Weekly News From South County High School

In This Issue:

• Message From The Principal
• Testing Corner
• Senior Class Info
• Finance Info For Senior Families
• Theatre Arts Info
• All Night Grad Party
• Graduation
• Activities Office - Spring Season Ticket Presales

From the Principal

Family,

As you know, we entered this week on a bit of a rollercoaster.  We spent last Saturday evening celebrating the great win by our Varsity Football Team over Madison HS to earn the opportunity to defend their state championship title against Oscar Smith HS.  And we spent the next day and the rest of the week mourning the loss of two of our children who tragically lost their lives on Sunday.  It has been a very tough week as we are dealing with many, many emotions at all levels from students to staff.  I want to just say that the work by our students and staff this week to make the best of it has been nothing short of phenomenal.  They have supported and comforted one another and, in many cases, against my suggestions, have done so before taking care of themselves.  Teachers stopped instruction to create a safe space for students to express themselves or to just be.  Students and Families have rallied around one another for support as well.  I want to thank you for all that you have done to ensure that this place still works and ask that you continue to look out for, and keep this Family in your thoughts.

I had the opportunity to visit the Jiffy Lube Live venue this past week and I was very happy with what we had to see.  The venue is going to provide our graduates and Families with a wonderful graduation experience.  Outside of the fact that there are some limitations with respect to seating capacity (which we are hoping will be worked out), it may rival the George Mason experience.   I am truly looking forward to what we will have in store for our graduates. 

I received the preliminary National Merit Scholarship Results for the 2022 process.  I am proud to say that we have 13 students from South County who are on the list who were at or above the selection index score and are among the 50,000 highest-scoring participants nationwide!  These students are truly worthy of the recognition and I will be making contact with each of them individually to congratulate them for their outstanding achievement. 

I walked into my office on Tuesday to find 11 letters from our School Board Member, Laura Jane Cohen, sharing congratulations to 11 students who earned selection as a competitive event winner in the 2021 Virginia DECA State Leadership Conference.  I was proud to have been able to share in this acknowledgement.  I hope to be able to find each of these young people to fist bump them and congratulate them in person next week!

I wanted to give Chris House, one of our Social Studies teachers and our Rho Kappa Honor Society sponsor, a shout out for the work she has done with Rho Kappa.  But also, I wanted to give her student officers a huge shout out because Chris shared with me that they have been the catalyst behind ensuring that the Rho Kappa Honor Society has continued on.  They have found ways for the members to perform community service even with all the constraints, keep track of the hours and attending meetings on zoom or BBCU to replan and replan every time there was another pivot that changed things.  This is a true testament of the resiliency of our students who continue to thrive and bring their peers along with them even through all of the adversity and limitations that have been placed in front of them.

I would like to clear up information that may be floating around about final exams.  It has been discussed in the past (and I may have even shared) that students have the opportunity to opt out of final exams.  I want to make it clear that all students are expected to take their final exams.   In content area syllabi it states that students who have earned an A for the year in a class are exempt from the final exam.  The final can not and will not negatively effect a student’s grade, nor will a student who does not participate in the final exam have the decision negatively impact their final grade.   This policy does not apply to culminating projects in classes. The Exception to this policy is in Dual Enrollment courses where it is imperative that students understand that participation is required for any scheduled final exams. Teachers will be expressing this to all students going into final exam season so that students have a clear understanding.

Before I wrap things up, I want to make sure that everyone knows how proud we are of our football team.  This group fought and fought and fought all year long to find themselves as one of two teams in the entire state to play for the championship.  Although we came up short of the title, these young men can hold their heads up high and be proud of their accomplishments.  Thank you to each of you who have supported them through cheering them on, giving a player a ride home, contributing to a meal, or just well wishes.  Without all of us, these things are not possible!

