Dear Parents,

We have very much enjoyed getting to know your student(s) this school year. It is hard to think that the first quarter is already behind us! We have been busy in the classrooms establishing classroom routines, collecting data and setting high expectations. Most recently, our first through fifth graders received their Chromebooks. We received these devices as part of a school division pilot initiative which includes Strawbridge and 10 other schools. Being a Digital Learning Anchor school will give our students the ability “to use digital learning as a pathway to personalized learning by increasing student flexibility with respect to when and how learning occurs.” http://www.vbschools.com/compass/2020/ourstrategicframework.asp We are excited about our digital journey! I encourage you to join us for our next Learning Dock parent night scheduled for Jan 11, 2016 to learn more about our digital resources and personalized learning.

Thank you for sharing your student(s) with us each day. We truly enjoy them!

Fondly,

Mrs. Sargent

Jacqueline.sargent@vbschools.com

Our Chromebooks have arrived and are in the hands of our 1st - 5th grade students. Kindergarten will be receiving iPads and HP laptops in the coming weeks. As we continue our personalized learning journey, our focus remains on what it takes to be a responsible digital citizen. Students are currently utilizing the Chromebooks under as a generic shark login and are working towards earning their own, managed login accounts by demonstrating their ability to be a good digital citizen. You can help at home by reminding your children to be TECH SMART at both home and school.

Katie.Catania@vbschools.com

Email: jacqueline.sargent@vbschools.com
Website: Strawbridgees.vbschools.com
Location: 2553 Strawbridge Road, Virginia Beach, VA, United States
Phone: (757)648-3800
Twitter: @SES_Principal

I am so excited about what we have planned this year to create and support great Shark Readers! The Reading Bingo program is up and running. Students are reading to earn incentives like Treasure Chest picks, free books, and having their names entered in monthly drawings to win opportunities to be principal or assistant principal for an hour, giving a book review on Sharky News, or an invitation to Game Day where students will get to spend the last 45 minutes of a school day playing reading and word games. Students will also have their names and photos posted on our Finn Rainbow located outside the cafeteria. Red boards have been completed and we are well into Orange. Remember to encourage your Shark to read. If you got a late start and didn’t get to participate in Red, Orange is great color to start with! Directions for the program are located on the back of the Bingo board.

Tracey.Woodberry@vbschools.com

The Strawbridge Library Media Center is off to an exciting start this year! In addition to checking out an average of 1,200 books per week, students are coming to the library throughout the day for story times, book talks, and research! Kindergarten students visit the library each week for story times and book checkouts. After coming for weekly story times and checkout from the Easy Fiction and Easy Nonfiction sections at the beginning of the year, first grade students now come with their classes or in small groups to check out throughout the week. Second graders had a lesson on fiction and recently began to check out chapter books from the Fiction and Story Collection sections. After instruction on Destiny, call numbers, and Lexile levels, third-grade students are learning to locate books independently with the electronic catalog. Several of the fourth-grade classes have been working on research assignments and were instructed on the use of databases, such as WorldBook Online, Britannica School, Kids InfoBits, and SIRS Discoverer. At the end of October, our fifth-graders came to the library for book talks with titles from different genres, such as fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, realistic fiction, horror, science fiction, biography, and traditional literature.

The LMC is open Monday through Friday from 8:20-2:45 for student, teacher, and parent use. Students in grades 1-5 may visit the library at any time throughout the day, and Kindergarten classes have scheduled story times/checkout each week. Students in kindergarten and first grade are allowed to check out one book, and students in grades 2-5 may check out two books. Books are checked out for one week and can be renewed for an extra week. No fines are charged for late books, but students are billed for lost or damaged books. Also, students are not allowed to check out new books if they have an overdue book on their record.

Parents are invited to join in the fun! Visit us today to get your own library number and check out materials from our wonderful collection of children’s literature!

Brenda.McHorney@vbschools.com

Flu season is upon us and will stay with us through the winter. If you think your child has the flu, please keep him/her at home to avoid spreading the virus. Parents often wonder how to know the difference between the flu and a cold. Typically, the cold symptoms come on gradually over a few days while the flu symptoms come on suddenly and with more severity. While both colds and the flu may have a cough and sore throat, the flu is also typically accompanied by high fever, body aches, chills and fatigue.

Students with symptoms of flu should stay home for at least 24 hours after they no longer have fever without using fever-reducing drugs. If flu conditions become more severe, the CDC recommends a sick person stay home for seven days or for 1 days after their symptoms go away.

The number one way to prevent the flu is to use good handwashing practices. Take some time to emphasize the importance of washing hands before eating with your children. We also want to teach them to cover their coughs and sneezes, get plenty of rest, and drink plenty of water. Also, consider vaccinatiing your family this season against the flu.

Lets work together to keep our Strawbridge Sharks healthy and keep the flu out of school!

