January 20, 2021, K-5 students will be Plan A and social distancing requirements will be met- to the extent possible- as we will have full classrooms of students (like we do now with our K-3 students in the building). The Lighting our Way Forward guide is also linked for families to review the practices that will be in place in Plan A if your student were to return to campus. Please reach out if you have any additional questions.
Happy Retirement to Susan Moore, FWES receptionist extraordinaire! We want to wish Mrs. Moore well as she prepares to retire from WCPSS after giving 25 years of service to schools, with the last 8 years at Farmington Woods as our amazing receptionist! She knows all of our students and families and will miss helping everyone! She is looking forward to spending much more time with her family and her 4 grandchildren! December 18th will be her last day at Farmington Woods. Please feel free to drop of a card/note, mail it to the school (1413 Hampton Valley Road, Cary, NC 27511) or enter your thoughts here (by December 11th) and we will make sure they get shared with her! Mrs. Moore Retirement Well Wishes, December 2020
Gift of Reading Preview- Read here about our Annual Gift of Reading event scheduled for December 14-18. Note the time that your student's grade level will be welcoming guest readers on Tuesday, November 15th and let your teacher know if you are interested in being a virtual guest reader that day!
Social Emotional Learning for WCPSS Families: Please review the flyers below for how parents and families might participate in upcoming trainings related to social emotional well-being. A great opportunity to learn!
5th Grade Families- As you begin to explore middle school options for your student- Dillard Drive Magnet Middle School would like to invite you to check out their new magnet theme: Center for World Languages and Spanish Immersion. Read more here and sign up to attend a virtual session: Dillard Drive Magnet Middle School Flyer
Pictures for Cohort 3 on Tuesday, December 8th: Face to face students in Cohort 3 K-5 will have photos taken at school on Tuesday, December 8th. Virtual Academy students are also invited to sign up for times to have your formal picture taken. Review the information linked to get all the details.
Virtual Academy Students- Pictures for the Yearbook- VA students- Take your yearbook picture at home to be included in the FWES Yearbook. Read the guidelines and submit your photo by January 15, 2021 so you are included in your classroom section. This yearbook will be one for the history books! Guidelines here- due January 15, 2021
Library Book Pick-up
- Monday - Friday 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool loop
- REMEMBER to wait until you get the email from Mrs. Grice to come get your books
11-20-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (6 minutes:)
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Thinker
P2- Gratitude- FWES Shows Gratitude
- Monday, November 23 State required Remote Learning Day- No students at FWES- asynchronous learning and attendance taken based on completion of assignments
- Tuesday, November 24 State required Remote Learning Day- No students at FWES- asynchronous learning and attendance taken based on completion of assignments
- November 25-27- Thanksgiving Holiday Break
Looking ahead to the next week:
- Monday, November 30- Welcome Cohort 2 of 4th/5th Graders! PreK, ECS and K-3 attend daily!
- Tuesday, December 1- Picture Day for Cohort 2 students K-5; VA Students Sign up for picture times (see links below)
- Wednesday, December 2- Asynchronous Learning Day- no students at FWES- attendance taken on completion of assignments; Portal to Choose Learning Setting for 2nd Semester Opens for Elementary Families (open through December 9th)
- Thursday, December 3- PTA Q&A with Mrs. Pierce 6pm- see below for entering questions
- Friday, December 4- Interim Reports for Q2 home with all students
FWES Friday Folder Messages:
Happy Retirement to Susan Moore, FWES receptionist extraordinaire! We want to wish Mrs. Moore well as she prepares to retire from WCPSS after giving 25 years of service to schools, with the last 8 years at Farmington Woods as our amazing receptionist! She knows all of our students and families and will miss helping everyone! She is looking forward to spending much more time with her family and her 4 grandchildren! December 18th will be her last day at Farmington Woods. Please feel free to drop of a card/note, mail it to the school (1413 Hampton Valley Road, Cary, NC 27511) or enter your thoughts here (by December 11th) and we will make sure they get shared with her! Mrs. Moore Retirement Well Wishes, December 2020
Food Distribution During Thanksgiving Week
Curbside pick up locations and Big Bus Food Truck sites will distribute two lunches and two breakfasts on Fri., Nov. 20 to also cover meals for Mon. Nov. 23 as all curbside pick up locations and Big Bus Food Truck locations will be closed on this date. On Tuesday, Nov. 24, our CNS team will distribute a four-day holiday pack at our curbside pick-up locations and Big Bus Food Truck sites as long as supplies last. Food distribution services will not be occurring Nov. 25-27.
Reminder- ID Required for Student check out or pick up at FWES! As we have more students attending school in person, there are times when students need to be checked out or picked up by families. Since families are not allowed to enter the building and we have a variety of staff (some of them new) responsible for check out of students- adults presenting at FWES to sign students out will be asked to show Photo ID so it can be compared with the student's record and we can continue to insure the safety of our students before releasing them from school, even if school staff know you:) Thank you for
your cooperation to keep all students safe! This process is in place during the school day, when students have to go home sick and when a family does not arrive on time for the dismissal process*.
*Please note: Due to not being able to congregate students in a central location, if you are not on time to pick up your student as a carpooler (arrival after 4:00pm) or walker (arrival after 3:40pm); your child will be sent back to their classroom to be supervised by their homeroom teacher. Thank you for your cooperation!
Families unable to arrive during our required dismissal windows may choose to enroll students in the YMCA after school program on site at FWES.
Classroom Setting for Spring Semester, 2021- (January 20-June 11)- Elementary Families Choose December 2-9: Please make a note of the WCPSS communication about choosing a classroom setting for your student for the Spring Semester. ALL families are able to make a choice during this time frame. Please note that at FWES, there are likely to be some teacher and classroom changes based on the choices made for the Spring semester.
FWES Shows Gratitude in November! Although there are many challenges that we are all facing each day, it is important to continue to focus on those things that are positive, as we all have many people and things that we can recognize with gratitude. Students, families and staff will be invited to share their thoughts. Please help us fill our Gratitude Tree with your thoughts and wishes of Gratitude throughout the month of November. Enter your thoughts on the link and we will add your gratitude to a leaf to add to our tree- help us fill the tree by November 24th! Students participating in Face to Face instruction are also invited to add their own statements while at school to put on our tree.
Fall Pictures are Coming!! FWES will offer Fall pictures through Lifetouch Photography. Students enrolled in face to face instruction will have individual photos on 12/1 for Cohort 2/B, and 12/8 for Cohort 3/C with some exceptions shared by classroom teacher. Fall Picture Details
We still need volunteers for picture day! Use the following link to signup:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0449A9A62CA57-picture
FWES PTA Updates:
Room Parent and Virtual Volunteers
We are finalizing the details and will be reaching out soon, if you have not already signed up and are interested, please reach out to Ushma Shukla, our volunteer coordinator at ushukla.pta@gmail.com
Q&A with Mrs.Pierce
Mark your calendars for December 3rd at 6pm for another Q&A with Mrs. Pierce
Please return Question Forms (Link) by November 27th
11-13-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (12 minutes)
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Thinker
P2- Gratitude- FWES Shows Gratitude
- Monday, November 16- Welcome All K-3rd and Cohort 1 of 4th/5th!
- Tuesday, November 17- Picture Day for Cohort 1 Students K-5! Virtual Academy register for a picture appointment
- Wednesday, November 18- Asynchronous Learning- No students at school- assignments given online and attendance taken based on completion of assignments; 2nd/3rd Grade VA Supply Pick up 3:00-4:00pm
- Thursday, November 19- WCPSS Parent Session on Magnet School Applications 5:00pm; 6:00pm Virtual Book Fair Guest Reader- Ms. Binns!
- Friday, November 20- Don't forget Remote Learning Monday and Tuesday and to contact your teacher if you have not yet had your parent conference!
Next Week Notes:
- Monday, November 23 State required Remote Learning Day- No students at FWES- asynchronous learning and attendance taken based on completion of assignments
- Tuesday, November 24 State required Remote Learning Day- No students at FWES- asynchronous learning and attendance taken based on completion of assignments
- November 25-27- Thanksgiving Holiday Break
FWES Friday Folder Messages:
FWES Shows Gratitude in November! Although there are many challenges that we are all facing each day, it is important to continue to focus on those things that are positive, as we all have many people and things that we can recognize with gratitude. Students, families and staff will be invited to share their thoughts. Please help us fill our Gratitude Tree with your thoughts and wishes of Gratitude throughout the month of November. Enter your thoughts on the link and we will add your gratitude to a leaf to add to our tree- help us fill the tree by November 24th! Students participating in Face to Face instruction are also invited to add their own statements while at school to put on our tree.
FWES Honors Veterans in our School Community 2020- Thank you to our families and staff members for helping us honor our FWES Community veterans last week and thank you for your service!
Library Book Pick-up - Updates Beginning November 16th
- Monday - Friday 10:00am - 2:00pm in the front carpool loop
- Beginning Monday, Nov 16th - Books will be delivered to classrooms for students who are in the building
- REMEMBER to wait until you get the email from Mrs. Grice to come get your books
All Bus Riders- Important Information: Bus Attestation Forms stating that parents and children will abide by health and safety protocols for bus ridership. These forms are required for students to be transported by school bus. Families, if you plan on riding school bus, please reference this link and complete the on-line attestation form- Students are not permitted to ride the bus until this form has been submitted. You will need to submit a form for all of your children who plan to ride the bus during the 2020-21 school year.
Submit form online | EspañolFall Pictures are Coming!! FWES will offer Fall pictures through Lifetouch Photography. Students enrolled in face to face instruction will have individual photos on Tuesdays 11/17 for Cohort 1/A, 12/1 for Cohort 2/B, and 12/8 for Cohort 3/C with some exceptions shared by classroom teacher. Fall Picture Details
We still need volunteers for picture day! Use the following link to signup:https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0449A9A62CA57-picture
Sick Students (important updated information): A reminder that students with ANY symptom of COVID-19 will be sent home immediately and is unable to return to campus for 10 days or until a medical professional provides information that the symptoms are NOT related to COVID-19 through a negative COVID test. This policy has been updated to indicate that if a student shows symptoms at school, the student's siblings must also go home at the same time and follow the procedure of remaining home for 10 days unless a medical professional has additional information for the school. Thank you for your cooperation in maintaining a safe environment for ALL members of our FWES community!
- Update your contact phone numbers! Please make sure if you update your phone number that you email your child's teacher the new contact # AND email Mrs. Tracy-Dale, data manager (mtracy-dale@wcpss.net) so your child's records can be updated, too, and we are able to contact you in the event of an emergency.
FWES PTA Updates:
Virtual Book Fair continues ….be sure to join our google meets on Thursdays at 6:00pm for a special staff “guest“ reader
Have you started buying for the holidays yet? Books might be the perfect option and you will be helping our school in the process! Visit our virtual book fair, hosted by the FWES PTA, to get started!
www.bedfordfallsusa.com School Code: FWES1
Don't forget to join us on Thursday nights at 6pm during the book fair to hear guest readers!
https://meet.google.com/dam-xxvg-tes 11/19 Ms. Binns
Email bookfair@fwespta.org if you have any questions.
PTA Reflections Contest: The National PTA organization sponors a contest each year to showcase student creativity and talent in the arts through Reflections. Entries are in various arts categories and around the theme: "I matter because...." Entries are due by November 16th- information on how to submit virtual entries is included on the flyer linked above.
PTA Reflections Contest- Espanol
FWES Face to Face (F2F) Families: Mrs. Pierce's Message to F2F Families (13 minutes)
Returning to FWES Slide Show with Photos
WCPSS Return to Campus Guide for Families WCPSS Health Safety Videos- English and Spanish to watch with your student!
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21-
FWES Handbook Highlights and Updates for F2F Families
Spanish Version Arabic Version
Cohort Assignments and Calendar for Returning Students
ALL PreK, ECS and K-3 students return on Monday, November 16th! Whole classrooms will be attending daily instruction beginning next week.
Cohorts 1 of 4th and 5th grade students will return on Monday, November 16th! Cohorts 2 and 3 of 4th and 5th grade students will remain in virtual learning the week of November 16-20th.
Getting Ready to Return to FWES! Returning to FWES Family Checklist
Review the checklist provided to make sure you are ready to return to the classroom.
There will be many things that are the same, but many that will be different as our students return, especially as it relates to the Safety Protocols in place. Please take time to watch the videos provided by WCPSS WITH your student and help them understand the expectations when they are in any school building this year. We will also be highlighting these videos on our FWES News this week, so tune in to see them again:)
WCPSS Health Safety Protocol Videos- In English and Spanish!!!!
Medication Drop Off: Thank you the families who dropped of medication on Thursday and Friday. If you have medication to drop off at school- it can only be accepted between 9:30am-3:00pm due to the requirements of staff to support health screenings, arrival and dismissal processes. If you arrive during the arrival process, you will need to wait outside, social distancing in a mask until 9:30am. Thank you!
Reminder that all medication requires the signed doctor's order (Rx medications and any required over the counter medications).
WCPSS Medication Information and required 1702 Form
Student Dismissal Transportation Information Thank you for filling out this form or for responding to phone calls and messages last week. We want to make sure we know how your student will be going home on their first day. If you are Cohort 2 or 3 and have not yet filled out this form- please fill it out ASAP.
