1

Special points of

interest:

Counselors are having

individual meetings about course

registration.

CLARITY will be

updated on regularly

scheduled days.

Athletic paperwork for Spring sports due

Feb. 13

Spring Sports tryouts

begin on February 19

SOL Writing test online on March 14

and 19

In this issue:

Testing Information 2

Administrative

Information

3

Office of School

Counseling

4

AP Testing

Information

7

School Store News 10

John Champe High School February 2013 Volume 1, Issue 6

Dear Parents and Families,

In last month’s newsletter, I mentioned how the New Year—ripe with the no-

tion of a fresh start and new beginning—is an opportune time to set goals or

resolutions as is the tradition for many. But by February, how many of us are

still committed to them? Be honest. Many of us have long since forgotten about

them; in our busy world, it’s difficult for us to maintain the level of commit-

ment necessary sometimes in order to attain them. The point is that students

are no different.

With the start of the second semester, students have a fresh opportunity and

outlook for the rest of the year. It is a good idea for them to revisit their own

goals and recommit to having a successful school year as it is not too late to

actively do so. Along those lines, by the time you read this, your students will

have undertaken a goal setting activity in Advisory to show them what they

would need to achieve in each class to meet a certain grade for the year. This

exercise is to help them focus on attainable goals and then develop strategies

and supports to help them reach them. Please take a moment to discuss this

with your student and show them your support.

Another goal to consider for your student is where they want to be in a few

years and what classes they need to take in order to help them get there. I hope

you had the opportunity to attend Course Information Night on January 24th as

it was a great opportunity to hear about diploma types, graduation require-

ments, and meet with honors, Advanced Placement, and electives teachers to

gather more information about specific courses your student can take next year.

If not, don’t worry: it’s not too late to get some of that information. The

presentation is available on the counseling web page along with the Program of

Studies (which contains course descriptions in addition to graduation require-

ments) . Your student will begin individually meeting with his/her counselor to

go over teacher recommendations for their course selection as well as to discuss

their own interests, so if you have any questions about this process or courses

available to your student, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of School

2

Counseling.

Second half performance is often times what can really determine success, as many of us witnessed in the Super

Bowl the other week: staying focused or regrouping our efforts and then maintaining a high level of commitment is

essential to achieving our goals. I applaud those who have not taken their eyes off the prize, but I also give my sup-

port and encouragement to those who see and take advantage of the opportunity of the second half.

Yours in service,

John Gabriel

Principal

Testing Information

The English Writing SOL will be here before you know it.

This two-part online test is taken over a period of two

days; March 14th is multiple choice, and March 19th is

short paper. Students must be present on both days to

have their scores submitted. This SOL will be given to all

students who are currently enrolled in English 11. All

testing will begin at 9:00am so please make sure your child

arrives to school on time. All students must take and pass

this test prior to graduation. Teachers have a list of the

writing prompts used for the short paper portion and will

be preparing students for these prompts as well as the

shift to online testing. Please encourage your children to

get a good night’s sleep the night before and to have a nu-

tritious breakfast the morning of the test. If you have any

questions concerning your child’s participation in this SOL please contact the Office of School Counseling at 703/722

-2687 or our School Test Coordinator, Erin Mastrangelo,

at 703/722-2680.

ENGLISH WRITING SOL

March 14th and 19th

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Administrative Information

ATTENDANCE

Parents are requested to use the 24-hour attendance line (703-

722-2682) to notify the school of an absence. If a parent has

not called school by 10:30 am on the day a student is absent,

the school will make every effort to call the parent to verify the

absence. Any absence not confirmed by the parent will be con-

sidered unexcused.

TARDIES

Promptness to class is essential for maintaining instruc-

tional consistency, which promotes learning.

Students who are not in class by 9:00 should sign in with the

Attendance Office and receive a tardy pass to class. Proper

documentation is required for an excused tardy in the form of:

medical note, judicial excuse, or illness with a note from the

parent/guardian.

