Class of 2023 (4-26-19) Update

Class of 2023,

Thank you for your patience over the last several weeks. I hope that everyone had a restful and relaxing Spring Break. We’ve been working hard to get everyone’s registration information into the system and all of our families now have an FCPS ID number which will be necessary for some of the next steps outlined below.

Transportation

SELECT YOUR TJHSST BUS DEPOT FOR 2019-2020 BY MAY 31, 2019

Attention incoming new TJHSST families who reside in Fairfax County and counties outside FCPS who have students in the Class of 2023:

We are pleased to give you early access and advanced planning time to meet your family’s commuter needs.  The FCPS Transportation Office is asking for your assistance to effectively assign bus depots for the 2019-2020 school year. Thank you for your part in making our depot model a successful one.

Even if your child does not plan to take a bus next year, please fill out the form and confirm no transportation is needed.  Note: families at TJHSST who do not reside within Fairfax County should contact their local transportation departments as noted at the bottom of this message.

Fairfax County Families, please take a moment to access the registration document found here. The form will be available through May 31, 2019.  If you submit registration early in the process, you may still submit a new updated form as many times as you like through May 31.

  • You are not limited to choosing a depot in your neighborhood.
  • Depots may be selected near your place of employment or on the route you use to drive to and from work.
  • There is no geographic requirement as to which depot you choose.
  • Drop off and pickup locations ARE PERMITTED to be different, and are not restricted by proximity to your home.
  • New this year: For your convenience, the FCPS Transportation Department has arranged, where possible, to add Fairfax County recreation centers and libraries. If personal circumstances cause a delay for you to pick up your child in the afternoon, recreation centers and libraries offer a safe and supervised location as approved and arranged by FCPS. Please be aware that these facilities will be added to the end of the route and will be the final stop.

Here is a preview of information you need to have ready as you register using the online form as mentioned above:

  • A contact name and email address.
  • A correct student ID number- this is very important to have the ID correct.
  • Select a morning depot to drop off your student for transport to TJHSST.
  • Select an afternoon depot to pick up your student.
  • The depots listed in the drop down screens are the only available locations for selection, so please consider your choices carefully.
  • A verification of your selections will be emailed to you.

It is important that all Fairfax County families respond.  If a family does not respond, the permanent address on record with the school will be used. This means FCPS Transportation will assign you the closest depot to your home. Please remember, once you choose the available route or depot you wish for your student and submit the form, FCPS Transportation will route your student accordingly.  The assignment you receive will be permanent for the entire school year.  The only exceptions will be for families that move during the school year.

Any questions may be directed to FCPS Transportation supervisor Ms. Milagro Perez-Tobar at MDPerezTobar@fcps.edu.

Note: Families at TJHSST who do not reside within Fairfax County do not need to respond to the online Google form referenced above. 

Families in Arlington, Loudoun, and Prince William Co.’s should contact their county school Transportation departments directly for transportation information:

Arlington Co.:   deriba.reba@apvsa.us or transportation@apsva.us

Loudoun Co.:   Melissa Gatlin (Melissa.Gatlin@lcps.org)

Prince William Co.:  Mary Hayes (HayesME@pwcs.edu)

Fun Facts about the TJ Depot Model:

  • The depot model has cut the number of routes in half.
  • Ridership to TJHSST has increased by more than 25%.
  • The commute time for many students is reduced.
  • Fewer cars transporting students result in smoother traffic flow on our campus.

Our depots save FCPS nearly $300,000 annually.  In tight budget times, this equates to approximately four full-time teacher positions for FCPS.

 

Course Selections

Thank you for your careful course selections for the 2019-20 school year.  We are actively building the master schedule and wanted to share with you some of the logistics of this process that you may see reflected in your schedules that are currently viewable in SIS ParentVUE (website only – the mobile app does not have this feature) over the coming months before school begins on August 26, 2019.

As we work on the master schedule, we create certain building blocks of courses--combinations of semester classes that allow us to schedule students properly for the entire year.    We call these blocks of courses "placeholders".  You may see some of your courses temporarily replaced with these placeholders titled LEARNING SEMINARS.  Rest assured this is a building tool and not a change to your schedule.  These temporary placeholders will be removed once the schedule is complete and you receive your final schedule in August.

 

We list below a table of placeholder assignments for your information:

Learning Seminar 3 = Research Statistics 1 & TJ Math 3

Learning Seminar 4 = Research Statistics 1 & TJ Math 4

Learning Seminar 5 = TJ Math 4 & TJ Math 5

 

Again, the placeholders are temporary and the original course titles will be restored. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your Transition Counselor will be happy to help.

 

Summer School

Summer School registration opens on Monday April 29, 2019.

Please visit the TJHSST Summer Programs 2019 website at:

https://tjhsst.fcps.edu/academics/summer-programs-2019

 

Counselor Requests

In an effort to try and support incoming families where they have an older sibling who is currently or recently graduated from TJHSST we try to assign incoming students to the appropriate IBET so that the family can have a single point of contact and continue the established relationship that they have with the older sibling’s counselor. If a family has an older sibling who is currently enrolled or recently graduated from TJHSST and they would like us to try and schedule their incoming 9th grader to that counselor’s caseload we are asking that they make that request using the following Google Form that we have created for that purpose.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfZ_L4CBaELfpcQWE_3Wv9iUvPEuFVi2UxMiAu8nZYp67addg/viewform

If you have any questions, please contact your older student’s counselor for guidance.