 Congratulations Cavaliers! The Administration celebrates our first day of school!
Important Upcoming Dates
Monday, September 14th - Virtual Open House at 8am for Odd Days
Tuesday, September 15th - Virtual PTSO Meeting at 6pm
Wednesday, September 16th - Virtual Senior Parent Night at 7pm
Thursday, September 17th - Social Justice Club Meeting at 7pm
Monday, September 21st - Virtual Open House at 8am for Even Days
Wednesday, September 23rd - SAT School Day - Seniors Only
Wednesday, September 23rd - Virtual Financial Aid Night at 7pm
In this Issue
NEW News
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
2. Virtual Back to School Night Link
3. Virtual Office Hours for Parents
4. FCPS Laptop Tech Support Hours at WTW
5. First PTSO Meeting of School Year
6. Welcome New Staff
7. National Merit Semifinalists
8. Receiving Emergency Information from FCPS
9. FCPS Mental Health and Wellness Conference
ACTION Items
10. Three Must Do Forms to Start the Year
11. Digital Resources Consent Form - Required for ALL Students
PAST News but still important
12. Student Attendance for the 2020-21 School Year
13. Schedule Change Requests
14. Parent Technology Help Desk
15. College & Career Center News - new dates; college visits
16. Social Justice Club Meeting - Thursday, September 17th
17. Yearbook Info for 2020-2021
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
Dear Woodson Community:
On this Friday, we reflect on the importance this day became in 2001. We have all been impacted in one way or another and I do not take lightly the responsibilities we hold as educators to help the next generation understand the significance of 9/11.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the first week strong! While we got off to a strong start, we were unfortunately interrupted by an internet outage that was wide spread throughout the East Coast today. We will continue to monitor this situation and will provide updates should Monday’s instruction be disrupted. Teachers are ready to transition to asynchronous work as needed.
Parents! Please compete the Digital Resources Parent Consent Form. EVERY family must complete this for EACH student. Teachers need this permission to continue using the programs that promote the highest student engagement.
Thank you to all who attended our Virtual Back To School Night! Parking was delightful this year (smile). Please visit the BTSN site prior to the end of September to view the videos from our teachers and PTSO.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Stay safe, stay healthy and stay connected,
Dr. Floyd
Principal
2. Virtual Back To School Night
Woodson's first Virtual Back to School Night is available on the Woodson website throughout the month of September.
There are links to messages from our School Board members, the Woodson PTSO president and our principal, Dr. Floyd. There are also links to your child's teachers back to school night videos within departments sections.
Please make sure you have your child's schedule, either from ParentVUE or have your child log on to their StudentVUE, so that you can access the course and teacher names.
3. Virtual Open House Information
Parents will have the opportunity to meet teachers virtually during two Virtual Open Houses on Monday, September 14th from 8-9 AM (for Odd Day classes) and on Monday, September 21st from 8-9 AM (for Even Day classes).
While we cannot make these Open Houses about individual students, if you have questions regarding the curriculum or you just want to say hi to the teacher, please stop in. Teachers will send links to the Virtual Open Houses by mid-day Sunday and they will come from their Blackboard sites similar to the way you receive the weekly agenda for the class.
If at anytime during the year you would like to have a parent-teacher conference, please contact the teacher directly or your student’s counselor.
4. Laptop Tech Support Hours
If students need FCPS laptop technical support at Woodson HS, the following must be completed:
- Submit a ticket using the FCPS Parent/Student Tech Support Portal,
- Schedule an appointment to come on-site, and
- Complete a health screening questionnaire prior to arriving.
Our onsite laptop tech support hours by appointment only are:
Monday - 1:30 - 3:00 pm and 5:00-7:30 pm
Tuesday - Thursday 9:00 am - 12 pm and 1:30 - 3:00 pm
Friday - 9:00 am - 12 pm
Thank you,
W.T Woodson HS Tech Support Team
5. First PTSO Meeting of the School Year!
The 2020-21 PTSO (Parent Teacher Student Organization) is happy to welcome everyone to the new school year.
Please join us for our first meeting, taking place virtually on Google Meet on Tuesday, September 15th from 6-7PM. The link is here:https://meet.google.com/jan-dzyj-pkj
We hope to see you there!
Your 20-21 PTSO Board
Miklos Kiss – President
Sara Mastro – Vice President-Membership
Kiona Harvey – Vice President-Fundraising
Amy DeCarlo - Secretary
Kyle Durbin - Treasurer
6. Welcome New Staff
Help us welcome more new faces to Woodson this year!
My name is Lisa Christensen and I’m a visual art teacher. I will be teaching Sculpture 1 and two Studio Art and Design Classes at Woodson.
I was born in Texas but grew up in Northern VA as an Army Brat. I got my BFA in Sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University and my MAT (Master of Art in Teaching Art Education) at George Mason University. I’ve taught in the museum industry, art gallery, K-12 and most recently private art lessons. I’m a multi-media artist, but these days mostly paint on canvas and murals.
I look forward to getting to know everyone and working alongside y’all. After 7.5 years in Austin, TX. I’m excited to be back home with FCPS again. Hope y’all have a great year!
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My name is Larry Peacock and I am one of the new social studies teachers at Woodson. I will be teaching Honors US/VA History and AP Psychology . I am a native Northern Virginian, born in Alexandria and educated right here in Fairfax Country thru middle school. I graduated from Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro, VA before returning to Fairfax County to earn a Bachelor’s degree in History from George Mason University. A few years later, I graduated from Marymount University with a Master’s degree in Secondary Education. For the last 6 years I have been teaching middle school United States History, Civics and Economics for Arlington County Public Schools. Looking forward to meeting and working with you all this year!
