Dear Woodson families,
I hope you are enjoying the beautiful weather on this final summer holiday of 2020.
While I recognize there is always a mix of nervousness and excitement for students and staff at the start of any school year, this school year’s opening has these qualities and many more. The start of school will not have the traditional cues to a school year beginning (i.e. busing to school, face to face meetings with teachers and classmates, finding classes, etc.); nevertheless, I am sure the weeks and months of online learning will create its own norms in due time. As we work and learn together, I trust our teachers and students will grow from the experiences.
Please take time this evening to locate all of the links needed for school tomorrow. Students have received Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (BBCU) links in their fcpsschools.net email or they received a Google Meets code in their fcpsschools.net email. They received one or the other for each class. Students should have a premade folder called BBCU in their fcpsschools.net gmail where they links will have landed. Please understand that looking at these emails for the first time can be overwhelming, but take them one by one and I assure you, they are there. If by chance you are missing a link, please find your teacher’s email address and send them an email alerting them to the missing link. Can’t log on? Contact the Parent and Student IT Support Portal.
If at any time your teen has technology challenges connecting with his teacher(s), you or your student may use the following link to access assistance - Technology Support for Families. Please write down the online tech support phone number in case the computer breaks and is unusable.
In the event of technical issues on Tuesday, September 8th that are beyond our ability to correct at the school level, your child should logon to his/her fcpsschools.net account. Teachers will email students asynchronous assignments to complete as the issue is being resolved. You will also receive an email from FCPS and Woodson with information about next steps.
Let’s get excited, the first day is almost here, Cavaliers!
Dr. Floyd
Principal
First Day of School - Tuesday, September 8th
Tuesday, September 8th is the first day of school. The first day of school will be an Odd Day. The day begins with 1st period at 8:10 a.m.
Woodson Bell Schedule
Mondays are reserved for intervention/enrichment, independent student work and teacher planning/professional development.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are Odd Days (Periods 1, 3, 5 and 7)
Wednesdays and Fridays are Even Days (Periods 2, 4, 6, 8)
Three Must Do Forms to Start the Year
Emergency Care Form
- All students must have accurate emergency care information. Parents update this information through WeCare@School via their Blackboard FCPS 24/7 account
- Log into your Blackboard FCPS 24/7 account.
- Go to WeCare@School on the top right of your screen.
Health Information Form
- Complete the Health Information Form
- Freshmen and Sophomores, please email it to Ms. O'Brien at jtobrien1@fcps.edu.
- Juniors and Seniors to Ms. D'Angelo gndangelo@fcps.edu.
Digital Resources - Parent Consent Form
- Woodson uses a variety of digital tools for learning. You may look through the list before signing the form. For more information regarding this form, see the Digital Resources Consent Form description below.
4. Digital Resources Consent Form
At Woodson, our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: https://woodsonhs.fcps.edu/adopteddigitalresources.
Included on this page is also a link to a form where the enrolling parent or guardian will need to indicate whether or not their student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval and why we must request your consent before using certain tools. We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible, as your child will not be able to use the digital resources until we have received your permission. Please reach out to Kathy Martin, assistant principal overseeing technology at kamartin@fcps.edu if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.
Schedule Change Requests
School counselors have been hard at work this week responding to schedule change requests and have strived to accommodate as many requests as possible prior to the first day of school. At this point, due to staffing and course balancing, we will put a hold on schedule change requests until Monday, September 21st. After that date, change requests can be submitted to counselors. The process for communicating change requests will be communicated to students/parents closer to the date.
That said, if you find an error on your student’s schedule please contact your assigned school counselor immediately so that this can be corrected. Examples include being enrolled in a class that was passed last year/this summer, or requesting an honors course but being mistakenly placed in a standard course. Another example is a student in special education who may require a small group class but have not accurately been placed in such a setting. We want to correct those as soon as possible, so please let your counselor know if any corrections are needed.
Student Attendance for the 2020-21 School Year
FCPS welcomes new and returning families for the 2020-21 school year. Our September 8 virtual opening poses some interesting challenges, so we hope this will help families understand the new attendance routines.
In Virginia, public school students aged 5-18 are required to attend school regularly. That is true whether FCPS is offering distance learning or in-person instruction. Teachers will take attendance during learning sessions and ensure that all students are counted. Parents can assist with this process by doing the following:
- Ensuring that their student(s) logs in to classes on time, and throughout the day.
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Calling the school attendance line at 703-503-4800 if their student(s) are unable to participate.
- Communicating any concerns to the school, such as difficulty logging in or having access to FCPS classes.
- Reporting any hardship, such as student illness or any issue that might prevent the student from participating regularly.
- Returning phone calls or emails when notified that their student(s) did not participate that day.
- Ensuring that your student(s) submit activity logs as directed.
If your child is unable to login to live, face-to-face online instruction with their teacher, the teacher will be recording the class and posting the video within Blackboard/Google Classroom so it can be viewed at a different time. The video can also be used to provide review for all students.
If a parent calls and indicates their student will not be there for a certain class period, they are excused for the class period. Accessing the material later will not change the status of the absence.
If there is no parent contact, and the student failed to log in, the student is unverified (UNV) for that class period. FCPS bases attendance for secondary students on “present” one or more periods of the day, and reports which periods a student did not appear in class.
FCPS staff members will work with parents to ensure that the transition to virtual learning is as smooth as possible. Help us to help you set your students up for success.
More information about attendance is available online.
Mental Health Resources | 24/7 Emergency Numbers
If you are in crisis, text NEEDHELP to 85511, call 1-800-273-TALK, or dial 911; TTY dial 711
CrisisLink Regional Hotline: 703-527-4077 (CrisisLink is a hotline for individuals in crisis or family/friends seeking guidance for how to help a loved one)
Dominion Hospital Assessment and Referral Line: 703-536-2000
Inova Emergency Services: 703-289-7560
Mobile Crisis Unit: 1-844-627-4747
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-SUICIDE
Merrifield Center Emergency Services: 703-573-5679; TTY dial 711 (The Merrifield Center of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, offers a range of clinical programming. Emergency Services, staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week, works with people in psychiatric crisis who need immediate attention.)
Plan D Nova https://www.plandnova.org/ (a website for Northern Virginia teens who suffer from depression: #breakthestigma)
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