Dear Stallion Families, It was great seeing so many families at Back to School Night and the Fall Festival! Parent-Teacher Conference season has begun. If you have not had a chance to sign-up for a parent-teacher conference, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher.

At the end of September, the Virginia Department of Education released its School Quality Profiles. We are very pleased to share the Saratoga Elementary is fully accredited. Here is the link to the detailed report: http://schoolquality.virginia.gov/schools/saratoga-elementary

Sincerely, Saratoga Admin. Team

Counselor’s Corner  

October is Bullying Prevention Month.Below are recommendations from stopbullying.org on how to stop bullying.

Parents, school staff, and other caring adults have a role to play in preventing bullying.

They can: Help kids understand bullying. Talk about what bullying is and how to stand up to it safely. Tell kids bullying is unacceptable. Make sure kids know how to get help.

Keep the lines of communication open. Check in with kids often. Listen to them. Know their friends, ask about school, and understand their concerns .

Encourage kids to do what they love. Special activities, interests, and hobbies can boost confidence, help kids make friends, and protect them from bullying behavior.

Saratoga will be sponsoring a Dare to Care Week from Oct. 29-Nov.2. Additional information will be sent out via News You Choose.

In Case You Missed It

The October 2018 Scholastic Book Fair raised over $12,000! Thank you to all the families who supported us through purchasing books and all our hardworking volunteers. We could not have hosted the book fair without you! If you missed the book fair this time, we hope to host another in the spring.

Stallion Spotlight

Our Principal Mrs. Amy Miller

Mrs. Amy Miller began her career at Saratoga following her role as an assistant principal at Belvedere Elementary. Since her time at Saratoga, Mrs. Miller has worked diligently to improve school culture. Last year, Mrs. Miller was recognized as FCPS 2018 Outstanding New Principal. Mrs. Miller attributes this success to the Saratoga Stallion team: “I had a great group of teachers that were willing to be brave and take risks with me and it paid off for our students.” When Mrs. Miller is not spending time with Saratoga students, she enjoys spending time with her own four children and husband. Mr. Miller is an FCPS educator and their children also attend FCPS schools. Outside of school, the Miller family enjoys camping, vacationing at the beach and attending sporting events together.

Did You Know?

Saratoga is digging deeply into the Portrait of a Graduate Communicator and Collaborator Attributes. The FCPS internet page has some great Portrait of a Graduate Family Resources. This public internet page provides an overview of what Portrait of a Graduate is by grade level bands, as well as ideas for how families and community members can support students in developing PoG skills.

PTA News Brief

The Fall Festival was a great success! Thank you to all the many volunteers and everyone who attended. We are well into the Whoo’s Reading Fundraiser and it is going really well. As a result of the funds raised last year our students recently attended a Joe Romano assembly. Joe Romano does a great job of connecting his magic show to the importance of reading. This assembly is definitely a favorite. Thank you PTA!

Helping at Home

Looking for additional academic online resources to support your child at home? Check out the Student Links page on the Saratoga Website located here: https://saratogaes.fcps.edu/student-links. Use this page to gain access to tools such as DreamBox for differentiated math support and MyOn for access to thousands of online texts! Students should log into student specific accounts with their FCPS username (Student ID number) and self-generated password. If your child has forgotten his or her login information, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher for additional support. For directions to access DreamBox on an iPad, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher.

• November 1 – AAP Information Night, 6pm – 7pm
• November 5– Student Holiday
• November 6 – Student Holiday
• November 8 – Family Math Club
  • 5:30pm-6:00pm Pizza Dinner
  • 6:00pm-7:00pm Family Math Activities
• November 13– Progress Reports Sent Home
• November 14– Thanksgiving Luncheon
• November 15– Fall Picture MakeUp Day
• November 21-23– Thanksgiving