I can’t believe that we are so close to the end of the year.  Getting to this point seems to be miraculous considering all of the obstacles and situations we have been forced to deal with.  But we continue to march forward and to find a way.  Over the weekend, make sure you find a way to share with your child that you are proud of them for something they are doing.  I know that every student is not knocking out of the box at all times, but they do something that makes us proud at some time.  It is so important that we share this with them because they NEED this right now.  I have told you in the past to hug them and walk away and leave them to wonder why.  This weekend, I need you to be deliberate, and to share with them this “why”.  A clean room, trash taken out, a dog walked, dishes washed, etc.  Just find something; and mean it.  You can go back to rolling your eyes at them next week.  Do it for me.  Do it for us. Do it for them.  Thank you once again for this remarkable opportunity.  And more importantly, thank you for your support of me this week.  It has meant the world.  #OneStallion

Gary  

Testing Corner

Advanced Placement Testers

All AP Exam testers receive confirmation of their scheduled AP Exams with dates and times last week. AP Classroom has been updated to reflect those dates and times. If a student has any questions, needs to cancel a AP exam without financial penalty, or wants to move an in-person exam session to a digital at home session, please email Mr. Bird at cwbird@fcps.edu.

SOL End-Of-Course Exams

Because of the unique environment we are currently in, SOL End-Of-Course exams will be focused on three days in May. On May 18 and May 19, all students will have asynchronous “catch-up days” at home – there will be no in-person instruction on May 18 and 19.  Please see the schedule below:

All SOL testers and their families should have received an email this week with their SOL testing dates and times. If an SOL test is in need of bus transportation for their SOL exams, they need to fill out the South County HS SOL Transportation form no later than May 5. For additional questions regarding the SOL End-Of-Course tests, please contact your school counselor or Chis Bird, School Test Coordinator, at cwbird@fps.edu.

FINANCE MESSAGE

TO ALL

SENIOR FAMILIES

A few important dates and reminders for all Senior Families. The finance office will not accept checks from Seniors after May 1st. All Senior dues, class fees, outstanding obligations and any prior year textbooks need to be resolved NLT May 14^th or this may impact students from receiving their cap and gowns. Debt notices were mailed home before Spring Break to students who have outstanding obligations in Textbook Tracker. If you received a notice, please mail a check along with the debt notice to the school. Checks can be made payable to: SCHS and mailed to South County High School, ATTN: Finance Office, 8501 Silverbrook Road, Lorton VA 22079.

There may be other fees due, such as unpaid senior dues, transcript fees, library fines, lost laptops or chargers, or fees for specific classes. These fees should be paid using My School Bucks (MSB). Class fees will have an invoice in MSB, the other items can be found in the School Store in MSB.

For planning purposes, we will begin Senior collection of laptops and current year textbooks on June 1 – June 4 (time TBD). If these items are not returned on time they will convert to a debt and will also impact them from receiving their cap and gown during Graduation rehearsal on June 7th.

SCHS Theatre Arts Department

The SCHS Theatre Arts Department is proud to present Bad Auditions on Camera: A Stay At-Home Play that will be premiering this Friday, April 30 at 7 pm. There will be additional streaming dates on May 1, 6, and 8 at 7 pm as well! There are two different casts and a different ending each night so you’re guaranteed to always get a new performance! Take a look at the trailer by clicking here! To watch the show, you must reserve a ticket. The show is completely free to watch but there will be an option to donate at the end. Since we obviously haven’t made any profit in over a year, we’re trying to fundraise for our end of the year celebrations and so that we can have a strong 2021-2022 season back on the stage! To reserve your ticket, please go to southcountydrama.org or directly to this link. You will be sent a link to watch 30 minutes prior to the performance. Please note this show is rated PG due to some mild language and content. You are welcome to e-mail Molly Rumberger, SCHS Theatre Arts teacher, directly if you have any questions regarding this.

Senior Class of 2021!

Our graduation is scheduled!   

June 10, 2021 @ Jiffy Lube Live starting at 2pm. 

Get ready and more information is forthcoming. 

Also, your "Last Ride" class T-shirts are in. They are super soft and very well done. Thanks to your very own Tim Turner for designing the shirts.  We hope that you will pick one up during our next class event.

$50 senior class dues that covers all graduation apparel and venues is past due as of 3/31.  Please make sure you have paid it prior to 4/14 or make payment arrangement with Mrs. Naghmi.

Senior Class of 2021 Website

Please visit our senior class of 2021 website for more information regarding senior year (dues, cap and gown orders, etc.) https://sites.google.com/view/soco2021/home” 

From the PTSO

All Night Graduation Party Tickets- ON SALE TODAY!

