Horizon Elementary December 2015

Comet Courier

Horizon Elementary School 46665 Broadmore Drive • Sterling, VA 20165 • Telephone 571.434.3260 • Fax 703.444.7418

Absentee Line 571.434.3261 Absentee Email hrzabsentee@lcps.org

Horizon Elementary School website: www.lcps.org/horizon Principal: Mrs. Jennifer Ewing Bookkeeper: Mrs. Holly Buehler

Assistant Principal: Ms. Stephanie Baran Attendance Secretary: Mrs. Violet Sowa-Badders

DECEMBER EVENTS

Wednesday, December 2 Geography Bee Thursday, December 3 4th Grade Word Masters Challenge Monday, December 7 Reptile World Assembly Saturday, December 12 Jingle Bell Fun Run and Pancake Breakfast, Check-in begins at 7:15 Thursday, December 17 All School Sing-Along, 9:30 PTA Cookie Exchange December 21-January 1 Winter Break, No school Monday, January 4 Classes resume

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Thank you to everyone who was able to visit during American Education Week. We had approximately 867 visitors in our building. The week was full of fun and educational events at each grade level as well as the Scholastic Book Fair.

The month of December starts with the PTA sponsored Jingle Bell Fun Run and Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, December 12th at 7:15 am. Thursday, December 17 will be an all school Holiday Sing-Along at 9:30 in the gym. Holiday parties will be on one of the last five days this year, December 14 – December 18. You will receive more information from individual classrooms.

During this month there are some great opportunities to give to others:

The Giving Tree (see p. 7 for details)

Sweats for Vets (see p. 4 for details)

Food Drive

Coat Drive – PFHS Key Club is collecting gently

used coats for children and adults

What better ways to help others this holiday season!

Please make a note that winter break begins on Monday, December 21, 2015 and school will resume on Monday, January 4, 2016. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season and a safe and happy New Year!

Warm regards,

Jennifer Ewing

THE LOST AND FOUND IS

OVERFLOWING!

Please stop by and check out the bins

of lost and found items across from the

cafeteria. Any unclaimed items will be

donated to families in need over winter

break!

SEARCH Newsletter THE GIFT OF GOOD BOOKS

"A book is a gift you can open again and again" ~ Garrison Keillor As we enter a very busy time of the year when activities seem to multiply daily for both parents and

children, we sometimes feel overwhelmed by all we have to do. It's fun, we want to do it, we love the time

with family and friends, but wouldn't it be nice to take a break?

What could be better for you or your child than to settle into a comfy chair with a good book and to escape

into an interesting story? Whether it's for a holiday present or just a for fun winter treat, consider finding

some wonderful children's books for your child (and maybe one for yourself!).

Sometimes, however, the vast variety of children's books is overwhelming, so for a few hints on what books

are great "reads," what better source to recommend appropriate books for every age level than the

American Library Association! Speaking of libraries, if you don't have a library card for your child, why

not do that now? Going to the library is a great way to spend a happy hour on a cold winter afternoon or

evening!

Here are some very helpful links to help you select books for your child, either for purchase or to check out

of your school or local public library.

ALA: Building a Home Library

http://www.ala.org/alsc/compubs/booklists/homelib/alacbcbuildinghomelbry

ALA: Notable Children's Books

http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/notalists/ncb

ALA: Great Reads

http://www.ala.org/alsc/sites/ala.org.alsc/files/content/compubs/booklists/greatreads/greatreads_lo.pdf

Kay O’Sullivan and Denise Corbo, Search Teachers

WORDMASTERS CHALLENGE

Congratulations to all the Horizon students who took the first WordMasters challenge! They all learned new

words and got practice with analogies. Here are the students who earned the three highest scores in each

grade:

Third Grade:

1st place: Brendan Charen

2nd place: Rachel Kidwell

3rd place: Sienna Bogar and Abby Vasak, tied

Fourth Grade:

1st place: Arnav Desai

2nd place: Trisha Patil

3rd place: Raynad Chishty

Fifth Grade:

1st place: Nick Inra --- with a perfect score!!

2nd place: Saurav Sukumaran

3rd place: Saba Banaii, Jack Grace, Jonathan Mason, Caroline Sagen, tied

Congratulations on a job well done! The next set of WordMasters words will be available soon.

Music Notes

The Holiday Sing-Along is coming up on Thursday, December 17th at 9:30 a.m. This is an annual, all-school event in the multi-purpose room where students get to take a trip around the world by singing many different cultural songs, some very familiar and some new! This will also be the final performance for the Horizon Chorus that day. Don't forget to wear your chorus shirts, singers!

