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RAVEN REPORT

This week was one of many short weeks we had. We were busy with SOS assessments this week. We also had our first choral performance and our first community AAP meeting. We also took some time to celebrate the retirement of our Dean of Students, Mr. Radun. I’m proud of the work we have been doing this quarter and as the quarter comes to an end this Friday, I look forward to reflecting and continuing getting stronger together. Have another wonderful week, Ravens!

Follow us on Social Media: To see the latest from Poe MS follow us on Instagram at @poeravensfcps!

Important Dates

10/28: Community Meeting about AAP Center 6:30-8:00 Library

10/31: End-of-Quarter, 2 hour early release for students 12:15 (see bell schedule)

11/3: School Planning Day- Student Holiday

11/4: Teacher Workday- Student Holiday

Raving Ravens

Poe Young Scholars visited Thomas Jefferson High School on Friday and were amazed by the sophisticated science and technology labs. Our students intently watched high schoolers conducting experiments in the Engineering lab. They showed particular interest in the Oceanography lab and the aquatic life students were able to interact with. Seeing the TJ students utilize the equipment and engage with their projects sparked a strong desire in several of our scholars to apply for admission, and the entire group left with a greater appreciation for the possibilities within STEM.

FRED Cards: Here’s what people are saying about our amazing staff. Below are some of the highlights from the recent FRED Cards that were submitted. The person’s name is who is being highlighted followed by what was said about them by a colleague. I will continue to highlight them in each Raven Report so keep them coming!

• Aaron Henderson: “Thank you for your optimism, your positive attitude, and love of students. I am glad that you can find humor in so many situations. I appreciate how deeply you think about what our students already can do. Thank you for modeling how to launch a lesson in CT !”
• Jenny Maldanado: “Thank you for always focusing on what is most important to the students. You also do an excellent job leading your team. It is clear that your team respects and appreciates you.”
• Morgan Housley: “I appreciate how deeply you think about "Lesson Flow." I love how you challenge us by thinking about how students will experience instruction.”

Opportunities

Thank a Teacher Art Contest: Together with The Supply Room, the Virginia Lottery is excited to announce that the 9th annual Thank a Teacher Art Contest is officially open for entries! This contest celebrates the creativity of Virginia’s K–12 public school students and the incredible educators who inspire them. We invite you to encourage your students to participate and showcase their artistic talents! This contest is open to all K-12 students and the entry period is from October 20- February 2, 2026. Winners will receive a $200 gift card, their art classrooms will receive $2000 in supplies, and the winning art will be featured throughout Virginia. Click here to apply!

Important Information

Last call for Lost and Found Items!: Items that have been found and brought to the main office’s lost and found will be donated if unclaimed by 10/31. Please have your child come look if any of these items are theirs before we do our quarterly cleaning.

When Cell Phones Are Down, Learning and Engagement Are Up: Help Keep Our Schools Phone-Free: Cell phones can significantly impact academic performance — research has shown that it takes students 10 minutes or more to shift their focus back to learning after being interrupted by a single cell phone notification! You can help keep our schools phone-free (and your child focused on learning) by:

• Reminding your child about FCPS’ cell phone policyand telling them why you support it.
• Contacting your school’s front office (rather than your child directly) if there is a family emergency during the school day.
• Contacting your child about non-urgent matters before or after the school day.
• Waiting to respond to non-urgent texts from your child until the school day is over.

Learn more about FCPS’ cell phone and personal device policy. Also, view our Media Balance and Well-Being Toolkit for resources to help your child maintain a healthy and balanced relationship with technology at home.

FCPS Honors Nominations:  It’s that time of the year where we honor our amazing staff at Poe by recognizing those who exemplify FCPS excellence. Please take some time to nominate a colleague for the following nominations:

Outstanding Teacher: nominees from this category must be teachers who have completed their first three years of teaching. Nominees must be teachers who:

• Instill in students a desire to learn and achieve.
• Understand the individual needs of students, encourage their talents, and foster their self-esteem.
• Showcase a thorough knowledge of subject matter and the ability to share it effectively with students.
• Proactively facilitate cooperative relationships with their colleagues, students, and the community.
• Demonstrate outstanding leadership.
• Foster an environment where diversity in all of its forms is valued and appreciated and demonstrate keeping equity at the center of their work.

