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Woodson Weekly -
November 12th |
Woodson Weekly is published every Friday to provide the community with important information about school life at Woodson High School.
Vision Statement
We are a school community where all students have purpose and value!
 Fun in Biology class with Ms. Barry!
Important Upcoming Dates
Monday, November 15th - Last underclass picture day (see story #8)
Wednesday-Friday, November 24th-26th - Thanksgiving Holidays
Wednesday, December 8th - Bodhi Day Religious and Cultural Observance
Monday, December 20th - Friday, December 31st - Winter Break
In this Issue
NEW News
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
2. Closing Weekend: A Midautumn Night's Dream
3. 1st Quarter Report Cards
4. Attendance for Thanksgiving Week
5. Voluntary Student Screening and Unvaccinated Athletes COVID Testing
6. Northern Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra
7. Flocking Senior Class of 2022
8. Lifetouch Portrait Information - Seniors and Underclass
9. Graffiti Message from FCPS
10. College & Career Center News
PAST News, but still important
11. Shark Tank Technology Challenge Open to All HS Students
12. Nominations Open for Outstanding Employee Awards
13. Order the 2022 WTW Yearbook
14. Senior Baby Ads for Yearbook
15. How do I check my Student out from School?
16. Laptop Tech Support Hours
17. Woodson's PTSO
NEW News
1. Message from Dr. Floyd
Hello Woodson Community,
As we wrap up the first week of the 2nd quarter I have a few reminders to share with you.
All students are required to wear masks while in the building. Please make sure your student has extra masks in their backpack in case theirs is lost, gets dirty or damaged.
We have seen an increase in the number of dress code violations across the school. At Woodson we agree that FCPS respects students’ right to express themselves in the way they dress. It is important, however, that their appearance is tasteful and appropriate for a K-12 school setting. Discussion about dress code violations shall be held privately and maintain the dignity of the student. (FCPS SRR).
Parents, please take a moment to remind your students of these guidelines. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to your child’s school counselor or school administrator.
Students are expected to arrive to school on time and bring their laptops to school every day, fully charged. Tardy sweeps will continue next week. School begins at 8:10am, so please make the necessary adjustments to your schedule in order to account for all possibilities that could occur (i.e. traffic, clearing ice, etc.). In addition, please remind your student to get to class on time throughout the day.
In athletics, we celebrated 6 student athletes who have committed to continue their sport at the collegiate level at a signing ceremony. Our cross country team is headed to states and the winter sports season kicks off.
Best of luck to our thespians in their closing weekend of A Midautumn Night's Dream.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Dr. Floyd
2. Closing Weekend: A Midautumn Night's Dream
An Adaptation of William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, this play will bring the Shakespearean comedy to life with an autumnal twist! This production is suitable for all ages and a perfect introduction to Shakespeare for young students. This comedy features clowning, fairies, and ridiculous antics, all while running about 100 minutes long! These students have worked incredibly hard on this production, so come out and support your Woodson Cavalier Drama department!
Tickets start as low as $5! You can purchase your tickets here
Performance Dates are
Friday, November 12th - 7pm
Saturday, November 13th - 2pm and 7pm
New this year—the performance features a "pay what you can" sliding scale, with individual ticket price ranging from $5-$20. Please purchase a ticket for each individual seeing the show (including children & students), and choose the corresponding ticket price for each attendee that makes sense for you and your family. All proceeds will be invested back into the WTW Drama department to fund future shows, supplies, and educational events throughout the year so thank you in advance for your support! (If you are a household that would like to see the show and cannot afford the $5 ticket option, please reach out to the WTW Drama Theatre Director, Mr. Rushing, at csrushing@fcps.edu)
Performance location - Woodson Auditorium; masks required.
Plan for a total performance length of around 100 minutes with a 10 minute intermission, and bring money for hot cocoa!
More information can be found at wtwdrama.org.
3. 1st Quarter Report Cards
Report cards were distributed during 7th period today.
If your student has an off-campus waiver or Academy class for 7th period, their report card is in the Student Services office for pickup.
4. Attendance for Thanksgiving Week
If you know your child will be missing full or partial days of school the week of November 23rd, please call the attendance line to let us know now.
The attendance line is 703-503-4800 or WoodsonHigh.Attendance@fcps.edu.
