Edison High School Weekly

Congratulations to our Wrestling Team for becoming      Region Champions!
Thank you to all the coaches and parents who supported      our athletes. 

Important Dates

Edison School Wide Calendar

February 12:  Athletic Booster Meeting, 7:00 PM

February 19: President's Birthday Holiday

February 29: Presentation on Trends in the Drug Culture, 6 pm (Parents Only)

March 2: Athletic Booster Bingo Night, 5:00 - 9:00 PM

March 5: Primary Election Day, Student Holiday

March 25-29:  Spring Break

April 1-2: Student Holidays

May 18:  Senior Prom

May 27: Memorial Day Holiday

June 5:  Graduation, 7:30pm, EagleBank Arena at GMU

June 12:  Last Day of School

The complete FCPS 2023-2024 School Year Calendar

In this Issue:

1. Second Quarter Report Cards
2. Science Fair Winners
3. Reminders: Attendance, Checkng Out Early, Food Delivery
4. FCPS Cares Winner - Mr. Cornwell
5. SRO Appreciation Day Feb 15th

6. For Parents Only - Parent Presentation on Trends in the Drug Culture; February 29, 2024 

7. In Case You Missed It
8. January Celebrations
9. Athletic Boosters

1. Second Quarter Report Cards

Report cards will be distributed in Advisory Class on Monday, February 12. 

2.  Congrats to our Science Fair Winners!

Can't wait to see them at the regional science fair in March!

3. Reminders: Attendance Procedures, Checking Out Early, and Outside Food Deliveries

Attendance is checked daily each period and for full-day absences. By State regulation, calls and emails are sent to parents in the morning and afternoon via an automated attendance system from FCPS. We cannot control the content of the message, or the time that they are delivered. 

If you receive a call indicating an individual class absence, please have your student verify with the teacher before calling the attendance office.

Students may not call or check themselves out.

For full details on attendance procedures, please visit Attendance Policies

Checking Out Early?

Please follow the guidelines for “day of” checkouts on our website. Plan for appointments and contact the office in advance. All early dismissals need to be submitted by 9:30 AM in order to be processed in time. 

For unplanned early check-outs, parents will need to come into the main office with their picture ID. It can take up to 30 minutes for a student to be released without prior notice. 

Please consider keeping your student home if they have an appointment and are leaving within the first hour of school. We try to get through the many daily messages we receive immediately on arriving at school, but our attendance office may not have heard or read your message for an early release before your arrival. This will ensure your student will be on time for the appointment. 

Outside Food Delivery 

By regulation, students are not allowed to order food for delivery during the school day. If a driver from Grub Hub, Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc., tries to deliver a meal, they are turned away. If by some chance food is delivered for a student by a meal service, we confiscate it and do not return it. 

Also, keep in mind that all high schools in Fairfax County are "closed campuses." This means that students are not allowed to leave Edison High School at any time during the day. Only a parent or guardian can sign a student out of the building.

4. FCPS Cares Winner

Mr. Charles Cornwell received an FCPS Cares Recognition from a parent and was selected by FCPS as the winner for the month of November.  See what the parent said about him below:  

"Mr. Cornwell went above and beyond just being a teacher! Mr. Cornwell taught his students how to take an old beat-up truck and turn it into my son’s dream truck and make it ready for he and his grandfather to show in Ocean City, this was a dream that my son and his grandfather had always talked of. Mr. Cornwell not only taught my son the skills to do this but also without my son knowing taught him valuable life skills. Mr. Cornwell stayed after school many days to help my son achieve his dream, this is not something that is required of a teacher. This proves how much a teacher cares and the passion they have for the subject they teach! This will be something my son will always carry with him and a memory that he and his grandfather will always cherish all due to Mr. Cornwell. I have before and after pictures of the amazing work that FCPS auto collision and Mr. Cornwell have done."

5.  FCPS Cares - Recognize Edison Employees! The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for families, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story, so we can all acknowledge the good work of FCPS employees at Edison HS School. We love our staff members; let's tell them how we feel!

6.  SRO Appreciation Day

February 15th is School Resource Officer (SRO) Appreciation Day. Although Officer Ashraf is new to our school, he has already made a positive impact on our staff and students. He makes an effort to interact with students and support the staff by being visible in the hallways. He even showcased his dancing skills at our pep rally by participating in our faculty lip sync performance. We feel fortunate to have him as a part of our team!

Senior Night for Boy and Girls Basketball and Winter Cheer.

7. For Parents Only - Parent Presentation on Trends in the Drug Culture; February 29, 2024 

Many challenges and responsibilities come with being a parent, and having to address a difficult topic with your child, such as drug culture, trends and identifying signs of substance use, can be stressful. Drugs and drug paraphernalia is now being disguised as common everyday items out in plain sight, to go unrecognized by parents or other adults.  Substance Abuse Prevention Program want to provide you with information so you will be able to recognize drugs and drug paraphernalia and also the signs of drug use to equip you to have real and meaningful dialog with your child concerning these issues. 

Join us on February 29^th, 2024 @ 6:00pm at Edison High School where we will be hosting a parent presentation to provide information on the trends in drug culture. After the presentation there will be time to ask questions or to receive more information. The trends in drug culture have created innovative ways to hook your child and we are here to arm you by providing information concerning these topics that will assist in effective communication with your child.  Also, a Narcan Training with be provided by a member of the Community Services Board.

Shawn Elliott, BS, QMHP-C Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist                 Sbelliott@fcps.edu

8. FCPS News - In Case You Missed It

In case you missed it in FCPS This Week, the school division shared updates on the following topics:

• Summer Camp and Learning Opportunities
• Science, Technology, and Arts Magnet Schools
• Check Schoology for Teacher-Referred Tutoring

Read FCPS This Week to learn more about these topics. If you are not already receiving the weekly newsletter, please sign up today. 

9. We Celebrate in February

• Black History Month
• Career and Technical Eduation Month
• Love the Bus Month
• School Board Appreciation Month
• February 15:  School Resource Officer Appreciation Day
• February 19:  President's Day Holiday
• February 27-March 3:  Public Schools Week

Edison Athletics Booster Club will offer six scholarships to graduating Edison High School seniors that have participated in varsity Edison Athletics as a player. Applicants will be judged on athletic accomplishments, community service, coach’s recommendation, and written essay. Financial need is not a determining factor. Each scholarship award will be in the amount of $500. Scholarships (checks) will be made payable and sent directly to the recipient’s college or technical/vocational school.

Useful Links

• Edison High School Website: https://edisonhs.fcps.edu/
• New to Edison? Start Here:  New Student to Edison | Thomas A. Edison High School (fcps.edu)
• Required Forms:  Yearly Forms
• For Parents:  Parent Checklist
• For Students:  Updates for Students
• Student Information System (SIS) and Parent Vue: Enables you to access information about student attendance, class performance, course materials, and more:  SIS/Parent Vue
• School Payments via My School Bucks:  My School Bucks
• Transcript Requests: This link connects you to the transcript request form for Edison High School and is for current students and recent graduates (2018 and after): EHS Transcript Request Form
• Former student records from more than five years ago can be requested via this site:  Verification of Graduation, Records, Transcripts

5801 Franconia Road, Alexandria, VA 22310 | Main Office: 703-924-8000
Attendance: 703-924-8080 or EdisonAttendance@fcps.edu | Web | Twitter