September Briar Woods High School 2005 Home of the Falcons

Inside this Issue: Dear Parents: Dedication Ceremony 2 Disability Notice 2 We are honored to be a part of the Briar Woods High School community. The Student Parking 2 entire staff is committed to providing a quality education to our students along with an array of extra-curricular clubs and other activities that make for Lunch Ticket Info 2 an interesting and exciting high school experience. I am pleased to report Yearbooks 2 that we got off to a great start. The students seem to be settling in and the teachers are busy providing quality instruction. Much of where we are is due ASVAB 2 to the efforts of parent volunteers, staff willingness to spend countless hours Clubs/Organizations 3 preparing the school for our opening and a custodial staff that did a LCPS School Calendar 4 magnificent job cleaning the school. We all worked together to make our opening go off without a hitch. Thanks to all of the parents out there who Guidance News 5 stepped up to help with deliveries to the school, placing the books on the Guidance News 6 shelves in the library, assembling tables and carts, etc. Your help was critical PTSO 7 and very much appreciated. The main gymnasium is ready for its debut on Tuesday, September 27 when the girls volleyball teams host Freedom High School Cancellation 8 School. There is still work going on inside the school but none of it will impact School Cancellation 9 students or staff. Staff is busy putting together a punch list of items that need School Cancellation 10 to be completed or fixed. This is a lengthy process that will take considerable time to complete. If you see a door frame that needs painted, cove mold not Attendance 11 yet installed, etc. rest assured that these items have been noted and will be Picture Day 11 corrected over time. The vast majority of this work is being done after school School/Business Ptnshp. 11 hours. There are workmen in the building during the school day working on getting the sound systems operational in the auditorium, the gymnasiums and Class Officers 12 the cafeteria. Work continues during the day on the baseball, softball and Library News 12 tennis courts located behind the building. Our dedication ceremony is scheduled for Friday, October 14 at 10:00 a.m. in the auditorium. The public Drama News 12 is welcome to attend. Please note that this is a change from the date that was Outstanding Teacher 13 previously announced. We met with the newly elected SCA and class officers Electronic Newsletter 13 to discuss plans and events for that week. Some of the ideas that we talked about include spirit week, class/staff competitions, a pep rally, a tail-gate Band News 14 party before the game on Friday night, etc. The final plans are forthcoming. Winter Concert & Dinner 14 There is a conflict that weekend with the Chorus News 14 homecoming game and dance. Since many of our students still have ties with Stone Bridge, they decided to have the dance at our school on Friday, Fine Arts News 15 October 28. The dance will be sponsored by our PTSO. We had a great Community Coalition 16 turnout at our back-to-school night. Our staff was impressed by the number of parents in attendance. Thank you for coming. Let us continue to work together to make our school the absolute best educational institution in the state. We are absolutely and totally committed to the challenge. GO FALCONS!!!!

Regards, Ed Starzenski

DEDICATION CEREMONY – OCTOBER 14, 2005 – 10:00 A.M. Page 2

Dedication Ceremony Disability Notice Student Parking Date Change If due to a disability, you The cost of student The dedication need assistance to enable parking permits will be ceremony to celebrate you to participate $25. The permit can be the opening of our meaningfully in any LCPS purchased from Mr. school will be held on sponsored activities, DeCenzo after school Friday, October 14 at please contact Principal begins. Students who 10:00 a.m. in the Starzenski at (571) 223- park on school grounds auditorium. The public 2344 at least five working without a parking sticker is welcome to attend. days prior to the or who park in another scheduled activity. student’s space are subject to disciplinary action.