5. Voluntary Student Screening and Unvaccinated Athletes COVID Testing
On Monday, November 15, FCPS will move ahead with voluntary COVID screening testing for unvaccinated students. The portal to register is now open.
This optional, random, student screening / testing is available for students who are NOT vaccinated against COVID19. This is a mitigation strategy to prevent the spread of COVID19 by identifying possible positive cases.
If you wish to sign your student up for this optional program, parents/guardians will need to preregister and provide consent for services in the LTS online registration portal prior to service delivery. If your student is already vaccinated you may disregard this message.
LTS is the contracted vendor for FCPS student testing. Woodson HS was assigned the testing time of Fridays from 12-3pm. LTS will randomly choose up to 10% of our population, from only those who have agreed to be tested.
Once identified, we will send a pass for those students at a designated time between 12-3pm on Fridays and they will go to the testing location at Woodson. Testing should only take a few minutes. Testing may not be the same time each Friday and the day of the week could possibly change. There is not a lot of wiggle room in times, so students will be missing class to be tested. We are working with an outside vendor, so we cannot commit to having any ability to alter testing times.
Results are uploaded to the same system where you registered your child for this program. Only administrators will have access to this information at Woodson High School.
Have problems registering? LTS Contact information for IT support/registration support: fcps@lts.com (NOT affiliated with FCPS and FCPS cannot assist with this process as technical support)
Unvaccinated Athletes Register for COVID Testing
All high school student-athletes participating in FCPS athletic programming who are not fully vaccinated between the ages of 12-15 or between the ages of 16-18 with a medical or religious exemption will be required to submit negative COVID-19 test results to the Director of Student Activities at the school on a weekly basis in order to participate in sports for school year 2021-2022.
Links to: Student-Athlete COVID Testing web page here: https://www.fcps.edu/return-school/return-school-safety/return-school-covid-19-testing/student-athlete-covid-testing.
6. Northern Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra
Please join us in congratulating the students below for making into the 2021 Senior Northern Regional Orchestra! They went through a competitive audition process and have been selected to represent Woodson HS this year.
The Senior Regional Orchestra event is the first in-person state-sponsored audition group of the school year and the first collaborative concert since March of 2019. The public is invited to the group’s performance at Westfield High School on Saturday, November 13, at 2:30 p.m. The concert is free and masks are required. The Northern Virginia Senior Regional Orchestra is led by Maestro James Ross of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra.
Nick Brenner (first in the region!), Aidan Callahan, Kristine Han, Kate Job, Jonah Kan, Nathaniel Kurland, Leo Lee, Ashley Paik, Joshua Park, Joseph Schechtel, and Megan Yi.
See all the students named to the Senior Regional Orchestra.
7. Flocking Senior Class of 2022
The PTSO is looking for a senior parent volunteer to take over the Senior Flocking for the Class of 2022.
There are 350ish flamingos available from last year's flocking initiative, so only yard signs would need to be funded.
If you are interested in this opportunity to celebrate the Class of 2022, please email woodsonclass2021@gmail.com.
8. Lifetouch Portrait Information
Senior Portraits
Seniors, please know that we are trying to make sure that all seniors are in the yearbook. If you have not taken your senior portrait, please know that seniors can schedule an appointment at the Annandale Studio location. That studio is located at the John G. Fox Memorial Hall, 7128 Columbia Pike, Annandale, VA 22003. You can schedule a studio appointment by going to prestigeportraits.com/studio. Click the blue 'Book Appointment' button to get started. You'll select the Virginia - Northern Virginia location and enter Woodson High School in the search bar. Select Woodson High School when it comes up and you can select your sitting level and appointment date and time from there. Seniors photographed prior to the yearbook deadline will have their images sent to the school for inclusion in the yearbook.
In looking at the studio schedule, there are two available dates remaining for students to schedule through the balance of the calendar year. Those dates are Saturday, November 20th and Saturday, December 18th. We would encourage any seniors interested in scheduling a studio appointment to do so as soon as possible as available appointment slots are filling quickly.
Questions, please reach out to Christine Rocca at crocca@lifetouch.com
Underclass Portraits
Please know that our last underclass retake day will be at Woodson High School from 8:30am-2:30pm on Monday, November 15, 2021.
