Dear Parents and Students,

The month of May promises to be a very busy month at Sycolin

Creek Elementary School. It’s hard to believe we are in the last

quarter of the school year!

First, during the week of May 6th we will celebrate Teacher

Appreciation Week. This is a great time to send your child’s

teacher(s) a note or kind words to show them how much you

appreciate their hard work and dedication to our students.

Additionally, our kindergarten students will be performing their

musical on Friday, May 17th! It promises to be an exciting event.

Next, for many of our students in grades 3 through 5, the months

of May and June will be focused on the successful completion of

various Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) assessments.

Please make every effort to ensure that our students arrive to

school well rested and on time each morning. Also, please

consult with your child’s teacher about any questions related to

the SOL test schedule.

Last, as the school year nears its close and the spring weather

brings with it many exciting extracurricular activities, I look

forward to your continued support to make the fourth quarter

productive for our students. While our staff will be sensitive to

the many commitments that students will be taking advantage of

during this time of the year, please make sure that your child is

completing the assignments that are sent home as they are

necessary to reinforce classroom instruction. Further, please

consistently check your child’s homework assignments so that

he/she is prepared for school each day.

As always, thank you for all that you do in partnership with us to

provide a meaningful and high quality educational experience for

your child.

Sincerely,

Derek Racino

Principal

Vol. 12 No. 9

May/June 2019

Upcoming EventsMay 2019

1 – 5th Grade Panoramic Picture, 12:00 pm

1 – Spring Chorus Concert, 8:30 am & 6:30 pm

2 – 5th Grade Orientation to Middle School, 9:00 am

3 – 2nd Grade Field Trip to the Zoo

4 – All County Chorus at PVHS, 1:30 pm

5/6-5/10 – Teacher Appreciation Week

7 – PTA Staff Luncheon

8 – National School Nurse’s Day

9 – PTA Staff Breakfast

10 – 1st Grade Field Trip to DC

11 – Spring Carnival, 11:00 am

12 – Mother’s Day

13 – SOL Testing Begins

13 – Interims Distributed

13 – Safety Patrol Training (4th Grade), 2:45 pm

14 – PTA Meeting, 7:00 pm

17 – Kindergarten Patriotic Program, 10:00 am

19 – Frederick Keys Game, 6:00 pm

20 – 5th Grade Committee Meeting, 7:00 pm

22 – SCA Meeting, 2:00 pm

27 – Memorial Day Holiday

31 – Ice Cream Social for Safety Patrol

June 2019

3 – Field Day for Grades K-5

5 – PTA Meeting, 7:00 pm

6 – 5th Grade Transition Ceremony, 9:00 am

6 – 5th Grade Farewell, 11:30 am

6 – Kindergarten Parties, 1:00 pm

7 – Last Day Dance

7 – Last Day of School

11 – Election Site – Gymnasium

14 – Report Cards Available in ParentVue

See On-Line Calendar for Additional

Activity Dates and Times

If due to a disability, you need assistance to enable you to participate meaningfully in any activity at

Sycolin Creek Elementary, please contact Derek Racino at 571-252-2910,

at least five working days prior to the event.

Principal’s Corner

THE21100 Evergreen Mills Road

Leesburg, Virginia 20175

571.252.2910

Home of the

Salamanders

Art Stars for the Month of April

April has been filled with clay. Many of your

students have started to bring home projects. They

have worked very hard on them and I know they are

proud of their work.

May will be a month for weaving. Fifth graders will

start to create baskets using real reeds that have

been soaked to improve flexibility. This is the first

time they will be weaving in three dimensions.

Second through fourth will be weaving with yarn. If

you have any yarn at home that you would like to

donate, we will happily accept it. Kindergarten and

first grade will begin understanding the weaving

process through the use of paper.

Art Stars for April are:

Kindergarten – Mrs. Palovchik

1st grade – Mrs. Albecker

2nd grade – Ms. Kulak

3rd grade – Mr. Chianese

4th grade – Mrs. Fuhrman

5th grade – Mrs. Trainor

Happy Spring

Dr. Bennett & Mrs. Mineo

Thank you to all of the parents that were able to join us for

the Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast! We want you to

know how much we truly appreciate all the volunteer work

that you do at Sycolin Creek. We would not be the great

school that we are without our wonderful parent

community. The countless hours that you volunteer make

a difference for all of our children.

