Robert Freeman Principal

Kara Colucci

Assistant Principal

Where Eagles Learn to Soar!

January 2019

Message from Mr. Freeman

UPCOMING EVENTS

January

3 Classes Resume

21 No School/MLK Holiday

23 PTA Spirit Night Panera

Central Park 4:00-8:00 PM

28 Early Dismissal 1:10 PM

End of Semester

29 No School/Professional Day

February 6 Report Cards Issued

8 Bingo Night 6:00-8:00 PM

14 Early Dismissal 1:10 PM

14 Jump Rope for Heart

18 No School/President’s Day

26 Spring Pictures

Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope each of you enjoyed the holiday season, and were able to spend quality time with family and friends. It is always so exciting to start a brand new calendar year. It’s a

time of reflection and renewal. For us here at Ferry Farm, it is a time for our team to return to school with a recharged energy and commitment to serving our community and to the success of every student. In fact, it is this very commitment to others that we begin this month’s newsletter.

We’d like to thank all of you who donated to our “Giving

Tree”. Because of the donations, many children were able to wake up to toys to play with or new outfits to wear during the Holiday season. It gives me a great sense of pride to be a part of an amazing community that is committed to pulling together to take care of

one another. Ferry Farm is a very special place and your generosity is greatly appreciated! Thank you for taking care of our Ferry Farm families.

A few notes as we reflect on last month. We were thrilled with the large turnout for the Pancake Breakfast and Super Singers performance. We appreciate our Ferry Farm families for supporting our

PTA and allowing their children to be present at this fantastic event. This great partnership between school and community is what makes Ferry Farm Elementary a very special place for kids. We had a wonderful evening turnout for our Super Singer and Instrumental Ensemble Holiday Concert. The Super Singers, under the direction of Mrs. Montrief and accompanied by Mrs. Sloan, provided us with two incredible

performances!

Winter is here, and it hasn't been consistently cold yet, however that

can change at any moment! We suggest you pay close attention to the forecast and have your child layer their clothing, which enables them to be comfortable in all parts of our school. Unfortunately, we’ve seen a number of little ones come to school without coats on or in their backpacks. Please

remind your child the importance of keeping warm by wearing their coats. If you are unable to provide the appropriate winter gear, please contact the school. We are happy to help you find assistance.

HOW COLD IS TOO COLD TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO PLAY OUTDOORS? During typical winter days, common sense requires us to look beyond a specific temperature and consider factors such as wind chill, whether the ground is frozen or the sun is shining, how well the children are prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats), what activity the children are participating in, and the length of time to be spent outside. When the weather turns extremely cold, we have to balance students' needs for physical activity with the dangers that come from too much exposure to the cold.

To keep our Eagles safe during these cold weather months, our classes will not go outside for recess or PE when the wind chill is below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, we want to remind you that occasionally the weather impacts the opening and closing of schools. Stafford County Public Schools has several methods of public notification in the event of school closings or changes to our school day due to weather. It is extremely important that the school have a valid phone contact for you to receive the blackboard notifications. If you have changed your phone number, please contact the school in order for us to update

your child’s contact information.

Thank you all for sharing your children with us each. Let’s continue to make memorable moments for our students and make it a GREAT year together!

Mr. Freeman

Clinic News

Happy New Year: Let’s hope we have a healthy start to

2019 here at the Farm!! As you are aware, we are right in the

middle of flu season…If you’re unsure if you should keep your

student home from school, here are the Stafford County

Public School Guidelines for sending students home or

returning to school:

Nurse Assessment of possible contagious condition or risk to health

Temperature > or = to 100 degrees within 24 hours with no fever reducing medications

Active vomiting within 24 hours

Recurring diarrhea within 24 hours

Swollen or painful joints from injury

Severe earaches (pain) or chronic cough

Suspected contagious disease (Using the Communicable Disease Reference Chart for

School Personnel Control of Communicable Diseases Manual APHA 19th Edition).

Chicken pox - return 5-7 days after first eruption.

Conjunctivitis - associated with itchiness or purulent drainage. Return after 24 hours of

treatment or when purulent drainage stops.

Pediculosis (Head lice) - return after treatment.

Flu or viral symptoms

Scabies - return after 24 hours of treatment.

Impetigo- return after treatment begun. May require covering area.

Any nose discharge that is green or yellow and unable to be contained

or personally cared for

Any undiagnosed skin rashes at the nurse’s discretion.

