April 10, 2023- Eye of the Tiger Family Message

Dear Barrett Families:

We hope you had a wonderful Spring Break!  We are excited to see all of our students back on Tuesday. This week marks the start of the fourth and last quarter of school.  Using sports as a reference, the last quarter is the deciding factor between victory and defeat and often requires a big push to finish strong. Similarly, we want each of our students to finish this year strong and want to ensure that they achieve the goals they set for their growth this year.  There are many upcoming events this quarter such as the whole school morning meeting assembly, SOL Assessments, benchmark assessments, field trips, and end of year events. To ensure our students are fully engaged in the events this last quarter of the year, please ensure that your child has a good night’s rest each night, healthy breakfast, and daily attendance at school. As a reminder, Barrett provides free breakfast for each student and begins at 8:40 AM.

April is also the month of the Military Child.  Please join us in celebrating and honoring military children by wearing purple on Wednesday, April 19th.

Please see the messages below:

Barrett in Twitter: Check out #KWBPride photos and videos! !https://twitter.com/search?q=%23KWBPride&src=typed_query&f=live

Content Filter Update: During Spring Break, Arlington Public Schools will be transitioning from Global Protect to a new content filtering system, Lightspeed Filter, that has been successfully piloted at six schools. The new content filtering system strengthens online security, improves functionality for students at home, and provides additional parental control over student device usage after school. The transition timeframe—during Spring Break–was selected to ensure that there would be no impact during instructional activities. Please see below for more information on this update:

• • In the 2023-24 school year, a Parent Portal will be available online that allows families to request a usage report for their child.  The Parent Portal will not be deployed until Fall 2023 (Phase 2). More communication and information about the Parent Portal and usage reports will be shared prior to the Phase 2 rollout.
  • A process for how parent requests for student usage are handled will be clearly outlined and shared with staff. It is important to note that parents should not directly engage with teachers about how a device is used during the instructional day.  All such inquiries should be directed to the school administrators.
• At-Home Parental Controls
  • In Phase 1 (starting Spring Break 2023), any at-home internet restrictions families have put in place at home will automatically go into effect on APS student devices. These restrictions will not impact the use of the student device during the instructional day. In Phase 2 (September 2023), a Parent Portal will allow parents to pause internet access on student devices for 1 hour, 3 hours, or until 6 a.m. the following day.
• Lightspeed Filter Overview
  • Principals will receive an overview on Lightspeed during the April Lead Sessions and can sign up for additional small group training. Throughout the remainder of the school year, staff will continue to receive training to strengthen their use of the platform. Any additional changes to the content filter will be communicated prior to deployment.  Principals can request additional training for their administrative team.
• Next Steps
  • Parents will be informed about the deployment of the new content filter during the Mar. 30 School Board Meeting. A full communications initiative will update parents on Phase 2 (Parent Portal) which starts in September. If you would like more information now, you can visit the Lightspeed Filter website at www.lightspeedsystems.com/products/lightspeed-filter/

Dr. Duran’s Message: Please see the most recent message from the Superintendent here and the Friday 5 message linked here. 

Volunteering Opportunities at Barrett – See this link for more information on completing the volunteering process with us. All volunteers will need to sign in at the front office and wear a visitor sticker throughout their visit with us. Please ensure you have completed the volunteer application prior to volunteering with us.

• Field Day–  We are tentatively beginning our plans for Field Day. We are currently planning on holding Field Day on Friday, June 9th and are in need of parent volunteers!  Please email Robert McLaughlin for any questions at robert.mclaughlin@apsva.us.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0449acae2da13-field#/

Yearbook Pre-Order Information – Don’t miss out on getting your 2022-23 yearbook! The only way to guarantee you receive a yearbook is to order and pay at www.yearbookordercenter.com and enter the Barrett order number 17730. Yearbooks cost $16 and orders will be available for pick up at school in early June. Have a 5th grade student? No need to order them a yearbook. The PTA is generously gifting all 5th grade students a 2022-23 yearbook! The deadline for pre-orders is April 21, 2023. Order today!