No.12, February 5, 2013    

• School Counseling Week, February 4-8 
• Cultural Arts assemblies, February 5, 6, 7  
• Rising 7th Grade Curriculum Night at LMS (Just Parents), February 6, 6:30 pm
• International Night, February 8, 6:30 pm
• Rising 7th Grade Electives Fair at LMS (Students and Parents), February 12, 6:30 pm
• Choral Concert 4th and 6th grades, February 12, 2 and 7 pm
• Principal's Coffee, February 13, 9-10 am 
• Box Tops submission deadline, February 14
• Online Auction opens, February 17
• School Holiday, February 18
• PTA Meeting, February 19, 7 pm (guest speaker on environmental stewardship, see below)
• Peer Pressure Presentation, February 21, 9 am, Spring Hill ES (see below) 
• Wacky Sock Spirit Day, February 22
• Fun Fair, March 16, 10 am - 2 pm
• Parent Social, April 27

Sincerely,
2012-2013 Chesterbrook PTA Board 

It's Almost Time for the Chesterbrook Fun Fair

Longfellow Electives Fair: Tuesday, Feb. 12th from 4- 7pm.  This event is an opportunity for PARENTS and their Rising 7th Grade STUDENTS to come to Longfellow and learn about all of the electives from current Longfellow Students and Teachers.  The PTA will also have information available and Longfellow merchandise for sale!   

Summer Quest 2013 is almost here! Apologies for the delay in getting the information out, but we've had a few logistical challenges, namely the County is replacing Chesterbrook's roof over the entire summer, so we've been looking for a new home. Our neighbors down the road at Haycock Elementary have graciously offered us some space. We will publish the catalog early next week with further information on registration dates. We are also pleased to announce that over 60 percent of our classes are returning this year, which also means that there will be more than 30% of new classes to check out!  For your planning purposes, camps will be held the weeks of July 8, 15, 22, and 29, and the AM/PM/After care format will remain the same as in the past.  

On Thursday February 21st at 9 a.m. at the Spring Hill Elementary school Michelle Kriebel, a counselor and educator who has been positively influencing students for over two decades will give a presentation on peer pressure. After years in the field, Michelle now presents to parent groups nationwide, sharing her energy, creativity and passion. A well-regarded expert on student development issues, leadership, and alcohol and drug education, she holds a B.A. in Psychology from Holy Cross, and an M.A. and M.Ed. in College Counseling and Student Development from the University of Delaware.  

Michelle's core philosophy is that the way we parent our children in elementary school directly impacts their ability to make responsible decisions as they get older. Elementary school is when we, as parents, begin the tug-of-war with our children about what they can and cannot do. How we manage these battles and the outcomes will be indicative of how we manage the even more important tug-of-war that occurs in junior high and high school when the choices are more complex and potential outcomes more dangerous.  Michelle will provide parents with strategies for laying a solid foundation that will put and keep our children on the right track and help ensure they have the tools to make good, safe decisions.

Please don't miss this informative program provided through a generous grant from Safe Community Coalition www.safecommunitycoalition.net.   

• Race and ethnicity
• Grade levels: elementary school, middle school, high school
• Services that their child receives: regular education, gifted education, special education, and ESOL
• Socio-economic status
• Geographic areas of the county

• Confidentiality - The search is confidential in order to attract the very best candidates, therefore it is important that FCCPTA representatives are willing to commit to keep the identities of the candidates confidential before, during, and after the process. All committee members will be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement that will be provided later.
• Participation - FCCPTA representatives will need to be able to fully commit to a significant amount of time so that an interview script can be developed and so that the committee can interview each of the three semifinalists. The required dates and times are Tuesday, April 2 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Wednesday, April 3 (noon to 5 p.m.), and Friday, April 5 (noon to 5 p.m.).
• Understanding Your Role - The decision regarding whom to hire as the next superintendent rests solely with the Fairfax County School Board. The School Board is asking the committee members to interview the three semifinalists in order to share perspectives regarding the strengths and questions/concerns of each candidate. Committee members will not be asked to rank, rate, or recommend the candidates in any way.

Chesterbrook's Green Team needs volunteers at lunchtime, particularly for the younger grades, to help students sort their recycling and food recovery items (unopened and unused food from students' lunches).  If you come eat lunch with your child, check in with the cafeteria monitor to see how you can help for a few minutes at cleanup time.  By incorporating recycling and food recovery at lunchtime, Chesterbrook is instilling healthy habits we hope will last a lifetime. Trash has been cut by more than 50% and our first collection of juice pouches (15 pounds) has been sent to TerraCycle. For more information on how you can help at lunchtime, please email greenchesterbrook@googlegroups.com.  

On Friday afternoons we need volunteers to deliver food collections to SHARE of McLean, a local food pantry. This is an easy project and a great way to help the community.  Since September, Chesterbrook has recovered and donated 500 pounds of food!!   Check out our SignUp Genius link to see if there's a day you can volunteer. For more information on the specifics of what is needed, contact Kathleen Weil.