Principal Updates - Week of November 24

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Important Dates

November 26-28 - No School, Thanksgiving Break

December 1-4 - SOS Survey, 11th Grade

December 8 - Religious & Cultural Observance Day, Bodhi Day

December 10 - FCPS Youth Survey 10th/12th Graders

December 12 - Cougar Commendations; Brain Breaks (9th/10th Grade)

December 16 - Brain Breaks (11th/12th Grade)

December 22 - January 2 - No School, Winter Break

January 8 - Curriculum Night

The FCPS School Year Calendars are available below by school year for your planning purposes.

Wishing all in the Oakton community a wonderful Thanksgiving break and holiday!

General Information

Oakton Accolades

Please check out our latest Oakton Accolades from the first quarter. We are excited to celebrate all the great accomplishments of our students! Please note, athletic accolades are celebrated through the Oakton Activities News You Choose.

December 1 -2

So that all students and staff may fully enjoy the Thanksgiving break, no assignments will be due, nor assessments given on December 1 and 2. New material can be covered in classes and assignments given during class time can be graded on those days.

Fall Cougar Commendations

It is time for us to celebrate our Fall Cougar Commendations! Students will be nominated by Oakton Staff. If you would like to help us recognize our amazing faculty and staff, please consider nominating a deserving member of our team!

To nominate a faculty member: So often faculty and staff members’ hard work, passion, and innovation go unnoticed. Cougar Commendations for faculty/staff allow us to recognize a staff member for their work towards Oakton’s Core Values. Please use this link to nominate faculty/staff members for their noteworthy endeavors.

ALL nominations are due by the end of the day on Friday, December 5th.

Nominated students will be recognized in a ceremony on December 12, 2025 during CT 5.

Action Required! Update Your Permission for Google Tools

Google recently made changes to how educational applications are managed and accessed on the Chrome Browser and Chromebooks. Many applications are moving from the Chrome Web Store to the Google Play Store.

To ensure your student(s) can continue accessing all approved instructional tools, FCPS has updated its digital consent platform to include both the Chrome Web Store and the Google Play Store.

Please review and provide your consent for these two new options through our easy-to-use Parent Digital Consent system:

Additional Google Services – Chrome Web Store
Additional Google Services – Google Play Store

Thank you for your continued partnership in supporting safe and effective digital learning experiences for all students.

For questions or support, please visit FCPS’ Family Technology Resources page or open a ticket with the Technical Support desk.

Manage Your Child’s Screen Time on FCPS Devices

FCPS offers the Lightspeed Parent Portal to help you manage screen time on your child's FCPS device at home. With a Parent Portal account, you can control your child’s access to YouTube and pause website browsing during after-school hours.Please note that parent controls are active only during after-school hours, defined as Monday through Friday from 3:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. (including student holidays) and all day Saturday and Sunday.

If you haven't signed up for the portal yet, use the link at the bottom of your weekly Lightspeed Online Student Activity Report email. To learn more, please visit the Lightspeed Parent Portal page on the FCPS website.

❄️ Prepare for Winter Weather

Winter weather will be here before you know it! Watch this video to see how weather closing decisions are made at FCPS.

FCPS’ website is generally the first place to find out about emergency weather closings. Other communication channels will be used as quickly as possible, including email, text, social media, the new FCPS mobile app, and news stations. Learn more about how schedule changes are communicated.

Be sure to plan for the winter season. Update your contact information in SIS ParentVUE, bookmark the FCPS website, and arrange emergency child care if needed.

Oakton Pantry - Holiday Donations

This Holiday season, the Oakton Pantry will distribute gift cards to support our community. We are collecting $50 Walmart gift cards for this distribution. Please sign up via this Sign Up Genius to participate in this initiative.

Holiday gift cards are due by Friday, December 12, 2025.

Physical gift cards can be dropped off at the Oakton High School main office. Electronic gift cards ("Walmart eGift card") can be emailed to OaktonPantry@gmail.com (recipient name: Oakton Pantry).

Thank you for supporting the Oakton Pantry and our community. Happy Holidays!

