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Annandale Community:
At Annandale, we have long held a shared belief that our diversity is our greatest strength as a school. We have seen for many years the benefits that research is now able to affirm: students’ exposure to others who are different from themselves leads to improved cognitive skills, including critical thinking and problem solving.
The way we value diversity was on full display on Friday at the Just World Festival and Heritage Night. I was proud to showcase our incredible faculty, students and families to the guests that joined us, including Supervisor Penny Gross, School Board Member Abrar Omeish, Superintendent Scott Brabrand, and Assistant Superintendent Fabio Zuluaga. Many thanks to the staff members who organized, participated and were in attendance supporting our students.
We recently adjusted Kiss-N-Ride procedures in the morning and the security team has done an amazing job ensuring parents and students are safe as they arrive on campus.
This is just one example of how staying committed to small actions over time can have a significant impact. I am confident that when administrators greet students as they enter the building, teachers welcome students as they arrive to class, and staff members escort and confer with students who are late, we are making a powerful investment in communicating care and belonging. When each and every student knows that we see them, care about them and will hold them accountable, they are best able to trust the adults around them and engage in their learning.
We are already noticing a difference: this past week we were able to reduce the tardies to first block by 10% compared to the week before.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions. Go Atoms!
Shawn DeRose, Principal
Contact Information:
Twitter: @ShawnDeRose
Website: https://annandalehs.fcps.edu/
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Important Dates
March 9-13 - Spirit Week
March 10 - IB Visual & Upper Level Student Art Exhibit
March 10 and 11 - Writing SOLs
March 11 - Spring Movie Night
March 13 - Spring Pep Rally
March 13 - AHS FanQuest, 5pm
March 17 - Senior Breakfast, 9am
March 17 - PTSA Meeting, 6pm
March 23 - Red Cross Blood Drive
Spring Spirit Week - March 9-13: Spirit Week has arrived! Check out the themes of the day below.
Monday, March 9: “Mini Me Monday”. Remember that outfit you would never take off as a kid? Put together an outfit reminiscent of that one and wear it with nostalgic pride!
Tuesday, March 10: “Olympic Tuesday”. The summer Olympics are just around the corner! Wear a jersey from your favorite team of any sport or a shirt/the colors that represent your favorite Olympic nation!
Wednesday, March 11: “Swinter Wednesday”. Is it winter or is it spring?! We all know that mother nature is confused…and so are we! Put together a fun mix of warm and cold gear for a creative outfit!
Thursday, March 12: “Tie Dye Thursday”. Dust off your favorite tie dye and come to school in colorful style!
Friday, March 13: “White Out Friday”. Wear as much white as you can find in your closet for the Pep Rally and FanQuest!
March 10 - IB Visual and Upper Level Studio Art Exhibit: IB students will be exhibiting their artworks in Clausen Hall on March 10. Upper Level Studio students will be exhibiting their work as well. A ceremony with refreshments will be from 6:00-7:30PM. Please join us to congratulate these students. If you have any questions, please email Jackie Pappas at jppappas@fcps.edu.
Spring Movie Night - March 11: Come out to our Spring Movie Night at 7:00pm in the Main Gym for “The Parent Trap” (1998). Movie Night is not just for AHS students! We would love to have staff and their families join us! The more the merrier! (Admission: FREE, Concessions: pizza = $2/slice and drinks = $1/bottle or can)
March 13 - FanQuest: For the first time ever, our Annandale HS Special Olympics Basketball team will be hosting a FanQuest home game! We will have 2 schools that will come play in our Fanquest (Lee HS and Poe MS). The tailgate will begin at 4:30 pm in the jock lobby followed by game 1 vs Lee HS at 5:15 pm and Game 2 vs Poe MS at 6:00pm. Please come to the Fanquest and show your support, we will have Fanquest t-shirts on sale at the event! Admission is $5. If you have any questions, please contact Jessica Arias at jarias@fcps.edu or Jae Lee at jmlee3@fcps.edu.
March 17 - Senior Breakfast: A Senior Breakfast, organized by the senior parents will be held on Tuesday, March 17th during Pride Time. The seniors will receive essential information at this event including: details about the ceremony, paying senior dues, ordering their cap and gown, and purchasing tickets to The All Night Graduation Celebration. Please consider volunteering or donating items for the Senior Breakfast.
