Sterling Jaguar Journal

Sterling families,

We are grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for working so hard to encourage your student in their education. During the holiday months, I wanted to take a moment to reiterate the message all families received from LCPS regarding student attendance which is pasted below.

How to Encourage School Attendance

Families have a big influence on student attendance. We need your support to ensure your student attends school every day and on time. Attending school regularly helps students feel more confident and helps prepare them for their future. It is important that parents reinforce the idea that going to school every day and on time is important. Below are some tips on what you can do to encourage school attendance:

• Schedule family vacations and trips, doctor appointments and other out-of-school activities during school holidays. See the LCPS student calendars to learn when student holidays are scheduled.
• Help your student stay engaged by asking about what they are learning in school, using ParentVue to check progress on assignments and seeking help from teachers or tutors if necessary.
• Encourage meaningful after-school activities, including sports or clubs.
• Track your student's attendance and make sure absences are not accumulating. If a student misses just two days each month, by the end of the school year, they may be considered chronically absent.
• Know LCPS’ attendance policy.
• If your student has anxiety about going to school, talk with your school’s mental health team for support.

Our students are thriving and learning so much! Please continue to partner with us by sending them to school on time every day. On-time arrival means they are in their classroom when the bell rings at 8 a.m., so having students arrive as close to 7:40 as possible sets them up for this. Let us know if we can support you in any way.

As we move into Winter Break beginning December 21, one way you can help your child(ren) maintain the skills they've learned so far this school year is to have them read every day. Family members reading to children is helpful whether in English or their native language, children reading and re-reading books to themselves or others is a great practice, and they can also write about what they read. Digital content will be available, such as Dreambox, Reflex, RAZKids, etc. as well.

Sincerely,

Jennifer M. Short, Principal

Week #4 marks our halfway point! This week the students learned:

• Build “good energy” snacks using the five food groups.
• Good energy snacks always start with a vegetable or fruit, and include another food group.

The students competed at “Head 2 Head,” a fun game where the students race to “fill orders” for good energy snacks.

Fall is in the air in the art room! Third grade has started a chalk pastel drawing of pumpkins that they drew from observation. They are learning how to use curved lines when drawing and to blend colors to make their pumpkins look three-dimensional. Kindergarten recently finished a pumpkin patch collage and has moved onto trees in the fall. We looked at what happens to trees when the seasons change. They then built trees using construction paper and glue. Finally, they learned how to mix red and yellow paint to make orange. Many used all three to add leaves to their pictures. One Kindergarten student even made a fall tree at one of the building stations!

-Mrs. Ajima

We are thankful for another busy month in the library! In kindergarten, we talked about all things fall. We estimated how many seeds were in a pumpkin and learned that sometimes smaller pumpkins have more seeds! First graders have been learning about authors and illustrators and got a chance to create a class book based on a favorite character. Second grade began exploring nonfiction. Our third graders have been practicing their librarian skills, and our fourth and fifth graders have been busy preparing for our 2nd Annual Sterling Parade! Look for a video of this year's parade in your child's library Schoology folder. We are so proud of all their hard work.

-Mrs. Burel

-Mrs. Jeffries

In music this month, our younger grades celebrated fall with instrument activities and rhythm games. Fifth graders have begun our recorder unit and are already showcasing our skills playing familiar songs. Third grade classes are working on our musical, The Grumps of Ring-A-Ding Town. We can't wait to share our performance with the school, family, and friends on December 5!

-Mrs. Scarboro

-Ms. Walsh

This month we have been learning about bones and their functions in addition to our Football unit! Kids used spatial awareness to avoid being tackled (tagged) by defenders. We are continuing to teach offensive strategies, such as finding the open space and always being on the move. Pictured below are some 4th and 5th grade athletes demonstrating kickoffs and playing a game of Ultimate Football. We'd also like to shout out to the parents who have taught or are teaching their kids about the importance of sportsmanship and integrity when it comes to winning and losing.

- Mr. Horvath

- Mr. Hosti

We would like to invite you to attend our next family coffee, to enjoy a light breakfast and coffee with other Sterling families. Our next family coffee will be held in the Sterling Elementary Cafeteria on December 15, 2023, from 8 -9 am. For this December’s family coffee, we will be discussing safety for our students and community. We hope to see you there.

We will conclude the Second Step Lessons on Bullying prevention. Over the last two months we have been working to help our students understand that Bullying is repeated hurtful behavior that is done with the intent to hurt them, and the person who is hurt often feels scared or worried about the person hurting them. We talked about the importance of being an UPSTANDER, someone who stands up to prevent bullying by asking a trusted adult for help or working to make the person who has been hurt feel important and included.

Once our bullying prevention lessons are complete, we will teach lessons on gratitude. We will have the students reflect on the things for which they are grateful. As a School Counseling team, we also reflect on gratitude. We are exceptionally grateful to be working here in such a wonderful school community.

Email: jennifer.meresshort@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/sterlinges
Location: 200 West Church Road, Sterling, VA, USA
Phone: 571-434-4580
Twitter: @SterlingElem