MSAAC Committee Information

MSAAC, The Minority Student Achievement Advisory

Committee, works in partnership with Loudoun County

Public Schools staff, parents and community to further

academic, social and cultural development of every

student and to ensure that the needs of all minority

students are met. The group meets at the LCPS Admin.

Building on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00

p.m. All meetings are open to the public. The upcoming

agenda and the minutes of previous meetings are posted

on the school system website at www.lcps.org under the

“School Board” button and “Committees” selection option.

Standards of Learning (SOL) Testing

Schedule

Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders will be participating in the 2019

Standards of Learning Assessment Program from May 13th

through May 29th. Please see the attached calendar for

more specific SOL times by class.

Sports Shorts!! P.E. Highlights

PE Star Salamanders for the month of April:

5th grade – Alana Woehr & Landon McGinn

4th grade – Whitney Luxton & Ethan Strasburg

3rd grade – Rowan Hogye & Axton Scott

2nd grade – Lotus Mills & Brady Espiritu

1st grade – Leah Chau & Levi Citron

Kindergarten – Delilah Mangilit & DeMarquez

Corley

PE Star Classes are Mrs. Trainor and Mrs.

Nacin’s 5th grade classes.

Volunteer Breakfast

Health Clinic Reminders

1. Please make sure to pickup all medication from the

clinic prior to the conclusion of the last day of school.

Virginia State Law requires that schools destroy any

leftover medication after the students leave for the

year. The new order forms/action plan for the 2019-

20 school year can be accessed through LCPS

website.

2. Tdap Reminder – All rising 6th graders will be required

to have their Tdap vaccine before they begin middle

school in the fall. Parents are encouraged to speak

with their primary care physician about any specific

questions and/or concerns that you may have

regarding the vaccine.

Music News

Congratulations to the First Grade students! They did a great job performing and creating songs, instruments, and

poems for their show, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle! Also a big shout out for our new Instrument Ensemble, which

had its premier performance at the Volunteer Breakfast. Kindergarten has begun to prepare for their patriotic

program which will be on May 17th. First graders will be studying Peter and the Wolf and singing patriotic songs

this month. Second Grade students will be introduced to treble clef pitches on the music staff and studying

Carnival of the Animals. Third grade students have been learning the names of the notes on the treble clef staff

and now they will begin writing their own composition. Fourth and fifth grade students are going to begin using

ukuleles in class this month.

We hope you will be able to join us for the Frederick Keys Baseball Game on May 19th! The Sycolin Creek

Singers will sing the National Anthem that day.

Our Rock Star Music Classes for April are:

Kindergarten – Mrs. Morris; 1st Grade – All First Grade Classes; 2nd Grade – Ms. Kulak; 3rd Grade – Mrs.

Henretty; 4th Grade – Mrs. Fuhrman; 5th Grade – Mrs. Bigney

POP OPEN A GOOD BOOK!Avoid the summer reading slide by participating in Sycolin Creek’s summer reading incentive

program, “Pop Open a Good Book”. Watch for the information packet to come home during the last

week of May. Return the summer reading logs by August 29th, to be included in the special prize

drawings and celebration! Pop open a book and read this summer!

Looking for some fun reading ideas for over the summer! Check out Reading Rockets summer

reading ideas at http://www.readingrockets.org/calendar/summer.

Cafeteria Update – Field Day

Our school Field Day will take place on Monday, June 3rd. During Field Day, the cafeteria will serve the following

menu:

Hot dog on bun or Sunbutter and jelly sandwich

Baby carrots

Sliced apples

Juice carton

Milk

Water

A letter will be sent home on Friday, May 3rd asking you to mark what your child will be doing for lunch on Field

Day. Thank you!

News from SEARCH

During the month of May, Kindergarten will be finishing their creativity lesson on transforming a craft stick into

something new. We will be turning their ideas into class videos, so check out the SEARCH web site soon for the

final products! In 1st grade, students will be using their Perceiving and Connecting keys to solve Izzi puzzles.

Second graders will use visual perception and spatial reasoning to solve Kanoodle puzzles. Third and Fourth grade

students will be challenged to build a structure using Keva Planks by only looking at the front, side, and top

perspectives of the structure.

TEST TAKING TIPS

Our students will be taking many tests over the next several weeks. Here are some tried-and-true tips to help get

your child ready for these tests.

