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A Message from Mr. Morris

Stratford Landing is a Third Time Virginia Distinguished Purple Star School!

We are so proud to announce that our school has once again been designated a Virginia Distinguished Purple Star School! This is a monumental achievement, marking the third time we have earned this prestigious honor, a tradition that began in 2019—my very first year as principal here at Stratford Landing. For seven years, we have been leading our region and our division in this vital work, setting a standard for excellence in military-connected family support. This accomplishment speaks directly to the meaningful relationships we have with our military-connected families, who represent approximately 20% of our student population.

The Virginia Purple Star Designation is awarded to schools that have demonstrated a major commitment to students and families connected to our nation's military. This third designation is a testament to our sustained, high-quality efforts, as the award must be re-earned every three years. We are deeply committed to these students because we recognize that military-connected children are, on average, three times more likely to move than their civilian peers. Our dedicated staff, our military family points-of-contact, and our student-led transition programs are all focused on mitigating the unique academic and social-emotional challenges our families face, ensuring every child feels welcome and supported from their first day to their last.

Thank you to our entire school community for embracing and supporting our military-connected students and their families. This distinction belongs to all of us!

Important Dates

Standard School Year Calendar

SLES PTA Calendar

Sunday, October 26 | PTA Trunk or Treat, 2:00pm - 3:30pm
Monday, October 27, Principal’s Hour, 6:30 – 7:30. No need to RSVP. Use this link to join virtually https://meet.google.com/pxn-gaek-dgb. We look forward to engaging with our families.
Thursday, October 31| End of First Quarter, Two (2) Hour Early Release, dismissal at 1:55 pm
Friday, October 31 – Book Character Dress Up Day (no toy weapons or depictions of violence)
The Family Resource Room will be closed on the following days below until noon October 27, 28, and 29
Monday & Tuesday, November 3 & 4 | Student Holidays
Monday, November 10, SLES Veterans Day Celebration
Wednesday, November 12, Progress Reports sent home
November 13^th Fall Picture Re-take Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yQuQUm8VzcqYaAFLSvIxZNt436hvhaAcqpPJwByKK8o/edit?tab=t.0
Friday, November 14 | Deadline to submit an outstanding employee nomination
Wednesday, November 19, Three Hour Early Release, Dismissal 12:55 pm
Friday, November 21, SLES Thanksgiving Luncheon
Oct. 31^st -6^th Grade Fall Festival 9:30am- 1:30pm

2025-2026 Family Needs Assessment

Our team includes enthusiastic staff members who are here to support you and your students.

We are conducting this survey to gather valuable information on how we can best support you as a school community. Please take a few moments to fill it out as thoroughly as possible—your feedback is essential in helping us serve you better.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for being a vital part of our SLES family!

https://forms.gle/KTdf9ZmBoxZMYAAx5

When Should Your Child Stay Home?

Whether students miss school because of illness or any other reason, missing school leads to learning loss.

Help your student succeed by encouraging them to miss as few days as possible. However, do make sure your student stays home if they are sick. So when should your child stay home? Visit the FCPS website for helpful ideas regarding absences and how to work with your child and our school.

If your child has a chronic illness, make sure to notify our school and your child’s [teacher or teachers] so that assistance can be provided if needed. Keep an open line of communication with our public health nurse. Call the school as soon as you know your child will be absent and tell school staff why and for how long.

How AI Is Shaping Teaching and Learning

Meeting the Moment: FCPS Forward — AI, a conversation with division leadership, which will take place Monday, November 3, from 6 to 8 p.m., at West Springfield High School. Attend to:

Learn about the opportunities and challenges of AI in education.
Explore how AI can support FCPS student achievement and workforce readiness.
Engage in a thought-provoking panel and keynotes.
Help shape the future of innovation at Fairfax County Public Schools.

Agenda details will be shared with registered participants in the coming weeks. Contact DITEvents@fcps.edu with any questions.

Bond Referendums Support Communities

The building and renovation of Fairfax County public schools is not funded through the division’s annual operating budget.

Voter-approved bonds allow payment for these projects over time. A $460 million bond referendum is on the November ballot. Read more about the 2025 Bond Referendum. Learn more about registering to vote. Make a plan to vote by Tuesday, November 4.

FCPS Ombuds Office: Your Go-To Guide for the School System

Do you have a question or concern about Fairfax County Public Schools, but you don’t know where to find the answer? Dawn Clements wants you to know you can ask her! Dawn’s mission as the FCPS Ombuds is to make it easier to understand the school system and help build trust within the community. In honor of Ombuds Day, learn more about Dawn Clements and the Ombuds Office.