Lunch Ticket Information Yearbooks On Sale

Free and reduced lunch applications are 2005 - 2006 Briar Woods High School available at the school and will be Yearbooks are now on sale! The cost is distributed in homeroom on the first day $60.00 per book or $65.00 for a book of school. Please complete the form with a personalized nameplate. promptly and return it to your homeroom Yearbooks staff members are accepting teacher. The cost for a secondary student orders during all lunch shifts or forms lunch will be $1.95 and breakfast will be and payments may be given to Jennifer $.90. Students may pay for lunch by the Mosser in room 514. Order online at week or the month if desired. www.herffjones.com/theordercenter and use order number 13261.

Loudoun County Public Schools will offer the ASVAB on November 19, 2005 beginning at 8:00AM at Heritage High School. If there are any interested students, please see Mrs. Develli in the Career Center for additional information.

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BWHS Clubs/Organizations and Sponsors

Activities Coordinator *meets during activity FLEX period

Mark Patterson

Governing Organizations Sponsors Student Council Association* Jennifer Cavanaugh Senior Class Council* N/A Junior Class Council* Kim Berger & Sharon Smiley Sophomore Class Council* Patricia McIntyre, Betty Thomas, & Julie Thill Freshmen Class Council* Diane Breinig, Martha Belote, & April Tennant

Honor Societies Sponsors National Honor Society Linda Gross, Donna Armani, & Linda Greely

Publications Literary Arts Magazine* Gene Legg

Service Organizations Key Club SPONSOR NEEDED (this will be co-ed … no Keyettes)

Fine Arts Art Club* Elizabeth Cheever Drama* Marina Levi Forensics SPONSOR NEEDED

Foreign Language French* Lisa Magurn German* Mike Bladel Latin* Ann Renzy McLean Spanish* Julie Thill & Melissa Turner

Business DECA* Martha Belote FBLA* April Tennant

Miscellaneous Clubs & Organizations Academic Competition Team SPONSOR NEEDED Signet* SPONSOR NEEDED Debate SPONSOR NEEDED Book Club* Betty Thomas Philosophy Club* Jay Whitehead Science Club* SPONSOR NEEDED Future Educators Association (VFEA)* SPONSOR NEEDED Bible Club Cynthia Sebring & Linda Gross Odyssey of the Mind SPONSOR NEEDED Multicultural Club Lisa Magurn Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) Dave Morris Falcon Film Club Jim Noland & Kim Berger Anime Club SPONSOR NEEDED Character Education* SPONSOR NEEDED Peer* Michelle Hoffman Page 4

Loudoun County Public Schools 2005-2006 Student Calendar

August 29 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

September 5 Holiday (Labor Day)

October 10 Holiday (Columbus Day)

November 4 End of Grading Period

November 7-8 Student Holiday (Planning/Records/Conference Day)

November 23-25 Holiday (Thanksgiving)

December 22-30 Winter Break (Classes Resume January 3)

January 2 Holiday (New Year’s)

January 16 Holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)

January 20 End of Grading Period

January 23 MOVEABLE STUDENT HOLIDAY *(Planning/Records/Conference Day)

February 20 Holiday (Presidents’ Day)

April 6 End of Grading Period

April 7 Student Holiday (Planning/Records/Conference Day)

April 10-14 Spring Break

May 29 Holiday (Memorial Day)

June 14 Last Day of School for Students/End of Grading Period

June 15-16 Planning/Records/Conference Day

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Guidance News

2005-2006 Guidance Staff Dave Royhab Guidance Director Susan James Counselor for students, A-J Michelle Hoffman Counselor for students, K-Z Jan Develli Career Resource Specialist Stacey Oertly Guidance Secretary

SAT Dates & Deadlines for 2005-2006

See www.collegeboard.com for more details and to register for the SAT. When you register, you will be asked for your school’s CEEB code. The Briar Woods CEEB code is: 470-061.