Tardiness is unexcused for the following reasons: overslept,

running late, traffic, missed bus, construction, car trouble, illness

with no parent note, and medical or judicial appointment with

no note. Please remember to ask the doctor for a medical ex-

cuse and bring that with you if you are tardy due to a medical

appointment.

If proper documentation is not provided, the tardy is

unexcused. If four unexcused tardies are accumulated

during a semester, the student will be assigned a day of

Friday School.

EARLY DISMISSAL

Students may only be dismissed during the school day for one of

the following reasons: personal illness, death in family, medical

appointments, or court appearances. Students must sign out in

the attendance office before leaving for an early dismissal. Fail-

ure to signout may result in disciplinary action. Students re-

turning to school on the same day must sign back in and receive

a pass before returning to class.

JCHS BELL SCHEDULE

A Day Times B Day

1st Block 9:00-10:30 5th Block

2nd Block 10:36-12:06 SHIELD

3rd Block 12:12-2:12 7th Block

4th Block 2:18-3:48 8th Block

JCHS ADMINISTRATION

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS

Principal John Gabriel

Assistant Principal (A-L) Jeff Rounsley

Assistant Principal (M-Z) Jennifer Traina

Director of School Counseling Christi Campbell

Athletic Director Joe Breinig, Jr.

Assistant Athletic Director Anthony Royse

Activities Coordinator Kimberly McDonald

Main Line 703-722-2680

School Fax 703-722-2681

Absentee Call In 703-722-2682

Office of School Counseling 703-722-2687

Office of School Counseling Fax 703-722-2688

Athletic Department 703-722-2690

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Office of School Counseling

The counselors are busy meeting with all of your students to start planning their 2013-2014 schedules. I

thought I would take a moment to explain the process in a little more detail.

1. Counselors met with students in the computer labs by grade level and went through a power point

presentation discussing graduation requirements, course options and long-term college planning. Stu-

dents then entered their course selections into Family Connection.

2. January 28 & 29 were course recommendation days. Teachers had conversations with students about

what they felt they should take next year based on their effort in class and their 1st semester grade re-

port. These completed recommendations were also turned in to the counseling staff to use during in-

dividual counseling sessions.

3. Beginning February 11 and continuing through mid-March, counselors will be having individual conver-

sations with students about their mid-year grades, course recommendations and selections for next

year. Any necessary changes will be made at that time.

4. A copy of your students’ final course selection will be mailed home prior to Spring Break for you to

review.

5. All changes in course selection must be made through the counselor by July 1, 2013.

Information sessions were held at JCHS on January 22nd for rising 9th grade families and on January 24th for

current families. If you missed these sessions, the power point presentations have been placed on the

website under School Counseling and Academics. I encourage you to review the LCPS Program of Studies

for complete course descriptions.

If you would like to make an appointment with your child’s counselor to discuss academic plans for the

2013-2014 school year, please feel free to call our office at 703-722-2687 to set something up.

Sincerely,

Christi Campbell

Director of School Counseling

2012-2013 School Counselors

Mrs. Danielle Coniglio, A-L

Mrs. Christine Meehan, M-Z

Mrs. Andrea Rasmussen, Career Center

5

Office of School Counseling

Did You Know?

Follow us on Twitter @JCHSCounseling

Counseling Calendar Items

February 4-8 National School Counseling Week

February 14 Parent Series-Military Options, 8AM in the

Library

February 21 3rd quarter interims distributed to students

February-March Course registrations for 2013-2014

Every month we will feature tidbits of college information. For more, please visit the Career Center

website or make an appointment with Mrs. Rasmussen.

While 347,985 students earned business degrees in 2009, only 15,496 grads walked away with a

degree in mathematics.

One of the fastest growing degrees is in park, recreation, leisure, and fitness studies. During a 10-

year period, the number of students earning degrees in this major (31,667) jumped 92 percent.