Spin it to Win it Continues! See our courteous and caring Comets from October highlighted below. Great job, everyone!!

Kindergarten Third Grade: Anusha Shukla (Toynbee AM) Carly Channell Connor Heaney (Walker AM) McKenna Lyons Lina Abshire (Walker PM) Sophia Dolzhenkova Brayden Galloway (Toynbee PM) Brandon Bishop Jaden Nieves (Dettmer) Bella Reuss First Grade Fourth Grade:

Dimitri Kospanos Jon Bransford McKinley Gough Lillian Prelewicz Marsh Williams Christopher Thompson Liam Tully Hannah Thormes Bryan Advincula Olivia D'Egidio Adam Masrour

Second Grade Fifth Grade:

Jenna Puglsey Kyle Moriarity Tyler Shih Nicholas Hosten Sam Deeds Adrian Novillo Mosquera Arianna Martin Freda Zormelo Kayla Githens Isabella Lewis

Please keep clipping and saving those

Box Tops for Education! You'll find a

variety as you are doing your holiday

food shopping. The next classroom

competition will begin after Winter

Break. Stay tuned!

Hey, Comets!

Don’t waste! Donate, and Save our Food!

Horizon Elementary is joining the Food Recovery Program to reduce waste and hunger in Loudoun and

Fairfax Counties! How can you help? First, be sure to eat your lunch every day. If there is any food that

you do not want, like unopened milk, cheese sticks, yogurt, bagels, whole bananas, apples and oranges,

don’t throw them away! Donate to hungry families by dropping the food you did not eat into designated

bins in the cafeteria before you clean up and go back to class.

And Parents, you can help too, by volunteering to help deliver our food to a local shelter. Just go to our

sign up genius page at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4ea8aa292-horizon1/21784920 and pick a

date and time that is good for you! If you have any questions, please contact Lisa Limongelli at 571-434-

3260.

Let’s do our part to help conquer hunger in Loudoun County!

GO COMETS!

The School Store is open!

Horizon’s School Store, run by 5th graders, is open Tuesday mornings from 7:35-

7:50 for grades K-3 shopping and Thursday mornings from 7:35-7:50 for grades

4-5 shopping. Items for sale include pencils, erasers, gel pens, and much more!

Happy shopping!

Sweats for Vets

We are collecting new sweatpants and

sweatshirts for veterans recovering in

nearby hospitals. Please send your

donations to the office, tied together and

labeled with Men’s or Women’s and the

size. Thank you for your generosity!

LOOK WHAT'S COOKIN' IN THE COMET CAFÉ

So here we are in the last month of 2015. We have been cooking up a storm in the Horizon Kitchen and loving every minute. In November we had Italy day - the students had spaghetti and Luigi came to visit! The very next day we had Taste it Thursday and the students all had a taste of rainbow cauliflower. I do believe both days where a big hit.

In December we will not be featuring a country but we will be having Taste it Thursday on the 17th. We will give students a taste of roasted beets. Ask if your child had a taste and see if they liked it.

We also had a few Watch Dog Dads serve lunch to the students. They really did a great job and I have invited them back anytime they would like to come. If you would like to volunteer to serve lunch one day just e-mail me (rose.custer@lcps.org) or Amy Sandridge, parent liaison (amy.sandridge@lcps.org) and we'll set you up.

We will be offering a new breakfast item on Mondays starting in January. We will be having pork sausage on a croissant instead of the chicken patty on a croissant. I would like to remind you we serve breakfast from 7:30 to 7:50 Monday thru Friday. If we have a delay because of inclement weather we serve breakfast from 8:30 to 8:50 on a 1 hr. delay and 9:30 to 9:50 on a 2 hr. delay. All students are welcome to come to breakfast.

I know these next 3 weeks will fly by so I hope you all have a great winter break and we look forward to picking it back up in 2016.

Rose Custer Horizon Elem. Cafeteria Manager

Did you know that between kindergarten and twelfth grade, a student has had a substitute for

the equivalent of one year? LCPS is currently seeking dynamic, creative, professional

substitutes with training in the pedagogy of teaching. This is a great way to remain in the

field of your choice with the flexibility of choosing your work schedule! If you are interested,

please apply online at www.sub4loudoun.com and contact Sub-Central at

Alisa.Daniel@LCPS.org. Thank you!

WATCH D.O.G.S. (Dads of Great Students) is a one-of-a-kind, school-based father

involvement program that works to support education and safety.

A program of the National Center for Fathering, see www.fathers.com/watchdogs/ for

more information.

The Horizon Watch D.O.G.S. volunteer program is going on now. You can join the

program at any time during the school year.

