Benefits Open Enrollment and “Grow a Teacher” Opportunity

- News and Announcements

This Week’s Headlines:

Dear ACPS Staff,

This week, we celebrated National Teacher Appreciation Week. This year, it is more important than ever that we thank our teachers for continuing to give our children an innovative and rewarding educational experience. Navigating teaching during the turbulence of the dual pandemic of COVID-19 and systemic racism has made this one of the most turbulent years, by far, for those in the teaching profession. Yet, our teachers step up to the challenge every day. We have seen how they are a lifeline for students and families for more than just their academic instruction.

Today (May 7), we also celebrate our school lunch staff for School Lunch Heroes Day. These behind-the-scenes champions make sure all students are fed and nourished in a safe environment, and they do it with a smile. They have prepared and packaged millions of meals for food distribution sites throughout the pandemic and continue to serve our students every day. 

Coming up for next week, I am asking families to look for an important message we will send them on May 11. All ACPS families will receive an online form to complete and tell us their Summer Learning 2021 and Fall 2021 learning preferences. For Fall 2021, families can choose five days a week of in-person learning or five days a week of virtual learning through the Virtual Virginia program. Please take a moment to read the information below and let parents know to watch for this important message next week so we are informed about their family’s choices for Summer Learning and Fall 2021.

Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr.
Superintendent

Thank You, ACPS Teachers!

In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, watch this video of our ACPS teachers and staff in action!

We asked the ACPS community to tell us about their favorite teachers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and these are just a few of the comments shared.

“Hard to do a shoutout to individuals, but both of my boys have benefited from the great music programs available, modern languages, passionate English teachers, patient math teachers, and so much more! Thank you, teachers, for all you do with patience, grace, expertise and eternal patience!” — Claire Haymes

“I am sure my daughter’s love of reading was fed and nurtured by Amy Christensen, and Ms. Hanna and her first-grade team at Jefferson-Houston have done amazing things this year keeping kids engaged and learning!” — Sarah Row Mehaffey

“So many great teachers: Heather Rosner, Denise Santiago, Ruth Brannigan, Anna Harvin, Peggy Lopez, Matthew Zahn and Ms. Kiyak. I’m sure the kids would add to my list.” — Karla Harr

“We’re grateful for so many wonderful Tucker teachers…. but to name just a few: Christina Bohringer, John Lin, Heather Kolovos, Addison Aubry, Jackie Booe. And Mrs. Dua loves all children like they are her own!” — Amy Slavin

“Mary Davis at MacArthur taught two of my kids, and we all love her. She is the calmest teacher I have ever met and so wonderfully inclusive. She always reminds her past and present students that ‘once a Davis kid, always a Davis kid,’ and with both kids, she turned around the elementary school experience so that what had been a mostly negative experience for them up to that point became positive. Mr. Harris, the head PE teacher at MacArthur, knows the name of every child in the school and greets them all with a smile every morning. Some other standout teachers my kids have had include Whitney Greisinger, Caitlin Bousquet, and Leigh Dugan at MacArthur, Evan Sonoda, Donald Brown, Jonathan Vega, and Tressa Peacher at GW, and Sean Fredericks at Minnie Howard. Last but not least, the incomparable Mr. Jonathan Jones, who teaches orchestra at GW. There is no one quite like him!” — Elizabeth Salgado

“Our three children went all the way through ACPS (youngest is a senior at TC), and they’ve had many outstanding teachers, too many to list, and we appreciate them all!” — Jasmine Malone

Thank you, teachers, for continually going above and beyond every single day of the year!

Let’s Thank Our School Lunch Heroes!

Today, May 7, is School Lunch Heroes Day. This day is dedicated to the men and women who make the cafeterias and schools safe, healthy and nourishing for our students and staff. Inspired by Jarrett J. Krosoczka, author and illustrator of the popular “Lunch Lady” graphic novel series, this day celebrates and honors the hardworking teams in our school cafeterias who support our schools and community. 

While buildings were shuttered during the pandemic, the ACPS School Nutrition Services (SNS) team continued to prepare meals, drinks and snacks for the ACPS Meal Distribution program that delivered more than three million nutritious meals to students in our community. 

“Since March 2020, the ACPS cafeteria staff has been preparing to distribute meals three times a week to families. Fully-masked and gloved, our heroes prepared grab-and-go meals (breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinners) seven days a week. In some instances, the staff boarded school buses to distribute meals directly to families throughout our community,” reported Cynthia Hormel, director of school nutrition services. 

