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Woodson seniors at their first of several monthly socials. February's theme is "Don't Stop Believin'"
Important Upcoming Dates
Monday, February 15th - President's Day, School Holiday
Tuesday, February 16th - New Bell Schedule Begins - 8:20am-2:50pm
Tuesday, February 16th - WTW Return to School Virtual Town Hall at 7pm
Thursday/Friday, February 25th-26th - Asynchronous Learning Days
Friday, March 5th - 2 hour early release
Monday, March 8th - School Development Day, No School for Students
In this Issue
NEW News
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
2. Return to School Town Hall, February 16th
3. 2021 Scholastic Regional Writing Awards
4. 2021 Virtual Teen Job Fairs
5. Reality Check Presentation for New Drivers
6. College & Career Center News
7. Healthy Minds Podcast: Grants Available to Help Students Stop Mental Health Stigma
8. 16th Annual Special Education Conference
PAST News but still important
9. PSAT for 10th Graders on April 19th
10. Graduation Announcements
11. World Language Credit Exam
12. College Partnership Program
13. Emotional Wellness Resource
14. FCPS Laptop Tech Support Hours at WTW
15. Parent Technology Help Desk
16. Order the WTW 2021 Yearbook
NEW News
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
Good Afternoon Woodson Families!
It was fun to see many of our seniors this afternoon at our "Don’t Stop Believin'" senior event! Details on graduation are still up in the air, but we are still believing that a socially distanced in-person graduation will happen! Graduation is still scheduled for Wednesday, June 2nd at 2PM at EagleBank Arena (GMU). While this could change due to CDC/Virginia Health Department guidance, I am a glass half full person and so I'm trying to will it into happening and doing so safely!
This upcoming week we welcome back some of our students in special education. To prepare for concurrent instruction, Thursday and Friday, February 25-26th will be asynchronous learning days. Group 8 grades 9 and 12 return March 2nd and grades 10 and 11 will round us out on March 9th.
Beginning February 22nd, Mondays will become independent work days. This is a good time to get the 60-75 minutes of outside of class work completed that is required each week. Students will be able to make appointments for online assistance with teachers either on Mondays, during 3rd period on Tuesdays/Thursdays or after school. Teachers will have different preferences for scheduling student assistance based on their schedules.
We are currently looking at 49% of our students online and 51% in person. If you have questions about the return to in-person learning, please join us for a Return to School virtual town hall on Tuesday, February 16th at 7PM. The link to join will be sent on Monday along with a presentation for your advance review as this is a large amount of information to digest.
Happy Chinese New Year to those who celebrate and please stay safe in the pending ice storm this weekend!
Warmly,
Dr. Floyd
2. Return to School Town Hall
In anticipation of students returning to school in March, Dr. Floyd will host a Return to School Town Hall on Tuesday, February 16 at 7pm.
The link to join the Town Hall will be emailed to parents on the morning of February 16th. In addition, a presentation will be sent prior to the meeting for parents to review as the town hall will cover a great deal of information.
3. 2021 Scholastic Regional Writing Awards
The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, is the largest, longest-running recognition program of its kind in the United States. Writing categories include critical essay, dramatic script, flash fiction, humor, journalism, novel writing, personal essay and memoir, poetry, science fiction and fantasy, short story, and writing portfolio.
Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) student writers won 30 Gold Key awards in the 2021 Regional Scholastic Writing Awards competition. In all, 163 Gold Key, Silver Key, and Honorable Mentions were earned by FCPS students.
Two Woodson students received awards: Lindsay Ren - Gold Key for Personal Essay and Memoir; Zainab Rentia - 2 Honorable Mentions for Personal Essay and Memoir.
More information about the Scholastic Awards is available online.
4. 2021 Virtual Teen Job Fairs
Fairfax County high school students looking for their first part-time job, summer and seasonal job opportunities, or who want more information about potential career pathways are invited to attend one of six upcoming teen job fairs and resume building workshops in Fairfax County. Local businesses and agencies will be on hand to offer a range of opportunities including part-time employment, internships, and volunteer work for prospective students.
Volunteer opportunities and resume building workshops will also be available for younger students. Free booth spaces are provided to local businesses. The first two job fairs will be held on Saturday, March 13, from 2 to 5 p.m., and Saturday, March 20, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Students can register for the March 13 Job Fair and the March 20 Job Fair.
 Seniors enjoyed sweet treats during their February social this afternoon.
