President’s Message #
Dear Abingdon Friends and Families,
As we celebrate our school community’s accomplishments, I am thankful to the many hardworking volunteers, educators, staff, and families/friends who have been generous with their time, energy, and kindness to support our Cardinals. Every task or activity (e.g., writing our school board to advocate for Abingdon’s Extended Day staff, creating a bulletin board, or translating a flyer) has a lot of love and care put into it. Through our organization, we find ways to support the classroom, our educators, and most importantly, our children.
Among the many community-building activities we have recently hosted or sponsored, we loved seeing our Cardinals dressed in their costumes and Trunk or Treating in the school parking lot. The cheers and giggles from students enjoying the beautiful autumn day with their friends and families will surely be an everlasting childhood memory. We also are thankful for the school community joining us to watch Coco and learn about how our friends celebrate the Day of the Dead. Additionally, we are grateful for the opportunity to learn about the Native American Jingle Dress Dance (and see an eagle feather up close!) from an Abingdon parent who generously took the time to share her cultural heritage and traditions in the Abingdon Community Garden.
In other news, the Abingdon PTA is thankful for the grant requests that we received from Abingdon staff on how we can use our resources and leverage the community to meet the needs of our student population. The PTA board has agreed to fund 25 ukuleles, 30 sets of Unifix cubes, and 9 sets of dry erase multiplication manipulatives. We are also fortunate to have community donors who will help assist the Abingdon PTA with funding 4th grade’s Jamestown field trip, as well as funding kindergarten and 1st grade’s field trips to the Kennedy Center. We invite other grade levels who have not reached out to us yet on connecting with us on ways we can support an educational field trip for our flock.
As we contemplate our legacy that we will leave behind for our current and incoming students, we thank our community for engaging with our team on ways to support our children. I am thankful for APS FACE Coordinator for listening to my concerns about how we can best support Abingdon — and all APS schools — with providing translation assistance that is needed to support our families. I am also appreciative of the Arlington County Police Department for addressing my concerns raised about pedestrian safety around our school zone. As we deal with evolving challenges to best support our flock, Abingdon’s students always remain our number one priority.
I hope you will consider staying engaged and connected with us as we continue advocating for our Cardinals: Facebook, Twitter, www.abingdonpta.org, and WhatsApp groups. Please reach out at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments to share with us. Thank you kindly.
Gratefully,
Sharon Burd
P.S. We now have 112 participants that have linked their Harris Teeter VIC card to Abingdon. We are also very excited to announce our new fundraising endeavor with AmazonSmile; read below for details.
📅 Save the Dates #
- Tuesday, November 8, 2022: No School (Professional Learning for Staff)
- Tuesday, November 8, 2022: PTA Election Day Bake Sale (7 am - 12 pm)
- Tuesday, November 8, 2022: PTA General Membership Meeting (7 pm - 8:00 pm)
- Wednesday, November 9, 2022: PTA Reflections Art Show (6:30 pm - 7:30 pm)
- Thursday, November 10, 2022: Cardinal Coding Club Registration Opens at 12 pm. The registration link will be shared on the PTA’s Facebook and Twitter at noon.
- Thursday, November 10, 2022: Abingdon Snack Pantry Distribution (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm)
- Thursday, November 10, 2022: Abingdon Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Meeting (3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Room 220)
- Friday, November 11, 2022: No School (Veterans Day)
- Thursday, November 17, 2022: Abingdon Snack Pantry Distribution (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm)
- Wednesday-Friday, November 23-25, 2022: No School (Thanksgiving Break)
- Thursday, December 1, 2022: Abingdon Snack Pantry Distribution (2:30 pm - 4:30 pm)
- Monday, December 12, 2022: Baroody Afterschool Winter Class Registration Opens. Additional information to follow.
Note: View and subscribe to the PTA calendar on our website here.
👋 PTA General Membership Virtual Meeting on Tuesday, November 8 #
- Who: Teachers, Parents, Guardians, Students, Community Members
- What: November General Membership Virtual Meeting
- Where:
For security reasons, we do not share Zoom meeting codes on our website. Please subscribe to the email edition of our newsletter to make sure you receive PTA meeting codes.
- When: November 8, 2022 - 7:00 PM EST
- Why: We will have a Q&A with Principal Horak, and discuss opportunities to engage with the Abingdon Community.
- Agenda: https://www.abingdonpta.org/agendas/2022-11-08/
☝ Reminders: #
- Dogs are not permitted on school grounds.
- Stop by the Lost & Found next to the front office to pick up your item. Labeled items have been returned to the student’s classroom by a volunteer.
🇺🇸 Election Day Bake Sale! #
Visit the PTA table to grab a treat for yourself, an educator, a volunteer, or a neighbor! All funds support PTA programs and activities for our flock of Cardinals!
- When: Tuesday, November 8, 7 AM - 12 PM
- Where: Two locations —
- Abingdon Elementary School AND
- Fairlington Community Center (Corner of 34th St S and S Utah St)
We will be selling cookies, bagels, muffins, coffee, car magnets, and more!
- If you’d like to donate baked goods or supplies, please sign up here.
- If you’d like to volunteer to staff a table, please sign up here.
🎨 Reflections Art Show #
You’re invited to Abingdon PTA’s Reflections Art Show! We will celebrate and showcase our students’ artwork and creativity.
- When: Wednesday, November 9, 6:30 - 7:30 PM (Awards Ceremony starts at 7:00)
- Where: Abingdon Elementary School Cafeteria (enter through Door 9 - cafeteria door)
To assist with the Reflections Art Show, sign up here. Thank you!
