Principal's Message
Greetings Tuscarora Family,
Welcome to the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year. I am so very proud of our Tuscarora Huskies who worked so hard to stay on top of their studies and coursework throughout the second quarter. A special thanks to parents and teachers for your continuous motivation and encouragement of our students throughout this school year.
During the month of February we celebrate Black History Month. I would like to take this opportunity to extend gratitude and appreciation to our African American community members for your contributions to our society. Tuscarora will be honoring Black History Month with a celebratory event on Wednesday, February 28th. Please stay tuned for more information. To learn more about Black History Month, please visit https://www.blackhistorymonth.gov/index.html.
The week of February 5-9, 2024 is National School Counseling Week. On behalf of the Tuscarora family, I want to thank our School Counseling team. We are truly grateful for the tremendous impact each of you have in supporting our students, families, and staff. Happy School Counseling Week!
This newsletter is packed with lots of exciting news, celebrations, and opportunities for our Huskies. Please be sure to stay connected with the Husky community.
The following highlights a few important reminders.
- For students who need a little more support to be successful with 2nd quarter content, please take advantage of Credit Recovery opportunities. Please see your teachers or school counselor for more information about Credit Recovery.
- As we kick off the second semester, please utilize the multiple resources that are available to support students' academically. Supports are available during Study Halls and Tusky Time for students to seek tutoring, complete assignments, or make up work. The SLED program is also available afterschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students to receive teacher support. More information about SLED is included in this newsletter.
- Students will be connecting with their school counselors to plan for future course scheduling. Please stay on top of all updates from the School Counseling Office.
As always, please connect with me or my staff and let us know how we can support you.
Pamela Croft
Principal
The first full week of February is National School Counseling Week. During the week of February 5 - 9, 2024, please be sure to connect with the Tuscarora School Counseling team to express gratitude for the tremendous work they do each day. Let's make sure our entire School Counseling team feels our appreciation! 💗
FAFSA Completion Workshop
A Spanish interpreter will be available.
**Please bring your own device for this workshop.
APPLICATIONS are now open for the 2024-25 school year! Any current 8th, 9th, or 10th grader may apply. AVID seeks out students who are performing well in the “academic middle” who wish to learn strategies to succeed in courses of academic rigor. Oftentimes, these students would be first-generation college students or students who have the potential but would benefit from additional support in the areas of reading, writing, organization, time management, and leadership skills. If you wish to learn more about the AVID program, please contact the AVID Coordinator at barry.blair@lcps.org.
We are excited and looking forward to including at least one college visit this semester! More information will be going home through the Elective classes.
AVID CHIPOTLE SPIRIT NIGHT will be Tuesday, February 27th from 4:00 - 8:00 pm at the Edwards Ferry RD location. Mention THS AVID and/or use the Online Code LGLEG7D when ordering to help us raise funds for AVID.
WHAT ARE WE DOING IN AVID?
AVID IV: The AVID seniors continue to explore and execute preparations for life after high school while also learning about financial aid and completing admissions and scholarship applications. Our AVID seniors will also learn about the opportunity to apply to a $40,000 scholarship offered by the Loudoun Laurels for any AVID senior wishing to attend a 2 or 4-year university in Virginia. Information about this scholarship will be going out through class very soon!
AVID III: The AVID juniors had the opportunity to learn about job postings, interview skills, and then went through rounds of mock interviews with members of the US NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Committee). Our students did an amazing job and made a great impression on the guests. Our juniors continue to research colleges and careers as they narrow down options and future plans.
AVID II and I: Our AVID sophomores and freshmen continue to learn about the importance of organization, note-taking, and study strategies as things start to pick up this quarter. These students are also starting to gain college and career knowledge as they start to consider the paths available after high school.
Key Club
Key Club, with the help from NHS and Rho Kappa, held a food drive to benefit Loudoun Hunger Relief. We collected over 900 pounds of food, which is the equivalent of 762 meals! Thank you to the Tuscarora Community for your support in this huge endeavor!
We also held a coin drive in which we collected $1,683.00. This money will be donated to the Kiwanis Children's Fund.
Rho Kappa
Need help in history? Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society has tutoring available every Tuesday morning beginning at 8:30 in room 203. All you need to do is show up! This is a great opportunity for students to receive extra help to stay on top of second semester content or to support any Credit Recovery efforts.
