As they say, time flies! With the quarter ending, I hope students enjoy the break from their computers on Monday and Tuesday, and that everyone has time to vote on Tuesday if you haven't already.

It’s been a busy week, with juniors and many staff arriving at Langley this morning for the PSAT. The Appreciation and Hospitality Committees of the PTSA were on hand to provide drinks, snacks and beautiful, handmade masks in Saxon colors to the staff helping with the testing.

A special thank you to Principal Greer for holding a Town Hall meeting this morning regarding the in-person instruction plan recently proposed by Superintendent Brabrand. Click here to listen to the Town Hall — the link also is posted on the LHS website. See fcps notes below for the Superintendent's plan.

Looking ahead, the PTSA has two programs slated for parents in November. Mark your calendars and join us Thurs, Nov 12, 12-1 pm for a virtual presentation,

Parenting During the Pandemic, with McLean-based psychotherapist Jennifer

Weaver. Read below for more information and the link.

On Wed, Nov 18 at 9:30 am, plan to attend our next virtual PTSA General Membership

Meeting. The guest speaker will be Kelly Rankin, Langley’s Substance Abuse

Prevention Specialist. She’ll share the latest findings from the FCPS Youth Survey

~ Kitty Gonzalez, PTSA President

Help Langley’s band program — please donate to its Virtual Tag Day campaign! Families might have noticed that band and color guard members haven’t come by this year as part of their annual fall fundraiser. Students normally go door-to-door for Tag Day, the band’s largest fundraiser of the year, but it wasn’t possible this year due to covid-19.

Family and community support for the band is needed even during distance learning. For example, the band program is still providing sectionals virtually, where professional musicians work with students. With the largest number of LHS band students ever this year, it needs additional instruments and equipment. Once school is back in-person, the band will need to outfit more Marching Saxons with uniforms. 

Students, mark you calendars — underclass photos will be taken on Nov 9 and Nov 16, 8:30 am-4pm. Click here to sign up for a time slot. On picture day, masks are required except when seated for pictures and students will enter and exit Langley through separate doors.

Photo packages can be ordered online both before and after picture day at mylifetouch. Use ID code EVT9F8SVT. (Camera cards or picture tickets aren’t required, and no orders will be taken on the picture days.)

Students will get a photo ID on site and the picture packages will be mailed to their homes. Questions? Contact Kelly Mulligan at kjmulligan@fcps.edu.

Sophomores and juniors, interest forms for the Virginia Governor’s School summer programs are due by Mon, Nov 9. (Late interest forms aren't accepted and applications can't move forward without an interest form.)

These four-week summer programs are aimed at those looking for a challenging and rewarding experience in visual/performing arts, humanities, agriculture, engineering, math/science/tech or health/medicine.

Click here for the academic interest form. Click here for the visual/performing arts form. Go here to learn more about all the Governor’s School programs and the application timelines.

Plan for a night off from cooking dinner! Langley’s swim and dive team is holding a fundraiser on Wed, Nov 4, 4-8pm at Chipotle (6707 Old Dominion Road). Place an order in-person or online for pickup. For online orders, use code 6RJGE6Q. For in-person orders, show them the flyer on your phone. Thanks for supporting our swim and dive team!

Come stroll around the LHS track to meet and connect with other Langley parents! Coordinated by the PTSA Family Network Committee, the next Saxon Parents Walk & Talk is Tues, Nov 10, 1:30-2:30 pm. Park in the rear of the Langley parking lot and meet on the track (masks required). Walks currently scheduled are:

Walks are loosely designated by grade, but feel free to attend any that fit your schedule. Check the PTSA Twitter feed for any weather-related cancellations @LangleyHS_PTSA.

Students nationwide have reported struggling with mental health during the pandemic. The PTSA is hosting a virtual presentation, Parenting During the Pandemic, on Thurs, Nov 12 at 12-1 pm to help Langley parents help their kids during this time.

McLean-based psychotherapist Jennifer Weaver will speak, offering insights into the range of heightened challenges including depression, loneliness, lack of motivation, anxiety or lack of impulse control that teens may be facing during the pandemic. She'll explain why teens may be keeping these feelings to themselves, and how parents can best support them during this time. Click here to join the presentation on Nov 12.

Congrats to chemistry teacher Kenny Torres, the winner of this week's teacher/staff raffle! The PTSA holds raffles throughout the year for those who are PTSA members. Teachers and staff — it’s not too late to join. Click here! Membership is updated each week before raffle winners are chosen.

