Franconia Elementary PTA

Can you believe school starts ONE MONTH from tomorrow? We are so excited for another great year to be a Penguin! Start prepping for back-to-school and check out the 2024-2025 School Supply Lists.

School Supply Lists | Franconia Elementary School School Supply Lists Supply lists identified by grade or program Parents have two options for obtaining school supplies for their child. Purchase supplies on their own from local retailers OR order a pack from School Tool Box (online orders only) - a PTA-sponsored vendor. View grade level supply list...

Thank you to Taste of Asia - Alexandria for providing food at our meeting last week! The kids were fighting over who got the most chicken dumplings, and everyone loved the crab rangoons and spring rolls!

The End of Year Celebration was a night to remember! Please share your pictures in the comments!

Thank you to all our incredible volunteers who made this wonderful night happen- we couldn't have done it without each of you.

Thank you to Regal Kingstowne Theaters for donating popcorn!

Attention Penguin Community! The PE Team needs your help on Monday for Field Day. If you are able, please consider helping.

m.signupgenius.com

We hope to see all our Penguins at the End of Year Party this Friday June 7 from 6-8:30pm! The weather looks great for a wonderful celebration! Enjoy rides, games, FREE popcorn from Regal Kingstowne, and pizza concessions for sale (cash and credit).

We could still use your help during the event. Sign up to volunteer here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D48ADAB2DA0FD0-49735324-endofyear #/

Please join us tomorrow, Tuesday 6/4 for our final meeting. We need your vote and ideas to ensure the PTA can keep supporting our Penguin community! School aged child care and refreshments from Taste of Asia provided.

Our partners at Regal Kingstowne Theaters have your summer plans made in the shade! Huge THANK YOU to Regal Kingstowne for donating FREE popcorn for all our Penguin families to enjoy during our End Of Year Party this Friday, June 7 from 6-8:30pm!

High School seniors who were former Mustangs- we hope to see you at the Franconia Senior Clap Out!

Who's ready to PARTY!?! Help us celebrate the end of another wonderful school year by volunteering during the End of Year Celebration on Friday, June7! We can not host this event without your help! (Seriously, it's impossible!)

Click the Sign Up Genius to sign up for a volunteer time slot. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090D48ADAB2DA0FD0-49735324-endofyear

We ALSO need a few dedicated parents to help us make final decisions and coordinate day-of activities. If you have the time and energy to help your PTA by being on a "mini-committee" for the End of Year Celebration, please email [email protected]. We will have one Zoom meeting next week to organize. Roles needed include Volunteer Coordinator, Concessions Coordinator and Party Game Organizer.

Our friends at Regal Kingstowne 16 have some great summer deals to share! Thanks to Regal Kingstowne for being a wonderful community partner for our PTA events! Check out The Garfield Movie opening May 23 for a fun family activity!

The Franconia end of year event will be Friday June 7th 5:30-8:30. Please consider serving as a parent volunteer. We cannot hold this event without your help!! Spread the word. Contact [email protected] to volunteer!

Calling all parent volunteers! Mrs. Vandersande in the library could use YOUR help Friday and Monday (all school day) shelving books. No appointment or experience necessary, and the only requirement is a passing familiarity with alphabetical order! Stop in for 30 minutes or 3 hours (anything helps) on Friday or Monday and together we can turn the Beast into a Beauty!

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week starts tomorrow! Feel free to follow our suggested prompts or choose your own way to honor our amazing Penguin staff! (Links for Sign Ups in the comments.)

Huge THANK YOU to Jessica LeNoir Kuss for organizing this special week!

What a fun Movie Night! Thanks to all our Penguin families for coming out, and HUGE THANKS to Regal Kingstowne Theater for providing free popcorn!

Tomorrow is the FINAL DAY to order Field Day Spirit Wear! https://franconia24.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Join your fellow Penguins this Friday night!

Read-a-thon is coming!!
Use the link in the comments!

World Showcase Night is THIS Wednesday, 3/20, from 6-8pm!

Penguin families are invited to eat, learn, play and connect during this amazing event. Don't miss it!

