The Panda Periodical

Melissa Maestle, Principal

Shane Campbell, Assistant Principal

Frederick Douglass Elementary School

100 W. Cedarmeade Ave.

Winchester, Va 22655

ph. 540-662-7656

October

Week of October 19th - October 23rd

10/22 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Week of October 26th - October 30th

10/26 - Fall Picture Make-Up Day

10/30 - Book Character Dress Up Day

November

Week of November 2nd - November 6th

11/02-11/06 - Red Ribbon Week!

11/03 - No School - Election Day/Teacher PD Day

Week of November 9th - November 13th

11/10 - McEducator Night 5-7pm

Week of November 23rd - November 27th

11/25 to 11/27 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

Last Friday, our FDES community gathered on the grass under a beautiful sunset for our annual family Movie on the Lawn. We set up the big inflatable screen right in front of the school to watch Ratatouille. Since our recent Boosterthon theme was all about making food, watching a culinary adventure was the absolute perfect fit!

The evening was a huge success filled with great snacks and community support. Our wonderful PTO kept the crowd energized by selling pizza, candy, chips, and drinks throughout the night. Meanwhile, our 4th-grade team sold fun tattoos to help raise money for their highly anticipated spring field trip to Jamestown.

Thank you to all the families who brought out their lawn chairs and picnic blankets to relax and enjoy such a wonderful evening together!

At Frederick Douglass Elementary, the safety and security of our students and staff is always our top priority. To further enhance our building's security, we are implementing a few important changes to our morning drop-off and visitor routines, starting Tuesday, October 13th.

We know that adjusting to new routines can take a little time, and we deeply appreciate your patience and partnership in keeping our school community safe!

🌅 Morning Drop-Off Changes (Starting Oct. 13th)

• Door Drop-Offs: To maintain a secure campus and foster student independence, parents will no longer be permitted to walk students to their classrooms in the mornings. Instead, we welcome you to drop your students off at the outside doors, where our staff will be ready to greet them and help them get to class!

• Arriving After 7:50 AM: If you arrive between 7:50 AM and the end of morning announcements, you will need to wait outside with your child until announcements have concluded.

• Late Sign-In Process: Once announcements are over, a staff member will come outside to escort your student into the vestibule. Parents will then be asked to sign in their child as tardy.

🏫 School Visits & Early Pick-Ups When visiting the school during the day, please remember our new entry procedures:

• Have your photo ID out and ready when you arrive at the door.

• State the purpose of your visit over the intercom to our office staff.

• If you are here for a meeting, please know the name of the staff member you are meeting with.

Thank you so much for your understanding and cooperation. By working together, we can ensure FDES remains a safe, secure, and welcoming environment for all our Pandas! 🐼💚

We can hardly believe it, but the first quarter of the school year is officially complete! Thank you to all our Frederick Douglass Elementary families for partnering with us to make these first few months of learning so successful.

As we transition into Quarter 2 and the weather starts to cool down, this is the perfect time to do a quick "attendance check-in." We encourage all families to log into the parent portal this week and review your student's attendance tab.

The Q1 Benchmark: If your student missed 4 or more days during the first quarter, they are currently trending toward chronic absenteeism for the year. We know that early fall bugs and back-to-school transitions happen! However, missing just a few days each quarter quickly adds up to weeks of lost learning and missed social connections over the course of the year.

Quarter 2 is a fantastic opportunity for a fresh start. Whether it is adjusting the evening routine to get more sleep, laying out backpacks the night before, or ensuring family trips are saved for the upcoming Thanksgiving and Winter breaks, let’s work together to make every single classroom minute count this fall.

We are so incredibly proud of the hard work our students have shown so far, and we cannot wait to see what they accomplish this quarter!

Friday, October 9th, marked the official end of our first quarter! We are incredibly proud of how hard our Pandas have worked. As Q1 report cards are prepared to go out on October 15th, we want to highlight how to read your student's scores, as the grading scale depends on the subject.

