Sycolin Creek Chronicle

Dear Sycolin Creek Elementary Families,

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! On behalf of the entire staff, it is my pleasure to welcome you and your children to an exciting and productive school year as we proceed on our journey to educate your children. Our entire staff has worked hard to prepare a welcoming school environment for our students and families. As you participate in our Back to School sessions, you will see many familiar faces and a few new ones. Please make sure to extend them a warm Salamander welcome! All staff members will be returning energetic, excited and ready to create meaningful relationships with your children. Class placement decisions will be available in ParentVUE on Monday, August 12th. School based staff return on Wednesday, August 14th and will be sending a more personalized introduction.

At Sycolin Creek, we believe that parents are an important part of the learning process. Parents, teachers and administration must partner together to help the students achieve high academic and behavioral expectations. It is our hope to see that all families are active members of the PTA, an organized body of people who have an interest or purpose in common…our children! If you would like to learn more about the PTA and/or volunteer opportunities at school, please plan on attending our PTA meeting scheduled on September 10th at 6:00 pm.

Sycolin Creek Elementary is a school that works together as a community to inspire academic excellence and innovation while respecting each child’s individual talents and differences.

Looking forward to a great school year,

Derek Racino

Sycolin Creek will continue to maintain strict attendance expectations during the 24-25 school year. Attendance at school on a regular basis is vital in maintaining satisfactory progress. We ask that you have your child attend school each day that he/she is healthy. It is disruptive to your child’s educational program when you remove him/her from school for trips or family outings. Parents should make every effort to plan these outings so as not to conflict with the school’s instructional calendar.

Our school day begins promptly at 7:45 a.m. Students are expected to be in their classroom by that time, ready to begin their day. Students who are not in their classroom at 7:45 a.m. will be considered tardy. Students arriving late to their classrooms or dismissing early for a doctor/dentist appointment will need a note from a parent or a doctor/dentist office for the absence to be excused.

If your child will be absent/tardy due to illness/appointment or other circumstances, please call our absentee line at 571-252-2911 or visit our Sycolin Creek website at https://www.lcps.org/sycolincreek and complete the online absence form. Families are able to submit absences via ParentVUE. Should you need to speak to someone in the school office, please call 571-252-2910.

Students must be fever and symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students who will be absent due to vacation for three or more days, will need to notify the principal. You can email him at derek.racino@lcps.org.

If you have not notified the school either through the absentee line or the online portal of your child’s absence, school personnel will make reasonable effort to contact you concerning the absence of your child. Unconfirmed absences are marked unexcused. Please note that an excessive amount of excused absences and or tardies may require a doctor’s note to continue being marked as excused.

The following procedures for attendance will continue for the 2024-25 school year:

Students with 5 absences will receive a letter from the principal. The 6th unexcused absence will require a meeting with the School Counselor to develop an attendance plan. The 7th unexcused absence will require a meeting with Administration and the LCPS truancy office.

At the June 25, 2024, school board meeting, the board approved a new policy - 8655 Student Personal Device Use, which restricts student cell phone use in schools and has requirements for

each school level. Specifically, elementary school students are not permitted to use personal technology during the school day. Any violation of this policy shall result in disciplinary action in accordance with the SR&R and Student Code of Conduct, as well as Policy 8210, Introduction to Student Discipline, which is incorporated therein. The full policy can be found at this link.

There are several ways to stay connected and up-to-date with what is happening at Sycolin Creek.

Sycolin Creek website: visit us at https://www.lcps.org/sycolincreek

Sycolin Creek Twitter: @Sycolin_Creek

SCES PTA website: https://scespta.ptboard.com/

ParentVUE: allows access to your child’s grades, report cards, progress reports, attendance, and assignments

LCPS App: free download from the Apple App store and Google Play App Store

For the 2024-2025 school year, Sycolin Creek will publish a monthly newsletter. We will also continue with our weekly Connect-Ed messages. The weekly emails will highlight the upcoming week's activities. The message will be sent on Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. It is very important that you notify the office if you are not receiving these weekly messages. We will verify that we have the correct information on file for you.

We warmly invite all new kindergartners and their families to join us for a chance to meet new classmates and enjoy some time on the back playground. This event will take place on Saturday, August 17th at 10:00 a.m. at Sycolin Creek Elementary. We sincerely look forward to meeting everyone! The event flyer can be found HERE. Questions? Please reach out to President@sycolincreekpta.org.

Back to School Night – This event will take place on Tuesday, August 20th beginning at 5:30 p.m. We will host 3 separate session times that evening for parents who have more than one child attending our school. Each session will last approximately 35 minutes, followed by a Question and Answer Session. This year, the Welcome Message from the Principal, AP and the PTA will be shared at the start of session 1 for both grade level events.

