Help our Valley families in need have a joyful holiday season! Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Gifts and gift cards may be dropped off at Valley in the main office by Wednesday, December 14. Please contact Family Liaison Erin Bucci with any questions, erin.bucci@lcps.org. Thank you for your kindness toward our Valley families!

Hello,

Loudoun Valley High School is starting a journey to become an International Baccalaureate World School offering the Diploma Program and our first step in this process is to begin offering the LCPS Pre-International Baccalaureate program (LCPS Pre-IB) starting in the 2023-2024 school year.

We are excited to be offering this program and want to take a moment to give you a sense of where we are in our process of becoming an IB World School and what it means for you and for Loudoun Valley High School.

Why the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme?

• The teaching and learning supported by the IB framework builds the skills that our students will need to be competitive in our ever changing world.

• The IB framework pushes students to think deeply and differently about the world and prepares them for their next steps beyond the classroom.

• As we continue our efforts to prepare students for the 21st century world, the focus of IB on authentic student-centered learning in a global context aligns with our core values as a school.

What is the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program?

• Check out this website for more information: https://ibo.org/

What is the LCPS Pre-IB Program?

• We are seeking to become an IB World School. As we navigate this process, we will be implementing the LCPS Pre-IB Program. For more information about the LCPS Pre-IB Program visit: https://www.lcps.org/Page/247003

Where are we now in the development of IB here at LVHS?

• This year we are setting the stage for our LCPS Pre-IB program and we are doing this by:

• Moving slowly and thoughtfully in our development of the program. It is important we take the time to understand where we are right now and where we want to go. Information, training, and opportunity to learn more about the IB program will be forthcoming and will be gradual.

• Applying to be authorized as an IB world school. The process will take us into the 2023-2024 school year.

Where are we going?

• If authorized our first IB Courses will be offered in the 24-25 school year.

• We will build our understanding and readiness to engage in a full IB program over the next two years and then engage in a continuous, iterative, and reflective process to grow as a school.

Sincerely,

Michael Skvarch

International Baccalaureate Coordinator

Loudoun Valley High School

Michael.skvarch@lcps.org

Heritage and Loudoun Valley High Schools are candidate schools* for the Diploma Programme. These schools are pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.

* Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer the Diploma Programme (DP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.

For further information about the IB and its programmes visit http://www.ibo.org.

For more information about the LVHS Pre-IB, visit https://www.lcps.org/Page/246440.

The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is asking for families who have a child with a disability and adult students who have a disability and are provided special education services through an Individualized Education Program (IEP) to participate in the 2021-2022 Indicator 8 Parent Involvement Survey.

El Departamento de Educación de Virginia (VDOE, por sus siglas en inglés) solicita a las familias que tienen un hijo con una discapacidad y estudiantes adultos con una discapacidad y reciben servicios de educación especial a través de un Programa de Educación Individualizado (IEP, por sus siglas en inglés) que participen en la Encuesta de Participación de los Padres Indicador 8 del 2021-2022.

Ms. Stecura is Loudoun Valley’s School Testing Coordinator. Her office is located in the main office. The best way to contact Ms. Stecura is through email at melissa.stecura@lcps.org.

The LVHS Testing Website has more information about testing.

AP Testing information and schedule.

Attention: The deadline to submit accommodation requests through College Board for AP testing is January 18, 2023.

AP Exam fees will be collected via SchoolCash Online. Any required fees will be posted to your student’s account beginning November 15, 2022. Payment should be made as soon as possible, but no later than March 15, 2023. If payment is not received by March 15, 2023, LCPS may cancel your student’s exam(s).

If you have already registered for SchoolCash Online, you can sign in after November 15, 2022, and pay any applicable AP Exam fees.

If you have not yet registered for SchoolCash Online, directions on how to register can be found here. Once you have registered and attached your student to your account, you will be able to pay any applicable AP Exam fees.

Online payments can be made by Mastercard, Visa, or eCheck. Online payments are preferred.

If payment needs to be made by cash or check, you can submit payment at your student’s home school. Exact change is required for cash payments. Checks should be addressed to “Loudoun County Public Schools”.

Please contact your school’s Testing Coordinator with questions about this process.

What is Teacher Cadet?

The Teacher Cadet program is a “grow our own” initiative that consists of two dual-enrollment (DE) courses offered to high school students in Grade 11 and Grade 12 who may be interested in pursuing a career in education.

