The GMHS Hitching Post
George Mason High School Newsletter - June 12, 2020
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To translate this newsletter, click on View in your Browser and under Accessibility click on translate.
Para traducir este boletín al español, haga clic en "Ver en su navegador" y en Accesibilidad, haga clic en Traducir y luego elija Español.
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Congratulations to all of our 2020 Mason graduates! Just remember once a Mustang always a Mustang. A special "thank you" to the PTSA for sponsoring such a memorable car parade on Wednesday evening. Also a special "thank you" to The Biscuit Factory Film and Television Production for providing our graduates and the community with an unforgettable graduation experience.
The one word that will continue to define our Mason students is resilience. We have been so impressed with how the entire student body and Mason community have come together to support one another during these challenging times.
Thank you students, Mustang families and Falls Church City community members for your unwavering support this school year. As we embark upon the uncertainty for next school year, we are confident we will be successful because of you.
Have a wonderful and restful summer!
Sincerely,
The Admin Team
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Marvin Wooten
Marvin comes to George Mason HS from Woodbury High School (MN) where he spent the past 3 years as the Assistant Principal for Student Activities. In this role, Marvin served as the school's Athletic Director and administrator for the Fine Arts department. Prior to Woodbury HS, Marvin worked for 10 years with Fairfax County Public Schools in various roles. Marvin taught Health & Physical Education and served as the Varsity Head Football Coach at South Lakes High School before moving on to serve as the System of Support Administrator for McLean High School and Hayfield Secondary School.
Marvin grew up in nearby Reston, VA and is a proud graduate of Howard University (Washington D.C) where he played football and earned his Bachelors of Science in Physical Education. Marvin also holds a M.Ed in Education Administration from Liberty University and an Ed.S in Education Administration from Concordia University in St. Paul, MN.
Marvin and his wife, Safiya have two children, Zoe (7) and Marvin III "Trey" (4).
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Sheri Mural
Sheri earned her BA in Biology and Complex Organizations at Mount Holyoke College, an MA in Student Personnel Administration from New York University, and an M.Ed. in Educational Psychology: Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. In addition, she completed one year of doctoral coursework in the Biomedical Sciences Training Program at the Mount Sinai Medical Center Graduate School of Biological Sciences before deciding benchtop science research was not the right career path.
For more than twenty years, Sheri has worked in a variety of educational positions, including as an independent college counselor and college admission essay reviewer. At the college level, Sheri worked as an Associate Director of Admissions and Senior Admissions Officer at Barnard College, as a Graduate Admissions and Student Affairs Officer at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and as an Assistant Recruiter for the undergraduate nursing programs at New York University.
Locally, Sheri has also worked as the Director of Auxiliary Programs at The Langley School in McLean and the Director of Admission & Financial Aid at Connelly School of the Holy Child in Potomac, MD.
Outside of school, she enjoys gardening and walking the paths near her house to observe the changing seasons. She looks forward to joining the George Mason community to support students as they navigate post-high school options.
Sheri will be getting a newsletter out to all rising seniors in the next few weeks. Please feel free to reach out to Ms. Mural at murals@fccps.org.
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FALL SPORTS 2020
Any student wishing to participate in a fall sport (pre-season, practice, tryout) must have a completed VHSL Athletic Participation/Parental Consent/Physical Examination Form dated after May 1, 2020. This form is different from the school entry physical and the school entry physical is not sufficient for athletic participation - even for tryouts and practices.
NO EXCEPTIONS TO THE PHYSICAL RULE CAN BE GRANTED!!!
The Form is available on-line at: www.masonathletics.org.
Tryouts are held regardless of holidays or vacations, and candidates are expected to be present for all sessions.
Varsity Cheer Coach (Fall) -- Allison Cray alcray38@gmail.com
Varsity Cross Country Coach -- Jeff Buck buckj@fccps.org
Varsity Field Hockey Coach -- Kali Vicars vicarsk@fccps.org
Varsity Football Coach -- Adam Amerine amerinea@fccps.org
Varsity Golf Coach -- Mike Wolfe wolfem1@fccps.org
Varsity Volleyball Coach -- Derek Baxter baxterd@fccps.org
NEW STUDENTS - Please check with the Counseling Office to be sure you are ELIGIBLE and ask them to contact Coach Bravin at bravinj@fccps.org when you register!
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IMPORTANT DATES
Friday, July 31
Last day of Summer Academy
Monday, August 24
First Day of School
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2021 SENIORS
SENIOR MAKE-UP PORTRAITS: Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30
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YEARBOOK DELIVERY ANNOUNCEMENT
Please read this important message from Jostens regarding yearbook delivery.