After school clubs start Friday, and many clubs still have spots available! Sign up now!
We're offering an art club for the first time, for K-2. Action Art! is the perfect place for their creative spirit to shine while they move and groove to their heart's content. Your little one will have a blast creating vivid and energetic artwork, with endless chances to smear, splatter, and swipe their way to unique and charming masterpieces.

Info on Action Art and all clubs is here:

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Thursday, February 22 is FCPS School Bus Driver Appreciation Day! Let's show our wonderful drivers how much we appreciate them.

🚌 Going Above and Beyond: Thank You School Bus Drivers February 22 is School Bus Driver Appreciation Day. Fairfax County Public Schools employs more than 1,800 drivers who transport an estimated 131,000 students safely to and from school each day. Drivers spend several hours in the classroom and behind the wheel before they ever pick up students. Becaus...

After school clubs have your 3rd-6th graders covered! Registration is open now and clubs start in March. See below the spring clubs that are specially for the older students. And find info on all of Franconia after school clubs, for all ages, here: https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/w/afterschool

*Nailed it! (3rd-6th) Offered by ArtCreate. Just like on the the popular TV show, we’ll show you a final product and give you all the goods needed to recreate it, but using art instead of food! Your challenges will include creating a unicorn cake sculpture that looks good enough to eat, painting a fox at sunset, a llama with a flower crown, and so much more. Kids will make and take home a new project every week so make room! https://app.amilia.com/store/en/kidcreate-studio-alexandria/api/Activity/Detail?activityId=xq5dQr4

*Financial Planning with Ms Octaviano (4th-6th). After a couple years off, this engaging project-based club is back to teach students about real-life topics like bills, choosing health insurance, and budgeting, considering the cost of food, housing and the unexpected costs life brings us.
https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/store/items/983104

*Kickball with Mr Harris(3rd-6th). Do you love watching the staff vs student kickball game? Do you want to make sure you are prepared to play when it’s your turn? Come learn how to play kickball and become a superstar and beat the teachers!!! We will learn how to play and have fun playing a bunch of mini games against one another.
https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/store/items/983110

*Soccer Stars by Gamepoint Athletics (3rd-6th). Train like the superstars of the world in this action packed session! Participants will experience all kinds of exciting soccer activities, including a World Cup style tournament! All participants, regardless of skill level, will learn and practice basic dribbling, ball control, passing, trapping, defense, and proper offensive movement without the ball.
https://gamepointathletics.com/registration/franconiasoccerspring24/

*Tech Club with iCode (4th-6th). This popular returning club offers a STEAM program to help students become comfortable with technology in a fun approach that enhances learning in math, science, engineering, and the arts. Each class involves an exciting hands-on activity designed to teach a new skill!
https://secure-portal.icodeschool.com/Base/EmbededUrl/BBF323099A

Registration for Spring FES After School Clubs is live! https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/w/afterschool?fbclid=IwAR3ZXcDT2FshCr2zItBycL1vPxiw9lz1NK2IK7dCXYsEvqCqvHuM2FDU2K8

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Show your FES teachers some love this Valentine's Day by donating to Fund-A-Rug: https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/store/items/972621

Spring After School Programs for Franconia students are coming!
Registration will open February 12 (except Girls on the Run opens February 5).
Programs will begin starting March 1.
See the planned programs below, and find more details and registration links (as they become available) here: https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/w/afterschool

Where noted below as "volunteer needed," we are seeking one parent volunteer for each club to help with attendance and dismissal, in exchange for waived fees. Contact Matt at [email protected]

· Girls on the Run (Grade 3-6), Tues/Thurs, March 4-May 18
· Magnus Chess Academy (K-6), Monday, March 4- June 3 (11 weeks)
· Crochet Club (4-6), Wednesday, March 6- May 22 (10 weeks)
· Soccer by Gamepoint Athletics (3-6), Friday, March 8-May 10 (8 weeks)
· Ultimate PE Games by Gamepoint Athletics (K-3), Monday, March 4- May 6 (8 weeks) (Volunteer needed)
· Science Seed (K-2), Thursday, March 7 – May 2 (9 weeks)
· Tech Club (1-3 and 4-6), Friday, March 1 – April 12 (6 weeks) (Volunteer needed)
· Financial Planning Club (3-6), Monday, March 4- May 6 (8 weeks)
· Pokemon Game Club (K-6), Tuesday, March 12-May 14 (8 weeks)
· Kickball Club (3-6), Wednesday, March 6-May 8 (8 weeks)
· Action Art by KidCreate (K-2), Tuesday, March 12 – May 14 (8 weeks) (Volunteer needed)
· Nailed it! by KidCreate (3-6), Tuesday, March 12 – May 14 (8 weeks) (Volunteer needed)

