<lst>Know something that should be featured in School Notes? Awards? Special events? School fairs? Fax a brief write-up to 703-917-0991. Or call Michael O’Connell at 703-917-6440.
The Boyd School — A Montessori Children’s House hosts an open house on Saturday, Jan. 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., at its Fairfax campus in Fairfax City as well as its other campus locations. All families are invited to join the staff of The Boyd School for tours of the campus and receive information on Montessori programs available, summer camp and 2004-2005 school year student enrollment. The Fairfax Campus accommodates students from the ages of 5 to 5 turning 6. The other locations provide toddler classes for 18 month through 3 years of age. The Boyd School has campuses in Broadlands, Fairfax, Reston, Centreville and Herndon. A new 22,000-foot building on a 3.5 acre site in the Westfield’s Office Park is under construction and, when completed, it will serve as the new home of the Centreville campus. For more information on Montessori and The Boyd School, visit the Web site at www.theboydschool.com, call the Fairfax campus at 703-934-0920 or e-mail at fairfaxadmin@theboydschool.com.
Summer Enrichment Camp Fair. On Jan. 22, the FCAG (Fairfax County Association for the Gifted) is sponsoring a Summer Enrichment Camp Fair, 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., at Oakton High School, 2900 Sutton Road, Vienna. Representatives from Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, universities, math/science/nature/tech camps and more will be available to provide information on unique academic /creative activities during the summer months. There will also be literature available from Belvoir Terrace, Harvard and others. The 2004 FCAG Enrichment Guide, which lists over 150 activities, will also be available at the fair. For more information, see www.fcag.org or call Lisa Greenfield at 703-280-4155. Admission is free.
Night on Broadway. On Thursday, Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m., join the Fairfax High School Chorus for a silent auction, luscious desserts and exciting musical selections from the best of Broadway. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Fairfax High School is located at 3500 Old Lee Highway in Fairfax City. For information, call 703-219-2355.
Janet Molan was promoted from teacher at Lake Braddock Secondary School to assistant principal at Mosby Woods Elementary.
Catherine Pullar was promoted from teacher at Franconia to assistant principal at Forestdale Elementary.
Margaret Kelly was promoted from assistant principal to associate principal at Robinson Secondary School.
Cheryl Thompson was promoted from teacher to assistant principal at Mantua Elementary.
The Jewish Social Service Agency is offering eight scholarship funds for undergraduate and graduate study. Three of these funds are established at JSSA; the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington's United Jewish Endowment Fund holds five.
The scholarships fund a wide variety of opportunities, including study in the United States and abroad, graduate and undergraduate programs, and study in Jewish communal service. Depending on the fund, grants range from $250 to as much as $6,500 per year for four years.
Each scholarship carries its own set of eligibility requirements. Students who submit the required application will be considered for any and all grants for which they qualify.
Students may also apply for no-interest educational loans. Repayment of loans must begin with three months of completion of studies.
For more information and an application, contact Lynn Ponton at JSSA, 301-816-2616, or visit JSSA's Web site at www.jssa.org. Application forms may be downloaded from the scholarship page. The deadline is March 1.
Need the help of a reliable teenager? West Springfield High School maintains a job and volunteer opportunity board. Students come to the Career Center at school to obtain information about part-time jobs and volunteer needs. From baby-sitting to yard work to word processing, there is a student to help. Contact the Career Center at 703-913-3828 with a description of the job, hours and contact information.
Immanuel Christian School hosts an open house on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Immanuel opens its doors to the community to observe classes in session, review curriculum and meet teachers and administration. Immanuel Christian School is located at the corner of Backlick and Braddock Roads in Springfield. Call 703-941-1220 for more information.
Registration for winter classes offered by the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Office of Adult and Community Education (ACE) is now under way. Classes, Etc., the ACE course catalog, is in the mail to Fairfax County residents. Registration will be ongoing throughout the term, January through April. Class information is also available on the ACE Web site at http://www.fcps.edu/adult.htm by clicking on “Classes, Etc.” For additional information, contact Jennifer Rhodes at 703-227-2229.
Ten delegates from the new Hayfield Secondary School National Junior Classic League chapter, led by Latin teacher Irina Greenman, attended the 50th annual Virginia Junior Classical League Convention in Richmond, along with over 1,000 other Latin students from Virginia. Hayfield students competed in every area of competition available. Students from Hayfield Secondary brought home four top-10 statewide awards for their levels of Latin: Chris Kenedy, a Latin I student, was awarded sixth place in Sight Latin Reading, eighth place on the geography test, and seventh place on the Roman History test. Ben Henkel, a Latin II student, was awarded third place on the Roman History test.
Congratulations go out to Penny Thompson, middle school math teacher, and Mary Spatz, high school science teacher, for being nominated as Hayfield Secondary School Teacher of the Year.
