Lightridge High School
BOLT Report
January 2021
What's in this issue?
- January Calendar
- A Note from Dr. Hitchman
- BOLT Award
- Lightridge Counseling
- Lightridge Career Center
- Bolt Clubs & Activities
- Lightridge Testing
- Lightridge Athletics
- Lightridge Library
- Listen Up Lighridge!!
5 - First day back in classes after holiday break
8 - Registration deadline for February 6 ACT
8 - Parent Coffee and Chat Session 8am
11 - Bolt Banter with Counseling at 1pm
14 - PTSO meeting, 7pm
15 - Last day of 1st Semester
18 - MLK Holiday - NO SCHOOL
19 - Moveable Student Holiday - NO SCHOOL
20 - Inauguration Day - NO SCHOOL
21 - 1st day of 2nd Semester - 1st day for HYBRID learning (if matrix allows)
25 - Bolt Banter with Counseling at 1pm
26 - PSAT for Sophomores who registered
A NOTE FROM DR HITCHMAN...
I would like to begin by wishing everyone a happy new year and hope your winter break was filled with joy and happiness. We now enter the month of January which allows us to close the door on the 1st semester and open doors for new opportunities during the 2nd semester. As a friendly reminder, the 2nd quarter and 1st semester end on Friday, January 15. This provides us two weeks between when we return to classes and the end of the marking period. I would encourage our students to take advantage of the many tutoring opportunities available during the next few weeks if your grades are not where you want them to be. Information regarding our tutoring programs can be found on the Lightridge website and you can also reach out to your school counselor for additional details.
When we begin the 2nd semester on Thursday, January 21, we will begin following a new bell schedule. Beginning on January 21, our start time will move to 9:15 am and 4th/8th block will end at 4:03 pm. A copy of the bell schedule for the 2nd semester is included later in the newsletter. We are also in the process of preparing staff members to teach in a concurrent instructional environment. Beginning on January 21, we anticipate welcoming approximately 175 students to Lightridge on a daily basis, Tuesday-Friday. This population is made of students whose parents selected hybrid in-person learning for the 2nd semester. All LCPS and VDOH health mitigation procedures and protocols will be followed when students and staff are in the building. Our school counseling and administrative team will be reaching out to parents who opted for hybrid in-person learning during the next two weeks to discuss topics such as arrival and dismissal procedures; lunch shifts; and classroom etiquette. While our teachers will have students physically present in their classrooms beginning on January 21, it is important to remember that all students, regardless if they are participating virtually or in-person, are still active participants in class and are the responsibility of the teacher during each block.
During the month of January, our LCPS School Board is scheduled to meet on multiple dates. I anticipate a lot of discussion will take place regarding what the start of the 2nd semester will look like for our students and staff. My goal is to provide transparency and share information which is timely and accurate with our Lightridge community. We will hold two parent coffee and chat sessions during the month of January. Our first parent coffee and chat will be held on Friday, January 8 from 8:00-9:00 am. The link for this Friday’s session is listed below. We also have a Lightridge PTSO meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 14 beginning at 7:00 pm. We hope you are able to participate in one of our upcoming forums. During this transitional time, the staff of Lightridge High School is always available to help and answer your questions. I wish you a wonderful start to the month of January and 2021! Thank you for taking the time to read our January newsletter.
Link for Parent Coffee & Chat on Friday, January 8:
NEW Bell Schedule Starting January 21 for ALL STUDENTS
2021-2022 COURSE SELECTION
The course selection process for next school year begins at the end of January. This may seem early to select courses, but this information is very important in regards to staffing decisions and course options for next year.
During the month of January, teachers will be evaluating student performance and data to make recommendations for course levels for next year. Teacher recommendations will be populated automatically into StudentVUE. Please take these teacher recommendations seriously, and encourage your student to have a conversation with his/her teacher if the student does not agree with a teacher’s recommendation. The core classes will be locked in StudentVUE and can only be changed with the school counselor AFTER the individual academic advising session has been conducted. Students and parents can edit elective courses in StudentVUE between January 25th & March 25th. Counselors will meet with ALL students individually to review each student’s course selection and discuss them in depth with their Academic Career Plan and post-secondary options.
Please remember this is a process. Please take advantage of the presentations being offered below as we believe these will answer all of your questions regarding course sequencing, class options, and graduation requirements.
Below is a calendar of events being held virtually at Lightridge to help your student and you through this process. Please look at our website for extensive information to help with this process.
