View our PSHS 22-23 Student Handbook here

April is Month Of The Military Child (MOMC)

April is the Month of the Military Child and is a time to show admiration and respect for our nation's youngest heroes–military children! 

Month of the Military Child Activity Calendar April 2023 Provided by PWCS & the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) Education Partnership and Resources
Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
April 3–10 No School – Spring Break
10	11	12	13	14
NO SCHOOL Professional Development Day	Marine Corps Museum Virtual Learning Activity	Wear it Wednesday Wear bright colors to thank our troops for helping America shine bright	Rep Your Branch Wear your favorite shirt or sweatshirt "repping" your favorite branch of service	R.E.D. Day "Remember Everyone Deployed" by wearing RED
17	18	19	20	21
Patriotic Day Wear patriotic colors and attire	Hats Off Day  "Hats off" to our military–wear your favorite hat or head gear	Purple Up! Day Wear PURPLE to show your support for military kids Light Up the KLC!	Camouflage Day Wear camo like the men and women in the armed forces	NO SCHOOL Observance of Eid-al-Fitr
24	25	26	27	28
Superhero Day Wear patriotic colors and attire	Salute Day Salute your military connected friends and thank them for their service	Wave Your Banner Create a wave of flags by wearing a shirt with an American flag on it	Boots on the Ground Wear your favorite boots to show your support	R.E.D. Day "Remember Everyone Deployed" by wearing RED

Northern Virginia Community College's Fab Lab spring design challenge is underway. The Fab Lab is the makerspace of NVCC Manassas. They offer a design challenge every semester and this semester's prompt is to design something that would benefit your community while being made primarily from upcycled materials. The Challenge is open to anyone enrolled in middle school, high school, or a post-secondary (college/university) educational institute within the USA. The grand prize is $1000, with $500 for the division champions and $250 for the honorable mentions. The submission requirement is a written description of the idea as well as some sort of visual representation, such as a sketch or CAD model. The deadline is April 30th and the submission site opened last week. More information can be found here, on the NVCC website

Week of 3/27/23

Final week of Q3! Please be reminded that the quarter ends on Friday, 3/31 followed by our Spring Break from 4/3 – 4/10 with students returning to classes on 4/11. We will be encouraging our students and staff to step away from email and devices for the duration of the break so please be patient if you send any correspondence to staff members after Friday. Our building will be closed for the duration of Spring Break. 

COLLEGE NIGHT: Want help planning for college? Join other students and parents/guardians at the Education Credit Management Corporation (ECMC) College Night —a free, college-planning event being held at Potomac on Tuesday, March 28th at 6:00 pm. This is a joint event sponsored by Freedom, Gar-Field and Potomac and is open to all grade levels; however, Junior students are strongly encouraged to attend.

You'll get straight answers and simple strategies. Experienced professionals will take the mystery out of financial aid and guide you through the process of planning and paying for college. College Nights can help you start to see college as an affordable, attainable goal and give you the necessary tools to get there. We’ll see you there!

DEVICE MONITORING: PWCS seeks to shape students into digital citizens using information technology to better the world around them. This includes using digital tools to explore and exchange ideas safely and responsibly. Through a partnership with Bark, PWCS is pleased to provide a potential solution for families who may wish to monitor personal devices provided to their children.

Through this partnership with PWCS, Bark is now offering all PWCS families Bark Jr for free (normally $5 per month) and Bark Premium for 20% off full price (now $80 per year). Using Bark Jr, parents and guardians can manage screen time, block websites and apps, and get location alerts. Bark Jr works on Apple, Amazon, and Android devices. Bark Premium monitors texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and platforms, web searches and saved photos & videos. Parents will receive parental monitoring alerts for issues like cyberbullying, online predators, suicidal ideation. Bark Premium can also help manage screen time, block websites and apps, and get location alerts and check-ins.

Parents/guardians can get the discount via this link or sign up using J4S5MQ3 as the referral/promo code when signing up via Bark website.

• UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • March 31: End of 3rd Quarter 
  • April 3 – 7: Spring Break (NO SCHOOL) 
  • April 10: Teacher Workday (NO SCHOOL) 
  • April 21: Holiday (NO SCHOOL)
  • April 22: Potomac Prom @ Marine Corps Museum 
  • June 10: Graduation @ 2:30pm at EagleBank Arena 
  • June 15: Last Day of School 

Week of 3/20/23

SOLs: We’re also moving into SOL testing season! Each core department has formalized SOL preparation plans with many offerings free after-school opportunities for additional assistance. Students are encouraged to work with their teachers to participate in in-person SOL readiness opportunities or to take advantage of online resources such as IXL.com and Paper Tutoring to ensure that they go into their tests confident and ready to pass with flying colors!

POTOMAC STUDENT SUPPORT: One of Potomac's very own, Bezawit Abate, has been named a finalist for America's Next Great Intern national competition! She is one of 16 finalists selected to showcase top-tier communication skills essential for the workplace. The competition challenges students to showcase their employability skills and teaches students how strong employability skills can help to secure sought-after internships and jobs. You can help support Bezawit by voting for her to win HERE by 4/7. Let’s help one of our Potomac Panthers earn this well-deserved national recognition! Congratulations to Bezawit and her Business teacher, Ms. Tillar!

DRESS CODE: With warmer weather on the horizon, we will begin reminding all students of dress code expectations at Potomac. As detailed in our Potomac Student Handbook, all students are expected to dress for success each day by ensuring that there is adequate coverage above and below the waist, removing hats or headwear, and wearing clothes with appropriate messaging as well. Students found to be out of compliance will be warned, have parents notified, and will be provided an opportunity to change clothes; however, please be advised that repeat offenders will receive disciplinary consequences.

Our Potomac PTSO continues to shine! Recently our PTSO has committed to supporting our Culinary program, assisting with our Potomac Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony, and hosted our Potomac Parent Townhall (presentation linked HERE) to discuss substance abuse prevention too. The more we support our PTSO, the more they can support our students and staff and it’s not too late to join! Please join our Potomac PTSO by using THIS link to pay yearly membership of $20/family or $10/faculty member. Our PTSO meets regularly to discuss community partnerships, receive information regarding school events, and plan ways to provide student support. The next meeting will be held virtually on April 20th at 7pm.

Week of 3/13/23

STUDENT JOBS & CAREER FAIR: PWCS is hosting an in-person job fair for students interested in working as Student Aides during PWCS’s Summer School Program: Tuesday, March 21, 2023, 5:30 p.m. - 7:00p.m. at the Kelly Leadership Center (14715 Bristow Road, Manassas, 20112)

A committee of School Division personnel will meet with applicants to conduct interviews.  To be considered for PWCS Summer Student Aide ($14.34/hr.) positions, applicants must:

• Be age 16 or older, as of June 22, 2023
• Complete a PWCS online application (Go to https://jobs.pwcs.edu/WorkSpace/ and complete the “Summer School Classified” application)
• Obtain one completed reference. Reference forms and requirements are located on the PWCS Web site, www.pwcs.edu, select “Employment” then “Summer Employment”
• Attend the Summer Job Fair
• Applicants must print and bring a copy of the completed online application and the completed school reference(s) to the job fair.

Week of 3/6/23

• There’s lots to celebrate at Potomac! In the past few weeks, we have had a student win the VHSL State Championship in the Triple Jump for Indoor Track, new Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society inductees, 1^st and 2^nd Place finishers in the district SkillsUSA Welding competition hosted at Potomac, and our teachers/staff were recently commended for progress on our Continuous Improvement Plan. 
• CAMPUS POLICY: REMINDER! To promote safety and security for all our students and staff, Potomac Senior High School is a closed campus. Students are not allowed to order deliveries to the school and also not allowed to leave the school grounds during the school day for lunch or any other reason. Students who are found to have left school grounds during the school day will receive disciplinary consequences and will not have access to afterschool buses.

Week of 2/27/23

STUDENT DISCIPLINE UPDATE: Please see a few student discipline notes below:

• Attendance remains a priority at Potomac! All students are expected to be in class on time each day. We will continue with regularly scheduled unannounced “Tardy Sweeps” which will result in immediate consequences for students who are not in their classes on-time.

LUNCH REMINDERS: Please be sure to have your student’s lunch account current by March 3rd, 2023. Payments may be made using cash, check made payable to “PWCSFNS”, or credit card through “My School Bucks”. My School Bucks can be accessed via their website, www.myschoolbucks.com. Please visit www.pwcsnutrition.com for additional information regarding our free/reduced lunch program or to apply.

