Annandale Community Insider - January 10

Annandale Community:

Last Monday, I shared with the staff that the next two months were going to be the most challenging and shared a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Dark Knight, “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming.” Specifically, I was talking about the importance of remaining flexible as it relates to the increasing cases of COVID, the rollout of the vaccine and FCPS’ Return to School timeline.  

However, I never would have imagined just how dark it would get on Wednesday in our nation’s capital. That evening, I sent out suggested discussion guidelines and resources to support teachers in their classroom. I said, “Regardless of political beliefs, our students are coming of age in a time that will forever be captured in history books. The events they are witnessing will shape their understanding of the world and their place in it. Violence is no part of what it means to be a member of our community. As educators, our charge is to ensure that we provide a safe, supportive and welcoming environment that encourages critical thinking and inquiry. As an IB school, we value teaching our students about civic engagement and how to examine issues critically.” If you have not done so already, I encourage you to talk with your student about the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. 

During these challenging times, we continue to focus on relationships. Throughout the month of January, teachers will be scheduling checking-in meetings with each student during W4. The purpose of these check-ins is not only to strengthen teacher/student relationships but also discuss ways we can continue to support them moving forward.

This Thursday and Friday are “catch up days''. The purpose of these days is to address student/stress/workload reduction. Specifically, students have the opportunity to complete previously assigned work including missed assignments/assessments and/or previously assigned longer term assignments that had not yet reached due dates. Catch up days are not intended for students to complete new assignments. Students are expected to attend the beginning of each class in order for the teacher to take attendance. Teachers will remain online throughout the class period to support any student who may need additional help.

Finally, Thursday night the boys varsity basketball team beat region-powerhouse Westfield on a last second shot by sophomore Andre Nields. Check out the video on Instagram. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to watch some of our students-athletes in action including gymnastics at Lake Braddock and boys varsity basketball at Hayfield. I am so proud of not only the dedication and effort of our students and coaches, but their focus on following safety protocols to ensure we can play safely.  

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Shawn DeRose, Principal

Contact Information:
Twitter: @ShawnDeRose
Website: https://annandalehs.fcps.edu/

Important Dates

January 11- Teacher Prep Day

January 14 - Rising 9th Grade Parent Information Night

January 14-15 - Catch-up Days

January 18 - No School - MLK Day

January 19 - PTSA Meeting, 7pm

January 20 - No School - Inauguration Day

January 22 - End of 2nd Quarter - Early Release

January 25 - Teacher Workday

Teacher Prep Day - January 11: FCPS recently announced that January 4 and January 11 will be "Teacher Prep Days'' to prepare for the in-person return of students to school. Staff will come together on these days for professional development and meet with their teams/departments to prepare for this transition. Teachers are not expected to host office hours on these dates.

Catch Up Days - January 14-15: All FCPS middle and high schools will be scheduling two “catch up days” to address student/stress/workload reduction. Annandale High School has designated January 14 and 15 as a “catch up day.” According to FCPS, the intent of these days is to provide students the opportunity to complete previously assigned work including missed assignments/assessments and/or previously assigned longer term assignments that had not yet reached due dates. Catch up days are not intended for students to complete new assignments. Teachers will be available to assist students who have questions regarding their assignments during their regular bell schedule.

Rising 9th Grade Parent Information Night - January 14: Annandale High School welcomes all rising 9th grade students and their families to join our high school information night on Thursday, January 14 from 7:00-8:30pm. The event will be held virtually using this Blackboard link. Students and their families will get an overview of 9th grade courses and programs from Annandale teachers and counselors, along with opportunities to attend breakout sessions with our staff. We look forward to meeting future members of the Atom Nation!

Important Information

Atoms Social Media Accounts - Want the latest news from around Atom Nation? Follow our Social Media Accounts!

Academic Advising for 2021-22 School Year Has Begun! -  Counselors have been meeting with each grade level to discuss the course selection process for the 2021-22 school year. Beginning on January 19, counselors will be meeting virtually with individual students through their English classes to answer questions and support students through the course selection process. Students can access information about course selection on our Academic Advising page, which includes the online course catalog and videos about electives being offered. For our Rising 9th Grade families, we will have a virtual information night on January 14 from 7:00-8:30pm at this link. 

Family Guide for Return to School - Fairfax County Public Schools is partnering with families to ensure we keep students and staff safe and healthy as we return to school buildings for learning. Working together, we will follow recommended health guidance that focuses on student and staff health, safety, and emotional well-being. The FCPS Family Guide for Return to School has a wealth of information on topics like concurrent instruction, lunch, the mandatory mask policy, recess, laptops, health protocols, and more.

Awesome Atoms!

