Friday, December 18 at 5:00 to Monday, December 21 at 6:00 am ParentVue and StudentVue will not be available. Blackboard Learn will not be available due to an upgrade cycle during this time.

Student Parking Passes

Student parking fees will be waived for the school year 2021. Although no parking fees will be collected, McLean High School will still issue parking passes. Information on how to apply for a parking pass will be on the website by January 4th.

Freshman Class Meeting - Wednesday, December 9 during Highlander Time

Greetings Freshmen!

There will be a Freshman Class Meeting On Wednesday, December 9th, from 9:45am – 10:00am. All freshmen are expected to attend. We will discuss important topics as we head into our holiday break, healthy ways to start 2021, and review the importance of attending our McLeadership Connect Groups. Connect Groups have been a part of the McLean High School culture for 20 years, and they are a valuable and beneficial way for freshmen (Little Macs) to connect to upper-class students. During Connect Groups, our mentors (Big Macs) help freshmen with the transition from middle school to high school, teach freshmen best practices for staying organized and on top of their classes, assist them with course selection, and help the freshmen in any way they need. Big Macs and Little Macs remain in contact long after the Connect Groups are over and are an added layer of support that we have for all freshmen at McLean. After the Freshman Class Meeting, we will move right into a Connect Group, where you will meet with your junior and senior mentors. Additionally, we will have a second Connect Group meeting on Friday, December 11 during the first half of Highlander Time Flex (9:45-10:25). Attendance is mandatory for the meeting and both Connect Groups. If you have any questions, please email Mr. Olcott at gtolcott@fcps.edu.

See you then!

McLean Matters

There is still time to donate to support our families-in-need!!!

The McLean High School parent community has been overwhelmingly responsive. Thank you to the parents and teachers that have signed up to deliver gift cards. If you would still like to donate, the cards will go directly to these student families to provide much needed support.

Please click HERE to sign-up to donate $25 or $50 gift cards to Safeway, Target, or Walmart for McLean High School families-in-need to assist them over the holidays.

There are two ways you can purchase gift cards:

Go to a Safeway, Target, or Walmart store and purchase gift card(s) for $25 or $50
Go online to Target Gift Cardsor Walmart Gift Cards and purchase “plastic gift card(s)” to mail directly to Sue Tabish at McLean High School

Please use the following address for all mailed gift cards:

Sue Tabish McLean High School 1633 Davidson Road McLean, VA 22101

DEADLINE EXTENDED! The deadline for Gift Cards is this Friday, December 11th, by the end of the day, so that we may distribute the cards before the winter break.

Let's show our fellow Highlanders some love this holiday season because McLean Matters!

Updates from Athletics

New Athlete Registration Site

Beginning Wednesday, November 4th, FCPS activities and athletic programs will transition to a new online student registration system. This new system offers a host of benefits for schools and community members including:

One stop shop for registering your student for athletic programs and many common activities occurring throughout the school year
Electronic submission of the emergency care card and weight room waiver- only have to fill these out once!
A new home for the state-mandated concussion education program

Each family will create an account and from this account, can register their student(s) for various activity and athletic opportunities. While registering does not guarantee a spot on the team, this information will help to ensure your student is ready to go on the first day of tryouts. Students can be registered for one or more activities throughout the year and families can sign in as needed to update information.

The new registration site is available here: https://mclean-ar.rschooltoday.com/

Please contact Stefanie Evers with any questions about the new registration site: severs2@fcps.edu

Winter Sports

Winter Sports will be starting on December 7th (Boys & Girls Basketball) and December 14 (Gymnastics, Swim & Dive, Winter Track, Wrestling). Tryout schedules will be posted in the next couple of weeks. Please contact the Head Coach with any questions about a specific program. Coaches contact information can be found here

Weekly Reminders

Online Attendance Form

Parents can now report a student absence by using our online attendance form at https://mcleanhs.fcps.edu/about/attendance-form. The attendance phone line will also be available at 703-714-5725.

Library News: Curbside Pickup for library books every Monday starting Nov. 2.

Starting Monday, Nov. 2, students will be able to pick up books they put on hold through the online catalog. The student will login to the catalog using their FCPS login credentials. When a book is available in the catalog, the student will see book, and be able to click the Hold option. Once a student places a hold, Mrs. Kong will email the student to sign up for a Curbside Pickup appointment on Mondays from 9:00-2:00. Curbside pickup will be available every Monday except holidays.

