Annandale Community Insider - September 12

Annandale Students, Parents and Community:

Last week, I had the opportunity to see many of our student athletes compete. On Thursday, the golf team hosted Senior Night and brought home their second victory of the season. Then, on Friday night, the varsity football team picked up their first win of the season at Lewis High School. Participating in athletics and other after school activities is one way students build a connection to the school community.

This Wednesday, students will participate in the annual Activities Fair. During the fair, students will have the opportunity to explore the many sports, clubs, and co-curricular activities we have to offer. There is something for everyone, so please encourage your student to find an activity they are interested in and sign up! 

At the beginning of the year, I spoke with the faculty about “the myth of the magical teacher.” This idea that individual, magically gifted teachers are the solution to schools’ success. One great teacher impacts some students, that is certain. At Annandale, we take a team approach to instruction. We have over 2,220 students, and we reach far more students when we do this work together. We have had a very strong start to our school year and I am looking forward to continuing to see the great work happening in our classrooms and on our teams. While challenges lie ahead, our continued focus on our priorities will help us continue to meet students’ needs.

Finally, FCPS, in coordination with the county health department, is continuing to refine their approach to contact tracing and communication in order to minimize the impact of COVID-related absences on students’ access to learning. At Annandale, we are beginning to see some of the improvements, especially with students who are fully vaccinated. Moving forward, we will continue to ensure students can access necessary materials through Schoology if they have to be out of school. 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Shawn DeRose, Principal

Employment Opportunities

Annandale High School is seeking candidates to support with classroom instruction, hallway/lunch supervision and after school academic/club support. For more information, please email their resume to Karen Bryan at kabryan@fcps.edu.

Important Dates

This Week - Lockdown Drill

September 15 - Activities Fair

September 16 - Yom Kippur 

September 21 - First PTSA Meeting, 7:00pm

September 30 - Back to School Night 2021

October 4-8 - Homecoming Week

October 9 - Homecoming Dance

October 11 - School Planning Day

October 13 - PSAT/SAT Day (2Hr Early Release)

October 20 - SEL Screener 

Lockdown Drill - This Week: Keeping students and staff safe is a priority at Annandale High School. This week we will conduct our first lockdown drill of the school year. Your student may come home and talk about their experience during the drill. We encourage you to talk with your student about the importance of being prepared for emergencies. Here are some helpful tips for families to use to support their students before and after school lockdown drills. Working together, we create a safe, secure environment for students to learn and grow in our schools. 

Activities Fair - September 15: One of our priorities this year is to ensure that every student is connected to our school community through our extracurricular and co-curricular activities. The annual Activities Fair is an opportunity for students to learn about the wide range of sports, clubs, and other activities we have to offer. The fair will take place on Wednesday, September 15 during W4. Wednesday is a White Day and we will follow a pep rally bell schedule of W2, W8, W6, W4.

Yom Kippur - September 16: Yom Kippur is the holiest day in Judaism. To mark this day, Thursday, September 16 is noted as a religious/cultural observance date on the FCPS calendar. The FCPS 2021-22 School Year Calendar ensures students do not have to make choices between honoring their cultural or religious beliefs and missing tests or school activities. Tests, quizzes, field trips, graduation, homecoming, or FCPS-scheduled athletic events cannot be scheduled on any religious and cultural observances. Tests and quizzes will be given prior to any of the 15 days so that students will not be expected to study on these days.

PTSA Meeting - September 21: The first PTSA meeting of the 2021-22 school year will be on Tuesday, September 21 at 7:00pm. PTSA meetings are bilingual and Spanish translation is provided. Las reuniones de PTSA son bilingües y se proporciona traducción al español. Join us in Clausen Hall or virtually! Visit the Annandale PTSA website for more information.

PSAT/NMSQT (Grades 10 & 11) - October 13: On Wednesday, October 13, Annandale High School will host the PSAT/NMSQT for all students in grades 10 & 11. Students are automatically registered and no further action by families is needed. The test is offered at no cost. All FCPS students have access to Khan Academy’s free online test preparation, whether they are taking the PSAT for the first time or preparing for eleventh grade National Merit Scholarship Qualification. The Khan Academy online curriculum is customized for students based on any previous PSAT or SAT scores. In addition, the website offers general test preparation tips for students. Students will receive their testing locations in early October.

SAT School Day (Grade 12) - October 13: On Wednesday, October 13, Annandale High School seniors will have the opportunity to take the SAT School Day. FCPS will cover the cost for any twelfth grade student to take this test. General information about the SAT School Day test format is available on the College Board webpage. We will share exam day schedules and additional details in the coming weeks. If you have questions about the SAT School Day administration at Annandale High School, please contact please contact Mike Ward smward@fcps.edu.

Important Information

Course Change Requests: Counselors have been working diligently over the last several weeks on requests to change courses. On Friday, September 17, we will be closing the form for schedule change requests. Please remember not all course change requests can be honored due to unavailable space in some courses. Please direct any questions to your students’ counselor.

Digital Resources Consent Form: At Annandale 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 students may use this year will require parental consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources that require parental consent here: https://annandalehs.fcps.edu/adopteddigitalresources. Included on this page is 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 resources listed. This page also provides more information about how FCPS carefully reviews digital resources for approval. Please reach out to your child’s teacher or Jennifer Cory at jmcory@fcps.edu if you have questions or concerns about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.

Students who do not have a Digital Resource Consent Form on file will no longer have access to YouTube videos when logged in to their FCPS Google accounts. Many of our courses use YouTube videos for instructional purposes. To ensure uninterrupted access to classroom resources we ask that parents and guardians complete the Digital Resources Consent Form as soon as possible.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener: On October 20, Annandale will administer our first Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Screener during our W4 lesson. Annandale’s Student Support Team will use the screener to identify strengths and needs for our students related to SEL skills. SEL skills include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The screener will review these skills, as well as students’ relationships, feelings of belonging, feelings about their school environment, and mood. 

