SVHS Green and Gold
Dr. Cohen's Newsletter to the SVHS Community
December 5, 2021 Edition
Are you #SVPROUD?
- Tweet, Snap, IB, FB, etc., a pic of you repping "The Valley" by wearing your Seneca gear.
- And don't forget to use #svproud. Go Eagles!
NEW: BOARD APPROVES MODIFICATIONS TO THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL CALENDAR
At its Dec. 2 business meeting, the Montgomery County Board of Education approved a modified school calendar for the remainder of the 2021-2022 school year.
MCPS recognizes that teacher planning time is critical for the preparation of meaningful and engaging lessons for students each day. To support this, three early release days have been added to this school year’s calendar to allow for important work time for staff. Wednesday, Jan. 12; Thursday, March 24; and Wednesday, May 18, 2022 are now early release days for both traditional and innovative calendar schools. MCPS is piloting a variety of out-of-school time opportunities with community partners to provide engaging activities for students during the afternoons on early release days.
The district is also adding systemwide closures during winter break on Dec. 23 and Dec. 27 through Dec. 30, 2021, as well as during spring break on April 13 and April 14, 2022. MCPS facilities will be available for public use, such as childcare and other scheduled events, through the Montgomery County Office of Community Use of Public Facilities (CUPF).
In alignment with the federal and state holiday recognizing Juneteenth, MCPS will also add a systemwide closure on Monday, June 20, 2022.
These changes maintain 181 days of instruction and keep the last day of school on June 15, 2022. It is important to note that MCPS will still exceed the minimum number of hours of instruction required by the state. At the elementary school level, MCPS will exceed the minimum number of required hours by more than 60 hours. At the middle school level, MCPS will exceed the minimum number of required hours by more than 120 hours. At the high school level, MCPS will still exceed the minimum number of required hours by more than 30 hours.
NEW: Dual Enrollment: Spring Registration is underway!
Registration for Spring 2022 Montgomery College courses through Dual Enrollment is going strong. Many popular classes already have waitlists so don't procrastinate your registration. Current or prospective Dual Enrollment students have received information about steps to complete. Other prospective students or families who are interested should contact the Dual Enrollment Coordinator, Mr. Yarmus, at Ian_J_Yarmus@mcpsmd.org.
NEW: Visit our Virtual College and Career Center
This Week's Notes from the SVHS College & Career Center:
College Applications
If applicable, please keep working on your College Applications. Refer to the College Application Packet when applying. Everything you need to do for submitting college applications, including instructions, is on this document. If your list of college applications changes or you plan to apply to any new schools, please communicate with your counselor!
Financial Aid for College!
- FAFSA Information
- ALL Eligible Seniors should complete the 2022-23 FAFSA, regardless of income.
- MDCAPS Information
- If you plan on attending a college or university in the state of Maryland, you should fill out this application.
- Once you have created a login, send Mr. Nalda your MHEC ID in order for him to upload your transcript/GPA Information
- MSFAA Information
- For students not eligible to complete the FAFSA, you may be able to complete the MSFAA if you plan on attending a college or university in the state of Maryland.
Upcoming Scholarships
- December 15* - BURGER KING Scholars Program - multiple awards ranging from $1,000-$50,000; senior; min 2.5 GPA; must enroll at a school full-time next Fall; recipients are selected based on their grade point average, work experience, extracurricular activities and/or community service.
- *Scholarship closes on December 15 or when 50,000 applications are submitted, whichever occurs first.
- December 17* - Equitable Excellence Scholarship - (or until 10,000 applications are submitted) 100-$5,000 annual awards (renewable up to for four years) & 100 one-time $2,500 awards; senior; U.S. citizen or legal resident living or claiming residency in one of the 50 U.S. states, District of Columbia or Puerto Rico; enroll full-time in an accredited two- or four-year college or university in the U.S.; submit an essay describing how you exhibit courage in pursuing what’s possible, display strength in managing challenges and share wisdom with others; willing to provide a release to publicize their identities and other information.
