1. Happy holidays! Thank you to all of the PTSA volunteers that have made this school year get off to a great start! We've hosted fun events for the students and teachers, funded programs to support classroom and academic clubs as well as partnering with the counselors to help them provide meaningful opportunities for the students and teachers to build community. If you are interested in volunteering, click here to make sure you hear about opportunities or let us know if you are interested in volunteering! We have "just one time" opportunities, as well as flexible-from-home and hands-on volunteer needs!  

2. Are you looking for a good way to show your appreciation to a fabulous Langley teacher or staff member for going above and beyond? Consider filling out a brief form on the FCPS website through the FCPS Cares program. They will be recognized by the school system for their efforts. Click here to learn more and fill out the form.  

3. Are you interested in serving on the nominating committee for the PTSA? We need parents from each of the elementary school districts to make sure we have a wide representative of our community. Please email our VP Volunteer Engagement, Sara Koenig at saranapkoenig@gmail.com, if you're interested!  

Read below for class news. Click the green class buttons to go to each class's webpage.

graduation information announced: FCPS has announced graduation times! The LHS graduation for the Class of 2025 will be held on Thurs, Jun 5, 2025 at 7 pm at DAR Constitution Hall. Save the date!

save the date: Junior Class Dinner & College Night, Tues, Feb 4! Details and a link to purchase tickets to the dinner (which is an optional class fundraising event) coming soon!

class of 2026 parent coffee: Our next Junior Class Coffee will be held on Thurs, Feb 6 (8:30 am coffee/9 am program) in the Langley Lecture Hall. The program will include a presentation by Student Services on curriculum options & course registration for rising Seniors.

sophomore class forum: Join Dr. Peterson and Student Services counselors on Thurs, Jan 16, (9 am coffee/9:30 program) in the Langley Lecture Hall as they discuss class selection and ways to ensure your child is set up for success in the 2025-2026 school year. 

save-the-date: College Application Case Studies Night and Sophomore Class Dinner is scheduled for Wed, Feb 26. 

Join Dr. Peterson and other Freshman parents on Wed, Jan 9, (9 am coffee/9:30 program) in the LHS Lecture Hall as he discusses course selection for the 2025-2026 school year. 

Help support LHS’s Outstanding Employee winners! As reported last week, we had five LHS staff win Outstanding Employees, they are:

• Outstanding Teacher, Jenny Bonafide
• Outstanding New Teacher, Audrey Quinby
• Outstanding Professional, Lauren Lipton
• Outstanding Operational, Charlie Troen
• Outstanding Leader, Jim Sykes

Now these amazing staff need your support. Each of our school winners will now compete at the Pyramid level of the competition. You can help by sharing with your letters of support, thoughtful moments and insightful recognitions that demonstrate their awesomeness!

Mr. Biernesser will be collecting your letters of support for each of our winners through Thurs, Jan 9. Email your letters to wcbiernesser@fcps.edu.

Share your feedback on the PTSA website! We are in the process of redesigning the Langley High School PTSA website and need your input. Please take the survey to help us improve the website and make it more functional for you! Survey closes Dec 31.

Save the date! The 8th Grade Langley Open House will be held on Sun, Jan 26, 2025, from 2-4 pm. Eighth-grade students and their families are invited to attend an information session presented by administrators, tour the building and chat with experienced parents, students and faculty. Come and see all of the reasons that Langley is an incredible community with amazing opportunities for our students to thrive. 

Register here if you are interested in joining us, and forward to any local families who might be interested.

Attention sophomores and juniors! Did you miss the chance to sign-up for the Sept mock test event? Get a head-start on test prep for Spring ACT and SAT test dates.

Langley PTSA again is partnering with Princeton Review to host a virtual mock test fundraiser. The mock ACT event will take place on Sat, Jan 18 at 9 am. The mock SAT event will take place on Sat, Jan 25 at 9 am. Afterwards, you'll receive a comprehensive score report detailing your strengths and weaknesses. Each mock test is $25 and 100% of proceeds will benefit the Langley PTSA.

Click here to register for the mock ACT by Tues, Jan 14 at 8:00 pm. You’ll receive an email with a Zoom link and other info by 5 pm on Fri, Jan 17. 

Click here to register for the mock SAT by Tues, Jan 21 at 8:00 pm. You’ll receive an email with a Zoom link and other info by 5 pm on Fri, Jan 24. 

Conflict with the scheduled date? Your student’s test link will remain available for 120 days so your student can take the practice test at a time convenient for him or her.

Contact Melissa Schwartz at mcschwartz@hotmail.com with any questions.

It’s chilly out, Saxons! Stay warm and show your spirit with our large selection of sweatshirts, pants, flannels and coats! Visit the Langley Boosters website and scroll to click on Shop to see the selection. We deliver!

Missing a jacket, sweatshirt, lunchbox and/or water bottle? It may be in Langley’s very large lost and found collection. Stop by the lost and found box located in the Cafeteria! Items not collected will be donated after Dec 20.

Ms. Mara Sverna, a new full-time physics teacher at Langley, grew up in Maryland while her best friend went to Langley, so she often found herself at Langley’s theater productions and football games. Ms. Sverna wanted to work near home and since she had experience visiting Langley, it was almost inevitable that she ended up working at Langley.

