In this issue:
- From The Principal
- Finance Office News
- Select Digital Resources
- Masking
- Class of 2022 Parent Information Session
- Activity Office News
- From The PTSO
- Stallion Spirit Store
- Emergency Care Information
- FCPS Cares
From The Principal
Family,
I hope this message finds each of you well. I have to tell you that this was quite a week! We went from a ghost town within our building to a full house on Thursday. And even through all the messaging around team pauses and teams being able to come back, I want to thank each of you for your patience and understanding. I have received a number of messages about Families being so ready to come back to school. I am proud to say that we are truly ready and excited to have our students back!
The faculty spent this past week preparing classrooms and lessons for when students return, but the highlight of the week with them was our day of staff development. We spent an entire day together with our guest speaker Mr. Phil Boyte who helped us engage in affirming the greatness that we have within ourselves and how we can bring that same greatness out of our students. I believe that our time together will lay the groundwork with our students over the coming weeks which will pay huge dividends throughout the year.
It was so nice to see our halls filled with people other than staff on Thursday. There were so many smiling eyes and warm greetings that I was able to see. It almost brought me to tears. I was very happy that we were able to invite the entire 9th and 10th grade classes into the building earlier in the day to afford them the opportunity to experience our building for the first time as Stallions. I could see and hear the nervousness at times, but they were game to figure it out. What was even more exciting was being able to see some of our new arrivals being led by our students which adds to the foundation of Family we are continually working to expand.
I am writing this message from the office today and had the opportunity to walk down to the "bubble" on campus (our exterior auxillary gym) to spend a few moments with our Leadership students while they were planning during their retreat. First, I can't believe they gave up their last Sunday before school to be here. Second, I was blown away by the amount of energy they are showing. It is experiences like that make us work so hard for them!
In some areas of the county it has been reported that the school bus driver shortage might impact arrival times at schools because bus drivers may need to drop students off and then go and make another run because all of the routes are not covered. I am happy to share that this isn't an issue for any of the schools in our region, let alone our South County pyramid. Every South County student should feel confident about arriving to school in more than enough time to get breakfast (if they so desire) and have adequate time to have themselves ready to be available for learning for the first period of the day.
Speaking of breakfast, did you know that FCPS is again funding free meals this year? That is right. All students are eligible for free breakfast and lunch this year. I hope that students take advantage of this opportunity to have the nourishment they need to be able to focus in class and participate in the best experience possible here at South County HS.
Please know that even though the county is providing free meals for all students, if there is a financial need for assistance to help pay for your student’s class fees, Families will still need to apply through the Food and Nutrition Services, Free and Reduced lunch application process and fill out “the Consent to Share” form. The County will determine your eligibility and will send you an approval letter if you qualify. Once you receive that letter you need to bring a copy to the finance office to receive additional assistance with your fees.
As I have often shared with students, staff and parents, I need everyone to allow yourselves to be a little vulnerable to learning about new people, things, and ideas. We will continue to see that we have so many things in common and that we are all trying to move in the same direction. Our staff will be sharing more about themselves in an attempt to open pathways for learning with your children. I have challenged our staff to be the trusted adult for a number of students in our building so that every student has an adult advocate who they know will not just tell them what they want to hear, but will tell them what they need to hear. This allows us to be able to further learn from one another in terms of how we can assist every student as we return to school this year.
I also need our parents to be vulnerable and create those opportunities for conversations at home that my be beneficial to the success of your child in school. Your insights combined with what you learn from your child could be the difference between the “aha moment” coming in the first quarter, or the fourth quarter. I am thanking you in advance for your time you take with your child to have those listening moments with them.
In order to have a productive year, we are highly relying on everyone to do their part. Inside the building we are ensuring we have created a safe and healthy learning space for all staff and students by adhereing to FCPS’ layered prevention strategies . At home I am asking that you continue to strongly encourage your children to socially distance and "mask up" whenever possible. Lastly, please be sure to assess the health of your children on a consistent basis and keep them home when they have signs of any infectious illness and be referred to their healthcare provider for testing and care. We can't do this alone, so please be a part of this solution to keep us in school and healthy.
Well that is all that I have for you at this time. As you push the children out of the door on Monday (and you know what I mean by that), be sure to hug them before they go. They won’t know why you are doing it, but by Friday, they will appreciate it. Have a safe and relaxing rest of the weekend, and please continue to take good care of yourselves. #OneStallion
Gary
Finance Office News
The Finance Office will be receiving textbooks and fines during all lunch periods this week.
Consent for Select Digital Resources
SCHS Families, We Need Your Consent for Select Digital Resources:
At South County High School our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: Digital Resources at South County High School. Additionally, you can find more information about approved digital resources in FCPS here: https://www.fcps.edu/resources/technology/digital-resources.
