News from the Nest
September 18, 2024
A note from Mr. Thorne and Ms. Sobers . . .
Tonight is our first PTO and Piney Branch Advisory Council meetings tonight. We hope you’ll be able to join us. Next week, we host our special Student Led Back to School Night. These evening events are uniquely PBES and rely on our students to lead you through activities designed with their classroom, intended to share and reflect on their experiences here at school. In addition, we will have information available from our literacy specialists about the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act in Prince William County Schools and here at Piney Branch. Be sure to stop and view the video presentations by Dr. McDade, superintendent of PWCS as well as Dr. Barbur Lateef, PWCS School Board President, and Mr. Thorne, principal of Piney Branch ES. We look forward to seeing everyone!
- PTO & PBAC
- Back to School Nights
- VGA Testing
Sincerely,
Steve Thorne and Monica Sobers
Fresh Takes
Movie Night/ Community Fair
On September 20th the PTO has organized an Outdoor Movie Night. Join us on the back fields for family fun. This is a free event open for all our Piney Branch families. We hope to see everyone there.
Fall Book Fair
Attention thrill seekers! The Piney Branch Library is proud to announce this year's Fall Book Fair. Your students will have the opportunity to take a sneak peek at the fair on Monday or Tuesday, September 23rd and 24th. Look for the wish lists they bring home with them on those days. The Book Fair will open for sales on Wednesday, September 25th and Close on Friday, September 27th. Don't forget to bring the Family on our Family Nights: Wednesday and Thursday, September 25th and 26th (these are also your back-to-school nights.) Adventure of all sorts awaits your students in the pages of the hundreds of books that will be available! More details to come.
Volunteer Opportunity!
To help get this Book Fair show in the road, the library is seeking volunteers to help with set up, decorations, wish list, and to help our thrill seeker (students) navigate the Book Fair. Please consider donating some of your time by checking out the
SCA is back for another great school year
Piney Branch Elementary's SCA (Student Council Association) is starting back up again for the 24-25 school year. Applications are available outside of counselor's offices for student pickup for 3rd , 4th , and 5th grade. Video submissions are due no later than September 25th at 8pm. Student council positions will be announced the following Monday, September 30th. Once the monthly meetings start up any 3rd ,4th ,and 5th graders who want to attend are welcome to join us. More information to come later in the month.
October School Counseling Lesson
During the month of October, Piney Branch's school counselors will be delivering required Substance Awareness/Medicine Safety Lessons to all students in grades K-5. If you would like to opt your student out of the lesson, please complete the Opt-Out Form or contact your child's school counselor at 571-261-5300.
Back to School Nights
Piney Branch will hold student-led Back to School Nights on 9/25 & 9/26. Students will lead parents through Back to School Information in their classrooms. Both students and parents can attend.
9/25 – Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd Grades – 6:00-7:30 (open house format)
9/26 – 3rd, 4th, 5th Grades – 6:00-7:30 (open house format)
Piney Branch Parent Advisory Council (PBAC)
PBAC will be holding the first advisory council meeting for this school year on September 18th at 7:30 after the PTO meeting in the library.
What is parent advisory council?
It is a committee made up of parents, teachers, and admin to help focus on the issues that matter most to our Piney Branch families. We invite you to come by the library so that we can brainstorm together.
FALL Virginia Growth Assessments (Grades 3-5)
The Virginia Board of Education has adopted the Virginia Assessment Program to help track progress in the Standards of Learning (SOL). The SOLs indicate Virginia’s expectations for what students should know and be able to do in the subject areas of reading, writing, mathematics, science, and history/social studies. Each year, students in specific grade levels and courses are expected to participate in SOL testing unless exempted by state or federal law or by Board of Education regulations. In the past, most students participated in SOL testing during the spring. However, recent legislation requires Grades 3-8 students to also participate in a growth assessment twice per school year.