- *Deadline to apply is December 17 or until 10,000 applications are submitted, whichever occurs first.
- December 17 - Foot Locker Scholar Athletes Scholarship - 1-$25,000 & 19-$20,000 awards; senior; U.S. citizen or permanent legal resident; min 3.0 GPA; be currently involved in high school, intramural, or community-based sports; academic excellence; leadership & moral character; must enroll at a four-year school in the fall; answer two essays; see link for essay prompts.
- December 20 - Damascus Post 171 2022 High School Oratorical Contest - awards ranging from $300 - $1,000 (local contest) to $38,000 at the National contest; U.S. citizen or a permanent resident; 9-12 grade; registration for the Post 171 contest needs to be completed by December 20th, 2021; the Post 171 contest will be held at 10 AM on Saturday, January 15th, 2022; the contest will be held at Damascus American Legion Post 171 at 10201 Lewis Drive in Damascus, Maryland; see link for details; click here for rules.
- If you are interested in this competition, volunteer mentors are available to any interested students and coach them along in preparing for the contest; see Mr. Nalda or email: district5.oratorical.contest@gmail.com.
Click here to see the SVHS Scholarships Page for more opportunities.
Next Week’s College/Career Visits
U.S. Marines - Recruiter Visit
Tue December 7 @ 11:20 AM - 12:10 PM
Stop by anytime during lunch if you would like to learn more about the U.S. Marines.
Trinity Washington University - On The Spot Admissions Event
Fri December 10 @ 10:20 AM
Upcoming Events
ASVAB Testing at SVHS - Thursday, December 9
Each year Seneca Valley High School offers students the opportunity to take the ASVAB or Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. What is the ASVAB? It is a multi-aptitude test battery that helps in identifying different skills and competencies. The ASVAB test results provide a snapshot of current knowledge and skills. These scores can be compared with the educational or job requirements for occupations of interest to students.
Although I recommend students interested in the military to take this test as a practice, taking the ASVAB is in no way a commitment to join the military. Your test scores will not be shared with any recruiters without your express permission, meaning that the test results are released only to the student and not to the armed services. We use the ASVAB as a career exploration tool.
The ASVAB will be administered at SVHS on Thursday, December 9, 2021, starting at 7:45am. The test takes about 3 hours to complete. The ASVAB is only administered to students in grades 10, 11 and 12. If you are interested, please register using the link below by December 6. Thank you!
§ Click here to register to take the ASVAB Test
Trinity Washington University - On the Spot Admissions Event @ SVHS on Dec 10!
Interested in applying to Trinity Washington University? We will be hosting an On The Spot Admissions Event with Trinity Washington University on Friday, December 10, from 10:20am - 10:50am, in the College & Career Center (Room 2113).
What are on-the-spot admissions? They are local events for students to apply for admission to a college, face-to-face, and get an immediate acceptance decision! No waiting weeks or months to hear back! Take advantage of this opportunity to apply to college!
Trinity Washington University is primarily a women's college, but does have some coed program offerings. Trinity considers students with a minimum 2.5 GPA for admission and houses five colleges with 40+ programs. Click here to explore their programs.
Interested? Students will need to do the following:
§ Complete an online application BEFORE on-site admissions.
§ Submit or bring your College Essay with you.
§ You will also need a Letter of Recommendation (if you already have a Letter of Recommendation from your teacher or counselor in Naviance, Mr. Nalda can retrieve for you).
§ Reach out to Mr. Nalda or register in Naviance to let him know you plan to attend this admissions event.
SVHS College & Career Newsletter - December/January, 2021-22
NEW: Library Media News
Digital Citizenship: Hour of Code
During Computer Science Education Week, December 6-12, students across the country are encouraged to participate in an Hour of Code. This initiative allows students of all ages to explore the world of computer science through activities that demonstrate how computer programmers write commands and directions that allow computers, applications, and games to work. In Advisory this week, students will have the opportunity to learn a little about coding by building their own Angry Birds-style game via THIS WEBSITE. For more Hour of Code resources, please visit Code.org.
