Greater Falls Church School Bulletin Board

For the fifth year in a row, the Longfellow Middle MathCounts team has captured first place honors at the state MathCounts competition. Yeon-Sik Cho, Haitao Mao, Alisha Seam, and Cassandra Xia completed three written rounds of questions, then competed orally, two by two, in a quiz show format. Individual winners included Frost Middle student Jack Wang in first place, and former Longfellow student Jae-Kyu Lee in second place. Third place was captured by Longfellow’s Haitao Mao and fourth place by Alisha Seam, also of Longfellow. These four students will represent Virginia at the National MathCounts competition. Longfellow coach Barbara Burnett will coach the Virginia team. Contact principal Vincent Lynch at 703-533-2600 or vincent.lynch@fcps.edu or Barbara Burnett at barbara.burnett@fcps.edu.

Career Night Planned For Students In FCPS Transitional High Schools

Business and trade representatives from the private and public sectors will be at Falls Church High School on Wednesday, April 14, beginning at 7 p.m. for the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) transitional high school program Career Night.

Students from FCPS’ four transitional high school sites will meet with area business, trade, and education professionals to learn about short- and long-range educational and career options.

Transitional students are typically 18 years old or older, come from many different countries, and want to earn a high school diploma. The students are beginning-level English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) students who are also studying math, basic science, and social studies. Students are placed in grades 9 through 11 based on their prior educational background.

The transitional high school program provides instruction at four sites, sharing space at Falls Church, Lee, Stuart, and South Lakes High Schools. Transitional high school students are highly motivated, hardworking self-starters. Many have full-time jobs during the day and then spend their evenings attending school; classes are held from 4:15 to 9:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 4:15 to 6 p.m. on Friday.

The instructional program consists of the FCPS A-level (beginning) ESOL curriculum and mathematics classes (FAST Math, Introduction to Algebra, and Algebra 1). Students earn elective credits for graduation for all courses except Algebra 1, in which they earn a content (math) credit.

The transitional high school program does not offer diplomas; however, when students attain the intermediate ESOL level (B1), they may continue their studies at Pimmit Hills School, Bryant Alternative High School, Mountain View School, or Woodson Adult High School, where they can earn their high school diplomas.

Students who attend Career Night will meet with professionals from a variety of careers, including teachers, engineers, health care workers, Fairfax County police and firefighters, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, a lawyer, an accountant, a plumber, educational support personnel, and computer specialists. There will also be representatives from schools that the students may aspire to attend, such as Woodson Adult High School, the Office of Adult and Community Education certificate and apprenticeship programs, and Northern Virginia Community College. Many of the presentations will be made in Spanish.