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Simpson Middle School

J. L. Simpson Middle School

490 Evergreen Mill Road

Leesburg, VA 20175

Principal: Mr. Runfola

Assistant Principals: Ms. Smith Ms. Todd

Deans: Sam Carpenter Michele Loiselle Jonathan Bonner

Guidance Counselors: 6th Grade Ms. McKean 7th Grade Ms. Nameth 8th Grade Ms. Jeane

School Resource Officer:

Matt Bennett

Contact Information

Main Office (571) 252-2840 House A (571) 252-2848 House B (571) 252-2847 House C (571) 252-2846 Absentee Line (571) 252-2842 Cafeteria (571) 252-2843 Fax (703) 771-6643 School Hours: 8:40 AM– 3:28 PM

www.lcps.org/jlsms

In this Month’s Issue:

Note from the Principal 2 Calendar of Upcoming Events 5 PTO President’s Letter 6 Counselor’s Corner 7 ParentVue Update 8 School News and Information 9 Substance Awareness Presentation 16 Parent Resource Services 17 The College Funding Coach Workshop 18

Oct/Nov 2016

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Note from the Principal Dear Parents: Congratulations to a wonderful start to the school year. I appreciate everyone’s effort and look forward to the many successes our students will have this school year. Thank you to the PTO and parent volunteers for helping us get off to a terrific start. The PTO is still in need of committee chairs to lead events. Please visit the PTO website and help if you can, thank you! Spirit wear is now available through our PTO and new vendor website. Activity buses have started! Activity buses run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday most weeks and depart Simpson at 4:35 pm. Most stops are not the same as your child’s normal stop so please check the route schedule to ensure you and your child are comfortable with the walking distance. We have completed all of our safety drills for September. I appreciate our faculty, staff and students efforts and cooperation to ensure we know what to do in the event of an emergency. Important October events & dates include:

October 3rd & 4th – 7th grade & all new LCPS students will have the annual Vision & Hearing Screening through PE classes *Students who wear glasses should make sure they have them here on these days.

October 5th & 6th – Interim / Progress Reports sent home *Please contact your child’s teachers as needed. School counselors can help set up meetings

with multiple teachers if need.

October 5th – College Funding Coach at Harper Park Middle School @ 7 pm *This workshop continues to grow in popularity and provides terrific information about

financial planning. Parents who have attended the presentations in the past often say they

wished they had attended sooner. Everyone learns something new from the workshop.

October 14th – PE Club Run Event *Run times are as follows: 8th grade – 9 am; 7th grade – 10:25 am; 6th grade – 2:00 pm

October 17th – Bus Safety Week – thank our drivers!

October 17th – PTO Mtg @ 7 pm *All are welcome to attend. Volunteers needed for many future events.

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Note from the Principal Cont.

October 17th – “Make a Difference Day”

*Our school will again be participating in “Make A Difference Day” by collecting food

throughout during the week of October 17th for needy families. Boxes will be located

outside the main office and student drop off area. All donations will go to Interfaith Relief.

October 24th – Book Fair Week sponsored by our Library

October 28th – Simpson Night at Temple Farm & the Corn Maize sponsored by the PTO

October 28th – Make-Up Day for School Pictures

*If you were not satisfied with your first pictures, students can bring their photo package

back to their grade level House Office by October 7th and they will scheduled for the retake

on October 28th. If you never had your picture, we will be looking for you too!

November 4th – Last day of the 1st Nine Weeks

November 7 & 8 – Teacher Work Days / Student Holiday

November 16th – Report Cards Sent Home & Spanish Speaking Parents Night (PEP)

November 23, 24 & 25 – No School – Thanksgiving Holiday The pink Federal Impact Aid Survey forms will come home with students on Thursday, November 3rd and should be returned on November 4th. We are asking that every parent please complete, sign and return the form. If a parent works on federal property, LCPS receives a financial benefit that helps fund our schools. Students are encouraged to wear red, white and blue on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11th. On behalf of Simpson Middle School, thank you to all who have served in our armed forces! We are looking forward to the 8th grade Career Day on Friday, November 11th. 8th grade students will complete a survey indicating who they would like to visit and what careers they want to learn more about. We are looking for parent volunteers so please contact the PTO volunteer coordinator. American Education Week begins Monday, November 14th. Our 8th grade band kicks off the week with a concert beginning at 9:15 a.m. in our auditorium and parents are welcome to attend. Parents are invited to visit throughout the week to see the efforts of students and staff. Be on the lookout for your child’s special postcard invitation.

