Thunderblast 2024
Respecting EACH Student, Staff, and Family- February 4, 2024
It's a marathon, not a sprint!
This week, we took the time to celebrate a very special group of Seneca teachers who have been educating students in this community for over 10 years. As a "thank you," they received these sweet Tony Soprano track suits as a token of our appreciation. Some of our teachers have been here since the 1980s. Their service means more to EACH of us then we may ever truly understand.
This Week's Events:
- Mon, Feb 5 & 6- Dominion Counselors Visit Seneca Students
- Wed, Feb 7- Intramural Basketball Begins
- Wed, Feb 7- Superintendent's Community Listening Session at Dominion HS (see below)
- Thu, Feb 8 at 6:00 PM- Rising 6th Parent Info Night/ Music Tryout in Auditorium- Horizon & Lowes Island.
- Fri, Feb 9- LCPS Holiday- Lunar New Year
Superintendent Community Listening Sessions- Feb 7 at Dominion HS at 7:00 PM
Dr. Aaron Spence, is holding Community Listening Sessions between September 2023 and April 2024 and this week he will be with our community! The Dominion Cluster Listening Session will be held on Wednesday, February 7, 2024.
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7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Community Session
8:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. - Community Session Meet and Greet
Pre-Sale ends soon & prices increase. We cannot guarantee a book if you wait.
Unified Mental Health Team (UMHT)
This is National Counseling Week and our team is off the charts! We take this time to celebrate our entire UMHT including everyone below. If I were a betting man, and I'm not, I'd put good money on the chance that someone on the team below made a major impact on EACH student in their time at Seneca. Thank you, UMHT!
I also wanted to share where we left off with course selections.
- We reviewed the Program of Study and so much more at our Rising 7th and 8th Information Night (click the presentation for more info). It was great to have so many families in attendance.
Course Request Timeline
Feb. 5th & Feb. 6th: High School Counselors will be doing course selection presentations for Rising 9th grade students during Resource
Feb. 6th: Campus Information Presentation during Advisory (for 8th grade students only)
- Feb. 7th: Rising 9th grade students select electives during Advisory
- Feb. 8th (end of day): Teacher recommendations will be posted in ParentVue/StudentVue
- Feb. 16th: Window closes for Rising 7th, 8th, & 9th graders to select electives
- February 20th – May 1st : Counselors will be meeting with students to review their course selections (7th and 8th grade students will be completing an Academic Plan as well)
- May 1st: Students/Parents last day to make any schedule changes
Student Travel Opportunities- Argentina
We had to switch the date for the information meeting due to it coinciding with the Superintendent's listening session on February 7. We will share more updates soon. This is a Non-LCPS sponsored event led by one of our current teachers- Ms. Kolb. Travel is planned for Spring Break 2025, so we have time.
Seneca's Intramural Volleyball Championship & All District Band!
Seneca students had a busy Saturday. Every big event starts with preparation. For our Intramural Volleyball Champs, they challenged our staff to a test match on Wednesday. I'm not saying who won, but there may be a group of students doing some community service as part of the bet :) For our All-District Band students, they were rehearsing 24/7 after trying out and getting the music to perform on Saturday late Thursday night. In both cases, the product was a huge point of pride for Seneca Ridge. On Saturday, our students worked diligently to showcase their skills and I left both events (as always) swelling with pride!
Bounty of Books
Student Spotlight
Staff of the Week
Ms. Kim was in her tracksuit this week have been a long time dedicated staff at Seneca. She hasn't slowed down one bit. This week, she was staying late to support students and a family was worried about their student getting home safely. She immediately called me, translated for the family and me, and helped them find out that the student was on their way home safe and sound. In addition to this incident, Ms. Kim works in daily Math 6 and Foundations of Algebra classes to ensure students are retaining the information and ready to move on to the next steps in their math progression. Foundations is a new curriculum for Ms. Kim, but she took a risk and has been amazing!
PTO Corner
NEXT PTO MEETING is on Wednesday, February 14th at 9:00 AM. See you at the school library!
Would your business, social group or family like to sponsor our staff appreciation events? We’d love to have your help! Contact Julie Garrett at staffappreciation@srmspto.org for more info!
Visit us on Website- https://srms.ptboard.com/ and follow us on Facebook- Seneca Ridge Middle School PTO & Seneca Ridge Home of the Thunderbolts.
Grab Your Spiritwear - https://srms.ptboard.com/formvw?store=4306&form=1
Reminders
📨 Email: nick.cottone@lcps.org
💻 Website: Seneca Ridge Middle School
🏫 Location: 98 Seneca Ridge Drive, Sterling, VA 20164
☎️ Phone: 571-434-4420