- Bus Transportation Information:
Please take time to review the information linked above and watch the video to review the bus arrival and dismissal process with your child.
All riders must present to the driver or complete on line- the Parent Attestation Form that provides your assurance that your child's temperature will be taken at home each morning and that he/she will not get on a bus if they are not feeling well.
More WCPSS Bus Info and paper Bus Attestation Form
Bus Routes for FWES- Routes for 2020-21
Here Comes the Bus App- Use this link to download and connect to the Here Comes the Bus app to track your child's bus daily
Carpool and Walker Information:
Expect delays due to increased number of students and health screening process. Thank you for your cooperation.
Walkers must be picked up by 3:40pm Daily
Carpool ends at 4:05pm Daily
Please take time to review the documents linked and watch the videos about the procedures for both processes.
No adults will be allowed to move beyond the screening stations set up- only students allowed on the front porch to enter the school. Please make sure your child is aware that you cannot walk with them. If your child may struggle to separate from you if you are standing beside them as a "walker", it is recommended that you consider using carpool drop off, as staff may not have contact with students to hold a hand or give a hug to help them walk to their classroom.
All individuals on campus must wear masks (including adults with students) and maintain 6 ft social distancing. Please be mindful of younger siblings and keep them with your family at all times.
Supply Lists for F2F Families: It will be important that due to Remote/Asynchronous learning days, that F2F students have supplies at school AND at home for learning. If you are able, updated supply lists are linked here for getting your child the things they need at school. Due to safety, supplies cannot be shared in the classroom so if you want to send extra supplies for teachers to have on hand for students who may forget to bring supplies or run out during the day, that's great, too.
**The one addition for all students K-5th is a pool/beach towel for school. We are going to try to eat outside on as many days as possible and to help students maintain social distancing and provide them a nice spot for eating, we are asking each to bring a large towel to use during the week. It will be sent home with students each Friday for washing and returning the following week. If you have an extra for students who may not bring them, thank you for sharing!
Technology Guidance for Families: All students returning to the FWES campus are expected to bring their WCPSS Chromebook- CHARGED- each day. It will return home with the student daily for access to homework and on remote learning days.
*At FWES, students without a WCPSS Chromebook checked out to them at home- will be assigned a FWES Chromebook that will be used only by that student while on campus. While the WCPSS document references, bring your own device, we have found that WCPSS systems and other resources sometimes do now work well on non-WCPSS devices- so we are not going to sponsor BYOD when students return.
Kindergartner Arrival and Pom Pom Pathway to your Classroom: Our kindergartners did a great job the last three weeks, but not to worry, we will maintain our Pom Pom Pathway for a few more days as a reminder to Cohort 1 and 2 students! Watch the video linked here and your child will just follow the Pom Pom pathway to get to the purple kindergarten hall to find their teacher and their classroom! We can't wait to see them!
Sick or Symptomatic Student Information for F2F Families: The information below can be found in the FWES Handbook but is important information for families to review and understand- as the process this year will be VERY different.
Students showing ANY signs or symptoms listed- MUST go home IMMEDIATELY. Please make sure you have a plan for how to pick up your child quickly if he/she is ill during the school day. School staff are not trained medical personnel and their first responsibility is to insure the safety of our school community. Students who complain of illness will be treated as if there were an illness present to keep our school safe. Your understanding and cooperation is paramount to maintaining a safe school for students and staff.
Update: Siblings of any student showing or complaining of symptoms are also required to go home when the student leaves campus and to follow the same 10 day guidance for remaining at home. This WCPSS updated information was shared with families in an email the week of November 6th.
We are experiencing a Global Pandemic and there are no exceptions, except for those listed in the information below that require medical professional documentation. Families are asked to closely monitor students each morning and keep them home if they show ANY signs of illness or not feeling well. The best news is that if a child is at home, but able to learn- we are able to connect them to a Virtual Academy classroom so they do not miss learning or assignments, until they can return to campus!
Classrooms of students who have been sent to the Care Center with symptoms will be quickly relocated so the room can be cleaned and sanitized- as soon as all required sanitation procedures are completed, students will return to the classroom. The Care Center will also be sanitized after each student has been picked up.
New for 2020-21
All WCPSS schools will have a Care Center set up in a classroom for sick students to be supervised and socially distanced
- Students exhibiting illness during the school day will be immediately escorted to the FWES Care Center (not the health room)
- FWES Care Center is on the Green Hall in a room facing the Green Top
- Family members pick up students will park in the bus lot and bring Photo ID to the back door of this classroom to sign out and pick up a sick student. Signs will indicate the location of the Care Center as you walk up the ramp from the bus log.
- Students exhibiting ANY contagious illness symptom or symptoms of COVID according to the DHHS guide (see below) MUST be immediately picked up from school.
- Students who leave school sick must remain home for 10 calendar days unless confirmation of an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that would explain the COVID-19-like symptom(s) is provided.
Students who are not feeling well in the morning should not report to school. Students who do not pass health screenings will not be allowed to enter the school building. With the many safeguards in place, it is still possible that students may get sick during the school day. Students exhibiting any illness symptoms connected to COVID or other communicable illness will be immediately escorted from the classroom to the school’s Care Center.
Sample illness symptoms from the CDC in children under 19 years of age may include:
headache,
fever,
chills,
shortness of breath (not related to asthma),
sore, throat,
cough,
runny nose,
gastrointestinal issues (stomach ache, diarrhea, nausea),
discharge from eyes,
ear aches,
loss of taste or smell, etc.
Students in the Care Center will be socially distanced and monitored by trained school staff members and/or our School Nurse. The family and/or emergency contacts will be contacted by office for immediate pick up of the student from school.
Families must immediately pick up sick students from the school’s Care Center. FWES Care Center is located on the Playground side of the school. Parents picking up students from our Care Center will park in the bus parking lot and follow signs to the outside door of the care center for signing out of the student.
11-6-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (9 Minutes)
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Thinker P2 Character Strength- Bravery
Library Book Pick up Monday-Friday 10:00am-2:00pm in the front carpool loop; Beginning November 16th- Books for Face to Face students will be delivered to their classrooms and Virtual Academy students can continue to pick up in the carpool loop.
FWES Virtual Book Fair Continues
Saturday, November 7th- 5th Grade Families- Note- WCPSS Virtual Magnet Fair 9:00-12:00- explore Magnet Middle School options!
Monday, November 9th- First Day for Cohort 3 students in ECS, Pre K and K-3 classroom; Cohorts 2 and 3; along with ALL 4th and 5th graders remain at home this week for Virtual Learning
Tuesday, November 10th- 10:45am FWES Virtual Magnet Tour Event
Wednesday, November 11th- Veteran's Day Holiday- No School for Students or Staff
Thursday, November 12th- 9:30am BOG- Reading for 3rd Graders; FWES Book Fair Guest Reader Ms. Madden- 6:00pm
Friday, November 13th- 8:30am PTA Coffee Chat- check PTA website or email/member hub for access link
FWES Calendar Notes for Next Week (11/16-20):
Monday, November 16th- ALL PreK, ECS and K-3 students return to FWES for daily instruction; Students in COHORTS 1 in 4th and 5th Grades arrivat at FWES; 4th/5th Cohorts 2 and 3 Stay Home for Remote Learning
Wednesday, November 18th- Asynchronous Learning Day- no regular live meets; student complete assignments in Google Classroom to be marked present; Library Book Pick Up and 2nd/3rd Materials Pick Up 3-4pm
FWES Friday Folder Information:
FWES Honors Bravery and Gratitude for Veterans Day: Please help our school family honor the Veterans in our school community. Add a slide about an FWES Community Veteran to our slide deck. The slide deck will be posted for all families to view the week of November 9th.
FWES Shows Gratitude in November! Although there are many challenges that we are all facing each day, it is important to continue to focus on those things that are positive, as we all have many people and things that we can recognize with gratitude. Students, families and staff will be invited to share their thoughts. Please help us fill our Gratitude Tree with your thoughts and wishes of Gratitude throughout the month of November. Enter your thoughts on the link and we will add your gratitude to a leaf to add to our tree- help us fill the tree by November 24th! Students participating in Face to Face instruction are also invited to add their own statements while at school to put on our tree.
Fall Pictures are Coming!! FWES will offer Fall pictures through Lifetouch Photography. Students enrolled in face to face instruction will have individual photos on Tuesdays 11/17 for Cohort 1/A, 12/1 for Cohort 2/B, and 12/8 for Cohort 3/C with some exceptions shared by classroom teacher. Fall Picture Details
WCPSS Elementary Health Screening Questions: If you have any questions about whether or not your student should attend school, please review the current WCPSS Elementary Health Screening Questions- as long as you can answer no to all of them AND your child does not have a fever above 100.4, your child may attend school.
Sick Students (see returning to school section): A reminder that students with ANY symptom of COVID-19 will be sent home immediately and is unable to return to campus for 10 days or until a medical professional provides information that the symptoms are NOT related to COVID-19 through a negative COVID test. Thank you for your cooperation in maintaining a safe environment for ALL members of our FWES community!
Taylor YMCA Before and After School Program: Families may access program information at this link. Students registered by Sunday nights may attend for the week. Note- YMCA program is housed at FWES but is not endorsed or staffed by FWES staff and the YMCA maintains it's own liability for the program, program participants and program employees.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: What? Yes? You read that correctly- it it time to begin registration of students for the 2021-22 school year. If you have a rising kindergartner or know someone who does, let them know it is not too early to register:) The Virtual Magnet Fair on November 7th will kick off the Magnet Application process with final applications due by January 28, 2021. A reminder that magnet siblings entering kindergarten need to register at your assigned base school AND complete a magnet application to secure a seat for 2021-22.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22- Spanish
Learning at FWES with Cohorts, Tracked Out and Virtual Academy Enviornments: All students will maintain the same pace of instructional content and curriculum each week, no matter which learning environment. For F2F students who track out- learning will continue, as it has in the virtual setting, when they are tracked out- so participation in live sessions and completing all daily lessons are essential even when your student is not F2F at school.
Virtual Academy Lessons with F2F Tracked out Students: As was shared with families since the beginning of planning for this school year, teachers on teams are partnering to best support each other and our students. As our F2F students begin to return to school, teams will begin utilizing this partnership in various ways to maintain the same level of instruction for ALL students.
F2F teachers cannot obviously serve the students in front of them all day and still provide 2.5 hours of instruction and support to the students who are tracked out- but as a school we want to maintain learning at the highest level for all students. This structure is new to all of us and as all teams have designed an initial plan, it is possible that plans will need to be tweaked and adjusted as we move along. I thank you for your patience and understanding as these changes may occur, remembering that our focus is on student learning for ALL students.
What you might see:
- F2F Students and Families
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Due to the low classroom sizes of 3-7 students, some classrooms may combine during the day to provide teachers with time to reach out to tracked out students for lessons, follow up learning and/or small group work
- Tracked Out Students
- Your teacher will be responsible for grading and reviewing your work while tracked out and providing you support you may need with learning
- In some grade levels, tracked out students may be joining a VA classroom on the grade level to access the live lessons during the day
- In some grade levels, tracked out students will be taught some lessons by VA classroom teachers or IAs and some lessons by their homeroom teacher
- Tracked out students will also have times where their teacher will reach out to engage them in follow up small group lessons while tracked out
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Virtual Academy Students and Families
- You may notice extra students in your student's live lessons so that students tracked out continue to get the full level of instruction possible
- We hope you might see a friend you've not seen since last year, too:)
FWES PTA Updates:
Virtual Book Fair continues ….be sure to join our google meets on Thursdays at 6:00pm for a special staff “guest“ reader
Link for book fair : befordfallsusa.com
*This Thursday, November 12th guest reader is Ms. Madden 6:00pm Link for guest reader meet: Meet
PTA Reflections Contest: The National PTA organization sponors a contest each year to showcase student creativity and talent in the arts through Reflections. Entries are in various arts categories and around the theme: "I matter because...." Entries are due by November 13th- information on how to submit virtual entries is included on the flyer linked above.
PTA Reflections Contest- Espanol
Yubbler is back with updated school lists! https://www.yubbler.com/Yub/Details/20659
FWES Pet Photos! Share your pictures of your favorite family pet! Email to yearbook@fwespta.org or upload directly to https://images.jostens.com/415464928?fbclid=IwAR3RjtRCNI1-XFwHIIAAbhykh0zwv1AlLW6207XxGpCP7Yatvlllrja9hC4
FWES Face to Face (F2F) Families:
Returning to FWES Family Checklist
Returning to FWES Slide Show with Photos
WCPSS Return to Campus Guide for Families WCPSS Health Safety Videos- English and Spanish to watch with your student!
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21-
FWES Handbook Highlights and Updates for F2F Families
Spanish Version Arabic Version
Cohort Assignments and Calendar for Returning Students
All 4th and 5th Graders will continue to remain at home and access virtual learning.
Cohorts 1 and 2 students PreK, ECS, K-3 will remain at home and access virtual learning November 9-13.
Welcome Cohort 3 PreK, ECS and K-3 Students to FWES for November 9-13!