Among common majors, education experienced the biggest drop in interest among undergrads. In

a 10-year period, the number of students earning an education degree declined 5 percent.

Only 0.4 percent of undergraduates attend one of the Ivy League schools. This confirms the long-

held belief that way too much attention is paid to these eight institutions.

6

Peer Tutoring

The Office of School Counseling is sponsoring a peer tutoring program through SHIELD. Peers are availa-

ble to assist your child in any subject. Please visit our website http://www.lcps.org/domain/11643 for an

application or see your child’s counselor.

As you know, your child’s performance on the SAT/ACT is one of the most im-

portant factors colleges use in determining application strength and scholarship eligibility. In response

to parent requests, we evaluated the most popular SAT/ACT

prep programs and John Champe High School’s PTSA has

partnered with Revolution Prep as our test prep provid-

er.

When we looked at score improvements, parent satisfaction, in-

structor quality, and cost, Revolution Prep emerged as the best

choice for our families. Revolution offers a wide variety of pro-

grams to meet every student’s needs and makes instructor bios

and reviews available at revolutionprep.com so you know the

quality of the instructor before you enroll. We hosted our first

SAT prep class with Revolution Prep for the 2012 December 1st

SAT and the students in the class saw an average score improve-

ment of 237 points!

Feel free to contact us for more information.

SAT/ACT Test Prep

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AP Testing

Students and/or their parents/guardians pay the costs of the AP examinations. Each exam is $83.00, which was due on Janu-

ary 11, 2013. Per the College Board, there is a fee of $50 per exam for payments not made on time.

An on-line payment system is available for electronic payments on the Loudoun County Public Schools’ website. https://

webinter.lcps.org/PaymentPortal/ Checks or cash payments will also be accepted at our school. Please bring payment to Ms.

Giampaoli in the Office of School Counseling.

2013 AP Exam Schedule

8

If your child has been to a doctor/hospital or had medical testing done, a release from the provider needs to be received

by the nurse. This note needs to include the following information:

Date allowing the student to return to school

Restrictions the student will have upon return to school

Duration for the restrictions

Signature and identifying information of the provider of medical services

This information can be faxed to the school nurse at 703-722-2681 or brought to the

nurse upon the students return to school.

If your child is ill because of a contagious disease such as flu, strep throat, chickenpox, etc., it would be helpful to note the

reason for the absence when you call the absentee call-line. This will help the school take measures to know the extent of the

disease and reduce its spread.

Students who have fevers need to be kept at home until fever free for 24 hours without the use of fever reducing medication.

Students who do not feel well should stay home. When students come to school ill, they not only are unable to participate

fully in class, but they may also infect other students with their illness.

Connect with Champe

Clinic News

The John Champe High School webpage contains many helpful re-

sources in the upper right hand corner of the page.

Click here for an updated calendar of A days and B days

Click here for useful study tips prepared by JCHS Reading

Specialist Kristin Sheetz

Click here for a calendar of the SHIELD rotation schedule

Watch the daily announcements here

9

Cafeteria News

The John Champe High School Cafeteria serves breakfast every morning from 8:10-8:55 am.

Breakfast and Lunch menus are available online.

CLARITY Parent Portal

Loudoun County Public Schools

Menu Prices (Effective August 2012)

School Breakfast School Lunch

Grades K-5: Full Price $2.00 Grades K-5: Full Price $3.00

Grades 6-12: Full Price $2.00 Grades 6-12: Full Price $3.10

Grades K-12: Reduced Price $ .30 Grades K-12: Reduced Price $ .40

Adult (w/coffee, tea, or milk) $2.30 Adult (w/coffee, tea, or milk) $4.00

For information on the Free and Reduced Price Meal Program, please contact the JCHS main office

at 703-722-2680

In an effort to help parents and students know when CLARITY should be updated, JCHS has established the following

dates for when gradebooks should be updated. Please keep in mind that teachers might not have a grade inputted if an

assignment was given just before the deadline.