46 Students Earn Middle Years Program (MYP) Certificate: Congratulations to the 46 juniors who have completed all of the requirements for the IB MYP Certificate. Their hard work on the MYP Personal Project, in challenging themselves in their courses last year (and this year!), their dedication to service as action, and their reflection upon service hours have paid off. While unfortunately we are not able to celebrate in person yet, we wanted to acknowledge their accomplishments, which have not gone unnoticed. The official certificates will be distributed to students over the course of this winter. We are also still in the process of figuring out what our ceremony will look like this spring, but we are going to do our best to be able to celebrate these Awesome Atoms!

Former Atom Wins Mrs. Venezuela: Congratulations to Rachel Laguna, Class of 2007 who has been crowned Mrs. Venezuela. Rachel will be heading to Shenzhen, China in the spring of 2021 to represent Venezuela (her birth country) at Mrs. Globe. At the age of 10 she immigrated to Annandale, Virginia and attended Braddock ES, Poe MS and graduated from Annandale High in 2007. While at Annandale, Rachel was a yearbook editor, band member and a cheerleader. She mentioned that amongst some of her most memorable Annandale High experiences was: “Winning honor band for 4 years, going to Yearbook camp with my friends and the last quarter of senior year with my 3 girlfriends-Lisa, Andrea and Jessica!”.

News from the Activities Office

Check out the Annandale Activities Office Weekly Newsletter - "Atoms Athletics and Activities." 

Winter Sports Update: Last week we shared that fans are allowed to attend our varsity home basketball games and wrestling meets and that this week fans will be able to attend home events at all levels. However, due to the increase of COVID cases, fans will remain limited to varsity contests only until further notice. Each varsity game will have a maximum of 25 fans in attendance. Each athlete will receive 1-2 tickets for their family or friends to attend. You must have a ticket to attend. There is no entrance fee for these events. If you do not have a ticket to the event, you can watch the contest Live Stream on our YouTube channel. For our away games, you can watch the other schools Live Stream. Check the Athletics and Activities email every Saturday for those links or visit https://annandaleatoms.net/.  

New Wrestling Mat: Special thanks to Principal Shawn DeRose and the school's commitment to not only making improvements to our classrooms and building but also supporting the Activities Office and their recent purchase of a new wrestling mat. Check out the photo above.

Live Stream Annandale HS Sports! - If you do not have a ticket to an upcoming athletic event, you can watch home games Live Stream on our YouTube channel.  See below for more information.

Tuesday, January 12:

Girls Basketball vs. West Potomac - 5:45/7:30pm Live Stream

Boys Basketball @ West Potomac - 4:30/5:45/7:30pm Live Stream

Wednesday, January 13:

Gymnastics @ West Potomac - 6:00pm Live Stream

JV/Varsity Wrestling @ Annandale - 6:00pm Live Stream

Thursday, January 14:

Boys' Basketball vs. Mt. Vernon - 5:45/7:30pm Live Stream

Girls' Basketball @ Mt. Vernon - 5:45/7:30pm TBD

Friday, January 15:

JV/Varsity Wrestling @ Edison - 6:00pm Live Stream

Saturday, January 16:

Boys' Basketball @ Marshall - 1:00/2:15/4:00pm Live Stream

Girls' Basketball vs. Marshall - 12:00/1:30 Live Stream

NEW! FCPS Athletics Online Registration - FCPS activities and athletic programs has transitioned to a new online student registration system. To participate, you MUST register. You will need your student’s school ID number, emergency contact info, health insurance card and emergency contact info. 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.  If you already submitted the form to the office, you still need to complete the concussion education portion online.  Sorry for the inconvenience.
• VHSL Physical form will need to be turned into the Activities Office before participating.

If you have any questions, please contact Ryan Hughes, Athletic Trainer Certified at rhughes@fcps.edu or Patrick Pacak, Administrative Assistant at pmpacak@fcps.edu.

News from the PTSA

PTSA Spirit Wear Masks - Breathable Atoms Face Mask! The @AtomsPTSA and AHS Athletic Boosters have joined together to bring you this limited edition mask featuring the Atoms logo! Pay $12 online and pick up at AHS. Details here: bit.ly/AtomsMask 

Upcoming PTSA Meetings - Dates and Times: Mark your calendar for monthly PTSA meetings which are held the 3rd Tuesday at 7:00pm. We will start the school year with virtual meetings and details will follow on how to join us. These dates include: January 19, February 16, March 16, April 20, May 18, June 8.

Mental Health Resources: Mental health is always important and especially now. If you or anyone you know is in need of help.  Please seek it out.  Refer to the PTSA Mental Health and Wellness page on our website for resources in our area.

Stay Connected - “Visit”, “Like” and “Follow” - Our e-newsletter, ATOMail, is sent the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month and highlights PTSA programs and opportunities to support our students, teachers, and staff. To receive ATOMail, please sign up and set your preferences on the FCPS "News You Choose" webpage. Select “Annandale High School” and check the box for “Annandale HS PTSA”. You can also stay up-to-date on our website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

• Website: www.annandalehsptsa.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnandaleHSPTSA/
• Twitter and Instagram: @AtomsPTSA