What You Need to Know

Hello, Herndon Families! The first week of school has ended and we are well on our way into online learning. Here are some details you may still need as we put the stress of starting a whole new kind of school year to the side and get into our groove.

Attendance

For years, we have required parents to call into the school attendance line to excuse their child’s absence. On the other side of the process, staff are scrambling to listen to the messages and record attendance before the morning deadline when automated calls are scheduled to go home. There are times when there might be a much higher volume of calls, making it impossible to pull the voicemail messages fast enough. At other times, poor cell connections make it difficult to hear the caller on the message. In the end, you receive unwanted calls from us informing you that your child is absent.

This year, we are utilizing an online form. You can find it here: https://herndonhs.fcps.edu/about/attendance-form

Using this form to report your child’s absence will streamline the process so we can more efficiently pre-mark your child’s attendance, avoid errors, and prevent unnecessary stress in your home.

Many families have asked about attendance on Mondays. Monday attendance is being handled internally. Students are not required to attend face-to-face meetings on Mondays, but they will be assigned asynchronous work from their teachers. If we have a concern about your child’s attendance in general, we will contact you directly as soon as possible. The default setting for attendance on Mondays is that the student is considered “present”.

Textbooks

Official textbook collection days have ended, but if you find an old book under a bed or in a closet somewhere, please don’t hesitate to bring it in! Our main office is open from 8:15am-3:15pm Monday through Friday. We will gladly take it off your hands.

Textbook distribution is scheduled to take place on Monday, September 21^st (next week) with a make-up option later in the week. Not every student will have a textbook to collect. If your child does have something to collect, you will receive a direct message from our eNotify system tomorrow or Friday this week. Why so late? We are working with vendors and publishers to ensure we have everything we need for distribution. As we await additional copies of two of our books (for AP US/VA History and AP Physics C), we are holding on communication about these books so that we avoid sending any potentially conflicting information. We want you to know that we are desperately trying to minimize your trips to the school, but because of significant backups in materials availability, we will not be able to distribute supply kits for students enrolled in art courses until a later date.

As a heads up, you can expect to have a book to collect if your student is enrolled in AP Literature, AP Language, AP US/VA History, Dual Enrollment US/VA History, Dual Enrollment World History, AP Human Geography, AP European History, AP Psychology, AP Calculus AB, AP Statistics, NJROTC, AP Music Theory, Astronomy, AP Physics C, Teachers for Tomorrow (levels 1 and 2), and if they have an instrument rental to collect. If you do not receive an email by Friday and you think you should have, please contact the school at 703-810-2200.

Gradebooks

Student gradebooks go live in StudentVUE and ParentVUE tomorrow (Thursday) morning!

Renovation

Many of you have asked about the renovation since we have been closed. I wish I could tell you how fast the project has been moving since the quarantine began, but unfortunately there’s no major change to the completion deadline. In fact, delays in manufacturing have slowed the project in some areas even though crews could work more freely in the building. While the field replacement project wrapped up quickly, the gym has been slower – we are still awaiting our new bleachers after the company experienced a long closure due to COVID-19. We are plugging along, and we think you will be just as impressed when you can finally return to the school. Most of our classrooms are complete this year, though the rooms remain empty during online learning. We can’t wait to have everyone back to see it all first-hand. For now, here are some photos of the progress.

Cafeteria expansion has been completed. The remainder of the cafeteria will be addressed in Phase 4.

The main gym is finished! Now we just need the bleachers. We’re expecting them to be installed in September or early October.

We now have a slightly enhanced main entrance. The wall wrap shows the dome from the Herndon Fortnightly Library – and it conveniently directs you to our Herndon High School library. You’ll see photos from around the Town of Herndon throughout the halls.

The new wall wrap for the K Street area. K for “Kick”…get it?

Completed turf replacement. Our fields look as good as new! Fields and tracks have reopened to the public. Come on by and get your cardio in!