March 17 - PTSA Meeting, 6pm: Please join us Tuesday, March 17th at 6:00 PM in Clausen Hall for our monthly meeting. For more information, please visit our website.
March 23 - Red Cross Blood Drive: Annandale High School will host its 8th annual spring blood drive. The Red Cross Club invites students, faculty and family to donate blood for our community. Every day, hospitals provide lifesaving blood to patients in need. Your willingness to donate blood remains vital to the lives of the patients that we serve, not only locally, but across the country. We are truly thankful for your support. Please use this link to sign up for a donation time if you are 16 or older and help the Red Cross fulfill its ongoing mission of helping save lives. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Mele at rluphold@fcps.edu.
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Important Information
Kiss-N-Ride Update - Thank you for your support as we have modified Annandale High School’s Kiss-N-Ride procedures. As a reminder, vehicles will no longer be permitted to turn left onto 4 Year Run during arrival (7:45 am to 8:15 am) and dismissal (2:45 pm to 3:15 pm). Instead, vehicles will be directed to continue straight onto Medford Drive.
Please drop off your student by 7:55am to ensure they are able to get their class on time. Safety Tips include: 1) Drop your student off ONLY in the Kiss and Ride traffic pattern. 2) Pull your car forward as far as possible in the line. 3) Make sure your student enters and exits your car on the building side. 4) Do not pass other cars in line. 5) Plan ahead! Rushing can cause accidents, injuries, and stress. 6) Always follow the directions of the adults directing traffic. 7) Please observe that Kiss and Ride is a no cell phone area.
“Go Paperless” Report Card Option Now Available - Starting with 3rd quarter, high school and middle school parents will now have the option to “Go Paperless” in ParentVUE and receive only online report cards. To take advantage of the paperless options, parents/guardians will need to log into ParentVUE, then go to “My Account” and select "Go Paperless!". This process is the only way to keep a paper report card from being generated for students at the secondary level. All parents who share the same address as the student must have a SIS ParentVue account and must select the paperless option. Questions Contact: pdisalvo@fcps.edu.
Academic Advising Completed -School counselors have met individually with students to assist them in exploring their academic and postsecondary/career goals. Students reviewed their transcripts and verify their course selections for the coming school year. Parents can always view the course selections via their SIS ParentVUE account. Please email Paula DiSalvo, Director of Student Services at pdisalvo@fcps.edu if you have any questions.
Sign Up for Weekly Progress Reports - All parents/guardians of middle and high school students who have registered for a SIS ParentVUE Account and have a primary email address recorded in SIS ParentVUE can receive Weekly Progress Reports via email. This report provides a summary of your student(s) grades for the current quarter.
To activate the Weekly Progress Reports via email, login to your SIS ParentVUE Account and first verify that you have a primary email address within the system. It is listed under the “My Account” tab. If it is blank, enter the email address where you would like to receive the progress reports and click on update account. Once confirmed, parents/guardians are able to activate and select their preferences for receiving these reports within the SIS ParentVUE “My Account” tab.
Weekly progress reports for all of your middle and high school students will be included in one email. For questions about a specific progress report or grade you can login into your SIS ParentVUE Account to find detailed grade book information. Additionally, your student’s teacher is always the best resource to answer any grade book questions that you may have. Weekly Progress Report Parent Quick Reference Guide.
Yearbooks on Sale Now! - Parents are encouraged to purchase a yearbook today! The cost is $85. You can purchase your yearbook online at https://yearbookforever.com or bring in cash/check to Ms. Hanneman. If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Hanneman at jehanneman@fcps.edu. Please note, yearbooks will be distributed to students at Annandale near the end of the school year.
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Awesome Atoms
Congrats Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble - Congratulations to all the students who participated in VBODA Assessment this weekend. The AHS Symphonic Band received an overall Excellent rating and the Wind Ensemble earned straight Superior ratings. We are so proud of our students for their hard work & wonderful performances.
Tutor Leaders to Attend Secondary Schools Writing Center Association Conference - A group of tutor leaders from the Atoms Writing Center will be attending the Secondary Schools Writing Center Association's annual conference on Friday, March 13. This national conference is an opportunity for students to collaborate with other writing, both near and far, to learn from and inspire one another. This year four AHS students will be presenting at the conference about tips for tutoring ESOL students. The presenters are Novera Hasnat, Josephine Hoye, Lalain Imran, and Huyen Nguyen.
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Get Involved!
