School news
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| Students plan a meditation garden at Belvedere Elementary School. |
are from Fairfax County Public Schools.
Excellence in Equity – Justice High School has been selected to receive the Superintendent’s Excellence in Equity Award, Principal Maria Eck announced.
The award recognizes schools that have made significant gains in closing student achievement gaps, as well as increasing overall Standards of Learning (SOL) pass rates for all students in math and reading during the 2018-19 school year. The school will be recognized at the Oct. 24 School Board meeting at 7 p.m.
Meditation garden – Belvedere Elementary School students are creating a meditation garden. Fourth-grade teacher Danielle Thiam and environmental educator Stacey Evers were awarded a Keep Virginia Beautiful grant for the project.
Students will be able to plant, tend, and enjoy the garden any time they are experiencing stress. The garden will include plants known to ease anxiety, such as pineapple sage, lavender, oregano, creeping thyme, and coneflowers. There will also be elements that provide musical sounds, such as wind chimes.
Mosaic Bowl – The community is invited to the annual Mosaic Bowl Oct. 11 at Falls Church High School. The Jaguars are up against Marshall High School Statesmen. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. There will be raffles and giveaways from shops in the Mosaic District, including Target, BGR, Alta Strada, Favs, Matchbox, Lux Nails, Nando’s Chicken, Praline Bakery, and many more.
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| The sorting ceremony at Wakefield Forest Elementary School. |
Sorting ceremony – Wakefield Forest Elementary School borrowed the idea of the sorting hat from the Harry Potter series as an extension of the Positivity Project. Sixth-graders were randomly sorted into one of five “houses” exemplifying certain positive character traits:
- Aquila (teamwork, fairness, leadership, forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-control)
- Leopaux (enthusiasm, bravery, integrity, perseverance)
- Sciomar (creativity, curiosity, open-mindedness, love of learning, perspective)
- Ubuntu (kindness, love, social intelligence)
- Volare (appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, optimism, humor, purpose)
The Positivity Project stressed character building with the goal of encouraging collaboration, new friendships, and positive behavior.
Houses will be rewarded points for individual and group positive behavior, and the house with the most points at the end of the year will receive the “house cup.” Students have already created house chants, cheers, and dances and engaged in athletic competitions, such as a frisbee toss, 50-meter dash, and long jump.
Lottery winners – Harris Teeter grocery store in Barcroft Plaza donated its $2,000 incentive award for selling a winning lottery ticket to several schools, including Annandale High School, the AHS PTSA announced. Sergey Kocharov, the vice president of communications for the Washington Capitals, bought a $1 million winning lottery ticket at the Harris Teeter in August.
After-school snacks – Fairfax County Public Schools is sponsoring free meals at 13 schools as part of the federal At-Risk Afterschool Meals Program. Participating schools in the Annandale/Mason District area include Falls Church High School, Justice High School, and Glasgow, Holmes, Jackson, and Poe middle schools.