Getting Ready to Return to FWES! There will be many things that are the same, but many that will be different as our students return, especially as it relates to the Safety Protocols in place. Please take time to watch the videos provided by WCPSS WITH your student and help them understand the expectations when they are in any school building this year. We will also be highlighting these videos on our FWES News this week, so tune in to see them again:)
WCPSS Health Safety Protocol Videos- In English and Spanish!!!!
Medication Drop Off: Thank you the families who dropped of medication on Thursday and Friday. If you have medication to drop off at school- it can only be accepted between 9:30am-3:00pm due to the requirements of staff to support health screenings, arrival and dismissal processes. If you arrive during the arrival process, you will need to wait outside, social distancing in a mask until 9:30am. Thank you!
Reminder that all medication requires the signed doctor's order (Rx medications and any required over the counter medications).
WCPSS Medication Information and required 1702 Form
Student Dismissal Transportation Information Thank you for filling out this form or for responding to phone calls and messages last week. We want to make sure we know how your student will be going home on their first day. If you are Cohort 2 or 3 and have not yet filled out this form- please fill it out ASAP.
- Bus Transportation Information:
Please take time to review the information linked above and watch the video to review the bus arrival and dismissal process with your child.
All riders must present to the driver or complete on line- the Parent Attestation Form that provides your assurance that your child's temperature will be taken at home each morning and that he/she will not get on a bus if they are not feeling well.
More WCPSS Bus Info and paper Bus Attestation Form
Bus Routes for FWES- Routes for 2020-21
Here Comes the Bus App- Use this link to download and connect to the Here Comes the Bus app to track your child's bus daily
Please take time to review the documents linked and watch the videos about the procedures for both processes.
No adults will be allowed to move beyond the screening stations set up- only students allowed on the front porch to enter the school. Please make sure your child is aware that you cannot walk with them. If your child may struggle to separate from you if you are standing beside them as a "walker", it is recommended that you consider using carpool drop off, as staff may not have contact with students to hold a hand or give a hug to help them walk to their classroom.
All individuals on campus must wear masks and maintain 6 ft social distancing. Please be mindful of younger siblings and keep them with your family at all times.
Supply Lists for F2F Families: It will be important that due to Remote/Asynchronous learning days, that F2F students have supplies at school AND at home for learning. If you are able, updated supply lists are linked here for getting your child the things they need at school. Due to safety, supplies cannot be shared in the classroom so if you want to send extra supplies for teachers to have on hand for students who may forget to bring supplies or run out during the day, that's great, too.
**The one addition for all students K-5th is a pool/beach towel for school. We are going to try to eat outside on as many days as possible and to help students maintain social distancing and provide them a nice spot for eating, we are asking each to bring a large towel to use during the week. It will be sent home with students each Friday for washing and returning the following week. If you have an extra for students who may not bring them, thank you for sharing!
Technology Guidance for Families: All students returning to the FWES campus are expected to bring their WCPSS Chromebook- CHARGED- each day. It will return home with the student daily for access to homework and on remote learning days.
*At FWES, students without a WCPSS Chromebook checked out to them at home- will be assigned a FWES Chromebook that will be used only by that student while on campus. While the WCPSS document references, bring your own device, we have found that WCPSS systems and other resources sometimes do now work well on non-WCPSS devices- so we are not going to sponsor BYOD when students return.
Kindergartner Arrival and Pom Pom Pathway to your Classroom: Kindergartners are new to the FWES campus and we know families may be worried about how they will find their classroom and teacher- no worries! Watch the video linked here and your child will just follow the Pom Pom pathway to get to the purple kindergarten hall to find their teacher and their classroom! We can't wait to see them!
Sick or Symptomatic Student Information for F2F Families: The information below can be found in the FWES Handbook but is important information for families to review and understand- as the process this year will be VERY different.
Students showing ANY signs or symptoms listed- MUST go home IMMEDIATELY. Please make sure you have a plan for how to pick up your child quickly if he/she is ill during the school day. School staff are not trained medical personnel and their first responsibility is to insure the safety of our school community. Students who complain of illness will be treated as if there were an illness present to keep our school safe. Your understanding and cooperation is paramount to maintaining a safe school for students and staff.
We are experiencing a Global Pandemic and there are no exceptions, except for those listed in the information below that require medical professional documentation. Families are asked to closely monitor students each morning and keep them home if they show ANY signs of illness or not feeling well. The best news is that if a child is at home, but able to learn- we are able to connect them to a Virtual Academy classroom so they do not miss learning or assignments, until they can return to campus!
Classrooms of students who have been sent to the Care Center with symptoms will be quickly relocated so the room can be cleaned and sanitized- as soon as all required sanitation procedures are completed, students will return to the classroom. The Care Center will also be sanitized after each student has been picked up.
New for 2020-21
All WCPSS schools will have a Care Center set up in a classroom for sick students to be supervised and socially distanced
- Students exhibiting illness during the school day will be immediately escorted to the FWES Care Center (not the health room)
- FWES Care Center is on the Green Hall in a room facing the Green Top
- Family members pick up students will park in the bus lot and bring Photo ID to the back door of this classroom to sign out and pick up a sick student. Signs will indicate the location of the Care Center as you walk up the ramp from the bus log.
- Students exhibiting ANY contagious illness symptom or symptoms of COVID according to the DHHS guide (see below) MUST be immediately picked up from school.
- Students who leave school sick must remain home for 10 calendar days unless confirmation of an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that would explain the COVID-19-like symptom(s) is provided.
Students who are not feeling well in the morning should not report to school. Students who do not pass health screenings will not be allowed to enter the school building. With the many safeguards in place, it is still possible that students may get sick during the school day. Students exhibiting any illness symptoms connected to COVID or other communicable illness will be immediately escorted from the classroom to the school’s Care Center.
Sample illness symptoms from the CDC in children under 19 years of age may include:
headache,
fever,
chills,
shortness of breath (not related to asthma),
sore, throat,
cough,
runny nose,
gastrointestinal issues (stomach ache, diarrhea, nausea),
discharge from eyes,
ear aches,
loss of taste or smell, etc.
Students in the Care Center will be socially distanced and monitored by trained school staff members and/or our School Nurse. The family and/or emergency contacts will be contacted by office for immediate pick up of the student from school.
Families must immediately pick up sick students from the school’s Care Center. FWES Care Center is located on the Playground side of the school. Parents picking up students from our Care Center will park in the bus parking lot and follow signs to the outside door of the care center for signing out of the student.
10-30-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Video Message ( 7 minutes)
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Thinker P2 Character Strength- Perspective
Library Book Pick up Monday-Friday 10:00am-2:00pm in the front carpool loop; Beginning November 16th- Books for Face to Face students will be delivered to their classrooms and Virtual Academy students can continue to pick up in the carpool loop.
FWES Virtual Book Fair Begins
Monday, November 2nd- First Day for Cohort 2 students in ECS, Pre K and K-3 classroom; Cohorts 1 and 3; along with 4th and 5th graders remain at home this week for Virtual Learning
Tuesday, November 3rd- Teacher Workday- No School (no live or Google Classroom) for students; Election Day; FWES is polling site- Office will be closed.
Wednesday, November 4th- FWES PTA Spirit Day at City BBQ- order online with Fund A code or show the Flyer at the store to support FWES PTA
Thursday, November 5th- 7:35am School Improvement Team Quarterly Review Meeting; ESL Family Academy Event- en Espanol- 6-7pm ; FWES Book Fair Guest Reader Ms. Radichi- 6:00pm
Friday, November 6th
Saturday, November 7th- 5th Grade Families- Note- WCPSS Virtual Magnet Fair 9:00-12:00- explore Magnet Middle School options!
FWES Notes for Next Week:
Monday, November 9th- PreK, ECS and K-3 students in COHORT 3 ONLY- return to FWES; Students in COHORTS 1, 2 and 4th and 5th Grades Stay Home for Remote Learning
Wednesday, November 11th- Veteran's Day Holiday- No School; School Closed
FWES Friday Folder Information:
Taylor YMCA Before and After School Program: Families may access program information at this link. Students registered by Sunday nights may attend for the week. Note- YMCA program is housed at FWES but is not endorsed or staffed by FWES staff and the YMCA maintains it's own liability for the program, program participants and program employees.
FWES Honors Bravery and Gratitude for Veterans Day: Please help our school family honor the Veterans in our school community. Add a slide about an FWES Community Veteran to our slide deck. The slide deck will be posted for all families to view the week of November 9th.
FWES Shows Gratitude in November! Although there are many challenges that we are all facing each day, it is important to continue to focus on those things that are positive, as we all have many people and things that we can recognize with gratitude. Students, families and staff will be invited to share their thoughts. Please help us fill our Gratitude Tree with your thoughts and wishes of Gratitude throughout the month of November. Enter your thoughts on the link and we will add your gratitude to a leaf to add to our tree- help us fill the tree by November 24th! Students participating in Face to Face instruction are also invited to add their own statements while at school to put on our tree.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: What? Yes? You read that correctly- it it time to begin registration of students for the 2021-22 school year. If you have a rising kindergartner or know someone who does, let them know it is not too early to register:) The Virtual Magnet Fair on November 7th will kick off the Magnet Application process with final applications due by January 28, 2021. A reminder that magnet siblings entering kindergarten need to register at your assigned base school AND complete a magnet application to secure a seat for 2021-22.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22- Spanish
Learning at FWES with Cohorts, Tracked Out and Virtual Academy Enviornments: All students will maintain the same pace of instructional content and curriculum each week, no matter which learning environment. For F2F students who track out- learning will continue, as it has in the virtual setting, when they are tracked out- so participation in live sessions and completing all daily lessons are essential even when your student is not F2F at school.
Virtual Academy Lessons with F2F Tracked out Students: As was shared with families since the beginning of planning for this school year, teachers on teams are partnering to best support each other and our students. As our F2F students begin to return to school, teams will begin utilizing this partnership in various ways to maintain the same level of instruction for ALL students.
F2F teachers cannot obviously serve the students in front of them all day and still provide 2.5 hours of instruction and support to the students who are tracked out- but as a school we want to maintain learning at the highest level for all students. This structure is new to all of us and as all teams have designed an initial plan, it is possible that plans will need to be tweaked and adjusted as we move along. I thank you for your patience and understanding as these changes may occur, remembering that our focus is on student learning for ALL students.
What you might see:
- F2F Students and Families
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Due to the low classroom sizes of 3-7 students, some classrooms may combine during the day to provide teachers with time to reach out to tracked out students for lessons, follow up learning and/or small group work
- Tracked Out Students
- Your teacher will be responsible for grading and reviewing your work while tracked out and providing you support you may need with learning
- In some grade levels, tracked out students may be joining a VA classroom on the grade level to access the live lessons during the day
- In some grade levels, tracked out students will be taught some lessons by VA classroom teachers or IAs and some lessons by their homeroom teacher
- Tracked out students will also have times where their teacher will reach out to engage them in follow up small group lessons while tracked out
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Virtual Academy Students and Families
- You may notice extra students in your student's live lessons so that students tracked out continue to get the full level of instruction possible
- We hope you might see a friend you've not seen since last year, too:)
FWES PTA Updates:
Virtual Book Fair begins on November 2nd ….be sure to join our google meets on Thursdays at 6:00pm for a special staff “guest“ reader
Link for book fair : befordfallsusa.com
*This Thursday, November 5th guest reader is Ms. Radichi 6:00pm Link for guest reader meet: Meet
FWES Spirit Day at City BBQ- Wednesday, November 4th: FWES PTA Spirit Day at City BBQ- order online with Fund A code or show the Flyer at the store to support FWES PTA
PTA Reflections Contest: The National PTA organization sponors a contest each year to showcase student creativity and talent in the arts through Reflections. Entries are in various arts categories and around the theme: "I matter because...." Entries are due by November 13th- information on how to submit virtual entries is included on the flyer linked above.
PTA Reflections Contest- Espanol
Yubbler is back with updated school lists! https://www.yubbler.com/Yub/Details/20659
Virtual Volunteers Needed: Please complete the Family Communication form to share with us your interest in being a Virtual Room Parent, Virtual Hook a Book Parent or other interests you might have as a virtual support for FWES and our programming.
FWES Pet Photos! Share your pictures of your favorite family pet! Email to yearbook@fwespta.org or upload directly to https://images.jostens.com/415464928?fbclid=IwAR3RjtRCNI1-XFwHIIAAbhykh0zwv1AlLW6207XxGpCP7Yatvlllrja9hC4
FWES News- What does FWES PTA do for our school?
School Supply Drive: Thank you for all of your support, each F2F teacher at FWES now has a box of supplies that can be shared with students as needed to keep everyone safe!!!
FWES PTA has distributed teacher start up funds to FWES Staff who are PTA members- teachers submit receipts for the start up materials they have personally purchased for reimbursement up to $100 each. It is a great way to help all of our teachers get the items for their classroom (virtual and F2F) that they need without having to spend their own funds.
FWES PTA is excited to have been able to continue our work in providing Cultural Arts experiences for ALL students through PTA and some grant funding from the United Arts Council of Wake County. Black Box Dance Theater will be shared with all students the week of November 9th! Stay Tuned
Check out our Twitter feed for Ice Cream Truck Fun on Thursday 10/22 with the FWES Staff!
10-23-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Friday Message (10 minutes)
Happy Long Weekend to everyone! We hope you have found time away from screens and enjoying the chance to be outside with an extra day on Friday! We had a very busy week at FWES last week as we continued and finished the preparations for the return of our Face to Face students to campus on Monday!