🧮 Math, Social Studies, and Science (1-4 Scale) For these subjects, students are graded on a 1-4 scale. Please take a look at the graphic above to see exactly what each score means.

• The Goal is a 3 (Target): Seeing a 3 on your child's report card is great news. It means your student consistently and independently demonstrates mastery of the grade-level standard. This represents full success, showing they are right where they should be and on track for the next grade level.

• Going Beyond for a 4 (Beyond): Think of a 4 as the "I can teach it!" level. Earning a 4 means your child has mastered the standard and is now applying that understanding in a new or more complex context, such as through a special project or an extension activity. A 4 is not simply a "better 3," because it requires applying skills beyond grade-level expectations.

📚 English Language Arts (ELA)

Our ELA grading uses a different scale to track your child's reading and writing development. ELA grades will simply be marked as either:

• "P" (Proficient): Your student is independently meeting the grade-level expectations for this quarter.

• "G" (Growing): Your student is still developing these foundational skills and making progress toward proficiency.

You can find more details on our K-6 grading system by visiting the division's grading resource page:

🔗 WPS Grading Information for K-6 Families

As always, please reach out directly to your child's teacher if you have any questions about their progress!

We know your schedule is busy, so we’re making it easier to track WPS events. We have launched a live Division News page that captures school and community events in real-time.

Visit the WPS Division News Page

This link is your go-to for dates, deadlines, and division-wide announcements. Be on the lookout for the bi-weekly division newsletter for even deeper dives into community happenings!"

New school entry procedures are being implemented in Winchester Public Schools. Please allow extra time when you visit a school building to adjust to the new procedures.

• Have your photo ID out and ready when you arrive.
• Press the intercom and follow the directions from the office staff.
• Know the name of the person you are meeting with.
• Call ahead if you need to pick up your child unexpectedly so the office staff is aware.

We appreciate your understanding and partnership as we work together to keep our school community safe.

Procedimientos de Ingreso Escolar

Se están implementando nuevos procedimientos de entrada en las Escuelas Públicas de Winchester. Por favor, dese tiempo adicional cuando visite un edificio escolar para adaptarse a los nuevos procedimientos.

• Tenga su documento de identidad con foto a mano y listo cuando llegue.
• Presione el interfono y siga las instrucciones del personal de la oficina.
• Conozca el nombre de la persona con la que se va a reunir.
• Si necesita recoger a su hijo(a) de forma inesperada, llame con anticipación para que el personal de la oficina esté al tanto.

Agradecemos su comprensión y colaboración mientras trabajamos juntos para mantener segura a nuestra comunidad escolar.

Securly Home App

We are excited to highlight the Securly Home App for parents/guardians of 3rd and 4th grade students. The Securly Home App is a powerful, free tool designed to give you visibility and control over your child's school-issued device outside of school hours.

With the Securly Home App, parents/guardians of 3rd/4th grade students can:

Monitor Activity: View a real-time Activity Feed of your child's online activity on WPS issued devices.

Manage Content: Use the "Rules" tab to block specific websites or toggle entire content categories on or off.

Pause the Internet: Temporarily disable internet access on your child’s WPS issued device at home.

Set Schedules: Create custom offline schedules to automatically disable the internet, helping your child take a healthy break from screens.

Securly Home will NOT override any division rules or policies. For example, all WPS-issued elementary Chromebooks are automatically locked from 9 PM to 6 AM.

Here are some link and guides to help you get started with the Securly Home App:

Securly Home App on Google Play

Securly Home App from Apple

Securly Home App Walkthrough (English)

Securly Home App Walkthrough (Spanish)

Securly Home App FAQs (English)

Securly Home App FAQs (Spanish)

When creating a Securly Home App account, please use the email address you provided in PowerSchool.

If you do not see the features listed above, please uninstall and reinstall the Securly Home App.

If you need assistance with setting up your Securly Home App, please contact Kelly Carey at carey@wps.k12.va.us.