Join the PTSA

We invite you to be involved, even if we are working online this year! Our students’ needs have not stopped during the pandemic. Your membership helps support scholarships, teacher grant opportunities, and other events that help our staff and students. Follow this link to join today: http://herndonptsa.org/membership/.

Free and Reduced Lunch

Please keep in mind that you must reapply for Free or Reduced-Price Lunch status each year. Applications are available online: https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application

 For information on how to complete the form or about providing your consent to share your FRM status, click here: https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/food-and-nutrition-programs/free-and-reduced-price-meals

Grab-and-Go Meals are being delivered throughout our community at a variety of locations for all students, regardless of Free or Reduced-Price Lunch status! These meals are completely free of charge for FCPS students and there is no need to register ahead of time. In fact, adults can also purchase meals for $2.00. Click here for the latest delivery sites: https://www.fcps.edu/return-school/food

SATs for Seniors

Herndon High School will be hosting the SAT School Day on Wednesday, September 23 for seniors. This day has been designated for asynchronous learning, so students who choose to take the SAT will not miss synchronous learning time with their teachers. Students, who are not testing, will be provided independent assignments from teachers. Registered seniors will receive an email from our Assessment Coach Ms. Shreve by the end of this week. Only registered students are allowed to enter the building. No walk-in or on-site registrations will be permitted.

Back to School Night

Be sure to look in your email today for detailed information about Back to School Night. This event will take place on September 23rd beginning at 6:30pm.

Tech Support for Parents and Students

Parents and students have three options to receive tech support:

Option 1 - Call the Parent Technology Help Desk at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS).  This will be answered by staff members between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week.  Please specify if you need an interpreter when you call. or

Option 2 – Submit a help request ticket through the Parent and Student Technology Support portal at https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/ or

Option 3 – Walk in technology support hours at Herndon High School (main entrance)

If your student does not have consistent access to the internet at home, please contact your student’s counselor: https://herndonhs.fcps.edu/department/student-services-staff.

Highlights

We can’t share all of this new information without telling you about some of the great things that have been happening around here. Take a look at these highlights from around Herndon.

Textbook distribution is set for September 21st. Students will receive a personalized bag with all of their materials for this quick drive-through event. We have about 1,100 students with items to collect!

Herndon United Methodist Church, longtime partners of Herndon High School, hosted a We Are Herndon 5K over the Labor Day weekend to support students in our Herndon Pyramid. Over $6,000 was raised! Thank you to all who participated.

Congratulations to our Herndon High School summer graduates! Our newest alumni arrived at school in August to receive their diplomas and take photos. We are so proud of our Hornets

One of our Herndon students, Spencer, displays his award-winning artwork. Spencer won the “Outstanding Interpretation” ribbon as well as a 2nd prize medal from the NOVA District PTA Reflections contest. Congratulations, Spencer!

Congratulations to Deb Peirce on being selected as the Outstanding College and Career Specialist for FCPS! Deb’s high level of customer service, her unmatched communication skills, thirst for collaboration, undeniable commitment, and exemplification of our caring culture makes her the best College and Career Center Specialist in the county! We are so fortunate to have her at Herndon.

Welcome to the Herndon Family! 

Of course, no Highlight section would be complete without a showcase of some brand new Hornets. Never say there wasn’t anything amazing about 2020! We think these new friends are pretty awesome. 

Fina Arts teacher Mr. Lomaglio’s daughter, MiaBella.

Baby Isla, the newest addition to ESOL teacher Mrs. Law’s family.

Science teacher Mrs. Blessing’s new granddaughter, Isla. (Looks like this name is getting popular…)

Baby Cora, Special Education teacher Mrs. Woodard’s new little girl.

Special Education teacher Mrs. Wallace’s little boy, Andrew

700 Bennett Street, Herndon, VA 20170  | Main Office: 703-810-2200
Attendance: 703-810-2282 | Web | Twitter