Outstanding New Teacher: nominees from this category must be within their first 3 years of teaching. Nominees must be teachers who:

• Exhibit superior instructional skills
• Interact exceptionally well with students
• Demonstrate excellent ability to communicate and engage with faculty, staff, parents and the community
• Foster an environment where diversity in all of its forms is valued and appreciated and demonstrate keeping equity at the center of their work

Outstanding Leader: nominees from this category must currently work as a full time school based administrator and have completed one year of employment in FCPS. Common positions from this category include associate principal, assistant principal, director of student services, director of student activities. Nominees must be leaders who: 

• Provide a unique and exceptional contribution to FCPS through their work.
• Demonstrate outstanding leadership in the workplace and commitment to their field.
• Strengthen and improve the FCPS working or learning environment through their work. 
• Foster an environment where diversity in all of its forms is valued and appreciated and demonstrate keeping equity at the center of their work.

Outstanding Professional Employee (School-Based): nominees from this category must currently work in a position that supports school leadership. Common positions in this category include Dean of Students, SBTS, TSSC, assessment coach, social worker, speech pathologist, instructional coach, social worker, school psychologist, counselor, and safety specialist. Nominees must be employees who:

• Provide a unique and exceptional contribution to FCPS through their work.
• Demonstrate commitment and leadership in their field.
• Foster cooperative relationships with colleagues and/or the community.
• Foster an environment where diversity in all of its forms is valued and appreciated and demonstrate keeping equity at the center of their work.

Outstanding Operational Employee: nominees from this category must have completed one year of contracted work in FCPS. Nominees from this category typically include administrative and office assistants, custodial staff, food services staff, IAs, PHAs, PHTAs, and family liaisons. Nominees must be employees who:

• Provide a unique and exceptional contribution to FCPS through their work.
• Demonstrate commitment and leadership in their field.
• Foster cooperative relationships with colleagues and/or the community. 
• Foster an environment where diversity in all of its forms is valued and appreciated and demonstrate keeping equity at the center of their work.

All nominations are due by November 7. Please find the submission form here. 

AAP at Poe MS: 

Inspire Immunization Events for All FCPS Students: Inspire Health Alliance, in partnership with FCPS, will be providing school-required immunizations and optional flu shots for all FCPS students.

• Immunizations will be provided at no out-of-pocket cost to students or families.
• Registering families will be required to provide insurance information, if applicable, but students without insurance may still participate.

Current event dates are listed below. Additional dates will be made available throughout the school year, 4-5 weeks prior to the event, on the public webpage.

Willow Oaks Administrative Office, 8270 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Fairfax, VA:  

• Thursday, November 6; 3-6:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 18; 3-6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 19; 3-6:30 p.m. 
• Thursday, November 20; 3-6:30 p.m. 

Frost Middle School, 4101 Pickett Rd. Fairfax, VA:

• Saturday, November 15; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 

For more information, or to help families schedule an appointment for their student, please visit our FCPS and Inspire Health Alliance Student Immunization Events | Fairfax County Public Schools webpage.  

Youth Survey: We will be administering the Youth Survey on November 10 to 6th and 8th graders during an extended advisory session. Students will not have 4th period this day. To make up for the missing 4th period, we will have no advisory on November 14.  Parents and caregivers can opt their student out of participating in the survey if they so choose. Please email Mr. Tyler Miller at tmiller@fcps.edu if you would like to opt your child out. Visit the Fairfax County Youth Survey webpage for more information and to review the opt-out forms.

EOQ1 Celebration: To celebrate the end of the quarter students can participate in fun activities during lunch on October 31 that will earn them points for their community teams. The team with the most points at the end of the day on October 31 will get a prize the following week in their advisory class. Starting on Monday, students will have an opportunity to guess how many candies are in the jars in the cafeteria. They can submit their guesses here. This form is also shared with students in Schoology. The student(s) who win will earn the jar and points for their community team. 

Return Your Federal Impact Aid Survey: FCPS is asking all families to fill out a Federal Impact Aid Survey. The form is available in SIS ParentVUE under Online Packets, which is in the upper right corner of the screen after logging in. Please complete it as soon as possible. We will provide paper forms to families who have not completed the survey in ParentVUE starting Wednesday, November 12.

Completing this form for each school-aged child in every household is important. This year, FCPS expects to receive approximately $4 million in Impact Aid funding. These funds are used to support all Fairfax County public schools and centers.

