Weekly News From South County High School

From the Principal   

Family,

This week was an awesome week for celebrating our students and their efforts here at South County.  The week reminded me of the amount of talent and dedication that lives within our walls.  Students worked in teams and independently to achieve successes, but what was most important, we celebrated as a Family!

We had a host of DECA students to compete in District competition last week and we had 26 students to place as overall winners in competition.  This was an amazing showing by our students!  As these and other students will move on to compete in tougher competitions, I am excited to see them prepare and challenge themselves to become even better. 

In orchestra, we had a host of students to audition and be selected to become members of the District X Honor Orchestra!  The auditions according to Mrs. Marci Swift were rigorous and to be selected is truly an honor.  So, let’s continue to wish them the best as they do what many of us truly wish we could; do the thing we love to do the most in the world.

Wednesday evening, I had the pleasure of being invited to the college signing event for three of our women’s track team members.  Lauren Jones, Katherine Bradsher, and Zoey Goldstein will be continuing their track and field experiences at Cornell, Windgate, and Penn State respectively.  It was great to see the excitement of the young ladies, and their families and friends as they signed their letters of intent.  Best of luck ladies.  We are proud of you!

On Thursday, we held our Club and Activities Fair where the vast majority of clubs and activities were on on display for students to see and sign up for.  The energy and conversation were on a level I have never witnessed before.  We received very encouraging feedback from teachers and students about the event.  Some 42 different groups had representatives and most groups boasted record sign-ups.  The Book Club for example, had 50 students to sign up.  This was a great experience for everyone involved.  If your child did not sign up to participate in a club, there are still opportunities to do so.  Have them stop by the Activities Office for more information.  

Thursday night we celebrated the accomplishments of many of our students who have earned the distinction of becoming members of the National Honor Society.  I was proud to be able to shake the hands of so many students who have committed to the pillars of NHS: Character, Scholarship, Citizenship, Leadership, and Service.  As I shared with them, I look forward to them using that celebration as a springboard to rise up and lead their peers going forward on to bigger and better adventures.

On Friday night, our Football team continued their undefeated season and blanked a decent Falls Church HS team.  Our young men, our dance team, cheerleaders, band, choral group, and awesome fans braved the temperatures to add on to our victory streak.  It was fun shivering with all of you!  Next week we invite T.C. Williams back for round 2 of the regional playoffs.  I look forward to another great showing of support for our football teams, and the other groups that come out to support the team as well.  Dress warmer that this week!

We received our Family Engagement Survey results back and we have posted them on our website on our home page.  While we have a respectable percentage of parents who feel as though we are welcoming our parent community (88%), from the accompanying data, we have learned that there are things we can surely work on to be better.  I thank each of you who participated in the survey so that we could be provided with feedback on our performance.  This information will be shared with our staff as well so that we can identify those areas we can celebrate, as well as those areas where we can improve in all areas of our school. 

Well that is my spiel for this week. I thank you once again for sharing your students with us, for sharing your time in support of our mission, and for allowing us to do the work we love to do with students day in and day out.  Have a great rest of the weekend!  #OneStallion

Gary


Attendance Office

Early Dismissals

Please send a note with your student in the morning to give to the Attendance Office, first thing upon arrival, so that they can receive a pass for an early dismissal. Phones calls should be reserved for sickness, late arrivals, and unscheduled events. Not only does this ensure your student will dismissed on time but it also does not interrupt instructional time for other students as the pass is delivered. Please be considerate of all students.

THANKSGIVING Attendance

If you already know your student will not be here in the days leading up to or after Thanksgiving or even an early dismissal during those days, please don't wait. Send those notes in now. This will alleviate the strain on our attendance office and will assist you in making sure your child's attendance is marked correctly and expediently. Thank-you for your assistance!

  


Outstanding Employee Awards!

Nominations are now open (10/28-11/17) for the Outstanding Employee Awards! These awards are based on a legacy of excellence and not tied directly to one particular act. To submit a nomination for South County High School Outstanding Employee in a category (listed below) use this google form,

https://forms.gle/BF1WnNnfQBT76GoZ7  

You can nominate any employee in one or multiple categories. We want students, parents and community members to nominate also. All that is required for an initial nomination is a quick paragraph about how this employee demonstrates exceptional work in the criteria for that category. There is a description of each category on the google form. If you want to nominate someone and are unsure of the category, no problem at all. Select the unsure drop-down option on the form and our selection committee will place them appropriately.