• For safety/security purposes in addition to being mindful of potential student allergies, please be advised that food delivery from any external restaurants, including services such as UberEats, GrubHub, Door Dash, etc., are not permitted during the school day.

24/7 ONLINE TUTORING: REMINDER! Potomac HS has partnered with PAPER, a 24/7 academic support tutoring platform, to allow students to safely and securely chat with an expert tutor anytime, anywhere, for free. Whether students need help clarifying homework questions or feedback on a written assignment, they can receive on-demand and unlimited help when they need it. 

Week of 2/21/23

 PROGRESS CHECK: Student attendance and grades remain viewable in ParentVUE 24/7. Gradebook reports should include semester grades and a good sampling of 3^rd Quarter grades as well. I am asking that parents be intentional about checking student attendance and grades via ParentVUE on Friday, February 24 in the place on previous “Interim Report Cards”. As we begin to approach the end of the school year, please be sure to work with your student and our Potomac staff to stay current on student progress. A few indicators of student success include:

• Consistently attending all classes
• Completing formative practice opportunities, such as homework or classwork
• Taking advantage of retake opportunities on summative assessments, such as tests
• Making use of the FREE late (4pm) buses on Tuesdays and Thursdays for extra assistance

Please be sure to reach out to your student’s counselor, teacher, or administrator with questions.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE & MENTAL HEALTH: As national and local laws regarding marijuana use and possession have changed, student access to vapes and THC-infused edibles has risen. Several clinical studies show that vaping/nicotine/THC-use negatively affects memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, mood, lung functioning, and worsening symptoms of depression and anxiety.

At Potomac, we take substance abuse very seriously due to the negative physical and mental health effects these substances have on our students, and we often find that our parents are not aware of the facts surrounding vapes and THC-infused edibles. Please see THIS attached graphic made just for our Potomac parents.

As a reminder, vaping, edibles, and all other forms of substance abuse are strictly prohibited by the PWCS Code of Conduct and Potomac HS Student Handbook and student use will result in disciplinary consequences. Please reach out to your student’s Administrator or Counselor for questions or to request additional support.

Week of 2/13/23

SPRING SPORTS: Spring athletics are gearing up! Please see THIS flyer with Potomac Spring Sports tryout schedules.

EMERGENCY CARDS: As Prom, Graduation, and other spring events get closer, please be sure to have your student’s online Emergency Card information updated in ParentVUE to avoid any issues limiting student participation. Instructions for completing the information can be found HERE. If you didn’t complete the New School Year Packet towards the beginning of the year, please be sure to update the online Emergency Card information by Friday, 2/17!

2ND QUARTER HONOR ROLL:  Visit our official Potomac HS YouTube page HERE to view a list of our students who earned 2nd Quarter Honor Roll (3.0+) and Principal’s Honor Roll (4.0+) status. We are so proud of the commitment to RESULTS shown by these students! Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up-to-date on information and events at Potomac.

Week of 2/6/23

Our Potomac School Counseling Department has also created a monthly newsletter and this month's theme is Self-Care and Self-Love. Please check out the PSHS Counseling newsletter HERE.

AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES: The following 2 expectations continue to be strictly enforced.

• All students waiting for 2nd run buses must wait in the cafeteria.
• All students staying for afterschool activities or athletics must be with their teacher, sponsor, or coach by 2:15p.

Any students found to be in any locations other than those listed above after school will receive school discipline for being in an unauthorized area.

Week of 1/26/23

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM: Reminder! Parents play a key role in making sure students are present in school to access learning opportunities and ensuring students understand why attendance is so important for success in school and life after Potomac. A “Chronically Absent” student is defined as any student missing 10% (18 days) or more school days each year regardless of reason and is one of the most critical metrics of our VDOE Accreditation and our 22 -23 Potomac Continuous Improvement Plan because studies show direct ties between student attendance and student achievement.

Week of 1/17/23

POTOMAC FOOD PANTRY: Our Parent Liaison, Mrs. Castro, continues to partner with local businesses to support students and families by offering an onsite food pantry for all our families at Potomac! Our goal is to support our Potomac families by making sure that all student have basic hygiene necessities and no student goes hungry!

