HUSKY HIGHLIGHTS NEWSLETTER
February 2021
Principal's Message
I hope you and your loved ones are safe and staying warm in this winter weather.
February is Black History Month and during this month, America honors the lived experiences, contributions, and achievements of Black and African Americans. I want to take this opportunity to thank our Black and African American families for your contributions to our school, our community, and our world. While we reserve the month of February to specifically honor Black History Month, we must celebrate the richness of our diversity on a daily basis.
For more information about Black History Month, please visit AfricanAmericanHistoryMonth.gov and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
February 1 - 5, 2021 is National School Counseling Week and the theme is School Counselors: All In for All Students. We are grateful for the impact our school counselors have on students and families to achieve a successful school experience and plan for life beyond high school. To learn more about the work of our school counselors, please visit the THS School Counseling website.
In this newsletter you will find much information to keep you updated on events at Tuscarora. Please leverage the resources available to students and families and stay connected with our school community. Reach out to your classroom teachers, Advisory teacher, school counselor, assistant principal, or to me. Let us know how you are doing and what we can do to support you.
We are Tuscarora Huskies and we RISE together!
As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my staff for assistance.
Pamela Croft
Principal
News to SING About
Alexis auditioned and participated in ACDA National and Regional choirs throughout her middle school and high school career. She sang in all county and all district choirs and is a section leader in Mad About Jazz.
The VMEA Senior Honors Choir was held January 16, 23, & 30, 2021, conducted by Dr. Christopher Aspaas – Texas Christian University.
Congratulations, Alexis!
More Artistic Honors!
Congratulations, Sophia!
Building Executive Functioning Skills
- task initiation (motivating yourself to start tasks)
- self-control (controlling yourself to focus on the task)
- planning (making a plan for yourself)
- organization (putting things in logical places and knowing where to find things)
- time management (accomplishing things efficiently and using time wisely)
- attention (directing and maintaining focus)
- metacognition (thinking about your own thinking)
- flexibility (being able to deviate from a plan and change)
- perseverance (keeping going in the face of obstacles)
Think about the first semester of this school year. Which of these skills have you done well and which of these skills would you like to improve?
View this document to access strategies and tips to develop these executive functioning skills.
News from the Testing Office
ACCESS for ELLs testing will be taking place on Mondays in February at Tuscarora. Students and parents can check their email for specific dates and times. All active English Learners (levels 1-4) are expected to participate in the federally mandated WIDA ACCESS for ELLs testing sometime within the testing window which begins on January 19, 2021 and ends on March 12, 2021.The administration of WIDA ACCESS for ELLs for the 2020-2021 school year must be conducted in person.
While it is a federal expectation that all EL students participate in this federally required assessment, we understand that you may have concerns regarding the in-person assessment requirements, despite our health mitigation procedures. If you have concerns about the in-person testing requirement and wish to discuss refusal of participation in this year’s ACCESS assessment, please speak with your child’s school administrator.
WIDA ACCESS for ELLs videos, English or Spanish.
WIDA ACCESS for ELLs handout: English, Spanish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Urdu, Russian, French, or Chinese Simplified.
At this time, the Writing SOL for all juniors will take place in person March 3, 2021 - March 9, 2021. The writing SOL is a two part test composed of a multiple choice portion and a short paper portion. Both parts together give a combined Writing SOL score.
World Languages: Seal of Biliteracy
The window for fall semester Seal of Biliteracy testing for seniors is closed. The spring semester testing timeline is posted on the THS World Languages website. Please contact catherine.haney@lcps.org with any questions.
Seal of Biliteracy Dates
Link to Information Page & Registration Form
Registration Open: Now - April 9th
Test Window: April 16th - April 23rd
Explanation of what this test is:
The State Seal of Biliteracy is an award given to graduating high school students, regardless of diploma type, that have attained proficiency in English and one or more languages. We are pleased to offer the Seal of Biliteracy to students who graduate from Tuscarora. They receive the Seal on their diploma upon graduation and are recognized at the Senior Awards Ceremony and at graduation.
