September 14, 2017 Volume 5 Issue 2

Thoreau Matters is published every two weeks by the Thoreau Administration and the PTA

to inform the community of important information about school life at Thoreau Middle School.

THOREAU MATTERS

Dear Thoreau Community:

It was wonderful to see hundreds and hundreds of

parents at Back-to-School Night last Wednesday. I

realize it was a rainy evening so I wanted to extend my

appreciation to those parents who were able to make it

to meet our dedicated teachers and staff. For those

parents not able to attend, here is the YouTube video of

the Thoreau administration and PTA president

welcoming our parents back to the new school year.

As I did last year in my Thoreau Matters messages, I will

continue to update you on instructional initiatives that

are multi-year focal points for our school. These items

include 1) block scheduling, 2) project-based learning,

and 3) our executive functioning program known as Steps to Success. We started these initiatives last year and we are

in our 2nd year of implementing each of them. I would use this forum last year to update the community regarding our

progress in each of these areas and I will continue to do the same this year. Instruction is at the core of what we do and

I hope you will find my brief updates in Thoreau Matters to be useful in staying informed as to what is going on at

Thoreau from a school-wide perspective.

Finally, Eagle Time has started and it is a daily 40-minute period for all of our students. It is listed as 4th and 5th periods

on the students’ schedules. Eagle Time is used for five main reasons:

1. Intervention (teachers helping students who are struggling along the way)

2. Remediation (teachers going back to reteach students who did not meet learning standards)

3. Organization (students organizing their binders, notebooks, lockers, etc.)

4. Work Completion (students completing assignments, making up assessments, etc.)

5. Enrichment (students extending their learning)

A good question for a Thoreau parent or teacher to ask a student is, “How did you use Eagle Time

today?” With 200 available minutes at our students’ disposal each full week, Eagle Time is the

perfect opportunity for students to keep up with their academics, get extra support and/or move

ahead in their learning.

Sincerely,

Yusef Azimi

STUDENT INFORMATION

SYSTEM (SIS) 2

EXCEPTIONAL MILITARY

FAMILIES SUMMIT 2

MENTAL HEALTH AND

WELLNESS CONFERENCE 2

CREDIT EXAM FOR

WORLD LANGUAGES 3

THOREAU YEARBOOK 3

THOREAU LETTER AWARD 3

NEWS/NOTEWORTHY 4

PTA NEWS 4

MESSAGE FROM MR. AZIMI

Inside this issue:

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

School Planning Day (Student Holiday) - Friday, September 22nd

First Day of After-School Programs and Late Buses - Monday, September 25th

Columbus Day Holiday - Monday, October 9th

THOREAU MATTERS

Page 2

The FCPS Parent Resource Center will host an Exceptional

Military Families Summit on Saturday, September 16th from

9:00AM to 1:30PM at Mount Vernon High School. This

event is for military families who have children with special

needs.

Staff members from the FCPS Department of Special

Services along with school liaison officers from Fort

Belvoir will present important information in order to

support parents’ understanding and navigation of

services provided for special education students in

FCPS. Exhibitors from FCPS along with local military

organizations will provide additional information and

resources. Register for this event on the Parent Resource

Center website.

The fourth annual FCPS Mental Health and Wellness

Conference will be held on Saturday, October 21st

from 8:00AM to 1:45PM at Fairfax High School.

FCPS Superintendent of Schools Scott Brabrand will

open the conference, and Dr. Jonathan Dalton, found-

er of the Center for Anxiety and Behavioral Change,

will be the keynote speaker.

Participants in this conference will be able to choose

from over 50 breakout sessions. There will be many

resource tables available representing public and

private offices and agencies providing services within

our schools and community. More information, includ-

ing registration information and conference website

address, will be available on the website soon.

Student Information System (SIS) Parents, have you created your SIS ParentVUE account? ParentVUE provides you with the following information:

Attendance

Class Schedule

Discipline

Grade Book

Health Information

Weekly Progress Reports

Once you have created your ParentVUE account, your username and

password will also get you into your FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard)

account. This account provides you with the following information:

Access homework and classroom assignments

Access various tools designed to facilitate student learning and

communication between students, parents, and staff

Explore links to enrichment activities

Update emergency contact information

View class calendars

There is a mobile app for ParentVUE. Click here for more information. If

you are having issues getting started, please contact Thoreau’s main

office at 703-846-8000 for help.

SIS StudentVUE - Every FCPS middle and high school student has access

to their own StudentVUE account. StudentVUE allows students to view

their attendance, class schedule, course history, grade book, report card,

and link to their FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) account.

There is also a mobile app for StudentVUE so that students can access

their school information on their mobile devices.

Exceptional Military Families Summit Mental Health and Wellness Conference

Paren

tVUE

Studen

tVUE

Mr. Ulderich (above) and Ms. Sliter

(below) working with their students.

Volume 5 Issue 2

Page 3

The Credit Exam for World Languages is designed to

assess students’ native language proficiency and enable

them to earn one or two credits toward fulfilling the world

languages requirement for the Advanced Studies Diploma.