Interested students who are eligible to participate are enrolled in the following courses:

• Grade 11 – Teacher Cadet I DE

• Grade 12 – Teacher Cadet II DE

The Teacher Cadet program is designed to attract high school students to the field of education as a potential career “through exposure to a world-class curriculum and hands-on experience that focuses on teaching,” (Virginia Department of Education, n.d.).

Program Benefits

Teacher Cadet students earn dual-enrollment (DE) credit through Shenandoah University.

• Teacher Cadet I DE = EDUC 210 (3 credits)

• Teacher Cadet II DE = EDUC 310 (3 credits)

Teacher Cadet students are also immersed in real-world, project-based learning experiences. Students complete an internship with LCPS teachers and interact with LCPS students at the elementary and middle school levels during observations.

Teacher Cadet students who successfully complete the program receive a letter of intent (LOI) from the LCPS Department of Human Resources and Talent Development (HRTD).

Submitting an Interest Form

The online interest form is available to all LCPS students currently enrolled in Grade 10 with a minimum 2.7 GPA or its equivalent. Eligible students should express their interest in the Student Opportunities portal (LCPS Go) between September 14, 2022 and January 27, 2023.

The student interest form requires a student-created response (i.e., presentation, essay, drawing, video, etc.) and two recommendations. Students will need to provide names and email addresses for two recommenders.

The interest form must be completed and submitted by 11:59 PM on January 27, 2023. Student directions are viewable here.

Tentative Timeline

September 14, 2022

The interest form becomes available in the Student Opportunities portal (LCPS Go).

January 27, 2023

The deadline for current Grade 10 students to submit an interest form via LCPS Go.

February 10, 2023

All letters of recommendations are due (responsibility of the student to follow up).

February 13, 2023 - March 10, 2023

The committee convenes to review interest forms.

March 27, 2023

The committee communicates accepted and deferred students to stakeholders (students, families, counselors, principals, teachers, etc.).

After April 1, 2023

School Counseling may schedule accepted students in the Teacher Cadet I DE course to begin in the 2023 – 2024 school year as Grade 11 students.

Twitter: @LVHS_Counseling

Instagram: @valleyschoolcounseling

This website offers comprehensive mental health services, support and resources provided by our Unified Mental Health Teams (counselors, psychologists, social workers, school nurses, and student assistance specialists) who can assist and direct families to the right level of services or interventions.

Available information includes:

• How to contact your school’s Unified Mental Health Team
• Resources for parents
• Suicide prevention resources
• LCPS mental and behavioral health services
• Substance use prevention and intervention services
• Resources for families of LGBTQ+ students and families
• Community resources

To access the mental health website created by the Department of Student Services, please visit: www.lcps.org/MentalHealthServices

MEET YOUR UNIFIED MENTAL HEALTH TEAM

As we approach Mental Health Awareness Month, Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) and the Unified Mental Health Team (UMHT) at Loudoun Valley want to remind you of the opportunities and resources available to students and families. The Loudoun Valley Unified Mental Health Team supports the mental health of all Loudoun Valley students.

A former LCPS student tells her story about vaping and recovery after being hospitalized. We encourage you to watch this video with your child and have a discussion about vaping. The presentation below contains her video and resources for parents about how to talk to your child about vaping along with some other resources related to drugs/alcohol. If you have questions please contact Amy Emery, Student Assistance Specialist, at amy.emery@lcps.org.

Parents will find support and valuable resources this month as we prepare a full schedule of resilience-based programs for teens launching in January.

All programs can be found here:

https://www.ryanbartelfoundation.org/programs

FORTitude for Parents Panel

Thursday, December 8, 7:00 PM

Navigating Mental Health Services for Teens

Join a panel of mental health professionals to understand the different levels of care, identify which mental health professional is right for your child, how to secure a referral, and more.​

The expert panel includes:

Carolyn Probizansky, Newport Healthcare

Katie Doppelheuer, MA, Resident in Counseling, Sunstone Counseling

Dr. Cam Caswell, Adolescent Psychologist & “Teen Translator”

Registration required: ryanbartelfoundation.org/parent-support-groups

2022-2023 ASVAB Test Registration

The ASVAB test is open to all LCPS students, grades 10-12. Please arrive 15-20 minutes prior to the start time of the test for check-in. If you have any questions, contact the Mrs. Krone, Career Center Assistant at LVHS.

The ASVAB Career Exploration Program can help young adults identify and explore potentially satisfying occupations and develop effective strategies to realize career goals.

The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is one of the most widely used, multiple-aptitude tests in the world, developed and maintained by the Department of Defense. More than half of all high schools nationwide administer the ASVAB test to students in grades 10, 11 and 12 (sophomores cannot use their scores for enlistment eligibility).

