From The Principal
Family,
Here we are, almost smack dab at the midpoint of the year. I have to say that the time has flown since the beginning of the year, and yet I am totally exhausted! But I know that there is still work to do, so I am up for the challenge and promise to return to work on Tuesday. Our student body has been awesome as they have been patient and committed to making the best of this year. Their resilience has been remarkable and I am so proud of all they have accomplished so far in the year.
Speaking of accomplishments, it was great to see so many students come up to the building on Monday to pick up their Honor Roll Certificates, Academic Letters and pins. Over 300 students were on school grounds, and while I knew that we were still in the midst of virtual learning, seeing so many students was a close runner up to them being back!
One of this week’s big shout outs goes to our students who are involved in our TV Production class. This group of students has kept the student body and staff informed with the latest news about anything South County HS. It is difficult enough to put together a show when students are in the building together. Imagine the coordination and collaboration it takes to put together that same show when everyone is in a different physical space. Each news show has been outstanding and professionally done. Ms. Jennifer Delinski deserves a great deal of credit as the instructor, but the students make the show and therefore, we are going to shower them with the praise this week.
The other one goes to all of our coaches. Our coaches have been afforded the opportunity to engage face to face with our students to allow them to participate in something the students love to do. This group has stepped up in so many ways to ensure that every opportunity is met with a “yes” and to make the opportunities safe and welcome to all who wish to participate. At a time when our students may have been made to feel totally disenfranchised due to the limitations placed on them by the pandemic, this group of adults has taken advantage of these opportunities to bring our students in close to the Family and to give them as much normalcy as possible.
Last week I discussed how important it is to have our students in leadership to have diverse points of view and to be representative of all of the students we have in our building. Well I am extending that conversation to include that consideration to our students who are in our honors and AP program areas. This past week the counselors have been engaging students about course explanations and advising them as to what they may be best suited for. I bring this up to say that once again, it is quite important and necessary to ensure that our students at all levels of learning experience multiple points of view and perspectives as they learn their content and as teachers do more to make the learning relevant and to pull in more of the student experiences. So I am encouraging you all to encourage your students to take a chance with some more rigorous content, while at the same time not having them pile too much on their plates. The balance is critical, especially coming off of this year.
I want to share that I am aware that not only is this a less than normal year, I also know that this less than normal year has truly impacted some of our students’ performance. But this is the case for students all over the nation; in fact the world. Our students, while definitely dealing with the constant change and differences in how instruction is being delivered, are exactly where they should be right now considering the fact that we are in a pandemic, just experienced an insurrection, and have been literally ripped from just about all social normality. We should be happy that our students still log on and are still with us. Many of our students and families can find themselves trying to compare themselves to last year’s students or even worse, the year before when we had a full “normal” year. I know for a fact that students are learning at the same clip as other students not only in other FCPS schools, as well as in schools across the county. Students everywhere have struggled, rebounded, struggled, rebounded, and so have our students. I say all of this to say that as we continue to find ways to support them, we have to avoid placing unnecessary pressures on them to do more. They are doing all they can right now and we are all proud of them.
Here are a few tidbits of information that we have recently been given about safety protocols that we are putting in place as we prepare for the return to school.
It is very important that all students who are returning to school have already had their Health Consent Form completed. Without it, school staff is required to take the student’s temperature and have them fill out a health questionnaire every day prior to entering the building.
Students should ensure they have an appropriate mask, and that they are wearing it properly prior to entering the building each day. Please know that the gator masks (the sleeves) must be at least two ply. Single ply gator masks will not be allowed to be worn.
Further we ask that any student who is not feeling well, is kept home. Not only are we concerned about the transferring of germs, we are also concerned about the emotional state that simple coughs and sneezes create in public areas these days. Each student is responsible for protecting themselves and others from the spread of this virus and I expect that everyone will do their part.
Because our 9th grade students, as well as our students new to South County have not been in our building as students before, we are in the process of working through details to provide an hour-long orientation for these students. This will consist of some quick introductions and a tour of the building. We want all students to be able to navigate the building efficiently, so we believe that this orientation opportunity is very important for those new to our building. We plan to use our Stallion Ambassadors and/or our Leadership students to lead this orientation.
Well that is all I have for you this week. I will share that I have put together a short video that demonstrates what life is like for “the boss” when I am home alone. I will only be sharing this with the student body, so if you want to get a look into the day in the life of the principal when Home Alone, you will have to ask them for permission. 😊 I hope that you have a wonderful, safe, and relaxing rest of this so needed long weekend. Continue to take care of one another, and stay safe. I will see you on the other side! #OneStallion
Gary
From Student Services
Week of January 4th — Academic Days of Emphasis
Teachers will meet individually with students during class to discuss course level options.
Friday, January 8th — Virtual Curriculum and Electives Fair goes live
Grade Level Curriculum Orientation
School counselors will meet with students in large groups to present information about course offerings, sequencing, prerequisites for specific courses, and graduation requirements.
Rising 9th grade (Middle School)
- January 8th virtually during Advisory
Rising 12th grade
- February 12th virtually during Advisory
Rising 11th grade
- February 26th virtually during Advisory
Rising 10thgrade
Academic Advising Conferences
School counselors meet individually with their students to assist them in exploring their academic and postsecondary/career goals. Students will review their transcripts and select their courses for next school year.
- Monday, January 11 through Friday, January 29
Rising 12th grade (by appointment)
Clean up week of February 1 through USVA
- Tuesday, February 16 through Wednesday, February 24
Rising 11th grade (PE)
- Tuesday, March 2 through Wednesday, March 10
Rising 10th grade (PE)
From the PTSO
White House Ornaments- Get them before they are gone!
We have reduced the price of these ornaments to $18.00 There are only 12 left in inventory and we need to sell them all.
Visit https://southcountyptso.membershiptoolkit.com to order. All proceeds benefit the 2021 ANGP. Inquiries
can be directed to Jennifer Megan at JMegan2560@aol.com or Dawn Martinos at DAMartinos@fcps.edu.
General Membership Meeting
The PTSO will be having a general membership meeting on Wednesday, February 22nd at 7:00pm via Zoom.
Click here to join the meeting. All are welcome.
PTSO Membership
Please become a PTSO member! Our biggest source of financial support is membership dues. You can join online here: https://southcountyptso.membershiptoolkit.com/home (This same site has a calendar of PTSO/school events to which you can subscribe, lists volunteer opportunities, and lets you buy other things from us as well, like White House Christmas ornaments and car magnets.)
Finally, we use several methods to keep in touch; please follow us or sign up with at least one of the following.
Our app: Look for "Membership Toolkit" in the Apple Store or Google Play Store. This is an amazing app that allows you to look at any email the PTSO sends out as well of pull up calendar events.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SoCoPTSO
PTSO general page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthCountyHighSchoolPTSO/
PTSO Military Connections on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2103122980014708/
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