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In This Issue
📖 Yearbook Sales End January 24
Yearbooks are just $15! You can order or donate a yearbook online at www.yearbookforever.com, or students can stop by the cafeteria during any lunch period from Tuesday, January 21 to Thursday, January 24. We accept exact cash or checks, made payable to Herndon Middle School.
📅 Save the Date: Academy Open Houses Begin in January!
FCPS high school academies will hold open houses for interested students beginning in January.
A high school academy is a center within a high school that offers advanced technical and specialized courses to prepare students for postsecondary education and/or career fields. Students enrolling in academy elective courses will be provided with opportunities to participate in a variety of career experiences including shadowing, mentoring, or internships with local businesses.
Learn more and view the calendar of Academy Open Houses.
📋 Course Selection Begins in January
Beginning in January 2025, students will meet with their counselors during their History and Civics classes to discuss course selection for next year. Families are encouraged to actively participate in this important process. Please review the following information regarding the course selection process:
As students choose courses, it is important to remind them to consider the following:
- Current academic strengths and habits.
- Graduation requirements (high school students).
- Interests and career and postsecondary goals.
- Personal well-being.
- Extracurricular activities and other commitments that may impact students’ time and energy.
School-life balance is an important consideration as students strive for academic and personal success. Families are welcome to contact their student’s school counselor with questions by calling 703-904-4800.
🎓 Graduation Requirements and Planning
Careful consideration is essential when planning next year's courses. We encourage our students and families to review the Graduation Requirements and Course Planning webpage to make informed decisions while planning for success in high school and beyond. Reviewing the Program of Studies may be helpful as well.
Please refer to our course catalog and course selection for more information.
🏫 College Partnership Program (CPP)
The CPP 2025-2026 school year recruitment window is now open. During the week of January 6, 2025, your CPP Advocates and our middle school POCs received an email with a link to the application to share with students and parents, along with various recruitment flyers and a PowerPoint presentation to help with recruitment.
The goal of the program is to systematically mitigate the impact of barriers to access and opportunity, and support students who are from populations that are historically underrepresented on college campuses. This includes students who are the first in their family to attend college in the U.S., Multilingual learners, students who are economically disadvantaged, and students with disabilities.
CPP offers programming to help prepare students and families from 9th grade all the way through applying to and enrolling in college. All students are eligible and encouraged to apply to this program, and are expected to meet program requirements. For more information visit our webpage.
📵 Phones Down, Engagement Up: FCPS Cell Phone Policy
Keeping cell phones off during the school day helps students focus and learn. It also boosts positive social behavior. Review FCPS’ cell phone expectations by grade level with your child and help keep our classrooms free of distractions! If you need to reach your child during the school day, please call 703-904-4800.
🗺️ Dual Language Immersion Lottery Registration
Registration for the countywide lottery for Dual Language Immersion (DLI) program opened on Monday, January 13, 2025. Current pre-K students may apply for the kindergarten immersion program, and current kindergarten students may apply for the first grade immersion program for the 2024-25 school year.
Dual Language Immersion is available in French, German, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
Parents/caregivers who are interested may want to attend an informational meeting. Meetings are held at the school site. Visit the Dual Language Immersion Program Registration page for a list of meetings by language offered.
Get more information on the DLI Program webpage and DLI Program Registration webpage.
📍Comprehensive Boundary Review Update
The Superintendent’s Boundary Review Advisory Committee held its second meeting on December 16 at Gatehouse Administration Center. View key takeaways from that meeting and access the meeting agenda, slides, and other materials that committee members received. If you did not get a chance to attend an in-person Community Boundary Review Meeting, please consider participating in a virtual meeting:
- Saturday, January 25, 2025, 9:30-11 a.m.
- Monday, January 27, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
- Tuesday, January 28, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
- Monday, February 10, 2025, 6:30-8 p.m.
Language interpretation will be available.
All virtual meetings will follow the same format as the in-person meetings that were recently held, and the same information will be shared. Please stay tuned for details on how to register. Visit FCPS’ Comprehensive Boundary Review webpage to learn more. Sign up for FCPS’ School Boundary Review newsletter as well.
🧥 Keep Your Child Warm During Outdoor Activities
Winter weather is here! As a reminder, please make sure your child is dressed appropriately with a warm coat and other cold-weather clothing, so they can comfortably enjoy time outdoors. Schools monitor the weather for low temperatures, wind chill advisories and warnings, and weather advisories that may prevent children from being outside for activities like recess or physical education.
