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We are a community of learners... thriving in a diverse world!
We are a family.
We are capable.
We are caring.
We all belong!
BMP staff explore the many uses of Artificial Intelligence in teaching students and providing different learning experiences.
Upcoming Dates/Events
FCPS Calendar for the 2023-24 School Year
April 10 No School - Eid Holiday
April 11 Orientation for Rising Kindergarten, 5:00 p.m.
April 11 Family Literacy Night, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
April 18 Family Game Night, 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
April 27 PTA-Pancake Fundraiser, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
April 28 Due Date for Family Referral for School-Based AAP Screening for Part Time Service
June 12 Last Day of School, School Ends at 2:00 p.m.
Many Thanks to Our Engagement Walkthrough Families!
Many thanks to the family members who participated in our Family Engagement Walkthrough in January! Our Bren Mar Park team has focused this year on ensuring a welcoming environment for students and families as part of our work to increase student attendance and decrease chronic absenteeism in our school.
Feedback from the walk through supports our vision in strong home-school partnerships with helping us know what our community appreciates and would like to see improve.
Celebrations were:
- Welcoming diversity and cultural representation
- School is a community anchor.
- Staff and administrators are visible and available.
- PTA is representative of the community.
- Good communication in multiple languages.
- Teachers and staff are responsive to family concerns.
Opportunities for Focus are:
- More opportunities for informal connections between families
- Increasing individualized communication
- Onboarding/orientation for every grade level, not just kindergarten
- Increase small group information sessions which allow opportunities to ask questions
- Utilize caregiver skills as a resource to the classrooms and school
Bren Mar Park staff is already taken action! We have increased opportunities for informal connections with our new Something Sweet with Someone You Love, the Family Field Trip, and our upcoming Family Game Night. These are in addition to Playground Playdates, Family Dance Night & International Night.
We welcome families to a series of virtual events to brainstorm ways in which we might address some Opportunities in Focus. All sessions will be held virtually. Links will be sent via text message to our families closer to the event.
- Informal Connections Between Families on Tues., April 23, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.
- Utilize Caregiver Skills as a Resource on Tues., April 30, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.
- Small Group Information Sessions on Tues., May 7, 2024 @ 5:30 p.m.
BMP Title 1 Feedback Opportunity
Bren Mar Park is a proud Title 1 school! We welcome children from all over, with 36 home languages from Amharic to Vietnamese from ages 3-12 years old. Our vision is to always be "A community of learners thriving in a diverse world."
Title 1 is a federal program that supports schools with a higher percentages of students who qualify for free/reduced meal status through a provision of funds to increase family engagement and high-quality instructional access for students. You can learn more about FCPS Title 1 program here.
We want family feedback on ways in which we can leverage Title 1 funding to support increasing our home-school partnerships in a meaningful way!
Please take a few moments to complete our feedback survey. The information collected will be used to drive decisions for next school year's spending. The survey will close at midnight on Sunday, April 7, 2024.
Preparing for the transition to Middle School
Fifth grade parents are invited to a coffee and conversation about the "Transition to Middle School" presented by Holmes Middle School counselors on Friday, April 12th at 9:30 a.m. Attend in person in the Bren Mar Park library or via Zoom.
Zoom link will be provided the morning of the presentation.
Fairfax County Health Department Survey
The Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) employs school health aides and public health nurses who provide school health services to the students in Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).
To determine the quality of these services, a survey has been developed by the FCHD to be shared with all parents or guardians of FCPS students and will be shared via email. The survey window is April 15 - April 26, 2024.
Survey results will provide a basis for quality improvement of School Health services.
Information About Upcoming Tests
Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT3)
Students in grades 1 - 5 might participate in this assessment. The NNAT3 measures student abilities for learning. Students take the 30 minute, timed assessment online. Grade 1 students take this assessment between April 4 - 12. Notifications go home in a letter to families prior to testing. Score reports go home to families approximately one month after the assessment has been completed.
