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Dear Dogwood Families,

We are thrilled to share some incredible news regarding our students' attendance!

Thanks to the strong partnership between our staff, students, and you—our dedicated families—we have successfully reduced our rate of chronic absenteeism from 12.6% to 8.7%!

This significant decrease means more students are in their classrooms, engaged in learning, and benefiting from consistent instruction. Every day matters, and this dramatic improvement is a direct reflection of your commitment to ensuring your child is present and ready to learn.

Thank you for making attendance a priority. Let's keep this positive momentum going as we continue through the school year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Courtney White

Assistant Principal

Another amazing week of learning, creativity, and connection here at Dogwood! Our students brought their best every single day. The growth happening here is incredible! #DogwoodLearns

Important Dates

October

Oct. 29: 3 Hour Early Release

Oct. 30: Trunk or Treat (4:30 - 5:30 pm)

Oct. 31: 2 Hour Early Release/End of Quarter 1

November

Nov. 3: School Planning Day (No School)

Nov. 4: Teacher Workday (No School)

Nov. 11: Veteran's Day (No School)

Nov. 12: 3 Hour Early Release

Nov. 13: PTA Meeting (6 pm)

Nov. 14: Picture Day Retakes

Nov. 26 - 28: Thanksgiving Holiday (No School)

Early Dismissal Reminder:

October 29th

Please note a 3-hour early release day is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29th. Students will be dismissed at 12:35 PM.

A final reminder regarding your selected dismissal preference (bus, car rider, walker, etc.) should have been sent to you via Talking Points from your child’s teacher. If you have any questions regarding your dismissal selection, please contact the main office before Wednesday.

Trunk or Treat Dogwood Elementary students are invited to join us for a spooktacular evening of fun! Wear your favorite (school-appropriate) costume and trick-or-treat your way through our decorated trunks in the school parking lot. Our teachers can’t wait to show off their creative displays and hand out treats — one per student — while spreading some trunk or treat cheer! Event Details: When: October 30 Time: 4:30–5:30 PM Who: Dogwood Elementary students only Where: Dogwood’s Parking Lot Students must be accompanied by an adult. We can’t wait to see you all there! As a reminder, costumes are not allowed to be worn during the school day on Thursday, Oct 30 or Friday, Oct 31.

New Supporting Your Child with Dyslexia Webinar Recording is Now Available

The recordings of the webinar “Supporting Your Child with Dyslexia” that was held October 15th in collaboration with the FCPS Family Academy are now available on YouTube.  You can access the recordings here:  English Version;  Arabic Version;  Spanish Version;  Turkish Version;  Vietnamese Version

New Lexia Tip of the Week: Lexia/FCPS Family Info Night

Do you want to learn more about Lexia? You are invited 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.

Return Your Federal Impact Aid Survey

FCPS is asking all families to fill out a Federal Impact Aid Survey. The form is available in SIS ParentVUE under Online Packets, which is in the upper right corner of the screen after logging in. Please complete it as soon as possible. We will provide paper forms to families who have not completed the survey in ParentVUE starting Wednesday, November 12.

Completing this form for each school-aged child in every household is important. This year, FCPS expects to receive approximately $4 million in Impact Aid funding. These funds are used to support all Fairfax County public schools and centers.

For more information, visit the Federal Impact Aid Survey page.  

Register for ParentVUE

Learn how to activate your SISParentVUE account, so you can easily submit your survey and have access to other helpful information about your child. 

Technical support for using ParentVUE or submitting the survey online is available by submitting a Parent Support Request ticket. Select SISParent in the Application dropdown menu and type “Federal Impact Aid Survey” in the Issue Description section. You may also call the Parent Technology Help Desk at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS).

2025-2026

Outstanding Employee Awards

Nominations are now open for the 25-26 Outstanding Employee Awards! To submit a nomination for a Dogwood ES Outstanding Employee in one of the categories below, please complete the nomination through this: Nomination Form

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

You may nominate ONE or MULTIPLE employees at our school (one individual may only nominate one employee per category).

All that is required for a preliminary nomination is a paragraph or two about how this Dragon employee demonstrates exceptional work in the criteria for that category. The Google Form link has more information regarding the eligibility and criteria for each of these awards.

The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, November 7^th at 4:00pm.

SIS ParentVUE End-of-Quarter Closure

The Gradebook in SIS ParentVUE and StudentVUE will be closed for the end of the first quarter from Friday, October 31, 4 p.m. to Monday, November 10, 6 a.m. Activate your ParentVUE account to easily access grade reports.