Below you will find information for ALL FWES families and a separate section for Face to Face families. While all of our students are part of our FWES school community, as you can imagine there are many details to be shared with Face to Face families in this period of transition- so your support and understanding with the somewhat lopsided information is appreciated!
I send heartfelt thank yous to our families for the support you have shown to your child's learning and to our incredIBle staff through this journey. The next phase begins on Monday and your continued support will be needed, too.
With love to all- Winston Pierce
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Open Minded P2 Character Strength- Creativity
Library Book Pick up Monday-Friday 10:00am-2:00pm in the front carpool loop; Beginning November 16th- Books for Face to Face students will be delivered to their classrooms and Virtual Academy students can continue to pick up in the carpool loop.
Monday, October 26- First Day for Cohort 1 students in ECS, Pre K and K-3 classroom; Cohorts 2 and 3; along with 4th and 5th graders remain at home this week for Virtual Learning
Tuesday, October 27
Wednesday, October 28- ASYNCHRONOUS DAY- ALL students remain at home and access learning virtually- attendance taken
Thursday, October 29- 3rd Graders Take Beginning of Grade State Reading Test (BOG) 9:30am-12:30pm
Friday, October 30- Report Cards for Quarter 1 emailed to all families
FWES Notes for Next Week:
Monday, November 2nd- PreK, ECS and K-3 students in COHORT 2 ONLY- return to FWES; Students in COHORTS 1, 3 and 4th and 5th Grades Stay Home for Remote Learning
FWES Friday Folder Information:
Schedule Changes for All Students: To best align our Virtual Academy and F2F schedules and provide all teachers on a grade level with a common planning time each day, there are some slight changes to the instructional schedules. Please review any information shared with you by your child's teacher for the updates.
School wide, the specials start times have been adjusted for all grade levels:
9:35-10:15- 5th Grade
10:25-11:10 - 4th Grade
11:20-12:00- 2nd Grade
1:05-1:45- 3rd Grade
1:55-2:35- Kindergarten
2:45-3:25- 1st Grade
Learning at FWES with Cohorts, Tracked Out and Virtual Academy Enviornments: All students will maintain the same pace of instructional content and curriculum each week, no matter which learning environment. For F2F students who track out- learning will continue, as it has in the virtual setting, when they are tracked out- so participation in live sessions and completing all daily lessons are essential even when your student is not F2F at school.
Virtual Academy Lessons with F2F Tracked out Students: As was shared with families since the beginning of planning for this school year, teachers on teams are partnering to best support each other and our students. As our F2F students begin to return to school, teams will begin utilizing this partnership in various ways to maintain the same level of instruction for ALL students.
F2F teachers cannot obviously serve the students in front of them all day and still provide 2.5 hours of instruction and support to the students who are tracked out- but as a school we want to maintain learning at the highest level for all students. This structure is new to all of us and as all teams have designed an initial plan, it is possible that plans will need to be tweaked and adjusted as we move along. I thank you for your patience and understanding as these changes may occur, remembering that our focus is on student learning for ALL students.
What you might see:
- F2F Students and Families
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Due to the low classroom sizes of 3-7 students, some classrooms may combine during the day to provide teachers with time to reach out to tracked out students for lessons, follow up learning and/or small group work
- Tracked Out Students
- Your teacher will be responsible for grading and reviewing your work while tracked out and providing you support you may need with learning
- In some grade levels, tracked out students may be joining a VA classroom on the grade level to access the live lessons during the day
- In some grade levels, tracked out students will be taught some lessons by VA classroom teachers or IAs and some lessons by their homeroom teacher
- Tracked out students will also have times where their teacher will reach out to engage them in follow up small group lessons while tracked out
- Face to Face Student learning in cohorts
- Virtual Academy Students and Families
- You may notice extra students in your student's live lessons so that students tracked out continue to get the full level of instruction possible
- We hope you might see a friend you've not seen since last year, too:)
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21- The handbook has been updated to reflect items related to the return of students to campus. As information is updated or changed, it will also be updated in the handbook for families. Update dates will be noted on the first page of the Handbook.
FWES Handbook Highlights and Updates for F2F Families
Spanish Version Arabic Version
Free and Reduced Lunch Applications- Families who received free/reduced lunch last year or who believe they are eligible this year are asked to complete this form. If the form is on file for F2F or Virtual Acacemy students if the student returns to school, it is not needed.
Asynchronous Day Added- October 28th- WCPSS had added an additional asychronous day on Wednesday, October 28th. Please add this date to your calendar.
Reminder that Asynchronous Days are days that there are regularly scheduled live instruction for BOTH Face to Face Students (they do not come to school on Asynchronous Day) and Virtual Academy Students (no live sessions)- however, assignments will be posted for both in Google Classroom and completion of those assignments will be used to take attendance on Asynchronous Days.
Student and Family Information, Volunteer and Cultural Heritage Info Needed: We are making sure that all lines of communication are open with all of our families. Please complete this form for EACH of your FWES students to let us know your current communication information, your interest in volunteering and your family's cultural heritage. Thank you to the 220 families who have completed the form- 450 more to go!
Holiday Gifts Needed for your Family? We are so appreciative of our community partners and thank St. Michael's Church for their partnership to assist families in need with Holiday Gifts. Requests must be made at the link on they flyer no later than October 30th.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: What? Yes? You read that correctly- it it time to begin registration of students for the 2021-22 school year. If you have a rising kindergartner or know someone who does, let them know it is not too early to register:) The Virtual Magnet Fair on November 7th will kick off the Magnet Application process with final applications due by January 28, 2021. A reminder that magnet siblings entering kindergarten need to register at your assigned base school AND complete a magnet application to secure a seat for 2021-22.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22- Spanish
FWES PTA Updates:
PTA Reflections Contest: The National PTA organization sponors a contest each year to showcase student creativity and talent in the arts through Reflections. Entries are in various arts categories and around the theme: "I matter because...." Entries are due by November 13th- information on how to submit virtual entries is included on the flyer linked above.
PTA Reflections Contest- Espanol
Virtual Volunteers Needed: Please complete the Family Communication form to share with us your interest in being a Virtual Room Parent, Virtual Hook a Book Parent or other interests you might have as a virtual support for FWES and our programming.
FWES Pet Photos! Share your pictures of your favorite family pet! Email to yearbook@fwespta.org or upload directly to https://images.jostens.com/415464928?fbclid=IwAR3RjtRCNI1-XFwHIIAAbhykh0zwv1AlLW6207XxGpCP7Yatvlllrja9hC4
Virtual Book Fair November 2-24th! Order and have books delivered to your home!
FWES News- What does FWES PTA do for our school?
School Supply Drive: Thank you for all of your support, each F2F teacher at FWES now has a box of supplies that can be shared with students as needed to keep everyone safe!!!
FWES PTA has distributed teacher start up funds to FWES Staff who are PTA members- teachers submit receipts for the start up materials they have personally purchased for reimbursement up to $100 each. It is a great way to help all of our teachers get the items for their classroom (virtual and F2F) that they need without having to spend their own funds.
FWES PTA is excited to have been able to continue our work in providing Cultural Arts experiences for ALL students through PTA and some grant funding from the United Arts Council of Wake County. Black Box Dance Theater will be shared with all students the week of November 9th! Stay Tuned
Check out our Twitter feed for Ice Cream Truck Fun on Thursday 10/22 with the FWES Staff!
FWES Face to Face (F2F) Families:
Mrs. Pierce's Message for F2F Families ( 19 minutes)
Returning to FWES Family Checklist Returning to FWES Slide Show with Photos
WCPSS Return to Campus Guide for Families WCPSS Health Safety Videos- English and Spanish to watch with your student!
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21-
FWES Handbook Highlights and Updates for F2F Families
Spanish Version Arabic Version
FWES PTA Q&A with Mrs. Pierce from 10-14-2020
Cohort Assignments and Calendar for Returning Students
Getting Ready to Return to FWES! There will be many things that are the same, but many that will be different as our students return, especially as it relates to the Safety Protocols in place. Please take time to watch the videos provided by WCPSS WITH your student and help them understand the expectations when they are in any school building this year. We will also be highlighting these videos on our FWES News this week, so tune in to see them again:)
WCPSS Health Safety Protocol Videos- In English and Spanish!!!!
Medication Drop Off: Thank you the families who dropped of medication on Thursday and Friday. If you have medication to drop off at school- it can only be accepted between 9:30am-3:00pm due to the requirements of staff to support health screenings, arrival and dismissal processes. If you arrive during the arrival process, you will need to wait outside, social distancing in a mask until 9:30am. Thank you!
Reminder that all medication requires the signed doctor's order (Rx medications and any required over the counter medications).
WCPSS Medication Information and required 1702 Form
Student Dismissal Transportation Information Thank you for filling out this form or for responding to phone calls and messages last week. We want to make sure we know how your student will be going home on their first day. If you are Cohort 2 or 3 and have not yet filled out this form- please fill it out ASAP.
- Bus Transportation Information:
Please take time to review the information linked above and watch the video to review the bus arrival and dismissal process with your child.
All riders must present to the driver or complete on line- the Parent Attestation Form that provides your assurance that your child's temperature will be taken at home each morning and that he/she will not get on a bus if they are not feeling well.
More WCPSS Bus Info and paper Bus Attestation Form
Bus Routes for FWES- Routes for 2020-21
Here Comes the Bus App- Use this link to download and connect to the Here Comes the Bus app to track your child's bus daily
Please take time to review the documents linked and watch the videos about the procedures for both processes.
No adults will be allowed to move beyond the screening stations set up- only students allowed on the front porch to enter the school. Please make sure your child is aware that you cannot walk with them. If your child may struggle to separate from you if you are standing beside them as a "walker", it is recommended that you consider using carpool drop off, as staff may not have contact with students to hold a hand or give a hug to help them walk to their classroom.
All individuals on campus must wear masks and maintain 6 ft social distancing. Please be mindful of younger siblings and keep them with your family at all times.
Supply Lists for F2F Families: It will be important that due to Remote/Asynchronous learning days, that F2F students have supplies at school AND at home for learning. If you are able, updated supply lists are linked here for getting your child the things they need at school. Due to safety, supplies cannot be shared in the classroom so if you want to send extra supplies for teachers to have on hand for students who may forget to bring supplies or run out during the day, that's great, too.
**The one addition for all students K-5th is a pool/beach towel for school. We are going to try to eat outside on as many days as possible and to help students maintain social distancing and provide them a nice spot for eating, we are asking each to bring a large towel to use during the week. It will be sent home with students each Friday for washing and returning the following week. If you have an extra for students who may not bring them, thank you for sharing!
Technology Guidance for Families: All students returning to the FWES campus are expected to bring their WCPSS Chromebook- CHARGED- each day. It will return home with the student daily for access to homework and on remote learning days.
*At FWES, students without a WCPSS Chromebook checked out to them at home- will be assigned a FWES Chromebook that will be used only by that student while on campus. While the WCPSS document references, bring your own device, we have found that WCPSS systems and other resources sometimes do now work well on non-WCPSS devices- so we are not going to sponsor BYOD when students return.
Kindergartner Arrival and Pom Pom Pathway to your Classroom: Kindergartners are new to the FWES campus and we know families may be worried about how they will find their classroom and teacher- no worries! Watch the video linked here and your child will just follow the Pom Pom pathway to get to the purple kindergarten hall to find their teacher and their classroom! We can't wait to see them!
Sick or Symptomatic Student Information for F2F Families: The information below can be found in the FWES Handbook but is important information for families to review and understand- as the process this year will be VERY different.
Students showing ANY signs or symptoms listed- MUST go home IMMEDIATELY. Please make sure you have a plan for how to pick up your child quickly if he/she is ill during the school day. School staff are not trained medical personnel and their first responsibility is to insure the safety of our school community. Students who complain of illness will be treated as if there were an illness present to keep our school safe. Your understanding and cooperation is paramount to maintaining a safe school for students and staff.
We are experiencing a Global Pandemic and there are no exceptions, except for those listed in the information below that require medical professional documentation. Families are asked to closely monitor students each morning and keep them home if they show ANY signs of illness or not feeling well. The best news is that if a child is at home, but able to learn- we are able to connect them to a Virtual Academy classroom so they do not miss learning or assignments, until they can return to campus!
Classrooms of students who have been sent to the Care Center with symptoms will be quickly relocated so the room can be cleaned and sanitized- as soon as all required sanitation procedures are completed, students will return to the classroom. The Care Center will also be sanitized after each student has been picked up.
New for 2020-21
All WCPSS schools will have a Care Center set up in a classroom for sick students to be supervised and socially distanced
- Students exhibiting illness during the school day will be immediately escorted to the FWES Care Center (not the health room)
- FWES Care Center is on the Green Hall in a room facing the Green Top
- Family members pick up students will park in the bus lot and bring Photo ID to the back door of this classroom to sign out and pick up a sick student. Signs will indicate the location of the Care Center as you walk up the ramp from the bus log.
- Students exhibiting ANY contagious illness symptom or symptoms of COVID according to the DHHS guide (see below) MUST be immediately picked up from school.