The 2017 Credit Exam for World Languages will be

administered on November 1st, 2nd, and 8th. Twenty-six

languages will be included: American Sign Language,

Amharic, Arabic, Bengali/Bangla, Chinese/Mandarin,

Farsi/Persian, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese,

Korean, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Russian, Sanskrit/

Samskritam, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog/Pilipino, Tamil,

Telugu, Tigrinia, Twi, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

School counselors will register students at their individual

schools. Registration opened on Monday, September 11th

and will close on Wednesday, October 11th at 4:00PM. Late

registrations will not be accepted. Credit exam information

can be accessed here. For more information, parents can

contact their child’s counselor.

Credit exam dates, times and testing sites:

Madison HS - Wednesday, November 1st at 4:00 PM

West Potomac HS - Thursday, November 2nd at 4:00 PM

Falls Church HS - Wednesday, November 8th at 4:00 PM

Credit Exam for World Languages

Thoreau Yearbook!

The Thoreau yearbook is the cheapest it will be all year -

only $30 through Tuesday, October 31st! Yearbooks can

be purchased online through MySchoolBucks. If you have

questions, please contact Ms. Benzion, yearbook sponsor,

at gbenzion@fcps.edu.

The Thoreau Letter will be awarded at the end of the school year based on participation and

accomplishments in the following areas:

Academic recognition

Service to the community

Extracurricular activities

Students will accumulate points for activities and honors throughout the school year, and must have a total of 200 points in order to be awarded the Thoreau Letter at the end-of-year

awards ceremony.

Applications are available in the

Student Services Office.

Thoreau Letter Award

Thoreau students at

work in class this week.

Page 4

Volume 5 Issue 2

Thoreau Matters is

published every two weeks

by the Thoreau

Administration and the PTA

to inform the community of

important information

about school life at

Thoreau Middle School.

Main Office: 703-846-8000

Attendance: 703-846-8080

Thoreau Website:

www.fcps.edu/ThoreauMS

PTA Website:

www.ThoreauPTA.org

News/Noteworthy

Kiss and Ride Reminders - Vehicles should pull forward as far as possible in the

designated Kiss and Ride lane before loading and unloading.

Is Your Current Address Correct? If you have moved to a new location within the Thoreau

boundary, documentation must be submitted to the school in order for your address to

be updated in the FCPS Student Information System (SIS). Please provide a copy of your

new deed or lease to Thoreau registrar Denise Schwandt at dschwandt@fcps.edu. Do

you have children in elementary or high school? Let us know and we will forward the

documentation to those schools. It is important that we have your current address as US

mail from FCPS and Thoreau is not forwarded.

Vienna Community Center Grand Opening and Open House - The grand opening

ceremony and celebration for the renovated Vienna Community Center will take place on

Saturday, September 23rd from 1:00PM-5:00PM. There will be building tours, camp and

class demonstrations, and giveaways. Visit www.viennava.gov for more information.

Navy Federal Credit Union 5K - The 25th

annual Navy Federal Credit Union 5K Run/

Walk will take place on Saturday, September

30th at 9:00AM. The race is held to bring the

community together to raise money for those

in need but also to promote physical activity and health. The race supports the

Committee for Helping Others, which is an all-volunteer organization that helps those in

need in the surrounding communities. For more information and to register, click here.

PTA NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our first PTA meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 19th from 9:30AM-10:30AM in Eagle Hall where we will

discuss plans for the school year and vote on the 2017-2018 PTA budget. Our next PTA meeting will be held on

Tuesday, October 17th at 7:00PM and will also feature educational consultant Ann Dolin.

SAVE the DATE! The annual 7th Grade Family Dinner will be held on Wednesday, November 15th!

Current open PTA board positions for 2017-2018 include: Garden (chair, co-chairs or committee members), Thoreau

Auction (committee members), School Directory, and Thoreau liaison to FCPS and FCCPTA. Please let PTA President

Beth Eachus know if you have any interest in the open positions or know someone who might!

Volunteers are needed for the Thoreau School Store! Please see this schedule to sign-up through December 2017. The

School Store provides a service to our students and raises funds for the school so your help is greatly appreciated. Huge

thanks to school store chairs Tana Keeffe and Negin Dehn for all of their efforts!

Help is needed for the Thoreau Garden. The Garden Committee meets on Wednesday mornings from 10:00AM-11:30AM

and then often go out to lunch. They focus on weeding, planting flowers, feeding both land and water turtles and fish,

caring for the pond, filling bird feeders, moving plants, building walkways. Come join them!

Thoreau spirit wear is available online! Wear your Blue and Gold and show your Golden Eagle pride! If you are interested

in purchasing Thoreau spirit wear, please use this link at https://athleticunion.com/thoreau/. All purchases are made

online and will be delivered straight to your door! Thank you to Natacha Moore and Talene Lanuza Staab for

volunteering to chair spirit wear!

Sincerely,

Beth Eachus

President@ThoreauPTA.org