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My name is Julia Varona and I am a new Spanish teacher at Woodson, teaching level 1 and 2 this year.
I am from New York and graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2012 with my undergrad in Spanish & masters in teaching. I have been in Fairfax county for 3 years at South County High School and am excited to transition to the Woodson community and work with all of you!
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7. National Merit Semifinalists
Three Woodson seniors were named National Merit semifinalists for 2020. All semifinalists are eligible to compete for 7,600 National Merit Scholarship awards worth more than $30 million, to be awarded in spring 2021.
Congratulations to Margaret Berberian, Alexandra Cooper, and Benjamin Neifeld.
8. Receiving Emergency Information from FCPS
How can I make sure I receive emergency information from Fairfax County Public Schools?
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) communicates all emergency and essential information to parents via email. The information is also translated into eight languages: Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, Farsi, Korean, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Information communicated via email includes:
• School closings and delays
• Attendance
• Emergencies at school
• Low lunch balance
• Power, phone, or internet outages at school
• Bus delays
• Testing dates
When providing an e-mail address to FCPS, please avoid using an educational (.edu-including fcps.edu), military (.mil) or government (.gov) email address. The security settings on government servers often block messages from FCPS. It is a best practice to not use work related email addresses; therefore, it is important to use an email address from another internet service provider such as Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, etc.
How do I receive text messages from FCPS?
Parents can receive text messages for emergencies and essential information. Please make sure your parent cell phone numbers are listed in the "cell telephone" fields in the parent/guardian contact information section on the emergency care information form for each of your children.
Parents and guardians can view and update emergency contact information online using the weCare@school feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning. Standard message and data charges may apply for text messages depending on their cell phone service plan. More information.
9. FCPS Mental Health and Wellness Conference Goes Virtual; Starts September 14
FCPS will host its 7th Annual Mental Health and Wellness Conference over a three-week period beginning Monday, September 14 through Saturday, October 3. The virtual event will focus on resiliency. Our Minds Matter will also host a student strand. Inova will be sponsoring the conference for the second year in a row.
Registration information and the complete schedule and list of speakers are now available online.
10. Three Must Do Forms to Start the Year
Emergency Care Form
Health Information Form
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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. Parent Technology Help Desk
To support families who are working with their children during distance learning, FCPS launched a new Parent Technology Help Desk. The number is 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered by staff 7 a.m.to 11 p.m., seven days a week. If the help desk is unable to solve the issue on the phone with the parent or guardian, they will enter a ticket on the parent’s behalf and the request for help will be transferred to the appropriate FCPS team.
Parents or guardians who need help in a language other than English should let help desk staff know, and a interpreter will join them on the line. (FCPS also has existing parent information phone lines, available in eight different languages, that can assist with general questions about FCPS.)
FCPS has also set up an online portal to allow older students and parents and guardians to request technology help directly.
Get more information about the new Parent Technology Help Desk.
15. College & Career Center News
Virtual College Fairs:
NACAC Virtual College Fairs – event date Sept. 13, Oct. 12 & 18, and Nov. 8, 2020 - https://virtualcollegefairs.org/
Coalition for College Virtual College Fair – event date Sept. 16 & 17, Oct. 21 & 22 from 7pm to 10pm - https://www.coalitionforcollegeaccess.org/events
Virtual Rep Visits for Students are beginning on Monday, September 14, 2020
Juniors and Seniors, please register in Naviance!
This week, we have Bridgewater, ODU, Morehouse College, the University of Chicago, CNU, East Carolina University, Spelman College, and the University of South Carolina visiting.
To view the dates and to register, please log into Naviance (use your SIS username and password) and scroll down on the homepage to What’s New. Please visit often for updates!
Virtual Senior Parent Night on Wednesday, September 16th, at 7 pm:
Senior parents and students - please join us to learn about post-secondary options, the college application process, scholarship opportunities, and how to use the website Naviance as a resource. There is no need to sign up. The meeting link will be shared out closer to the event date.
Virtual Financial Aid Night on Wednesday, September 23rd, at 7 pm:
Senior parents and students - please join us to learn about the financial aid process. Chad Spencer, Senior Associate Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Davison College, will share his expertise with us. There is no need to sign up. The meeting link will be shared out closer to the event date.
If you have any questions, please contact Christine Lieb-Mosley, College and Career Specialist, at cliebmosley@fcps.edu.
Coming up: Updated Career Center Website and Social Media Profile. Please stay tuned!
16. Social Justice Club Meeting
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The Social Justice Club will meet on September 17th from 7 to 8 PM.
Participants will discuss Chapters 1, 2, and 3. A link will be provided in the coming days.
If you are interested in participating the Social Justice Club, please email Dr. George Hewan at gkhewan@fcps.edu.
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17. Yearbook Info for 2020-2021!
Yearbook for 20-21 is rolling! What a year to own a relic of these unprecedented times and showcase Woodson students for “making it the most of it.”
We love our candid shots and want summer photos!
You can share your pictures with the yearbook staff via eShare. You can do this two easy ways.
- Go to HJeShare.com and enter the school code: wtwoodson
- Download the HJeShare app for iPhone or Android at the App Store or Google Play. Again, the school code: wtwoodson
We want anything from vacations to staycations! We want to show off those new hobbies, virtual celebrations, and mask fashion!
You can follow us on Twitter @WoodsonYearbook. If you have any questions, please contact Woodson yearbook advisor Ms. Weghorst at tmweghorst@fcps.edu.
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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