The ASVAB consists of the following eight individual tests:

-General Science
-Arithmetic Reasoning
-Word Knowledge
-Paragraph Comprehension
-Mathematics Knowledge
-Electronics Information
-Auto and Shop Information
-Mechanical Comprehension

Students are provided with scores on each of these individual tests and three Career Exploration Score composites: Verbal Skills, Math Skills and Science and Technical Skills. The battery takes approximately three hours to complete, and test results are returned to schools in a few weeks.

The Military uses students’ ASVAB scores to identify the occupations that best suit their abilities. Junior, senior and post-secondary school students can use their ASVAB scores for enlistment for up to two years after taking the test.

Additional information (dates and testing sites) and registration is available at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeoLyX9CTLrPuEUzP03jenUsVhriYaYT2gBLfW8E40nmz4Aig/viewform

COMPETITION REGISTRATION CLOSES JANUARY 6, 2023

Working as a team or individually, middle and high school youth across the county are

encouraged to identify an issue of their choice and share their project during the

Step Up Loudoun Youth Competition and win$$ for their hard work.

LEARN MORE AT LOUDOUNYOUTH.ORG

SAT, ACT, or Both?

Sunday, December 4, 2022

8PM ET

SAT Strategy Session

Monday, December 5, 2022

10PM ET

ACT Strategy Session

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

8PM ET

PSAT Scores, Now What?

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

8PM ET

AP Strategy Session

Thursday, December 8, 2022

8PM ET

Virginia Music Educators Association

Composition Festival

Addison Miller, 11th Grade Cello

Addison submitted 4 compositions and was one of 16 students across the state of Virginia to receive this honor. In being accepted, Addison and her family traveled to the VMEA Conference in Richmond, VA on November 17 to attend a composition workshop and showcase her work. Please join us in celebrating Addison by taking a moment to view her compositions here: https://sites.google.com/view/2022vmeacompositionfestival/home

Shop In Person – Special Evening Hours

• Wednesday, December 7th 6-7 pm
• Thursday, December 8th 6-7 pm

Preview a sample of What’s In Store:

• Shirts
• Sweatshirts
• Bottoms
• Accessories

Shop from 6-7 pm, then stay for entertainment provided by our Theater, Choir, and Orchestra Students.

Please return or renew any overdue library books before the Thanksgiving break. Students can use the link below to see how to check their library account.

Tutor.com, a free on-demand tutoring service, is now available to all LCPS students. Students can access Tutor.com through the link on the left-hand menu of any Schoology course.

If you have money to put on your account, you can bring it to the cafeteria in the mornings.

LCPS will be using Ticket Spicket digital tickets for all high school athletic regular season events. Tickets can be purchased using the Ticket Spicket website or app.

Please Note: Tickets can not be redeemed prior to the event. Tickets must be presented to the event staff before being redeemed.

2022-23 Ticket and Annual Pass Prices

• Tickets for regular-season events: $7 per ticket
• All LCPS Access Pass: $500 provides access to home and away regular season athletic competitions held at any LCPS high school (each member in the immediate household will receive a pass with purchase of this package)
• Family Pass: $250 provides entrance to all regular season home games for the selected school (each member in the immediate household will receive a pass with purchase of this package)
• Individual Adult Pass: $125
• LCPS Student Pass: $100

Additional information along with helpful resources about Ticket Spicket can be found at LCPS.org.

Need Valley Gear? Check our our Valley spirit store at https://lvab.company.site/?lang=en&from_admin=&vertical=other&ltclid=04b71926-8945-4ef3-ac7d-931cf645feb1

Direct Links for Students to Instructional Tools

TOOL: Google

LINK: https://drive.google.com

HOW TO SIGN IN: Google: student email address IDnumber@lcps.org, i.e. 000000@lcps.org

TOOL: Schoology

LINK: https://learn.lcps.org

HOW TO SIGN IN: Google

TOOL: Google Meet

LINK: https://meet.google.com/ OR the link you created for your class

HOW TO SIGN IN: Google

TOOL: Clever (for app integrations)

LINK: https://clever.com/

HOW TO SIGN IN: Student ID and Password

TOOL: StudentVue

LINK: https://portal.lcps.org/

HOW TO SIGN IN: Student ID and Password

FAQs

I've used the links and received sign-in errors. Is my password wrong?

Sometimes an LCPS Go outage is limited to LCPS Go, and other times it may be a network problem affecting multiple sites. In this instance, a password or other sign-in error may or may not reflect the actual problem. Wait and try later, refresh your browser window, and clear the cache if needed.