This Fall, our Piney Branch 3rd,4th, and 5th graders will take the math growth assessment. At the conclusion of the test window, your student’s school will provide you with a report of their performance. Please note that there are no passing or failing scores associated with the growth assessments. Rather, they are designed to help track your student’s progress over the course of the school year. For more information about the growth assessments, please visit the Virginia Department of Education website
Piney Branch students will be testing on the following dates:
- 4th Grade MONDAY September 16*
- 5th Grade FRIDAY September 20
- 3rd Grade FRIDAY September 27 (starting after Encore)
*4th Grade will have lunch at 11:25 on this day.
If you have specific questions about testing at Piney Branch, please email Ms. Sobers [email protected] or call the office.
For Good Measure
Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS)
Piney Branch Elementary School will be administering the Virginia Language and Literacy Screening System (VALLSS) to all 1st, 2nd, and 3rd students in Prince William County. (Kindergarten will not begin until late September – details to follow).
Approximate testing windows are listed below:
3rd Grade: September 3 - September 23
2nd Grade: September 3 - September 23
1st Grade: September 5 - September 25
Make-up testing will continue throughout the testing window as needed.
A letter will be sent home with your child to explain testing in more detail. For more information, visit the PALS Legacy website at https://literacy.virginia.edu and click on the tab “Families +”.
Please feel free to contact Emily Kennedy or Cailyn West, Piney Branch’s Reading Specialists, at [email protected] and [email protected] or 571-261-5300 if you have any questions about VALLSS testing or procedures. In addition, families can find out more about PWCS’ implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act on PWCS’ website or by attending “An Introduction to the VLA and What it Means for Families” webinar on 9/12/24 from 6:30-7:30.
Attendance Matters
It is important for our parents and students to know the facts about attendance, build the habit of good attendance early, keep students engaged and on track, and communicate with the schools regularly. Learn more on the PWCS Attendance Support and Resources webpage.
Prince William County Public Schools (PWCS) follows the provisions of Virginia law (Code of Virginia, §22.1-254) regarding compulsory attendance for all school-aged students.
PWCS uses an attendance management system that carefully tracks attendance and ensures that parents are notified in a timely and consistent manner.
Parents are notified daily when students are absent from school and the school has not received prior notification of the absence. Text messages are sent to elementary school parents in the morning and to middle/high school parents in both the morning and evening.
Attendance letters are sent to notify parents of truancy status when students accrue three unexcused absences. Letters are also sent to notify parents of excessive excused absences and if their student becomes chronically absent. Learn more about PWCS attendance letters.
Detailed information about attendance communication, types of absences, late arrival/early dismissal, and more is on the PWCS Attendance Guidelines webpage.
How sick is too sick for school?
For information about when your child should go to school or when they should stay home due to illness, visit the When to Keep Students home webpage.
If you have additional questions, please contact our school nurse Denise at [email protected]
Report your child’s absences
Parents should notify the school before, or at the start of, the school day when their child will be absent. Parents must send written or electronic communication citing the reason(s) for the absence to the school no more than five school days following the date of the absence.
As always please continue to report your student’s absence by emailing their teacher and [email protected] or adding it to ParentVue app.
Accessing PBES Resources Outside of School
You can access our PBES resources like Canvas, Office 365 and Clever from almost wherever you are. Please see the following help videos to:
School Meals 2024-2025
Applications for free and reduced-price meals are now available on the PWCS Nutrition Site. Below, please find the USDA-approved school meal prices for the 2024-25 school year:
Breakfast
- Student full price - $1.60
- Adult price - $2.75
Lunch
- Elementary school student full price - $2.60
- Middle school student full price - $2.75
- High school student full price - $2.85
- Adult full price - $4.65
- A la carte –
- Milk, $1
- Bottled Water $1.00
- *Cookie $1.00 (one per day )
- *Packaged Snack $1.00 (one per day )
- Side Dish $1.50
- *Strawberry Shortcake $2.50(one per day )
Mark Your Calendar/Upcoming Events
- September 18th – PTO Meeting in PBES Library
- September 18th – PBAC Meeting
- September 19th – MOD Pizza Spirit Night
- September 20th – Outdoor Movie Night
- September 26th – K, 1st, 2nd Back to school night
- September 27th – 3rd, 4th, 5th Back to school night
PTO News
We are excited to invite you to join the parent-teacher organization (PTO) for the 2024-2025 school year. The PTO provides a fantastic opportunity for you to make a positive impact on our school and community.