A masked library staff member will take the book(s) to the student’s car at the front entrance of the school (Door #1). All occupants of the car must wear a mask. The student’s Name and Student ID Number should be on a sheet of paper and placed on the passenger’s side dashboard. The library staff member will place the book(s) either in the trunk or the back seat.

Counselors’ Corner

Through Counselors’ Corner, students will meet with their counselors regularly by grade level to go over information that is pertinent for each grade. The schedule of upcoming lessons by grade level is below. The time for these lessons will be from 9:45-10:15am. Students will receive a BBCU link via their student email to access the lesson. Please contact your student’s counselor with any questions.

Seniors – November 4^th

Juniors – November 18^th

Sophomores – December 2^nd

Freshmen – December 9^th

The deadline to register for the American Mathematics Competition is this Friday, December 4th, at 11:59pm.

Sign up for the American Mathematics Competition. It will be held virtually on February 10. Go to My School Bucks to register.

Fairfax County Public Library Checkout Now Available to All Students

Effective October 1, all FCPS students (preK-12) are able to check out materials from the Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL), even if they don’t have a traditional library card or a card has been blocked due to fines.

Under the Library Equity Access Pass program (LEAP), a partnership with FCPS and FCPL, students need only their name, not a physical library card, to check out three items at a time for six weeks each (no renewals). LEAP accounts are never charged fines or fees.

A student can have a LEAP account in addition to a standard library account. Standard accounts allow users to place holds on materials and access FCPL’s digital resources, such as eBooks and databases.

Families can apply for a standard account online and in library branches.

Free and Reduced-Price Meals

If you submitted an application for Free or Reduced-Price Meals last school year for your child(ren), please remember to submit a new application for this school year. The current eligibility status will expire on October 20, 2020.

Apply for free and reduced-price meals by visiting www.MySchoolApps.com. Eligibility may also provide your child(ren) other important benefits. Be sure your child(ren) are approved for the 20-21 school year.

The online application is available in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, English, Tagalog, French, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Korean. Paper applications are available to complete and submit in English upon request at FCPS food distribution sites.

Parent Required Signatures

1. Digital Tool Permission

2. Student's Rights and Responsibilities

1. Parent Digital Tool Permission Application

In an ongoing effort to protect student data, FCPS is required to secure parental permission for student use of software/applications for which FCPS does not have a confidentiality agreement. An online process has been developed to collect this information digitally and provide school-based reporting. This process has been designed to meet the legal requirements for authenticating parent identities under FERPA. The MHS Website has a list of all of the digital tools used at McLean.

2. Student's Rights and Responsibilities Signature Page

Students will review the SR&R on September 11, 2020. The SR&R booklet can be found on the FCPS website (Sept. 2). FCPS will release the link to the SR&R Signature page once the SR&R is finalized and updated on the website. Please review the SR&R with your student. The final SR&R will be available online at

https://www.fcps.edu/about-fcps/policies-regulations-and-notices/student-rights-and-responsibilities/video-and-resources

Behind the Wheel and PSTD Information

McLean High School will be offering Partners in Safe Teen Driving (PSTD) seminars twice during first quarter. These seminars will be held virtually through BBCU from 7:00-8:30 PM on Monday, December 14. Students must virtually attend with a parent or legal guardian and fill out an attendance form at the end in order to earn credit. Attendance of a PSTD seminar is a state requirement in order to pass classroom Driver Education as part of the Health and Physical Education 10 curriculum and obtain a DEC-8 (pink) card. While this seminar is intended for and free of charge for students currently enrolled in Health and Physical Education 10, any juniors who were unable to satisfy this requirement during the 2019-2020 school year are welcome to attend free of charge as well.

Students can register to attend with a parent or legal guardian for one of these two dates HERE. Prior to the seminar date, the STUDENT will receive a BBCU invite to the virtual seminar that will be sent to their fcpsschools.net email account. The student must sign into the seminar before 7:00 PM and a parent or guardian must watch the seminar with them. Virtual Attendance after 7:00 PM will not be permitted. PSTD seminars are only available for attendance by students in grades 10-12. Any 9^th graders who attend will not receive credit, as they are not enrolled in the Health and Physical Education 10 course.