- Students who leave school sick must remain home for 10 calendar days unless confirmation of an alternative diagnosis from a health care provider that would explain the COVID-19-like symptom(s) is provided.
Students who are not feeling well in the morning should not report to school. Students who do not pass health screenings will not be allowed to enter the school building. With the many safeguards in place, it is still possible that students may get sick during the school day. Students exhibiting any illness symptoms connected to COVID or other communicable illness will be immediately escorted from the classroom to the school’s Care Center.
Sample illness symptoms from the CDC in children under 19 years of age may include:
headache,
fever,
chills,
shortness of breath (not related to asthma),
sore, throat,
cough,
runny nose,
gastrointestinal issues (stomach ache, diarrhea, nausea),
discharge from eyes,
ear aches,
loss of taste or smell, etc.
Students in the Care Center will be socially distanced and monitored by trained school staff members and/or our School Nurse. The family and/or emergency contacts will be contacted by office for immediate pick up of the student from school.
Families must immediately pick up sick students from the school’s Care Center. FWES Care Center is located on the Playground side of the school. Parents picking up students from our Care Center will park in the bus parking lot and follow signs to the outside door of the care center for signing out of the student.
10-16-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Friday Message (11 minutes)
Happy Fall to our FWES Families! It has been an extremely busy week at FWES as we in the home stretch of preparations for the return of our Face to Face students. Thank you to those families who joined me on Wednesday night for Q & A with the FWES PTA. The questions and summary answers are included below for your reference. As complicated as the prep for F2F students has been, we are all still focused on learning and student growth as IB Learners at FWES... and with that comes special events and projects to share with our families. There is a lot of information below for all families and a separate section for our Face to Face (F2F) families. Grab your hoodies with this weekend's fall temps and read through it all to stay informed.
Note to F2F families- there will be more updates sent throughout the week as some of the WCPSS additional information is made available for sharing with families.
FWES would like to welcome our two new specialists to the FWES Specialists Team! Daniel Jones, Music, began with students last week and has been enjoying all of them! Haili Crenshaw (pronounced "Highly" as in highly likely) started on Friday and will begin seeing students on Wednesday, October 21st with the new specials rotation. We are happy to have both of them in our FWES family! Thanks for helping to welcome them to our team!
Take Care, Winston Pierce, principal
FWES This Week:
IB Learner Profile- Open Minded P2 Character Strength- Forgiveness
Library Book Pick up 8am-4pm M, T, W on Front Porch
Monday, October 19
Tuesday, October 20
Wednesday, October 21
Thursday, October 22- Last official day of Quarter 1- Asynchronous Day- learning assignments in Google Classroom and attendance taken; PTA Sponsored Bruster’s Ice Cream Truck for Teachers!
*Medication Drop off for F2F Families 9:00am-3:00pm
Friday, October 23- Teacher Workday- no learning assigned
*Medication Drop of for F2F Families 9:00am-3:00pm
FWES Notes for Next Week:
Monday, October 26th- PreK, ECS and K-3 students in COHORT 1 ONLY- return to FWES; Students in COHORTS 2, 3 and 4th and 5th Grades Stay Home for Remote Learning
Wednesday, October 28th- Asynchronous Remote Learning Day- No students at school or live on line- but assignments posted and attendance taken based on assignments submitted
Friday, October 30th- Report Cards for Q1 emailed to all families
FWES Friday Folder Information:
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21- The handbook has been updated to reflect items related to the return of students to campus. As information is updated or changed, it will also be updated in the handbook for families. Update dates will be noted on the first page of the Handbook.
Free and Reduced Lunch Applications- Families who received free/reduced lunch last year or who believe they are eligible this year are asked to complete this form. If the form is on file for F2F or Virtual Acacemy students if the student returns to school, it is not needed.
Asynchronous Day Added- October 28th- WCPSS had added an additional asychronous day on Wednesday, October 28th. Please add this date to your calendar.
Reminder that Asynchronous Days are days that there are regularly scheduled live instruction for BOTH Face to Face Students (they do not come to school on Asynchronous Day) and Virtual Academy Students (no live sessions)- however, assignments will be posted for both in Google Classroom and completion of those assignments will be used to take attendance on Asynchronous Days.
Student and Family Information, Volunteer and Cultural Heritage Info Needed: We are making sure that all lines of communication are open with all of our families. Please complete this form for EACH of your FWES students to let us know your current communication information, your interest in volunteering and your family's cultural heritage. Please complete by Tuesday, October 20th. Thank you if you are one of 157 student families who have already completed the form- only 510 more to go!
Holiday Gifts Needed for your Family? We are so appreciative of our community partners and thank St. Michael's Church for their partnership to assist families in need with Holiday Gifts. Requests must be made at the link on they flyer no later than October 30th.
PTA Reflections Contest: The National PTA organization sponors a contest each year to showcase student creativity and talent in the arts through Reflections. Entries are in various arts categories and around the theme: "I matter because...." Entries are due by November 13th- information on how to submit virtual entries is included on the flyer linked above.
PTA Reflections Contest- Espanol
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22: What? Yes? You read that correctly- it it time to begin registration of students for the 2021-22 school year. If you have a rising kindergartner or know someone who does, let them know it is not too early to register:) The Virtual Magnet Fair on November 7th will kick off the Magnet Application process with final applications due by January 28, 2021. A reminder that magnet siblings entering kindergarten need to register at your assigned base school AND complete a magnet application to secure a seat for 2021-22.
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22
Kindergarten Registration for 2021-22- Spanish
FWES PTA Updates:
School Supply Drive: The FWES PTA is supporting ALL FWES students returning to campus by making sure there are plenty of extra supplies that can be given to students as they might need them for learning. Supplies can be ordered from the FWES PTA Amazon Wish list and shipped directly to the school or dropped off on the front porch on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
Virtual Volunteers Needed: Please complete the Family Communication form to share with us your interest in being a Virtual Room Parent, Virtual Hook a Book Parent or other interests you might have as a virtual support for FWES and our programming.
Virtual Book Fair is Coming: More information later, but there will be a Virtual Book Fair throughout the month of November, sponsored by the FWES PTA
FWES News- What does FWES PTA do for our school?
FWES PTA has distributed teacher start up funds to FWES Staff who are PTA members- teachers submit receipts for the start up materials they have personally purchased for reimbursement up to $100 each. It is a great way to help all of our teachers get the items for their classroom (virtual and F2F) that they need without having to spend their own funds.
FWES PTA is excited to have been able to continue our work in providing Cultural Arts experiences for ALL students through PTA and some grant funding from the United Arts Council of Wake County. We are planning our first Cultural Arts experience in early November- stay tuned!
FWES PTA will also be celebrating our fantastic staff by bringing Bruster's Ice Cream Truck to FWES Campus at lunch on Thursday's asynchronous day for a special treat!
FWES Face to Face (F2F) Families:
Mrs. Pierce's Message for F2F Families (10 minutes)
WCPSS Return to Campus Guide for Families
FWES Student and Family Handbook for 2020-21-
FWES Handbook Highlights and School Procedures for Face to Face Families
FWES PTA Q&A with Mrs. Pierce from 10-14-2020
Cohort Assignments and Calendar for Returning Students
Information on Cohort assignments for all students was sent to families on Tuesday, October 6th. Please review the calendar to plan for your student’s rotation dates.
Getting Ready to Return to FWES! There will be many things that are the same, but many that will be different as our students return, especially as it relates to the Safety Protocols in place. Please take time to watch the videos provided by WCPSS WITH your student and help them understand the expectations when they are in any school building this year. We will also be highlighting these videos on our FWES News this week, so tune in to see them again:)
WCPSS Health Safety Protocol Videos
Medication Drop Off: The FWES Office staff will be available from 9:00am-3:00pm on Thursday, October 22nd and Friday, October 23rd for families to complete the medication drop off process for your child returning to the FWES Campus. All visitors must complete a full health screen, wear masks and social distance when on campus. Only one family at a time may complete the process, so if you have to wait, your patience is appreciated.
Reminder that all medication requires the signed doctor's order (Rx medications and any required over the counter medications).
WCPSS Medication Information and required 1702 Form
Student Dismissal Transportation Information needed ASAP!!! We are so very excited to welcome students back to the FWES Campus, but we also need to collect information on how they will go home each day, so we can insure their safe return home after school. Please complete the form no later than Tuesday, October 20th- we will begin calling families this week to insure we have dismissal information on all students who will be returning to campus.
Bus Routes for FWES- Routes for 2020-21 will be posted at this link by Monday afternoon, October 19th.
Supply Lists for F2F Families: It will be important that due to Remote/Asynchronous learning days, that F2F students have supplies at school AND at home for learning. If you are able, updated supply lists are linked here for getting your child the things they need at school. Due to safety, supplies cannot be shared in the classroom so if you want to send extra supplies for teachers to have on hand for students who may forget to bring supplies or run out during the day, that's great, too.
**The one addition for all students K-5th is a pool/beach towel for school. We are going to try to eat outside on as many days as possible and to help students maintain social distancing and provide them a nice spot for eating, we are asking each to bring a large towel to use during the week. It will be sent home with students each Friday for washing and returning the following week. If you have an extra for students who may not bring them, thank you for sharing!
Technology Guidance for Families: All students returning to the FWES campus are expected to bring their WCPSS Chromebook- CHARGED- each day. It will return home with the student daily for access to homework and on remote learning days.
*At FWES, students without a WCPSS Chromebook checked out to them at home- will be assigned a FWES Chromebook that will be used only by that student while on campus. While the WCPSS document references, bring your own device, we have found that WCPSS systems and other resources sometimes do now work well on non-WCPSS devices- so we are not going to sponsor BYOD when students return.
10-9-2020 (delivered 10-11-2020)
Mrs. Pierce’s Friday Message (7 minutes)
Hi Families! We have been continuing to plan for the return of students to our campus while also working diligently to align learning for all students. When our students return we want to insure that all students- F2F, Tracked Out and Virtual Academy have the same standards alignment and are making appropriate progress toward understanding and mastery. We are also working hard to insure that all of the important safety protocols and procedures are clearly spelled out for FWES when students return. Our staff will spend the morning on Thursday's asynchronous learning day role playing and practicing our procedures to take them from paper and drawings to how it works with live people and work out any changes that may need to be made. I am so blessed to get to work with these amazing educators who demonstrate a commitment to students and creating a safe environment for EVERYONE by spending extra time problem solving and insuring we make the best decisions possible. As we all understand with the current pandemic, situations can change from one day to the next and we will continue to make adjustments as they are needed.
Thank you for all of your support for your student and for our wonderful staff!
IB Learner Profile- Open Minded
P2 Character Strength- Being Present and Giving Others My Attention
Library Book Pick up 8am-4pm M, T, W and F on Front Porch
Monday, October 12- Indigious Peoples Day; 6:30 PTA Board Meeting
Tuesday, October 13
Wednesday, October 14- FWES PTA Q&A with Mrs. Pierce 6:30pm
Thursday, October 15- Asynchronous Remote Learning Day- no regular live sessions; Bullying Prevention Mask Designs Due
Friday, October 16
For All FWES Families:
FWES Family Communication, Virtual Volunteers and Cultural Heritage Info Needed- Thank you for helping us gather information that we typically collect during our Meet the Teacher event, to help us make sure you are informed and able to engage in our school community this year. ALL families should complete this form. We would appreciate it if you complete it by October 16th. Thanks!
Specials Schedule Change- Due to the addition of Remote Learning days to all WCPSS calendars, we have made the change to our specials schedule from a M-F schedule to a rotation Day 1-5 so that students do not ever have to miss a special class. Please see your Google Classroom for updated information on the impact of the rotation on your student.
Note- Additional changes may be needed once students return on October 26th, too- and that information will also be shared with families.
Decorate Mask Contest- for October Anti Bullying Month- Due by Thursday this week
FWES PTA- don't forget to become a member!
FWES PTA Board Meeting- Monday, October 12th 6:30-7:30pm
Question and Answers with Mrs. Pierce- Wednesday, October 14th 6:30-7:30pm
For Face to Face (F2F) returning Families:
Important Information for F2F Families: Please review this document for important information for F2F families. Mrs. Pierce’s Video about this document is linked in the document.
Cohort Assignments and Calendar for Returning Students
Information on Cohort assignments for all students was sent to families on Tuesday, October 6th. Please review the calendar to plan for your student’s rotation dates.
Face Covering Information for Families of Face to Face Students- WCPSS has sent guidance on Face Covering requirements for ALL students, along with videos to support students who may struggle to wear a face covering all day.
Families of F2F students are encouraged to begin working with your child to wear a mask for incremental periods of time the next two weeks- until they are up to 6.5-7 consecutive hours- so they are used to wearing a mask the whole school day. We will be talking about it on the news the next few weeks, too.
Before and After School Information
- Taylor YMCA at FWES for Before and After School
- Before School- all year- Taylor YMCA
- After School- Taylor YMCA-will offer for 2nd Quarter- FWES may take over for 2nd semester if staffing available
- YMCA registration information will be available on the website soon- as soon as it is available F2F families will be notified
- Programs will be staffed by Taylor YMCA and not considered part of FWES- so processes and procedures may vary from prior program participation.
- All WCPSS requirements for health screen, face coverings and social distancing will be followed by YMCA programs
- Several local childcare centers offer before and/or after school care to students at FWES for families who need care when students return to school. Note, families are responsible for contacting and arranging child care and verifying transportation when needed for students.