SAT Test Date Registration Late Deadline Loudoun Deadline Location October 8, 2005 September 7, 2005 September 14, Stone Bridge HS 2005 November 5, 2005 September 30, 2005 October 12, 2005 Potomac Falls HS December 3, 2005 October 28, 2005 November 9, 2005 Loudoun County HS January 28, 2006 December 22, 2005 January 4, 2006 Loudoun Valley HS April 1, 2006 February 24, 2006 March 8, 2006 Loudoun County HS May 6, 2006 April 3, 2006 April 12, 2006 Broad Run HS June 3, 2006 April 28, 2006 May 10, 2006 Park View HS

ACT Dates & Deadlines for 2005-2006

See www.act.org for more information and to register for the ACT. The Briar Woods registration code is 470-061.

ACT Test Date Registration Deadline Late Deadline October 22, 2005 September 16, 2005 September 30, 2005 December 10, 2005 November 4, 2005 November 17, 2005 February 11, 2006 January 6, 2006 January 20, 2006 April 8, 2006* March 3, 2006 March 17, 2006 June 10, 2006 May 5, 2006 May 19, 2006 * The April 8th ACT administration will be held at . Page 6

PSAT The PSAT is the practice test for the SAT. In Loudoun County, all 9th, 10th and 11th grade students will take the PSAT on October 12, 2005. Counselors and teachers will review test results with students in December. Test results will be used to help students identify their own strengths and weaknesses to help with SAT preparation. Counselors will also use scores to help identify potential Advanced Placement students.

Interim Dates In an effort to increase communication and to keep you informed, all of our students will receive interims from all of their teachers on the dates listed below.

Marking Period 1 Sep 29 & 30 Marking Period 2 Dec 8 & 9 Marking Period 3 Mar 2 & 3 Marking Period 4 May 18 & 19

Homework Requests The guidance office will gather work for any student who is (or will be) out if school for three or more consecutive days due to an excused absence. Please contact guidance to make a request.

Counselor/Student Meetings The BWHS guidance counselors will meet individually with every student over the next two months. We are holding these meetings so we may introduce ourselves, build rapport with our students, conduct academic planning, answer questions and address concerns.

Junior Seminars Every month the guidance department will conduct a Junior Seminar during the flex period. Topics discussed will usually pertain to the activities involved in planning for college. On September 22nd we held our first junior seminar. Topics discussed included the college application timeline, college visits to BWHS, admissions testing and Job-For-A-Day. Some of the materials that were distributed to students may be found on our website. Our next seminar’s topics will include using college planning software. Page 7

PTSO

President: Geri Powell Vice President of Membership: Martha Mitchell Vice President of Volunteers: Martha Mitchell Vice President of Fundraising : Emily Cuillo Treasurer: Kim Klees Secretary: Barbara Watt

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for being so generous with their time when we were trying to get the school up and running this summer. It has been a real pleasure to be able to work with such a great group of families. If you have not had a chance to fill out a volunteer survey form and wish to do so please contact Martha Mitchell at [email protected]. If you misplaced your membership form before you were able to submit it, we will be putting the form onto the school website. Please keep in mind that while our children get to enjoy the benefits of lower enrollment this year, we (us parents) may also have to step up and volunteer just a little more than if we had more families to pull volunteers from.

Now that school is open we can’t just sit back and say our job is done. On the contrary, now is when the real fun begins. As I said in the parent meeting last August, the PTSO has a lot of activities planned for this year. Our first activity is going to be a dance in October. We will need lots of help in both planning the event and at the dance. Please contact Geri Powell at (703) 729- 5431 or by email at [email protected] if you would like to help with the dance. We are also looking for people to help us with our hospitality committee. This committee will periodically provide treats/lunches for the teachers and staff at Briar Woods. Please contact Geri Powell if you are interested.

If you or any of your friends ever have any questions, comments or concerns regarding PTSO activities please do not hesitate to contact Geri Powell. In order to conserve paper, our PTSO will primarily use this newsletter and the school website to communicate with our members. Please check the school website often for updates on PTSO activities.