View Fairfax County’s Winter Weather/Extreme Cold safety tips.
If you need assistance getting cold-weather clothing for your family, please contact our family liaison, Mrs. Salazar-Laske, at fmsalazarlas@fcps.edu. You may also contact Fairfax County Coordinated Services Planning (CSP) at 703-222-0880. Their multilingual staff can assist with any challenges you are facing, including food, shelter, employment, financial assistance, and health care.
📽️ Fairfax Public Access: 2025 Teen Summer Camps
As Fairfax County’s community pubic media station, during the summer season Fairfax Public Access offers teens interested in television studio production, post-production video editing, and radio production an outlet to learn, experience and create.
This summer they will be offering three separate camps with various dates to choose from. The TV Studio Production camp offers a chance to learn the ins and outs of creating a television show, use of the equipment, and crew roles and responsibilities. The TV Post-Production camp offers a chance to learn the process of editing video projects using Adobe Premiere. While, the Radio Production camp offers a chance to learn how to produce a radio show, use of the studio equipment, and our programming procedures.
For more information and to register, please visit Fairfax Public Access - Summer Camp Registration.
✨ Student Services: Staff Updates
The Student Services Department will have some staff transitions for the rest of the school year. If you need assistance, please reach out to the main office, and they’ll connect you with the right team member for student support. We appreciate your understanding and continued partnership as we navigate these changes and stay focused on supporting the success and well-being of our students.
📊 SR&R and Cell Phone Policy Survey
All FCPS families and middle and high school students received an email invitation on Tuesday, January 21, to participate in a survey about FCPS’ Student Rights and Responsibilities (SR&R), cell phone policy, and cell phone storage options. The survey will be available from January 21 to February 3. Please take a few moments to share your feedback and help FCPS make informed, inclusive decisions for all of our schools!
❄️ Be Among the First to Hear About School Delays/Closings
Watch this video to see how FCPS makes weather closing decisions.
FCPS’ website is generally the first place to find out about emergency weather closings. Other communication channels will be used as quickly as possible, including email, text, social media, and news stations. Learn more about how schedule changes are communicated.
Be among the first to hear about weather delays and closings! Update your contact information in SIS ParentVUE. Emails and text messages are sent to parents and caregivers based on the addresses and cell phone numbers entered on this platform.
📑 Varsity Tutors Provides On-Demand Support at No Cost
FCPS is partnering with Varsity Tutors to provide students and families with extra resources for learning. Every student can take advantage of Varsity Tutors’ services at no cost, including weekly live online classes; on-demand 24/7 chat tutoring; essay editing; and study resources such as recorded content, practice problems, and diagnostic tests.
Learn more about online tutoring with Varsity Tutors.
⛄ Student and Family Resources
Fairfax County Public Schools has compiled a list of resources for students and families in case they need assistance while schools are closed for winter break. Please visit FCPS’ winter resources webpage for information on academic support, mental health support, and county resources related to food, clothing, housing, and other needs.
🖥️ Free Webinars and Events for Families
In January, the Family Resource Center (FRC) will host webinars for families on:
Sign up for the FRC newsletter or visit their webinar webpage.
📅 Upcoming Family Academy Events
You are an important part of your child's education! The FCPS Family Academy compiles classes, webinars, workshops, and programs offered by FCPS to help you support your child's needs and learning at home. Browse Family Academy offerings.
January
23 | Futsal Game vs. Liberty at Herndon MS; Doors Open at 5:30 PM
28 | End of 2nd Quarter (Early Release)
29 | Lunar New Year (Teacher Work Day)
30 | Futsal Game vs. Rocky Run at Herndon MS; Doors Open at 5:30 PM
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Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year falls at quarter end on Wednesday, January 29. The day will be a teacher work day and there will be no school for students.
See the complete school year calendar.
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National School Counseling Week
February 3-7 is National School Counseling Week. It highlights the tremendous impact school counselors have in helping students achieve academic success and planning for a career. School counselors work with students in a variety of different capacities, whether it is through classroom lessons, group sessions, or individual counseling.
Learn more about the role of school counselors in FCPS.
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FCPS Cares
The FCPS CARES Program is an opportunity for parents, 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.
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