Battlefield Bobcast

Website: battlefieldhs.pwcs.edu
Location: 15000 Graduation Drive, Haymarket, VA, United States
Phone: 571-261-4400
Facebook: facebook.com/BattlefieldHighSchoolPWCS
Instagram: @battlefieldhighschool_bobcats

As the first day of school fast approaches, I want to welcome you to the new school year. My name is Dave Huckestein, and I am a retired former principal (13 years). I am here to bridge the gap between Mr. Ferrera, outgoing principal, and your new principal. When asked if I would consider taking this opportunity, I said, “Yes!” to this assignment for many reasons. First, this community and this school are truly amazing! It is my belief that Battlefield High School is the best school in Virginia. As parents, you should be proud of the many accomplishments of this school.

The second reason I said yes is because Mr. Ferrera worked for me as an assistant principal at Woodbridge High School and proved to be an outstanding assistant principal who staff, parents and students could count on to do what was best for students.

Lastly, Battlefield has an outstanding leadership team here, and I am very familiar with them. It is truly a privilege to be here to help support the community and the school as we welcome a new school year.

I apologize for the delay in getting pertinent details to you to begin the year. I began August 1, 2023, and we have been working hard to start the school year. Below are the Battlefield Improvements for parents and students to be aware of as we begin the school year.

IMPROVEMENT NUMBER 1

Near the end of the 2022-2023 school year, Prince William County Schools (PWCS) decided to fund the EVOLV weapon detection scanners for all high schools and middle schools.

Please note that the EVOLV weapon scanners WILL NOT go live until approximately the week of September 18. Until then, the school will keep the community updated regarding the start date.

Two scanners will be located at the main entrance (Door 1) and one scanner at Door 4 (student drop-off). Each scanner will require three school personnel to efficiently move students and visitors through the lane. During the school day, one scanner will remain open for visitors to the building.

Once the EVOLV scanners go live on or about September 18, the scanners will not be manned until 6:55 AM. The doors to the school will remain locked until approximately 6:55 AM (30 minutes prior to the start of school). Buses will dismiss students around 6:55 AM. Therefore, for your planning purposes – we will begin the 6:55 AM entry beginning September 11, 2023. We would like to prepare transportation, parents, and students for the impending go-live event on or around September 18, 2023.

We hope the three-week stretch of normalcy will help parents and students plan for the go-live event. We appreciate your assistance as we work to keep your student(s) safe.

IMPROVEMENT NUMBER 2

In Spring of 2023, our school leaders decided it was time to update the traffic pattern in the morning. Mr. Jeff Buzzi, our safety and security officer, has done a fantastic job working through this update over the summer. Mr. Buzzi has posted videos online, featuring him riding the new routes as if he were a parent dropping off his child or a student driving to school. Mr. Buzzi has also outlined the new arrival with maps and details which can be found on the front page of our school website, or click here: https://battlefieldhs.pwcs.edu/news/2023/09/new-parking-and-driving-patterns. Please take the time to look through the plans if you plan on driving your child to school. If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Buzzi at buzzijr@pwcs.edu.

Reminder, be patient, the first day is always a little hectic.

Sincerely,

David J. Huckestein

Acting Principal

On the first day of school, students will report to First Period to start the day.

Upon arrival the first day, students should double check StudentVUE to locate their OFFICIAL 1st block class. Students should have seen schedules populated on August 16, but changes happen up until the last minute. Focus on getting to the correct first period posted on StudentVUE.

Students without a 1st period class should report to the Library to receive their schedule and laptop and then the auditorium.

Please note: This year we have modified the Student Drop-off “Kiss and Ride” route.

We have doubled the amount of curb area you can use to drop your student. Please make every effort to pull forward as far as possible before stopping to let your student out of the car.

Full details, a map, and a video “drive thru” are available on the BHS website.

Please be patient in the mornings and afternoons. Especially in the beginning of the school year, there are more drop-offs than usual. Staff will be on hand to direct traffic on campus. School staff is not permitted to direct traffic on Graduation Drive.

