News from the Nest
September 25, 2024
A note from Mr. Thorne and Ms. Sobers . . .
Tonight is the first of two Back to School Nights. We hope to see our Kindergarten, First, and Second grade families tonight. Tomorrow we will welcome our Third, Fourth, and Fifth grade families for Back to School Night. Family Night will be held in the PBES library, stop by and shop a great selection of books. Piney Branch has once again been selected as one of America’s Healthiest Schools. This year we excelled in 8 out of 9 categories. We hope to see everyone tonight and tomorrow night.
- Back to School Nights
- Impact Aid
- Literacy Night
- Watch D.O.G.S.
Sincerely,
Steve Thorne and Monica Sobers
Fresh Takes
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)
Fall Book Fair
September 25th & 26th we will be having our Family Nights. Students already toured the Book Fair and created a wish list. Stop by the library at Back to School Nights and shop for a good book, there is something for all.
Literacy Night
We are excited to be combining Literacy Night with Back to School Night this year! We will have resources and information regarding the new Virginia Literacy Act, VALLSS testing, our curriculum in PWCS, and more. Look for Ms. Kennedy and Ms. West, Piney Branch reading specialists, in the hallway on your way to your child's classroom or the Book Fair. If you are unable to attend your child's Back to School Night, please read this presentation to learn more about the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act in PWCS schools.
Battle of the Books
Attention all FOURTH and FIFTH grade families! Battle of the Books (BoB) will be starting in October! BoB is a fun, competitive group in which students are responsible for reading and discussing 10 books (that are pre-selected and purchased by the school) to prepare for a BoB tournament this spring. Mrs. Kennedy and Mrs. Kay will be our BoB sponsors this year. Each school team can only have 12 members who can compete in the tournament, so there may be a lottery for participation on the team. Students will come to meetings prepared to discuss the books and to write questions that may be featured in the BoB county-wide competitions. Meetings will take place on Wednesdays at 8:30am. The schedule will be finalized and sent home once students are selected for participation.
If this is something your students may be interested in, please fill out the attached link to this Microsoft form by October 4th OR complete and return the application form that your student brings home from school. On it, they are asked to indicate whether they wish to compete or not and to write a paragraph explaining why they would like to join the team. Your student will be notified by Monday 10/7 if they have been selected for the team. If you do not hear by 10/7, your student was not chosen by the lottery but is encouraged to apply again in the future either at Piney Branch or at the middle school! Feel free to contact Mrs. Kennedy with any questions at [email protected]. 🙂
Battle of the Books Application Link
America’s Healthiest SchoolsPBES also received recognition as one of America’s Healthiest Schools from Healthier Generation for the 3rd year in a row in 8 of 9 categories. We want to give a big round of applause of our teachers and staff in supporting these initiatives and we hope everyone continues to contribute in building a strong school community and healthy well-rounded students.
Impact Aid Information
Impact Aid is a federal education program that reimburses school districts for lost revenue and additional costs due to the presence of nontaxable federal property (such as military installations, Indian lands, national parks, national laboratories, and Veterans Affairs hospitals) in a community.
Funding under Impact Aid is allocated to local school divisions based on the number of qualifying students. For PWCS, a qualifying student is defined as:
- Has a parent or legal guardian who is active-duty member of the United States Uniformed Services; or
- Resides with a parent or legal guardian who works on federal property, in the state of Virginia, as a civilian employee.
Please log into your ParentVue account and complete a Student-Parent survey for each child in your household. Surveys will open September 30th. Surveys should be completed by November 30, 2024.
Watch D.O.G.S.
Stop by our Watch D.O.G.S. table at Back-to-School nights. Learn about how you can become a Watch D.O.G.S. for the day at Piney Branch.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Jim Pawlak at [email protected]
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.
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
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 26th – K, 1st, 2nd Back to school night
- September 27th – 3rd, 4th, 5th Back to school night
Click here for a look ahead at Piney Branch’s Encore events Calendar
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.
PTO Spirit Wear
Get ready to show your Piney Branch pride! Our new spirit wear collection for the 2024-2025 school year is here, featuring fresh designs and options for both youth and adults.The online PBES Spirit Wear Store will be open for a limited time only! Online sales started Wednesday, September 18th and will close Wednesday, October 2nd. While we will have limited spirit wear quantities available for purchase at a select few of our fall PTO events, your best opportunity to get the style and size you want is to order online. Don’t miss this chance to support our school and look great doing it.
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.
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.