“I knew I wanted to work someplace close to home because I have two little boys who are my life’s priority, and Langley fell into that category perfectly,” Ms. Sverna said.

Ms. Sverna had explained that Langley’s teaching environment was very similar to Montgomery County, where she had started to teach. Ms. Sverna had also noticed that there were a lot of the same types of students and same expectations, no matter what school she worked at. “Physics is nice because it's kind of the same everywhere you go to teach it. I really like that,” Ms. Sverna said.

Throughout childhood. Ms. Sverna explained that there were a lot of things that she wanted to become, but had eventually ended up as a performance ballerina. Every week, Ms. Sverna would find herself practicing for 20 hours while trying to perfect her ballet moves. It paid off. In fact, one of Ms. Sverna’s proudest and favorite memories was being an undead in the ballet version of Dracula. After one year, however, Ms. Sverna realized that she no longer wanted to continue a career in dancing. From a ballerina to a physics teacher, Ms. Sverna’s capability knows no bounds. 

“I realized that as much as I love dance and performing, I love food more. I also missed physics,” Ms. Sverna said.

At first, Ms. Sverna had aspired to become a math teacher due to her negative experience with a teacher in seventh grade. Ms. Sverna was surprised when she learned how engaging physics was compared to traditional math teaching, and realized that there was much more passion in physics.

“I had wanted to be a math teacher to replace the one I had, just to spite her. However, when I took my first physics class, I realized that it was the same as teaching math, but was much more interactive,” Ms. Sverna said. 

This hands-on approach to the subject encouraged her to switch into becoming a physics teacher. Not only does she enjoy the synergy of physics, but Ms. Sverna also loves her students that take it. Now that she’s at Langley, Ms. Sverna has found fulfillment in her role as a physics teacher. 

“The whole reason I love teaching is because of student interactions, and I really, really like all the people who choose (or get forced) into taking physics,” Ms. Sverna said. “I love being able to spend time learning those personalities.”

One interesting fact about Ms. Sverna is that she doesn’t have a favorite color. Rather than a single color, Ms. Sverna prefers all things that twinkle and sparkle.

“If I could be recognized for anything, it would be for my favorite “color”: glitter. Glitter, glitter, glitter, or anything like it. I love the shimmery and the shiny aspects of things.”



~ By Annabelle Bruno, Saxon Scope Reporter

lhs boys basketball youth night: Cheer on the LHS Varsity Boys Basketball Team and be part of the fun! There will be free admission to all youth who wear a local basketball jersey. Don’t miss out on t-shirt giveaways, half-time games and concessions. We will be raffling off a free week of LHS basketball summer camp.

The varsity Langley vs. Washington-Liberty game is scheduled for Wed, Jan 8, in the LHS Gym at 7:30 pm.

Come support our Freshman team at 4:30 pm and JV team at 5:45 pm as well! Prizes and halftime games will only be during the Varsity game.

crew open house: The Langley Crew Team will host an Open House on Sat, Jan 11 from 9 am-12 pm at Langley HS. Our rowers have started Winter Conditioning, which includes rowing on ergs at the high school. Come to learn about crew, meet our team and coaches! 

If the weather is nice the team will be out in the bus loop; if it’s cold or rainy we will be in the Science Hall. Enter by Door 8 or 9.

Questions? Contact Langleyrowing@gmail.com or visit www.langleycrew.com.

Looking for volunteer or other opportunities? PTSA volunteers maintain this running list of opportunities for our students. The Service and Jobs Opportunities Committee's goal is to help connect students to summer internships, jobs and volunteer opportunities to fulfill community service requirements, gain job experience and explore career paths.

Hands-only CPR is a simplified form of CPR that focuses on chest compressions without rescue breaths. It is recommended for use by people who witness an adult suddenly collapse in an out-of-hospital setting. Hands-only CPR increases the likelihood of surviving cardiac arrest by maintaining blood flow to vital organs.

This training is hosted by the McLean Community Center and led by the McLean Volunteer Fire Department on Wed, Jan 8, at the MCC Community Hall at 1234 Ingleside Avenue in McLean. The training will run from 6:30-7:30 pm. Register to attend by following this link, space is limited.

The Safe Community Coalition (SCC) offers monthly parent discussion groups facilitated by licensed mental health professionals. This month’s topic, Exploring Boundaries in Parenting; Pros, Cons and Consequences, helps parents set effective boundaries for children and teens and helps to create healthier family relationships. Join Mimi Weisberg, LCSW, Heather Tedesco, PhD and Jennifer Lager, PsyD on Jan 9 at 7 pm at the McLean Community Center as we explore setting reasonable expectations and boundaries for different developmental stages. Participants are encouraged to share scenarios and techniques that have been effective, and tools and resources to help with the challenges of parenting will be provided. 

Dec 19: Choral Concert, 7 pm, Auditorium 

Dec 23-Jan 5: Winter Break

Jan 6: Classes Resume

Jan 9: Freshman Class Forum, Lecture Hall

Jan 17: Sophomore Class Forum, Lecture Hall

Jan 20: Martin Luther King Holiday