Week of 1/9/23

ATTENDANCE UPDATE: One of the biggest indicators of student success continues to be consistent on-time attendance and we’ll continue to reinforce attendance expectations with all of our students throughout the year. We will continue with regularly scheduled unannounced “Tardy Sweeps” which will result in immediate consequences for students who are not in their classes on-time. Please see 3 quick reminders below:

1. Be in class BEFORE the bell rings! Any student arriving to their classroom after the bell is tardy.
2. Make morning drop-offs by 7:15a! Although school starts at 7:25a, dropping students off after 7:15a runs the risk of students being unable to make it in the building and to their class before the bell rings.
3. Follow Student Drop-Off procedures! After turning in at the marquee, take the 4th right into the underclassmen lot and then an immediate right to drop off at the sidewalk leading up the steps toward the school. Please do not drop your students off at any other location. Check out the drop-off procedures outlined in THIS student-produced video.

Week of 12/12/22

COLLEGE AND CAREER PLANNING:  The winter months also mark the time when college applications come into focus for many Senior students and families. Please see school/county resources below and feel free to contact Potomac’s College and Career Counselor, Ms. Austin (AustinSL@pwcs.edu) with questions.

• Need step by step assistance with the FAFSA? Click HERE
• Need US Department of Education Federal Student Aid Resources? Click HERE
• Need PWCS College and Career Portal (Financial Aid Resources and Countywide Presentations) Resources? Click HERE

Week of 12/5/22

BUILDING ACCESS: Parents, please be reminded that our building does not open until 7am for students. Any students dropped off beforehand are welcome to wait outside, however student entry will not be permitted until appropriate staffing and supervision is ready inside the building beginning at 7am.

YEARBOOKS: Our Potomac Yearbook staff is busy building an awesome 2023 Potomac Prowler yearbook! Order your copy early or purchase your Senior Ads HERE!  Please email our Yearbook Advisor, Mr. Joseph Wilke (wilkeja@pwcs.edu), with any questions. 

Week of 11/28/22

STUDENT IMMUNIZATIONS: REMINDER! The extended deadline for students to meet the immunization requirement for mandatory immunizations for public school enrollment is December 14, 2022. You are able to look up your student’s non-compliant immunizations in ParentVue by clicking the “Health” tab.  If you have questions, please contact the school nurse or visit the immunization requirements webpage linked HERE. 

Potomac families with uninsured students or those who do not have a primary care provider are encouraged to call the Prince William County Health District at 703.792.7300 for information about upcoming school immunization clinics.

Week of 11/21/22

ATTENDANCE UPDATE: One of the biggest indicators of student success is consistent on-time attendance and we’ll continue to reinforce attendance expectations with all of our students throughout the year.

This past week, our tardy matrix was updated to utilize quarterly total tardy count for referrals and consequences. The updated matrix includes the following consequences for tardies: 5 = WARNING, 7 = DETENTION, 9 = SATURDAY DETENTION (2hr), 11 = SATURDAY SCHOOL (4hr), 13+ = OSS. Please see our Potomac Student Handbook HERE with more details. 

   - Tardy Sweeps will continue with immediate consequences for those caught.

Week of 11/7/22

 AFTERSCHOOL ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE: To further promote our commitment to student success, late buses are available at 4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for students to receive extra assistance with teachers or to meet with school-sponsored clubs/organizations afterschool! Please encourage your student to check their teacher’s availability to utilize Tuesday or Thursday late buses for opportunities to deepen their learning beyond class time. We would like to thank our partners at Grace Church for assisting with making this early intervention strategy a reality.

Week of 10/31/22

STUDENT ATTENDANCE UPDATE: 

1. Be in class BEFORE the bell rings! Any student arriving to their classroom after the bell is tardy.
2. Make morning drop-offs by 7:15am! Although school starts at 7:25am, dropping students off after 7:15am runs the risk of students being unable to make it in the building and to their class before the bell rings.
3. Follow Student Drop-Off procedures! After turning in at the marquee, take the 4th right into the underclassmen lot and then an immediate right to drop off at the sidewalk leading up the steps toward the school. After you drop your student off, drive straight ahead to the top of the hill and make a left turn to exit school grounds. Please yield to students throughout the parking lot and do not drop your students off at any other location.
4. Avoid disciplinary consequences! In the coming weeks, our Administrative team will be processing discipline for tardies and absences and conducting tardy sweeps throughout the building with students receiving consequences described in our Student Handbook linked HERE.

