The class of 2004 has always been smaller than the others in the Herndon High School pyramid, even since kindergarten, said Herndon High School principal Janice Leslie, but that does not make things any easier for the incoming seniors.
They will be the first class required to pass the Standards of Learning [SOLs] in order to graduate. Leslie said she has no worries.
“We thought we’d have about 50 facing not graduating,” Leslie said. “We have seven. We’ve held our own.”
The SOLs aren’t the only challenges facing students returning to school Sept. 2. Herndon has had some minor renovation work, has a group of new teachers, is facing a decision on a graduation site, and has had mechanical (air conditioning) and computer (viruses) problems just this past week. Yet, Leslie expects everything to be in place for the first bell.
“It’s always a rush, and was more of a rush this summer because we had summer school until Aug. 7,” said Nancy Barron, assistant principal for administrative services. “Normally we have the whole summer to get the school ready. Our crew is wonderful.”
“I CAN’T SAY we’ve put in a lot that’s new,” Leslie said. “We’ve made changes in the business department. We’re looking at new curriculum, but we’re not adding any specifically new courses.”
The increasingly popular graphic arts courses earned the school a minor renovation, namely new computers and a lab, which Leslie describe as “significantly better than the past.”
In addition, last Friday, 28 new teachers got a tour of their new school, which Leslie said was a normal turnover for Herndon.
“Some are brand new to teaching. Some are transfers,” Baron said.
Leslie said the school did have some key personnel retire and last year’s administrative intern, Penny Myers, was named an assistant principal.
Enrollment reached 2,346 last year, while so far the number of students appears to be down to somewhere around 2,280 to 2,300 students. Even so, Herndon does have 11 trailers.
It is also a school growing in diversity. Leslie said last year the school’s population was about 15 percent Latino, about 9 percent black and 12-14 percent Asian.
“Herndon is a stable community. We graduate a lot of students that are Fairfax County Public Schools students K through 12,” Leslie said. “But we do have a large ESOL [English for speakers of other languages] population.”
SOLs HANGS OVER the school this year, with the class of 2004 required to past the end-of-course tests in core subjects, but Herndon is ready. Leslie said, “I cannot brag enough about how well staff and teachers have done on the SOLs. The students have stepped up and the teachers have done a tremendous job adapting curriculum to the SOLs objectives. It didn’t happened over night.”
Besides upgrades to the graphic arts department the only other physical changes to the school is a more “inviting” guidance area. There is however, a new dress code countywide, which prohibits clothing that contains vulgar, obscene, or discriminatory language or that promotes or exhibits weapons, drugs or drug paraphernalia, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, violence, or gang symbols. In addition, clothing that exposes private parts, cleavage, the midriff, or undergarments or is otherwise sexually provocative is also prohibited. Students not complying with the code will be asked to cover the offending clothing, change clothes, or go home. Moreover, Leslie reminds students that Herndon is no hat environment.
“I hope parents support us in our new dress code,” Leslie said. “I don’t want to be confrontational. Parents please take a look at what your kids are wearing. We do want to create an educational environment.”
Leslie would also like to hear from parents and students about the possibility of moving graduation to the Patriot Center at George Mason University. She said continuing to hold graduation outside puts the ceremony in danger of being rained out each year and the school facilities are not large enough to move the festivities indoors. The subject will be a topic of discussion at the PTSA meeting Sept. 10.