From the Principal's Desk

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 10/04/2019 10:41 AM EDT

From the Principal's Desk

Dear Members of the CHS Community:

Here's the news around Chantilly!

I hope you are having a good week. Homecoming festivities remind me why high school is such a memorable time in students’ lives. As I watched band, leadership, and cheerleading students parade through the halls this morning, the feeling of school pride and spirit was palpable. I hope to see you at the parade, taste of Chantilly and football game today (see details below). These activities are a great way to celebrate students and serve to bring together everyone in the community we share.  

I recently read the article excerpt below recently and thought I should share it with you. Numerous studies demonstrate that providing effective feedback is perhaps the most powerful driver of student learning. In a similar vein, it is critical for parents to figure out how to best provide everyday feedback to their sons and daughters. This article made me think about how I can better communicate with my own children, Caroline, and Jake, as I try to impart sometimes difficult life lessons while maintaining a relationship based on trust and respect. It’s a never ending challenge,  and I hope the article provides you some useful tips.

I wish everyone an enjoyable and safe CHS Homecoming weekend.

Have a good weekend,

Scott

Thoughts on Giving Feedback

In this Harvard Business Review article, Craig Chappelow and Cindy McCauley (Center for Creative Leadership) take issue with some of the points made in a recent HBR article on feedback (“The Feedback Fallacy” by Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall, summarized in Memo 776). Chappelow and McCauley agree that:

  • Harsh feedback doesn’t help people thrive and excel.
  • Positive feedback is critical for learning.
  • Telling someone how to fix a problem is often the wrong approach.

But they disagree in other areas and make the following points:

  • Hearing the truth in other’s comments – “Feedback is never purely objective since it is delivered from a human being with a unique perspective,” say Chappelow and McCauley. Even so, it’s important to tune in on feedback that others are giving you. After all, they’re making decisions about whom to listen to, cooperate with, trust, and support based on their perceptions of you.
  • Feedback about weaknesses – Potentially devastating events – having a horrible boss, making a serious mistake, being demoted, firing an employee – can be key drivers for improvement.
  • Understanding weaknesses – “Our work has shown that ignoring one’s weaknesses is one of the greatest contributors to individual derailment in organizations,” say Chappelow and McCauley. One unacknowledged and unaddressed flaw – for example, arrogance, inability to build a team, or difficulty adapting to a new environment – can lead to failure.
  • Getting better at the right things – One researcher found that otherwise competent leaders have often not developed in these areas: inspiring commitment, leading colleagues, strategic planning, and change management. “When you focus only on strengths,” say Chappelow and McCauley, “you lull people into believing there are no areas in which they need to improve.”
  • Giving critical feedback – The authors espouse the Situation-Behavior-Impact approach to address both strengths and weaknesses in a clear, specific, professional, and caring way:
  • The time and place where a behavior occurred;
  • Specifically what the behavior was: what was seen and heard;
  • The impact the behavior had on the feedback provider: thoughts, feelings, actions.

Here’s an example: “In our staff meeting this morning when we were discussing strategies for funding a new initiative, you interrupted Jessica while she was talking and said, ‘That idea will never work,’ before she had a chance to finish. This left me feeling disappointed I didn’t get to hear more from her, and I was intimidated about sharing my ideas with the group.” Note how it wasn’t judgmental (“You were wrong to interrupt”), not generalized (“You are always interrupting people”), and didn’t infer reasons (“Do you have no respect for other people’s ideas?”). All this makes it more likely that the person will hear and act on the feedback.

“What Good Feedback Really Looks Like” by Craig Chappelow and Cindy McCauley in Harvard Business Review, May 13, 2019, https://bit.ly/2Jisowx

Chantilly Homecoming 2019

Homecoming Events on Friday, October 4th

Homecoming Parade – 4:30pm

The parade will start from the OLD Total Wine Parking Lot in the Greenbriar Shopping Center, pass thru the shopping center in front of Giant, CVS, Bath & Body Works, etc., take a right on Majestic Lane, right on Poplar Tree Road, and finish up at Greenbriar West ES.

