Annandale Community Insider - February 13

Annandale Students, Parents and Community:

This past Thursday marked 100 weeks since schools first closed for the pandemic. Think of all the ways our lives have changed since that time, all of the obstacles we have faced and worked to overcome. Nothing is more important to us than our students’ success - and what is so incredible about the Annandale staff is the way we work together to support our students, families and each other. 

At Annandale, collaboration drives our work. Teachers, instructional coaches and administrators meet multiple times each week in their teams to develop lesson plans, create assessments and analyze data that informs student progress. This level of collaboration not only helps improve the quality of instruction throughout our classrooms, but also ensures that we are purposeful about building strong relationships and systems of support to meet the needs of our students.

This was evident again Thursday evening, when our department chairs, 9th grade CT leads, representatives from our electives classes, instructional coaches, our student services team, leadership students, and administrators came together to host our rising 9th grade students and families at our Open House. It was energizing to see the excitement of our future students as they walked the halls and visited classrooms.  

A number of our parents are Annandale alum, and it was clear they felt pride in being able to share this experience with their children. Families commented that our staff was so welcoming and friendly and they were grateful to have this in-person opportunity to start to build a connection with the school. 

Speaking of Annandale alum, I hope you enjoy the Super Bowl tonight! If you are unsure who to root for, go with the Bengals. Mark Duffner, Bengals senior defensive assistant, is a graduate of Annandale High School, Class of 1971.

As always, please reach out with any questions. Who Dey and Go Atoms!

Shawn DeRose, Principal

Important Dates

February 14-18 - WorkKeys Assessment

February 14 - Singing Valentines 

February 15 - PTSA Meeting, 7pm

February 21 - Spring Sports Begin

February 21 - Holiday (Washington’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day)

February 22 - Second Chance Breakfast Resumes

February 23 - Pyramid Pre-Assessment Band Concert

March 1 - Winter Sports Banquet

March 2 - Orchestra Concert

March 3 - 2 Hour Early Release

March 4 - Staff Development Day (No School for Students)

March 31 - 2 Hour Early Release; End of 3rd Quarter

April 1 - Teacher Workday (No School for Students)

April 4-8 - Spring Break 

February 14-18 - WorkKeys Assessment: The state has allowed schools to offer the ACT WorkKeys Business Writing as an alternate assessment to the SOL Writing in order for students to earn their verified credit in Writing this school year. At Annandale, the WorkKeys writing assessment will be administered through English 11 classes beginning on Monday, February 14 through February 18.

February 14 - Singing Valentines: On Monday, February 14, the Annandale Singers will deliver “Singing Valentines” throughout the day. Students were able to purchase a song for another student during all lunches last week. 

February 15 - PTSA Meeting: The Next Annandale PTSA meeting will be on Tuesday, February 15 at 7:00pm in the Library or online. Here is a link to the meeting. PTSA meetings are bilingual and Spanish translation is provided. Las reuniones de PTSA son bilingües y se proporciona traducción al español. See you there!

February 21 - Spring Sports Begin: Next Monday marks the start of our Spring sports season, and more than ever, we want to encourage students to participate in after school activities, especially sports. To learn more about Annandale's Spring Sports programs, visit the Annandale High School Athletics and Activities website. Spring sports include tennis, soccer, lacrosse, track and field, baseball and softball. 

February 22 - Second Chance Breakfast Resumes: We will begin to phase in the service of Second Chance Breakfast on Tuesday, February 22. Prior to our decision to suspend service, there were concerns about the number of students in the cafeteria during this time. Therefore, we will start phasing in service at satellite locations only. This will give students time to build the habit of choosing the breakfast location most convenient to their classes. Soon after, we will reopen limited service in the cafeteria.

Awesome Atoms!

Shalini Vlcan Earns First Chair Viola in District Orchestra: Congratulations to Shalini Vlcan, for earning first chair Viola in District Orchestra. 