Week of 9/11/22

ACTIVITY BUSES: Potomac Activity Buses are back! Each Tuesday and Thursday, students can work with their teachers to stay after school for access to clubs/activities and additional remediation or enrichment opportunities for their classes with FREE bus transportation offered. Students riding Activity Buses will be picked up from Potomac at 4:15pm and may be dropped off at more general stops throughout the community instead of their normal AM/PM bus stops. Please contact our administrator coordinating transportation, Mrs. Regina Nash (NashRM@pwcs.edu), with questions.

POTOMAC ATHLETICS TICKETS: Starting November 2nd, all HOME game tickets, and athletic passes will be sold online only! Tickets will be available via Ticket Spicket by clicking HERE.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE & MENTAL HEALTH: Recent studies show that roughly 20% of national high school students reported using e-cigarettes or “vapes” in 2020. While it is well known that nicotine harms developing brains, there are also troubling links between vaping/nicotine negatively affecting memory, concentration, learning, self-control, attention, mood, lung functioning, and worsening symptoms of depression and anxiety.

At Potomac, we take vaping very seriously due to the negative physical and mental health effects vaping can have on our students and we often find that our parents are not aware of the facts surrounding vaping. Please see the attached infographic, A Parent’s Guide To Vaping, from a similarly large county in Minnesota with valuable information.

As a reminder, vaping and all other forms of substance abuse are strictly prohibited by the PWCS Code of Conduct and Potomac HS Student Handbook and student use will result in disciplinary consequences. Please reach out to your student’s Administrator or Counselor for questions or to request additional support.

STUDENTVUE: 

This app is where students access bus and class schedules, grades, attendance information.  StudentVue accounts are already created for students.  

There are two ways to access StudentVue:
1. Go to Google Chrome and enter this link: studentvue.pwcs.edu

2. Download the StudentVUE app by searching "StudentVUE" in the Apple iTunes or Google Play stores.

The mobile app will ask for a district address. It is: https://va-pwcps-psv.edupoint.com/

Log in with your username@pwcs-edu.org (your county email address and your password) and click Login.

If you can log into other county applications, but cannot log into StudentVue, please verify that you are logging in with your whole email address.  For example if your username is JamesAF22, you will log into StudentVue with JamesAF22@pwcs.edu.  

If you have forgotten your county/network password, go to Password Self Serve to reset it. Please note that you can't reset just your StudentVUE password.  You must reset your network password.  The new password that you save will become the password that gets you into your school issued laptop, Office365, Canvas, and StudentVue.

If you are unable to reset your password from home, it may be because your password has expired.  When you arrive to school on Monday, you should be able to successfully reset it.  

If you are trying to access your schedule, an option would be to have your parent or guardian log into their ParentVUE account.

22 – 23 BUS UPDATE: Bus schedules are available in ParentVUE . Please download the Here Comes the Bus mobile app that allows you to track your student’s buses in real-time. 

LAPTOP DISTRIBUTION: Every Potomac student will have the opportunity to check-out a laptop again this year.  It is expected that students have their laptop with them each day and students/families will be held responsible for appropriate use and damaged laptops.

LAPTOP INSURANCE: We highly encourage each family to take advantage of the optional insurance being offered through a partnership with Securranty and Prince William County Public Schools.  Families will be responsible for any damage, including accidental damage, that occurs to student laptops this year and this insurance coverage can help provide peace of mind. Please visit the Securranty website by clicking HERE for more information about this insurance policy and to purchase the insurance directly.

PARENTVUE: Throughout the school year, parents will be asked to log-in to ParentVUE to stay current on school information including class schedules, attendance, grades, and emergency card information. 

If you need assistance with accessing or activating your ParentVUE account, please contact your child's grade level secretary. Please indicate your full name, your child’s full name, and your telephone number.

9th grade: Ms. Katelynn Manetta -  manettka@pwcs.edu 

10th grade:   Mrs. Vela - VelaCP@pwcs.edu

11th grade:   Mrs. Covington - CovingDJ@pwcs.edu

12th grade:   Mrs. Satchell - SatcheKM@pwcs.edu