Vol. 10 No. 7

March 2017

Upcoming Events

March 2017

1 – Superhero Math Assembly, 8:30 am (K-2)

& 9:45 am (3-5)

1 – PJ Day & Reading Under the Stars Night,

6:30 pm

2 – Countywide Spelling Bee, 6:30 pm

2 – Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss’

Birthday

6 – Dental Screenings

6 – After School Activities Begin

6 – Talent Show Rehearsal Week

8 – Interims Distributed

10 – Talent Show, 6:00 pm

14 – PTA Meeting, 7:00 pm

16 – SCA Meeting, 2:00 pm

17 – St. Patrick’s Day

23 – 2nd Grade Play, 1:45 pm & 6:30 pm

24 – Sammy Game (Matball), 6:30 pm

29 – Kindergarten Registration Day, 8:30 am –

3:30 pm

31 – International Night, 6:00 pm

See On-line Calendar for Additional

Activity Dates and Times

If due to a disability, you need assistance to enable you to participate meaningfully in any activity at

Sycolin Creek Elementary, please contact the school office at 571-252-2910,

at least five working days prior to the event.

Principal’s Corner

THE21100 Evergreen Mills Road

Leesburg, Virginia 20175

571.252.2910

Home of the

Salamanders

Dear Parents and Students,

It is hard to believe that we have officially reached over 100

days of school! As the school year continues, the month of

March promises to be a very busy and exciting time at Sycolin

Creek Elementary School.

First, Read Across America Day will be celebrated on

Thursday, March 2nd and we are looking forward to reading

together as a school in celebration of this wonderful event.

Furthermore, we will celebrate Youth Art Month and Music in

our Schools Month. In addition to these wonderful events, our

second grade students will be presenting their musical, “Shelter

Animals” on Thursday, March 23rd at 6:30 pm.

Registration for the 2017-18 school year will begin on March

29th for incoming kindergarten students. This registration will

take place in the gym from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm. Students

already enrolled in LCPS will NOT need to register again this

fall. Once kindergarten registration day concludes, all future

enrollments will take place in the main office. Please also

continue to let friends and neighbors know to contact the

school for registration information, paperwork and questions

regarding our online process.

I hope that you were able to enjoy one of our Donuts for Dads

events in February. Thank you to the many volunteers who

helped make these events possible. Also, many thanks to the

PTA for their continued support and dedication to the staff and

students of Sycolin Creek ES.

We look forward to seeing you during the month of March.

Sincerely,

Derek Racino

Principal

Kindergarten Registration Information for 2017

The portal for pre-registering students for the 2017-2018 school year is now open. Pre-registering

allows you to enter information about your child for the upcoming school year. You can access the

online system at www.lcps.org and clicking on “Registration” under the quick links. Be sure to have

available your child’s birth certificate and immunization information. Once you have completed the

online pre-registration process you will be required to contact the school’s main office to schedule an

appointment to complete the registration process. Appointments will be scheduled for our Kindergarten

Kick-off date of Wednesday, March 29, 2017 from 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at Sycolin Creek ES. At this

time you will need to provide the paper documentation-birth certificate, medical information, and proof

of residency. If you do not wish to pre-register online, forms are available in the Sycolin Creek office or

online at www.lcps.org.

Who Needs to Register Only new students and those registering for kindergarten should use the

online, pre-registration process. If your child is currently attending LCPS (grades KG-11), you will

NOT need to “re-register” or “pre-register” your child for the 2017-18 school year. Parents with children,

who are 5 years old on or before September 30th, should use the following link for more information:

LCPS Registration website.

Registration Instructions for March 29th

Parents who have not pre-registered are welcome to attend our Kindergarten Registration event during

the hours of 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. on March 29th. Registration forms are available in our front office or

on the LCPS Registration website.

What You Need to Register

Please plan to bring the following items on registration day, Wednesday, March 29th. Your registration

will not be finalized until these documents have been provided:

• The original or certified copy of your child’s birth certificate or a notarized affidavit.

• Proof of Residency (a signed deed, current lease agreement, new settlement paperwork or current

mortgage statement).

• A parent/guardian photo ID.

• Legal custody papers, if applicable.

If possible, please also bring your child to our Kindergarten Registration day event to allow

us to perform a screening. This will allow us to better place our new students for the 2017-18

school year. Thank you!

Parents should provide the completed registration form with a new physical to the school no later than

August 9th.

Art in the Schools

March is Youth Art Month!

During the end of February through early March we will be sending home clay projects that our

students have been working diligently to perfect. Additionally, we will continue to work on one point

perspective in third through fifth grade. Each grade levels expectations becomes progressively

harder each year.

First graders are starting a collagraph printmaking lesson and the second graders are preparing art for

the second grade show that focuses on animal rescue. As always, we are very busy but having fun

by learning and creating.

The Art winners for this month are:

5th grade - Mrs. Bigney's class

4th grade - Mrs. Bowman's class

3rd grade - Mrs. Becker's class

2nd grade - Ms. Kulak's class

1st grade - Mrs. Jordan's class

Congratulations and keep up the great work in art! Kristine Bennett

In January and February, all students got to see various instruments of the band and orchestra. Many

thanks to the Music and Arts store for loaning us the following instruments: violin, viola, cello,

trumpet, trombone, French horn, clarinet, flute, oboe, and saxophone. Thank you to Simpson Middle

School for lending us a double bass! It was very exciting to see all the instruments up close and talk

about how they make a sound and much more! We celebrated Black History Month by listening to

music by musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and more. Second grade has begun

work on their musical, Shelter Animals, which will be at 6:30 on March 23rd. Third, fourth and

fifth grade have worked on identifying instruments of the orchestra by sound and sight. Chorus has

begun learning their songs for the Spring Concert!