Senior Breakfast Donations and Volunteers Needed - March 17: Attention Senior Parents! Your help is needed to donate food and/or volunteer to help with the Senior Breakfast on March 17 at 9:00am. Please sign up by clicking on the following link.Senior Breakfast Volunteers & Food Contributions. If you have any questions, please contact Norma Foti at atoms.ahs.president@gmail.com.
Volunteers Needed for Senior Share Fair – March 27: The English 12 team needs volunteers for our 2nd Annual Senior Share Fair on March 27 from 10:00-11:15 am in the cafeteria. Seniors are creating digital portfolios that include a resume, cover letter, and work samples. We're looking for community members to work with small groups of students to offer feedback and career advice. With the help of Junior Achievement, we want to give AHS seniors a chance to demonstrate their Portrait of a Graduate skills and to prepare for life after high school. Please help us recruit volunteers! Volunteer registration link: http://bit.ly/ShareFairAHS. See flyer below. If you have any questions, please contact Kathleen Mathis at kamathis@fcps.edu.
Join the Annandale PTSA! - Please consider joining as it is a great way to become actively involved in your student's education and the AHS community. Moreover, the PTSA works very hard to stay on top of critical activity and decisions being made by the school board, school system and local government. Regular updates are provided at PTSA meetings (held each month on the 3rd Tuesday at 7pm), on our website and through PTSA electronic updates. Click here to join today!
PTSA Mulch Madness Sale Now Open! - Mulch Madness Sale is Open! This is our biggest and most critical fundraiser of the year! Proceeds from the sale support the PTSA’s Senior Scholarships and All Night Graduation Celebration, which provides a fun, safe, alcohol and drug-free parent-chaperoned celebration for our AHS seniors the night of graduation. Order mulch online now through March 19, 2020. Pick-up Saturday, March 28 at AHS from 8 a.m.–12 p.m. or have it delivered to you by the AHS Boy’s Lacrosse Team. Order now on our website: https://annandalehsptsa.membershiptoolkit.com/mulch_sale.
Buy All Night Grade Party Tickets Now! Buy your tickets now to the All Night Graduation Celebration (ANGC) provides a safe, chaperoned, alcohol-free and drug-free event for the Class of 2020 to celebrate together one last time. For more details, visit the ANGC page and order your senior's discounted ticket now! Parents, sign up now to help during the event!
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News from the Activities Office
Spring sports are underway. Check out the latest news from the Annandale Activities Office, including schedules, rosters, and coaching information for all sports teams at all levels. In addition you can read game summaries, revisit previous seasons, volunteer, and more. To subscribe to the new AHS Athletics feed, use this FCPS "News You Choose" online form to add your email address. If you have any questions, please contact Jeff Ellenberger at jellenberger@fcps.edu or call the Activities Office at 703-642-4170.
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Career Center Updates
The College and Career Center and the Career Center Specialist assist students with their college, career and employment searches. Students can find a wide variety of resources on colleges, careers, scholarships, financial aid, part-time and full-time employment opportunities, and SAT, ACT, and TOEFL registration. The goal of the Career Center is to help students make informed career decisions about their post-secondary plans, which may include four-year colleges, two-year colleges, technical schools, apprenticeships, military, full-time employment, or gap year opportunities.
Click here to check out the latest information from the Annandale HS Career Center. If you have any questions, please contact Princess Brown at pnbrown@fcps.edu or call 703-642-4263.
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FCPS Cares
Do you know a Annandale High School staff member who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way or goes beyond what is expected? If so, then click here to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the good work of Annandale faculty and staff members.
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Read the A-Blast
The newest edition of the A-Blast is now available! The A-Blast is a student run newspaper for Annandale High School. Through a partnership with the Washington Post, they print a new edition every two or three weeks, focusing on current events both inside Annandale High School and the Annandale community. Click here to read the latest edition of the A-Blast!
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Attendance Matters
When students miss too many days of school, they fall behind and struggle to keep up with their classmates. Whether the days missed are due to illness, truancy, or for any other reason, the end result for the student is the same: learning time is lost. Children and adolescents will get sick at times and may need to stay at home, but we want to work with you to help minimize the number of days your child misses school. Check out the "Attendance: When Should I Send My Student to School" website for more information.
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Be Informed, Stay Involved!
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4700 Medford Drive Annandale, VA 22003 | Main Office: 703.642.4100
Attendance: 703.642.4150 | Web | Twitter
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