Taste of Chantilly – 5:00pm– 6:30pm

Fun for the whole family – bounce house, face painting, DJ, and lots of Chantilly clubs and activities will be represented. Tropical Smoothie, Dalia’s Delicious Bites, DC Slices, Burger Shack, and Calletena’s Peruvian will be available for purchase.

Mighty Marching Chargers – 6:35pm

Get your seats early and enjoy the sounds and choreography of our award-winning band!

Football Game – 7:00pm

Come support our football team as they take on Washington and Liberty!

Half-Time Show

We will announce the Homecoming Court and reveal the Senior Royals.

#OTHER PEOPLE MATTER- HURRICANE RELIEF EFFORT

Dear Region 5 Communities,

Each of the 32 schools in Region 5 of Fairfax County Public Schools are uniting together to support the humanitarian crisis that has occurred in the Bahamas due to Hurricane Dorian. We have all witnessed the devastation from this deadly storm and we want to be able to help. There is an estimated 18,000 children in crisis and many children have lost everything they own. So we are calling each of our communities to action!

Over the next two weeks, we will be fundraising by using a GoFundMe page. The link is below which also includes a link to a video for more information. All proceeds will go to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Our funds will go to water, shelter, food, clothes, backpacks, books, and other school materials.

Please join Region 5 in making a difference. Any amount can be helpful! The fundraiser will run from Wednesday, September 18th to Friday, October 4th.

Please click this link to go to our GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/sam3qu-hurricane-dorian-relief

CHS SAT/ACT Practice

Book Sale- Chantilly Regional Library

It’s book sale time!  Please come to the fall used book sale at the Chantilly Regional Library, 4000 Stringfellow Road, Chantilly, from October 25-27.    It’s a great opportunity for students and teachers to purchase books at bargain prices.

To help teachers stock their classroom libraries, we will hold a special Teachers Night on Wednesday, October 23, from 5 to 7 p.m. before the sale opens to the public.  Only children’s fiction and nonfiction and young adult fiction will be available, and materials will be sold at our regular book sale prices.  Teachers will need to show their school ID. 

Proceeds from the book sales fund special programs – including the summer reading program and 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten – renovations, landscaping, and new equipment and furnishings for the Chantilly Regional Library.  Many of the library’s free programs – such as story times, book clubs, ESL tutoring, visiting authors, etc. – for students and adults would not be possible without the funds raised through the Friends of the Chantilly Regional Library’s used book sales.

We look forward to seeing Chantilly school families at the sale!  For more information or reasonable accessible accommodations, please call 703-502-3883. 

Recent Student Successes

This is the next installment for the school year of what has become a weekly segment aimed at recognizing students for demonstrating recent improvement or achievement in academics, behavior or citizenship. At the end of each recognition, you will see the name of the nominating teacher or staff member. On a rotating basis, departments will nominate students.  I plan to meet with recognized students each week to congratulate them in person.

  • Maleia Barnett is such a pleasure to have in class! She is attentive, engaged, and always participates. Additionally, she demonstrates patience and willingness to help other students. Ms. Emily Sullivan
  • Hailey Chung is such a polite and respectful student. She shows up to class every day with a smile on her face and says hello. She never complains about anything, just does what is asked of her. Hailey is like a breath of fresh air! Ms. Melissa Bibbee
  • Matthew Harper is taking charge of his education and juggling after school activities as well as part of the football team. He's fully engaged in his classes, currently has good grades in all of his classes and doesn't hesitate to help classmates whenever they are in need. Keep up the awesome work, Matthew! Ms. Patricia Heatherly
  • Jason Lopez has been a class leader. He has increased his class participation and focused on working to improve his classroom skills. Mr. John Glufling
  • Katherine Powers does an excellent job of always pushing herself to do her best in PE. She takes initiative to help and is always willing to go above and beyond what is expected in class. Ms. Kristina Plaugher
  • Zoe Rosas has a great attitude in class and leads her group in activities. Mr. Frank Hamby