Questions, please reach out to Christine Rocca at crocca@lifetouch.com
 Thank you for giving the gift of life! Woodson's Fall Blood Drive
9. Graffiti Message from FCPS
Dear FCPS Community,
In the past few weeks, FCPS has experienced several incidents of racial and anti-Semetic graffiti at some of our schools. These acts are not only unkind, but they are completely unacceptable.
Please know that acts of racism, anti-Semitism, and hate will not be tolerated in our FCPS community. Our division is a place where we strive for inclusiveness and compassion. It is our responsibility to ensure that all people are treated with dignity and humanity. Our schools must be a safe space for every child and adult in the building.
As a school division, our success and well-being depends upon us standing united against actions that seek to dehumanize or violate any person or group within our community. If you witness a behavior that does not align with our values, please speak up. FCPS also has an anonymous tip line that can be used for this purpose.
Thank you for your attention to this important message.
Sincerely,
Scott S. Brabrand
Superintendent
10. College & Career Center News
The Woodson College & Career Center is located in E 109. My office hours are 7:30 am until 3:30 pm. Please join my Course in Schoology – Access Code 3M8B-S8X4-N2H55. The College & Career Center newsletters are posted here. The Woodson College & Career Center will be closed from Wednesday, November 17th, until Friday, November 19th (we will still have our Senior Café on Wednesday morning).
Upcoming Events – please visit my new Upcoming Events & Opportunities Padlet:
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Senior Café every Wednesday morning from 7:30 – 8:00 am in the Career Center. Senior Café is an informal Q & A drop-in for Seniors to get help with their college and scholarship applications, jobs, resumes, apprenticeships & more.
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Military Recruiter Visits every Wednesday during All Lunches: The Air Force Recruiter will visit on November 10th. Please see my Military Padlet for Recruiter contact info and upcoming events.
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Seniors, have you files your FAFSA? Please check out my Financial Aid Padlet for information on Financial Aid, the FAFSA, and the CSS Profile. We will also have a FAFSA Help Session with our Financial Aid Champion Mrs. Speares during all lunches on Monday, 15 Nov 2021, in the Career Center. No appointment needed!
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Virtual Scholarship 101 Presentation by College Access Fairfax on November 17th at 7 pm . Learn how to apply for scholarships, including tips on applications, websites, and other sources of scholarship information. Registration is not required. Please check out my new Scholarship Padlet for additional resources & opportunities.
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West Point Info Session in the Career Center on 22 Nov 2021, 10:15 – 10:45 am followed by Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets Info Session from 10:45 – 11:15 am.
2021 Tinsel! Winter Lights Festival Temporary Job opportunity
The Hospitality Group, B.F. Saul is interested in hiring guest service-oriented high school students who are 16 years old and can work after school and able to work 2-7 days a week for the Tinsel Winter Lights Festival. Interested students should consider attending a hiring event on Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 10 am – 12 pm. These temporary positions pay $18 per hour and are available now and will end on January 25, 2022. Interested students should apply by visiting the B.F. Saul Job Opportunities webpage. If students are looking for an immediate interview they should call or text 571-206-7791.
Questions? Please email cliebmosley@fcps.edu
PAST News - but still important
11. Shark Tank Technology Challenge Open to All High School Students
Calling all high school students! The Fairfax Area 50+ Technology Committee has announced this year’s Shark Tank Technology Challenge, with a focus on new or improved existing technology that will have a positive impact in the lives of older adults, adults with disabilities, wounded warriors, or caregivers. Students are encouraged to consider projects that offer assistance in the following areas:
- Active free time activities.
- Participation in the arts.
- Caregiving.
Students can submit an innovative or creative project as an individual or a team. The deadline to submit the initial proposal is December 6. Final proposals are due February 22, 2022. The Shark Tank event will be held in April 2022. The winning projects will receive a cash prize.
More details are available by visiting the Fairfax Area Student “Shark Tank” Technology Challenge webpage.
12. Nominations Open for Outstanding Employee Awards
Nominations are now open for the Woodson Outstanding Employee Awards! These nominations are the beginning of the process that will end in the recognition of the Fairfax County Outstanding Employee Awards in an amazing celebration in June. We definitely want one of our staff members to be one of the representatives!! To submit a nomination for a Woodson Outstanding Employee in one of the categories below, please complete the nomination at https://tinyurl.com/ruem5xp4
You may nominate an employee in one or more categories. All that is required for a preliminary nomination is to complete the form by explaining how the employee demonstrates exceptional work in the criteria noted. The link has more information regarding the criteria for each of these awards and the eligibility requirements are below.