“Our cafeteria workers, often putting their health and that of their families at risk, understand that hunger is a real and prevalent issue in our communities. Schools are an anchor, a safety net for families in so many ways. The school nutrition services team has continued showing up; they understand this work cannot stop. Our cafeteria staff members are truly unsung heroes, and it is a continued honor and pleasure to lead this team.”

Since the pandemic began in March 2020, our school nutrition staff have prepared and distributed the following:

  • 765,444 cartons of orange juice
  • 1,635,726 cartons of milk and nonperishable dairy drinks
  • 3,238,823 individual meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks)
  • 402,560 lbs. of fresh fruit

Please show your support by honoring your school cafeteria workers in recognition of National School Lunch Hero Day! Watch this fun video highlighting the daily work our school lunch heroes have been doing this past year. And, they have fun doing it! 

Here are just a few comments from our school lunch heroes about why they love their job.

“What I love about the job is the kids — just seeing their happy faces every day I work.” — Dawn Lendino, SNS manager at Charles Barrett Elementary School.

“I love my job because I love interacting with people and serving them food with care. Taking care of my students and customers is my priority.” — Mirtha Navarrete, SNS manager at George Washington Middle School

“I’ve been at ACPS for 18 years. Never once has it felt like work. These kids and staff are our pride and joy. We are family.” — Elsa Rodriguez, SNS manager at Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 IB School.

Health Insurance Open Enrollment 

Health insurance open enrollment will be from May 1 through May 28. For details on open enrollment, review the Health Insurance Open Enrollment Guide. You may log into the Employee Self Service (ESS) webpage to review your current benefits, and choose your health insurance benefits for next year.

This year, open enrollment meetings will not be held at school locations or the Central Office. However, HR staff will be available to help with benefit enrollment online via Employee Self Service. Contact HRBenefits@acps.k12.va.us with any questions. ACPS health insurance vendors will hold virtual meetings for employees to learn more about the health plans offered through UnitedHealthcare and Kaiser Permanente. Links to the webinars are available on the ACPS website. 

Watch this short video to learn more about the Health Savings Account (HSA) with UnitedHealthcare Qualified Health Plan (QHP) and find out if this consumer driven health plan is a good fit for you.

Reminder: To continue participation in the Health and Dependent Flexible Spending Account employees must re-enroll each year. The annual maximum contribution amount is $2,750.00 for the Health FSA and $5,000.00 for the Dependent Care FSA. Please see the Open Enrollment Guide for details of temporary changes to the plans.

Summer Learning and Fall Opening 2021: Learning Choice Form

Next week, all ACPS families will receive an online form to complete and tell us their Summer Learning and Fall 2021 learning preference for each child in their family. The Learning Choice Form will be open from May 11-24, 2021. 

There are two important questions that every ACPS family must answer for each student:

  1. Summer 2021: Will your child(ren) participate in the Summer Learning for All program? The program will be offered July 6-July 30, with a two-week extended virtual program Aug. 2-12 for students invited to participate.
  2. Fall 2021: For the 2021-22 school year, would you like for your child(ren) to participate in ACPS in-person learning OR 100% virtual learning through Virtual Virginia? Both options will be five days a week. Learn more about each of these options.

The decision families make now for the fall semester of 2021-22 is important to our comprehensive planning. The Learning Choice Form will be sent to families by email on May 11, 2021. May 24, 2021 is the last day for families to inform ACPS of their selection for the 2021-22 school year. If a family does not make a selection before the deadline, then their child will automatically be enrolled in in-person learning for the first semester of the school year.

Professional Development Opportunity: Grow A Teacher

The UVA School of Education and Human Development and ACPS offer the “Grow a Teacher” partnership. This program is ideal for ACPS employees who have an undergraduate degree and want to take courses toward licensure, receive a master’s degree, and professional licensure in Special Education General Curriculum or English as a Second Language (ESL). 

ACPS will fund participant tuition at 100%. Applicants will be responsible to pay for course materials (books) and application fees. If you are interested, register for the last Grow A Teacher Information Sessions on May 10 from 2-3 p.m. 

Kion Brown is a UVA School of Education and Human Development Grow a Teacher graduate. He will be teaching special education in ACPS next fall. Learn more about Kion Brown through this graduation spotlight.

We are truly committed to supporting and providing opportunities for our own employees to join an amazing cadre of teachers!

Vote For Your Favorite Logo Design Concept for Alexandria City High School

The High School Logo Poll Opens today and runs through May 17, 2021.

The community is invited to help ACPS choose the design concept for the official logo for Alexandria City High School, which will replace the name of T.C. Williams High School on July 1, 2021. 