Thank you again for being so generous with your time and talents,

Geri Powell

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Attendance

Parents please help! When your student is absent, you need to call the attendance line at (571) 252-1529 to notify the school. For your convenience, this is a 24 hour answering machine. If you forget to call on the day of the absence, you must send a note with your student on the day they return to school. Without a phone call or note, the absence will be considered unexcused and disciplinary action will be taken.

Early Dismissals

Parents: When requesting an early dismissal, please send your written request with your student that morning. I will write them a pass to excuse them at the appropriate time. This will alleviate the need to disrupt the classroom. Thank you for your cooperation.

Picture Day Joyce Biermann, our school Picture day will be Monday, October 3, and nurse, recently resigned due to Tuesday, October 4. family illness. She will be missed by all at Briar Woods High School.

School/Business Partners

Our community has stepped up in a big way to help our school. I want to thank several of the builders in our community and Brambleton Development for their generous financial contribution to our school. Each of the builders listed below contributed $10,000 each and Brambleton Development contributed $15,000!!! Winchester Homes Mid Atlantic Region CENTEX Homes Miller & Smith The Gulick Group Stanley Martin Companies Inc.

Thanks to Weichart Realty in Ashburn for funding the picnic for students, parents and staff at our open house before the school year began. They also funded a social event for our staff prior to the beginning of the year. We will continue to work with them in the future at student and staff recognition programs.

Many thanks to our PTSO for providing refreshments for the staff during the teacher workdays prior to the beginning of the year. Page 12

CONGRATULATIONS

Freshman Class Council Junior Class Council

President - Frosty Terral President - Lindsey Novak Vice President - Alyscia Carter Vice President - Josh Estrada Secretary - Tiffany Nguyen Secretary - Grace Chen Treasurer - Heather Lagrosa Treasurer - Casey Mailley Freshmen SCA Representatives - Junior SCA Representative - Neetu Vicky Landau and L. Austin DeMoss Dhillon

Sophomore Class Council Student Council Association

President - Logan Leverett President - Carlos Reyes Vice President - Brandon Toma Vice President - Taylor Jensen Sophomore SCA Representative - Secretary - Jennifer Adams Shannon McClendon Treasurer - Mariam Kante Historian - Neluka Wijegunawardena From the Library: We would like to thank all of the volunteers who helped align library shelves, unpack and shelve books, unpack and set up equipment, do a variety of tasks large and small with grace, patience and consistency. A special thank you to those who gave up precious weekend hours. We appreciate the hours parents are still donating on a weekly basis to make the library an inviting and productive environment for their (and our) children. Your help and support have been invaluable!

The Drama Department has cast and begun rehearsing for our fall production, Icarus All Over Again. We have also begun the process of building the department by electing officers and choosing a name. Briar Woods Winged Productions was the students’ overwhelming favorite. We still have plenty of ways for students to get involved with the technical crews, so please see Mrs. Levi if you would like to be on a crew. We are also planning a parent meeting but we would like to know who is interested. Please email Mrs. Levi to let her know that you are interested and when would be a good time for a meeting. Page 13

Outstanding Science Teacher

Donna Armani, who is part of our inaugural faculty at Briar Woods High School, was honored as the Outstanding Teacher of 2005 by the Health Physics Society.

The Health Physics Society is a non-profit scientific professional organization whose mission is to promote radiation safety. The award consisted of a certificate and citation, a cash award of $750 to Briar Woods, an honorary membership in the society, travel assistance to attend the awards ceremony and tickets for her and her husband to attend the society’s annual conference.

Mrs. Armani has been helping with teacher workshops on nuclear energy and radiation for several years. These workshops “Understanding Nuclear Radiation” have been sponsored by the Virginia Section of the American Nuclear Society, Virginia Chapter of the Health Physics Society, the North American Young Generation Nuclear and Dominion Generation.

In recognition of this work, she also received the Top Industry Practice (TIP) Award from the Nuclear Energy Society on May 20th in Washington, D.C. TIP awards have been presented since 1994.

