Welcome to Greenbriar West Elementary where we have pride in school and pride in performance! This Parent/Student Handbook contains basic information about school policies and procedures. If you have any questions and/or concerns about anything not covered in this folder, please contact the school office (703-633-6700) between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Homework and Make-Up Work

At GBW there are no hard and fast rules concerning homework. The purpose of homework assignments is to enrich, enhance, and/or extend school experience. Some of the desirable outcomes of good homework are growth in responsibility, training in good work habits, opportunities for increasing self-direction, reinforcing skills, and learning how to budget time wisely. Allowances for individual differences are considered when making homework assignments. Generally, assignments in the primary grades do not exceed 30 minutes of work each night, Monday through Thursday. In grades 4-6, homework assignments should not exceed one hour.   

Classroom teachers will provide parents with their procedures regarding “make-up assignments” at Back-to-School Night. Special requests for family trips should be reasonable. Although the school is willing to cooperate with parents in these cases, it should be understood that teachers cannot duplicate all missed assignments and work cannot be provided in advance of lengthy absences. Standard assignments such as journal writing or other curriculum-related tasks will be given whenever possible. Parents are expected to make sure that students complete these special assignments.

Field Trips

A field trip that coordinates with a curriculum area may be scheduled for your child’s class during the school year. A signed permission form to participate in a school field trip must be returned to the teacher in advance of the trip. In case of a delayed school opening, field trips will be automatically cancelled and then rescheduled when possible. Parents may be asked to chaperone classes on school-related field trips. Fairfax County School Board regulations do not authorize younger siblings to ride buses on field trips.

Student Records

All student records maintained by the school are open for review by the child’s parent or guardian. These records may not be released to anyone outside the school without written permission from the parent or guardian. If you wish to review your child’s records, please contact the school to set up an appointment.