Library Media Center: One Maryland One Book
It’s not too late to participate in the statewide One Maryland One Book reading program! On Wednesday, December 15th, during lunch, we are planning to meet to discuss essays 10-50 of The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay. These essayettes are short reminders to reflect on things that bring joy. If you are an aspiring writer, please also come to learn about an opportunity to have a 750-word essay published by Maryland Humanities. For more information and a FREE copy of the book, please contact our new media assistant, Ms. Rossman.
NEW: IB Spotlight
MYP Personal Project update: The MYP Personal Project is an opportunity for students to explore a passion, interest, or topic of their choice with guidance and support from SVHS staff. Our next MYP Personal Project Advisory lesson is on Thursday, Nov. 9th! The students will be reflecting on their feedback from supervisor meeting, revising their project goals, and start to research their project topic. Check out THIS FLYER for more information on the Personal Project!
How can you support your 10th grader through the MYP Personal Project?
Ask them about their project. At this point, students should have chosen a topic they are interested in and started to develop an idea for their learning goal and product. The learning goal is the skills or knowledge a student will learn by completion of the project. The product is what students will produce by the end of the project (video, journal, art piece, event, etc.). Here is a list of product ideas in case your student is stuck!
Remind them to check out our MYP Personal Project Canvas course. The course has videos of each advisory lesson, along with support materials to help guide the students through the process. Students should already be enrolled in the course, but they can always email Mrs. Becraft if they do not have access.
NEW: Think Big Experience
We want to thank the following professionals for supporting our students in our most recent Think Big experience. For this session, the following artists presented their stories about the importance of progress over product:
- Veronica Conran, Actor
- Matthew Gardiner, Theatre Director
- Eileen Martin, Visual Artist
- Terence Nicholson, Visual Artist
- Emon Surakitkoson, Visual Artist
- Francisca Tapia, Actor/Musician
**Full Artists Bios: https://bit.ly/319Suw8
Students then applied what they learned from the artists to their MYP Personal Project by creating a vision board, before returning to their PP planning documents.
Our student feedback has been very positive in regards to the impact the artists are having on our students' perspectives. We have had artists share their personal experiences of being an immigrant, ESOL student, LGBTQ+, and other powerful perspectives, as well as art connections to specific subjects, like history, and articulating their experiences as an artists.
REPEAT: Resources for Families
Mental health / crisis resources:
- Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health Program: For more information on family-focused outpatient mental health services for children, adolescents and their families, visit here or call 240-777-1450.
- Screening and Assessment Services for Children and Adolescents SASCA: For information on confidential screening for substance abuse for children, and mental health and substance use assessments for children up to age 18, visit here or call 240-777-1430.
- Minority Health Services: Many of our Minority Health Initiatives have excellent resources and partner with nonprofit and community organizations to offer free mental health counseling. Explore more:
- ACCESS to Behavioral Health Services: For assistance with obtaining appropriate outpatient mental health or substance abuse services for individuals eligible through the public behavioral health system. Walk-In assessments and evaluations available Monday - Friday at 9 a.m. or 1 p.m. Learn more here or call 240-777-1770.
- EveryMind: For direct mental health services to youth, adults, older adults, families and veterans, visit here or call 301-424-0656.
- Crisis Center: For 24/7 free crisis services visit here or call 240-777-4000
- Crisis text line: Text "home" to 741-741 for free 24/7 support
- ChildLink: Early childhood services for children ages five and younger and their families. Learn more here or call 240-777-4769.
Family grief supports:
Seneca Valley High School
Email: marc_j_cohen@mcpsmd.org
Website: www.senecavalleyhighschool.com
Location: 19401 Crystal Rock Drive, Germantown, MD, USA
Phone: 240-740-6400
Twitter: @SenecaValleyHS