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Cougar CalendarDecember 23rd-January 3rd: Winter Break-Student Holiday
January 14th: Chorus Concert 6:30 PM
January 20th: Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday- Student Holiday
January 23rd: Family Book Club 8:15 AM (library)
January 24th: Family Culture Night 6:00 PM
January 28th: End of Quarter 2
January 29th: Teacher Workday- Student Holiday
Please bookmark the FCPS School Calendar to stay informed about school holidays, breaks, and observances.
As a reminder, winter break will be held Monday, December 23, to Friday, January 3. School and the office will be closed. We look forward to welcoming students back in the new year. Classes resume on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025.
Congratulations to Jennifer Rose, who has been named the Woodson Pyramid Outstanding Teacher!
Congratulations to Martha Berlowitz on your retirement! Wishing you all the best!
Notes from the AdministrationDear CWES Families,
It's been a wonderful week at CWES! Our students had a blast celebrating the holiday season with a fun-filled Spirit Week organized by our SCA. Classrooms were brimming with joy as students participated in festive activities. The SCA also hosted a successful donation drive for the Ronald McDonald House. Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, students were able to put together over 80 care kits and collect many additional donations.
4th-6th Graders:
All 4th, 5th and 6th graders have been invited to participate in the annual Woodson Pyramid Area Chorus day! The event takes place at Frost Middle School on Saturday January 11th, 9:45 AM-1PM. Students will learn music from the Frost and Woodson Chorus teachers, play games, sing and be served pizza! It is a fun way to meet students from all over the pyramid and have fun singing together as a community! To register, please use this link: https://forms.gle/PGKuJfbjKD8hT8vu6 and pay the $12 fee on www.myschoolbucks.com by December 20th.
Congratulations to Jennifer Rose, who has been named the Outstanding Teacher for the Woodson Pyramid! This well-deserved recognition highlights her dedication and impact on our students.
We bid a fond farewell to Martha Berlowitz, a beloved educator in our deaf/hard of hearing program for nearly 30 years. We celebrated her contributions this week and wish her all the best in her retirement. She will be deeply missed.
We hope everyone enjoys a restful and rejuvenating break with family and friends. We look forward to welcoming everyone back to school in 2025!
Happy Holidays and Warm Wishes for the New Year!
Leslie Malkowski, Kristi McGeehan, and Mindy Milliron
CWES Administrative Team
Family Book Club 2nd Quarter!
Join us for the Quarter 2 Family Book Club: CWES Loves Food on Thursday, January 23rd at 8:15 am in the library and/or art room. An adult must be in attendance with their student.
Students and families can choose from one of 2 books: the picture book: Lunch from Home or the chapter book: A Place at the Table. Families are encouraged to read the books alongside their students. You can sign up using the flyer found in Tuesday Folders or the following link: CWES Family Book Club - Quarter 2.
Please contact Mona Mouneimne ([email protected]) if you have any questions.
Family Culture NightCWES will host Family Culture Night on Friday, January 24th from 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Please share your family’s culture and traditions with the CWES community! All families and cultures are welcome!
- The culture of your home country
- The culture of the country or countries of your ancestral heritage or that you’ve lived in or visited
- The culture of a city or state in the U.S. where you have lived or visited
- Your family’s traditions and celebrations
- Any culture to which you feel connected!
If you would like to share about your family’s culture, Please fill out the Google Form by Friday, January 10th. If you have any questions, contact Mona Mouneimne at [email protected].
Yearbook Cover Contest CWES Go Club
Are your kids seeking a fun game that promotes cognitive development, cultural awareness, social skills, and emotional growth? CWES is launching a Go Club for 5th and 6th graders, starting January 16, 2025. The club will meet every Thursday after school for an hour. No experience with Go? Don't worry! Two CWES faculty members and a Go instructor will be there to teach your child. We’re also looking for parent volunteers to help with the club—no prior knowledge of Go required, as you'll learn alongside the students. If you're interested in signing up your child, please complete the Google form. Space is limited! Please contact Joyce Colobong@ [email protected] with questions.
Transition to Middle School - Message from Frost MS Middle School Start Time Study⏰ Update on Potential Changes to Middle School Start Times
At Tuesday’s School Board work session, staff from Prismatic Services, Inc., presented options for adjusting start times at FCPS middle schools. As a reminder, Prismatic is charged with developing an action plan to help the School Board reach its goal of starting middle school at or after 8 a.m.
The presentation includes five options for adjusting middle school start times based on the consultant’s analysis from community forums, surveys, and interviews with staff, parents, associations, and other groups. The School Board will provide next steps to the superintendent.
Watch a video of the work session. Visit the Middle School Start Times webpage for more information on the project.
❄️ Be Among the First to Hear About School Delays/ClosingsWatch this video to see how FCPS makes weather closing decisions.
FCPS’ website is generally the first place to find out about emergency weather closings. Other communication channels will be used as quickly as possible, including email, text, social media, and news stations. Learn more about how schedule changes are communicated.
Be among the first to hear about weather delays and closings! Update your contact information in SIS ParentVUE. Emails and text messages are sent to parents and caregivers based on the addresses and cell phone numbers entered on this platform.
🗺️ Dual Language Immersion Lottery RegistrationRegistration for the countywide lottery for FCPS’ Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program will open on Monday, January 13, 2025. Current pre-K students may apply for the kindergarten immersion program, and current kindergarten students may apply for the first grade immersion program for the 2024-25 school year.
Dual Language Immersion is available in French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
Parents/caregivers who are interested may want to attend an informational meeting held at the school site. Visit the Dual Language Immersion Program Registration page for a list of meetings by language offered.
Get more information on the DLI Program webpage and the DLI Program Registration webpage.
Family Resource Center Webinars and FCPS Family Academy🖥️ Free Webinars and Events for Families
In January, the Family Resource Center (FRC) will host webinars for families on:
- Overcoming School Refusal and Resistance
- Virtual Meeting for Siblings of Children with Special Needs
- FCPS Math Week
- Supporting Your Child’s Executive Functioning Skills
- Depression in Teens
- Understanding Trauma in Your Child/Comprendiedo el Trauma en su Hijo (presented in Spanish)
Sign up for the FRC newsletter or visit their webinar webpage.
Upcoming Family Academy Events
You are an important part of your child's education! The FCPS Family Academy compiles classes, webinars, workshops, and programs offered by FCPS to help you support your child's needs and learning at home. Browse Family Academy offerings.
Community Boundary Review Meetings📍 Comprehensive Boundary Review Update
The Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee held its second meeting on December 16 at Gatehouse Administration Center. View key takeaways from that meeting and access the meeting agenda, slides, and other materials that committee members received. If you did not get a chance to attend an in-person Community Boundary Review Meeting, please consider participating in one of the following virtual meetings:
- Friday, January 10, 2025, 6-7:30 p.m.
- Thursday, January 16, 2025, 1-2:30 p.m.
- Saturday, January 25, 2025, 9:30-11 a.m.
- Monday, January 27, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
- Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
- Monday, February 10, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
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Language interpretation will be available.
All virtual meetings will follow the same format as the in-person meetings that were recently held, and the same information will be shared. Please stay tuned for details on how to register. Visit FCPS’ Comprehensive Boundary Review webpage to learn more. Sign up for FCPS’ School Boundary Review newsletter as well.
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