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Note from the Principal Cont. We will host “Spanish Speaking Parents Night” on Wednesday, November 16th. This is to discuss teaching and learning with the help of interpreters. Families that attend will have the opportunity to ask questions and have concerns addressed by our administration as we continue to strengthen the bridge between home and school. As many of you know, regular attendance is very important. I will again ask parents to schedule vacations and trips on student holidays rather than on school days. If you are planning a trip that will cause you child to miss three or more days of school, please contact me directly. As always, feel free to contact me or my staff if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child’s learning. My best to all of you as we work together to achieve success for each and every student! Sincerely, Chad D. Runfola Principal

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Calendar of Events Oct. 3-4 Vision-Hearing Screening through PE Oct. 5 Interims Oct. 5 College Finance Coach – Brock Joly- Harper Park 7PM Oct. 10 Columbus Day Holiday Oct. 14 Club Runs Oct. 17 Bus Safety Week Oct. 17 Simpson School Ambassadors Training Day Oct. 17 PTO Meeting Oct. 18 Club Run Make-up Day Oct. 24 Book Fair Week Oct. 28 Picture make-ups and Candids Oct. 28 Temple Farm Corn Maze Event – PTO Nov. 4 End of 1st Quarter Nov. 7 & 8 Teacher Workdays – No School Nov. 9 2nd Quarter Begins Nov. 9 Same Sky Project (6th grade and new students) Nov. 11 8th Grade Career Day Nov. 14 American Education Week Nov. 14 8th Grade Band Picture Nov. 14 PTO Meeting 7PM Nov. 16 Report Cards go home in PM homeroom Nov. 16 Spanish Speaking Parents Night 7PM Nov. 21 National Family Week Nov. 23-25 Thanksgiving Break

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PTO President’s Letter Hello Simpson Families, It’s been a busy start to the school year and there’s lots of information to share! First, if you haven’t checked out our PT Board website or joined our J.L. Simpson PTO – please do! We use these as our means to share lots of information throughout the year. The membership is free! Following are the steps to sign up to PT Board website: 1. Please go to: www.ptboard.com 2. Search: J. Lupton Simpson Middle School 3. Create a Sign-In Please check back to our PT Board website often because we will make updates throughout the year.

Our 6th Grade Ice Cream Social event went really well. Special thanks to Chairman Kim Berkey and

Co-Chairman Maureen Kirk for making this event a great success in welcoming our 6th grade students.

Approximately 150 students participated in the 6 th Grade Ice Cream Social this year. Students had plenty to

eat, activities to participate in, and seemed to enjoy the event. We had all volunteer spots filled and almost all

donation spots filled for this event. The kids had a great time. Students particularly enjoyed the drawstring bags

that were raffled off at the end of the event. We also want to thank Ms. Pat and Mrs. Lee from the school who

helped coordinate this event.

We are planning to have Temple Hall Farm Corn Maize Simpson Night on Oct 28, 2016.

Please contact our Volunteer Coordinator Debbie Deladurantaye at volunteercoordjlsmspto@gmail.com if you

can help volunteer for any of our events. Speaking of volunteers, we are still looking for parents to volunteer to

help with the Staff Appreciation day to work with the Chairman with Kate Warren.

We are postponing the ‘Simpson Got Talent’ show to spring 2017 since we did not get any volunteer to

chair this event in October. Please stay tuned. We would love to get some new parents involved with the PTO!

Simpson has some wonderful events that have become traditions for our school, but they can only happen each

year through the work of the dedicated PTO volunteers.

We look forward to see you at our October PTO meeting, scheduled on Monday, Oct 17, 2016

at 7:00 pm in the Simpson Library. Please plan to join us! Raj Daniel, PTO President PresidentJLSMSPTO@gmail.com PTO Calendar of Events October 10 No School – Columbus Day 17 PTO Meeting 7:00 PM 28 Temple Hall Farm Corn Maize Simpson Night November 7-8 No School – Planning/Records/Conference Day 11 Career Day - 8th Grade School Event

14 PTO Meeting 7:00pm 14 -18 American Education Week 23-25 No School – Thanksgiving Break

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Counselors Corner

On Oct. 3rd, School Counselors Support A Bully FREE School by asking all to wear blue for Bullying Prevention

Month!! GO BLUE!

Counselors will be going into the classrooms to discuss lessons on grade specific bullying prevention

throughout the month.