Note- This week F2F Families will receive another survey to collect information on how your student will be going home in the afternoons when they are attending school. Thank you for being on the look out for this information and filling in the form as soon as possible.
10-2-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (15 minutes)
Happy October! Wow, how did we get here- seems like it was just March:) I think we all welcome the fall weather and watching the leaves begin to change colors is such a gift in the fall, too. This week has been very busy with the updated decision from the WCPSS Board of Education for the return of K-5 students to schools. FWES had already done much planning this summer and is now finalizing all of those plans and procedures based on the most updated requirements and guidance so that we are prepared for our students in Plan B to return safely to campus. I look forward to sharing more and more details as we move forward.... stay tuned!
Have a wonderful fall weekend!
On a side note, I will need to be away from the building next week several days and will be unable to respond to email or phone calls. If you have an urgent need, please reach out to Mark Beamish our assistant principal for assistance. If it can wait, I will respond as soon as I am able:)
Thank you for partnering with us to create our #fwesstrong School Community!
Respectfully, Winston Pierce
FWES Calendar October 5-9
IB Learner Profile Attribute: Open-Minded P2- Open Mindedness
Library Book Pick up M-W, F from 8-4 at FRONT PORCH
Monday, October 5
Tuesday, October 6
- 1st Grade Long/Holland Family Session 8:15-8:45am
- 1st Grade Byrd/Edwards Family Session 8:30-9:00am
- 3rd Grade Crow/Dula/Thomson Family Session 4:00-4:30pm
- 1st Grade Long/Holland Family Session 6:00-6:30pm
- 1st Grade Byrd/Edwards Family Session 6:30-7:00pm
Wednesday, October 7
Thursday, October 8
- Asynchronous Learning Day- No Live Sessions- but complete assignments in Google Classroom to be recorded as being in attendance
- Teachers will share additional information as needed
Friday, October 9
- 8:30am PTA Coffee Chat
Friday Folder Items:
Decorate Mask Contest- Stand Up to Bullying Month- October; Contest sponsored by our counseling team. Check out the flyer and more information in your counseling Google Classroom! Entries due October 15th.
Welcome Mr. Jones! Welcome Mr. Daniel Jones to Farmington Woods as our new music teacher! We found out last night that Mr. Jones could start today and I was excited to introduce him on the news this morning! Mr. Jones comes to us after serving students last spring in Chapel Hill, NC. He has a passion for music and experience with Face to Face and virtual learning to serve all of our students. In addition, he has personal handbell experience and is excited, when it is safe, to continue our long tradition of handbell learning for our students. Due to regulations, today was Mr. Jones first day in our building and to see his classroom. In order to provide him with time to organize the classroom and plan lessons, there will not be music lessons during your specials next week but he looks forward to seeing students the following week. He may also join other specialists throughout the week to meet some students and learn more about FWES and IB learning.
We will miss Mrs. Jiang! We wish Mrs. Jiang all the best as next week will be her last week at Farmington Woods Elementary. In these challenging times and with the recent decision for students to return to the school building, Mrs. Jiang has had to make the difficult decision to leave FWES for her family. She has provided our students and our school with strong Mandarin instruction and our students have learned so much. Thank you Mrs. Jiang!
I am in the process of hiring a new teacher for our Chinese program and as soon as the Human Resources approval process is completed, will look forward to sharing the candidate’s information with you. It is likely we may have a few weeks where Chinese is not available but we hope to have things ready to go when our K-3 students begin to return.
Asynchronous Instructional Days: The adopted plan of the Board of Education on Tuesday included the provision to include Asynchronous Learning Days within the school week from the week of October 26 through January 15. Until October 26th, schools may select one day a week as an asynchronous learning day.
Farmington Woods Elementary Asynchronous Days:
Thursday, October 8th
Thursday, October 15th
NEW- Thursday, October 22nd (*Note Friday, October 23rd is a Teacher Workday)
Asynchronous days will NOT have regular live instructional times for students but the opportunity for students to complete asynchronous work assignments given by the teacher in the Google Classroom. Attendance will be taken, so students should be sure to submit assignments to be counted present on Asynchronous learning days.
We appreciate your cooperation as our teachers work hard to prepare for the many changes in our building when students begin to return and continue to provide strong instruction for our students.
More information on WCPSS Asynchronous learning days will be shared when it is available and confirmed.
Calendar for students Returning to FWES
More detailed calendar information will be shared as it is available with WCPSS families. Student cohort information will be shared with families next week, as soon as it is all confirmed.
Showcase your IB learning!
Families, we need your help to fill our showcase with incredIBle ways you are taking action and being remote learners! You can submit a picture, poem, poster, or other creative representation to demonstrate how you have tackled remote learning as an IB learner. You may drop off your representation during your grade level materials drop off on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1st OR CLICK HERE to submit your learning virtually. NOTE: All items must be smaller than 12x18. We look forward to seeing your learning in action!
FWES Pledge Leaders still wanted- upload your video to the link!
UPDATE !! LIBRARY BOOK “BAGS” UPDATE !!
Are you ready for some new library books? It is easy to get them…
- Place your choices on hold by following the video Mrs. Grice made (your teacher has shared it with you).
- Mrs. Grice will collect your books and send your parents an email when the books are ready to be picked up. DO NOT COME UNLESS YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN EMAIL !!!
- You can come pick the books up Monday - Thursday between 8:00am -4:00pm at the front of the school in the CARPOOL LANE!! (note change of location)
- Book pick up will be self-serve.
- The books will be in bags and marked with your name.
- Not all of your requests may be filled at the same time - remember our library “rules” and that Mrs. Grice wants you to read a variety of genres.
- Bring back any books you want to return and place them in the green boxes labeled for Book Return.
Any Questions : email Mrs. Grice egrice@wcpss.net
Carpool Tag Registration Form- Form completed prior to pick up this week was sent in bag with Instructional Materials. For new forms, a time will be arranged for pick up prior to the return of students. Draft Carpool Procedures
Walker Permission- 2nd- 5th Grade Students who may have permission to walk away from the front porch without an adult. K-1 students may not leave the porch without an adult or older sibling.
*Important to note that older siblings in 4th/5th grade will be attending on a 3 week rotation and unable to walk daily with K-1 students. Families will need to use carpool or plan to be available at 3:45pm at the front of the school. Draft Walker Procedures
PTA Memberships can be found here: https://fwespta.new.memberhub.store/store
PTA Yearbook- Order your 2020-21 yearbook for the lowest price of the year!
Mrs. Pierce Q & A- Wednesday, October 14th 6:30pm- link to come later:)
9-25-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (12 minutes)
Happy Friday heading into a long weekend- Reminder that Monday, September 28th is a Teacher Workday- there are no live meets or assignments for Monday!
This week has been a great one in our classrooms as our students continue to amaze me in their engagement and assignment completion... with the guidance of our incredIBle teachers and staff, too! Please note that due to the Instructional Materials Pick Up next week- there are some schedule changes noted below for each grade level. Each family will be emailed a copy of their student(s) Interim Report as we are at the mid point of the 1st quarter. Please take time to review the teacher's comments about your child's progress and reach out if you have questions. We realize the start of this year has been different for each student and each family and will continue to work together with our families to meet our students' learning needs the best we can!
The WCPSS Board of Education will be hearing updated information and making a decision on Tuesday, September 29th about the plan for Plan B students and their upcoming return to campus. The district will be sharing information with you and I will also share FWES specifics as they are ready to be shared. We did much prep this summer but will need to review the new or updated requirements and make a few updates with the help of our SIP parent representatives before we can share. I appreciate your patience in knowing that we want to be thorough in our school based decision making.
Have a great weekend! We'll see you Tuesday!
FWES Calendar for September 28-October 2
IB Learner Profile Attribute- Inquirer Positivity Focus- Teamwork
Monday, September 28th- Teacher Workday- No School for Students- FWES Office Closed
Tuesday, September 29th- Regular Schedules
- Reserve Library Books by 12:00noon in order to have them in your materials pick up bag
Wednesday, September 30th- Instructional Materials Pick Up
- Kindergarten- No AM Live Sessions; Pick up 10-11am
- 1st Grade- No PM Live Sessions; Pick up 1-2pm
- 3rd Grade- No PM Live Session; Pick up 2-3pm
Thursday, October 1- Instructional Materials Pick Up
- 2nd Grade- No AM Live Sessions; Pick up 10-11am
- 5th Grade- No PM Live Sessions; Pick up 1-2pm
- 4th Grade- No PM Live Sessions; Pick up 2-3pm
Friday, October 2- Custodian Appreciation Day!
No Library Book Pick Up- if ordered by noon on Tuesday- they will be with instructional materials for pick up
FWES Friday Folder Items:
- Asynchronous Learning Days at FWES: Superintendent Cathy Moore has allowed each school to designate one day a week as an asynchronous learning day for the school in the month of October. On this day, there would be no regular live sessions, but there would be work that students could access in Google Classroom to complete- or catch up on work that has not yet been completed. This day will provide families with time away from the rigorous schedule of live meets and teams of teachers time to complete more long range planning and provide students with feedback on assignments. Teachers on the asynchronous day may also invite a student or small group of students to meet to receive extra assistance or support. Please make a note of our upcoming asynchronous days and we will continue to share more as we get closer to the dates. Thanks!
- FWES Asynchronous Learning Days
- Thursday, October 8th
- Thursday, October 15th
- FWES Asynchronous Learning Days
- FWES Family Feedback- September: As we approach the end of the first month of school, we are asking our FWES families to provide us with some feedback to help us best serve you and your students. Thank you for taking a few minutes to complete the survey linked above so that we can hear your voice:)
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Showcase your IB learning!
Families, we need your help to fill our showcase with incredIBle ways you are taking action and being remote learners! You can submit a picture, poem, poster, or other creative representation to demonstrate how you have tackled remote learning as an IB learner. You may drop off your representation during your grade level materials drop off on Sept. 30 or Oct. 1st OR CLICK HERE to submit your learning virtually. NOTE: All items must be smaller than 12x18. We look forward to seeing your learning in action! -
UPDATE !! LIBRARY BOOK “BAGS” UPDATE !!
Are you ready for some new library books? It is easy to get them…
- Place your choices on hold by following the video Mrs. Grice made (your teacher has shared it with you).
- Mrs. Grice will collect your books and send your parents an email when the books are ready to be picked up. DO NOT COME UNLESS YOU HAVE RECEIVED AN EMAIL !!!
- You can come pick the books up Monday - Thursday between 8:00am -4:00pm at the front of the school in the CARPOOL LANE!! (note change of location)
- Book pick up will be self-serve.
- The books will be in bags and marked with your name.
- Not all of your requests may be filled at the same time - remember our library “rules” and that Mrs. Grice wants you to read a variety of genres.
- Bring back any books you want to return and place them in the green boxes labeled for Book Return.
-
Any Questions : email Mrs. Grice egrice@wcpss.net
- Membership Challenge: Please help us reach our membership goals so we can get Mrs. Pierce and Mr. Beamish to have some fun on our behalf!
- FWES Yearbook for 2020-21: We are offering this year's yearbook (it will be a keeper for historical reference :) purchase at the lowest price for early shoppers. Student photos will be set up for later into November for ALL students using safety protocols- so all students, including Virtual Academy will be featured. The flyer is linked above with all of the information to place an order.
9-18-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (10 minutes)
Happy Friday!
I hope that this message finds you dry and ready for a weekend with some much cooler temps- and maybe some sports on TV or great outdoor activities nearby! I know I may sound like a broken record (or scratched CD) but we are so very thankful for the hard work of our families in engaging students each day in learning. We could not do this virtual learning without you and how fortunate are we at FWES to have such a strong family presence and commitment to student learning! Please know that we appreciate you and YOUR HARD WORK to help us ensure our students are learning and growing!
Mr. Beamish and I have had a great time popping into Google Classrooms and what we see that our teachers have prepared and your students' engagement is really amazing to imagine. While no one thinks this situation is ideal for students, families or teachers- there are some skills our students as young as Kinder and 1st grade have gained that as of last March- I was not yet able to manage myself (like mic off/adding to the chat/manuevering google classroom assignments and so on). I think it is always important to seek the silver lining and much like our positivity project make sure we look for the good in all situations and focus our attention on the positive:) while we work to solve those things that need improvement. We also know we can continue to improve and grow as a school for our students and families and trust me in knowing you have the BEST educators in WCPSS ready and willing to be learners and to do what they can to address as much as humanly possible.
All of that said, there were two pretty big announcements this week that will guide our future planning and work in WCPSS and at FWES. There are no specifics yet for any plan or timeframe for the return of our Plan B students to the building, but please monitor the WCPSS Board of Education for discussions and details- along with your email for updates from the district. The next Board of Education work session meeting is on Wednesday, September 23rd at 2:00pm and can be viewed on You Tube- search WCPSS to find the Board broadcast channel.
We are excited to have posted photos of all of our 1st-5th graders in our halls so that we "see" our students each day! Thanks to our kindergarten parents for sending a photo to your teacher that we can use for our kindergarten hall, too! We miss you all!
