Weekly Update

Hi Everyone!

I hope you had a wonderful week! I am so happy that it is beginning to feel like spring! We all have a bit of spring fever now :)

I can't believe that it is the end of the 3rd quarter! I simply can't believe that we are moving into the last part together. These kiddos continue to wow me everyday with their joyful hearts and explosive growth! You should hear the way that they talk during our phonics lessons! Their conversations blow me away :)

Quarter 3 Report Cards:
Quarter 3 report cards will be issued on Friday, April 5th. Your child's report card will be available for viewing by logging into your ParentVue account. If you do not yet have access to ParentVue, or you have trouble logging on, please contact Mrs. Sciortino in our school office at 703-957-4325.

Spring Picture Day:
Spring Picture Day is Wednesday, April 3rd. A whole group (class) picture will be taken on that day, and your child's individual picture will be taken too. Please note these 2 very important points:

1. If you would like a class picture (this is the whole group photo), you must order and pay for it before Picture Day. I sent an order form home a few weeks ago in Thursday folders for the class picture. You can fill out the order form, include payment, and return the payment envelope to school, or you can order and pay online. If you order and pay online, you must return the payment envelope to school with the online payment confirmation code written on the envelope. This means that by Wednesday, April 3rd, you should return either the payment envelope with payment inside, or the payment envelope with the online payment confirmation code written on it. If you do not order a class photo by Wednesday, April 3rd, you will NOT receive one. There is NO option to order a class photo at a later date. This becomes a confusion every year so I am trying to help avoid that. 
2. Individual pictures will also be taken on Wednesday, April 3rd, and you will receive a picture packet at a later date. You can indicate a "Portrait Look" for your child's individual portrait by completing and returning the "Individual Picture Day Form" attached to the order form I sent home. If you would like to purchase individual pictures, you may purchase those AFTER you receive the picture packet. 

Spirit Week:

To celebrate Career Week, we will have Spirit Week this week. Themes for each day are as follows:

• Tuesday-Be a "Career Champe" Wear navy or silver to represent the importance of high school and celebrate Champe HS, which is the high school for our Pinebrook school cluster. 
• Wednesday- "What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?" Dress like your future career
• Thursday- "Interview Day!" Dress to impress like you would for an interview!
• Friday- "College Pride Day" Wear college gear or colors to support career goals and college readiness.

Career Day:

As a culminating event to Career Week, Pinebrook will host a Career Day on the morning of Friday, April 5th. We are in need of volunteers to share information about their occupations with students at Pinebrook. If you can't be with us in person, you can Skype in! Please consider volunteering by contacting our counselors, Tana Amadeo (tana.amadeo@lcps.org) or Heather Ross (heather.ross@lcps.org).

Field Trip:

Please see the information that I sent home in Thursday folders about our 1st Grade Field Trip to Leesburg Animal Park on April 25th. Please return your child's permission form and payment as soons as possible and no later than Friday, April 12th. If you are interested in chaperoning this trip, please return the chaperone interest form :) 

Science Night:

Pinebrook will be hosting a Science Night with The Children's Science Center Thursday, April 4th from 6:00-8:00 p.m. right here at Pinebrook. Please review the Puma Paw weekly email for more information!

Yearbooks:

Pinebrook yearbooks are on sale now! Yearbooks may only be purchased online. To purchase a yearbook, go to ybpay.lifetouch.com and enter school code 7561119. You will be prompted through the order and payment process. The deadline to order a yearbook is April 28th. You must pre-order a yearbook if you would like your child to receive one. 

Focus Areas for This Week:

• Reading- We will begin our last major Reading unit of the year called "Meeting Characters and Learning Lessons: A Study of Story Elements."
• Writing- We will begin our next writing unit called "From Scenes to Series." This is a narrative writing unit where we will explore ways to develop characters in stories. 
• Math- We will begin our Time unit. We will discuss units of time such as second, minute, and hour. We will practice telling time to the hour and time to the half hour. 
• Social Studies- We will spend the week exploring ways to stay safe on a bicycle and ways to stay safe during the summer. 

Your feedback is always welcome. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. 

I hope you all enjoyed some extra time with your kiddos over the weekend!