River Oaks Elementary Dolphin Gazette Responsible Learners Today Becoming Successful Leaders Tomorrow

Aer ica A. Wi l l i a ms , Pr inc ip a l

Geo f f rey Dea vers , Ass i s ta n t Pr inc ipa l

7 0 3 .44 1 .00 5 0

w ww .pw cs . edu/r ivero a ks

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents,

Congratulations to the following students who submitted essays for the Martin Luther King Writing Contest:

Syleste Cole, Shaharyar Saeed, Carmen Jones, Amariyah Bumpas, Amira Ibrahim, Ashley Boateng,

Brandon Holland, Charlene Chavez, Charlotte Awuku, Cindy Villatoro, Gabriel Esquilin, Haley Williams,

Jasmine Mohaupt, Kyle Luong, Joshua Tamakloe, Kyle Diaz, Marco Arana Escobar, Richard Copeland,

Lexi Boateng, Tae’Yanni Mills, Yonathan Hailu.

I personally read each student’s essay and was impressed with the writing of our students!

I am proud to announce that River Oaks Elementary has been selected for a Children’s Science Center Family

Science Night event. The event sponsored by the Children’s Science Center will take place at our school on

January 14, 2016, from 6:00-8:00 PM. Families will have the opportunity to engage in hands-on STEM

(science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) activities. More information will be coming for those who

would like to volunteer for this event. If you have any questions please contact second grade teacher and

science lead Latosha Thompson at thompsl@pwcs.edu.

Our next Advisory Council Meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 11, at 4:00 p.m. in the Library. This is an

excellent opportunity for parents to learn about the goals and initiatives for the school year. Parent input is

valued and we hope to see you there.

Aerica A. Williams

Principal

January, 2016

School Closings for January:

*Martin Luther King Jr. Day Observed All Prince William County Schools will be closed

Monday, January 18, in observance of Martin Luther

King Jr. Day.

*Elementary Parent /Teacher Conference Day

Friday, January 29, has been designated as an

Elementary Parent/Teacher Conference Day. Students

will be released for Half Day Dismissal at 12:05 PM.

Scheduled conferences will begin at approximately 1:00

p.m. If you feel a need for a conference and have not

been contacted, please notify your child’s teacher, and

the necessary arrangements will be made.

*Teacher Professional Development/Workday

All Prince William County Schools will be closed for

students Monday, February 1, for a Teacher

Professional Development/Workday.

Cafeteria Update from our Manager,

Mrs. Lester Please remember to keep your child’s account for lunch

current. We do our best to keep you posted on the

balances of your child’s account with verbal reminders,

letters and calls. If you have any questions or concerns,

please do not hesitate to contact the cafeteria at

(703) 221-1018. If you want to monitor the balance of

your child’s account, PWCS has an online option

available. You can visit myschoolbucks.com. This site

offers online transaction services in addition to viewing

student’s meal purchases.

ATTENTION ALL 5th GRADE

PARENTS!!!

The Information Meetings for the 2015-2016 Middle

School Specialty Programs are coming up soon. Please

take a moment to discuss with your child his/her options

for Middle School. ALL applications can be located

ONLINE on the individual school website. All

applications must be submitted on or before Monday,

February 1, 2016. Please make sure you submit a

Student Transfer Request form to the Specialty School

that your child is applying to.

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program

(IBMYP) @ Mills E. Godwin MS

Program Information Meeting:

Tuesday, January 12, 2016 @ 7:00-9:00 PM

Math and Science Program @ Rippon MS

Program Information Meetings:

Monday, January 11, 2016 @ 6:30-8:00 PM

SNOW DATE: Wednesday, January 13, 2015 @ 6:30-

8:00 PM

World Language Program @ Fred Lynn MS

Program Information Meeting:

Thursday, January 7, 2016 @ 7:00-9:00 PM

Mary G. Porter Traditional School

Program Information Meetings:

Tuesday, December 17, 2016 @ 6:30-7:30 PM

Tuesday, January 19, 2016 @ 6:30- 7:30 PM

For more information or questions, please contact Mrs.

Wells (ROES School Counselor) @ wellsdc@pwcs.edu

or call 703.441.0050.

Counselor’s Corner D. Wells & L. James

January’s Character Trait is:

Fairness

I am open minded and reasonable.

I don’t take advantage of others.

I consider feelings of all people.