Rising 9th
- Feb 22: 6:30pm Virtual Rising 9th Grade Curriculum Night
- Feb 23: Current 8th graders watch course selection video during Advisory
- Feb 24: Lightridge counselors join Advisory with current 8th graders at Willard to answer general questions and assist with choosing electives in StudentVue
- Feb 25: 8:15am Virtual Coffee with the Counselors for Rising 9th Parents - Counselors will meet with parents to answer questions pertaining to course selection and rigor.
Rising 10th
- Jan 26: Current 9th graders watch course selection video during Advisory
- Jan 28: 6:30pm Virtual Rising 10th Grade Curriculum Night
- Jan 29: Counselors join Advisory with current 9th graders to answer general questions and assist with choosing electives in StudentVue
- Feb 2: 8:15am Virtual Coffee with the Counselors for Rising 10th Parents - Counselors will meet with parents to answer questions pertaining to course selection and rigor.
- February 22: Individual Academic Advising appointments for current freshman not enrolled in study hall
- March 2-12: Individual Academic Advising conducted with counselors for current freshman during study hall
Rising 11th
- Jan 27: Current 10th graders watch course selection video during Advisory
- Jan 27: 6:30pm Virtual Rising 11th Grade Curriculum Night
- Jan 28: Counselors join Advisory with current 10th graders to answer general questions and assist with choosing electives in StudentVue
- Feb 3: 8:15am Virtual Coffee with the Counselors for Rising 11th Parents - Counselors will meet with parents to answer questions pertaining to course selection and rigor.
- Feb 8: Individual Academic Advising appointments for current sophomores not enrolled in study hall
- Feb 9-19: Individual Academic Advising conducted with counselors for current sophomores during study hall
Rising 12th
- Jan 26: Current 11th graders watch course selection video during Advisory
- Jan 26: 6:30pm Virtual Rising 12th Grade Curriculum Night
- Jan 27: Counselors join Advisory with current 11th graders to answer general questions and assist with choosing electives in StudentVue
- Feb 1: Individual Academic Advising appointments for current juniors not enrolled in study hall
- Feb 2-5: Individual Academic Advising conducted with counselors for current juniors during study hall
- Feb 4: 8:15am Virtual Coffee with the Counselors for Rising 12th Parents - Counselors will meet with parents to answer questions pertaining to course selection and rigor.
All Grade Levels
Jan 25: StudentVue course selection open, teacher course recommendations for 21-22 loaded for review by parents and student
Feb 2: Accelerated Curriculum Night - Join the departments to talk about Honors, AP and Dual Enrollment
6:30pm Math
7:00pm Science
7:30pm Social Studies
8:00pm English
8:30pm World Languages
Feb 17: Winter admissions cycle for MATA and Advanced AET closes at NOON
March 25: Course registration portal in StudentVue closes. Once the portal closes, all Lightridge students will need to request changes online OR current Willard students can see their counselor to request a change.
April 30: Paperwork deadline for Dual Enrollment, Early Release, and Non-Recommended Level Up paperwork due to counselor
April 30: 1st Course Change Deadline - no change requests will be processed from May 1-June 14 allowing faculty time to evaluate course requests and begin to build the master schedule.
June 15-June 24: Course request window will reopen for students to make any last minute changes. Lightridge students will need to request changes online OR current Willard students can see their counselor to request a change.
June 24: FINAL DEADLINE TO MAKE COURSE REQUEST CHANGES
COUNSELOR MEETINGS
Throughout the year, if you need to make an appointment with your counselor, please feel free to use this link which is also on our school website and the counselor pages? Book here!
PEER TUTORING is READY!
HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:
Before school and during lunch:
1. Students who would like to attend a drop in session before school or during lunch should complete the request form by 2pm the day prior. This form is needed to allow the monitor to plan break out rooms and determine the number of tutors needed in each break out room to assist students.
1. For before school sessions:
- Students will drop in to the session beginning at 8am.
- Once they arrive, attendance will be taken and the student will be moved to a breakout room to join their tutor.
- At the completion of the session, the peer tutor will complete a detailed report form to email to the students assigned teacher.
- Students will drop in to the session beginning at 12:20pm.
- Once they arrive, attendance will be taken and the student will be moved to a breakout room to join their tutor.
- At the completion of the session, the peer tutor will complete a detailed report form to email to the students assigned teacher.
During study hall:
1. For one-on-one peer tutoring during study hall, a formal request must be filled out by the teacher.
2. Once the formal request is made, a permission form will be sent to the parent, granting permission for a private one-on-one virtual session between the peer tutor and student.
