Hive Happenings Newsletter

Dear Stenwood Families,

It is so hard to believe that we just have 3 days left in the 2024-2025 school year! Our Stingers have worked so hard this year and grown so much!

Before we recap this exciting week, please remember to return any library books, check lost and found, and pick up any medication from the clinic before the end of the day on Wednesday.

We had a lot happening in the hive this week! We held our beloved tradition of Battle of the Books! Congratulations to Wilson’s Willy Wonkas on their win! If you missed it, but want to watch the fun AND the love for reading we are working to instill, here is the Spring 2025 Battle of the Books Zoom recording. Password: LqP?27dEdr.

Our preschool students had their final day of preschool for the year! We are so excited for those who are headed to kindergarten next year and we can’t wait to welcome many back next year! If you know of anyone who is interested in being a community peer in our half day afternoon preschool class, please reach out to us so we can send them some information. We have one peer and would love to have one more starting next fall. Peers must be 3 ½ by September 30^th and be appropriately developing in speech, motor skills, and peer relationships.

We had our final PTA meeting of the year. Thank you to all of the executive board, chairs, and volunteers for everything you have done for the Stenwood community this year!

On Thursday, we were excited to welcome members of Marshall High School’s robotics team, Gryphon Robotics, for presentations on robotics and the engineering design process to our students. The team, including Stenwood alum Jamie Choe and Jordan Gee, brought two of their recently developed robots to share that were programmed to carry out tasks such as grabbing an object, elevating an object, and even throwing a ball. Check out the photos of how our Stingers got in on the action by playing catch with the robot!

Today is filled with class parties for our kindergarten - 5^th grade students. We are so excited to celebrate! Thank you to all of the volunteers that help make these parties a success!

Next week we will have the variety show on Tuesday starting at 9:00am. Parents are welcome to sign in the office and attend. Seating is very limited since the whole school attends. We will also be streaming it here, https://myfcpsk12.zoom.us/j/97976415557.

Finally, we will celebrate our 6^th graders on Tuesday afternoon at their party and then on Wednesday morning at their promotion ceremony. We will send out an email with information/reminders for our 6^th grade families early next week.

Wednesday is a 2-hour early release. We will start Kiss N Ride at 1:20 so we are able to also have the staff wave out the buses.

Eid Mubarak to all who are observing today.

Below you will find additional information about:

Farewells - One more
Holidays and Observations Drawing Contest - Reminder
Health Room Medication Pickup - NEW
Library News - Reminder
Lost & Found - Reminder
Summer Meals - NEW
Summer Literacy Opportunities - NEW
Summer Mental Health Consults (Middle and High School) - NEW
Spring Pictures Are Now Online! - Reminder
Stenwood PTA - Reminder

Sincerely,

Erica Riley, Principal
esriley@fcps.edu

Bryan Case, Assistant Principal
bgcase@fcps.edu

Farewells

Last week we announced our staff that will not be returning, we forgot to include Kim Campbell, our strings teacher. As some of you know, Ms. Campbell’s been on leave this year. Unfortunately, after a lot of thought and consideration Ms. Campbell made the difficult decision to resign a couple of months ago. We wish her all of the best in her next endeavor.

Holidays and Observations Drawing Contest

Get ready to showcase your artistic talent! Our Equity Team is hosting an ongoing drawing contest to celebrate all the holidays and observations throughout the year.

Submission Details: For the first half of the year, we will collect submissions on the 1^st of each month for holidays occurring the following month. For instance, since Veterans' Day is on November 11^th, drawings for it would be due by October 1^st. You're welcome to turn in your artwork early—just drop it in the box in the office! All holidays in September will be due the first day of school.

What Happens Next? The winning drawing will be featured in our newsletter and on our social media. All other submissions will be proudly displayed in our hallways for everyone to enjoy!

Missing a Holiday? If your family celebrates a holiday or observance that isn't on our list, please feel free to include it!

Ready to Draw? You can pick up a template paper for the contest in your classroom or the office, and it is posted on our website for easy access. We can’t wait to see the incredible artwork from our Stenwood artists!

Health Room Medication Pickup

The school health room is reminding parents and guardians that all medication stored in the health room must be picked up no later than student dismissal time on the last day of school, June 11^th.

Medication left in the health room after that time will be discarded. It is school policy that medications must be picked up by the parent or guardian. Medication cannot be sent home with your student.

Medication authorization forms for next school year may be obtained from the school or online at https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/school-health-services. A medication authorization form is required for any medication, prescription or over-the-counter, to be kept at school.

For questions, please contact Ms. Nino Bravo (Health Room Aide @ 703-208-7610) or Ms. Jessica Bermudez-Martin (Public Health Nurse @ 703-208-7626) or any of the Front Office Staff.

Library News

Ms. Cole reports that we had over 20,000 books checked out this year! That is amazing and it’s true that Stingers are Readers! However, all good things must come to an end, and Ms. Cole needs all library books returned by Wednesday.

If you are unsure if your student has library books checked out, your student can log into Destiny Discover through the Library Schoology course and check their account. Overdue notices will be emailed later today. You may also check with Ms. Cole.

If you can’t find your library books, then you can pay for them via exact change or a check made payable to Stenwood ES. Please send the payment to the library. Thank you for supporting the library and encouraging your students to read.

Lost & Found

Stenwood’s Lost and Found is overflowing. As we have numerous events over the last few weeks, please stop by to check to see if any of these items belong to you or your family. Any unclaimed items will be donated on the last day of school.