I play by the rules

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Kindergarten

We are almost half way through the school year. Your

child should now be able to name all 26 uppercase letters

and all 26 lowercase letters for a total of 52. They should

also be counting to 100. They should be able to read and

write the numbers 0-10. We have learned 9 sights words.

You child should be reading and writing all of these

words. Also, your child should be practicing the sounds

the letters make. We have done almost all the letters.

Practicing with your child at home daily is an important

key to their success.

First Grade

Beginning in January, first graders will be studying about

people and animals in winter, famous Americans (Martin

Luther King Jr.), addition and subtraction in story

problems and beginning to understand basic fractions and

time on the clock. We will continue to practice and build

on languages arts skills and read with more fluency and

expression.

1st Graders on their way to reading.

K-3 Classroom Instructional News

2nd Grade busy at work.

Second Grade

2nd grade students will be learning many

exciting new things beginning in January! In

Language Arts, we will continue to practice

drawing conclusions and making connections to the

stories we read. We will also be learning about

plural nouns and possessive nouns. In Math, we

will continue to practice probability through

interactive learning activities during our Daily 5

Math stations. Later in the month, we will revisit

place value, this time up to 3 digits! In Science we

will be doing hands on experiments with magnets.

Look for the Flash Cards that we made to study at

home. In Social Studies, we will begin to learn

about many Famous Americans, including George

Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Jackie Robinson,

Martin Luther King Jr, Helen Keller, and Susan B.

Anthony

Third Grade

We will be taking our 2nd quarter Social Studies

and Math Benchmark tests next week. Please make

sure students have the following flashcards in their

homework binder to study with each night: pink

holidays, pink economics, green simple machines, &

green earth, moon, and sun.

WE WILL BEGIN MULTIPLICATION! Students

need to memorize multiplication and division facts

through the 12s by June! This week we are focused

on 5s. The sequence will be: 5s, 10s and 11s, 4s, 8s,

3s, 6s, 9s, then 12s. There will be no BRFORE AND

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAM UNTIL JANUARY, Our current units of study are: Language Arts: Main Idea and Details in nonfiction,

fiction, poetry, and functional text Math: Multiplication and Division - Automaticity of

multiplication and division facts through 12s;

Representing multiplication using set models, area

models, and number lines Social Studies: Economics: Needs vs. Wants; Natural,

Capital, and Human Resources; Goods vs. Services;

Producers vs. Consumers; Economic Decision-

Making; Specialization and Trade Science: Patterns of the Earth, Moon, and

Sun: Earth’s rotation- causes day and night and takes

24 hours or 1 day; Earth’s revolution- causes 4 seasons

and takes 365 days or 1 year; Phases of the Moon;

Tides.

Fourth Grade

Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a restful and

enjoyable Winter Break!

We will begin our Mid-year testing the week of

January 4th. This month we will be learning

about Ecosystems, Patterns, Functions, and Algebra,

Fractions, and Virginia and a New Nation. As a

culminating activity, the students will be researching

Life in Colonial Virginia and will make a Colonial

Virginia brochure based on their research and

knowledge of the unit.

In February, we will begin learning how to do

Research for our upcoming Biography Research

project. Guidelines for the Research project will be sent

home once we have completed all of the objectives in

class.

Fifth Grade

5th graders are continuing their path of success! We are

beginning to administer midyear assessments in

reading, math, and science in December and January.

Please continue to have students use the numerous

support systems at their disposal: colored flash cards

for each subject to review each night, XtraMath fact

fluency logins, Benchmark Universe logins, and Sum

Dog logins for math practice. We encourage students to

utilize all resources nightly for at-home practice.

Morning SOL Tech Club will resume in

February! Science SOL Review Sessions are also

underway after school on Tuesdays. Please contact

your child's teacher for more information and/or visit

our 5th grade web page at

riveroakses.schools.pwcs.edu!

Current units of study:

~Reading- Character development, plot, and

conflict resolution in fiction and poetry

~Math- Fraction and decimal number sense

(December) Probability (January)

~Science- Matter (December) Animal

Adaptions and Ecosystems- Grade 4 Science

Review (January)

Grades 4-5 Classroom Instructional News

The ESOL Department

Parent as Educational Partners

Program

The Parents as Educational Partners Program (PEP) at

River Oaks will be offered in the Spring of 2016. This

program is free of any cost and part of the No Child

Left Behind Law of 2001- designed to provide parents,

who speak other language than English at home with

opportunities to become familiar with the regulations

and procedures in the Public Schools in Prince William

County while encouraging them to become involved in

their children’s education, which has been proven to

increase the students’ academic performance. More

information about the program will be sent home soon.

