School news roundup: escape room, vaccine clinics, and more
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| Students solve a problem in Jackson Middle School’s Escape Room. [FCPS] |
The following news items about schools in the Annandale/Mason District area are from Fairfax County Public Schools and individual schools.
COVID vaccine clinics – Beginning Tuesday, Nov. 16, the Fairfax
Health District and Fairfax County Public Schools will offer the
Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11 at nine clinics in
schools across the county.
Annandale Terrace Elementary School, at 7604 Herald St., Annandale, will host a vaccine
clinic for kids Nov. 18, 4-7 p.m., and Dec. 9, 4-7 p.m. See the
complete list of school-based clinics here.
The school-based vaccine clinics will be held initially after school hours and
during evenings and weekends. They will be open to all children, including
those who attend a different FCPS school or private school or are homeschooled. The vaccinations are free and no appointment is necessary. A parent or other
responsible adult must accompany their child.
Can students escape? – Jackson Middle School’s new escape room teaches students critical thinking and teamwork in an entertaining way.
In one recent exercise, a group of students in a vacant room at the back of the library worked together to solve a series of puzzles to rescue the school’s mascot, Jackson the Tiger, from the Evil Twin.
The perimeter of the room is lined with eight large wooden boxes, all different colors and shapes. The students must move from box to box, solving puzzles.
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| Jackson students use teamwork to solve puzzles. [FCPS] |
The escape room was created by after-school program specialist Matt Hoffert. As a fan of escape rooms, he thought building one would be a fun way to get the students engaged in learning and strengthen their collaboration skills.
The puzzles cover topics like history, math, geography, science, and English. Hoffert says all the information students need to solve the puzzles is either “on the box or in their brains.”
To develop the escape room, Hoffert worked with Jackson teachers and a professional puzzle creator and a prop designer from Bond’s Escape Rooms. It was funded through donations from Dewberry an engineering company that’s an FCPS Ignite Partner.
TJ application deadline – Applications to Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) must be started by Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 4 p.m., and completed by Friday, Nov. 19, at 4 p.m. Applications are available on the TJHSST Admissions Office webpage.
Middle school students with an aptitude and passion for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) are encouraged to apply for admission to the Class of 2026.
This will be the second year that applications for the school’s 550 freshmen seats will be reviewed using the new admissions process which eliminated the standardized admissions test and the $100 application fee.
Applicants are required to have a minimum 3.5 GPA and must be enrolled in honors classes or identified as Young Scholar. They must submit a STEM problem-solving essay and an essay that details their life-experience factors.
Students offered admission to the Class of 2025 had an average GPA of 3.95, which is line with previous years.
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| The Monopoly Tournament at Annandale High School. |
AHS math teacher Toby Dienstfrey was the first-place winner. Eleventh-grader Correne Bellem came in second, English teacher Bill Maglisceau was the third-place winner, and Chris Valentine, brother of former Monopoly champion and assistant principal Brian Valentine came in fourth. Principal Shawn DeRose lasted 20 minutes in the first round before being knocked out.
Combatting hate – In the past few weeks, some schools have been hit with racist and anti-Semitic graffiti, FCPS reports.
“Racism, anti-Semitism, and hate will not be tolerated in our FCPS community,” the school system states. “It is our responsibility to ensure that all people are treated with dignity and humanity. Our schools must be a safe space for every child and adult in the building.”
Anyone who witnesses any actions or behavior that seeks to dehumanize or violate any person or group is urged to speak up or contact the FCPS anonymous tip line.
Shorter quarantine – FCPS is reducing the quarantine for students exposed to Covid from 14
to 10 days, effective Nov. 15. By early December, it could be reduced to seven
days. This change responds to the reduction of the COVID transmission rate in
Fairfax County from “substantial” to “moderate.” Since schools opened in
August, the rate of in-school transmission has been 0.02 percent.
More
than 71 percent of the population age 12 and older have received their first
dose of the Covid vaccine.
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| Phillips students will build a house on this lot. |
Students build
houses – The Phillips Programs broke ground Nov. 11 on a new house
on Billings Drive in Annandale to be built by students.
Phillips is a
private school in Annandale that serves youths with behavioral, intellectual, and
emotional disabilities.
The school’s
Building Futures program teaches youths construction trades and life lessons
while they build a house from the ground up. Students completed a house on
Holyoke Drive in Annandale last spring.