Antietam Elementary School is extremely grateful to every parent who submitted Antietam’s name in the Festival at Old Bridge’s holiday drawing. Thanks to Ms. Jeanne Peters, proud parent of a 4th grade student and extraordinary library volunteer, Antietam is the proud recipient of a check for $1000. Each year, the Festival at Old Bridge sponsors a holiday drawing. The lucky person with the winning entry wins a $500 gift certificate, which may be used at any store in the shopping center, and the lucky school wins $1000. This year, as an additional bonus, Huntington Learning Center provided Antietam with a $1000 scholarship for a student to advance their skills at the learning center. Ms. Najjum, Antietam’s school librarian, is especially thrilled with the good fortune as the check will be spent on new library books for Antietam’s library.

Each year the Prince William County Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in conjunction with Delta Education, the Public Service Foundation, and the Cecil and Irene Hylton Foundation sponsors an oratorical and essay contest in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. This year marks the twenty-seventh Annual King Day Celebration. Antietam Elementary is proud to announce that fifth grade student, Candace Todd, won second place for her essay, “The Importance of Education”. The Annual celebration will be held on Monday, January 16, at 11:00 AM at Hylton Memorial Chapel in Woodbridge. Congratulations to Candace and to the entire Todd family for instilling in their students an appreciation for education and an understanding that education has value and is worth working hard to achieve.

Recently announced by Gov. McDonnell and the Virginia Department of Education, are the names of schools from across the Commonwealth to earn 2012 Virginia Index of Performance (VIP) awards for advanced learning and achievement.  The incentive program recognizes schools that far exceed minimum state and federal accountability standards and achieve excellence goals established by the governor and the board. Antietam Elementary is proud to be one of the 188 schools to receive the Board of Education Excellence Award. To qualify for the award, schools must meet all state and federal achievement benchmarks for at least two consecutive years and achieve all applicable excellence goals based on student achievement and other performance indicators. Schools earn bonus points for other performance measures, including the Governor’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Scorecard. Only eleven other elementary schools in Prince William County were recognized in the same manner.

Inordinate numbers of students arriving late to school each morning results in students starting off the day on the wrong foot and parents frustrated by last minute traffic. Each student deserves to have the best start to each academic day that we can provide. When students enter the classroom after instruction has begun, they are already behind. They are unable to get settled and unpack their book-bag like their peers have already done. It is also frustrating for parents who wait until the last possible moment to enter our parking lot and are greeted by cars backed up on Antietam Rd. With more than 600 students in our school, it is not possible for every car rider to be dropped off at 8:14 and still be in their classroom before the tardy bell rings. If your student has more than one tardy, please make a New Year’s resolution to leave the house 10 minutes earlier than you have been leaving each day. There is no traffic jam at 8:00 AM and school staff is outside at that time, ready to assist your student in exiting the car. Thank you for your help in providing a “great start” for your student each and every day.

When inclement weather causes road conditions to be hazardous, schools may open late, close early, or close for the entire school day depending upon the severity of the weather. Please listen to any local television or radio news station for announcements of changes in school schedules. This information is also posted immediately on the PWCS Web site at pwcs.edu and will be aired on PWCS-TV (Comcast channel 18 and Verizon channel 36). Information may also be obtained by calling 703.791.2776 and selecting #3. Families may also register to receive e-mail or text messages regarding inclement weather announcements and school closings through the PWCS E-News Subscription service.

Decisions to open late, close early, or close for the entire school day are made by the PWCS Division office and not by our school. Decisions are based on conditions across the county to ensure a margin of safety for all travelers. Conditions that can appear safe in one area may be different in another. Decisions take all areas into consideration to protect the safety of all our students and staff.

The Healthier US School Challenge is a voluntary initiative established in 2004 to recognize those schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity.

The goal of the Healthier US School Challenge is to improve the health of the Nation’s children by promoting healthier school environments. To help meet the goal, the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service identifies schools that have made changes to:

Schools have the opportunity to become certified as Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Gold of Distinction Schools, determined by how well a school meets the specific criteria. We are pleased to announce that Antietam Elementary was one of only thirteen PWCS schools earning an award, in our case the Gold Award of Distinction.