Counseling groups will start up in late October. If you have any questions about counseling groups please

contact your child’s grade level counselor.

Counselors Tea &Talk series will starts on November 4, 2016. Check out the page and come join us at JLS.

College Funding Coach, Brock Jolly, is back. The program is at Harper Park Middle School Starting at 7pm.

SOS, Signs of Suicide Program has a parent information session scheduled for October 26th at 7 PM at LCHS.

High School Counselors will be presenting the program.

Eighth graders that are interested in applying to Academy of Science, Academy of Engineering and Technology,

and/or Thomas Jefferson High School should keep up with the sites for upcoming dates.

AOS Important Dates:

Oct. 15, PSAT will be administered to all applicants at Dominion High School

Dec. 6 &7th Applicants will complete CCTDI at Simpson Middle

Jan. 9, 2017, Part Two of AOS application is open online.

Jan. 21, 2017, at Dominion High School Testing for Writing prompt and CCTST

Feb. 12, 2017, @ 11:59PM final date to submit Part Two of application.

March Decisions letters postmarked to applicants

TJ Dates:

Oct. 14, 2016, Application Closes 4:00PM

Dec. 3, 2016, Test day

Dec. 9, Makeup and Alternate Date Testing

Jan. 13, 2016, Semifinalist Notification

Jan. 28, 2017, Essay and SIS Administration Day (Inclement weather dated Dec. 10th)

Feb. 11, 2017, Inclement Weather date for Essay/SIS administration

April 1, 2017, Open House

April 30, 2017, Final Notifications Released

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Counselors Corner Cont.

Academy of Engineering and Technology Check out the web page for information on this program and

application is TBD.

Oct. 3, Information Session Tuscarora High School a 7pm

Oct. 4, Information Session at Blue Ridge Middle school at 7pm

Oct. 14, 2016, Application closes at 5:00PM

Dec. 6 &7th Applicants will complete CCTDI at Simpson Middle

Monroe Technology Center

Oct. 21, Middle School Exploration Night 7pm at Monroe

For parents interested in finding tutors please check out the school counseling web page for Parent Resources

link. For additional information on our Counselors and events please visit their webpage.

Parent Vue Update

Teachers will post assignments in PHOENIX as they are given.

Grades will be recorded within 10 school days (two weeks);

A “Z” will be recorded within 48 hours if a major assignment is not submitted.

A “T” will be recorded within 48 hours when a major assignment is turned in.

A “Q” will be recorded if a student is being excused from an assignment.

Students and Parents should review interim reports by accessing PHOENIX on:

1st Quarter: October 5th

2nd Quarter: December 14th

3rd Quarter: March 8th

4th Quarter: May 17th

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School News and Information

Simpson on the Move: October 14, 2016

How far around the world can we RUN/HIKE? This year the physical education department will be working on a OTTW/PBL project to promote school wide fitness, with a program that offers something for everyone.

Our traditional club runs as outlined below will be part of the project. Again this year students who try to but cannot complete the training runs will become HIKERS. The hikers will walk during all training runs and during the Simpson on the Move event October 14, 2106. (Rain date: Oct. 18th)

We will be keeping track of all miles that are completed by ALL students. We will then add them up and see how close we can get to going around the world. We encourage all students and families to walk, hike, and jog or run outside of school to help your student complete as many laps as possible during their physical education class.

Skatetime: November 9-22, 2016

Physical Education classes will be participating in an in-house skating program. The skates will be delivered directly to the school. Due to insurance purposes, we will be exclusively using Skatetime’s skates. This skating unit is being implemented because of its emphasis as a “Lifetime Activity”. Skating provides a variety of benefits, which include balance, coordination, motor skills, and a top rated cardio-respiratory workout. Students will also learn basic skating skills such as starting, stopping, forward skating, backward skating, cornering, and a number of safety tips for being a smart skater. The fee for this unit will be $10 for per student. The fee includes delivery and pickup of the equipment as well as use of the skates for 5 days of skating during normal P.E. Class.

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School News and Information Cont.

THANK YOU!

A Big Thank You to Morven Park for coming in and helping with Ms. Baird's 8th Grade Civics classes. They appreciated all of your help and ideas as they took on the roles of town/county commissions to solve a problem in our community. THANK YOU!!!

Winter Sports Club

Simpson Winter Sports Club will be entering their 7th season this year! We had an awesome 160 members last year. If your child is interested in being part of the Winter Sports Club they must complete the member login available on the webpage by Friday, October 28th. Winter Sports Club interest meeting will be held Friday, October 21 during lunch. For additional information and trip dates please see the WSC Webpage. (Link Below) THINK SNOW!!!