Please take a moment to nominate an outstanding staff member at Stratford Landing for the FCPS Outstanding Employee Award. We have so many wonderful, hardworking teachers in this building. I often tell the staff that everything we do for our students is by design, and the impact adults at SLES have on our students is profound! Even if the employee does not move forward in the process, we do share the nominations with our staff. It means so much and only takes a few minutes.

See below for the link to the nominating form.

Nominations are now open for the FCPS Outstanding Employee Awards! To submit a nomination for a SLES Outstanding Employee, please complete the nomination through this Google form link: https://forms.gle/27PRbe1yzZXPjqQ67 . You may nominate up to one employee per category.

Outstanding Teacher
Outstanding New Teacher
Outstanding Principal
Outstanding New Principal
Outstanding Leader
Outstanding Professional Employee
Outstanding Operational Employee

The deadline to submit a nomination is November 14

If you have any questions, please contact Barbara Flores at Bdfloresroch@fcps.edu

Lexia/FCPS Family Info Night: Do you have families of students at your school who want to learn more about Lexia? Invite them to join Lexia® Learning for a family information night to learn how FCPS is using Lexia® Core5 and Lexia® PowerUp in classrooms across the district in the 25-26SY to support students' Literacy growth.

Topics to be covered during this session include:

What is Lexia Core5 and PowerUp and how do the programs support your students' individual learning needs?
How does Lexia support teacher planning and instruction?
How is Lexia data being used for progress monitoring and goal setting by educators
Tips for supporting your student at home.

Sessions will take place on Thursday, November 6 2025, Tuesday, February 3 2026 and Wednesday, May 6 2026 @ 6:30 - 7:30 PM. Families can register for an FCPS/Lexia Parent Information Night via this link: bit.ly/familyinfo2526. Please share The Lexia Parent Night 25-26 SY with families. The link includes the Arabic, Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese translations that can be printed or shared as a pdf file.

Theresa Lieteau

Messages from PTA

Rock N Run 2025 Online Donations will remain open until October 31st!
Head over to https://slpta.org/rnr and find your child’s class donation page to help them achieve their grade level prizes! Then watch the school donation totals add up to earn more school wide prizes! Every dolphin earns a prize in the SLES Rock N Run!

Rock N Run Donations go towards SLES community support and enrichment in many ways that you may not be aware of.

● SLES community events and enrichment opportunities throughout the school year such as Movie Night, Trunk or Treat, Young Artists Night and the Spelling Bee.
● Celebrating our teachers and staff throughout the year with staff appreciation activities.
● Continuing to support Care and Share students and families.
● The super helpful SLES Student Directory.
● Support for teachers + staff classroom setup and supplies

Thank you so much for helping us show the SLES LOVE!

If you have any questions reach out to fundraising@slpta.org

SLES Trunk or Treat
Sunday, October 26, 2025 from 2:00-3:30pm
Are you ready to join the SLES PTA for a spook-tacular event? SLES Trunk or Treat is a free event that brings our community together for fun, friendship and of course TREATS! Interested in volunteering or decorating a trunk?

SLES Stock the Lounge
Let's show our SLES staff some love by helping the PTA stock the staff lounges! Use the link: https://signup.com/go/hrRKsuG to sign up. Please drop off your donation in the main office between October 23rd-29th OR email staffappreciation@slpta.org to arrange for pick up.

Stratford Landing Elementary School needs your help!

Library Volunteers

The library needs you! There are many opportunities to help in the library during this school year doing things like shelving books, checking out books, creating bulletin boards or helping to set up activities. If any of this seems interesting to you and you have a ½ hour of time to give, please consider coming to the library.

The October Library Volunteer Sign up:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70A0C4BADAA2EA1FA7-58797026-october#/

Stratford Landing ES Swag
What better way to show your school spirit than to sport some amazing SLES swag! We hope to give you lots of options and designs throughout the year! Don’t hesitate though..the designs will be rotated often so that everyone can find something they like. Check out the SLES PTA store: https://www.bonfire.com/store/stratford-landing-es/

We also have 2 designs of car magnets available for pre-order here:
https://slpta.org/product/sles_magnets

SLES PTA Calendar
Did you know? The PTA has a calendar! Stay up to date on all the PTA happenings by visiting our website and/or adding the calendar to your Google calendar. https://slpta.org/about/calendar