Please contact me in the clinic with any questions or concerns.

Chrissy Love, RN

School Nurse

648-3807 chlove@vbschools.com

Grade 5 and Grade 1 Gifted Screening for our school has been completed. In order to access your child’s scores, you will need to open your child’s Parent Portal account and navigate to the Standardized Test Results. Scores for fifth graders will be available by November 15. Scores for first graders will be available by December 15. Please note, that letters with your child’s scores will NOT be mailed and scores cannot be shared over the telephone. This change has been made to protect you and your family’s privacy. If you do not have a Parent Portal account, please go to http://www.vbschools.com/schoolnet/index.asp. It will take approximately 5 days to set up your account. You will get an email from VBCPS with a PIN number. You will need to bring that number and a photo id to the school. I encourage to do this in well in advance so you can have the screening information about your child’s performance. Our office staff can help you with establishing your Parent Portal Account.

Other important dates to keep in mind:

• Academic Gifted Testing for students in grades 2-4 : January 7, 2016 (applications due Dec. 11)

• KLMS/ODS current grades 2-4 and 5-7 applicants: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 (applications due February 2, 2016

Susan.Ruhl@vbschools.com

Thanks to a generous $4,900 grant from the Virginia Beach Education Foundation, our science room has had a “makeover.” The money has allowed us to buy materials and resources that will enhance our science program at the elementary level. Included in the funding is a $1,300 3d printer. Other items we have purchased include life cycle models, simple machine demonstration tools, an Earth, moon and sun orbiter, and horseshoe magnet sets. Please take a peek inside room 41 next time you are at Strawbridge.

The American Citizenship qualities for November and December are “RESPECT” and “KINDNESS” respectively. Our classroom lessons for these months reflect these themes. During this holiday time, it is an opportunity for all of us to take a moment here and there to remember those things and people for which we are grateful and those who have shown kindness to us or who may need a bit of our kindness shown to them. Every one of us at times is in a position to offer our help to others, and every one of us has times when we can use other’s help. This holiday season is a great time to spread some of it around, if you have it to give, and to receive it gracefully if we have need. One way or another, we can’t get along without each other!

So often we have kindness to share, but are not sure how to go about it. Generosity doesn’t have to be a well-orchestrated and grand plan, it can be quite simple. It can start as a small gesture or word – carrying something for an overloaded friend, a friendly compliment given when we usually leave it unspoken, going a moment out of our way to say good morning to a co-worker, making just that one extra cup of soup for an elderly neighbor, holding the door for someone behind us. Kindness doesn’t have to cost anything but our effort. The rewards reaped for EVERYONE are priceless, however.

So, during this season of thankfulness and excesses, be sure you take time to leave your positive mark. All we really leave behind is the good we have done. What will be your contributions?

Douglas.Ford@vbschools.com

One of the resources that Strawbridge is able to offer our military students and parents is a Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC). Our MFLC, Mr. Merlin Swartzentruber, “Mr. Merlin,” is in his third year providing this service to our military students. He works with students individually and in small groups and can assist students with issues such as dealing with the deployment of a parent, reintegration from deployment, relationship skills, academic support, grief and loss, anxiety, coping skills, building resiliency, and more. He can also work with parents, at their request, both on and off campus. This service is free and confidential. To learn more, stop by the office for a brochure and permission form or contact him directly at 757-793-6780.

Have you thought of paying for your child's lunch online? It's an easy and convenient way to take care of your student's lunch account. The school division offers parents flexibility when paying for meals with on-line and in-person payment.

Parents can make payments – via ParentOnline – for their child’s meals (breakfast, lunch and a la carte items) using Visa, Mastercard, or a debit card. A small per-transaction convenience fee of 5 percent will be charged for each payment. This online service allows parents of students to prepay money directly into their child’s account; monitor their child’s food purchases; set up low-balance email reminders; and schedule recurring payments. Parents can still pay in person with cash or checks (payable to Strawbridge Elementary School) or send money with to school with their students.

For additional information regarding the prepayment of meals/snacks please use one of the following resources:

• Email the Office of Food Services at vbfoods@vbschools.com
• Call the Office of Food Services 757.263.1101, Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Call Strawbridge Cafeteria at 757-648-3800

What is the Reading Bus?

The Reading Bus is an exciting and safe place for children, ages 2 – 5, years and their parents to participate in a wide selection of interactive reading activities. The bus is full of hundreds of books for families to enjoy and is intended to promote reading readiness in preschool children.

When schools are closed due to inclement weather or emergency situations, the Reading Bus will not be in operation. For more information check out vbschools.com website and see the attached calendar.

Is your student missing their favorite sweatshirt or warm jacket? Please stop by the growing piles of lost and found items located outside the Clinic and also the Gymnasium. Don't forget to put your child's name inside clothing and lunchboxes.