Potomac Stories

Students in grade 4 have been learning about the challenges of food insecurity in our community as part of their Service Learning experience.  Following their scheduled Sandwich Day on April 2, students in JA4 and JH4 loaded the buses and personally delivered sandwiches to our partners at Cornerstones in Reston. While there, students had the chance to tour the emergency services center, including the food pantry, ask questions to learn more about the needs in our community, and play with the preschoolers at the Laurel Learning Center. It was a wonderful day of full-circle service for our fourth graders. DWM4 and KW4 will make the same trip following their Sandwich Day on Wednesday, May 7.  

Fourth-grade students worked dilligently to complete their ceramic animals prior to Spring Break. They learned valuable clay handbuilding skills to model animals from clay. Students either selected an animal reflective of their own personality or a favorite animal to model from clay. 

Over the last two weeks, all fifth grade students visited Potomac community partner Higher Horizons, a Head Start program in Bailey's Crossroads. During November's Book Fair, each fifth grader selected a book to donate to a preschooler to build their home library. After spending time learning about the importance of early literacy, our students shared their love of reading with the preschool students by reading picture books in the classroom and community spaces. They also had time to dance, build, and play with their new friends during their time there, bringing plenty of smiles and joy. 

With a dry and sunny start, our temperatures climbed steadily upwards of 55 degrees as meteorologist Bob Ryan delighted grades 1-6 at a special assembly yesterday morning. Mr. Ryan, a local legend and Potomac grandfather, shared wonderful memories and notable occurrences from over 30 years of reporting on weather in our nation's capital. 

Our fifth graders have shown great mastery of fractions and are now diving into the next unit, which focuses on understanding decimals. They'll explore how to compute with decimals while building a strong conceptual foundation. Recently, each class participated in an engaging “Unusual Baker” activity led by our math specialist, Ms. Westermann. The highlight? Everyone got to enjoy a slice of cake afterward! 

Last Friday, Lower and Middle School students shot hoops, jumped rope, juggled, and enjoyed many other heart-pumping activities at the annual Kids Heart Challenge. Donations, benefitting the American Heart Association (AHA), will be taken through Friday, February 7. Enjoy these energetic photos!