Knightly Newsletter #4

Please read on for important testing and Homecoming info along with calendar updates and other reminders!

Calendar reminders

September 19-21: vision and hearing screening for 10th graders *students should bring their glasses or wear their contacts!!*

Monday, Sept. 26: Teacher work day (student holiday)

Friday, Sept. 30: Homecoming and 10 Year Anniversary Celebration

Saturday, Oct. 1: Homecoming Dance 8pm-11pm

Wednesday, Oct. 5: School holiday

Monday, Oct. 10: School holiday

School Pictures

Grades 9-11 will have their school portraits taken on September 27-28 through their English classes.

Senior portrait makeups are October 27-28 at JCHS.

Senior Yearbook Ads

THE QUEST invites you to include personalized messages in your graduate’s senior yearbook. These special tributes can come from parents, grandparents, siblings, friends, pets, etc. They can be purchased for graduates, groups of friends, and/or entire teams or clubs. Please click here for size pricing, helpful info for creating your ad, and how to submit your order.

Activity Buses

We are so thrilled to report that we will have activity buses run after school this year so students can access after school groups, support, and attend assigned consequences so as not to interfere with the school day. Bus #2058 will run every Tuesday and Wednesday, departing Champe by 5:30pm.

10 Year Anniversary

Now that it's September, we are in full prep for a day of celebrating our tenth year of excellence in conjunction with Homecoming. Sponsors are still needed to support our tenth year. Donations can be made in SchoolCash Online. Thank you so much!

Do you or someone you know have access to a large barrier boulder, similar to the spirit rocks we have in the front of the building and along the stadium parking lot? We are interested in having a "celebration rock" for students, families, or clubs to rent during the year to paint for birthdays or other special occasions. If you have a boulder to donate or might like to be our sponsor to acquire one, please contact meghan.bonner@lcps.org. Thank you!

Teacher Cadet Program

The Teacher Cadet program is a “grow our own” initiative that consists of two dual-enrollment (DE) courses offered to high school students in Grade 11 and Grade 12 who may be interested in pursuing a career in education. You can read more, including the important dates, here. The Teacher Cadet student interest form is now available to current Grade 10 students. Students may express interest for the 2023 - 2024 SY via the Student Opportunities portal in LCPSGO.

World Language Credit Through Testing (CTT)

Students eligible to test for the Seal of Biliteracy may register for their test now through October 21.

Advanced Placement Exams

If your student is enrolled in an AP course, please click here for information to plan for the AM exams that take place in May. The registration deadline is November 4.

PSAT Day

Students in grades 9-11 will take the PSAT at school on October 12. Seniors will be involved in a senior class meeting for graduation, class photo, and other information at that time.

JOIN THE PTSA!!

Our school is strong because our families are involved. We invite all students, parents, and staff members to start or renew your annual PTSA membership. It's as easy as visiting our membership portal, selecting your membership type, and completing the online form.

Need to get in touch? Reach us by email (johnchampeptsa@gmail.com), check out our website (http://jchampeptsa.org/) or check out our social accounts.

HOMECOMING

We're gearing up for a great week of Homecoming festivities and anniversary celebrations at the end of September. We'll be looking for participation and help from students to make each event a success. Help encourage your student to be involved to make it a great memory for them!

Spirit Days

Tues 09/27: Country vs. Country Club

Wed 09/28: Main Character (Disney, Marvel, or Pixar character)

Thurs 09/29: Decades Day (9th = 1990s; 10th = 1950s; 11th = 1960s/70s; 12th = 1980s; staff = 2000s)

Fri 09/30: Class Colors (9th = white; 10th = silver; 11th = navy; 12th = all three)

Dance Tickets (October 1 8-11pm)

Sept. 13-21 = $25 online only

Sept. 22-28 = $30 online only

Sept. 29-30 = $30 cash only during lunches

pick up during lunches Sept. 27-30

Check with your class council for other ways to be involved (Schoology groups).

Clubs

Last week, students were able to visit the club fair during lunches and access the virtual club fair listing of active groups for this fall. Please encourage students to find at least one way to connect at school. Data show that students actively engaged in school life perform better academically and have fewer attendance and discipline incidences.

