From The Principal
Family,
Thank you for another opportunity to have a great week of experiences with your children. Regardless of whether or not we are simply pushing through a week of work, or if we are running around with our heads cut off, I am proud to be able to be here. A testament to this is how this week has gone with our students and the change in the masking protocols. Overall, there were almost no issues. I told you all that I was somewhat anxious about the change, but our students did a wonderful job of accepting the choices that others made on both sides and to be able to see that reminded me of the outstanding community I work in! They get this behavior from somewhere, and so I thank you all for what you have done with your children!
We have found ourselves dealing with more students in the hallways after the transition period and this can create some issues. Not only does this create lost opportunities for those students who are not in class on time, but the late arrival of students can also negatively impact the instructional experiences of those students who have worked to be in class on time. Students who are not in class on time can also find themselves involved in situations they should not be involved in. You know what they say about idle minds. Please have conversations with your children about the importance of arriving to class on time. Even share that if they are arriving on time, to bring someone with them who might not be doing such a good job of it. That is a big ask, but I gotta turn over every stone!
Okay, so this past week was one with a lot of great news to share out. So lets get right into that!
Since SOCO and other area high schools do not have a lot of athletes that play hockey, it's a combined team with Hayfield, Edison, and Lewis. This mixed team of iced athletes made it to playoffs and won the 1st round two Fridays ago to make it to the final four. They won versus playing Colgan Wednesday night for the semi-final at Mount Vernon Rec Center and competed this past Friday in Prince William against Washington-Liberty HS. Unfortunately, they lost 3-2, but it was a spirited competition. We could have a few of our Stallions to be seen in a couple of years during the Frozen Four! Stay tuned!
Let’s celebrate our Girls Indoor Track as they finished as runner ups at the track state championships. This group of athletes continue to blaze a trail in the sport! We are looking forward to the spring season to see them continue to shine!
Our Science Olympiad team finished as overall 1st Place winners in the competition. Science Olympiad is one of the nation's most prestigious and rigorous competitions of science, technology, engineering and math. Science Olympiad teams compete in more than two-dozen scientific and engineering challenges on topics ranging from human health, ecology, chemistry, cell biology, geology and engineering. Awards are given for the best overall team score and individual scores in each event. Our club has 45 competing members who have been working since September to prepare for competition. All three teams had a great showing, and they are now preparing for the state tournament at UVA on March 26! Here is a list of our medal winners and the competitions they competed in!
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Event
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Medals
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Event
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Medals
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Bridges
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2nd – Tiffany Ling, Ashley Michel-Le
5th – Lily Lai, Vista Sedghi
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Gravity Vehicle
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3rd – Niya Gupta, Rishika Deshmukh
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Codebusters
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3rd – Diya Amat, Bethel Daniel, Siya Patel
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It’s About Time
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6th – Jai Agarwal, Ayaan Shaikh
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Detector Building
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1st – Asmita Karandikar, Rishika Deshmukh
4th – Tyler Boyer, Philip Gigrich
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Ornithology
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5th – Matthew McCollum, Katie Lee
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Disease Detectives
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5th – Mackenzie Williams, Elizabeth Erickson
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Rocks and Minerals
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4th – Saiesha Gohil, Tyler Engelbrecht
5th – Pouya Amini, Matthew McCollum
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Environmental Chemistry
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5th – Diya Amat, Siya Patel
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Trajectory
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1st – Ayaan Shaikh, Matthew McCollum
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Forensics
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3rd – Diya Amat, Pavi Gupta
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WiFi Lab
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2nd – Pavi Gupta, Ayaan Shaikh
4th – Lily Lai, Vista Sedghi
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March is Music in Our Schools Month. Here at SCHS we have a STRONG music department and are so very proud of our many talented musicians! This year, we had 8 musicians selected for All-Virginia Band, Choir, Orchestra plus 3 alternates. These students were chosen among the BEST in the state. PLEASE take time to congratulate them on this accomplishment:
All-Virginia Selections:
Eric Bach, Natalie Beasley, Eva Jaghori, Zayd Khan, Daniel Kim, Sarah Peckham, David Ransom, and Connor Walsh
Alternates:
Abby Sparks, Andi Evans, and Gavin Flynn
Please join me in congratulating another group of talented Stallions doing it up in their passions!
And if that isn’t enough great things going on at South County, I was able to attend, AND participate in the annual International Night festivities! It was one of the proudest moments I have had as a principal as I watched our students and Families come together to celebrate the many cultures that exist in our building. It was a true celebration of one another as the cheers that could be heard were almost deafening! All who attended had a great time and this is one of the many interactions I have with our students that I will sorely miss!
Every couple of years FCPS principals are evaluated by the staff and the community. Even though I will not be in FCPS next year, it is imperative to me to continue to receive honest feedback from those I work with so that I am able to continuously improve during my career. If you have not already received it, you should receive a link to my evaluation via email soon. Please take a moment to provide your input as it will help to shape my professional growth as well as provide insight to my supervisors as to what you are looking for in the next principal for South County HS.
I think I have covered it! As always I appreciate the support I receive from each of you. Please continue to let me know if there is anything I can do to make your child’s, or your experience here at South County HS better. We truly want this to be the best school in the district and we can only get there through continuous improvement. Take care and I will chat with you again this coming weekend! #OneStallion
Gary
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