Find It In Ashburn

Wednesday, January 25

January is fast coming to a close and I hope your 2012 has gotten off to a good start! We’ve been busy, as always, mostly with basketball and keeping up with school. And so it goes…

I can feel the excitement building here in Ashburn for the Giovanna Casino Night Fundraiser Saturday night! The word I have is there aren’t a whole lot of tickets left, so if you’ve been on the fence, it’s time to hop off! If you can’t go, you can still bid on silent auction events through Saturday afternoon. Information and links are in the forums and in the newsletter that comes out tomorrow. (Find both on the right —>)

Grace and I will attend the opening night of High School Musical at Briar Woods High School. My son Sam will have a bit of a cameo, I can’t wait! Performances will be Thursday, Friday and twice on Saturday. See you there!

A favor please: I ask that you consider the Find It In Ashburn advertisers when you need their product or service. And please thank them for supporting us! Our local Ashburn advertisers make this site possible, and every time you help grow our community by telling others, interacting with us on Facebook or signing up for the newsletter tells local businesses that Find It In Ashburn is important to you!

Thank you, and please keep letting me know what you want to see in Find It In Ashburn! It really is all about you!
Lisa

Tuesday, January 17

How did your middle and high schoolers survive the first day of midterms? It’s always such a fun time in our house!

I just finished updated listings on Find It In Ashburn — did you know we have over 850 listings on the website? That’s a lot going on here in Ashburn! I added six businesses to the Parties at Home category, and that is turning out to be one of my favorites, because I get to let you know about smart, fun and entrepreneurial people in Ashburn. If you’re looking for makeup, jewelry, baked goods, gifts and more, check out Parties at Home and support up and coming Ashburn businesses.

Please join me in welcoming Find It In Ashburn’s newest supporter — Fuddruckers! Long active in Ashburn, Fuddruckers offers great food in a family atmosphere. They often host fundraisers for local schools, clubs and sports teams, giving you the perfect opportunity to stop in! Let your teens know about the After School Special: 1/3 Combo (Burger, Fries, Drink) for only $5.99! (Reg $8.49). Good Monday through Fridays from 2-5pm — must show school ID. Send your teens there after exams!

I’m so excited about how our Find It In Ashburn community keeps growing! Please email me at editor@finditinashburn.com with any other home-based businesses in Ashburn, so we can all know about them!
Lisa

Friday, January 13

Have you ever attended one of the school board meetings? I hadn’t, until last night, when I went over to the Loudoun County Public School board budget meeting. I didn’t stay through the entire meeting, just the public comment session and here’s what I heard: 

Six parents spoke to the board: three asking for full funding of special education; one asking that students not be charges for AP test fees, or remove the test requirement for the grade bump; one suggesting the county sell naming rights to school football fields, and maybe cafeterias and libraries to raise revenue; and one asking the board to keep class sizes down and schools from being overcrowded. 

Eight representatives from the Loudoun Education Association spoke: the first representative asked the board to consider the compensation package they submitted, and was followed by other representatives speaking about parts of that package, including: class size, stipends for classified employees for training and education, removing redundant and immaterial items from teachers workload, bereavement pay and sick leave payouts, unencumbered planning time, and transfer policy. 

Loudoun for Full Day Kindergarten made their case. A former school board member asked the current board to keep an open mind on the budget, asked them to consider COLA increases and opposed full day kindergarten. 

I speak to friends, neighbors and acquaintances nearly every day about one thing or another to do with the Loudoun County Public School system. Perspectives come from where you are in the system – parents of preschoolers, elementary, middle and high schoolers have different issues and concerns. Were your concerns addressed the other night? Do you have ideas on the LCPS budget? 

If you want to voice your opinions or concerns, there will be two more public sessions, one on January 17 and again on the 19^th. Information on the budget can be found here.

-Lisa