Volunteer shifts are available for as short as 20 minutes and up to a whole day. You

choose what works best for your schedule. Click here to review the available

opportunities:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4aa4ab22a0fd0-december

Before coming in to school, please fill out our two short registration forms. You can find

the forms by clicking here http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/Page/142817

We look forward to seeing you at Horizon!

Contact Amy Sandridge at Amy.Sandridge@lcps.org or 571-434-3260 with any

questions.

LOOKING AHEAD…

Attention parents of 2nd grade students: In

February, second graders in Loudoun

County will be taking the online

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAt). This

test measures general and specific

cognitive skills that allow a student to

learn new tasks or solve problems in

absence of direct instruction. Students

will have an opportunity to become

familiar with test items through practice

activities. Further information about the

CogAt tests will be sent home in early

January.

TECH TIDBITS

For the week of 12/7-12/11:

Second through fifth grade will be

learning coding – “Hour of Code” in

the Computer Lab. For home access to

these programs, go to www.code.org or

www.hourofcode.com

Theme examples: Star Wars, Frozen,

MineCraft, Monster High, etc.

POETRY MASTERS Each month a selection of poems is available for children in grades 1-5 to memorize and recite. Any child in those grades who wishes to participate may pick up the poem selections from the office any time. He or she will memorize a selected poem for his or her grade category and recite the poem to the poetry coordinator on December 16th. This month, poetry selections include winter and winter holiday poems or songs. Students may choose one poem from the selections, or choose a poem that represents their special winter holiday. Be sure to bring us a copy so that we can read along.

Congratulations to the following students who successfully recited the poems for November:

Liam Tully Colleen McGoy Monica Goswami Jahzara Shabazz Hayden Manor Liam Sheridan Halima Bachir Caroline Sagen Tia Bhatnagar Isabella Lewis Aram Najarian Medha Mani

Julia Hus

A message about Family Life

Education (FLE) from Loudoun

County Public Schools:

Due to the overwhelming demand for

FLE parent handbooks, we ask that

parents consider a paperless option

by using the electronic version found

on the Parent Handbook tab to the

left side of the page at the following

link: http://www.lcps.org/Page/372

Please note: The content of the

Family Life Education curriculum

has not changed in LCPS. The

County will not be mass-producing

copies of the FLE handbooks per

grade level. The number of requests

was in excess this year. Parents are

directed to the LCPS website to refer

to this information as needed. If you

cannot print or access the guide

please see the office to get one

printed here at school.

Holiday Giving Tree Please visit our Holiday Giving Tree at Horizon, or online at the link here Giving

Tree Online and give the gift of caring this holiday season. Choose an ornament from the tree and purchase a holiday gift for a person in need in our Horizon community. Please label the gift, bring it back to school and place it under the tree by Monday, December 14. You can also send gifts in to Amy Sandridge,

Parent Liaison. If you cannot make it to school and would like us to choose an ornament for you, call the office at 571-434-3260 or e-mail Amy Sandridge at Amy.Sandridge@lcps.org. Thank you for your generosity!

BEHAVIOR SUPPORTS– The NOV 4th SEAC

presentation by Jamilah Anderson, Autism Specialist and Michelle Post, Secondary Behavior Specialist for LCPS provided an overview of Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS), the layering of Tier one, Tier Two and Tier Three supports, Functional Behavior Assessments (FBAs), data based decision making, Behavior Intervention Plans (BIPs) and tips for success. These tools and resources are available to LCPS administrators, teachers and staff to support all students attending Loudoun County Public Schools. Please contact the presenters by email with any additional questions at Jamilah.Anderson@lcps.org or Michelle.Post@lcps.org

Meetings & Updates…

2015-2016 SEAC Meetings

12/2/15 Transition and LifeSource @ Harper Park MS – 1/6/16 Partnership:Families & Schools 2/3/16 Joint Forum with MSAAC and

LEAP: SB and B of Supv. 3/2/16 Access to Gen. Ed. Curriculum: Inclusive Practices 4/6/16 Positive Discipline 5/4/16 Autism Specialist Presentation 5/19/16 Awards Ceremony – Recognition for Excellence in Special Ed. Meetings are open to the public and held from 7 to 9 pm in Room 100 of the LCPS Administration Building in Ashburn, VA. If LCPS schools are closed, then the SEAC meeting will be canceled. LCPS “PARENTS” tab: Check out all of the many resources of LCPS on the “Parents” tab of the Horizon webpage! It has links to so many resources and web sites which provide information from Bus Routes to Bullying! My pick of the month- More information about PBIS in Loudoun County http://tinyurl.com/zc4xs9u

Once here you will find links to other great services and information involving Diagnostic and Prevention Services. December 7-11 is Inclusive Schools Week – This week provides the opportunity for educators, students and parents to discuss how to successfully educate all children.

