In this issue:
- From The Principal
- From the PTSO
- Masks
- Attendance Office
- Food Deliveries
- Parent/Principal Chat
- Vision & Hearing Screening
- Chorus News
From the Principal
Family,
Let me apologize from the beginning for the long message this week. But I have a bit to share. Can you believe that we are already in December? The time has truly just flown by. But even with that, I wanted to slow things down a bit, and inform you about the many opportunities that we have available for our student is so that you can assist us in encouraging your children to capitalize on these opportunities.
This week we kicked off our After School Program where staff opened their doors to many different activities for our students. Students have the opportunity to participate in video gaming, board games, ping pong, yoga, and even a study hall. These activities are on top of the current list of many different clubs. I was able to walk around on Thursday to see our students in a different light as they enjoyed time with different students from across the building. The After School Program activities are up and running on our late bus days (Wednesday and Thursday) every week from now until the end of April. I hope to see your child being involved.
A few weeks ago, I shared with you all that we kicked off our Sources Of Strength campaign where we trained nearly 40 student Peer Leaders and staff to lead this endeavor of strengthening our school community. Before we depart for the winter break, we will be engaging the entire student body and sharing with them the mission, vision, and core values for this campaign. The empowering words associated with the mission, vision, and core values will become a regular part of our community vocabulary uniting our students to an even higher extent!
On Thursday we had our Winter Chorus Concert. I am going to get right to the point on this and just say PHENOMENAL! The sounds coming out of the mouths of our students was amazing! It is SOOO different than the sounds they make in the cafeteria if you can imagine. I think I am going to begin to ask all students to sing to me when I see them in the halls…. Okay, maybe not! It was also a treat to hear the up and coming voices from the middle schoolers! The choral department has a very bright future.
Winter sports have kicked off and we are all excited about what is in store for our athletes who have been working so hard to get to the point of competing this season. I hope that you will take a moment to come and see our Family members passionately engaging in their sport of choice.
The administrative team went around to advisory classes on Thursday to deliver PTSO sponsored (are you a PTSO member?) gift cards to those students who were randomly selected to receive them for earning 1st Quarter Honor Roll. We had a whopping 1138 students to achieve either All – A or A/B Honor Roll which is a South County High School record according to our awesome Director of Student Services, Ms. Marci Norem! It must have something to do with the principal,…. has to be that guy! I wish that we could have given every student a gift card, but of course we could not (are you a PTSO member?). But I do hope that that number continues to climb. Congratulations to those students.
On the heels of that, I will be sending out our 1st Quarter Virtual Honor Roll Ceremony by the end of next week. This presentation will highlight each of our Honor Roll awardees. If your child earned Honor Roll status for the first quarter and you would rather not have their name displayed in our presentation, please fill out this form by Wednesday, December 8th of this week so that I can ensure their name is removed from the program.
The 16th Annual South County Holiday Extravaganza and Craft Fair took place this Saturday. What started off in the beginning of the year as a “I wonder if this thing will happen” due to COVID-19, turned out to be an amazing success. I was only able to be in attendance for a short while, but I was so excited to see the 87+ vendors and all the wonderful items they were selling. We had great weather (not so much winter holiday weather, but great nonetheless) and lots of smiling faces. I want to give another huge shout out to the PTSO (are you a PTSO member?) and the Craft Fair planning committee for the tireless work they put in to pull this thing off!
On a very different note, I have to ask you to have conversations with your children about the wearing of their masks. I will be honest, putting on and wearing my mask is far from the highlight of my day. It fogs up my glasses, many days it doesn’t match my clothes, and don’t let me eat something for breakfast that I am forced to relive for the rest of the day! But it is what I am committed to do for the safety of your children and mine at home. That being said, I am going to continue to require that EVERY student wear them and do so appropriately. If we get to the point where we are spending too much time having conversations with students, consequences will follow. The good thing about this is that the students are totally in control of this and can make decisions to keep them out of trouble. Please help me to help them and to keep us all safe. Have the conversation about the “why” and also about being respectful to those teachers who are also addressing students who are not following protocol.
Piggybacking on safety, we received notice that the county has once again dropped the quarantine period for exposed students from 14 to 10 and now down to 7 days in conjunction with a negative Rapid Test or PCR Test taken on day 5 of quarantine (home tests do not apply) a student would be quarantined due to COVID exposure based on CDC guidance. We are continuing to do our very best to keep our students in school and this measure surely assists with that effort. This new protocol will go into effect beginning on December 6th. Please know that the Health Department still recommends a 14-day quarantine period, and they will still provide this guidance when they contact Families. It is imperative that Families contact the school as soon as possible so that we can begin the timeline accurately.
I was stopped by a parent on Tuesday evening at school and he told me that his child is truly enjoying her time here at South County. He also thanked me for my work. Hearing those sentiments meant the absolute world to me to hear. It isn’t that I get a huge number of complaints about what we do here, but receiving those words actually brought about a pretty big grin and a tear or two later (don’t tell anyone) as I reflected on the conversation. So I ask that if you could, to reach out to a teacher sometime during this very difficult year, and let them know that you appreciate the work they do. I am sure that your words will have a very similar impact on them as this parent’s words did for me. Thank you so very much once again for allowing me to live this dream. I mean that, and I am so very grateful. Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and please continue to be safe. #OneStallion
Gary
From the PTSO
LAST CHANCE TO ORDER WHITE HOUSE ORNAMENTS!