Love, Mrs. Pierce
FWES Friday Folder Announcements and Documents:
FWES and WCPSS Family Academy Event for FWES Families Only- Offered in Spanish Only! Tuesday, September 22nd 6-7pm
FWES Morning News Fix: Please note that the glitch in accessing the FWES Morning News has been fixed, however, the ONLY way to view the news is by first logging in through the students' Wake ID Portal. Thank you for your flexibility and for watching each morning to hear announcements and the all important birthdays!
Pledge of Allegiance Student Leaders Needed! We will begin next week ending the morning news broadcast as it ends with our student anchors when we are in session- "Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance". We are asking for student pledge leaders to make a video that can be accessed on the website for families to engage in the Pledge of Allegiance daily at home. Reciting the pledge daily is part of NC State law and WCPSS board policy. We look forward to having our students continue to lead our school community each morning. Use the form linked here to complete your student's information and attach a short video clip of the pledge. Note- videos will be posted on the school's website so please only send if your child has photo and video permission for posting- thank you!
Book Collection Drive with FWES PTA and FWES Literacy Team: If you have extra books to share with students who may need more access to books at home- please drop them off at the school from Wednesday- Friday during school hours- 8:45am-3:45pm on the front porch. The books will be collected and then shared with our students who need access to additional reading materials on their reading level at home. The drop off is touchless- there is a box to put them in on the front porch each day.
Need to get a book ?
Rescheduled Book Pick Up- Monday, September 21st from 8:00-9:00am and 11:30am-12:30pm- Book pick up was cancelled due to weather on Friday so those books will be available on Monday at the same times.
Students need to go to the library site and place a “hold” for the books they wish to checkout. Mrs. Grice will pull any available titles and notify students and parents by email when the books are ready. Book pickup will be on FRIDAYs from 8:00am - 9:00am and 11:30am - 12:30pm in the Bus Loop. Books may be returned at this same time. Please place returned books in the labeled boxes.
FWES PTA Updates:
FWES PTA Membership: We are excited to have 178 members and to have had 2 winners so far for our weekly spiritwear prize! Our goal is 300 members- so please take time this weekend to show your support for our school by joining the FWES PTA. Join the FWES PTA
RCityRocks Easy Fund Raiser! One of our community, easy fund raisers is the RCityRocks program. Local businesses will give back a percentage of what you spend and then it is matched by corporate sponsors and the return to the FWES PTA can be awesome the more participants we have. It is easy because all you need to do is shop at the local business and then text a copy of your receipt- DONE- and FWES PTA gets a check. Get all the details along with our community partners at the link above.
There is currently an rcityrocks special at Papa Murphy's running next week where all receipts sent in will generate 25% to the FWES PTA.
Papa Murphy's Rocks Week is next week 9/21-9/27! They are donating 25% of purchases all week to all R City Rocks Nonprofits! There is also a daily Gift Card Giveaway; people are automatically entered when they text a receipt.9-11-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (6 minutes)
Happy end of Week 2 to all of you!
We are so appreciative of the engagement of our families in supporting student learning. Thank you for the hard work of managing the task- with all of the other things you are also managing! I am so impressed with the extraordinary work of our teachers as they are teaching in a format the last 10 days that they have never had to use before and their hard work shows.... in the energetic on line presence and in the extra coffee they bring to school with them! #FWESSTRONG and we will get through this if we work together and continue to work hard but to also provide flexibility and grace in both directions:)
There are several updates included below to keep you informed as we continue to progress through the school year. The most important information for K-5 families is related to iStation and directions to prepare your device for your child to participate in this required beginning of the year benchmark for literacy.
Have a wonderful weekend refreshing and relaxing getting ready for Week 3!
FWES Friday Folder Updates:
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Families - Action Needed for Non-WCPSS Devices!!!
Familias - Si su hijo está usando un dispositivo que no es WCPSS, siga estas instrucciones!!!
All K-5 students will be taking the Istation reading assessment between September 14th - 30th.
If your student uses a non-WCPSS device for remote learning, we need you to download the Istation software. Please click on the directions below in the letters.
For students with WCPSS devices, detailed informatoin and access directions are also included in the letters below.
Click HERE for the Istation Family Letter in English (written directions and videos are included)
HAGA CLIC AQUÍ para leer la Carta a la familia de Istation en español (se incluyen instrucciones escritas y video)
For any questions- please contact Elizabeth Plotkin at eplotkin@wcpss.net
- Recognition Today of September 11th- As per WCPSS board policy, our school recognized September 11, 2001 with a moment of silence this morning. On the news and/or in morning meetings the following information was shared: September 11th National Day of Service and Remembrance is the culmination of efforts originally launched in 2002 that promotes community service on 9/11 as an annual and forward-looking tribute to the 9/11 victims, survivors, and those who rose up in service in response to the attacks. September 11, 2020 is the 19th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers, New York City, the Pentagon, Washington, DC and Flight 93 resulting in the deaths of over 3000 people representing 93 countries. Today’s moment of silence serves as an important way in which to remember and honor their lives.
- Pledge of Allegiance Student Leaders Needed! We will begin next week ending the morning news broadcast as it ends with our student anchors when we are in session- "Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance". We are asking for student pledge leaders to make a video that can be accessed on the website for families to engage in the Pledge of Allegiance daily at home. Reciting the pledge daily is part of NC State law and WCPSS board policy. We look forward to having our students continue to lead our school community each morning. Use the form linked here to complete your student's information and attach a short video clip of the pledge. Note- videos will be posted on the school's website so please only send if your child has photo and video permission for posting- thank you!
- 3rd Grade Explorers Program- 3rd Grade Families- please read this document to learn more about the 3rd Grade Explorers program that will begin next week for all 3rd Graders.
- Need to get a book ?
Students need to go to the library site and place a “hold” for the books they wish to checkout. Mrs. Grice will pull any available titles and notify students and parents by email when the books are ready. Book pickup will be on FRIDAYs from 8:00am - 9:00am and 11:30am - 12:30pm in the Bus Loop. Books may be returned at this same time. Please place returned books in the labeled boxes. - Free Meals for ALL WCPSS Students: Through December 31, all Wake County students may receive breakfast and lunch via Curbside Service at no cost. Meals will not be available on holidays designated on the student’s calendar. WCPSS Food Distribution Sites
FWES PTA Updates:
Thank you to the families who particpated in the 1st General Membership Meeting on Thursday evening. We are excited to have families join the PTA and to welcome you to our school community. Please reach out with any questions or to get involved- we are glad you are here!
Go Play Save Fall Fundraiser- virtual coupon book sale!!! Through September 17th!
- FWES PTA still has projects to complete and fund for the school community in 2020-21. To provide the support to the school, fund raising in the virtual school community will remain an important way that families can support the PTA and the school.
- Go Play Save Link
Fall Spiritwear Sale- order through September 14th!
PTA Advocacy- Voter's Election Forum for WCPSS Board of Education:
On September 23rd, the Wake County PTA Council will be hosting a virtual candidate forum for all those running for School Board in the November election. If you would like to submit a question for the candidates, they are being accepted until September 15 via this link
Look for information on joining the live forum coming soon!Here’s a list of who is running. An (i) next to the name stands for incumbent (they are currently in office). We at FWES are in District 9 (along with several other schools like Reedy Creek, Kingswood, Northwoods, Cary High, Green Hope High, Laurel Park, Salem Elementary, West Cary Middle and more).District 1Heather Scott (i)Deborah PrickettDistrict 2Monika Johnson-Hostler (i)Gregory HahnDorian HamiltonDistrict 3Roxie Cash (i)District 4Keith Sutton (i)District 5Jim Martin (i)District 6Christine Kushner (i)District 7Chris Heagarty (i)Rachel MillsDistrict 8Lindsay Mahaffey (i)Steve BergstromDistrict 9Bill Fletcher (i)Karen CarterDaniel Madding9-4-2020
Mrs. Pierce's Message (5 minutes- yes you read that correctly:)
Happy Friday before a long weekend to our FWES families!
We made it through week 1.... great, good, okay, or awful.... we made it! It is a long weekend without screen time- and temps below 100- so enjoy the time outside to regroup and refresh! Thank you all for your support and partnership in helping us reach our students for learning the very best we can. We also thank you for your patience and understanding as our incredIBle staff have NEVER had to teach in this format before and they are learning as they go, too. There is no model virtual school delivery system for a global pandemic, but based on what I have been able to see this week- we are well on our way to modeling some awesome strategies from the staff AND families at FWES!
We are FWES STRONG and can get through this challenge together.... with our focus on supporting each other (adults and students, alike) and with flexibiity, understanding and grace!
Have a wonderful holiday weekend! Mrs. Pierce
FWES Friday Folder Information:
- Staff Introductions- Be sure to "meet" all of our FWES staff this year by visiting our website and in the announcement bar you will find a link to a document were you can have a virtual introduction to all of our incredIBle staff!
- Library Book Bags!
- Place your choices on hold by following the video Mrs. Grice made (your teacher has shared it with you).
- Mrs. Grice will collect your books and send you (and your parents) an email when the books are ready to be picked up.
- All book holds must be placed by the end of the day on Tuesday to be ready for Friday pickup.
- You can come pick the books up on FRIDAYs between 8:00am- 9:00am or between 11:30am-12:30pm in the BUS LOOP.
- The books will be in bags and marked with your name.
- Not all of your requests may be filled at the same time - remember our library “rules” and that Mrs. Grice wants you to read a variety of genres.
- Bring back any books you want to return and place them in the boxes labeled for Book Return.
- Are you ready for some new library books? It is easy to get them…
- Any Questions : email Mrs. Grice egrice@wcpss.net
- Student Childcare and Learning Support: WakeEd Partnership, WCPSS and community organizations have partnered to work to meet the needs of families and students. The FAST (Families and Schools Together) programs are now availble throughout the community to provide childcare to families during school hours that also provide structures for learning time, too. While no program is endorsed by WCPSS or by FWES, information on programs avaialble to families can be found at the link below.
- WCPSS is offering much family support through the WCPSS Family Academy Virtual Events. Please check out the many sessions to support family learning needs.
- WCPSS Food Distribution Sites: All students may receive lunch and breakfast daily at the food distribution sites listed at the website linked here. Due to an extension made by the USDA, there is no cost to ANY family for this resource. Locations may change as we move into the school year and all updates can be found at this website and in the community emails sent to families throughout the week.
- Hope Church Food Pantry
- Hope Community Church is a FWES partner. They support our school with volunteers for projects and supplies for students. In addition they offer a Food Pantry to our families who may be in need of food support during this challenging time.
FWES PTA Updates:
PTA General Membership Meeting: On Thursday, September 10, 2020 at 6:30pm we will have our first General Body Meeting where we pass our budget and elect new officers. It's a great chance to get an overview of what all your PTA does. Here is the virtual link: https://meet.google.com/hyd-euvw-oap
PTA Coffee Chats: These will be twice a month with our next one on Friday, September 11, 2020. This one is just for our kindergarten families. We know how fast and furious the information comes and how many questions you don't even know you have...this is a chance to get some answers, meet some other PTA members, and see some other kindergarten parents. It starts at 8:30am and we try to wrap up around 9 so that we can all get our kiddos day started. I hope to see some of you there!
Coffee Chat Link: https://meet.google.com/xuk-cpij-cqd
The PTA is looking for:
- Vice President of Services: A member of the PTA executive board. Responsible for inclusion initiatives, outreach opportunities, and PTA participation in health and wellness programs. Oversees teams that run teacher appreciation and hospitality events. Works with the Teacher Task Team, Project Parents and Campus Clean Up who provide specific support to our FWES campus.
- Commitment: Must be available during school hours a few times a month for meetings and to oversee programs. A few busy times of the year will require more hours and most work may be done from home. This position has team support!
- Webmaster: Update content on the PTA website and help with maintaining web data. Coordinate work with the VP of Communications as needed.
- Commitment: A few hours a month
Please email Stevie Martino at President@fwespta.org if interested
Go Play Save Fall Fundraiser- virtual coupon book sale!!! Through September 17th!
- FWES PTA still has projects to complete and fund for the school community in 2020-21. To provide the support to the school, fund raising in the virtual school community will remain an important way that families can support the PTA and the school.
- Go Play Save Link
Fall Spiritwear Sale- order through September 14th!
- Lots to choose from here: Spirit Wear Store
8-28-2020
FWES Friday Folder!
Mrs. Pierce's Video Message (13 minutes)
Happy Friday to our awesome FWES Families!
It was so great to see so many of you this week when you came by to pick up your instructional supplies. We have had almost all families get their supplies this week.... yeah..... now we are ready for the full days of school to begin next week! In addition, those families who need chromebooks are beginning to be notified about picking up chromebooks at the identified high schools next week- please note that we DO NOT have chromebooks at FWES for our students. We are looking forward to getting this large hurdle behind us as we focus our attention to academic standards and IB Learning.
Monday, August 31st- Full School Day Schedule Begins
Full School Day Scheule by Grade Level
Please carefully review this schedule- and any additional schedule information sent from your child's teacher this week to plan for how and when your child(ren) will be interacting with the teacher on line and when they will be completing assignments independently. Small group times will be shared with students and parents, too. A reminder that independent work is a time when most 2nd-5th graders will be ready to finish or move without too much assistance with what the teacher got started during the live instruction. K-1 students will need much more supervision throughout their day to remain focused and to complete the tasks assigned- much like the support and reminders they get all day when they are in the school building:) There are even some of our 2nd-5th graders who might also need that same level of support. It is important that students finish assignments each day-on that day- so they are ready for the next day's learning.