Any injury or illness requiring further immediate treatment

Antibiotic treatment of less than 24 hours treatment and possibility that student may be

communicable to others

Please make sure your kids come to school with clothing layers and the necessary cold weather

gear (warm jackets, hats, mittens, etc.). Let’s make sure they are warm and toasty at the bus stop

and, more importantly, during recess time!!

*Just a reminder that if your child has a history of asthma and they have a difficult time

with cold weather, please send an asthma action plan and inhaler to the clinic if you

haven’t already. You can find the necessary documents on the Ferry Farm website. And as

always, please call me with any questions/concerns.

Page 2 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

Page 3 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

SOL Testing

Grades Third, Fourth, & Fifth

May 22 – June 6

Please schedule appointments

around these dates.

HOW COLD IS TOO COLD TO ALLOW STUDENTS TO PLAY OUTDOORS?

During typical winter days, common sense requires us to look beyond a specific temperature and

consider factors such as wind chill, whether the ground is frozen or the sun is shining, how well the

children are prepared to play outdoors (jackets, gloves, and hats), what activity the children are

participating in, and the length of time to be spent outside. When the weather turns extremely cold, we

have to balance students' needs for physical activity with the dangers that come from too much

exposure to the cold. To keep our Eagles safe during these cold weather months, our classes will not

go outside for recess or PE when the wind chill is below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. When a grade

level has decided it is too cold to go out without proper attire, one teacher may choose to stay inside

with students who do not have a winter coat, gloves, and hat. In the event we must stay inside,

students will have indoor recess and they can play all kinds of games, including those that reinforce

what they learn in school.

Library News

First grade friends are helping each other solve a story puzzle on the computer.

Ferry Farm Elementary Faculty and

Staff Wishes Everyone a

CAR RIDER REMINDERS PLEASE REMEMBER

All Car riders are to be dropped off starting

at 8:35 at the back of the school.

Please be sure to stop at the stop sign and yield to the cars driving on Mercer Lane.

Cars are to line up single file in the morning

when dropping off children.

Children are to exit the vehicle on the right hand side and quickly enter the building.

Double lanes are used in the afternoon.

Teach your child their car rider number to keep the process moving quickly.

Make sure your children are secured safely in

their seats before leaving.

Please make sure all persons have cleared

the area before you pull away.

Page 4 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

Spelling Bee

Congratulations to Layla W., in Ms. Velardi’s

fourth grade class, our Spelling Bee winner, and

Maxwell F. runner-up.

The other participants are Evora B., Katelyn

C., Annabella C., Finn H., Loren H., Ella H., Jayda

J., Andrew M., Riley B., Sam R., Colton R., and

Ryan T. Good luck to Layla W. at the district

Spelling Bee.

PE News

Snowman building in PE

Page 5 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

Reflections Contest

Ferry Farm Eagles participated in the National

PTA Reflections program. This program

encourages students to explore the arts and

express themselves by giving positive recognition

for their artistic efforts. Students create theme-

based artwork in dance choreography, film

production, literature, musical composition,

photography or visual arts.

These creative artworks will now be entered in

the Regional PTA Reflections Contest.

Congratulations to the following Eagles:

Photography: Intermediate: 1st Alexa A., 2nd

Max D., 3rd James K.; Visual Arts: Primary: 1st

Lane E., 2nd Niamh O., 3rd Rozy J.;

Intermediate: 1st Alix F., 2nd Chloe A., 3rd Cristina

S., 3rd; Music Composition: Intermediate: 1st

Leola C.; Literature: Intermediate: 1st Brady M.,

2nd Layla W., 3rd Mark M.; Film Production:

Intermediate 1st Finn H., 2nd London J. and

Melina M., 3rd Sebastian T.; Dance: Primary: 1st

Madison L.; Intermediate: 1st Rachel A.; Special Artist: Intermediate: 1st Bryson M.

Second Grade

Second grade has been busy in December

learning strategies for adding numbers and how

to sequence a story while doing lots of fun

seasonal activities. The children enjoyed

learning about ways that other countries

celebrate Christmas as well as Hanukkah.

We began our unit on the American Indians

and will continue in January to learn more

about different American Indians. On January

11, Jamestown outreach will come and share

more interactive materials to

increase our learning of the

Powhatan Indians, who are native to our area.

No School

January 21 MLK Day

January 29 Teacher Workday

February 18 Presidents Day

Early Dismissals

January 28 1:10 PM February 14 1:10 PM

Page 6 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

The other participants were Ben G., Landen M., Samantha H., Laurel C., Tonijah S., Cristina S.,

Russell G., Clara B., Rachel L., Bodi M., Tyrone S., Parker D., Jason M., Hayden S., Kyle P., and Jayda J. Good luck to Walker at the district contest.

