Explorer Passports will be delivered to schools on Friday, May 18. The Passports give children free admission to parks and attractions in Prince William County. Start off this Saturday at the HCHY EXPO at Pfitzner Stadium, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. View map of activities and schedule of events.

 A Summer Science and Technology Camp will be held at Mary Williams Elementary on July 9-13 and July 16-20.
 Click here for more information.

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To celebrate the importance of trees in our community, each county supervisor selects one outstanding school in their district to join in an Arbor Day Celebration.  Supervisor Nohe selected Bennett Elementary as the recipient for his district.  On Friday April 27^th, Supervisor Nohe, and Chairman of the Board for the conservation district Steve Danziger came out and presented Bennett’s second grade with a beautiful dogwood tree.  Bennett held a “Tree Ceremony” in which an Arbor Day proclamation was read, the students sang a tree song and recited a tree pledge.  On Monday April 30^th the students participated in an exciting Tree Festival lesson presented by Mrs. Laurie Raines the Education Specialist from the Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District. Students learned many interesting facts about the importance of trees, made leaves from recycled paper and received a beautiful new book called “In a Nutshell.”  The students were so excited about their new tree that several of them circled the tree at recess and again sang their tree song.  Bennett looks forward to many years of enjoyment and shade from our beautiful Dogwood tree.

Click here to watch a video of the event.

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 PARENTS - If you have not created your own account on Parent Portal, or you need to edit your contact information, now is the time.

FRIDAY, 1 JUNE - Parent Portal Registrations and Online Contact Editing will be turned off and no further registration or edits will be accepted until after the new school year transition. NO NEW PARENT ACCOUNTS WILL BE CREATED UNTIL FALL.

MONDAY, 18 JUNE - All updates to Parent Portal will stop and no further data updates will be sent to SchoolFusion until Fall.  Any pending parent registrations that have not been processed will be deleted and those parents will need to reapply next year.

Parent Portal WILL NOT be updated with Summer School Information and no Summer School Information will be sent to SchooolFusion.

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 Bringing the Internet to your home is easy and affordable

Now you can connect to the Internet at home - for school, work, communicating with others and so much more.

How to qualify

To qualify for $9.95 a month Internet service and a low-cost computer, your household must meet all these criteria:

• Be located where Comcast offers Internet service
• Have at least one child receiving free or reduced price school lunches through the National School Lunch Program
• Have not subscribed to Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days
• Not have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment

How to apply

• Call 1-855-8-INTERNET (1-855-846-8376) to request an application
• We will mail you an application. Complete and return it, along with lunch program documents from your child's school
• We will notify you by mail about the status of your application. Allow 7-10 days for a response
  

Click here to learn more

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 Congratulations to Mrs. Rakshys' class for winning the 4th grade Rocket Launching Competition! Students put their learning of force and motion to work creating a rocket from clay and straw, then determining how the height of the launcher rod changes the distance traveled by the straw. A winning team from each class competed for bragging rights figuring the correct amount of air pressure to launch a rocket into a bin several yards away.  Click here to check out pictures from the rocket launching.

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The Office of Student Services (OSS) has purchased the license so that all Division schools now have access to a subscription for “Helping Students Learn-Tips Families Can Use to Help Students Do Better in School.” These are monthly newsletters published by The Parent Institute that may help parents take an active role in their child’s education. The newsletters are available in Spanish and English and provide specific information for parents of elementary, middle and high school students.

Administrators are asked to review these newsletters to see if this is a resource you would like to post on your school Web site for sharing with your school community. The March newsletters are available on the OSS Web site. 

Schools have the option to have the newsletter automatically appear on your school’s Web site each month. You may also distribute newsletters in print or electronically. Find details for downloading the newsletters at http://www.parent-institute.com/NL. Questions? Contact Dr. Deborah Ransom, supervisor of Elementary Counseling and Related Services in the Office of Student Services at ransomdv@pwcs.edu or 703.791.7265.

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	MD Month Sale Day Sale Date Pick Up Time Internet Cut-Off Date Customer Cut-Off Time April Tuesday 4/10/2012 7:00:00 PM 4/4/2012 11:00 PM CST May Tuesday 5/8/2012 7:00:00 PM 5/2/2012 11:00 PM CST June Tuesday 6/5/2012 7:00:00 PM 5/30/2012 11:00 PM CST

If you need to change your email address for SchoolFusion, you must do that in Parent Portal.

Also there are 2 places in the Parent Portal where you must revise  your email address: 

(1) From the Parent Portal home page, click on the upper right "Settings" link, click on "General" tab; and change the email address;

 (2) and also from the Parent Portal home page,  click on the "Student Info" link on the left of the screen, then change the email address in the box indicated.  

For more information, click here.

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Fifth grade parents click here if you would like some information regarding middle speciality programs. 

Go to top of your Web browser, click on:

• Tools
• Compatibility Settings
• Make sure there is nothing in the large box “Websites you’ve added…”
• Check mark “Display all websites in Compatibility View” (bottom box)
• Close the tools menu

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New for the 2011-12 School Year (to print a copy, click here)

Program/ Application	Website Address/ Information
Parent Portal	http://pwcs.schoolfusion.us/module/cms/pages.phtml?pageid=238543 Parent Portal has replaced Edulink (Intouch Online) What is it? Parents can view online basic information about their students.  The Parent Portal will allow you to view your student’s contact information and grades as well as log on to your school website. When can I register? Parents can register online soon.  After registering online, parents will receive an email that they will have to sign and bring to Bennett with a photo id in order to activate their account.  Details will be posted on the Bennett website.    www.bennettes.schools.pwcs.edu FAQs - Parent Portal (ParentConnect XP)
	www.bennettes.schools.pwcs.edu What is it? After registering for the Parent Portal, parents can view their students’ classroom webpages by logging into SchoolFusion.  Teachers often post homework, spelling lists and a weekly update of what is happening in their classroom.  Logging in allows you to receive daily email announcements right to your email inbox of all the events going on at Bennett Elementary School. When can I register?  It is not necessary to register for SchoolFusion.  After completing the Parent Portal registration, the same username and password will work for SchoolFusion.
	Blackboard Connect has replaced Auto Dialer.  What is it? Parents will receive phone or email communications through this new system.   Each school is able to send out basic communications or emergency notifications and have their entire school contacted within a few minutes.   Parents will receive these communication notices at their school’s discretion to keep everyone informed and updated using phones, emails, and text messages.  When can I register?  There is no need to register for this application.  The contact information is taken from our student database.  However, parents should let the school office know if any contact information changes.

Miss Erin Flaherty accepted Bennett's RAMP award in Seattle. RAMP is a national award given by the American School Counselor Association recognizing model school counseling programs across the country.

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