ANGP will be hosted at The ST James Entertainment and Sports Complex on June 7^th from 11pm-5am. Click here to register and find out more about this fun event.

Get your tickets today before price goes up! We are almost to 200 tickets, sign up today to be the 200^th person and win a free yard sign from https://www.facebook.com/myyardgreetings.

Price:

$70: 4/1 - 5/15

$85: 5/16 - 6/1

From the Activities Office:

Pre-sale Online Ticketing for Spring Sports

This spring will be our very first season of using a brand new interface for purchasing tickets for South County sporting events (Softball, Baseball, Lacrosse, Soccer and Track), ETix. ETix will allow our fans to purchase tickets online, prior to any game, match, or meet hosted at South County High School. To purchase tickets in advance, use this link to select the event for which you want tickets, then use your credit card information to purchase the number of tickets you want. You will receive a confirmation email for your purchase, and you will pull up that email on your phone to present to the ticket booth, scanning your ticket. This same procedure will also be used for those who wish to make credit card purchases for tickets at the gate on the day of the event.

If you have any questions about these procedures, please contact Terri Smith at tasmith1@fcps.edu.

If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to email me any time! 

*New* Live Streaming for Spring Sports – NFHS Network

South County is proud to announce that we have partnered with the NFHS Network, and we've invested in new technology that will bring you every game from our Gym and Main Stadium Venues LIVE.

Join the NFHS Network for full access to:

• All South County HS live and on-demand sports broadcasts
• All other sporting events from around the Nation
• Friends and family members who can’t make the game will never miss a play again! 
• Here's how to watch:
• 1) Visit www.NFHSnetwork.com
• 2) Search for South County High School and go to our page
• 3) Subscribe and Follow
• Thank you for your continued support of Stallion Athletics. We look forward to bringing you top-notch broadcasts of our athletic events!

New Merchandise Available

at the

Stallion Spirit Store Website!

South County’s Stallion Spirit Store is open virtually with NEW merchandise available on our NEW website! You’ll find the Order Form with directions on how to return; once the order is filled, payment can be made on MySchoolBucks and picked up at the school.

Thank you in advance for supporting the Entrepreneurship & Marketing program as well as the Work and Transition program here at South County. The students from these programs typically work the Spirit Kiosk at lunches to build customer service skills as well as count inventory and review financial records. These work-based learning opportunities allow students to connect classroom lessons to actual scenarios.

Visit the Stallion Spirit Store Website!

MOMNetwork, LLC

Celebrating Ramadan and need support?

Ramadan will start on April 12, 2021, depending on the new moon, which indicates the beginning of a new lunar month, is sighted. During this time, Muslims will be fasting for 29 to 30 days between sunrise to sunset.
Several organizations will be providing free food, programs for families, service projects, and so much more. We've designed a list of resources. If you are interested in submitting or benefiting from any of these resources, contact us at info@momnetworkusa.com or 703-579-7149   www.momnetworkusa.com

South County High School

2021 Summer Basketball Camp

Sponsored by

South County Athletic Booster Club

Who: Basketball Enthusiasts ages 7-15

What: Boys’ Basketball Camp

• Daily Skill Instruction from SC Coaches & Players
• 5 on 5 League Play & Championship Tournament
• 1 on 1 Tournament
• Hot Shot Contest
• Free Throw Contest
• Individual & Team Awards
• Free Camp T-Shirt

Where: South County HS Gym (Entrance #12)

When: June 21–25 & June 28–July 2; 9am-3pm

Cost: $195 (Save $20 if you sign up for both sessions)

Checks payable to SCABC Attn: BOYS BASKETBALL or Online at www.Stallionsboysbasketball.com

Bring: Basketball shoes, athletic shorts & t-shirt, Face Mask

Campers may bring a lunch or purchase one from the CONCESSION STAND

Need More Info?

Contact Coach Mike Robinson – Camp Director

MikeRob251@gmail.com

(703) 725.1774

www.Stallionboysbasketball.com

8501 Silverbrook Road, Lorton, VA 22079 | Main Office: 703.446.1600
Attendance: 703.446.1625 | Web | Twitter