Congratulations to Walker H., in Mr. Bodnarchuk’s fifth grade

class, for winning our school Geography Bee. Alix F. was

runner-up.

PE Student of the Month

Page 7 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

November Effort

Second

Jaycielyn H.

Andrew C.

Ayla D.

Ryan L.

Yoalin P.

Third

Obed H.

Tyler B.

Za’Karan M.

Andrew M.

Evora B.

Fourth

Jack Y.

Benjamin G.

Valentino R.

Sebastian H.

Kayce H.

Fifth

Jaiyanna C.

Madelyn T.

Rudra S.

Melina M.

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Art News

First graders working on a Snowy Day Collage inspired by the author and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats.

Fifth Grade

5th grade students researched European

explorers and presented their information with these projects.

SCA

The Ferry Farm Student Council Association is

collecting “pop tops” for the animal shelter.

Please support them by sending in your “pop

tops”. The class collecting the most wins extra

recess and lollipops.

Page 8 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

THANK YOU!

Thanks to all the generous parents and faculty who

participated in our “Giving Tree”. Many Ferry Farm families

benefited from your kindness.

Eagle Reminders

Stafford County School Policy: You must bring ID when entering the building for any reason, such as volunteering in a classroom, eating lunch with your child, attending an assembly or checking your child out for an appointment. Daycare van riders: Parents please remember to inform your child’s daycare facility when your child is absent or is picked up early due to illness or an appointment. Lost & Found: Please have your child check for their lost coats, clothing items or lunch boxes at Lost and Found. All unclaimed Lost and Found items will be donated at the end of every month. School hours are 9:00 AM to 3:40 PM. Students are not to be dropped off at the school before 8:35 AM, except for scheduled events. Students may not be picked up in the office after 3:10 PM, unless prior arrangements have been made. Early pick up: If you must pick up your child before regular dismissal time, please send a note to your child’s teacher. Student Accident Protection Insurance: Available through Scholastic Insurers. Forms can be picked up in the office. Attendance: Please call the school at 373-7366 if your child will be absent. Please note that all absences are considered unexcused until we receive an explanation of the absence in writing. Emergency Contact: Please notify the school office of any changes in address, phone numbers, and emergency contacts.

Smile!

Picture Day

Feb 26

Page 9 of 9 Ferry Farm Elementary

What to Do When Winter Weather Strikes

Winter weather is on its way, and with it comes emergency closings. Division staff makes the decision to either close or delay schools by 5:30 a.m. Once the decision is made, the

Office of Strategic Communication and Community Engagement begins to inform the community using a variety of media. Below is a list of the different channels of

communication you can use to gather updates on closing information.

Central Office Phone A voice message is placed on the Central

Office line at (540) 658-6000 in the event of an emergency closing.

Stafford Alert Stafford County offers a subscription-based

emergency alert system. Options for notification include text, email, phone call, and

TTY/TTD device. In addition to school updates, Stafford Alerts allows you to

subscribe to updates on traffic, government closures, parks and recreation, public utilities,

and more.

Local Media News media in the Fredericksburg, Richmond,

and DC areas are notified of our closings, including:

o Free Lance-Star o Washington Post o WFLS 93.3, The Vibe 99.3, The Rock 96.9,

WNTX 96.5 o WBQB 101.5, WFVA 1230 AM o Thunder 104.5, WGRQ 95.9 o WTOP 103.5, 103.9, 107.7 o ABC 7 WJLA o CBS 6 WTVR o FiOS 1 o NBC 4 WRC o NBC 12 WWBT o FOX 5 WTTG o CBS 9 WUSA

Social Media Closing updates are also available on the

division’s social media pages. Follow us on Facebook

at www.facebook.com/staffordschools or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/scpschools.

Stafford Educational Television Check out the division’s public access channel

for weather updates. SETV is available on Channel 18 for Comcast and Cox subscribers,

and Channel 38 for Verizon subscribers.

School Websites An on-screen alert is posted on the division and

school websites. Visit www.staffordschools.net or the website of

your child’s school. In the event of a school closing, an alert will appear on the screen and must be dismissed in order to access the site.

ParentLink

Phone Call/Text/Email/Mobile App

A phone call, text, email and mobile app notification are sent via ParentLink to all phone numbers and

emails subscribed to emergency alerts. Phone calls can occur as early as 5:30 a.m. Contact your child’s

school to update, add, or remove your contact information from the emergency alert system.