Last month Rho Kappa sponsored a toy drive for Loudoun Inova Hospital. We raised over 200 items that were donated to the Life With Cancer Organization. These items supported children and adults who are battling cancer or doing physical therapy/behavioral therapy from cancer complications.
Faith Fanning, grade 12
"This piece depicts my cat and me. She is at my feet while I brush my teeth. She comes with me everywhere, and this is my first completed piece in my series of portraits of us around my home." (24x16 in Acrylic on Canvas)
Brittney Merlo Barreto, grade 12
"I made this piece with canvas and oil paint, 12x16.This piece is about the struggle with borderline disorder."
Can you believe we are already in a new semester? With the new semester, a lot will happen very fast. The first thing on the list is course recommendation for the school year 2024-2025. The mathematics department will have a few exciting new opportunities for students to consider. Please see the attached presentation that will explain math electives students have the opportunity to take next year. THS MATHEMATICS ELECTIVE - 2024-2025
Parents, I want to give you this reminder as early as possible. ALL 9th Grade students in a math SOL course are required to take the associated SOL exam. This includes Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, and Algebra II/Trig. We need students to take this assessment seriously. Students must have a verified credit in math for graduation. This means students must pass the class and the SOL to meet graduation requirements. SOL assessments will be administered in May. Please utilize SLED to help your student if he/she is struggling in their math course.
In December, we hosted our first book fair with Birch Tree Books in downtown Leesburg. Thank you to our students, their families as well as staff for your support! We were able to use our proceeds to donate hundreds of dollars of books back to students to help build their home libraries. We hope to host another book fair with them again next school year!
On February 5th, we will be hosting the Teen Librarian from Rust Library. Students will be able to participate in make & take activities with a Valentine’s Day theme.
ACCESS testing for English Language students continues into February. State and federal law requires LCPS to annually assess all EL students in their English language proficiency. The test provides information about students’ English language abilities in school. ACCESS measures what students know and can do in English in the domains of Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking.
All students in English 11 or AP English Language will take the Writing SOL on March 11th and 12th. The Writing SOL is a two part test, multiple choice and short paper, taken over two days. If your student attends the Academies they will complete a make up later in the week. The Writing verified credit is a graduation requirement.
All spring SOL testing is included on the THS Testing website.
Questions? Please reach out to Mrs. Crawford, sommer.crawford@lcps.org.
Hey Husky Nation!
Our SY24 Sports Winter Seasons under way! We look forward to seeing you out to support our many teams as they strive for greatness!
Here are dates you need to know if you plan to participate in off-season conditioning for spring sports and what is needed to be ready to play:
All physicals for SY 24 must be dated after May 1, 2023 and be on the VHSL Physical Form – VHSL Physical Form
Please complete all four pages thoroughly. Any Physical missing signatures or information will be returned.
The online platform for SY 24 continues to take registration for spring sports and parents and athletes are encouraged to complete that process before the start of tryouts. Registration will not open for SY 25 (2024-2025) Athletics Seasons until July 1 2025. DO NOT register for SY 25 Sports before this time.
Students will need to take the Sudden Cardiac course through NFHS (https://nfhslearn.com/courses/sudden-cardiac-arrest) yearly and upload to the registration. Course length is approximately 15 min. Please create an account, take course, download or save a picture of certificate, you will need it for registration.
Returning Users: go to the website listed, sign in to your account, click ‘Register’ for returning students and ‘Add a New Student’ for new athletes in the family. Update your info and click Pay Later on the last page (there is no fee).
New Users: Please create an account, verify it, and follow the steps from above.
Please visit this link to contact individual sport coaches to inquire about out of season workout and tryout specifics. All Sport Coach List
Attention parents, families, and students! The successful SLED program is still being offered.
SLED is an afterschool program where students can receive academic support from teachers afterschool. This is a great opportunity for any student to come in and get help on assignments, relearning missed content, address questions about content, and get extra help studying or preparing for assessments.
The SLED program is scheduled for each Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30PM - 6:15 PM in the school library. A late bus will be available to provide transportation for SLED participants. No registration is necessary, just show up in the school library before 4:30 PM. Students will not be admitted after 4:30 PM.
This is a great way to kick off a successful second semester!