Nurses’ Notes from our Nurse,

Mrs. Cobb

5th Grade Tdap Booster

The Tdap booster is required to give children added

protection against tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis

(better known as whooping cough). This immunization

is given to children 10 years old and older and IS

REQUIRED for entrance into 6th grade.

Tdap boosters may be obtained from your doctor,

military clinics, or the health department. Written

documentation must be provided to the school

nurse. For more information, contact Mrs. Cobb,

school nurse at 703-441-0050.

Important Reminder It is very important that we have current phone

numbers for all our students in case of emergency.

Please call the school (or the clinic) if you have

recently changed your home, work, or cell phone

number so we can add that information to your child's

Emergency Card. We also suggest you add our school

phone number (703-441-0050) to your phone Contact

List.

E-News Subscriptions As parents of students, you automatically receive

alerts about weather closings sent directly to your

employee email address. You can also elect to

receive these messages by text or at another email

address by setting up an E-News account through

the Blackboard Connect portal system. This way,

you won't miss out on weather alerts and other

emergency news. To subscribe or to edit your settings on your

existing PWCS E-News subscription, go to

pwcs.edu and click on the PWCS E-News logo,

located on the left of the home page and choose

“Sign Me Up!” below the login box. See

instructions on the sign in page to select choices for

receiving news, inclement weather messages, and

specific school emergency messages.

Inclement Weather Information Decisions to delay or close schools due to

inclement weather are usually made by 5 a.m. the

day of the delay or closing.

Where to Find Closing Announcements:

On the PWCS Home Page: School

closings, delayed openings, or early closing

information will be announced on the

PWCS home page as soon as decisions are

made (Go to www.pwcs.edu, see the top of

the page.)

Facebook and Twitter

On Television Stations, on PWCS-TV,

Comcast cable channel 18; Verizon cable

channel 36

PWCS E-News email and text message

notifications

MyPWCS mobile app - Receive notifications

about closings on your cell phone. Download the

mobile app to your cell phone from the Apple

Store or the Google Play store

World Language in the Elementary

School Sra. Lucas

River Oaks Elementary School is a Spanish Language

School.

The program model, called content-related world languages

instruction, is a research-based model that focuses on the

reinforcement and integration of the key academic concepts

included in the Standards of Learning for social studies, math,

science, and language arts as is possible and linguistically

appropriate in French or Spanish.

All students will develop communication skills in the target

language and a much deeper understanding of the many

cultures represented by the Spanish language. The five goals

of the National and State Foreign Language Standards are:

Communication, Cultures, Comparisons, Connections, and

Communities which are the foundation of the program

instruction integrated into the cross-disciplinary curriculum.

Transfers will be accepted only for kindergarten students

and current kindergarten students entering first grade

August 31, 2016. Acceptance will be based on a space

available basis.

Parent Teacher Connection from

Ms. Turner Please join us for our “Spirit Night” at Pizza Bolis on

Tuesday, January 19, from 4:00-11:00 p.m.

Let Pizza Bolis know you are from River Oaks Elementary,

so we can get credit, whether you dine in or carry out. We

hope to see you there.

Please check our new PTC Website found on the River Oaks

web page.

We Are Collecting Box Tops For Education! Check the tops and sides of cereal boxes, beverages, paper

products, refrigerated items, snacks and baby products for the

Box Tops for Education symbol. By submitting these small

squares you can help our school earn money towards

acquiring educational supplies. The school receives 10 cents

for each box top. Please send box tops in a zip lock bag

labeled with the child's name and teacher.

ROES Library Mrs. Vice

Book Fair To everyone who came to our Book Fair, and to all who

helped make it a great experience, a big THANK YOU!

With the help of our fabulous parent volunteers and the

support of everyone who attended, we exceeded our

fundraising goal!

Did you know? The library has a bilingual collection of

material for checkout. This collection includes bilingual

books with dual text. Most of the books are Spanish

language but there are also books with Twi,

Farsi/Persian, Urdu, Korean and Vietnamese language

text. Books may be checked out by students or their

parents. Please contact the library if you would like to

volunteer for projects or events.

Music News Mrs. Powell In January Mrs. Powell's music classes will relocate to

the square trailer (affectionately known as "The

Cottage") between the playgrounds at the back of the

school. Students will be singing, dancing and playing

pitched percussion instruments, such as the Xylophone

and Metallophone. They will also be expanding their

knowledge of rhythm reading and note reading.

