Newsletters

• Be sure to search "News You Choose" on the FCPS website and sign up for Herndon High School information. We send general information at least once per week. You must opt in to receive this information. 
• Naviance is the primary way we communicate information from the Career Center. Mrs. Peirce sends out a comprehensive list of information each week, mostly for seniors. You do not need to sign up for this, however, you can change your settings to increase or decrease the number of communications you receive. 
• eNotify is used when all school community members need information at the same time. We use this to communicate important schoolwide deadlines, emergency information, etc. You do not need to sign up for this. Your information pulls directly from the Student Information System. You cannot opt out of this program. 

Social Media

Follow us! Herndon High School is on social media!

• Facebook - Find your child's class page, "Herndon High School Class of..."
• Instagram - @HerndonHighSchoolSocial
• X - @HerndonHS

Great news! All students kept their Chromebooks last school year. Freshmen will receive their Chromebooks through their English 9 classes. New students will receive their Chromebooks in the first days of school. 

For the Minimalist

Does your student like to keep all items in one place and/or continually add to their collection of assignments, notes, or other worksheets throughout the school year?

• One large 3-ring binder or two 3-ring binders (one for each red days and black days)
• Loose leaf paper (college ruled)
• Dividers
• Pens and pencils

For the Master of Concentration

Does your student like to keep a collection of notebooks, to clearly separate one subject from the other, and/or to have the flexibility to study one subject at a time? 

• Seven individual spiral notebooks (one for each class) or multi-subject spiral notebooks
• Seven 2-pocket folders (one for each class)
• Pens and pencils

Tuesday 8/13

• HornetFest (4:30 pm) and Freshman/New Parent Night (6:30 pm)

Thursday 8/15

• Freshmen/New Student Orientation (9-11 am)

Monday 8/19

• First day of school
• It's a Red Day! Period 1, 3, 5, & 7 

Wednesday 9/4

• Back to School Night

Upcoming Events

Great news! Our Herndon High School calendar is now updated on the school website. No more digging for information. Please note that athletic events and club meetings will not appear here. This calendar is used for community-specific events, such as parent meetings, school holidays, performing arts events, etc.

Bell Schedule and Rotation Calendar

Herndon High School Bell Schedule and Red/Black Day Calendar with Stinger Rotation

Stinger Rotations

Sample 1

Sample 2

All red/black days will appear in student planners. Tuesday, Aug 20th is the first black day. All students report to their TA (4th Period) class during Stinger time. 

Phones must be placed in a zippered pouch strapped to student desk at the beginning of each class. 

No phones should be seen or heard during class time, except for an optional 5-minute break at the discretion of the teacher. 

Herndon High School uses a Standards-Based approach to instruction and grading. 

What is it?

Standards-Based Instruction means teachers will intentionally plan their teaching and assessments based on prescribed curricular standards.

Standards are determined by:

• Virginia Department of Education
• FCPS
• College Board for AP
• Participating Colleges for DE

Two Different Gradebook Views

What you see in SIS ParentVUE:

What you see in the Progress Report:

Overall View

Course Standards

Formative Work

Grading Formative Work

Ground Rules

• Not a completion grade
• Graded as if it were the summative
• Summative grades, if better, will replace formative grades

Formative assessments will be recorded in SIS before a summative takes place

Work Habits

An Assignment Type called "Work Habits" will be entered for each course and weighted at zero percent of the overall grade. 

Subject/Course teams will define the work habits that contribute to success in their class and will communicate student progress in this area as: 

• Exceeds Expectations (100)
• Meets Expectations (80)
• Developing (60)
• Missing (0)

Counts v Matters

Just because it doesn't "count" in the grade doesn't mean it won't "matter!"

New FCPS Change 

• 70% Summative
• 30% Formative

Previous Gradebook Setup (100% Summative Grading)

New Gradebook Setup (70% Summative) 

Overall Gradebook Setup and Breakdown

When reading ParentVUE, disregard the Resources, Score Type, and Points columns. 

Minimum number of assignments per quarter:

• 2 summative
• 7 total assignments (formative + summative)

Original Plan

To minimize the number of assignments visible in the gradebook at any given time, formative assignments will be hidden once the summative assessment took place

New Plan:

Formative assignments must roll for the duration of the school year. All assignments will remain visible throughout the school year. We can only hide “work habits” when no longer relevant. 

Teachers will determine if the grade for certain standards will be determined based on fully replacing the previous grade or by averaging the summative assessments with the previous summative grades for a single standard.

Students will be able to keep track of whether standard grades are replaced or averaged in their student agenda.

All FCPS teachers must have access to the score of Zero (0) for situations in which there is no evidence of student learning. 

We will use these codes for all classes:

• MI: Missing (0)
• SB: Scored Below (50)
• LA: Late (no penalty)

Student Preparation

Previous Practice

Students were responsible for completing all formative work leading up to the summative assessments.

Problem

Students stated they might not complete formative assignments because they “didn’t count." This, in turn, adversely impacted their performance in the class.

New Practice

Impactful and engaging lessons about the importance of formative assignments in the learning process, as well as other work habits and executive functioning skills that contribute to student success were created. These lessons will be the focus in TA & classrooms at the onset of the upcoming school year.

TA Lessons

• Student Rights and Responsibilities 
• Standards-Based Instruction and Grading
• Organization and Time Management
• The Learning Process
• Schoology & the Library
• Portrait of a Graduate
• Growth Mindset and Self-Advocacy

Classroom Lessons

• Expectations and Routines
• What Learning Looks like in This Class
• Achieving Individual Academic Success
• Building Community
• Setting a Foundation for Success

All meetings will be held at both 8:30 am and 6:30 pm in the Herndon HS Cafeteria. 

• August 8th, 2024
• November 14th, 2024
• February 13th, 2025
• May 22nd, 2025

We look forward to working together this school year!