Parents, please consider donating gift cards to support our staff and the raffle. Gift cards to stores such as Amazon, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts as well as local businesses are popular. All gift cards are greatly appreciated, but a larger number of gift cards in small dollar amounts helps us hold more raffles. To donate, contact Kristen Simko at kristen.simko@gmail.com.

Congrats also to Kathleen Vargas and Loretta Cranbourne, who each won a Saxon fleece blanket in the parent membership raffle! The PTSA is still welcoming new parent members and donations. Click here to join the Langley PTSA today!

Don't forget! You can send a shoutout to our Langley teachers and staff at any time. Use this form to write a note saying thank you. Then, the PTSA will transfer your note onto a larger, eye-catching Super Saxon Shoutout template and will deliver it to the recipient within a week to 10 days after your submission. There's no deadline. Send as many as you like!

Sending out a thank you to Claire Bradshaw and the Hospitality Committee and Sara Koenig and the Appreciation Committee, who provided a beautiful table of drinks, snacks and custom-made Saxon masks for all the teachers and staff helping with today's PSAT. The refreshments and mask were appreciated by all!

David Paine is a special education teacher at Langley, but he teaches a variety of subjects. “That's the thing about special ed,” Mr. Paine said, “we teach a wide range of subjects and it changes from year to year.” This year, he teaches algebra, biology and physics. In his six years teaching special ed at Langley, Mr. Paine has taught different subjects almost every year. “We're always adapting, trying to learn something new,” he added.

Special ed teachers also serve as case managers, working alongside students with Individual Education Plans to help them with their work. They set up meetings with support services, communicate with their students and help them plan for their work and future. The goal is to make sure their students are set up for success.

Mr. Paine didn’t start out as a special ed teacher – he was an athletic trainer at Langley for three years and also worked as a teacher’s assistant and a substitute. “Special ed chose me through different events over time,” he said. Mr. Paine's first experience working with people with disabilities was in college. “In my senior year of college, I took an internship at Gallaudet University and worked with the football team there,” he explained. Mr. Paine didn’t know sign language and tried to learn. He also had interpreters and technology to assist. “That … was where one of the seeds got planted,” he added.

After graduating from George Mason University in 2012 as a certified athletic trainer and working at LHS, Mr. Paine took a position in special ed at Hayfield SS while he completed his master’s in special ed. He was happy to return to Langley six years ago. “We have a great bunch of special ed teachers at Langley and we work really well together to make things work for our students,” Mr. Paine said.

… that Fairfax County and FCPS partnered with Truth Initiative to offer a free quit vaping text message program, This is Quitting, designed for teens and young adults.

Students can enroll by texting VapeFreeFFX to 88709 and receive one support text each day before and at least 60 days after their quit date. Read about the partnership and the program here.

Read this section for class news and click the green class buttons to go to each class page for more details.

Didn’t order a senior yard sign? Here’s your chance! By popular demand, we're placing a reorder on the senior class yard signs — order deadline is Mon, Nov 9. They’ll be available for pick-up in early November at a location in McLean and another in Great Falls.

Go to MySchoolBucks to order. Signs are $15 each. Order more than one!

You can add your senior’s name to the sign or choose the non-personalized option.

Parents, please note that the Sophomore Class Parent Forum on Nov 10 has been cancelled.

At a recent School Board work session, Superintendent Brabrand announced that high school students are tentatively scheduled to return for in-person instruction on Jan 26, 2021. Click here for the presentation's slide deck or watch a video here. Principal Greer held a Town Hall virtual meeting this morning to provide more details and answer questions. Click here to listen to Principal Greer's Town Hall. The link also is posted on the LHS website.

Students electing in-person instruction would have two days of instruction in the building and two days of instruction at home; students electing all-virtual learning would continue to receive four days of instruction at home. Teachers would be giving instruction concurrently to those online at home and those in person at school. Mondays would remain asynchronous for everyone. Some FCPS high schools are currently piloting this plan, and Dr. Brabrand will report on the pilot at the Nov 12 School Board work session.

In July, FCPS asked parents to select in-school or all-virtual learning. FCPS will assume that choice is unchanged, but you can click here before Nov 6 at 11 pm to change your choice. FCPS indicates that it will try to accommodate the request.

Sign up for the local Rise Against Hunger 5k! Register here and complete your own 5k or 10k between Nov 5-10. Students can earn community service credit — just send your bib number and a screen shot of your race time to riseagainstagainhungermclean@gmail.com.

upcoming events

Nov 10: Sophomore Parent Forum, 9:30 am - cancelled