Excel in Mind, Body and Character

George Mason High School Newsletter

Tyrone Q. Byrd, Principal October 2010

Dear Mustang Parent or Guardian:

Your student will be bringing home a hardcopy of their first quarter interim this afternoon.
Please review this important document with your student to ensure that academic expectations are being
met. It is important to note that this will constitute the final hardcopy interim you will receive this
school year. Instead of printing this document you can view your student’s interim grades on the
AccessGM Gradebook.

In keeping with our efforts to maintain open communication with families, I remind you of our
Parent/Teacher Mini-Conferences to be held Friday, October 15th between 7:45 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
Mini-conferences will take place in the Mustang Café, auxiliary gym, and main gym. Teachers will be
seated in alphabetical order by department. Mini-conferences serve as an opportunity for you to speak
with the teachers of your choice for three to four minutes regarding your student’s progress. Please
schedule a conference if you have matters to discuss which will exceed the time limit of the mini-
conference. There are no appointments required for the October 15th conferences. We ask that you park
in the senior parking lot (nearest the grad center) or in the Haycock Road lot during your visit.

Classes will begin at 10:00 a.m. on October 15th with busses serving students on a modified
schedule. Busses will pick up students according to the times and locations listed on the attached
schedule.

We look forward to seeing each of you at this important opportunity to review the opening of the
2010 – 11 school year. Mini-conferences will end promptly at 9:30 a.m. so that teachers can attend a
brief faculty meeting before the start of the school day.

Sincerely,

Tyrone Q. Byrd
Principal

P.S.: All GM students who attend morning classes at the Arlington Career Center are expected to do so
on October 15 and the regular ACC busses will run.

Go Mustangs!
 GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL PAGE 2

IMPORTANT DATES
Please note that some of these dates have changed since the beginning of school and some other changes
may still occur.
October 12
Interims distributed/taken home

October 13
Parent Walk-In (PWI)
7:15 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

October 13
Early Release Wednesday – 1:45 p.m.

October 13
PSAT/NMSQT
GMHS will administer the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test) to all 10th and 11th grade students during
the school day on Wednesday, October 13. Students should come prepared with sharpened #2 pencils and a
calculator. There is no fee for the test. The only requirement is a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast! The
test will begin at 8:00 a.m.

October 13
College 101
An overview of the college process
7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Library

October 15
Parent/Teacher Mini-Conferences
Main Gym, Auxiliary Gym and Mustang Café
7:45 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

The process for this event is very informal. Most parents enter through door 15 at the cafeteria entrance.
There you will be greeted by staff that will provide you with a student schedule and teacher locations.
Teachers will be seated by department in the Mustang Café, auxiliary gym and main gym. Counselors
and administrators will also be available for conversations and facilitation of the conferences. Teachers
will be seated at a desk with a chair in front of the desk for the parent. Parents form lines in front of the
teacher desk, maintaining a distance that allows for privacy during the conversation. Each teacher will
have an egg timer that we ask them to use to help regulate the length of the conversation. The timers
came into use several years ago at the suggestion of a parent as a reminder that the time for the
conference is limited. I would ask that you please help us monitor this time by finishing up your
conversation as you see those last grains of sand run through the glass. Sometimes, especially if you
have more than one student in the high school, it can be difficult to speak with all the teachers. If you
run out of time, make an appointment to meet with any teacher that you did not get to speak with.
Contact information for all teachers will be available at the conference and is readily available on the
school website. Teachers will have a full day of classes to teach after they finish with the conferences
and will need to immediately begin their preparation for the school day at the end of the conferences.

Mini-conferences are a time we look forward to as an opportunity to make connections between home
and school.
 GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL PAGE 3

October 20
JUNIOR PARENT COFFEE
Why is junior year so important?
8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. B121 (Room in Mustang Café)

October 23
It’s Academic Taping
NBC4
4001 Nebraska Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016
Audience should arrive at 2:30 p.m.
Graduation
Game will air December 25 on NBC4
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
October 25
Make-up Senior Portrait Day 5:00 p.m.
TLC

October 26
DAR/Constitution Hall
Special Education Parent Meeting
Mustang Café—B121 Washington, DC
8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m.

October 27
Early Release Wednesday—1:45 p.m.

October 28 and October 29

Junior Variety Show
7:30 p.m. – Auditorium

November 3 November 18, 19, 20

PTSA Meeting Fall Musical – Les Misérables
7:30 p.m. – Library 7:30 p.m. – Auditorium
November 4
Make-Up Picture Day for Grades 8th-11th November 23
Senior ID Picture Day (for seniors who did not have Special Education Parent Meeting
portraits taken) TLC Mustang Café –B121
8:15 a.m. – 8:45. a.m.
November 5
Deadline to turn in senior pictures for yearbook inclusion

November 10
Parent Walk-In (PWI)
7:15 a.m. – 7:45 a.m.

November 11 and 12
Professional Days
No School for Students
 GEORGE MASON HIGH SCHOOL PAGE 4

George Mason High School

Bus Schedules for
Parent/Teacher Mini-Conferences
Please be at the bus stop 5 minutes before expected time.
October 15, 2010

Bus # F
9:34 Great Falls St. & Lincoln Ave
Bus # A 9:36 Great Falls & Virginia
9:37 Great Falls & Little Falls
9:25 222 Midvale
9:27 Columbia & Forest Bus # D
9:33 Seaton & Oak
9:35 Thomas Jefferson ES
Bus # B 9:37 Timber Lane & Parker
9:32 Columbia & Cherry
9:34 Hillwood & Cleave Bus # H
9:36 Hillwood & Smallwood 9:31 Timber & Poplar
9:38 Hillwood & Douglas 9:33 Rosemary & Tracy Pl
9:35 Welcome & Waldorf
9:37 Randolph St. & West St.
Bus # C
9:30 N. 11th St. & Roosevelt Blvd
9:32 N. 11th St. & Sycamore
9:33 Sycamore & Roosevelt
9:35 Roosevelt & Ridge

Bus # G
9:32 Maple Ave & S. Tinner Hill
9:34 James St. & Virginia Ave.
9:36 Annandale Rd & Gundry