Mustang Weekly, January 6, 2021

Dear SCMS families,

I hope that you and your families enjoyed a restful and rejuvenating winter break! I certainly enjoyed time with my family, beautiful weather, and the opportunity to refine my pickleball skills with my new racket, and binging season 2 of The Mandolorian!

The calendar change to 2021 is not the only change occurring at SCMS. In the coming weeks we will change the bell schedule and welcome students back to the building for in-person learning. Some of this information changes regularly based on School Board directives and decisions. I will continue to communicate information as I learn it and explain the impact that it will have on our school.

Even though the calendar just turned over and there is much uncertainty about the remainder of the school year, we are already thinking about the 2021-2022 school year. I hope that you will be able to join us for curriculum night on Thursday, January 14, 2021. The synchronous session will discuss core curriculum options, honors vs. AAP, math sequencing, new course offerings in world languages, and other topics. At the conclusion of the synchronous session we invite families to learn about electives in an asynchronous format. My hope is that the information provided at curriculum night will provide you with the essential information to assist your student when selecting courses for the upcoming school year.

As always, thank you for your partnership and please reach out to me with any questions

Sincerely,

Peter Kownacki, Principal

@pakownacki

Upcoming Dates

• January 18 - Martin Luther King Day – No School
• January 20 – Inauguration Day – No School
• January 22 – Two (2) Hour Early release – End of the Quarter

Curriculum Night for Rising 7^th & 8^th Graders

We will hold a virtual Curriculum Night on January 14^th at 6:15 PM that will include information about the core pathways, as well as elective information. Students and Parents will have access to additional (Asynchronous) curriculum information before the live Curriculum Night event on January 14^th.

8^th Grade Welcome to South County High School

On Wednesday, January 12^th the 8^th Graders will be doing a Live-Virtual Chat with their high school counselor.  This will be done during their Learning Seminar (9:05 AM – 10:25 AM). The middle school counselor will provide the students with the BBCU link.  The students will be provided with a lot of information as well as the opportunity to ask questions. 

 CLICK HERE to learn more about South County High School and how to register for your courses next year!

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – Talks on STEM!

The PTSA Diversity Committee of the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) is launching a series of Diversity Talks webinars in January!  This series is especially for elementary and middle school students in grades 4-8. Join us to hear from people working in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields. What sparked their interest in STEM? What did they study in school? What kinds of jobs do they do? What else would you like to know? 

Mark your calendars for Monday, January 11, at 6 p.m. to hear the first speakers of our Diversity Talk series: Suresh Shenoy, Neena Shenoy and Nikhil Shenoy. Suresh Shenoy, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, is a business leader and philanthropist who has contributed deeply to many aspects of the northern Virginia community. He was executive vice president at Alyx Technologies Inc., a Virginia-based consulting and technology services company. Mr. Shenoy was a founding member of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership Fund and served on its board until 2002. Neena Shenoy is a Mechanical Engineer (Tufts University 1981 and MIT 1985) and founder of Technology & Engineering providing engineering services. She was involved in designing aircraft engines for GE and worked on the Space Shuttle program for NASA designing and installing Special Payloads. She has also provided program management in start up businesses here and in India. Nikhil Shenoy graduated from TJHSST in 2002, MIT in 2006 and the University of Chicago in 2014. After working at Goldman Sachs, Proctor and Gamble, and Kastle Systems, he is now CEO of Colvin Run Networks, a company that he started in northern Virginia to offer artificial intelligence and blockchain solutions to governments.  

Parents, register at this Zoom link: https://bit.ly/TJDiversityTalk1

Submit questions in advance here: https://bit.ly/tjdiversitytalks

• South County Middle School http://www.fcps.edu/southcountyms/
• South County Middle School PTSO http://www.scmsptso.org/
• 2020-21 FCPS Calendar  https://www.fcps.edu/calendars/2020-21-standard-school-year-calendar
• FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard).
• SIS Parent Information
• Mental Health Resources and Emergency Services Information
• Free and Reduced Lunch information https://www.fcps.edu/resources/student-safety-and-wellness/food-and-nutrition-programs/free-and-reduced-price-meals

^{We encourage you to visit our school website frequently for updates and announcements.  For more detailed information on all school matters, please visit our website at http://www.fcps.edu/southcountyms/}

^{For further information on planning and events sponsored by the PTSO, please visit their website at http://www.scmsptso.org/}

^{Parents of FCPS students may update contact information online through weCare@School http://www.fcps.edu/news/wecare.shtml, a feature of FCPS 24-7 Learning (Blackboard) or by contacting the student information officer at their child’s school to have the contact information updated in the student information system.} 

^{The News You Choose subscription service  is a self-subscribing, self-updating, and self-unsubscribing service.  To update your contact information and/or topic selections, or to unsubscribe, go to http://www.fcps.edu/kit/index.shtml#update for instructions.  Schools and offices cannot update or delete subscribers.} 

^.