Service

Students can join a Knights Give Back Schoology course for their graduating class to review information about Champe's community service recognition program. Click the button below if your student missed this in advisory last week.

Athletics

We love our student athletes, and we love our students who support our athletes. One easy way to join is participating in spirit days and cheering loudly and appropriately with Champe Chaos (the student section) at games.

Sept. 23: Neon Out

Sept. 30: Class Colors (Freshmen = white; Sophomores = silver; Juniors = navy; Seniors = all three)

Another way is volunteering at concessions. Check out the openings still available for fall sports concessions in the sign-up here.

College and Career Center

Ms. King in the College and Career Center shares several newsletters throughout the year. You can check here for her post-secondary newsletter, here for work opportunities, and here for scholarship information.

September 22, 2022: Financial Aid Night - Parents of college bound students (Fall 2023) should attend this seminar to learn about your many financial options on how to pay for college. It will be hosted at Lightridge High School. 7pm-8:30pm Auditorium.

September 25, 2022: College Fair, Independence High School, 3pm-5pm. Registration is highly recommended. Click HERE to register.

October 12, 2022: FAFSA Workshop - If you need assistance in completing the FAFSA, plan to attend this workshop. This workshop will be hosted at JCH. 6:30pm-8:30pm - CAFE.

October 18, 2022: The College Funding Coach - Send your kids to college without going broke! This parent workshop will discuss the many avenues available to fund your child's college tuition and housing costs. It will be held at John Champe in the Library from 6:30pm-8:00pm Sign up today! Click HERE to make your reservation.

College representative visits started last week in the CCC and go through December 8. Students can sign up for specific visits in Naviance (instructions are in student email accounts).

Sept. 19-21, 2022 - vision and hearing testing (10th graders; be sure to wear your contacts or glasses, if applicable)

through September 23 - MAP and i-Ready testing
September 22, 2022 - Financial aid workshop (Lightridge, 7pm)

September 23, 2022 - Club meetings during advisory

September 25, 2022 - College Fair (Independence, 3pm)

September 26, 2022 - Countywide PD Day (No school for students)

September 27-30, 2022 - HoCo Spirit Week

September 30, 2022 - Homecoming game (vs Osbourn Park)

October 1, 2022 - Homecoming Dance 8pm-11pm

October 12, 2022- PSAT day for underclassmen; senior class meeting

November 4, 2022 - AP Exam registration deadline

Reminders:

First Day of School Information

Please sign into ParentVUE to complete the Online Verification process as part of Loudoun County Public Schools’ First Day of School Information initiative. This process is required for all families to review and update important information about their students as we begin the 2022-23 school year, and must be completed no later than Friday, September 23. Once completed, you will be able to view student schedules and bus information in ParentVUE.

If you do not have a ParentVUE account, please contact the school of any of your students to request an Activation Letter. For more information about this Online Verification process, along with FAQs about the First Day of School, please visit: www.lcps.org/FirstDay.

School Nutrition

Students are able to purchase both breakfast and lunch at school. Breakfast starts at $2 and lunch at $3.15. You can click here to see the full price list, access the cafeteria payment portal to put money on your student's account, and check menus. Remember, the Titan payment portal is new, so you may need to create your account still; also, this is a separate account from the one you will use for school-based purchases. Click here to read more and access the free/reduced meal application.

Online Payments

LCPS has moved to a different online payment system this year. You can click here to go to SchoolCash to register or sign in. It is very important that you register, as you are only able to view items for purchase if you have registered. Additionally, the system itself is a little different in how it's formatted and how staff members arrange items to be set up for students and families to view. We appreciate your patience with us, but very soon you will be able to view items necessary for your student, athlete, or community contributions like the 10-year sponsorships or classwide donations.

Would you like to contribute to our "Excellence Everywhere" section? We're looking to highlight achievements in careers (where are our alums and what are they doing now?), athletics, arts, etc. as we celebrate ten years of excellence from our John Champe Community. Have an update to share? Please complete this form to tell us more about the student(s).