👩💻 Cardinal Coding Club #
The PTA is launching our first Cardinal Coding Club this month! Students in 3rd - 5th grade are invited to join us after school on Wednesdays starting in November. We are collaborating with Boolean Girl, a local non-profit, whose mission is to engage students in computer science. Registration will open on Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 12 pm; the registration link will be shared on the PTA’s Facebook and Twitter at noon. If you have any questions, reach out to Teresa Valdez-Bain at [email protected].
Cardinal Coding Club: Mixing hands-on coding with interactive play, your young Computer Scientist will learn basic coding principles that allow them to bring stories to life. Using Scratch, a drag-and-drop multimedia programming language designed by MIT, children learn algorithms and programming all while developing and illustrating their own personal stories. Ms. Molly Fisher, Abingdon’s Instructional Technology Coordinator (ITC), will model how to plan, develop, and create a story using Scratch. Even Pixar will be impressed with the final creations!
🫶 Volunteer with Us #
Please complete the PTA’s volunteer form so that we can learn more about your interests, skills, and availability. We would love to match you with a volunteer opportunity or an ongoing role that works for you. Additionally, APS requires that all parents volunteering in the building complete an APS Volunteer Application; submit the application if you have not already done so this year or last school year. To initiate the process, complete the English or Spanish application, and email [email protected]. More information is available here..
Sign up for our volunteer opportunities:
- Reflections Art Show — We will need help setting up (moving tables, hanging up artwork), handing out certificates & ribbons, and cleaning up. Setup will start at 6:00 pm sharp and cleanup should be finished around 8:00 pm. Please sign up here.
- Chinese Language Club — Would you like to help co-launch an after school club in January focusing on writing characters and learning about culture and traditions? If so, reach out to [email protected].
- School Garden — To receive updates about garden volunteer opportunities, please sign up here.
- PTA Diversity Coordinator — The PTA is looking for a Diversity Coordinator to collaborate with Abingdon’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and Abingdon’s Bilingual Family Liaison. If you are interested, please contact [email protected].
- Translators — We are looking for volunteers who could translate PTA flyers in the following languages: Mongolian, Amharic, and Arabic. Please contact [email protected] if you can assist with this effort.
- Lost & Found Coordinators — We hope to have a tidy Lost & Found where our Cardinals can easily search for their lost belongings. If you would like to assist in this endeavor, reach out to [email protected].
💞 Call for Donations #
🛍️ Reusable Grocery Tote Bags: In preparation for Abingdon’s Thanksgiving Food drive for Abingdon families, we are looking for 80 reusable grocery tote bags for Abingdon’s social worker, Ms. Margarita Zwisler. If you have any preloved (excellent condition) or new grocery tote bags to donate, please drop them off in the front office inside the coat drive bin. If you are interested in purchasing them for us or acquiring a donation from a local business, please reach out to [email protected].
🦃 Thanksgiving Sides Drive: We are asking the school community to consider purchasing additional sides for our 40 Abingdon families. The Signup Genius link is here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0c4aacab2aaaff2-thanksgiving. For additional information contact [email protected].
🎁 Target Gift Cards: We asking our community to gift $25 Target gift cards to our 40 Abingdon families to support parents over the holiday season. Any and all Target gift card donations will be accepted. Please drop off in the Abingdon front office ATTENTION: PTA. There will be a lockbox in the front office storing these gift cards.
🍇 Refrigerator. We are looking for an extra fridge or two to be delivered to Abingdon to use for our new snack pantry for all students. We are planning to store fresh produce in it to complement the shelf stable snacks that are provided to all students. If you are able to donate a refrigerator, please contact [email protected].
🦠 Disinfectant Wipes: Abingdon could use some extra disinfectant wipes. If you have extra to share, please drop it off at the Abingdon Main Office ATTN: Trenia.
🧤 Coat Drive: Abingdon is having a coat drive to share the warmth for Abingdon students K-5. We are collecting coats, mittens, hats, gloves, and scarves in the school’s front office. For additional information contact [email protected].
💸 Passive Fundraising #
📦 AmazonSmile. When you sign up here and shop on https://smile.amazon.com, Amazon will donate 0.5% to Abingdon PTA. Friends, families, and neighbors are also invited to sign up too!
🛒 Grocery Rebates. Link your Harris Teeter VIC card to Abingdon Elementary (5748). Friends, families, and neighbors are also invited to link their VIC card to Abingdon as well. Sign up here..
🥞 Box Tops. Do you eat Cheerios or Go-GURT? Help us fundraise with BoxTops for Education. More information is available here.
🙏 Thank you! ¡Gracias! አመሰግናለሁ! Баярлалаа! شكرًا لك ! #
We are impressed with the generosity and selflessness of our volunteers and supporters.
- A huge thank you to our 26 volunteers who generously shared their car trunk, time, creativity, and candy with our Cardinal flock at Trunk or Treat.
- Many thanks to our fellow garden friends at Thomas Jefferson Middle School for sharing even more strawberry plants with the Abingdon Community Garden. Our flock will enjoy them come spring.
- Shout out to our Picture Retake Day heroes - Amanda, Gina, and Long Branch parent Sarah for ensuring Picture Day went smoothly again.
- Thank you Pat for continuously finding ways to support and improve our school garden.
- We would like to thank Ms. Maria deOlazo for taking the time to speak about the Gifted Program.
- Thank you Fairlington Farmers Market for letting the Abingdon Cardinal pop by.
- Many thanks to Grandpa Steve for ensuring every class had a guest reader that requested one.
- We appreciate Girl Scout Troop 60183 for hosting a food drive for AFAC at Trunk or Treat.
- Thank you Abingdon families and friends for supporting Abingdon’s Spirit Night at Chipotle on Columbia Pike. You helped raise $580 for the Abingdon PTA!
✨ Superhero Abingdon Cardinal loves dressing up! #