Seven AHS Students Make District Band: Congratulations to the following Band students who made District Band: Danielle Dean, Dylan Mercado, Tyler Perez, Andrew Zurita, Denis Coca Hernandez, Shane Gomez, Reena Vasudevan.

Jewel Coulter Named Student Peace Awards Recipient: Annandale Senior Jewel Coulter will be honored this March at the The Student Peace Awards of Fairfax County. The Student Peace Awards recognize young people who work as peacemakers. Jewel will be recognized for her work as a volunteer for the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) on their 2020 civic engagement campaign, where she worked to educate the community about important issues leading up to the 2020 election. In addition to her work with NAKASEC, Jewel partnered with former Annandale High Senior, and 2021 Peace Awards Recipient, Jimmy Lee, to create the Annandale High School Equity Team. From there, Jewel was asked to serve as a Student Equity Ambassador Leader for the school division, where she worked with students across Fairfax County to increase equity in schools. Congratulations, Jewel!

Albino Gamez Accepts Position at the Institute of International Education: Congrats to Albino Gamez who recently accepted a position at the Institute of International Education (IIE) as an EducationUSA Virtual Services Analyst. Albino will be working with advisors around the world to help them provide access to international students to come study in the US. He is “so thankful for everyone at Annandale and all the ways that they helped me.” I will miss the great team at Annandale.”

Annandale Alum, Mark Duffner, Coaching in Super Bowl: Congrats and best of luck to Mark Duffner, Bengals senior defensive assistant and Annandale High School alum in tonight’s Super Bowl!

Black History Month

Throughout the month of February, Annandale High School will celebrate and honor the experiences, achievements, and contributions made by African Americans and their central role in US History both inside and outside the classroom.

Black History Month Lessons During W4 - February 17, 22 & 24: The Black Student Union and the Equity Team have partnered to create lessons and activities that celebrate Black History Month for our W4 lessons on February 17, 22 & 24. We are excited to feature our first student created W4 lessons on these dates! Special thanks to Brent Roberson and Lauren Husman, our equity leads, for coordinating this effort.

Academic Advising

Rising 10th-12th Grade Students: Counselors continue to meet individually with students through English classes to discuss course selection for the 2022-23 school year. Our Academic Advising page has the grade level information presented by counselors, videos made by teachers describing our elective and IB options, and the course selection Google forms that must be completed by students. We encourage both students and parents to visit this site and discuss course selections for next year.

Students are asked to complete the appropriate grade-level course selection Google form prior to meeting with their counselor. All course selection forms are due no later than February 25. Please reach out to your student’s counselor, or Erik Healey, Director of Student Services, if you have any questions.

Rising 9th Grade Students: Thank you to those of you who attended our Rising 9th Grade Open House last Thursday. Many parents shared with me how grateful they were for the opportunity to meet teachers, counselors, administrators and current Annandale students. This was our first in-person event for future Annandale students in two years! It was especially important because we know that many of our students have been disconnected from school and from our community. This event was one of the many ways we are rebuilding that connection.

If you have not done so already, we want to encourage students and families to access all the information needed for course selection on our Academic Advising website. This site has grade level information that will be presented by counselors, videos made by teachers describing elective and IB options, the 9th grade course catalog, and the course selection Google form that will need to be completed by each student. 

In addition, on the website you will find the recording from our Virtual Course Registration Night on January 18 that provides guidance for when students meet with their middle school counselor. If you have any questions, please contact Erik Healey at ejhealey@fcps.edu.

Opportunities

Instruction 2 Industry Career Expo: The Office of Counseling and College and Career Readiness is hosting the upcoming Instruction 2 Industry Career Expo event for high school students from February 14-17. The multi-day virtual career exploration fair is for high school students to connect with industry professionals from in-demand career fields across the Northern Virginia Region. Registration for the live virtual sessions is now open. You can find the schedule and registration information here.