Learn more about the screener and review the questions here. To opt your student out of participating in the screener, please complete the opt-out form found here and return to your student's W4 teacher by October 8. 

Students Wearing Hats and Hoods: At Annandale, when we make decisions around what students are and are not permitted to do, it is based on safety and learning. We know we want students to be comfortable and confident at school, and often for them that means wearing a hat or hood. We also know that when students wear hats and hoods, it makes it difficult to identify them in the hallways. Therefore, Annandale will no longer permit hats or hoods to be worn in our indoor common areas: hallways, staircases, and the cafeteria. 

Student Lockers: Students will learn about how to request a locker on Monday, September 13 in W4. If you have any questions, please email Jack Jennison at jmjennison@fcps.edu.  

Awesome Atoms!

Dave Grohl Makes 11-year-old Girl Drummer Dreams Come True! Former Annandale student and Foo Fighters founder, Dave Grohl, invited Nandi Bushell to play on stage to the hit Everlong. One of the bright spots during the pandemic in August 2020 was when Nandi made a video challenging Grohl to an epic drum battle during lockdown. Hats off to Dave Ghohl and the Foo Fighters for making her dream come true!

Annandale High School Featured on NBC4 Again This Week! Meredith Hedrick, English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Department Chair here at Annandale was featured Friday on NBC4 discussing how we welcome and support new Afghan students who have recently enrolled. Check out the story: Virginia Schools Welcome Dozens of Afghan Refugees – NBC4 Washington (nbcwashington.com)

Varsity Golf Team Win Streak: This past Thursday, the golf team competed against Mt. Vernon High School at Pinecrest Golf Course for their Senior Night. The Atoms had a great night and were able to bring home their second victory of the season. The final match score was Annandale 185 – Mt. Vernon 208. Congratulations to our seniors and go Atoms!

Opportunities

National English Honor Society: National English Honor Society is seeking applicants for the 2021-2022 school year. Current juniors or seniors can apply by joining our NEHS application google classroom with the following code: Typkie2. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 24. We encourage all juniors or seniors who have an interest in English and meet the GPA requirement of 3.5 to apply! See Ms. Herman or Ms. Duran with any questions.

Math Honor Society: Students interested in joining the Math Honor Society can join the Math Honor Society Google Classroom with the code: 6qnchr5. There you will find a Google Form where you can submit your application. The application deadline is Wednesday, October 6. If you have any further questions, please contact Mr. Obando or Mr. Martins.

Class of 2022 Chipotle Fundraiser - September 15: The class of 2022 is having a Chipotle Fundraiser on Little River Turnpike near Landmark on September 15 from 4:00-8:00pm. Come join us and raise money for the Senior class.

Atom Bands Tag Day: The Atom Bands and Marching Atoms went door to door this weekend fundraising to help pay for band & color guard uniforms, instruments, scholarships and clinicians. Your continued support enables us to proudly represent our school and community throughout the year. If you missed it, it is not too late! You can make a tax-deductible donation to support our students' musical education in the following ways: 

Mail: Send a check to AHSBB (Annandale High School Band Boosters) PO Box 1231, Annandale, VA 22003

Online: Visit AHS Bands Tag Day at www.annandalebands.org.

News from the Activities Office

Check out this week's Atoms Athletics and Activities newsletter. You can also check out important information from the Activities Office on the Annandale High School Athletics and Activities website or AHS Athletics Twitter page. Please email John Ellenberger at jellenberger@fcps.edu if you have any questions.

This Week’s Game Schedule

Monday, September 13

Volleyball at Hayfield - 5:00/6:00/7:15pm

Field Hockey at Falls Church - 6:15/7:30pm

Powder Puff Practice - 6:30pm - Stadium Field

Atoms Athletics Booster Club Meeting - 7:30pm - Health Room

Tuesday, September 14

Cross Country at Lee District - Boys - 5:00, Girls - 5:30pm - Senior Day

Volleyball vs. Justice - 5:00/6:00/7:15pm

Freshmen/JV Football at Edison - 5:30/7:15pm

Wednesday, September 15

Clubs and Activities Fair - 1:40 - 2:45pm - Upper and Main Gym

Powder Puff Practice - 6:45pm - Stadium Field

Friday, September 17

Field Hockey Invitational vs. School Without Walls at Justice - 6:00pm

Varsity Football vs. Edison - 7:00pm - Jersey Out!

*Dance Team and the Atoms Band will perform at Halftime!

Field Hockey Invitational vs. Wilson at Justice - 7:30pm

Saturday, September 18

Field Hockey Invitational at Justice - 9:00am

Field Hockey Invitational vs. Falls Church at Justice - 12:45pm

News from the PTSA

PTSA Membership: On behalf of the Annandale High School Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA), we would like to welcome you to the 2021–2022 school year. The key ingredient to our success is YOU. Please dare to make a difference, be better informed and join the PTSA today by filling out the online 2021–22 Membership Form. For more information about membership, visit our Membership page.

PTSA Pantry Distribution: The AHS PTSA pantry is available to students and families of Annandale High School. They can pick up a bag of food in the Annandale Neighborhood Center in trailer 10 in the back of the building. The next pantry pick-up is on Friday, September 24. To learn more about the AHS PTSA Pantry please visit the pantry webpage located at www.annandalehsptsa.org or email pantry@annandalehsptsa.org.

PTSA Pantry Needs Your Help! The AHS PTSA pantry is seeking the following items below to restock their shelves. Items can be dropped off in the main office. All donations to the AHS PTSA Pantry are tax deductible.