Lower School Newsletter - December 9, 2020

NEW AND UPDATED INFORMATION

 

The Giving Tree

Although we continue to be limited in holding our usual collections for non-profit organizations in our area, there are ways our Flint Hill families can help at this time. Please consider independently donating goods to these community partners (lists of needed items are provided in the links): Women Giving Back, Cornerstones Winter Coat Drive, and/or Friends of Homeless Animals Donation Wishlist.  Please note that these organizations have multiple locations for drop off, as well as specific times for donation, due to pandemic limitations. These organizations need our support now more than ever!  Please follow all CDC guidelines for safety when donating. Questions? Please contact All-School Community Service Coordinator Linda Okoth, lokoth@flinthill.org.

 

Free Dress on Friday, December 11, and Holiday Dress on Friday, December 18

To celebrate our students' positive transition to distance learning last week, we are going to have a free dress day on Friday, December 11. And as we prepare for the winter break and holidays, students may wear free dress with a holiday theme on Friday, December 18. Students have the option of wearing a school uniform if they would prefer. Students should wear sneakers to school.

 

Financial Aid Deadline Approaching

The financial aid application deadline is Monday, January 11, for families planning to apply for financial aid for the 2021-22 school year. Flint Hill’s financial aid application is available on the Financial Aid for Student Tuition (FAST) website. Families who complete the application process by January 11 will receive a notification of their financial aid award on Thursday, January 28, when re-enrollment contracts are issued to current families.

 

Discussion Sponsored by The Parents Council of Washington

The Parents Council of Washington (PCW) invites you to attend Talking to Kids About Racism on Thursday, January 14, at 7 p.m. Panelists from three PCW member schools will discuss productive ways to talk about racism, with kids of all ages, addressing both conversations between parents and their kids and conversations between schools and their students. The panelist presentations will be followed by a question and answer period with the audience.

All PCW member school parents, administrators, faculty, and staff are invited. Please use this link to register.

 

 

Annual Fund — December Giving Days

Thank you to the many parents, alumni, faculty, staff, grandparents, parents of alumni and friends of our School who supported this year’s Annual Fund during our December Giving Days, which kicked off on #GivingTuesday! Your gifts support what matters most here at our School — our students and teachers — and give us the ability to be flexible and adapt in our ever-changing world.

You’ve still got time to go all in for Flint Hill. You can make your gift online, learn more about the Annual Fund or call Director of the Annual Fund Christine Kitzmiller, at 703.584.2349, to make a pledge or ask questions about The Flint Hill Annual Fund.

Thank you for your support!

 

The third meeting of the virtual Kaleidoscope Book Club is scheduled for Monday, February 1, 9-9:45 a.m. We will discuss “How to be an Antiracist” by Ibram X. Kendi. We look forward to building and deepening relationships through this shared learning opportunity. All parents are welcome to attend regardless of your familiarity with the book selection. Please submit your name and email address, in this form, to RSVP for the meeting and/or be added to our email list. Please contact All-School Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator Miles Henderson if you have any questions.

 

Creative Corner

As winter approaches, our Department Chair for Innovation Joey Starnes will have weekly suggestions for fun and creative activities for families to try at home.

Frozen Bubbles

Check out what happens to bubbles when they freeze! You can use your own bubble mixture or make your own.

Mix one tablespoon dish soap, one tablespoon corn syrup, and nine tablespoons water.

Pour the bubble solution into a bowl, and take it outside with a wand or straw. Blow a bubble and catch it on the wand. Watch the bubble, as it sits on the wand in the cold air. The bubble will soon freeze into a fragile crystal ball! If it is not cold enough outside for your frozen bubble to form, dip a straw in the bubble solution, and drag the straw over to a plate. Blow the bubble slightly above the surface of the plate. It will be shaped like a dome. Place the plate into the freezer for about an hour or until the bubble freezes.

Candy Cane Art

Melt candy canes for some fun shapes and edible artwork! Place on a cookie sheet (on parchment paper preferably) and put into a 250 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 10 minutes. Then quickly manipulate the candy canes into desired shapes.

Make Your Own Snow

Put baking soda in a bowl. Slowly add shaving cream to make snow. What happens when you add vinegar?

Check out this Youtube video for more snow recipes.

 

Articles

10 Ideas for a Calming Morning Routine

UPDATES AND REMINDERS FROM THE LAST NEWSLETTER

 

Gifts to Faculty and Staff

As we approach the Winter Break, I wanted to remind you of the School’s recommendations concerning gifts to faculty and staff. Flint Hill encourages simplicity in the giving of gifts. Please note that holiday gift giving is not an expectation, and individual families should decide what is best for them, keeping in mind that a sincere, heartfelt “thank you” often carries the greatest meaning. The School discourages the collection of money from parents to provide teachers or coaches with gifts, and for safety reasons, this year students may not bring gifts from home to distribute at school.

 

Hour of Code

The Hour of Code takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week. The 2020 Computer Science Education Week will be December 7-13 (Huskies celebrate coding and computer science year-round :))! Computer science helps students to improve in core areas like math, logic and even reading comprehension. At its core, computer science is the study of how to use logical thinking to identify, simplify and solve complex problems. Additionally, knowledge of computational thinking is becoming an important skill for success in our digital world and is a component of 21st-century literacy.

As part of our week-long engagement, our Lower School students will have opportunities to demonstrate and build on their coding abilities. In September, our Lower School Huskies very quickly learned how to navigate block coding using the Tynker Jr. and Tynker apps. Students successfully completed block code coursework by learning to use commands, loops, sequences, algorithms, and most recently, repeating conditional statements. During the Hour of Code, students will put their skills into play by solving coding puzzles, debugging messy codes, and using codes to maneuver their character through obstacles. The Hour of Code will be a great experience for our students!

 

Dressing for Cold Weather and Preparing for Cancellations

In cold weather, a hat, gloves and a winter-weight coat are required attire to go outside. Barring a medical condition, all children will participate in outdoor recesses. If wind chill conditions cause temperatures to feel 20 degrees or less, students will remain inside for recess. Children who do not have the required outerwear will not be allowed to go outside. It would be appreciated if parents could ensure that their child/children have the appropriate clothing for break and recess.

Flint Hill’s Inclement Weather Policy provides details on how we make decisions and notify the community about delays and school closures.

 

School Store Winter Preview

Holiday shopping made easy! Click here to view the School Store Winter Preview.

To receive your items in time for the holidays, please place your order no later than noon on Thursday, December 17. 

Please contact Adrienne Robinson with any questions regarding sizing and returns/exchanges.

 

Driving Spirit Award Nominations Due December 11

Send your nominations to Ana Yarbrough.

The Driving Spirit Award recognizes current Flint Hill teachers and staff who have demonstrated ethical leadership, diligent intellectual scholarship and a commitment to teaching, coaching and mentoring students. Recipients are recognized for their contributions to the “Driving Spirit,” which makes our School the special and unique place we all value — a place that honors excellence while emphasizing the importance of our core values: respect and value all equally, lead and support with compassion, act with integrity, imagine what’s possible and blaze the trail. These teachers and staff members lead by example through their dedication and ability to energize and inspire Flint Hill’s community to new heights of learning and leadership, both inside and outside the classroom.

Please think about the great current teachers and staff members in the Flint Hill community whom you believe fit this description. Emails and letters should be sent to Ana Yarbrough by Friday, December 11.