The Superintendent’s Titan Logo Review Committee met the week of May 4, 2021 to review the 80+ design concepts submitted by students for the new logo for Alexandria City High School. The committee was composed of school staff, students, community, and an ACPS School Board member. Our process included reviewing the original guidelines, voting and discussion based on basic categories, and final selection of the top four design concepts, which we are sharing with you for your input. 

As you review the top four designs for the new logo, please understand that we are asking you to choose your favorite design concept, which will then be enhanced and finalized. These are NOT the final versions of the logos, these are just concepts. Based on the top selections, we may also choose to combine concepts. As you make your selection, please keep in mind that the logo should capture school name/initials and Titan pride. 

We have some talented students who submitted some creative designs which made it challenging for the committee to narrow down the concepts. Thanks to all the students who submitted designs for consideration! 

This community poll will close on May 17, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. 

Take the High School Logo Community Poll Now >

Changes to 2020-21 Grading for Middle and High School Students 

In response to the unprecedented challenges faced by students this year, the following changes to secondary grading practices will be made to ensure maximum flexibility and benefit for middle and high school students, effective today. The changes expand the opportunities for reassessment and submitting late work, and that final exams will only count this year if it raises the student’s grade.

Changes for Semester 1 — High School Credit-Bearing Courses only:

Final Exams and Final Grades
Schools will review grades from courses that ended at the first semester to determine whether omitting the student’s final exam would have resulted in a higher grade. If so, the final exam grade will be deleted, the final grade recalculated, and a grade change completed. School administrators will work with central office staff to conduct this review by May 28, 2021. 

Changes for Semester 2 — All Secondary Students:

Final Exams and Final Grades
Final exams for a year-long or second semester course will only be counted if it raises the student’s final grade for the course:

  • The lowest grade that may be awarded on a final exam at the end of the 2020-21 school year is a 50%.
  • Final exams may be project-based or performance-based opportunities that include components begun prior to the final exam date. 

For courses in which a final exam is not given, the formula for final grade calculation will be:

  • 25% per quarter for year-long courses
  • 50% per quarter for semester long courses

Reassessment and Make-Up Opportunities

Third Quarter: Students will be allowed to complete any reassessments (up to a maximum revised grade of 80%) and makeup work (without penalty) by Friday, May 21, 2021.

Third and Fourth Quarters: Students will be provided with an automatic opportunity for reassessment on any assessments for which a grade of D or less was earned. This could result in a maximum revised grade of 80% (e.g., test corrections, remediation, completion of the retake, etc.). 

Fourth Quarter:

  • Seniors will be allowed to complete any reassessments (up to a maximum revised grade of 80%) and make-up work (without penalty) by Wednesday, June 2, 2021.
  • Students in grades 6 through 11 will be allowed to complete any reassessments (up to a maximum revised grade of 80%) and make-up work (without penalty) by Friday, June 18, 2021. 
  • Schools will ensure that any heavily weighted grading category (such as summative assessments) has four or more entries to properly reflect mastery.

These changes are aligned with School Board Regulation IKC-R (PDF).

Suzanne Hess Named Inaugural Principal for Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School

Suzanne Hess has been named as the principal of Matthew Maury Elementary School and will serve as the inaugural principal of Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School, when the school’s new name takes effect as of July 1, 2021.

Hess is committed to Mrs. Brooks’ legacy, “Bloom where ye are planted,” as a lifelong learner and educator in the ACPS system. She began her career in 2001 at John Adams Elementary School. During her 13-year tenure at John Adams Elementary School, she taught multiple grade levels, held numerous leadership roles and ended her time there as an English Learners specialist and Department chair. 

Following John Adams, Suzanne was promoted to assistant principal at Matthew Maury Elementary School in 2015, where she has served the students and community that she loves. Hess holds a Masters of Educational Leadership Administrative Supervision and Instruction K-12 from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from Florida Atlantic University. She also holds professional licenses and endorsements from the State of Virginia in Early/Primary Education, Elementary Grades K-6, and Administrative Supervision and Instruction Pre-Kindergarten-12th Grade. Suzanne is fluent in both Spanish and Italian.

Hess shared her enthusiasm, “As a committed instructional leader who has served the students, staff, families and community of our school for the past six years; it is with abundant pride and a great sense of honor that I serve as the first Principal of Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School. I am humbled by this historic appointment and intend to honor Mrs. Brooks’ legacy.”

“It is my purpose to collaborate, motivate and support each and every member of our school family with passion, energy and a dedication toward continual excellence and equity for all. The extraordinary ability of our educators to produce learners and leaders who refuse to be average, overcome obstacles, and are resilient to life’s challenges, positively impacts our community and beyond. I am excited about the personal and professional challenge that awaits us along this journey. I am steadfastly devoted to empowering all of our students to thrive in a diverse and ever-changing world.”