Access Community Lecture Series

How to Communicate with Your Child with Special Needs

Dr. Joni Johnson & Dr. Roni Avery, Pediatric

Partners for Attention & Learning, Inc

Dec. 7, 2015

7:30-9:00 PM

Community Room B

Interested in learning about techniques to more effectively communicate with your child with special needs? This lecture will cover problems caused by ineffective communication; how to calm a situation; how to teach your child's teacher to communicate with your child; and helping with daily frustration issues.

Presented by McCLean Bible Church 8925 Leesburg Pike

Click here for featured flyer

How to Communicate with Your Child with

Special Needs

703-893-2100

Stay up to date:

• LIKE US on Facebook.com/loudounseac, • Visit our website at www.lcps.org/seac, and

• Sign up for email subscriptions at Get SEAC Email

• Contact Margie McGinnis

Horizon Elementary PTA News

2012-2013 Horizon PTA Executive Board

Season’s Greetings from the Horizon PTA Executive Board! We hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break with family and friends. We are so thankful for all of the support from our fantastic Horizon community. During this season, please celebrate with us on our tremendously talented faculty and staff who make Horizon the most phenomenal place to learn! It was so incredible to see everyone at the Parent Social in November. The Auction was well attended and had tons of fun items on which to bid! It was a great success and, more importantly, we had a terrific time socializing with other Horizon parents (without kids!). Brooke Gough, Liz Linn and Holly Price worked so hard to make the evening special and fun. Thank you for everything ladies! To kick off festivities this holiday season, The Jingle Bell Run and Pancake Breakfast will be held on December 12th. Register your little elves and yourselves to run age appropriate courses then come grab some pancakes with Santa and Olaf! Registration is $10 and the event starts at 8am with pancakes as soon as you are done! The Horizon PTA is hosting this year's annual Staff Holiday Cookie Shoppe after school on Thursday, December 17th in honor of all Horizon's wonderful teachers, administration and staff. We are asking for your support to make this a success! Please bring in a dozen or more of your favorite cookies to share (homemade or store-bought is fine). If you prefer, we would love to have you volunteer to decorate or assist during the event. We are also asking for gift card donations in $5 dollar increments that will be used as give-a-ways during the exchange. All and any support is greatly appreciated. Please see the Sign-Up Genius link below for more information on how you can help, and thanks in advance for your support! http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c054eaaab2baa8-holiday Coming soon - Skate night, multicultural night and an art show! There will be no General Membership PTA meeting in December. We wish you a very happy holiday season and will see at our next meeting on January 12th AT 9:30 am in the Teachers’ Lounge. You may also want to mark your calendars for the meetings for the rest of the year: Feb. 9, 2:45 pm, library; March 8, 6:30 pm, library; May 10, 6:30 pm, library (includes elections for next school year’s board).

If you have not done so already, please consider joining our PTA. The PTA sponsors many social and educational activities to enrich your child’s experience at Horizon

Elementary. You can view the many activities and volunteer opportunities on the PTA portion of our webpage: www.lcps.org/Horizon.

“Horizon Elementary School and PTA”

www.horizonpta.org

PTA Executive Board Members

Cathy Reidy, President

Jill Pope, SVP, Educational Programs

Teresa Demangos, Treasurer

Kristen Sirois, Recording & Corresponding Secretary

Kerry Kidwell, VP Staff Relations

Karen Advincula, VP Membership & Directory

Jenifer Kalka, After School Enrichment Programs

Liz Linn, VP Fundraising

Tisha Duhaime, Spirit Sales

Brook Gough, VP Social Events

Laura Inra, School Supplies

Jill Davis, Social Media

Karina Andrade, Volunteer Coordinator

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIP)

The Horizon staff is dedicated to improving our strategies for increasing student achievement and in closing the achievement gap. A formal School Improvement Plan is developed by staff, with parent input. If parents are interested in participating in this process please contact Jennifer Ewing at 571-434-3260. The plan is reviewed and revised throughout the year according to the results achieved.

The updated 2012-2013 SIP will be

posted on the Horizon website.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIP)

The Horizon staff is dedicated to improving our strategies for increasing student achievement and in closing the achievement gap. A formal School Improvement Plan is developed by staff, with parent input. If parents are interested in participating in this process please contact Jennifer Ewing at 571-434-3260. The plan is reviewed and revised throughout the year according to the results achieved.