This is for donating gift cards. If you feel your family needs assistance during the holiday season, please email Ms. Landis at mflandis@fcps.edu.

Volunteer FCPS Helps Community Members Connect With Schools

The new volunteer management system, Volunteer FCPS, allows individuals to search and register for volunteer opportunities at our school or across the school district.

Volunteer FCPS is how FCPS provides a safe, consistent, and welcoming environment at all of our schools. Anyone interested in volunteering with FCPS must:

Create a profile in Volunteer FCPS.
Register for opportunities through Volunteer FCPS.
Sign in and out of schools using the visitor kiosk on EVERY visit – no exceptions.

Recent Updates to Volunteer Opportunity Levels

Due to the overwhelming response, FCPS is temporarily pausing fingerprint requirements for most Level 3 volunteers. Those who have already been fingerprinted will be processed to be eligible for all Level 3 opportunities.

Field trip chaperone opportunities will now be classified as Level 2 (not requiring a comprehensive background check that includes fingerprinting).

To ensure continuous safety, all new volunteers are required to sign a Volunteer Certification Statement. This statement is a legal confirmation that you have no history of violent felonies, physical or sexual crimes against children, or crimes of moral turpitude (dishonesty, fraud, things that are immoral by society’s standards).

Visit the Volunteer FCPS website to complete a volunteer orientation. View Frequently Asked Questions to learn more about the volunteer levels.

Partners for Safe Teen Driving Presentation

All students enrolled in Classroom Driver Education during the 2025-2026 school year must attend an in-person Partners for Safe Teen Driving (PSTD). The presentation is connected to successful classroom instruction and must be completed to receive a DEC-District 8 card (pink card). The parent-teen traffic safety presentation (PSTD) will be offered multiple times during the school year at Oakton. Students and their parents/guardians should plan to attend the presentation at Oakton at your earliest convenience.

All PSTDs begin promptly. Late admission will not be allowed.

2025-2026 Remaining Dates:

January 12, 2026 6:30-8:00pm
March 16, 2026 6:30-8:00pm
May 18, 2026 6:30-8:00pm

These sessions are intended for Sophomores. Juniors and Seniors can attend a session through Adult and Community Education.

PSTD nights are not available to freshmen.

Please find more information about driver education for parents by accessing this flyer.

Student Services

Student Services Newsletter

Happy November Cougar Families. Check out the November Student Services newsletter.

Social and Emotional Learning Screener: Parent Reports

Students in grades 3-12 took the SEL Screener last month, providing information on skills like achieving goals, understanding and managing emotions, establishing and maintaining relationships, and making responsible decisions. The screener also asks students how well their school community makes them feel valued, included, and supported.

Individual student SEL Screener results will be available to families in the Documents section of SIS ParentVUE the week of November 17. For families who do not have an active ParentVUE account, results will be shared by our school.

For support in understanding your individual student’s results or for ideas on how to support them at home, please review the Family Guide or reach out to your child's counselor.

Tutoring Resources for Families

Some families may be looking for additional resources to help support their child’s academic success. The FCPS Family Resource Center (FRC) maintains a list of FCPS employees who hold a valid Virginia teaching credential and who are available to hire as tutors. This list is a resource offered by the FRC, but families are responsible for contacting and working directly with the tutors. This list is not approved by FCPS and is only meant to be a resource to families.

FCPS also partners with Varsity Tutors to provide students and families with extra resources for learning. Every student can take advantage of Varsity Tutors' services, at no cost, including weekly live online classes, on-demand 24/7 chat tutoring, essay editing, and study resources such as recorded content, practice problems, and diagnostic tests.

Class Schedule Change Requests

Timeline for Schedule Changes

November 10 - March 27: Any student requesting a schedule change will need to fill out the schedule change request form, with permission from parent, student, teacher, school counselor, and administrator. If approved by the administration, schedule changes will only be processed if there is space available.
April 7 - June 17: There will not be any schedule changes, regardless of space availability. This date aligns with the last day of the 3rd Quarter.

For any questions you may have, contact your child’s school counselor

Health and Wellness Updates