3. When the permission click form is returned, the student will then be paired with a peer tutor and emailed a google meet link with the date, time and tutor name. During the preassigned study hall time, the tutor and tutee will sign in to the google meet for a one-on-one session. At the completion of the session, the peer tutor will complete a detailed report form to email back to the referral teacher.
4. Should additional sessions be desired from the student, a schedule can be established with the peer tutor and step #3 will be followed for each session.
PSAT TEST FOR SOPHOMORES ONLY
To all Sophomores who registered to take the College Board’s PSAT NMSQT test on January 26 at the high school:
Test Day Procedures
Students will arrive between 8:00 and 8:30 and enter through the Athletic Entrance or the bus entrance. Masks will be required the entire time they are on school property.
Upon arrival, students will line up in 6’ Socially Distanced Lines for Photo-ID Check-in. Health Questionnaires will be sent electronically to all students prior to test day and results verified when students check in. If the health questionnaire data is in order, students will move on to Temperature Screenings. For those who did not complete the online form, we will have paper copies.
Based on results of the temperature screening, students will either be directed to the main gym for testing or to an alternate location for temperature retake.
Students who fail the Health Screening will be sent home if they drove to school, or sent to one of the COVID Cares rooms (1602 & 1606) until they can be picked up.
Once students pass the health screening, they will move towards the Main Gym..
Students will remain in 6’ Socially Distanced Lines for an additional Check-in and seat assignment.
Students are encouraged to leave all electronics at home or in their vehicles. Otherwise, they will be required to turn off and leave everything except calculators outside the testing area to be overseen by hallway monitors.
We plan to start testing at 9:00am and anticipate finishing by 1:00pm.
Students who wish to be considered for the National Merit Scholarship Competition, but who do not wish to take the PSAT NMSQT may find application information here.
To access the PSAT/NMSQT Student Guide click here.
If you have questions or concerns, please email Donna Draisey.
AP EXAMS
We are pleased that your student has chosen to take an Advanced Placement (AP) course this year and want to assist you in planning for the AP exam, which will be administered this spring. Please review the following information carefully.
Students, parents, or guardians are responsible for the cost of the AP exam. Each exam is $86.00, with the exception of AP Seminar and AP Research, which are $134. If you have not yet paid, the school’s on-line payment portal is still open for payment. Within the portal, students will need to select the name of the AP test(s) they wish to take. Please contact your student’s school to discuss the process for accepting cash or check payments. Refunds will be provided to students who cancel their AP exam or fail to test. Requests for a refund should be emailed to the School Testing Coordinator.
If a family needs to arrange for a payment plan or anticipates difficulty in paying for the exam, the family should speak confidentially with the school Principal or School Testing Coordinator. If your child receives free or reduced lunch, AP exam fees are covered by LCPS.
The AP exam administration schedule is attached. Parents/guardians/students must provide their own transportation to the school on the day of testing. Please make every effort to schedule vacations, appointments, or other activities on dates that do not conflict with the testing dates. Make-up testing is permitted for verified emergencies only. Morning exams begin at 7:45 AM and afternoon exams begin at 12:15 PM, with exams lasting between 4-6 hours. Student may not be dismissed from an exam until all students have finished testing.
Additional information for parents and students can be accessed through the College Board’s site and the LCPS website.
If you have Testing questions or concerns, please email Donna Draisey.
ACCESS for ELLs
ACCESS for ELLs, or the Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners test, is a state and federally mandated English language proficiency assessment administered to identified English Learner (EL) students in Kindergarten through grade 12. The assessment helps LCPS monitor the progress of ELs' English language development throughout the school year and from one year to the next.
ACCESS testing will take place for Lightridge students on Monday, February 1 and Monday, February 8. Transportation will be available to students who would normally ride the bus. Make-up testing will be scheduled for Monday, February 22; transportation is not guaranteed for make-ups so unless a student is ill, they should make every effort to attend the main testing dates..
Click here for complete information on ACCESS for ELLs testing.
Lightridge Athletics Remind Class
Lightridge Athletic Booster Club
Lightridge athletic spirit store is now LIVE!
Brick Fundraiser Campaign:
Purchase a commemorative brick or bricks for your student, family, business, and/or team accomplishments! These bricks will be permanently installed on the LHS campus. This is a family and community effort. We want to include as many students, families, friends, neighbors, community businesses and organizations as possible. This is not just for the athletic department, but open to everyone who wants to be part of the LHS legacy for generations to come!