Included on this page is also a link to a form where the enrolling parent or guardian will need to indicate whether or not their student is allowed to use the list of digital resources this year. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval and why we must request your consent before using certain tools. We encourage you to complete the parental consent for digital resources form as soon as possible (recommendation before Friday, August 27), as your child will not be able to use the digital resources until we have received your permission. Please reach out to Leslie Lewis, SCHS Technology Specialist, if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.
If you need support with filling out the parental consent web form, please access How to fill out the application permission form.
Note: Laptops will be distributed to all students during the first week of school via English classes.
Masking
We begin the new school year with a mask requirement in place for everyone indoors on school properties and buses. Any student who does not comply with the mask requirement, and is not exempt from the requirement as outlined in Regulation 2109.1, will not be allowed to participate in face-to-face learning. Students who refuse to attend school due to a refusal to wear a mask, will receive an unexcused absence. Intentional removal of or refusal to wear a face covering will be treated as a violation of the FCPS dress code policy (Regulation 2613).
Please talk with your child before school begins about the importance of wearing masks at school to protect each other against the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19, and the consequences of refusing to wear a mask. I appreciate your help in encouraging students to do their part to contribute to a safe school environment.
Class of 2022 Parent Information Session
Senior parents, mark your calendars! Wednesday, September 1st, at 7 p.m. Student Services will be hosting a Class of 2022 parent information session. The program will be virtual over Zoom. The link and more details will be provided in the near future. This program covers much of the same information that counselors will be going over with our 12th grade students during Advisory that same week. We will discuss the various components of the college application process and other post-secondary planning topics. We look forward to working with your seniors throughout this year as their plans come into focus.
Activity Office News
All Access Pass
The South County Athletic Booster Club (SCABC) is excited to share with you that we have merged what we formally called "Booster Passes" with the new digital ticketing system, E-Tickets. Now available online is our 2021 - 2022 All-Access passes for the upcoming school year! This pass(es) purchase will give you admission to ALL home regular season athletic events. Please click the link below to check out which package is right for you, your student(s), and family.
All-Access Passes: https://www.etix.com/ticket/m/5817/south-county-athletics
Once you purchase your pass(es), you will receive an eight-digit personalized code to redeem the number of purchased tickets to any scheduled home regular-season event for the upcoming school year. You may redeem your tickets by visiting South County's home E-tickets page - https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/18639/south-county-high-school-athletics
All this information and more is located on South County's Athletic Home Page - www.stallionnation.com.
From the PTSO
It was wonderful seeing so many students, parents and staff at the Stallion Stampede! Thank you for visiting the PTSO table! It really made our day!
One of the questions we were asked was, “what do my membership dues pay for?”
Membership dues, our biggest source of financial support, are used to support a wide variety of South County High School programs such as the Welcome Back Breakfast for teachers and staff. We also help fund classroom libraries, club competitions, and materials for community service projects.
Would you please consider joining and being part of a team that supports our Stallion family?
Please click here to join the PTSO.
We also have several volunteer opportunities available for this year. We promise you will meet great people and have tons of fun!
If you have any questions, please email pres@southcountyptso.org
Please click here to sign up for a PTSO Committee.
Please click here to sign up for The Final Stampede ANGP Committee.
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 plus their calendar of 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/
SoCo Merchandise Available at the Stallion Spirit Store Website, Kiosk and Vending Machine!
South County’s Stallion Spirit Store has a variety or ways you can purchase items for the school year. We have a website where you can browse our spirit wear and find a PDF Order Form for download; invoicing for payment on MySchoolBucks will be sent after your order is fulfilled. You can also find our kiosk in the cafeteria during lunches on odd days (5th period) as well as in the gym lobby by way of a retail vending machine!
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, review financial records and create promotional plans. These work-based learning opportunities allow students to connect classroom lessons to actual scenarios.
Update Your Emergency Care Information Through weCare@school
Fairfax County Public Schools is committed to ensuring that the climate in all FCPS facilities is safe and secure. In support of this goal, FCPS provides weCare@school (weCare), an emergency care information system, available to FCPS parents and guardians who have registered for their own Parent account.
weCare helps manage emergency medical information by enabling parents to enter and update their children’s medical data at their convenience online. Contact information provided automatically enrolls parents to receive eNotify communications from the district and their child’s school. eNotify is the communications tool for FCPS emergency, attendance, and essential outreach messages. Messages are sent via email, telephone, and text messages.
Get more information about updating your emergency care information.
FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. See how you can acknowledge an FCPS employee who has gone above and beyond.
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