The Specific Schedule for our BTSN Event is:

• Session 1 (Grades 1-2): 5:30 – 6:05 p.m. – Welcome and Presentation from Staff
• 6:05 – 6:10 p.m. – Transition Time
• Session 2 (Grades 1-2): 6:10 – 6:45 p.m. – Welcome and Presentation from Staff
• Session 1 (Grades 3-5): 6:10 – 6:45 p.m. – Welcome and Presentation from Staff
• 6:45 - 6:50 p.m. - Transition Time
• Session 2 (Grades 3-5): 6:50 – 7:25 p.m. – Welcome and Presentation from Staff

Kindergarten Orientation – This event will take place on: Tuesday, August 20th from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Open House – The Open House this year will be: Tuesday, August 20th from 10:00 -11:00 a.m.

First Day Information – Sycolin Creek families, please login to ParentVUE on the Loudoun County Public Schools’ (LCPS’) website to complete the Online Verification process as part of the LCPS’ First Day of School initiative. This process is required for families to review and update important information about their students as we begin the 2024-25 school year. Access was granted to all families on Tuesday, August 6th. Once completed, you will be able to view student schedules and bus information in ParentVUE. If you do not have a ParentVUE account, please contact our front office and request an Activation Letter. The number for the front office is: 571-252-2910. For resources and FAQs to help you with the Online Verification process and start of the new school year, go to: www.lcps.org/FirstDay.

We are ready to start our year with the Original Works program. It allows you to purchase your child’s artwork on a huge variety of items from tote bags, garden flags, magnets, note cards, sketchbooks, journals, pillowcase, and more; examples are on display next to the Art room. This program benefits both the PTA and the Art department here at Sycolin Creek Elementary. Be sure to stop by and check it out and watch for more information to come home during the following weeks.

We don’t always get messy in the art room but sometimes we do so please make note of your child’s art day and double check that the outfit for that day can stand to get dirty.

We are looking forward to a great school year. Welcome BACK!

Stay Art Smart,

Dr. Bennett

Sycolin Creek is excited to have two wonderful full time school counselors supporting our students, families, and staff for the 2024-2025 school year! Mrs. Shannon Robinson will be supporting primarily first, third, and fifth grades. Mrs. Sarah Pyle will be supporting kindergarten, second and fourth. The school counselors are a knowledgeable resource to help you and your student(s) have the best year yet and they are here to make sure everyone is successful academically and socially. Please feel free to reach out with any questions/concerns: 571-252-2910.

Shannon.Robinson@lcps.org

Sarah.Pyle@lcps.org

SEARCH teachers provide model lessons in thinking skills to students in grades K-3. The bi-weekly SEARCH lessons are designed to foster an environment that encourages students to think, take intellectual risks, and develop an excitement for learning and discovery across a variety of thinking skills. The SEARCH curriculum is problem-solving based and founded upon gifted education research. The curriculum spirals developmentally through five components: reasoning, perceiving, connecting, evaluating, and creating. Each grade level learns about each component at increasingly more complex and abstract levels. For more information about SEARCH or gifted education, please contact Brenna Becker at Brenna.Becker@lcps.org.

You are invited to join the Sycolin Creek Elementary School PTA! Memberships are offered as a Family Membership $20 (or $10 for Staff) or $60 for a Sammy Booster Club Membership ($40 for Staff).

The PTA is focused on enhancing our school community by planning and hosting fun events and activities for all of our families, offering educational enrichment programs, showing our staff how much we appreciate them, and serving as a source of information for our families.

Your membership is critical to the success of our PTA. Please visit the SCES PTA website to join the PTA, review the calendar of events, learn about volunteer opportunities, and more! You can also follow the PTA on Facebook: Sycolin Creek Elementary School PTA

Parents and guardians have the right to review the family life education program offered by their school division, including written and audio-visual educational materials used in the program.

To preview instructional materials which will be utilized during Family Life Education instruction, please do the following:

• Go to the ParentVUE (PVUE) log-in webpage, where you will see an LCPS District Announcement pertaining to the Preview of FLE Materials.

• Log into ParentVUE (PVUE).

• Click on the “Resources and Opportunities” tab in the PVUE menu.

• Click on the Family Life Education link, which will redirect you to a PVUE Google Drive.

  • Folders contained within this Google Drive are entitled:

    • Elementary

    • Middle

    • High School

• Click on the grade level that applies to your student(s).

  • Subfolders will be contained within the grade level folder for each grade.

  • An overview of the lessons, activities, and an FLE Parent Handbook are included in each folder.

Email: derek.racino@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/sycolincreek
Location: 21100 Evergreen Mills Road, Leesburg, VA, USA
Phone: 571-252-2910
Twitter: @Sycolin_Creek