October 10, 2022- Eye of the Tiger Family Message

Dear Barrett Families:

Please see the information below to help you get ready for this week!

Annual Online Verification Process (AOVP) :

The Annual Online Verification Process is underway! It is an opportunity for families to review and update vital student, parent, and emergency contact information. It also contains important policies and authorizations. Families must complete this process by Oct. 31, 2022 to ensure that schools have accurate student information as we begin the school year. Please join us on October 19th at 7:00pm to complete the AOVP Process AND get some pizza too!  Contact Sandra Espinoza at sandra.espinoza@apsva.us for help activating your ParentVUE account, completing AOVP, or for additional support.

COVID In-School Testing:

APS will continue to offer optional in-school COVID testing for all students and staff through our testing partner, Aegis Sciences Corporation. Our testing day is Thursday from 10:00 AM-12:00 PM in the lobby.  Please see this link for more information. Please remind your child to get tested on Thursday mornings if you have opted them in.

Halloween Parade and Festivities- 

It’s that time again! We will continue our tradition of having a Halloween parade for the students. This is a fun time for our students, staff, and community to dress up and parade through the neighborhood. Parents are invited to join us for the parade. Please e-mail Principal Han at catherine.han@apsva.us if you are available to volunteer to help with the parade. Details of our specific plans will be shared via School talk separately. Please refer to the School talk message for our parade route, timing of the event, and meeting location.

Your child’s room parents and/or teacher may plan a fall themed crafts and games class “party” for students to ensure that all of our students can participate as some of our families do not celebrate Halloween. Additionally, we will not have edible items such as food and drinks at this event to ensure we are sensitive to our student’s dietary restrictions, allergies, etc. Please do not send your child with any food or treats for this event. We will be returning them home.

Additional items to note:

• Please ensure that your child’s costume is easy to wear independently since we will not have the space and/or staffing to help students change.
• Please leave accessories (ie. masks, etc.) at home. If the parent wishes to participate in the parade with us, you can bring accessories and hand off to the student along the parade route and collect once we have returned to school.
• All students will re- enter the building with us after the parade. We will not be dismissing students from the parade to ensure that we have accounted for all of our students after the parade.

Please use this link if you do not want your child to participate in any of the events on Halloween Day. Any student that is not participating in any of the events will be provided activities at an alternate location. We will be sending home a paper flier with your child with this information as well.

Save the Date: Walk & Bike to School on Wed, Oct. 12

Join us on Wed, Oct. 12, as all APS schools take part in the annual celebration that encourages students to walk, bike or roll to school. APS will use this celebratory event to kick off a year-long campaign to encourage and support active transportation to our schools, redoubling our efforts to make walking, biking, and rolling part of the school commute on Oct. 12 and every day. All APS participants are encouraged to tweet using #APSWalk2School.

Sub with Us: 

We are in great need of substitute teachers! Please consider joining our sub pool by clicking on this link. You can select Barrett as your school of choice and join our team as you are able too! It would greatly support our staff and students!

Volunteering at Barrett

We will have a variety of opportunities for families to volunteer at the school to support our students this school year. Please complete the volunteer application and other important training to complete your volunteer training if you are interested in volunteering. See this link for more information on volunteering with us.