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April 29 Family Newsletter

Dear Families, 

Upcoming Dates  

Thursday, April 30th - Spring Chorus Concert @ 6:00pm

Monday, May 4th - Friday, May 8th - Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week

Tuesday, May 5th - SOL Testing Begins

Wednesday, May 6th - Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day

Friday, May 15th - Parent Input for Class Placement Deadline

Wednesday, May 20th - 3-hour Early Dismissal

                               - Kindergarten Orientation @ 2:45 pm

Monday, May 25th - Memorial Day Holiday

Tuesday, May 26th - Teacher Workday

Wednesday, May 27th - Eid al-Adha Holiday 

Friday, May 29th - SCA Spirit Day - Wear UMES Colors

                             - UMES v. CES Staff Volleyball Game @ CVHS

Thursday, June 4th & Friday, June 5th - Field Days

See the complete school year calendar

Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day

UMES students on Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day

Walk, Bike & Roll to School Day is Wednesday, May 6! Join in the fun and help the environment. All students who walk, bike, or roll (scooters, rollerblades, etc.) will receive a small token at either side of the bus loop. Please remember to wear your helmet! Those students as well as students who walk to their bus stop then ride into school will be invited to sign a flower petal in their classrooms. We will have a huge garden of flowers showing off our exercise and eco-minded students. Please contact Jenny Murray at jbmurray@fcps.edu if you have any questions.

Calling All Pizza Lovers …and Box Collectors!

We are gearing up for an epic Field Day, and we need your help to make one of our games a success! We are looking for donations of 100 new, unused pizza boxes.

Wait—why pizza boxes? While we’d love to say it’s for a giant lunch, these are actually for a fun field day game! To keep things clean and sturdy, we need boxes that have never seen a slice of pepperoni.

The Specs:

• Condition: Must be brand new and unused (no grease, please!).
• Size: Standard Large (14" or 16") is preferred, but we’ll take any consistent size.
• Quantity: We need 100 total. Every little bit helps!

How to Donate:

If you own a local pizza shop, know someone who does, or just want to pick up a stack from a restaurant supply store, please drop them off at the Front Office (attention: Physical Education Department) by May 28. Feel free to reach out to Manda Tirado if you have questions or have the connection: mktirado@fcps.edu

Support Your Children During Important Spring Assessments 

Students will be participating in spring assessments based on their grade level and courses. This includes summative assessments like Standards of Learning (SOL) tests, which measure what a student knows, and progress assessments like Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests, which measure where they are in their learning. 

FCPS encourages all families to support their students in taking these tests. Virginia requires schools to test at least 95% of students on SOLs, so when families choose not to participate in testing, it can impact a school’s accreditation, accountability ratings, and ability to measure student progress accurately.

Parents and caregivers can help their children perform their best on these tests by reminding them to get a good night’s sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and the cell phone policy still applies during testing season. 

It is important that students attend school on scheduled testing dates. If you are aware of a conflict that may cause your student to miss a test, please notify your student’s school as soon as possible. 

Students in grades 3-6 will participate in SOL testing on the following dates:

Learn more about how to support your child and why test participation matters. 

Get2Green

The fifth grade Get2Green Team has been hard at work planting microgreens.  First, they germinated the seeds and then put them under the grow lights.  Currently growing in the library mini greenhouse are arugula and cow peas.  Once fully grown they will be a great addition to our salads.

Fifth grade plants growing in the library mini greenhouse.

Parent Input for Class Placements 2026-2027

As we plan for the 2026-2027 school year, we are inviting your input. Creating class assignments require careful consideration and the involvement of many perspectives. We know a good teacher-student match and a productive mix of children are ingredients for success. Should you have additional information about your specific child that school staff may not know, particularly regarding learning style and classroom environment; you have the option to complete the following form no later than Friday, May 15th.

Kindergarten Registration

Online Registration is now open for the 2026-27 school year!

Kindergarten helps children learn and practice the social, emotional, problem-solving, and self-regulation skills they will use throughout their lives.

New-to-FCPS families create a ParentVUE account for online access. Details are available here:  Welcome to Fairfax County Public Schools' (FCPS) Online Registration | Fairfax County Public Schools

Current families can register their new student through their existing ParentVUE account.  (No need to register students returning to UMES.)

Our Registrar, Catherine Dubas, is happy to process registrations directly, as well.  Please contact her at cmdubas@fcps.edu and be ready to provide your family’s address and rising kindergartener’s date of birth.  Catherine will respond with registration details and documents necessary to start the process.

Spring registration puts you on the list for school communications, so don’t wait!

Kindergarten Orientation - New Date

Due to recent changes in the FCPS calendar, the early release day originally scheduled for Orientation on Wednesday, April 29, 2026 has been cancelled. As a result, we have updated the date and time for this event.