Dear Hayfield Secondary Families:
Welcome to the 2008-09 school year! We will begin our year with approximately 944
middle and 1764 high school students enrolled in our database. Our primary instructional initiative will be eCart implementation across the middle
school four-core and high school Biology and Algebra. Additionally, we will continue to refine our
use of Blackboard, Kagan (instructional strategies), Turning Point software (interactive PowerPoints for student electronic participation), and other
course-specific strategies.
We have expanded our
AVID program into eleventh grade; written and received several instructional
grants, one of which will continue to fund our College Board SAT Online initiative which is free for all of our
high school students (coordinated by English teachers); we will be streaming Arabic
instruction to students throughout FCPS and the Commonwealth of Virginia via
our high-tech classroom broadcast center; Hayfield has just hosted the FCPS system-wide
Leadership Conference once again; and we will continue to serve as one of the
main FCPS conference centers.
I just had the pleasure of mailing 293 perfect SOL certificates to students to recognize their
achievements in content knowledge acquisition this past year. Once again, our College Board Advanced Placement (AP) students have done very well. AP course offerings are our signature instructional program. In spring 2008, the percentage of exams on
which a score of 3 or higher was obtained (scale of 1 – 5) remained steady at
56 percent; however, we administered 118 more exams than in spring of 2007.
A fourth lunch has been added to our school schedule in
order to facilitate the movement of middle school students in the lunch
lines. Last spring, the department chairs
took this schedule adjustment opportunity to examine the position of the
constant period. They voted to move our
constant period from third period to first period thus, first period will meet
everyday. The department chairs and
teachers came to the general conclusion that the instructional positives of a
first period constant outweighed any negatives. The new schedule can be seen on our website under the "School Wide" pull down menu at the top of the page.
We are continuing to expand our middle school after school
program. Monday late buses, 3:30 p.m., will
begin on September 15 and Wednesday late buses, 3:45 p.m., will begin October
15. More information will be
forthcoming once school begins as we develop our available resources into clubs
and activities.
I have encumbered facility community use funds for two
projects: the conversion of the stairwell landing by exit 2 into another enclosed
gallery showcase and the addition of another building perimeter camera which
will watch over the exit one entrance. Neither of these initiatives will impact instructional funds.
There is a new and improved Keep in Touch (KIT) email system in FCPS. All families are entered by default via the
student SASI database. However, emails and data maintenance are
entered through the WeCare
initiative. Please sign-up for WeCare at the Hawk Fly-By packet pickup on August 13, 14, or 15; at Back-to-School Night; or at the Touching Base activity in
November. KIT will be used to communicate with you during emergencies and
other special times throughout the year.
The
fall sports teams have begun their initial practices, the marching band is practicing
on the field, ROTC cadets have returned from their summer experience, and the
building has been thoroughly cleaned. With
all teachers returning by August 25, we are primed to have a terrific and positive
school year. I recommend glancing at Hayfield Secondary's home page, www.fcps.edu/HayfieldSS,
to note upcoming events, to obtain staff email addresses, and to gather other
pertinent information throughout the year. All the best to you and your families as you enjoy the remaining summer
days. Go Hawks! Dr. Bill Oehrlein |
HH News 2008-09 > Principal's Messages >