If you are dropping students off in the Kiss and Ride, please pull all the way forward before letting your student out. This will allow more parents to come into the Kiss and Ride at a time. Please also be patient as we will have many student drivers. Riding the bus or carpooling are suggested.

In the afternoons there will be a point where we stop the flow of traffic to allow busses to depart. These same buses are responsible for picking up Middle and Elementary School students, so it is important to remain on schedule. If a student is riding the bus home, they should head directly to their bus upon dismissal as buses will leave at 2:12.

Below are the daily schedules for the first week. These schedules are different than the normal bell schedule so that we can take care of some logistics with students (distribute devices, review school rules and resources, etc...).

Flex 8 is the student's advisory class.

Battlefield High school will be celebrating a very special year this school year. In the fall of 2004, BHS opened their doors to the first time to students in our community. Twenty years later, we get to reflect this time and the successes and joy we have had with our Bobcat students, staff and families of both the past and the present.

Congratulations to Battlefield High School CTE Teacher Kamau Street, who has been named Administrative Intern at Battlefield! Mr. Street replaces Ms. Bobbi Scott, who has been named Assistant Principal at Independence Nontraditional School.

Mr. Street has been a Bobcat for the past six years, and the father of a Battlefield graduate before that. Prior to his work in education, he spent 18 years working as a sales executive in the IT industry. Mr. Street holds a Bachelor's in Business Management from Saint Paul's College, a Masters in Finance from California University of Pennsylvania, and a Masters in Educational Leadership from UVA. This past year, he was selected by the Class of 2023 as Battlefield's Faculty Speaker at Graduation.

As a teacher, department chair, basketball coach, and club sponsor, Mr. Street has made an huge impact as a leader in our school and community, and that impact will only grow.

Congratulations Mr. Street, and thank you for your leadership!

Parents/Guardians have the ability to obtain an account for Canvas that has an Observer role in all of the classes in which their children are enrolled. Don't have an Observer account yet? You can create one easily!

This is done by obtaining a pairing code from their student and using that pairing code to apply for their new account. Once their account is created, additional pairing codes for other children in the family can be added so that parents may access the canvas classrooms for all of their students from a single Canvas Observer account.

Directions for this process are posted on the PWCS Canvas & Zoom page. Scroll down to the blue bar “Parent, Guardian, Observer Access Code to Canvas”.

Here you will find information about what the Canvas Observer role is and a summary of what it can and cannot do. Note: Parents/Guardians will not be provided with PWCS Zoom accounts.

Here are a few quick tips for Excusing an Absence or Tardy and Arranging an Early Dismissal:

TO ARRANGE AN EARLY DISMISSAL

• Email BFHS-attendance@pwcs.edu at least one (1) hour prior to the requested dismissal time. Be sure to include the full name of your student and the time of the dismissal.

• Please reference the phrase EARLY DISMISSAL in the subject line of your email.
  

• To avoid any delays, email is the quickest way to arrange an early dismissal. Walk-ins and phone calls are handled in the order they are received, which can result in a delay, especially on normally busy Fridays or the day before a long weekend.

EXCUSE AN ABSENCE (DAY OF OR IN ADVANCE)

• Use ParentVUE on the day of an absence or in advance of a planned absence.
• This is for full day absence only, not early dismissals or tardies.
  
  

EXCUSE A PAST ABSENCE

• Email BFHS-attendance@pwcs.edu
• Please reference the phrase ABSENCE in the subject line of your email message.

EXCUSE A TARDY

• Email BFHS-attendance@pwcs.edu
• Please reference the phrase TARDY in the subject line of your email message.

*If you have questions or concerns about attendance issues at Battlefield High School, please reach out to Judy Beerbower at BeerboJM@pwcs.edu or (703) 743-3685.*

This is a reminder to students and families of our cell phone policy that we adopted in 2019:

We simply ask students to have their phones away when they walk into the classroom. If allowed, teachers will give permission to take them out for use. Since PWCS is now a 1:1 Division, most educational needs can be done through their laptop, so there will be less use of phones.

If a student violates this policy, the teacher will contact parents/guardians and an administrator. A violation carries a consequence of a two-hour detention.