Paving Your Name in LHS History (Link)
Membership:
We are so excited to be able to offer our Athletic Club yearly and lifetime memberships to all those who are part of the Lightridge Family. We are using Pay4SchoolStuff.com, as most schools use. You will be able to find "Lightridge" under "LOUDOUN". Thank you, for being part of the Lightning Tribe!
The money raised by these memberships enable us to help all our athletic teams with examples of items listed below:
End of Season Awards | Sport Patches and Pins | State Championship Banners | Stadium Windscreens | Weight Room Equip | Senior | Basketball Shooting Machine | LABC Athletic Scholarships | Athletic Hall of Fame | Coaches Training/Certs | Bleacher Enclosures | Student-Athlete Recognition
Yearly memberships are $35
Lifetime memberships (of the student's tenure at the school) are $100
https://www.pay4schoolstuff.com/marketplace
Go Bolts!
Dear Lightning Fans,
Lightridge is proud to announce that we have partnered with the NFHS Network and will broadcast our Lightning athletic events LIVE. That means that if you or family members can't make it to the game or spectators are not allowed during COVID, the live action can be watched from anywhere on the phone, tablet, computer or smart TV. You will be able to catch the action when our teams are on the road in county!
By subscribing to the NFHS Network you get full access to all content on the Network for our school and any broadcast Nationwide! Subscribing is easy:
- Go to NFHSnetwork.com
- Enter Lightridge in search box
- Click "Follow" so you can stay up to date on all upcoming Lightning broadcasted events
- Click "Subscribe" for all subscription options for our school
- Library Books –Did you make a New Year’s resolution to read more? We can help! Check out the catalog to browse for titles, and then fill out the Hold Request form. Books can be picked up from the Lightridge vestibule.
- Winter Take and Make – Give yourself a break from all the screen time and take some time to make a craft and enjoy nature. Our #Lightridgefirst Take and Make Kit is to create pinecone birdfeeders. The kits will be available for pickup in the Lightridge vestibule. Use this link to reserve your kit and check out the instruction video and additional resources on birdwatching and identification.
- LibraryShelfie – January 27th is Library Shelfie day! Take a selfie with a bookshelf and tag #LRHLibrary to be entered into a drawing for a $20 gift card!
- All Things Library – Stay up to date on all things library! All of these links can also be found on the library website. Click here to view the monthly Library Newsletter. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Check out the library YouTube channel for informational and how-to videos. Have more questions or need to chat with Ms. Ivory? Schedule a Bookings appointment.
2021 NASA STEM Enhancement in Earth and Space Science Internship
Audience: Current High School Sophomores and Juniors
Application Deadline: February 22, 2021
Contact: baguio@csr.utexas.edu or cmiller@csr.utexas.edu
NASA, the Texas Space Grant Consortium and The University of Texas at Austin Center for Space Research have joined forces to encourage high school students’ interest in STEM careers. The SEES project allows students to work remotely prior to their onsite internships in Austin, Texas, July 17 – July 31, 2021 or participate in a virtual project. Participants will conduct authentic research with NASA subject matter experts in their chosen areas of work. Housing, transportation and meals will be provided.
Please refer all questions to:
FINDING HELP AT LIGHTRIDGE
On the "Finding Help" section of the website you will find
- Academic Support Center
- LCPS Account Assistance (login, passwords, etc.)
- School-issued device assistance
- Replacement accessories for their device (chargers)
- ParentVUE/StudentVUE help
- Office Hours for teachers
- Schoology assistance
THE LIGHTNING LOCKER IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS
Take a look at our new school store and start shopping!
- Go to www.https://www.lcps.org/lightridge
- Find the "Online School Payments" tab
- Select "Lightridge High School" from the list of schools
- Click on "The Lightning Locker School Store"
- Select from the tabs what item you would like to purchase. Please make sure in the description for each item you want that you put in a size (except for the accessory items). Once you have selected something you want, add to cart, and keep shopping until you are all done! Then complete the payment information to complete the order. I will receive an email once your order has gone through with the items you have selected.
- This will allow you to purchase your items online and skip the check/cash option I mentioned in my previous email.
Lightridge High School Counseling
Email: christi.campbell@lcps.org
Website: https://www.lcps.org/lightridge
Location: 41025 Collaboration Drive Aldie, VA 20105
Phone: (571)367-4100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LightridgeHighSchool/
Twitter: @Lightridge_LCPS