Take a breath- you got this- and if not, Tuesday will be another day- and so will Wednesday and beyond! Reach out to your child's teacher if you need support
Parent involvement in Google Meet lessons- We welcome parent engagement but a quick reminder that parents are asked not to interupt a Meet, contribute to or ask questions of the teacher when the teacher is working with students- much the same as if we were in the building. If you have a question or need to contact the teacher, please send an email and our staff will be happy to set up a time to talk with you when they are not working directly with students. Thank you for your cooperation.
Other FWES News:
- Library Book Bags!
- Are you ready for some new library books? It is easy to get them…
- Place your choices on hold by following the video Mrs. Grice made (your teacher has shared it with you).
- Mrs. Grice will collect your books and send you (and your parents) an email when the books are ready to be picked up.
- All book holds must be placed by the end of the day on Tuesday to be ready for Friday pickup.
- You can come pick the books up on FRIDAYs between 8:00am- 9:00am or between 11:30am-12:30pm in the BUS LOOP.
- The books will be in bags and marked with your name.
- Not all of your requests may be filled at the same time - remember our library “rules” and that Mrs. Grice wants you to read a variety of genres.
- Bring back any books you want to return and place them in the boxes labeled for Book Return.
- Any Questions : email Mrs. Grice egrice@wcpss.net
- Are you ready for some new library books? It is easy to get them…
- In addition, WCPSS is offering much family support through the WCPSS Family Academy Virtual Events. Please check out the many sessions to support family learning needs.
- Hope Church Food Pantry
- Hope Community Church is a FWES partner. They support our school with volunteers for projects and supplies for students. In addition they offer a Food Pantry to our families who may be in need of food support during this challenging time.
FWES PTA Updates:
- Go Play Save Fall Fundraiser- virtual coupon book sale!!!
- FWES PTA still has projects to complete and fund for the school community in 2020-21. To provide the support to the school, fund raising in the virtual school community will remain an important way that families can support the PTA and the school.
- Sales for prizes will end on September 8th!
- Go Play Save Link
- Fall Spiritwear Sale- order through September 14th!
- Lots to choose from here: Spirit Wear Store
8-21-2020
FWES Friday Folder:)
Mrs. Pierce's Video Message (13 minutes)
Hi FWES Families!
Without families or students coming to the building each day, it is no surprise to think that communication with famlies will need to move to a much more digital format, too. Please make sure you are getting the weekly emails from the school and communication from teachers and that you check email regularly for important school related information. If you sign up for text messaging, too, you will get links directly to the information via text messages on your phone.
School Messenger- School Messenger is the system that WCPSS uses to communicate with large groups of families and schools also use it for communication, too. Please review the document linked here to learn how to update your contact information and make changes as to how you want to receive communication from WCPSS and FWES.
We made it! One week of accessing FWES on line is completed. Thank you for all of your support and patience as we learn more about the challenges of a virtual learning environment and seek to overcome those challenges we have control over. We are excited to continue connecting and engaging our students this week as we move from grade level and school connections to teacher connections.
Teacher/Classroom Assignments on Monday: Teachers will begin reaching out via email to our families on Monday to share classroom placement information for 2020-21. In almost all grades, your child's teacher will be partnered with another or two other teachers on the grade level so they can support each other with virtual learning and if someone has to be absent. Your student will occasionally see lessons or other content from any of the teacher partners and may even see some lessons from any teacher on the team, especially as we move into our full day virtual learning to start the year. Teams at FWES plan together, so it only makes sense that they also would work together to prepare resources, rather than all of them doing the same asynchronous lesson recording. Our work this first week provided students with the opportunity to meet all teachers on the team in order to provide context if they were to see another teacher teaching a lesson during the year, too:)
Orientation Week 2 August 24-28, 2020: We will continue with our Orientation schedule as most WCPSS elementary students have not yet gotten the requested Chromebook devices. Those pick ups should happen this week. All students will have an AM and PM meeting each day of the week- starting Tuesday it will be with their assigned teacher. Please review the document linked above for additional schedule information for this week- August 24-28th!
IB Learners Take Action: We have Action Wednesday on the FWES News each week. Please use this link to share action your IB students have taken so they can be highlighted on the FWES news. Videos and photos are welcome! See Spring 2020 Action highlights here.
Instructional Materials Pick Up and Meet your Teacher: As we are going to begin a full day of instruction on August 31st, we want our students to have the materials they need for learning. Your teacher will be here at the times listed below to give you the materials you will need for learning. It will be a drive thru process, so access to the materials and teacher will be on the passenger side of the vehicle, much like the spring pick up process. Teachers cannot wait to see you in person, but will maintain social distancing and wear masks during these times, too. The materials are very important and should be kept in a safe spot or in a child's back pack near/with the Chromebook so that students can access them each day as directed by the teacher. Materials will include books, daily workbooks and activities, as well as, additional hands on materials that will be needed for learning. For social distancing, we have to spread out the grade levels, however, if families do not want to come back through more than once, you may request all students' materials at any one of the times. Note, however, that only the grade level teachers for the grade level time will be available to meet the student.
Wednesday, August 26th
10:15-11:15am 5th Grade
1:00-2:00pm 4th Grade and ECS
2:00-3:00pm 3rd Grade
Thursday, August 27th
10:15-11:15am Kindergarten and Pre K
1:00-2:00pm 1st Grade
2:00-3:00pm 2nd Grade
Got Questions??? Our Got Questions sessions will continue on Monday and Tuesday of this week. We love seeing and hearing from our families and want to be here to help you with your questions. The links to join these sessions can be found on the front page of the website in the Google Calendar bar on the left side of the screen at the bottom.
Monday and Tuesday
8:30-9:30am Got Tech Questions
9:30-10:30am Got FWES Questions
10:30-11:30am Got Counselor Questions
Sneak Preview for August 31st!
We will begin our full school day schedule on Monday, August 31st. During the day students at all grade levels will have 2.5-3 hours of scheduled live instruction with their teacher each day; along with 2 -2.5 hours of independent assignment completion- based on the live learning sessions. The link above outlines the live times that each grade level will be using to start the week of August 31st. Please review and determine how to best plan for making sure your child accesses his/her live learning. For privacy, live sessions with students are not allowed to be recorded, so it will not be repeated, but reach out to the teacher if you miss (much like if you miss instruction at school, ask the teacher for help).
Before each live session, students will likely need to have appropriate learning materials with them and review any reminders from teachers for extra supplies that may also be needed- such as cube counters for math live session; paper and crayons for Science/Social Studies session, etc.
It will be a busy day for all students and families and we will all work together to make sure students are maximizing learning each day!
Other FWES News:
- Single Subject Acceleration Updates for Fall 2020
- Nomination window will open again due to Spring school closures- August 17-28, 2020. Parents may follow the information linked above to make a nomination.
Testing of SSA nominated students will occur in the 30 days following this nomination period. More information will be coming to families who have submitted nominations- expect it the week of August 31st.
- Nomination window will open again due to Spring school closures- August 17-28, 2020. Parents may follow the information linked above to make a nomination.
- AIG and 3rd Grade Explorers Information Sessions
- Learn more from Mrs. Rowe about our AIG program and the 3rd Grade Explorers program by attending one of the Google Meet sessions she is offering this week for families.
- In addition, WCPSS is offering much family support through the WCPSS Family Academy Virtual Events. Please check out the many sessions to support family learning needs.
- Hope Church Food Pantry
- Hope Community Church is a FWES partner. They support our school with volunteers for projects and supplies for students. In addition they offer a Food Pantry to our families who may be in need of food support during this challenging time.
FWES PTA News:
- PTA Coffee Chat Friday August 28th at 8:30am. Coffee Chat link
- Welcome Letter from FWES PTA President and FWES Back to School Information 2020
- 1st General PTA Membership Meeting is Thursday, September 10th at 6:30pm for voting on budget, officers and sharing important information with families. Please join the PTA so you can be part of supporting Farmington Woods Elementary! PTA Membership: https://tinyurl.com/joinfwespta
- Go Play Save Fall Fundraiser- virtual coupon book sale!!!
- FWES PTA still has projects to complete and fund for the school community in 2020-21. To provide the support to the school, fund raising in the virtual school community will remain an important way that families can support the PTA and the school.
- Sales for prizes will end on September 8th!
- Go Play Save Link
- Fall Spiritwear Sale- order through September 14th!
- Lots to choose from here: Spirit Wear Store
8-14-2020
It's Friday Folder Time at FWES!
In order to help families plan for the virtual learning schedules best- we have moved our Monday "Folders" and Newsletters to Fridays for the 2020-21 school year. So Happy Friday to all of you!
Note: The next several weeks we will do Friday updates but also send additional information on Sunday afternoons as we transition and support access to learning for all students and families. Don't worry, that will not continue after the first few weeks:)
Mrs. Pierce's Video Message (20 minutes)
Countdown is on!!! First day of school is just 3 days away- and we are excited to get to see you soon!
Start today by driving through our Pep Rally event in the FWES Parking Lots- Find your FWES shirts and your school spirit and come see all of the FWES staff so we can officially welcome you back to school!
Remember- right turn only (so enter Hampton Valley Road from Cary Parkway)and we will be ready to start at 3:00pm and then right turn out only to exit- Staff will be in both parking lots looking for you!! Check out the Pep Rally Map for details!
Monday is our first day of school- but remember our first two weeks are Orientation for students.
This document gives families a little more information about our schedules the first two weeks- FWES Orientation for Families 2020- here is how most days will look during Week 1:
- The FWES Morning News will be live each morning at 9:05am- find the FWES News icon- on the website or in Google Classroom for those who have their Wake ID.
- Then at 9:15 every morning the next two weeks, each 1st-5th grade student will log on for a live meet with teachers to get their day started. Students with their Wake ID will use it to log on- students without a Wake ID can still participate- but the link to join the “meet” will be emailed to the parent on Sunday. Meet links cannot be put on the website so that we can maintain a secure experience for our students each day. The live meet will be how teachers will take attendance each day of Orientation:)
- If your child does not have access to a phone or other device to use to join the meet- do not worry, devices and hot spots are coming soon! However, do expect some follow up from the school due to the live meets being used to take daily attendance:)
- All students will then have several activities and assignments to complete after the live meet concludes. Those with Wake ID will find them in the Google Classroom- others will receive links to the activities and assignments in the grade level email that will be sent to parents on Sunday. In addition, assignment links will be posted on the FWES Website for easy access, too.
- On a rotating basis- our specialists will meet with our 1st-5th graders at 2:30 each afternoon- during week 1- check the schedule for your grade level meeting time.
- All students will then return for an end of the day Google Meet to give the students time to share the assignments they completed and prepare for the next day with teachers.
- Reminder, there are not yet teacher assignments K-5 so your student will meet with all teachers on the team at some point during the week next week as we wait on the completion of the assignment of students to cohorts so we can complete classroom assignments. Your patience is appreciated!
For Families who need help:
- Got Tech Questions??? Live Google Meet with Anna Goodrum and Emilia Radichi (Spanish) every morning August 17-25 from 8:30-9:30am to answer tech need questions for families. Use the link on the Google Calendar on our website to pop in to ask your question and get help.
- Got FWES Questions??? Live Google Meet with Winston Pierce and Rosario Gravino (Spanish) every morning August 17-25 from 9:30-10:30am to answer general school questions- note- we will not be able to help with tech questions:) Use the link on the Google Calendar on our website to pop in to ask your question and get help.
- Got Questions for the Counselor???? Live Google Meet with Jennifer Thakur and Mark Beamish every morning from August 17-25 from 10:30-11:30am to answer questions or set up times for individual support as it relates to your child’s transition back to school, setting up a learning station at home, friendships, etc.
Of course you can also call the school to leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible, but we know the year will be different and want you to be able to get help as quickly as possible and hope these sessions will assist and support all of you while you support all our teachers are doing at school!
In addition, WCPSS is offering much family support through the WCPSS Family Academy Virtual Events. Please check out the many sessions to support family learning needs.
WCPSS Family Academy Virtual Events Fall 2020
WCPSS Academia Familiar 2020- Spanish
Homework for Students and Families
If you are a returning WCPSS student in 1st-5th Grade, practice logging in to your Wake ID Portal and go to Google Classroom so that you are ready to get started on Monday morning.
Directions are below in English and Spanish. In addition, if you need help with your student in particular there is a link to send for help- the earlier you ask for that help, the sooner you can get it…. If you wait until Monday morning, you may not get that support before the first Google Meet of the day:)
Single Subject Acceleration Updates for Fall 2020
Nomination window will open again due to Spring school closures- August 17-28, 2020. Parents may follow the information linked above to make a nomination.
Testing of SSA nominated students will occur in the 30 days following this nomination period. More information will be coming to families who have submitted nominations- expect it the week of August 31st.Thanks to FWES PTA for have a Las Gringas food truck to serve lunch to staff yesterday on their first day back! Please make sure you take time to support our school community by becoming a member of the FWES PTA.
Welcome Letter from FWES PTA President
FWES Back to School Information 2020
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