5. Reality Check Presentation for New Drivers - Registration Deadline this Friday
Attention Parents of new drivers, a free series of webinars are available for you to attend. This is NOT the PSTD and is NOT required. It is an extra presentation being offered by INOVA.
The registration for our Virtual Reality Check is now open! We will be starting Reality Check on March 1st as a series. I have attached the flyer. The Reality Check Program is free and open to the public. Please feel free to disseminate this as you see appropriate on your social media, Next Door, email to friends and family that have young drivers, etc.
- March 1st- Graduated License Procedure
- March 8th– Drug/Alcohol Presentation, How Teens Affect My Car Insurance, A Trip to the ED, and Sharing the Road
- March 15th– Trauma Surgeon Presentation and Survivor Speakers
Sessions are progressive, building upon each other. The series concludes with a debrief at the end of the third session.
To register click on the survey monkey link below. The last day to Register for this is FRIDAY, February 26th.
Here is the link for the Survey Monkey sign up: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RealityCheckMar2021
If you have questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me via email or phone at linda.watkins@inova.org or 703-776-3259.
 Dylan and Anthony host The Morning Show this week!
6. College & Career Center News
Please follow the Woodson College & Career Center on Twitter and Instagram @wtwcareercenter. The weekly College & Career Center Newsletters are sent out on Mondays. Newsletters can also be accessed here at your convenience. I have virtual walk-in office hours for students during lunch on Tues/Wed/Thu, and Scholarship Fridays for Seniors during lunch every Friday. Students will have to sign in with their FCPS student account. Questions? Please email cliebmosley@fcps.edu.
Upcoming Events and College Fairs – upcoming events with registration information are listed in the College & Career Center Calendar that students can access through their FCPS Google account.
7. Healthy Minds Podcast: Grants Available to Help Students Stop Mental Health Stigma
In this week's Healthy Minds podcast, join Prevention Specialist Chad Christian to hear about opportunities for students to earn mini-grants. Grants up to $1,000 will be awarded to students who design creative, innovative projects that aim to reduce the perceived stigma of mental health issues and substance use disorders. The grant application deadline is February 11.
8. 16th Annual Special Education Conference
Save the date for the 16th annual Special Education Conference on Saturday, April 17th.
This year’s conference will be VIRTUAL with a combination of synchronous (live) and asynchronous (recorded) sessions.
Registration will begin in March 2021
- Parents and Community Members will be able to register online or by phone
- FCPS Educators, Administrators, and Preservice Teachers can register online and earn recertification points for attending the conference
Sessions
- Student Strand for youth ages 14-22 will be offered
- Exhibit Hall and Inclusive Schools resources
Each year the conference draws an audience of parents, educators, administrators, preservice teachers, and community members eager to hear the latest research, strategies, and trends in the education of students
PAST News - Still Important
9. PSAT for 10th Graders on April 19th
On Monday, April 19th, Woodson High School tenth graders will have the opportunity to take the PSAT 10.
FCPS will cover the cost for any tenth grade student to take this test.
General information about the PSAT 10 test format is available on the College Board webpage (https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt-psat-10).
Monday, April 19th has been designated for independent learning in FCPS high schools, so students who choose to take the PSAT 10 will not miss synchronous instruction or intervention with their teachers.
We will share more details about test day schedules and bus transportation in the coming weeks.
FCPS health and safety protocols for PSAT 10 administration are available online (https://www.fcps.edu/node/41891).
If you have questions about the PSAT 10 administration at WT Woodson High School, please contact our Assessment Coach, Kathleen Guinee, kpguinee@fcps.edu.
 With class sponsors Mr. Healy and Mr. Wright during the February Senior Social this afternoon.
10. Graduation Announcements
Seniors and Parents – It's time to order the official W.T. Woodson High School 2021 graduation announcements!
Please click on or copy and paste the link below into your browser to order the announcements. www.balfour.com
Here is step by step instructions on how to order:
Step 1- Go to balfour.com
Step 2- Type in W.T. Woodson High School under "Shop my School"
Step 3- Select "Announcements"
Step 4- Complete your information
Step 5- Checkout
You can also order other "Grad Essentials" such as Class Rings, Diploma Frames, Souvenir Tassels, 2021 Apparel, etc. on the website. Orders will be shipped home.
If you have any questions please contact Balfour at 703-941-1436 or balfournova@yahoo.com.
11. World Language Credit Exam
The 2021 Credit Exam for World Languages will take place in March of 2021. Students who take the credit exam have the opportunity to earn up to three (3) credits, based on demonstrated proficiency.
