President’s Message #
Dear Abingdon Friends and Families,
Our mission statement as defined in our organization’s bylaws is: “To make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.” I encourage you to review the PTA value of commitment to learn about how we PTA:
“We are dedicated to children’s educational success, health, and well-being through strong family and community engagement, while remaining accountable to the principles upon which our association was founded.”
Recently, I had the opportunity to welcome 81 volunteers — including an Arlington County Board member and other local civic leaders — who supported our MLK Day of Service Garden Cleanup. It was wonderful to partner with one of our civic associations, the FCA, especially given their long history of supporting Abingdon, most notably with the renovation and expansion of our school and the many fundraisers to support physical education activities at Abingdon. Additionally, it was humbling to hear from a fellow APS parent who wanted to replicate our school garden efforts at her child’s elementary school. It is meaningful for our community to come together to learn about Dr. King’s legacy and the importance of community service.
As you may know, the Abingdon PTA gives every 5th grade Cardinal a yearbook. We are delighted to continue this important tradition. The PTA will be selling Love Lines to support this endeavor to help offset the cost. Stay tuned for information on how to purchase a Love Line, a personalized message, to recognize the hard work of your child(ren), educator, or perhaps share your congratulations to the graduating class. I know the Abingdon Cardinal is eager to get his Love Line in the yearbook for his fellow Cardinals.
Please stay engaged and connected with us as we continue supporting our Cardinals: Facebook, Twitter, www.abingdonpta.org, and WhatsApp groups. Reach out at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments to share with us. I also hope you’ll mark your calendar for our upcoming Winter Wonderland Skate Night at Pentagon Row later this month. Thank you for inspiring our Abingdon flock.
Gratefully,
Sharon Burd
P.S.: We are also delighted to share that Abingdon’s Vocal and Instrumental Music Team will give a brief overview of music education at our February PTA General Membership Virtual Meeting. I hope you will join us to learn about their important work, as well as participate in the Q&A session with Principal Horak.
📅 Dates #
- Wednesday, February 8: Early Release
- Thursday, February 16: Winter Wonderland Skate Night (6 pm - 8 pm)
- Monday, February 20: No School (Presidents Day)
- Tuesday, February 21: PTA General Membership Meeting (7 pm - 8 pm)
🆕 New #
🏃♀️🏃🏾♀️ Girls on the Run #
Girls on the Run is coming to Abingdon Elementary School! GOTR is a physical activity based positive youth development program for girls in 3rd-8th grade. The program teaches life skills through dynamic interactive lessons and running games. The goal of the program is to unleash confidence through accomplishment, while establishing a lifetime appreciation of health and fitness. Our program has been adapted to ensure physical distancing and safety. In-person practices include safety, sanitizing, and physical distancing precautions and modifications.
Starting the week of March 6th and ending May 20-21, the team will meet every Monday & Wednesday from 2:50 PM - 3:50 PM. The program culminates in a celebratory 5K at the end of the season! The standard program fee is $185 and includes 20 lessons/practices, a t-shirt, water bottle, entry into the 5K, a 5K medal, and more. Financial assistance is available for anyone who needs it, with the lowest program registration cost being $22 for the season. Registration begins on February 6th at www.gotrnova.org.
Registration for the Spring 2023 program is open from February 6 through 28, and the season will run from the week of March 6 through May 21. The standard program fee is $185, but we also offer military and sibling discounts, as well as financial assistance available for all families. For more information, go to the Girls on the Run of NOVA website (www.gotrnova.org) or contact the Girls on the Run/Heart & Sole team’s head coach, Erin Mahaffey, at [email protected].
We can’t wait to run with you!
👕 New Abingdon Spirit Wear #
The Abingdon PTA is excited to announce NEW Spirit Wear! Please show your school spirit and support the Abingdon PTA at the same time. Profits from this sale go to fund the PTA and its efforts to support the school and community. Check our the Spirit Wear you can purchase using the following link: https://whitewaterprinting.com/abingdon-elementary. Purchasing will begin on February 15th and will run for an additional 3 weeks.
👉 Reminders #
⛸️ Save the date for ice-skating February 16th! Please RSVP @ https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfydGoTkuV0MkyGvvYBAE4cvqknOScNe9WxzJj8XJUogxBBwQ/viewform (Note the date change from February 9 to February 16.)
🏈 Support our MVPs (Most Valuable Personnel). Please sign up to bring a “Super Bowl snack” on Friday, 2/10 at 10:00 am to Abingdon Teachers Lounge. We appreciate our amazing Abingdon Staff for all that they do. Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44aca72aa5fe3-mvpsuperbowl#/
☎️ Directory Reminder: The Abingdon PTA recently launched a new online student directory for our school. The directory contains contact information for students’ families to help those in the Abingdon community connect to arrange playdates, discuss classroom activities, share other school-related information, and more. To access the directory, follow the instructions here: https://www.abingdonpta.org/2022/12/01/directory/
🔜 Coming Soon #
📚 Yearbook Lovelines will be back for the 2023 yearbook! Instructions on how to order will be sent out in February and due in March. You can leave a special message for your student or your student can leave a message for their friends!
🙏 Thank You! #
👖🧦🩲 Thank you for all the clothing donations for our Extra Clothes Closet. At this time we don’t need any more donations of socks, underwear, or boys clothing. We are still looking for donations for girls size small (4,5,6,7) pants, shorts, and tops.