Congratulations to the three 5th-grade students who

were selected for the 2016 Elementary All County

Chorus:

Paige Bell, Amari March and Jasmine Mohaupt.

During January and February they will be rehearsing

weekly with Mrs. Powell in preparation for their

200-voice concert at Patriot High School on

Sat., Feb. 27 at 3:30 p.m. This concert is quite an event

and free of charge to the community; mark your

calendar NOW to attend!

River Oaks Upcoming Events in January Please use the information below to schedule important events for you and your children.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

1

No School, Winter

Break

New Year’s Day

4

School Reopens

5

6 Fire Drill

WLES Information Night

6-7 PM (Room 602)

7

8

9-9:30 PM -DEAR Time

11

4:00 PM ROES

Advisory Council

Meeting

12

6:30 PM 5th Grade

Strings Concert

13

14

Family Science

Night 5-8 PM

15

9:30 AM-1:30 PM 3rd

Grade Field Trip to

Hylton Planetarium

18

No School

Martin Luther King

Jr. Day Observed

19

PTC “Spirit Night”

Pizza Bolis 4-11 PM

20

WLES Information Night

(Snow Date) 6-7 PM

(Room 602)

21

Snow Date for

WLES Information

Night

6:00-7:00 PM

22

9-9:30 PM DEW Time

25

26

27 Fire Drill

28

29

12:05 PM Half Day

Dismissal for

Elementary Schools

1:00 PM Parent/

Teacher Conferences

Upcoming Dates for February:

February 1 – No School for Students (PWCS Teacher Professional Development/Workday Day)

February 3– Fire Drill

February 5 – 3rd Quarter High Expectation /Discipline Assemblies

February 15 – Schools are closed for Presidents’ Day

February 18 – Fire Drill

Parental Notification Requirements in Title I Schools for “No Child Left Behind”

PARENTAL RIGHT TO INFORMATION ABOUT TEACHERS:

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation on January 8, 2002, parents in Title I schools have the right to

request certain information on their child’s teachers.

The information that you have a right to request on your child’s teacher is:

a. Whether the teacher has met state qualifications and licensing criteria for the grade levels and subjects the teacher

is teaching

b. Whether the teacher is teaching under emergency or other provisional status through which state qualification or

licensing has been waived

c. The baccalaureate degree major of certification or degree held by the teacher, and the field of discipline of the

certification or degree

d. Whether the child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications

Here at River Oaks Elementary, we are extremely proud of our teachers and teacher assistants, and are happy to

provide you any of the above information pertaining to your child’s teacher. If you have such a request, please call the

school at 703.441.0051 and ask for the information you are interested in.

NOTIFICACIONES A LOS PADRES: REQUISITO DE LAS ESCUELAS DE TITULO I

Derechos de los Padres sobre los maestros/as

Según la ley de “Ningún Niño/a Se Quede Atrás” del 8 de Enero del 2002, los padres de alumnos/as que asisten a las

escuelas de Titulo I tienen derecho a solicitor información especifica de las maestras/os de sus hijos/as:

a. Saber si la maestra/o de su hijo/a ha superado los requisitos establecidos por el Departamento de Educación para enseñar las materias que enseña.

b. Saber si la maestra/o de su hijo/a está bajo licencia provisional o de emergencia o si las licencia para enseñar se le ha suspendido o ha cambiado.

c. El grado de titulación de la maestra/o y las titulaciones adicionales a nivel académico o de discilpina que la maestra/o pueda tener.

d. Si el alumno/a está recibiendo servicios de un paraprofessional y si es asi, de quien se trata y sus cualificaciones.

Aqui en la escuela River Oaks Elementary estamos muy orgullosos de nuestras maestras/os y de las asistentes y

estamos deseosas de poder proveerles con la información que deseen de cualquiera de nuestras maestras/os. Si

quisiera saber esta información, por favor llame al 703.441.0050 y le ayudaremos en lo que desee.

Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) does not discriminate in employment or in its educational programs and activities against qualified

individuals on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, age, marital status, veteran

status, or disability. PWCS provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following individual(s) will handle

inquiries regarding nondiscrimination policies, including Section 504 and Title IX:

Associate Superintendent for Human Resources Prince William County Public Schools P.O. Box 389 Manassas, VA 20108