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Outstanding Teacher/librarian: At least (3) three years’ experience.
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Outstanding New Teacher/librarian: less than (3) three years’ experience.
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Outstanding Leader: At least one year in position. Example of positions eligible - Assistant Principal, Director of Student Activities, or Director of Student Services.
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Outstanding Professional Employee: At least one year in position. Example of positions eligible - Safety and Security Specialist, Technology Specialist, Assessment Coach, Career Center Specialist, Psychologist, Social Worker, SOSA.
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Outstanding Operational Employee: At least one year in position. Example of positions eligible - Administrative Staff, Safety and Security Assistant, Custodial Staff, Food Service, IA's, Parent Liaisons.
Nominations for Woodson Teachers & Staff are due by Tuesday, November 23th. Please feel free to nominate in one category or all of them it is up to you! Be as detailed as possible as your nomination will be used to complete the nomination packet for the selected staff member to move forward in the county nomination process. If you have any additional questions about the categories or which category a specific staff member should be nominated in, please e-mail me at mcedwards@fcps.edu.
13. Order the 2022 WTW Yearbook!
Let’s celebrate our Woodson Cavaliers in 2021-2022! To purchase a yearbook or to make an adorable ad for your graduating senior, 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!
14. Senior Baby Ads for Yearbook
The following would be the announcement:
Looking for a personalized, memorable way to recognize your graduating senior? Want to capture memories with the friends you’ve made for a lifetime? Looking for a fun way to recognize your teammates or club members? Parents, siblings, relatives, teachers, coaches, and friends of the graduating Class of 2022 have an opportunity to purchase ad space in the 2022 edition of the yearbook.
There are five ad sizes available at various price points. All ad space is sold on a first-come, first-serve basis. Place your order early to reserve ad space for your graduating senior.
THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING ADS is Wednesday, December 15th. Go to yearbookordercenter.com and type in the code 5278
15. How do I check out my student from school?
Please let the Attendance Office know if you need your student to leave school early. You can notify Attendance 3 different ways:
- Submit the online attendance form and have your student pick up their pink checkout pass from the Attendance Office (E107) between classes or during lunch.
- Student brings a note to the Attendance Office before 9:45am. The student will be issued a pink pass to leave class at the appointed time. The note must include the following - student name, date and time of when student is leaving, and reason for early check-out, student ID, parent signature and contact number.
- Call the attendance line, 703-503-4800 and select Option 3. After leaving a message, please have your student pick up their pink checkout pass from the Attendance Office (E107) between classes or during lunch.
At the time of dismissal, your son/daughter will bring the pink check-out pass back to the Attendance Office for verification before meeting you outside.
If returning to school that same day, students must check in at the Attendance office before going back to class, even if it is between classes.
If one of the options above is not followed, we cannot guarantee a speedy checkout, so please make sure you notify the attendance office prior to picking up your son/daughter to ensure you make your appointment or commitment on time.
Due to staff responsibilities at the end of the day, we are not able to honor unannounced early dismissals within 15 minutes of school dismissal.
For full details on Attendance Procedures, please visit the Attendance page on the Woodson website.
16. Laptop Tech Support Hours
If students need FCPS laptop technical support at Woodson HS, please submit a ticket using the FCPS Parent/Student Tech Support Portal.
Our walk-in hours in Room A114 are:
- Odd Days during Learning Seminar
- Monday - 7:45am - 8:10am
- Tuesday and Wednesday - 11:25am - 1:20pm (lunches)
- Wednesday - 2:55pm - 4:00pm (when late buses start)
Any other time you should try to make an appointment.
Thank you, W.T Woodson HS Tech Support Team
17. Woodson's PTSO
Our mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.
PTSO meetings take place the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 6pm in the Library at Woodson HS.
Whether you are a new or returning WTW parent, please get involved in any way that works for you. Here are some quick links to get you started:
Join our PTSO
Make a Donation
Sign up for one of our Volunteer Opportunities
Ask a local business to become a Business or Community Sponsor
Find WT Woodson on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter
Go shopping! Amazon, Office Depot, groceries, etc. Link your accounts and a portion of your sales will go to our school!
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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