WSC Webpage: http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/Domain/2752

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School News and Information Cont.

7th Grade Life Science

Is it Alive or Not? Check using your 7 characteristics for life. Make sure to provide all living organisms with their 5 basic needs. Life Science is ready to go deeper with our learning of one of these characteristics – CELLS. Can’t wait for all students to learn about all the organelles in our cells. Creating our Animal or Plant Cell Projects will be just one of the highlights of October. We are also going to welcome back Mr. Rocheck, The Bee Keeper (and former J.L. Simpson Teacher). His presentation on “Changing the World –One Bee at a Time!” The extinction of one organism has a huge impact on our delicately balanced ecosystem.

Latino Student Association (LSA) On Sept. 22nd, 2016, the Latino Student Association took part of the Hispanic Heritage Resolution presented by Supervisor Koran T. Saines - Sterling (Loudoun County Board of Supervisors). LSA was given a plaque that will be displayed at the JL Simpson for any parents wanting to read it. LSA was given praise for their hard work and dedication to helping the Simpson community. Last year, LSA completed over 500 hours of community service. Also the resolution can be read here: https://lfportal.loudoun.gov/LFPortalinternet/0/doc/207260/Electronic.aspx

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School News and Information Cont.

Gaming Club Officer Bennett is Looking for donations of board games for the Gaming Club, please bring any middle school age-related games that can be completed in about an hour.

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School News and Information Cont.

For more information on the following items, please check out the J. L. Simpson Library webpage.

NEW Books & Audio books ~ Check out our new books located on the “New Arrivals” cart in the library.

Virginia Readers' Choice Contest ~ 10 GREAT recently published books for students to read and enjoy!

Students read 4 or more and vote for their favorite

All Simpson students can participate

Contest runs from the start of the school year until mid-March

Scholastic Book Fair ~ The fair will be held October 24th - 28th. Monday through Thursday the book fair hours will be 8:30 -

3:30 and Friday from 8:30 to 11:30.

Cash and checks (made out to J. L. Simpson Middle School), and parents can use credit cards to make

purchases.

Battle of the Books ~ Students come together to demonstrate their abilities and to test their knowledge of the books chosen

for this year’s competition.

Teams work hard during and after school to be well prepared and ready to challenge the other teams

in mid-March.

Our first team meeting is scheduled for October 12th.

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School News and Information Cont.

Library Volunteers ~

Library volunteers are 8th grade students

Students use part of a Resource block to come to the library and help with many of the day to day tasks

such as shelving books, organizing library materials, labeling books and a number of other duties.

Library volunteers will officially start working in the library the week of October 11th.

General Library Information ~

Students can check out up to three "recreational" reading books at a time and whatever books they

need to support classroom assignments and activities.

Playaways (audio books) can be checked out for 1 week and students need to have ear buds to listen

to them. Magazines are also checked out for 1 week at a time.

We do not charge students for overdue books, however, if a book is lost or damaged students will be

charged a fee to replace the book or item.

Simpson's ebook collection can be accessed from the Mackin Via site on the school's library

webpage at any time using a computer, laptop, or hand-held device with internet connection. Students

can access the site using their school user name and password.

All 6th grade classes have a scheduled library visit each week while 7th and 8th grades come every

other week.

Simpson students can visit the library as needed before the morning bell, during their lunch block and

during their Resource block with a pass.

If you have any question, please stop by the library! We'd love to help you in any way we can! Maureen Kennedy and Devon Yorkshire

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School News and Information Cont. JL Simpson Middle School is routinely inspected in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA). As required by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the EPA, this notification is to inform you that asbestos-containing material (ACM) is present in several locations in our school. The ACM is inspected semi-annually by qualified LCPS personnel to insure that the material remains in good condition and is not creating an exposure hazard for building occupants. The Asbestos Management Plan indicates locations where asbestos-containing materials may be present. The plan can be found in the administrative office at the school. In addition, a copy of the Asbestos Management Plan is located in the Loudoun County Public Schools Facilities Services Division office at 1002C Sycolin Road, Leesburg, Virginia. Please feel free to request information about our Management Plan, the inspection findings and our plan of action. The Plan will be available for your review and inspection during normal office hours.

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Substance Awareness Presentation

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Parent Resource Services

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College Funding Coach