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It may still be snowy, but we're starting to think about Spring Spirit Wear, and we need your help! Drop a comment if you have thoughts on:
1. What items you'd like to see sold
2. What colors would you like to see
3. Thoughts on design
4. What items are you NOT interested in purchasing
5. Anything else that comes to mind

Spirit Wear is a PTA fundraiser, but we keep our profit margin pretty small, so unfortunately we don't have a lot of control over prices. We are most interested in making sure all our Penguins can show their Penguin Pride!

We want to hear ALL your comments, including constructive criticism and areas we can adjust! Please just keep in mind that Spirit Wear, like all PTA initiatives, is run by well-meaning volunteers.

Want to make a HUGE impact on Franconia Elementary, but you don't have the time or energy to volunteer? The FUND-A-RUG initiative is for YOU!

Step 1: Follow the link to make a tax-deductible donation to help provide a new rug to each grade-level classroom. https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/store/items/972621

Step 2: Pat yourself on the back. Congratulations! You've made a lasting impact on the Penguin community that will continue to benefit all students for years to come!

Fund a Rug!! Help Franconia Elementary get some much needed new classroom rugs !
Don’t miss this awesome opportunity to support ALL Penguins!

Donate here: https://fes-pta.memberhub.com/store/items/972621
All donations are tax deductible.

Did you know?

The current classroom rugs at Franconia Elementary are over 10 years old and are well overdue for an upgrade. The average classroom of students spends about 40% of their classroom time on the carpet!

How can I help?

Donate what you can so that we can give our amazing teachers NEW rugs for the NEW year!!

Spread the word to your family, friends, and our local community!
If we work together, we can make it happen. Your donation will benefit every student and every classroom at Franconia Elementary. A $20 contribution from each FES student would help us achieve our goal, but no donation is too big or too small!

Our fundraising goal is $10,000

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Join us Tuesday 12/5 at 7pm in the FES cafeteria for our PTA General Membership Meeting with special guest speaker, Justin Wood, from the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Diversion Control Division.

Mr. Wood will share information on fentanyl and other prescription drug misuse in our youth and give parents resources to keep their children safe. Parents, don't miss this important presentation!

Light refreshments and school-aged child care will be provided. We will also need parent/teacher input on the PTA budget for the reminder of the year as well as what programs and initiatives YOU want to see at Franconia.

It's Giving Tuesday!
Your Franconia Elementary PTA is a non-profit (501c3) organization and your donations are, as always, tax deductible.
All donations go toward activities and programs that benefit YOUR Penguins.
Thanks for your support!
❤️🐧❤️
Do you know how your PTA spends donations? We committed more than $7,000 this year (and last year) to secure field trip transportation for every single grade. Without this, field trips would not happen, or fundraising would fall onto individual classes. We provide 2 large annual events free to all families (think fall fest), we provide gifts to every teacher during teacher appreciation week, and we sponsor smaller events throughout the year including this years foam party, book blast, movie night, amongst others.

Last year we provided $5,000 to the libabry for improvements and $5,000 to the mindfulness lab - a critical donation to keep the mindfulness lab running.

This year we are raising $8,000 to purchase new rugs for every classroom. The rugs are 13 years old. They are stained with years of foot traffic, vomit, and every other bodily fluid. Rugs are cleaned annually but today, kids with strong allergies cannot sit on the rugs during circle time. Please consider donating so that we can improve the comfort of our classrooms! So far we have raised only $500 of our goal for this!

Givebacks Givebacks helps you engage your supporters, raise money online with less work, and harness innovation to build up your entire community through GIvebacks. See why over 12,000 organizations and over 2.4 million people use Givebacks to thrive.