Categories include-

Outstanding Teacher- [Life Time Legacy] (at least 3 years of experience as a teacher)

Outstanding New Teacher- (within their first 3 years as a teacher)

Outstanding Principal- (Only Mr. Morris is eligible for this category)

Outstanding Leader- (At least one year experience (examples- Assistant Principal, Director of Student Activities, Director of Student Services)

Outstanding Professional Employee- (At least 1 year experience (examples- Academic and school culture support)

Outstanding Operational Employee- (1 year experience (examples- Administrative and Office staff, Security, Custodial staff, Food service staff, Instructional assistant)

PTSO South County Teacher of the Year- (celebrating a teacher from the current school year)

NOTE- The deadline to submit a nomination is November 17th

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Dennis Bennett at dfbennett@fcps.edu  

  


From the Library

Did you know the South County Library had the highest book check out for last year? We are on the way to being number one again BUT we need your help.

Please asked YOUR child to return their overdue Library book ASAP. Overdue notices are emailed to your child’s fcpsschools.net account EVERY MONDAY.

Books not returned will be charged to your student’ account. Let’s avoid the bills and get the books back for ALL our students to enjoy.

Any questions, please come in and see us in the Library!

  


South County MAC

South County MAC provides FREE tutoring on select Saturdays in all core subjects and Spanish. Our next session is November 23rd from 10 am- 1 pm in the SCHS library.

South County MAC events are open to ALL SCHS and SCMS students and parents. We welcome all to attend. We encourage you to register your student to participate by completing the registration form. For additional information regarding the MAC or the MAC Scholars Program, please contact us at SouthCountyMAC@gmail.com.

     


The Holiday Extravaganza and Craft Show

The Holiday Extravaganza and Craft Show is officially sold out and we are in the home stretch of planning and prepping but WE NEED YOUR HELP! We need students and parents to help with distributing flyers and placing road signs. Middle school and high school students can earn service hours. Sign up at this link.   https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0949acaf2baafd0-publicity

   


SCHS Theatre Department

The SCHS Theatre Department is proud to present Radium Girls by D.W. Gregory. Based on a true story, Radium Girls follows the women who began to mysteriously grow ill after working for the US Radium Corporation in the 1920’s. During this time period, radium was viewed as a miracle cure and workers were exposed to toxic levels of radiation without knowing the side effects. Come watch our talented cast and crew tell this important story! This play is rated PG due to the serious subject matter and special effects makeup. Tickets are $12 general admission and $10 for students and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased at southcountydrama.org or at the door. Performances are on November 21, 22 at 7 pm and November 23 at 2 pm and 7 pm. Please e-mail Molly Rumberger at mdrumberger@fcps.edu with any questions.

Radium 1
Radium 2

Chorus 1

South County Crew

SOCO Crew Holiday Wreath Fundraiser

Who couldn't use a jump start on holiday shopping and gift giving? South County Crew Club is making it easy for you this year! All you have to do is go to: https://ThreeRiversFundraising.com/fund/sccrew-wreath2019

Support your crew team & have wreaths, garland, swags and more delivered to your door! These also make beautiful gifts to send to your friends, neighbors, and family too! It really doesn't get any easier than this! Be sure to submit your order by November 30!

Santa's Book Emporium

South County Crew is collecting all genre of new and like new books for Santa's Book Emporium at the Lorton Holiday Extravaganza & Craft Show at South County High School. It's so easy to donate! Simply bring it to the Santa's Emporium drop off boxes located outside the main office at the high school.  We are also accepting donations of baskets and ribbon to use as packaging as well as coffee mugs, hot cocoa, coffee, tea, bookmarks etc. If you need to arrange for an alternate donation pick up, or have any other questions, please send an email to:  sococrewbookemporium@gmail.com.

Follow South County Crew on social media! @rowsocorow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter  

Thank you for your support!

 


Important Upcoming Dates:

November 27-December 1  Thanksgiving Holiday

December 23-January 5      Winter Break

   


FCPS Cares

FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the good work of our South County HS Staff. Just click FCPS CARES.


News You Choose Submission Deadline this next week will be Thursday at noon. Please send all submissions to DBoullianne@fcps.edu.