The Hayfield Secondary School Model United Nations team competed at the Hylton High School Model U.N. conference on Dec. 12 and 13. Rahbi Wood, Patrick Lee, Danny Tison, and William Rowland took honorable mention awards in their respective committees. Alec Scott and Shauna Morris took Outstanding Delegation honors in their committee. The team, led by Dena Soled, high school social studies teacher, took second place overall out of 29 schools competing.
Thirteen band members from Hayfield Secondary School earned seats in the prestigious District 10 All-Honors Band. The musicians are Christine Bauer, Bethany Blevins, Jennifer Joyce, Matt Scarborough, Jonathan Yu, Karen Murray, Katrina Heyrana, Johnathan Stephanos, Sam Hotchkiss Bill Gibson, Ann Morgan, Kevin Thompson and Beth Morgan.
At the recent Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic League Debate tournament, Ricky Shah of Hayfield Secondary School placed third in the novice division and was voted the third best speaker in the division.
Several Hayfield Secondary School students have been selected to write reviews of area high school plays by the Washington Post. Reviewers chosen are Julia Miller, John Michelli, Megan McIntosh, Danny Yoerges, Kristen Garaffo and Dale Placek. Several students were also chosen for regional panels and will write reviews with students from other schools. These students include Jack Keefe, Linda Brisson and Kelsey Mahoney.
Several students from Hayfield Secondary School teacher Cherly Costello's creative writing classes had their personal essays published in the Fairfax Connection newspaper on Dec. 31. The students who were published in the newspaper were: Rachel Gibson, an eighth grader; and Chris Elznic, Brian Quiroz, Nickie Grace, Nakul Bhatia, Josh Chapman, Marisa Mendez, Sara Bethel and Kevin Phelan, seventh graders.
Preschool Open House at Spring-Mar Cooperative Preschool in Burke. Monday, Feb. 16, from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Accotink Unitarian Universalist Church, 10125 Lakehaven Court, Burke. For more information, call 703-239-1213 or visit www.spring-mar.org. Spring-Mar Cooperative Preschool will be enrolling ages 2 through pre-kindergarten for Fall 2004. Limited spaces available.
The third annual MHz Shortz Student Film Festival is calling for entries. A part of the MHz Networks' division of EAT (Education Arts Technology), MHz Shortz features live action and animated films created by K - 12 students and teachers. All films for this year's entry must be submitted by March 19, 2004. Requirements and entry forms may be obtained directly from the MHz Networks Web site at www.mhznetworks.org.
The MHz Shortz Student Film Festival is an opportunity to showcase student creativity and culminates in a public event featuring and awarding student films based on age appropriate entry categories. The festival also presents prizes for outstanding work and special awards for teachers who motivate, instruct, and advise student projects.
MHz Networks (MHz and MHz2) is an independent, noncommercial, television network delivering international, educational and arts programming. MHz provides diverse cultural perspectives for a globally minded audience. Serving the Washington, DC area's 4.3 million residents, MHz Networks features programs in more than 20 different languages from over 25 countries.
Long & Foster Real Estate is sponsoring a $150,000 Scholarship Program for well-rounded graduating high school seniors entering an accredited four-year college or university. The Long & Foster Scholarship Program will award $1,000 to each of 150 worthy recipients throughout the seven-state region for the 2004-2005 academic year. The deadline for applying is March 1, 2004 and the scholarships will be awarded beginning May 3, 2004. More than 1,200 applicants vied for the 125 scholarships in 2003. Scholarship candidates must have at least a 3.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale; demonstrate community involvement; provide a photo and submit an essay. Applications for the Long & Foster Scholarship Program can be obtained from any of Long & Foster's residential sales offices located throughout the Mid-Atlantic region, from high school guidance counselors, or via Long & Foster's Web Site at www.longandfoster.com/scholarship. A hard copy of the application and the required attachments must be mailed by March 1, 2004 to Long & Foster Corporate Headquarters at the following address: Long & Foster Scholarship Program, c/o Corporate Marketing Department, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., 11351 Random Hills Road, Fairfax, VA 22030-6082, Attn: Colleen Park.
Twenty-seven Fairfax County Public Schools teachers earned national board certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) in 2003. These teachers include Suzette Anderson of Fairfax High School, Shala Hahn of Garfield Elementary School, Pete Cookson and Randall Miller of Kings Glen Elementary School, Bruce Tsio of Kings Park Elementary school, Julie Ann Abell of Lee High School, Wendy Goldfein of Newington Forest Elementary School, Kathleen Nealon of North Springfield Elementary School, and Kristin Ramey of Woodson High School.
The teachers work toward certification during a single academic year. The certification process involves participating in continued and intense professional development and learning how to deepen subject matter knowledge and become more skillful in daily classroom instruction and student assessment. The ultimate goal is to improve student learning. NBPTS certification is meant to complement state licensing requirements.
Certification is based on five core propositions: being committed to students and the learning process; knowing the subjects taught and how to teach those subjects to students; being responsible for managing and monitoring student learning; thinking systematically about one's practice and learning from the experience; and serving as a member of one's learning community. Teachers are able to earn board certification in any of 24 certificate areas.