Library Updates
We are pleased to announce that library construction is complete and that staff and students will enjoy a brand new media center once we are back to in-person instruction! The new library features lots of natural light, a separate classroom and maker room, learning and gaming areas as well as plenty of space for collaborative work. We look forward to seeing everyone in our new digs soon!
Since we now have our full collection back in the building, we can expand our offering of curbside service for book distribution while we are in distance learning. To request a book, please fill out this form. After you submit the form, we will email you to let you know if it is available. If it is, we will check it out to you and you can pick it up on Mondays when textbook distribution takes place.
As we head into our second semester, families and students may be looking for new learning resources to increase motivation and reduce the mid-year “slump.” Common Sense Media is a great website to find up-to-date, curated educational resources for both online and asynchronous instruction. Check out their Wide Open School section to access fun, interactive student activities for everything from reading, math and science to wellness, digital citizenship to life skills.
Students, have your reading materials ready for RISE Read during Friday Advisory! For added incentive, you will get to play Reading Bingo with your Advisory class beginning in February. How does it work, you ask? Simply have your reading material handy during Advisory, then, when we’re finished reading, mark off the bingo squares based on what you’ve read. To keep it interesting, reading material descriptions in the bingo squares will change from week to week, so keep a variety of books, newspapers and magazines handy for Friday Advisory! Advisory classes with winning bingo cards will get a shoutout and maybe even a special treat! And, if you need a reason to read, here’s ten of them!
Need research help? Looking for book suggestions? You can now visit the virtual library during your study hall block. Mrs. Pellicano and Mrs. Carroll are available in the library google meet (nickname: thslibrary) to help you Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 until 4. You can also email your librarians at jenna.carroll@lcps.org or mary.pellicano@lcps.org for more information or help on a specific topic.
School Counseling Office
The Annual AP/DE Night will be held on 2/16/2021. It will be a virtual event. More information to follow.
Please remember to visit the THS School Counseling website for updates.
Class of 2021 Scholarship Opportunities
1. Local Scholarships: The below link for local/county-wide scholarship opportunities. https://sites.google.com/lcps.org/lcps-scholarship-site/home/list-of-scholarships
2. Scholarship Search Engines: List of Scholarship and Financial Aid Planning Search Engines https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-j1BJyWdNyI0xsDUYl-Cz-TrIrVCBgRX/view?usp=sharing
a. Scholarships can be searched in the NAVIANCE STUDENT app in LCPSGO or visit https://student.naviance.com/tuscarora
3. FAFSA: Students and families are encouraged to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) More information visit https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa
4. University Scholarships: Search scholarships at the schools you intend on applying to. Most colleges require you apply by a particular deadline. Each college is different so inquire accordingly.
Husky Athletics
Happy February Huskies!
Here is the most current information regarding “Fall Sports” tryouts. Tryouts will be held at the school at a time set by the coach. LCPS is currently not having out of season practices and awaiting the most current guidance for both VDH, Governor’s office and the VHSL to best inform our next season. As of right now the first date students participating in Cross Country will be starting is February 15.
Click here for the chart related to the Championships +1 model released from VHSL, Season 2 - Fall Sports.
Having a current VHSL sports physical and completing the online registration is required before participation may occur. Please follow the following link to access the physical form and the “Registration” tab: https://huskyathletics.info/main/filesLinks/ . On that page you will also find contact information for our head coaches if you would like to reach out and get information regarding sports in which you may be interested.
Our social media sites are @TuscaroraHusky on twitter and TuscaroraHusky on Instagram. We encourage you to follow those to receive immediate updates when they occur.
If you have other questions please email Athletic Director Tony Tallent; tony.tallent@lcps.org
EL Department Updates
The testing areas for this are:
- Listening,
- Reading,
- Speaking, and
- Writing.
The EL department is also busy planning our next food and supplies distribution for February. More information will follow once plans are finalized.
Tuscarora High School
Website: lcps.org/Tuscarora
Location: 801 North King Street, Leesburg, VA, USA
Phone: (571)252-1900
Twitter: @TuscaroraHS