Electronic Newsletter

The newsletters will be on the Briar Woods High School web site each month. If you would still like to receive a copy in the mail, please fill out the form below and return it to the main office.

By choosing to view the newsletter on the web site you will be saving the school valuable resources of staff time, paper, and postage. You will also receive the newsletter days before the printed version is sent through the mail.

Student Name

Parent Name(s)

I would like to receive a copy of the newsletter in the mail.

Signature Page 14

Briar Woods High School Music Performances

Oct. 1st Oakton Classic Band Festival, Oakton, VA Oct. 8th Bands of America Regional, Towson, MD Oct. 22nd James Madison Band Championship, JMU, VA Oct. 29th State Marching Band Championship, Battlefield HS, Manassas,VA

Please come and see the marching band at all home football games.

Check the district and school web sites at www.loudoun.k12.va.us for additional performances throughout the school year. We are happy to be a part of the community and look forward to seeing you at upcoming events.

Briar Woods High School "Winter Concert & Dinner", Tuesday, December 13th, 2005.

The Briar Woods HS Music Dept. is proud to announce that we will have a professionally catered meal in conjunction with our "Winter Concert". The concert will feature 3 of the September 14th marked the major performing groups at our school, The anniversary of Francis Scott Key's Guitar Ensemble, The Briar Woods Choir composition of the famous "Star- and The Briar Woods Symphonic Winds. Spangled Banner". As part of a The meal will be an important fund-raiser for nationwide initiative to increase the music programs so please make plans awareness of our great anthem, to join us for an evening of music and fine choral director Kathryn Horner food here at BWHS. sponsored the "Star Spangled Contest". Students were to research and pen the complete lyrics of the "Congratulations to the new 2005-06 national anthem and submit them Choral Officers! that morning. Our winners were: Lindsey Novak, Meena Khot, and President: Meena Zakeria Abdullahi. These three Vice President: Kristine Cenon students were rewarded with Briar Secretary: Mariam Kante Woods spirit wear, courtesy of the Treasurer: Dilnar Dilmurat administration, and also a gift Historian: Shiza Saleem Librarians: Jenna Quist & Karen Zwolak certificate for Hershey's ice cream, courtesy of Hershey's Ice Cream Shop in Ashburn Farm. Congratulations!

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The Fine Arts Department has jumped into the year with gusto. Thanks to Duane Minnick, band director, the school has a fight song and an alma mater. Thanks also to you parents who lifted your voices to join us in Back to School Night. To have so many supportive parents made for a nice evening

The marching band practices hard almost every morning to display their support at our games and to get ready for competitions. Have you seen their snazzy uniforms? Jazz band is also here for early morning practices. It’s great to come to school with the music echoing down the halls.

The choral group treated the school to a patriotic rendition of our national anthem the other morning in celebration of the anniversary of our national anthem. Thanks for that Mrs. Horner. They sound wonderful.

Mr. Murphy’s guitar students are coming along leaps and bounds. They are working out of the required books to develop their skills. Practice is the key for any musical instrument. Has your student been bringing their instrument and method book home?

The Art Department is well underway improving drawing skills and learning design concepts. Student work is being displayed in the halls as showcase space allows. Great work students! Photography students will add their endeavors soon as they have been taking lots of pictures around the school for their projects. Art 3 students are beginning to work on their designs for gardens in the front of the school. They have been doing research and applying their creative design skills to a future living project. We can’t wait to get started. Any interested volunteers to help with the actual labor, planting and hauling, are welcome. Please contact Mrs. Cheever through the school.

Drama has almost moved into their new ‘black box”. There are creative improvisations practiced in the hall from time to time. We look forward to the shows coming up. These students don’t seem to be shy! Auditions were held this week for our first dramatic undertaking. There will be an Art Club and a Drama Club when the activities begin. We are looking for dedicated students with creative ideas to work together in these areas. Meetings will take place during the flex activity period.