Mustang Weekly, January 12, 2021

Fairfax County Public Schools sent this bulletin at 01/12/2021 02:42 PM EST
Principal's Message

Dear South County Middle School Families and Students,

This has been a week of unprecedented and unsettling events and I recognize now more than ever that it is important to stay connected and support one another as a school community.  The South County staff will continue to work to provide a safe place for all of our students and families to engage, dialogue, and learn from one another. We will continue to focus on the ways in which we take care of each other, through our actions and words. We strive to abide by our school motto to ensure that our students are Capable, Contibuting and Connected members of our 21st Century global society.  Please know that our teachers, counselors, administrators and clinical staff are all here for our students and families. Do not hesitate to reach out to us. I personally welcome your feedback, suggestions and want to hear your concerns.

Return To School Updates/Changes:

As I'm sure that you have heard, the FCPS School Board voted on Tuesday, January 5, 2021 to pause the planning to welcome students to in-person learning. The Board will revisit the planning process and timeline on February 2.  The decision to pause the plan generated a number of questions about what is supposed to happen over the next few weeks.  Here are our newest updates and a revised calendar:

  • South County MS will maintain its current bell schedule (reminder included below) while in-person learning is paused. The new bell schedule (that was sent last week) will be implemented when the revised Return To School timeline is developed and approved by the School Board. 
  • All groups are paused until a revised Return To School timeline is developed and approved by the School Board. 
  • January 19th and 21st are now designated as synchronous days (odd periods-SCMS Green Day) rather than asynchronous days.
  • Friday, January 22nd will be a synchronous day (even period-SCMS Blue Day) with a 2 hours early closing.
  • The SCMS administrative team will host a Return to School Town Hall prior to the return to in-person learning at a date TBD.

Sincerely,

Peter Kownacki

Principal South County Middle School

@pakownacki​​​​​​​
Save the Date
  • January 14 – Curriculum Night
  • 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
  • January 25 - Teacher Work Day
curriculum night

Curriculum Night for Current 7th Graders (Rising 8th Graders)

We will hold a virtual Curriculum Night on January 14th 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 14th. Mr. Kownacki sent an email that contains the links for this event.  Please reference this flier for more details about the event. Curriculum night flyer 2021.pdf 
TJHSST

TJHSST – Application Window

The application window for Thomas Jefferson will begin February 1, 2021 at 8:00 AM and close on February 26, 2021 at 4:00 PM. 

Please visit www.tjadmissions.org to submit your application and view the updated calendar. 

If you have any questions please reach out to Mrs. Johnson at jljohnson@fcps.edu
Quick links

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.