The updated 2012-2013 SIP will be

posted on the Horizon website.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIP)

The Horizon staff is dedicated to improving our strategies for increasing student achievement and in closing the achievement gap. A formal School Improvement Plan is developed by staff, with parent input. If parents are interested in participating in this process please contact Jennifer Ewing at 571-434-3260. The plan is reviewed and revised throughout the year according to the results achieved.

The updated 2012-2013 SIP will be

posted on the Horizon website.

OFFICE REMINDERS

Students are permitted to enter the building each morning at 7:30 am. Those students ordering breakfast may go straight to the cafeteria. All other students will go straight to their classrooms to start unpacking and start their morning routines. The start bell will sound at 7:50 am. The school day begins promptly at 7:50 AM. Students MUST be in their classrooms at 7:50 AM; arriving after that time results in an UNEXCUSED tardy, unless a doctor’s note is provided. Students coming in after 7:50 AM must be escorted into the building by an adult. School dismisses at 2:35 PM. Parents picking up students prior to dismissal are required to sign them out in the main office. All visitors to the building should begin their visit in the main office. Once in the office, you may sign in using the computer located on the front counter. Any forgotten items should be brought to the office. This will cut down on interruptions to the class.

ABSENTEE/TARDY Please email the Horizon absentee email at hrzabsentee@lcps.org, or call the absentee line at 571-434-3261 to report the absence or late to school information for your child.

AFTER SCHOOL PLAN Anytime your child has a change in his/her after school plan, please send a note in with your child in the morning. The office cannot redirect children after school on the basis of a phone call. If an emergency necessitates a

change during the day, you may fax the instructions to us at 703-444-7418.

LOST AND FOUND

Horizon Elementary has areas designated for lost items such as lunch boxes, and clothing. Students who misplace their belongings can check in the Lost and Found that is located outside the cafeteria by the water fountains. Items of value or importance such as glasses, jewelry, and keys are kept in the front office. If your child has lost an item, please encourage them to check in the Lost and Found or with the office secretaries. Items that go unclaimed will be donated at the end of December to a local

charity.

SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (SIP)

The Horizon staff is dedicated to improving our strategies for increasing student achievement and in closing the achievement gap. A formal School Improvement Plan is developed by staff, with parent input. If parents are interested in participating in this process please contact Jennifer Ewing at 571-434-3260. The plan is reviewed and revised throughout the year according to the results achieved.

The 2015-2016 SIP can be found on the Horizon

website at http://www.lcps.org/domain/7051.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

If, due to a disability, you need assistance to enable you to participate meaningfully in any of our school programs, please contact Mrs. Ewing, Principal at 571.434.3260 at least five working

days prior to the activity.

HORIZON NOW ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER!

Visit Horizon's new Facebook page to keep up to date on school events and happenings! Check us out at: facebook.com/HRZSterling and be sure to Like our page to get your updates.

We are also on Twitter. Click the links below our calendar to follow us!

https://www.facebook.com/HRZSterling https://twitter.com/HorizonElem

SCHOOL BOARD REPRESENTATIVES

Debbie Rose, Algonkian District - debbie.rose@lcps.org. You can also follow her on Facebook, "Debbie Rose- School Board"

Brenda Sheridan, Sterling District - brenda.sheridan@lcps.org

Tom Reed, At Large - thomas.reed@lcps.org

Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

Please help us to make a smooth arrival and dismissal by reviewing the following procedures if you are

dropping off and picking up your child/children:

1. Student arrival and drop off can start once staff are on duty at 7:30 am each morning.

2. Please consider arriving at school a little earlier on inclement weather days. We have very few cars from 7:30 to

7:40 and then a mad rush from 7:40 to 7:50, which tends to back up the line and impact the number of students

that end up being tardy. The bell rings at 7:50. Any arrivals after the bell rings are counted as tardy.

3. Car drop off is to the east side of the building. Pull all the way up to the first orange cone to allow

as many cars into the Kiss and Go area as possible. If you get here first, please do not park along the

circle, PULL ALL the way up to be courteous of other cars! C a r s n e e d t o pull forward so that

traffic does not back up on Broadmore Drive.

4. When cars leave in front of you, pull as far forward as you can.

5. NEVER get out of your car and leave it unattended in the drop lane. This blocks all the traffic and

creates a backup.

6. Speed limit in the Kiss and Go area should be no faster than 10 mph. The difference in time from the entrance to

the far cone is only 10 seconds; safety first!

7. Children should be able to exit or enter the car independently. Parents who have to assist their

child/children should park in one of the designated parking spots in front of the school and walk the

student across the crosswalk to the front entry of the school.

8. Please do not use the designated handicapped parking spots if you do not have the legal

authorization (placard/license plate).