For more information, visit the Federal Impact Aid Survey page.  

Register for ParentVUE: Learn how to activate your SISParentVUE account, so you can easily submit your survey and have access to other helpful information about your child. 

Technical support for using ParentVUE or submitting the survey online is available by submitting a Parent Support Request ticket. Select SISParent in the Application dropdown menu and type “Federal Impact Aid Survey” in the Issue Description section. You may also call the Parent Technology Help Desk at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS).

SIS ParentVUE End-of-Quarter Closure: The Gradebook in SIS ParentVUE and StudentVUE will be closed for the end of the first quarter from Friday, October 31, 4 p.m. to Monday, November 10, 6 a.m. Activate your ParentVUE account to easily access grade reports.

Red Ribbon Open House: A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Substance Abuse: The Family Resource Center (FRC) and Office of Student Safety and Wellness will host a Red Ribbon Awareness Open House on Friday, October 24, from noon to 2 p.m. This event aims to equip attendees with essential resources and confidence to discuss substance use with their children. Narcan training will be offered. After the presentation, participants can tour the FRC library and browse through pre-selected resources.

How Bond Projects Are Selected: Each year, the School Board and FCPS staff members work with the community to develop an updated, five-year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for school building and renovation projects. To develop the CIP, the school system assesses changes in expected enrollments, academic programs, and facility conditions to determine priorities for new construction, renovations, and other capital facility projects. The School Board then evaluates the affordability of these school needs against other countywide requirements to determine the bond proposal. 

Because of this, while FCPS and the School Board generally try to follow the CIP, changes can be made year-over-year depending on the evolving needs of the school division.

The School Board is committed to protecting the community’s investment in schools and other buildings, which have a combined present value approaching $9 billion. Not only do these facilities wear out over time, but they also become outdated, both technologically and instructionally. FCPS renovates its schools to ensure that students, countywide, have effective and efficient learning environments to thrive and grow.

Read more about the FCPS 2025 Bond Referendum. Learn more about registering to vote. Make a voting plan and vote on Tuesday, November 4. 

Changes to Middle and High School Report Card Feedback: With the first quarter of the school year ending on Friday, October 31, families can expect student report cards to be available the week of November 10. 

FCPS has revised the way teachers provide feedback on report cards, so you may notice some new comments. Specifically, comments have been revised to provide more detailed feedback for students and families.

Also, teachers will now include a Work Habits mark each quarter for each student. This scale provides feedback on students’ time management, organization, assignment completion, and overall effort in class. This is meant as feedback to families and will not appear on a student’s transcript. 

View the Middle and High School Grading and Reporting webpage for more information.

Applications Now Open for Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST): Eighth graders with a strong interest and passion for STEM—science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—are encouraged to apply for admission to the Class of 2030 at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology(TJHSST)

The application is now open and must be started by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, November 12, with a submission deadline of 4 p.m. on Thursday, November 14. Visit the TJHSST registration page for more information, including a schedule of upcoming information sessions at middle schools.

Weapons Detection Starting on November 5: Starting with arrival on November 5, students will be going through our weapons detection system. Students have practiced these expectations with their classmates in their PE classes last week. Here are some reminders for both families and students: upon entering the building, students will need to remove their laptops, metal water bottles, umbrellas, phones & pouches, and metal eye glass classes prior to walking through the detectors. Once they are signaled to go through, they will collect their items and head to their morning locations. If a student continues to have the system signal us, we will do a search of their belongings and have them go through the system again to ensure they are cleared. We do anticipate students may be late to classes the first few days of implementation, but we are sure the process will run smoother as we continue to refine our approach. For more information about the weapons detections system, click here. 

What your Student is Learning!

Finishing Up Uncovering Characters in Language Arts: Benchmark Unit 2 in Language Arts is coming to a close! Over the last several weeks, our students have learned, read, and written about different characters in stories and their own personal sense of character. 

Connect with your child’s learning at school with these fun questions and hands-on activities at home:

• Question: How does the way you act change the way you think about yourself?
• Activity: Draw a new cover for a favorite book featuring the main character in a key moment.

At the end of the unit, your child will take their unit magazine home. The magazine includes an activity calendar with fun ways to help students build on what they’re learning at each grade level. You can also find information on how to support your child’s reading at home on the Benchmark Families website.