Students are welcome to use their devices in the halls and at lunch. If a student needs to be reached immediately, please contact the front office and we call your student out of class. If a student needs to contact a parent, they can request permission to come to the main office to call home.

The Flex period allows us to repurpose our time to help students meet individualized goals and helps us as a school reach the goals in our Continuous Improvement Plan, which is aligned with the PWCS Strategic Plan.

The flex schedule will begin during Week 2 of school.

1. What is flex?

Flex periods are additional meeting times for each of the 7 scheduled classes on a rotating basis. In these periods, students can receive enrichment, remediation, make up missing work, or "flex" into a class where they need more help, or flex to other meetings or opportunities that may be run during this time.

Advisory Period and Easier to Follow Bell Schedule: In addition to the 7 scheduled classes, there will be a "Period 8" known as Advisory. Every student will be assigned a location and staff member to meet with during Advisory where they can go over school news, policies, hear about new opportunities, study skills, and many other topics that will help them build relationships and navigate high school. The creation of the 8th period also creates a static flex schedule, taking the guesswork created by an odd number of periods rotating through the schedule.

2. What can students do during flex?

There are many suggested uses for flex that align with the PWCS Strategic Plan Commitments of Learning and Achievement for All, Positive Climate and Culture, Family and Community Engagement, and Organizational Coherence.

In addition to the uses mentioned in #1 above, students can receive College and Career Counseling, explore advanced and extracurricular programs, receive intervention services and supports, attend schoolwide activities such as pep rallies, participate in family meetings and events, and receive clarification on school safety items such as the Code of Behavior and School Safety Protocols.

Clear Alignment with the Strategic Plan: As described above, the strategies implemented in Flex will allow the school to address our Continuous Improvement Plan aligned with the Strategic Plan.

• Did you link your Harris Teeter card? Link your Harris Teeter VIC card to BHS. Or simply email your last name and phone number associated with your VIC card number to bhsgrocerycardprogram@gmail.com and we will link it for you. You may link up to five schools.

• Have you signed up for Amazon Smile? Sign-in to Amazon Smile on your desktop or mobile phone browser. From your desktop, go to Your Account from the navigation at the top of any page, then select the option to Change your Charity. Select Battlefield High School PTO. Take a screenshot showing your pick and email to bhsptomemberatlarge@gmail.com and we will enter your name in the raffle. Raffle drawing will be held at our next meeting, November 9th.

• When shopping on your desktop, remember to sign-in to Amazon Smile.

When shopping on your amazon app, open the app and find “Settings” in the main menu. Tap on “Amazon Smile” and follow the on-screen instructions to turn on Amazon Smile on your phone.

• BE IN THE KNOW! Make sure to join these Facebook pages:

Freshmen Class of 2027

Sophomore Class of 2026

Junior Class of 2025

Senior Class of 2024

Battlefield High School

Battlefield High School PTO

Battlefield High School Families

Battlefield High School Special Education Families

Membership - Are you an ABC member? Support your spring team by signing up! Already a member, sponsor a coach!

BHS Athletic Booster Club in action!
The purpose of the BHS Athletic Boosters (ABC) is to promote, foster, and raise funds to supplement the sports programs and athletic budget at Battlefield high school.

Are you a member of the ABC?
Membership goes to support each team and the booster club as a whole. The club raises money through membership dues, concessions and various fundraisers throughout the year. All proceeds go the school athletics' programs.

Membership and social media links:

Athletic Boosters Membership

Athletic Boosters Facebook Page

Athletic Boosters Instagram

Athletic Boosters Twitter

Athletic Boosters Email Notifications

Thank you,

The BHS ABC Board

PWCS has recently put out information in their newsletters about a new tipline for students to submit information to school officials. Students can use an app, website, or make a phone call to provide information they are concerned about on a 24/7 basis.

Following are some suggestions for reporting such information:

• Submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-844-5-SAYNOW.
• Call 911 in cases of immediate emergency

988 has been designated as the new nationwide three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

When people call, text, or chat 988, they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.