1. Happy New Year from the PTSA! Help make 2025 successful by donating to the PTSA, so we can continue supporting the teachers, counselors, students and staff at Langley! Click here to donate. Thank you to Celebrate Great Falls for supporting the PTSA!

2. The PTSA is hosting its annual art show! Save the date for the Langley Art Show on Feb 11. This year's prompt is Investigating Normal. 

3. Do you play chess? Join the PTSA for a USCF Rated (and non-rated games too!) chess tournament on Sat, Feb 22. All proceeds will support SHARE of McLean!   

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

all night grad party (ANGP): The All Night Graduate Party Committee is happy to announce this year's party will be held at Punch Bowl Social Arlington. ANGP is a safe and drug-free party the night of graduation, Jun 5, from 11pm to 3am. Activities include bowling, casino, dancing, karaoke, skee-ball, darts, cornhole, photo booth, prizes, unlimited food and more. Check the ANGP webpage for information and updates.

coming soon senior yard signs: Let your graduate know how proud you are of them and support the ANGP. Purchase a Congrats Class of 2025 sign with their name on it to display in your yard!

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!

stay up to date with the latest class information: Follow our Class of 2025 Website, and Facebook Page.

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 and course registration for rising seniors.

sophomore class forum: Join Director of Student Services Dr. Braden 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. 

The freshman class forum that was scheduled for today is being rescheduled. As it is an important topic, course selection for the upcoming year, we are working to reschedule it soon. We will send out information on the new date as soon as it is scheduled. Keep an eye out for information on our Facebook page and your email inbox. 

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, today, Thurs, Jan 9. Email your letters to wcbiernesser@fcps.edu.

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 Thurs, Jan 16 at 9 am. 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 Thurs, Jan 23 at 9 am. 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.

Calling all chess lovers! The Langley PTSA is hosting a Chess Tournament on Sat, Feb 22 at 9 am! There are both USCF-Rated and Non-Rated Sections! See the flyer here for more details and register here. 

The 8th Grade Langley Open House is 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.

Students, attend the 2025 Gap Year Fair to learn about the growing array of gap year opportunities. The fair will provide students with broad exposure to gap year programs that emphasize experiential education and personal growth through travel, language immersion, directed study, outdoor adventure, community service and internships.

The fair is scheduled for Tues, Jan 28, 6-8:30 pm at Marshall HS (7731 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). The evening begins with Gap Year presentation from 6-6:45 pm and then the Gap Year Fair is 6:45-8:30 pm.

Click here for more info and to register.

If you did not get a chance to attend an in-person meeting, consider participating in one of the virtual Community Boundary Review Meetings. All virtual meetings will follow the same format as the recently held in-person meetings and the same information will be shared. 

Register for a meeting by clicking the desired date. Each virtual meeting will be limited to 400 participants and each participant will receive their own unique Zoom link. Language interpretation will be available.

Fri, Jan 10, 2025, 6-7:30 pm 

Thurs, Jan 16, 2025, 1-2:30 pm 

Sat, Jan 25, 2025, 9:30-11 am 

Mon, Jan 27, 2025, 6:30-8 pm 

Tues, Jan 28, 2025, 6:30-8 pm 

Mon, Feb 10, 2025, 6:30-8 pm 

View the meeting slides here.

A huge thank you to Celebrate Great Falls for their generous donation in support of the Langley PTSA. Please consider making it your New Year's resolution to donate to the Langley High School PTSA. 100% of your donations are used to support our students and the Langley Community.  

The PTSA depends on donations from our families to provide the programming and school support. The PTSA budget relies on families donating $125 per student. If you have already donated this year, thank you for your support! If you have yet to donate, you can do so here. 

In just the first few months of school, the PTSA:

• held social events for our students to help build community, like the Tailgate and Trivia Tournament,
• hosted appreciation events to show our wonderful Langley staff how much their work with our students is valued, including the Welcome Back Breakfast and Fall Appreciation Lunch,
• supported the academic and artistic pursuits of our students, including buying books for the English department, sponsoring the Robotics Club and Reflections contest, and supporting the performing arts.

Help us make more of these programs and sponsorships possible! Donate today our website, ptsalangley.org, or donate directly here!

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!

crew open house: The Langley Crew Team will host an Open House this 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.

performance arts scholarship High school students who reside or attend school in Dranesville Small Tax District 1A are invited to showcase their artistic achievements in the 2025 James C. Macdonald Performing Arts Scholarship Competition. The deadline to apply is Mon, Jan 27. 

A $1,200 scholarship prize will be given to first-place winners in each of the following categories: Dance, Theater, Vocal Music and Instrumental Music; second-place winners in all four categories will receive $800; third-place winners will each receive $400. There are no restrictions on the use of the award money. Applicants must be present and prepared to perform in the preliminary round of the competition the week of Feb 3, and at the final competition on Wed, Apr 30 at 8 pm to be eligible to receive an award. 

Info and applications can be found online. A non-refundable, $20 fee is required for each application form submitted. Students are allowed to enter as many categories as they like. Questions? Contact The Alden at alden@mcleancenter.org. 

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.

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 tonight, 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. 

Jan 17: Sophomore Class Forum, 9 am, Lecture Hall

Jan 20: Martin Luther King Holiday and Inauguration Day

Jan 24: Saxon Service

Jan 24: VHSL One-Act, 6:30 pm

Jan 24: 8th Grade Open House, 2-4 pm

Jan 28: FCPS Gap Year Fair, 6-8:30 pm, Marshall HS 

Jan 28: End of Second Quarter

Jan 29: Student Holiday