If students or parents cannot virtually attend a PSTD seminar during the week, FCPS ACE (Adult and Community Education) will be offering Partners in Safe Teen Driving seminars on Saturdays beginning in October. These seminars are only open to students grades 10-12. Students who attend these Saturday seminars regardless of grade, must register online through the ACE website and pay the $30.00 registration fee, as these seminars are held on the weekend.

Lastly, FCPS ACE is now accepting registration for behind-the-wheel (in-car portion) Driver Education classes. Registration is available on the ACE website.

The FCPS ACE website can be found here:

https://aceclasses.fcps.edu/CategorySubjectListing.aspx?ProgramID=28&ProgramName=Driver+Education&IsCourse=1.

Questions related to ACE classes ACE seminars may be directed to Jard Shoemake at: wcshoemake@fcps.edu.

Club Participation Information

Go to Clubs-and-organizations for a list of all of our clubs.
Each club will have a Google Classroom link
If you are interested in that club, click on the Google Classroom Link to join the club classroom
In the classroom, there will be a link to join club meetings during Highlander Flex Time(Only FCPS students can enter)
9:45am-10:25am- Clubs that start with the letter A-L

10:25am-11:05am- Clubs that start with the letter M-Z
If the Club says “Inactive” that means we have the club, but currently do not have a sponsor. If a student is interested in activating the club a teacher sponsor would need to be identified.
To learn more about student clubs at MHS, as well as information on the process of starting new clubs, please join Mr. Hays’ MHS Clubs class in Google Classroom using class code: euwkxvv

McLean HS Tech Support for Students

If you are experiencing issues with your FCPS issued laptop, please use the link below to enter your information. The tech support team will then get back to you as soon as possible.

We will continue to support students remotely as much as possible. If a computer has been identified as needing hands-on repair, we will schedule an appointment for you to come to the school to exchange it.

Description: This form should be filled out by a student if they are experiencing issues with their FCPSOn laptop.

Please click on the link below to access the Tech Support Request Form.

Parent/Student Support Portal Link:

https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/

FCPS Help Desk for Tech Support for Parents and Students

To support families who are working with their children during distance learning, FCPS has launched a new Parent Technology Help Desk, effective Monday, August 24. The help desk can be reached at 833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS) and will be answered by staff members between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., seven days a week.

Parents or guardians can call this number for basic tech support with parent accounts, help with FCPS student devices and technical assistance with other FCPS applications. If help desk staff members are unable to solve the issue, they will enter a support ticket on behalf of the parent/guardian to escalate the issue to the appropriate FCPS team. Parents who need help in a language other than English can inform the help desk staff when they call of their preferred language, and an interpreter will join in on the call.

FCPS has also set-up Parent and Student Technology Support portal at https://itweb.fcps.edu/itsupport/ to allow older students and parents/guardians to request technology help directly. When a support request ticket is entered through the portal, it is auto-routed to the TSSpec at the appropriate site to expedite service. text.

Social-Emotional Support Information

Mental Health and Wellness Support Services and Resources

McLean’s Clinical Staff are available to consult with parents and students regarding mental health related concerns and behaviors. They are also able to provide community resources as needed. Please see their contact information below:

Carol Ann Forrest, School Psychologist, CMForrest@fcps.edu

Beverly Parker-Lewis, School Psychologist, baparkerlewi@fcps.edu

Marly Jerome-Featherson, School Social Worker, mjeromefeath@fcps.edu

For more Mental Health and Wellness Information, please check out these Student Wellness Resources, FCPS’s Healthy Minds Blog and the FCPS’s Parent Resource Center.

Emergency Resources

Crisis Link Regional Hotline 703-527-4077

Crisis Text Text NEEDHELP to 85511

Dominion Hospital Emergency 703-536-2000

INOVA Emergency 703-289-7560

Merrifield Center Emergency 703-573-5979 TTY dial 711

Life Threatening 911

FCPS Cares

Do you know a McLean High School or FCPS employee who does ordinary things in an extraordinary way or goes beyond what is expected? If so, then click here to share with everyone.

My School Bucks

Learn more about this online payment portal for many school fees. Parents can set up an account which they link their student(s) to so there is one account per family. Course fees, lunch funds, some ticket events can be taken care of online. MySchoolBucks eliminates the need for students to carry cash to school and for multiple checks to be written. Learn more and sign up at https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/login/getmain?requestAction=home

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Attendance: 703-714-5725 | Web | Twitter

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