College Help Workshops – Thursdays 3:00-4:00, Room 90: These workshops are open to Juniors and Seniors, who want information on applying to college. Students who need individual assistance with college applications can ask questions about the Common Application, Transcript Request Forms, Scholarships, SAT/ACT exam registration, or anything else related to college.

MYP Personal Project Workshop - February 15  & 16: Attention Sophomores! The Atoms Writing Center will be holding a workshop to help sophomores with their MYP Personal Projects on February 15 during PRIDE Time in the lecture hall and February 16 after school in Room 274. There is limited space during PRIDE Time, so if you're interested plan to attend after school on February 16 or contact your English teacher or Mrs. Hanson sign up for PRIDE Time.

News from the Activities Office

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 if you have any questions.

Welcome Back Fans! We are excited to welcome back our spectators and fans to all events at Annandale High School and across FCPS. Good luck to our basketball teams who begin postseason play this week. In addition, you can still watch FCPS high school sporting events online. Here’s how:

1. Go to www.NFHSnetwork.com.
2. Search for (school name) and go to its page.
3. Subscribe and follow.

This service is free for the rest of this school year. You do not need to purchase anything if you are watching FCPS hosted events.

Spring Sports Begin - February 21: Below is important information about the first day of practice for spring sports. If you have any questions, please email the head coach of that sport. Students must turn in their physical form to the Activities Office and register online now!  

Monday, February 21

Boys' Lax - 8:30-10:30am - Stadium - Bill Maglisceau

Girls' Lax - 10:30-12:30pm - Stadium - Cindy Hook 

Baseball - 11:00-2:30pm - Baseball Field - Chris Bagot

Boys' Tennis - 2:00-4:00pm - Tennis Courts - Steven Zaret

Boys' Soccer - 3:30-5:00pm - Stadium - Tejas Patel

Girls' Soccer - 3:30-5:00pm - Track Field - Jake Vaughn

Softball - 4:00-6:00pm - Softball Field - Mark Crabill

Girls' Lax - 4:00-5:30pm - Ossian Park Field - Cindy Hook

Tuesday, February 22

Girls' Tennis - 3:30 - 5:00pm - Tennis Courts - Kelley Brown

Tuesday, March 1

Outdoor Track - 3:30 - 5:30pm - Track - Phil Harris

News from the PTSA

PTSA Meeting - February 15: The Next Annandale PTSA meeting will be on Tuesday, February 15 at 7:00pm in the Library or online. Here is a link to the meeting. You can check out the meeting agenda and notes on the PTSA website. PTSA meetings are bilingual and Spanish translation is provided. Las reuniones de PTSA son bilingües y se proporciona traducción al español. See you there!

PTSA Membership - Join Today! On behalf of the Annandale High School Parent, Teacher, Student Association (PTSA), we hope that the 2021–2022 school year is going well. The key ingredient to our success as a school is YOU. Please dare to make a difference, be better informed and join the PTSA today by filling out the online 2021–2022 Membership Form. For more information about membership, visit our Membership page.

PTSA Food Pantry Distribution: The PTSA sponsored AHS Pantry distributes food to AHS students and families in need. Distribution will take place on the second and fourth Fridays of each month from 3:00-4:00pm in Trailer 8 at the rear of the school. The pantry distribution schedule for the school year can be found here. Click here for additional food and community services. Contact Alissa Green, School Social Worker at adgreen@fcps.edu with questions related to resources. 

You can make a donation to the Pantry here. To ease the distribution process, we always need donations of both paper grocery bags (preferably with handles) and reusable grocery bags (for families and students who walk home).  Grocery bags and food donations for the Pantry can be dropped off in the main office. Contact Norma Foti, Pantry Coordinator at pantry@annandalehsptsa.org with questions. 

PTSA Pantry Is Always Restocking and Needs Your Help! The following items are always needed to restock. Items can be dropped off in the main office. All donations to the AHS PTSA Pantry are tax deductible.