We had a wonderful time this past week with various spring activities to include Bring Your Child to Work Day, our Literacy Carnival and our Rising 9th-grade Transition Fair, welcoming our next cohort of Lions to our Pride! Additionally, our 12th graders enjoyed their Senior Trip to Busch Gardens, our JROTC competed in the state drill competition and our Firefighting program cadets completed their "Final Burn" where they put out 3 real building fires and 1 real car fire!

IB Exams begin on Friday, May 2, SOLs start on Monday, May 5 with adjusted bell schedules and AP exams begin Wednesday, May 7. Please help us ensure your student(s) are fully prepared for success. In addition to classroom preparation, we offer after-school SOL prep and study sessions from Monday to Thursday. All students are welcome and encouraged to attend - more information on SOL after-school extra prep sessions can be found below.

Please see below for more information regarding Teacher Appreciation Week assistance, Girls Flag Football opportunity, Graduation Packet Information, May SOL Testing Calendar, and more!

• May 3: Girls Flag Football Clinic 1:00-3:00pm

• May 5: SOLs begin

• May 5-9: Teacher Appreciation Week

• May 14: Academic Awards (Underclassmen 2:30; Seniors Awards Night 6:00pm)

• May 16: Prom at Sweeny Barn, 7:00pm -10:00pm

We are excited to kick off Teacher Appreciation Week with a Nacho Bar celebration on Monday, May 5th! To make this event a success, we need your generous support. We are seeking donations for various nacho bar items, including chips, salsa, sour cream, cheese, meat toppings, and more.

Every donation, big or small, is greatly appreciated! Teacher Appreciation Week runs from Monday, May 5th to Friday, May 9th, 2025. If you are unable to donate items for the nacho bar, heartfelt notes and emails of appreciation for our teachers are always welcome.

Please sign up using the Sign-Up Genius link below 🔽 Thank you for helping us show our teachers how much they mean to us!

This edition features testing dates and class period schedules for the May SOLs. Please note that there will be numerous changes in May and June due to testing. You can find the link to this calendar on the main page of the URHS website, under the weekly class rotation schedule. Stay tuned for June's schedule, which will be released soon and will include final exam dates. Keep an eye out for updates!

Students in grades 9-11 who have failed a course may take up to two high school courses for repeat (recovery) credit or one 2-week SOL remediation at no cost.

Seniors who are not on track to graduate in June, but are capable of graduating in July with additional targeted support, may earn additional verified credits to satisfy diploma requirements and graduate this summer.

Students will be enrolled in the second course once they have shown completion of the first course. Students must complete the first course by July 11, 2025 to start a second course.

High school students in grades 9-11 seeking a course for first time credit can explore Virtual Prince William (VPW) for online course options. Please visit the Virtual Prince William website for more information.

Students should speak with their school counselor to determine the best course or test to register for with the available summer options.

• Please contact your child's counselor if you need assistance with registering for summer school.
• Please click here for more details about PWCS Summer School for High School Students.

Girls Flag Football is coming to Prince William County High Schools in the 25-26 school year!

The Washington Commanders are hosting a learn-to-play clinic at Unity Reed this Saturday, 5/3 from 1:00 - 3:00pm.

We encourage all students who are interested in playing girls flag football next year to sign up below. Click here to sign up

This fantastic event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at the Kelly Leadership Center (14715 Bristow Road, Manassas, VA 20112).

If your students are interested in joining a sports team but don't know where to start, this is the perfect opportunity for you! The PWCS Sports Fair is free and open to all fifth grade, middle and high school students. Coaches and athletes will be available to provide information about the sports offered in PWCS and to answer any questions you may have.

In addition to valuable information, there will be a DJ, food trucks, giveaways, and lots of fun activities for everyone to enjoy. Translators will also be on site to assist.

We hope to see you there!

1. Prom Agreement Form: All students must submit a prom agreement form signed by the student, parent, and administration.
2. Eligibility: All obligations must be cleared before purchasing a ticket (library books, uniforms, etc.) Students with excessive absences, at risk of not graduating, or with egregious PWCS code of behavior violations may not be eligible to attend.
3. Guest Permission Forms: All outside guest forms must be submitted by May 1. No changes or additions after this date.
4. Ticket Sales: Space is limited based on the venue's capacity. Tickets go on sale May 1st and 2nd (flash sale $50). Prices will increase to $60 from May 3rd and after. No tickets will be sold on the day of the event or at the door. (Last day to purchase tickets will be May 15th or once we reach capacity).
5. Attendance Requirement on day of Prom (5/16): Per PWCS Attendance policy, "students must attend at least half the instructional day on the day of an event". An early release permission form will be provided for students and parents to sign in advance so students can be released no earlier than 10:30 AM.