Dates for gradebook updates:

3rd Quarter 4th Quarter

January 11 April 5

February 1 April 9

February 15 May 3

March 1 May 17

March 15 May 31

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School Store News

Your school store is open daily between 8:25 - 8:55 a.m. In a few

weeks we will be showcasing our spring arrivals. Stop by to pick

up your favorite Champe gear. Support your school store daily!

NEW!

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Inclusive Schools

Loudoun County Public Schools

and

Stetson & Associates

Invite you to an overview of

Step-by-Step Towards More Inclusive Schools: Putting the Puzzle

Together

We are one of 10 schools that are involved in several days of training to increase our capacity

to work with students with diverse needs in the general education classroom. We invite you to

come and visit with consultants from Stetson & Associates to learn about the training that our

staff is participating in, how it is helping us maximize our resources, support more effective

and efficient collaboration, and better serve ALL students who attend our school.

Where: Horizon Elementary School

46665 Broadmore Dr.

Sterling, VA

When: Tuesday, February 26, 2013

7:00 – 8:30 pm

If you are able to join us, please RSVP by emailing

Janie Kirkpatrick at jane.kirkpatrick@lcps.org or calling her at 571-252-1051 by

Friday, February 22

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Announcements from LCPS

13

Updates from SEAC

LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

January 15, 2013, Meeting Summary/Talking Points

Provided by Christa Geno, JCHS SEAC Representative

SEAC’s January 15th meeting was a full house of attendees who learned of Diploma Options For Students With Disabilities from

Special Education Director Mary Kearney’s presentation.

POINTS OF INTEREST

The January 15th SEAC meeting featured the presentation:

“Diploma Options/Paths: Including New Provisions For Students With Disabilities Due To The Elimination Of The Modified Standard Diplo-

ma,” given by LCPS Director of Special Education, Mary Kearney.

Highlights from presentation:

The Code of Virginia 22.1.253.13:4 changed the number of diploma types. The bills (HB1061 and SB 489) eliminated the Mod-

ified Standard Diploma, Standard Technical Diploma, Advanced Technical Diploma, and the General Achievement Diploma;

The Modified Standard Diploma is no longer an option for students with disabilities entering 9th grade for the first time in 2013

-2014;

The Virginia Department of Education has not provided information on how to move forward. School districts await. STAY

TUNED.

Additional information is available at http://www.townhall.virginia.gov/L/GetFile.cfm?File=C:\TownHall\docroot\93\3746\6253

\AgencyStatement_DOE_6253_v1.pdf.

Parent Resource Center Workshop, “The Golden R’s: UDL Tools for Reading, Writing, and Research with Read Write Gold

V10,” on February 28th at 7 pm. This workshop will demonstrate the most popular and commonly used features of the Read

Write Gold toolbar suite that can be used by students to actively engage within the curriculum. Ways to augment and differenti-

ate student learning through technology supports. Information is available at www.lcps.org/prc under the Winter Schedule.

SEAC will meet again on Tuesday, February 19, 2013, from 7 to 9 PM, at the LCPS

Administration Building, Room 102. The presentation will be “Family Life Education

and the Special Education Student.” All are welcome!

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Announcements from LCPS

15

Important Dates in February

February 2 3:00 District Band Concert

February 9 12:00 Academic Achievement Advisory Fair

@ Tuscarora High School

February 13 Paperwork due for Spring Sports

February 19 First Day of Spring Sports Tryouts

February 19 7:00 SEAC Meeting @ LCPS Admin

Building

February 20 7:00 MSAAC Meeting @ LCPS Admin

Building

February 20 10:30 Talent Show

February 27 6:30 Spring Sports Parent Meeting

February 27 Spring Sports Pictures

For a complete listing of athletic events scheduled for John Champe High

School, please see the school calendar at www.champesports.com