Dear ACPS Staff,
Last week was an extremely busy one as we worked to prepare the school division for normal operations. My sincere thanks to all of you who worked tirelessly through the storm to get our schools ready to receive students and staff. Unfortunately, our principals missed out on all except five hours of Virginia School Principal Appreciation Week, so please make sure you thank them personally.
Due to the past week of snow closures, ACPS will be extending the end of the second quarter to the close of business on Monday, February 8. Please work with students to let them know what this means for their deadlines. We want to ensure that students do not struggle with their grades as a result of the snow storm.
Elementary grades will now be due by the end of the day on Monday, February 8. Secondary grades are due by 6 p.m. on February 11.
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| The Bus Barn cleans up after the storm. | ||
ACPS Snow Make-up Days
The 2015-16 school year calendars have assigned snow make-up days to account for school days lost to inclement weather. The calendars schedule students to attend for 183 days rather than the state-mandated minimum of 180 days, so the first three days missed do not have to be made up.
As of Friday, Jan. 29, 2016, ACPS students have missed six school days. This means that traditional calendar students will now be attending school on Friday, Feb. 5 and Friday, March 4. Modified calendar students (Samuel W. Tucker Elementary School) will now attend classes on Friday, March 4 and Friday, March 18. There is no make-up day for day six.
Any further snow days would need to be made up according to the below schedule:
TRADITIONAL CALENDAR SNOW MAKE-UP SCHEDULE
1-3 days: No make-up
Day 4: Make-up on Feb. 5
Day 5: Make-up on March 4
Day 6: No make-up
Day 7: Make-up on April 22
Day 8: No Make-up
MODIFIED CALENDAR (TUCKER) SNOW MAKE-UP SCHEDULE
1-3 days: No make-up
Day 4: Make-up on March 4
Day 5: Make-up on March 18
Day 6: No make-up
Day 7: Make-up on May 13
Day 8: No make-up
If nine or more days are missed, total instructional hours will be reviewed to determine if additional minutes need to be added, or if schools have sufficient instructional time to meet state requirements.
Please refer to the ACPS Calendars web page to view and download the 2015-16 academic calendars.
Upcoming Events
Several events that had to be canceled due to the storm this week have been rescheduled. This includes:
- Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s FAFSA Workshop: Rescheduled for Tuesday, February 2, 5-8 p.m.
- The School Board Combined Funds Work Session #2 and #3, canceled on Tuesday and Thursday, will be combined and rescheduled for Tuesday, Feb 2.
- The 2016 ACPS Science and Engineering Fair has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 3. Volunteers can register to be judges using the online judge application form.
Thank you again for your hard work and patience last week.
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| George Mason Elementary School ready for students again. | |