Customer Delivery Date Communication
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THE SUPERINTENDENT'S FRIDAY, JUNE 5 COVID-19 UPDATE
For information on the Reopening Plan for 2020, Instructional Summer Resources, Summer Social Emotional & Mental Health Supports for Students and Families and Final Reminders: Food/Nutrition Support and Special Education click on the link to the Superintendent's Friday, June 5th, Covid-19 Update. https://www.fccps.org/o/fccps/page/covid-19-plan#june5
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SCHOOLOGY
Schoology remains our main platform for teacher to student communication and instructional delivery. Schoology can never replicate the entire school-day in the virtual setting. Instead, students will experience some synchronous (live) instruction as well as asynchronous (recorded) lessons with assignments and tasks between sessions along with access to their teachers via office hours. Each of the synchronous lessons will be recorded in Schoology. This is important to note because, if you do not want your student recorded for the session, please encourage your child to disable their camera but not your sound. The lessons will be online and available to watch via Schoology for seven (7) days following instruction. The nice part about the recording is that there may be some students who aren't available for the synchronous session but are able to come back later to see what they missed.
Schoology addresses recent outages: https://www.schoology.com/blog/scaling-schoology-increased-demand
Please contact Steven Knight at knights@fccps.org for Schoology account issues.
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TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT
The school district’s IT team is available to support all teachers and students. This includes support via email, online conferencing, and limited physical office hours at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School.
Please submit a support ticket here on behalf of your child.* - http://bit.ly/2INO0hR
*If the IT Team can provide support virtually by remoting into the computer, the team must have the consent of the parent.
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IB AND AP INFORMATION
Click on this link for the latest communication from IB: Latest Communication from IB
Please read the latest updates here AP UPDATES FROM THE COLLEGE BOARD.
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FROM MS. GURGO'S ART STUDENTS
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Shaamin Khwaja Smith Kraft, Karina Alaniz and Julie Capozzi
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FALLS CHURCH EDUCATION FOUNDATION
Postponement of the Falls Church Education Foundation’s (FCEF) Gala & Auction, combined with the immediate need for funds to respond to the current crisis, will leave FCEF short on funds for critical teacher grants, programs and operations. To raise these funds and ensure FCEF is able to provide needed dollars to teachers in this unprecedented time, we are launching an “Orange A-Peel” fundraising campaign with a community twist.
Please consider donating to the Falls Church Education Foundation through this fundraising campaign at the GoFundMe page. Learn more about individual prizes and fundraising milestone celebrations here.
CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
Please visit our FCCPS Coronavirus (Covid-19) Information page for the latest information and links to resources.
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Keep Calm and Check Parent University
Did you know that FCCPS has a resource for parents that pulls together all of the parent education opportunities across the schools? Anything that helps parents get smarter about school and parenting is included in Parent University.
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PTSA NEWSLETTER
Click here to subscribe to the PTSA Newsletter
STAY ON TOP OF ALL CANCELLATIONS AND CLOSURES AND MUCH, MUCH MORE...
PRINCIPAL'S NEWSLETTER
You can find current and past issues of the GMHS Hitching Posts from Principal Hills on the GMHS website at the link below:
EXCEL IN MIND, BODY AND CHARACTER
Matt Hills
Principal
Email: hillsm@fccps.org
Website: https://gm.fccps.org
Location: 7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA, USA
Phone: 703-248-5500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fallschurchcitypublicschools
Twitter: @MasonMustangs
SUMMER READING FOR 2020 -2021
This year, students do not have required summer reading. As a school, we always encourage summer reading in any form. This summer, it is especially important to keep reading to avoid the summer slump. Students can find suggested reading lists according to level, interest, and genre at their local public libraries and bookstores, as well as online using websites like Good Reads or WhatShouldIReadNext and Barnes & Noble.
Rising Juniors enrolled in IBHL Literature 11: Class of 2022
Traditionally, summer reading has been assigned to this class. Students this year do not have assigned summer reading.
*If students did not read The Great Gatsby in 10th grade, they are encouraged to do so as knowledge of this text will help in 11th grade.
Rising Seniors enrolled in IBHL English 12: Class of 2021
Traditionally, summer reading has been assigned to this class. Students this year do not have assigned summer reading but are strongly encouraged to re-read both texts they will use for their IB oral in the fall.
Also recommended is reading of choice. Consider selecting something from here https://www.distractify.com/p/books-to-educate-yourself-blm.
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NEWS FROM THE COUNSELING OFFICE
Returning Student Enrollment
Returning student enrollment instructions for the 2020-21 school year will be emailed to all families on or after July 1, 2020. It is extremely important this data be updated no later than August 1 to ensure the Student Health Information (Form D Regulation 9.60.1) is received. If a computer is needed to complete this registration, please contact Ms. Kirk in the Counseling office at kirkl@fccps.org.
Withdrawing Students
If your student will not be returning to George Mason High School for the 2020-2021 school year, you must notify the GMHS Registrar by completing the attached online Withdrawal Form GMHS Withdrawal Form, or returning this completed form via email to kirkl@fccps.org, fax (703-248-5556), or by mail to the Counseling Office. Please note that if this form is not completed, the student's academic records may not be released to the parent or the new school. This form also notifies the registrar to send your student's final transcript to their new school and removes them officially from our Returning Student registration in Powerschool. Please make sure the school-issued laptop, textbooks, library books and athletic uniforms have been returned. Also, pay any fines/fees incurred over the school year before completing the withdrawal process. If you are unsure of any outstanding items or fines/fees owed, please contact the registrar at 703-248-5526.
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