1. Have a Positive Attitude - Approach the big test as you'd approach a giant jigsaw puzzle. It might be tough, but

you can do it! A positive attitude goes a long way toward success.

2. Get your Sleep! - Make sure you get a good night's sleep before a test. Really! This can make a big difference!

3. Eat a Good Breakfast - Make sure you eat properly the day of a test.

4. Have the Tools You Need - Take your pencils, erasers, bottle of water….whatever your teacher has told you to

have. In fact, why not take a couple of extras? Be prepared!

5. Be On Time - Tests days are days when you especially want to be on time for school. Even get there a little early

if you can. There’s nothing that can get you flustered more than running late.

6. Listen and Read - Remember to listen carefully to the instructions from the teacher and to read the directions and

each question carefully.

7. Don’t Get Stuck - If you get stuck on a question, just make your best guess and move on. Don’t spend too much

time on any one question. Try to finish as many questions as you can and try not to leave any answers blank.

8. Use the Process of Elimination - The process of elimination can help you choose the correct answer in a multiple-

choice question. Start by mentally crossing off the answers that couldn't be right and then decide which of the

remaining choices is probably right.

9. Double-Check - If you finish before time is up, go back to make sure you didn’t leave anything out. Was something

particularly hard for you? Go back and look at that problem again more carefully this time. Even if other people finish

early, you should use all the time you are allowed to work on your test.

10. Relax! - If you did the best you could, then relax and go enjoy the rest of the day!

Parent Survey Results – Highlights of Parent Comments

• Communication - from the Administration to the Licensed staff, parents receive feedback regularly and they are

very quick to respond with questions. The front-office staff is amazing as well!

• Communication, as well as the atmosphere is welcoming and my kids love being there.

• Create enthusiasm for reading, provide special education help for students with special needs.

• Creating a welcome atmosphere for parents and families. Providing communication about the expectations of

the children’s learning as well as any follow up.

• Everything - we LOVE this school. Special Shout out to Mrs. Hermens - she is a treasure. My child’s attitude

towards school and learning has done a complete 180 and he is engaged, working hard to improve and that is all

due to Mrs. Hermens and Sycolin for support of her. Thank you!

• Everything! The school is amazing at communication, celebrating diversity and making everyone feel welcome!

Academics are well outlined and taught. We are very happy with our teachers and school!

• Exceptional teachers, administrators and learning environment!

• Great teachers and great administration!

• Listening to concerns and taking care of them immediately.

• Makes every single child feel cared for and important.

• My child has a teacher that cares about her emotional health and academic progress. She is proactive and

responsive. She takes time to work with my child.

• Our school has created a very strong community among students, teachers/ admins, and parents. Lots of

opportunity for involvement. Parents feel welcome.

• Positive environment. Love the patriotism. Love the school spirit! I've been blessed with great teachers who

love what they do and genuinely care about the kids success and well being.

• Sycolin Creek does a wonderful job of creating a fun, open, inclusive atmosphere. I love that there are many

family activities to do throughout the year, and that the principal sends out a notice every week with highlights.

• Sycolin is very welcoming and provides an environment for its students to thrive through high expectations,

support, and fun.

• The administration works well with the teachers and parents. My son feels very supported.

• The principal is an excellent communicator with weekly updates. We always know what is going on. The PTA

provides SO many fun and exciting events for the students. It's a very positive and welcoming environment. We

absolutely love this school!

• The school does a great job communicating with parents and keeping everyone notified (and reminded) of

events and things going on at the school. The principal is typically visible and actively engaged with parents or

students.

• The staff at Sycolin Creek is wonderful. Everyone we have encountered from the janitorial staff through the front

office, is friendly, helpful and welcoming. It makes for a wonderful learning environment.

• There is good communication with parents, opportunities for parent involvement, the kids are well engaged and

learning a lot. We've been very happy with Sycolin Creek.

• They are a true community with the best teachers and principals. I am so thankful and lucky that the rezoning

brought us to Sycolin Creek.

• They communicate well with the parents. I've been very impressed with their creativity in teaching children

through multiple learning methods. My daughter loves going to school and is learning quickly.

• This is our first year at Sycolin Creek ES and overall we have been very impressed with the quality of the

curriculum and teachers. The school is very communicative with parents via email, apps, and the website and

we always feel well-informed regarding school activities and changes. The entire staff, from the Principal down

to the teachers, have been kind, responsive, and attentive to our children's needs.