• Please schedule any hair/nail appointments after 10:30 AM or the day before to avoid students being unable to participate in prom due to attendance policy.

If you missed the graduation meeting, please find detailed information below about what to expect leading up to the Graduation Ceremony on June 2, 2025.

Leave your mark on the school by painting a brick in the Senior Staircase!

• $5 to paint your own brick (bring our own supplies)
• $10 to have SALC paint the brick for you (you simply share the design)
• Designs must be pre-approved first. Fill out this form to get your designed approved.

Contact Ms. Miller or Ms. Kim (SALC teachers) for more info!

Scheduled graduation walks for elementary schools:

• Piney Branch - May 27 at 3:00
• Cedar Point - May 22 at 2:15
• Victory - May 23 at 2:15
• Glenkirk - May 23 at 2:45
• T. Clay Woods - May 22 at 2:15
• Ellis Elementary - *Scheduled on last day of Graduation practice - all seniors will immediately dismiss after graduation practice to walk the halls of Ellis together.

View the recent scholarship opportunities shared with URHS! Students should also use the Scholarship Search feature in Naviance for a complete list of local and other scholarships.

• Scholarship lists are also posted outside of Mrs. Nash’s office on the 3rd floor.

• If you need assistance applying, make an appointment with Ms. Jung, Mr. Lawrence, or your guidance counselor.
• Keep checking the wall for updates!
• Find more financial Aid resources for FAFSA & VASA here

Come out to support all of the Spring sports teams this season. You can monitor all of your favorite teams’ schedules at this link.

The cheapest way to get into all of the Spring games is to buy the “students only” season pass. Be on the lookout for this pass to become available this week. Buying one season pass will get you into every HOME games for $20 - that’s the price of paying for 3.5 games at regular price. It's a great deal and great way to support URHS athletics. Tickets will be loaded onto our ticket website this week - click here to purchase.

Activity buses now run Monday through Thursday at 4:30 PM to ensure students can take advantage of our daily academic support opportunities. We are dedicated to supporting the success of ALL students. Check out our daily support sessions below, and remember to check with individual teachers for any additional class-specific help after school.

The quickest ways to update your child's attendance to report an excused absence is by entering the absence in ParentVUE or emailing the respective grade-level Administrative Assistant below:

• 9th grade: Ms. Hammad-Khaleel, Hammadrh1@pwcs.edu
• 10th grade: Ms. Juarez, Juarezn@pwcs.edu
• 11th grade: Ms. Clancy, Clancycc@pwcs.edu
• 12th grade: Ms. Pryce, Prycead@pwcs.edu

You may also call the main school phone line (703-365-2900), however, please allow 24-48 hours for a response if the phone lines are backed-up. If you do not hear back or see your child's attendance has been updated within 48 hours, please email the grade-level Administrator below:

• 9th Grade last names A-L: Dr. Brooks, BrooksDR@pwcs.edu
• 9th Grade last names M-Z: Ms. Drouin, DrouinKA@pwcs.edu
• 10th Grade last names A-L: Mr. Gillespie, GillesRG@pwcs.edu
• 10th Grade last names M-Z: Ms. Mathison, MathisCC@pwcs.edu
• 11th Grade: Mr. Hintosh, HintosCR@pwcs.edu
• 12th Grade: Ms. Nash, NashSJ@pwcs.edu

Parents/Guardians should notify the school before, or at the start of, the school day when their child will be absent. Parents/Guardians must send written or electronic communication citing the reason(s) for the absence to the school no more than five school days following the date of the absence. Student attendance while participating in school-sponsored activities will be updated by the school.

Please see more information regarding PWCS Attendance Regulations here.

• Weekly LIONS’ ROAR: This will include the latest updates with pertinent information for the upcoming week and will be emailed to students and families every Sunday. This information will also be posted on our school website.

• URHS website: This will be updated more frequently so that we can share the most up to date information with you. In fact, click here to view our school website.

• School Status: This is our messaging system, and it allows staff to send text messages, emails, or make phone calls to families. When an email comes to your inbox with this system, the sender will be listed as School Status or Teacher name. A text message will include the staff member’s full name in the message but will be a random number. This system allows the recipient to respond directly to a message.

• The PRIDE Newsletter: This is a monthly newsletter where we celebrate and highlight the incredible accomplishments of our students, staff, and community at Unity Reed High School. Each month, we will showcase achievements, events, and milestones that make our school proud. Stay tuned for inspiring stories, academic successes, athletic triumphs, and much more. All this information will also be available on our school website for easy access and sharing.

I encourage you to continue to stay in touch with important updates by visiting our website. We are here to support you. Please reach out throughout the school year with any questions, concerns, or to share general feedback, and thank you for being part of our school community, as our STRENGTH is IN UNITY!

Sincerely,

Milagros Polanco
Principal, Unity Reed High School