Thirty (30) languages will be assessed via the FCPS Credit Exam. In order to offer the test in all languages while maintaining a safe testing environment, some languages will be tested online and some will be tested in person.
- These languages will be tested online between March 2, 2021 and March 10, 2021: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
- These languages will be tested in person on March 13, 2021 and March 20, 2021 (Saturdays): Amharic, ASL, Bengali, Farsi, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Somali, Tagalog, Tamil, Telugu, Tigrinya, Turkish, Twi, Urdu and Vietnamese.
Credit exam information is available at Credit Exam for WL.
Registration opens Monday, February 8th, at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, February 26th. All students must register for the exam through their school counselor by February 26, 2021. Late registrations will not be accepted.
12. College Partnership Program
The College Partnership Program (CPP) is designed to assist students who are traditionally underrepresented in college (i.e. first generation, African-American or Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, English learners, students with disabilities or economically disadvantaged) in exploring, applying and enrolling in college. In accordance with FCPS’ goal to eliminate gaps in opportunity, access, and achievement for all students, CPP focuses on academic advising, college visits, parent engagement and preparation beyond high school.
The CPP is now accepting applications. Students can only apply online with their FCPS G Suite account. Applications are due by Friday, March 19th.
There will be a virtual information session for students and parents on Monday, March 1st at 3:15pm. Please email Ms. Jamie Korpacz at jlkorpacz@fcps.edu with questions or to get the information for the virtual info session.
13. Emotional Wellness Resource
You or your staff may be hearing from parents who are concerned about their child’s emotional well-being. This one-pager (https://bit.ly/38k8Xyz) from Healthy Minds Fairfax provides easy-to-digest information and would be a valuable resource for your school community.
Please consider sharing it with them in your next newsletter and/or during a virtual parent meeting. If you have questions or need additional resources, please let us know.
14. Laptop Tech Support Hours
If parents or students need FCPS laptop technical support at Woodson HS, the following must be completed:
- Submit a ticket using the FCPS Parent/Student Tech Support Portal,
- Schedule an appointment to come on-site, and
- Complete a health screening questionnaire prior to arriving.
New 2021 Laptop Tech Support Hours
Our onsite laptop tech support hours by appointment only are:
Monday - 1:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Tuesday and Wednesday - 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Thursday and Friday - 9:00 am - 11:30 am
Thank you,
W.T Woodson HS Tech Support Team
15. Parent Technology Help Desk
To support families who are working with their children during distance learning, FCPS launched a new Parent Technology Help Desk. The number is 1-833-921-3277 (833-921-FCPS). It will be answered by staff 7 a.m.to 11 p.m., seven days a week. If the help desk is unable to solve the issue on the phone with the parent or guardian, they will enter a ticket on the parent’s behalf and the request for help will be transferred to the appropriate FCPS team.
Parents or guardians who need help in a language other than English should let help desk staff know, and a interpreter will join them on the line. (FCPS also has existing parent information phone lines, available in eight different languages, that can assist with general questions about FCPS.)
FCPS has also set up an online portal to allow older students and parents and guardians to request technology help directly.
Get more information about the new Parent Technology Help Desk.
16. Order the 2021 WTW Yearbook!
The WTW yearbook is ready for orders!
I can’t imagine a more significant time to purchase a relic of history and to celebrate our Woodson Cavaliers!
To purchase a yearbook, go to https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/ and type in the code 5278. You can create an ad, buy a yearbook, or submit photos all in one place!
Please contact tmweghorst@fcps.edu if you have any questions!
Mental Health Resources | 24/7 Emergency Numbers
If you are in crisis, text NEEDHELP to 85511, call 1-800-273-TALK, or dial 911; TTY dial 711
CrisisLink Regional Hotline: 703-527-4077 (CrisisLink is a hotline for individuals in crisis or family/friends seeking guidance for how to help a loved one)
Dominion Hospital Assessment and Referral Line: 703-536-2000
Inova Emergency Services: 703-289-7560
Mobile Crisis Unit: 1-844-627-4747
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK or 1-800-SUICIDE
Merrifield Center Emergency Services: 703-573-5679; TTY dial 711 (The Merrifield Center of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, offers a range of clinical programming. Emergency Services, staffed 24 hours per day, seven days per week, works with people in psychiatric crisis who need immediate attention.)
Plan D Nova https://www.plandnova.org/ (a website for Northern Virginia teens who suffer from depression: #breakthestigma)
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