For more information, visit the Abilities Test Information HERE.
Passage Reading Fluency (PRF)
Students in grades 1 - 5 might participate in this assessment. The PFR measures student accuracy and fluency when reading multiple paragraphs in a story format. This assessment is completed 1:1 with the teacher.
iReady for Reading and Math
Students in grades 1 - 5 might participate in this assessment. The iReady gives teachers information about strengths and needs in students’ basic reading and mathematics skills. This assessment is completed online.
For more information, visit the iReady Test Information HERE.
Standards of Learning (SOL)
Students in grades 3, 4 and 5 participate in this assessment. The SOL measures student achievement based on expected learning for their grade. Students take the assessment online using the TestNav system, and the test adapts to easy or harder questions based upon previous student answers. Students will take these assessments between May 6 - 24. Notifications go home in a letter to families prior to testing. Score reports go home to families within 2-4 weeks of the close of the SOL window.
Assessments: Grade 3 Reading and Math
Grade 4 Reading and Math
Grade 5 Reading, Math and Science
For more information, visit the Standards of Learning Information HERE.
Family Volunteer Opportunities - Career Day
BMP is hosting a Career Day on June 6th from 2:15 - 3:30 and we are looking for presenters! On Career Day, presenters will share information with our grades 3-5 students about their careers. Our goal is to have a variety of fields represented in order to give students an opportunity to envision themselves in different professions.
Presenters will share in three, 20-minute rotations:
- training requirements of their occupation
- satisfactions and dissatisfactions of their job
- school skills used in their job
- what a typical day might include
- related jobs to their career field
- anything else that they feel students might be interested in!
If you are interested in presenting, please fill out this google form or email Kristin Feathers at [email protected].
Specialist Spotlight - Literacy
Having fun with reading and writing makes learning easy and enjoyable for kids. Enjoy participating in some of these activities that should only take 10-15 minutes and can take place inside or outside.
- Read a favorite story or poem and act out a part.
- Label objects around your home (ex: door, window, bed).
- Make a card for a relative or a friend.
- Read a nonfiction book and teach someone what you learned.
- Play an “I-Spy” game with things found in and around your house. Ask your child to find something that begins with a specific letter or sound (ex: “I spy something that begins like banana.” Your child then tells you something they spy that begins with that same sound, like box or bed).
- Play a rhyming game with your child.
- Say two words that rhyme (ex: cat, rat) and your child gives you a thumbs up if the two words rhyme and a thumbs down if they do not.
- Say a word. Ask your child to name another word that rhymes. (ex: What’s a word that rhymes with bake?)
- Illustrate a word-less book and tell the story to someone.
These activities are components of effective literacy development. They include phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. In addition, these activities include oral language and written language.
Have fun helping your child with these learning activities!
Summer Programming at Bren Mar Park!
Information about summer programming hosted at Bren Mar Park will be coming soon! Summer SOAR and Young Scholars programs are for identified students based upon achievement on assessments, classwork, and other information. Please do not reach out to the school to see if you can register your child. Invitations will be sent home to identified students in mid-May.
For families looking to enroll their child in summer programming hosted at Bren Mar Park ES, Rec-PAC will be at our school again this summer! From June 24 - August 1, families may choose to enroll their child or children on a week-by-week basis. Hours are 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
For Rec-PAC, families can visit the Rec-PAC website for more information. The Scholarship Application is also now open for families who may qualify because the family has financial need or receives public assistance.
Elementary Institute for the Arts (E-IFTA) Camps & Institutes
E-IFTA has a weekly arts camp for elementary-aged students who love to sing, dance, act, perform, make, and create. Students take part in four classes every day related to dance, music, theatre, and visual art. They work with FCPS fine arts teachers who create classes that are fun and engaging. The program runs from July 8 – 26, 2024 at Lake Braddock Secondary School. For more information and registration, visit Elementary Institute for the Arts (E-IFTA) Camps and Institutes
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