March is Music In Our Schools Month! We are celebrating by inviting parents of 3rd, 4th and 5th

graders to come visit their child’s music class (the schedule is available on the music website and a

paper copy will be sent home March 3rd) and the Second Grade performance of the musical, Shelter

Animals on Thursday, March 23rd. The Sycolin Creek chorus will be opening the Sammy Game on

March 24th and our third and fourth grade students will be exploring music of other cultures as a part

of our International Night celebration on March 31st. All students will receive a sticker with the logo

for Music In Our Schools Month. Also, teachers and staff at Sycolin Creek will be given pins to

wear with the logo. We hope to see you at one of these special music events!

Our Rock Star Music Classes for February are:

1st Grade – Mrs. Albecker; 2nd Grade – Mrs. Anderson; 3rd Grade – Mrs. Becker; 4th Grade – Mrs.

Davis; 5th Grade – Mrs. Dahnert

Congratulations to these classes for showing Rock Star behavior in the month of February!

Music in the Schools

Read Across America Day and Reading Under The Stars

Sycolin Creek will be celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday and Read

Across America Day on Thursday, March 2nd. Our annual Reading

Under the Stars Night will take place on Wednesday, March 1st.

Make this day special by spending the evening listening to special

guest readers. The fun begins at 6:30 pm so wear your pajamas,

bring your favorite stuffed animal, a book for the book swap and

come on out for an exciting night of reading.

Parent Liaison Updates

Our Parent Liaison, Alyson Linville has unfortunately resigned her position to take a full time job outside

of LCPS. Alyson has been with Sycolin Creek since it opened its doors ten years ago and she will be

greatly missed! We wish her the best of luck in her future career and we couldn’t be happier for her!

I am also very excited to share that we have hired a new Parent Liaison, whom will begin her role in the

very near future. We are proud to say that Maria Grenke has accepted our open position and we are

looking forward to her becoming an invaluable resource to our school community!

Sports Shorts!! P.E. Highlights

Congratulations to the following P.E. Star Salamanders for the month of

February:

5th grade – Owen Ostrum and Makayla Klees

4th grade – Andrew Wilson and Sidney Latta

3rd grade – Colton Hicks and Riley Sarracino

2nd grade – John Galos and Jasmine Pearson

1st grade – Chris Campbell and Isabelle Morgan

Congratulations to Mrs. Becker’s 3rd grade class and Mrs. Dahnert’s 5th

grade class for being our P.E. Star Classes of the month of February.

News from SEARCH--Mrs. Dennen

Even though the weather outside is not cooperating, this month we’ve still been having some Winter

fun in SEARCH. This month in SEARCH we used/will use the Thinking Keys: Perceiving, Connecting,

Creating, Reasoning & Evaluating; to learn and discover about Winter and snowy things; such as

snowflake symmetry, animal tracks in the snow, as well as, some math related snowman and

snowflake activities.

Kindergarten: animal tracks, memory-activity, analogies

First: snowman shuffle, dot plays in the snow, snowflake sums

Second: analogies, creativity, snowflake symmetry

Third: creative writing, creative activity

Fourth: creative writing, creative activity

Book Fair Update

Thank you to all the families and staff who supported our February book fair and helped to make it a

great success!

A special thank you to all the volunteers who helped with the book fair:

Melissa Allard Kristin Armitage Heather Burkhead

Amy Casciano Katrina Dvorznak Liberty Le Pore

Kelly Nighland Liz Nimtz Kaye Schrinel

Suzanne Serway Pieta West Angel Woehr

MSAAC Committee Information

MSAAC, The Minority Student Achievement Advisory Committee works in partnership with Loudoun

County Public Schools staff, parents, and community to further academic, social, and cultural

development of every student and to ensure that the needs of all minority students are met. The group

meets at the LCPS Administration Building on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. All

meetings are open to the public. The upcoming agenda and the minutes of previous meetings are

posted on the school system website at www.lcps.org under the “School Board” button, and

“Committees” selection option.

Energy Star AwardFor the eighth year in a row, Sycolin Creek has been awarded the

ENERGY STAR Award. ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. The

ENERGY STAR is the national and official symbol of recognition of energy

efficiency, and it distinguishes LCPS for its accomplishments in Energy

Management and the achievement of a rating for superior energy and

environmental performance. This prestigious recognition indicates that our

school is amongst the 25% most energy efficient schools in the nation.

Sycolin Creek is proud to be a recipient of this award.

Odyssey of the Mind

Congratulations to all of the teams from Sycolin Creek who competed on

Saturday, February 18th in the annual Odyssey of the Mind competition.

Thank you to all of the coaches and assistants who worked many hours with

our students preparing them for competition.

Congratulations to Rahul Patel, Ava Woehr, Arshia Nalla, Naeva Shah,

Riddhi Chappali, Luca Jungkeit, and Ranveer Kataria for placing first in their

division. These students will now go on to compete in the state competition