All orders must be received and paid by December 6, 2021!
ANGP TICKETS $50
GET YOUR TICKET BY DECEMBER 10TH AND YOU WILL BE ENTERED TO WIN A GIFT CARD!
Everyone who has purchased an ANGP ticket since August will be entered in the drawing!
GIFT CARDS WILL BE DRAWN DECEMBER 13TH-17TH!
MASKS, MASKS, MASKS
Please help your student adhere to our mask policy. Masks are still worn at all times by both staff and students indoors and on school buses, but are not required when eating or when outside during recess, PE, or other activities.
Students should be sure to leave home with a mask as they head out to school
and a spare back-up in their backpack would be a great idea.
Please help us keep all students and staff safe!
From the Attendance Office
Will your student be out or leaving early? Please plan ahead and send a note with your student first thing in the morning, email or call the attendance line at 703-446-1625 as soon as possible so we can insure timely attendance and dismissals.
Also as a reminder, if you send a note, email or call, you do not need to come into the building. Your student will meet you at the curb at your requested time.
Outside Food Deliveries
We have been experiencing an uptick in students ordering food and having it delivered to school via Uber Eats and other delivery means. We do not allow this as a part of our safety and security measures because we want to ensure we know who is coming to our building, and because students have been opening unauthorized doors to receive their deliveries. Please be sure to have the conversation with your student about this violation. With minimal numbers to secure our building as is, we really can’t afford to have access being granted to strangers by the student body. Please know that if students are found having food delivered, that food is confiscated until the end of the day and returned to the student at that time.
Parent/Principal Chat Rescheduled
The Parent/Principal Chat originally scheduled for last Thursday night has been rescheduled to Thursday, December 16th.
Vision & Hearing Screening
Vision and hearing screening will be held next week on Dec. 8 and 9 during Social Studies for all 11th graders. If your child wears glasses, please be sure they are brought to school on screening day. The purpose of screening is to identify students who need further evaluation. Normally, we screen students in 10th grade, but were unable to screen most 10th graders last year due to Covid. We appreciate your assistance.
Exciting News
from the
South County Chorus Department
The South County Singers under direction of Choral Director AJ Rodriguez, gave an outstanding performance on November 19, 2021, at the Virginia Music Educator’s Conference in Norfolk, Virginia. Congratulations to A.J. and the Singers Choir for excellent work at this prestigious event. See the full concert performance video, photos, and the concert program at: Home - South County Chorus
The Choral Department has a new website. Check regularly to stay up to date on concert performances and special Chorus events. Home - South County Chorus .
Support Chorus this weekend at Glory Days Grill Lorton. 10% of your check will go towards the Choral Boosters. See below flyer. Receipts can be left in the Chorus Room in a box for receipts.
The Chorus Department had a fantastic showing at District Chorus in October 2021. 52 choir students and 5 alternates earned a spot. See the full list of students below and on the Chorus website: H.S. District Chorus - South County Chorus
2021-2022 District Chorus Students and Alternates
Congratulations to all 52 South County High School Choir Students and 5 alternates who earned a spot in District 10 Chorus.
Treble Choir (9th & 10th Grade) Soprano 1s
Caelan Wommack (highest score in the District)
Natalie Beasley
Lea Ahrens
Cassandra DellaVedova
Lina Gebril
Kristin Gyamfi
Sophia O’Grady Marcelina Abenes
Treble Choir (9th & 10th Grade) Soprano 2s
Sarah Peckham (highest score in the District)
Aeryn Dahm
Zoe Patterson
Madelyn Mericle
Danielle Edwards
Sienna Mersinger
Mia Mason
Treble Choir (9th & 10th Grade) Alto 1s
Abby Sparks
Lilly VanDyke
Meklit Samuel
Alternate 2: Yenifer Alvarenga-Mejia
Treble Choir (9th & 10th Grade) Alto 2s
Caprice Aspland (highest score in the District)
Kaitlyn Beasley (highest score in the District)
Olivia Marlowe (highest score in the District)
Maureen Oppong
Aannali De Franco
Amana Haque
Samantha Stephan
Leo Powell
Alternate 1: Leila Slye
Mixed Choir (11th & 12th Grade) Soprano 1s
Olivia Smith
Josie Springer
Breona Brogan
Mixed Choir (11th & 12th Grade) Soprano 2s
Emily Lehrer
Mixed Choir (11th & 12th Grade) Alto 1s
Eva Jaghori (highest score in the District)
Alexis Borbidge
Marjon Jaghory
Hannah Doyal
Alexa Smith
Hannah Griffin
Sonya Lee
Mixed Choir (11th & 12th Grade) Alto 2s
Jordyn Packer
Laurie Evans
Cortney Alvarado
Michaela O’Neal
Mixed Choir (9th-12th Grade) Tenor 1s
Gavin Flynn
David Ransom
Alternate 1: Adrian Licona
Mixed Choir (9th-12th Grade) Tenor 2s
Ranen Larsen
Mixed Choir (9th-12th Grade) Bass 1s/Baritones
Robert Powell
Samuel Hanrahan
Mixed Choir (9th-12th Grade) Bass 2s
Eric Bach
Connor Walsh
Trey Jones
Landon Leavette
Nathan Bach
Beau Bornmann
Alternate 1: Joseph Thibodeau
Alternate 2: Christopher Ramirez
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