September PTO Meeting
PTO is excited to kick off their meetings for the 2024-2025 school year. Join us in the PBES Library at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 18th, or join us remotely you can click Join September PTO Meeting. We hope to see returning faces and welcome new families.
Spirit Night: MOD Pizza
On September 19th MOD Pizza located on 13941 Promenade Commons Street in Gainsville will host a spirt night and give a portion of funds collected that night to our PTO. Please present the Mod Pizza flyer for the funds to go to PBES PTO. The fundraiser code is MODGIVES25.
Outdoor Movie Night
Join us for the Outdoor Movie Night showing of Despicable ME 4 on Friday, September 20th. Field opens at 6:15 p.m. with premium concessions, popcorn, and FUN! Bring your own seating!
Rain Date: Friday, September 27, 2024
Baroody Camps
Piney Branch PTO is excited to offer enrichment programming this year in partnership with Baroody Camps.
Registration for our enrichment programming will open September 23rd at 9/23/2024 @ 9:00 a.m. Sign your student up for one of our exciting classes this season by visiting the PTO Baroody Camps Page. Registration closes 10/2/2024 @11:59 p.m.
Explore which classes would best fit your student.
Become a member*! Your membership helps us support the Piney Branch community. You can also attend meetings and vote on initiatives that are important to you - but that is not a requirement. You do not have to attend meetings or volunteer to become a member.
Your time as a volunteer helps us execute our mission to support the students, teachers, staff, and parents at Piney Branch. It is also a great way to connect with our community. Volunteer opportunities are vast and flexible - choose what works best for you.
Payments can be made by clicking the Piney Branch venmo link*.
Save the Date for More Exciting PTO Events
- October PTO Meeting - Wednesday, October 16
- Silent Auction & Bingo Night - Friday, October 18
- Color Craze - Thursday, October 31
- November PTO meeting - Wednesday, November 20
- Spirit Night @ Haymarket Iceplex - December TBD
*This Website (Webpage) is not managed, approved, or sponsored by the Prince William County Public Schools.
Community Flyers and Announcements
Flu Shots
PWCS has made it easy to get your flu shot this year by setting up a free flu vaccine clinic. The first one will be held at the Kelly Leadership Center on Saturday, September 21. We hope everyone can take advantage of this opportunity.
September 21, 9 am to 1 pm, Kelly Leadership Center
September 26, 8 am to 4 pm, Kelly Leadership Center
September 30, 11:30 am to 4 pm, Independence Nontraditional School
November 18, 8 am to 4 pm, Unity Reed High School
November 21, 8 am to 1 pm, Potomac Transportation Center
Click here to register for one of the clinics
Mighty Sprinters
Mighty Sprinters is now open for registration for children ages 3-10. They are offering a kids running, and a fitness program. For more information you can visit their website.
Stemality
Come by Stemality's Gainsville location to explore coding, robotics, and so many of their hands on workshops and with their expert instructors. More information is available on the Stemality website.
GHS Cheer and Dance Fall Clinic
GHS is hosting their yearly Dance and Cheer Fall Clinic on September 22nd from 10am-2pm. Registration is open for k-8 PWCS students. Participants will learn a cheer/dance routine and technique and help make a football game banner. Finally, a performance of their newly taught routine at the GHS varsity football game on September 27th. For any further questions please reach out to coach Kilmer.