South County Middle School Preps For Opening Day

The brand new South County Middle School opens in less than a month, and soon the hallways will be occupied by students, teachers and responsibility.

The furniture and technology (Smart Boards, projectors) were recently moved in, and the school has 1,020 registered students. Capacity is 1,250, and more students are expected to register before school starts on Sept. 4. 

Teachers will start work at SCMS on Aug. 22, yet the official start date for Fairfax County Public Schools is Aug. 27.  

"We're in an interesting postion, becuse we're in a new building, but the staff are veterans of South County Secondary," said the school's Assistant Principal Gordon Stokes. "Some teachers have been coming in because they want a little more time to set up their classrooms." 

Important School Events

Is someone you know going to be attending South County Middle School? They'll want to check out these three events this month:

The Mustang Round-up 

• Prepare your kids for school by picking up their schedules, buy their physical education uniform, and sign up for the parent-viewed Blackboard portal, which allows you to see homework assignments online. 
• Wednesday, Aug. 22, 5-7 p.m.

Seventh Grade Locker Night

For some kids, this will be their first experience with a locker. "Students have five minutes between classes, and combination lockers can add some stress at first," said Stokes. "Within a month they're wizards with them." 

• Thursday, Aug. 30, 5-7 p.m.

Seventh and Eight Grade Student Orientation

• Students spend less than 10 minutes at each class period in their schedules
• Students meet teachers without parental supervision
• Thursday, Aug. 31, 8:30-10:30 a.m.

(Parents will be allowed to attend their own orientation at the school from 8:45-10 a.m.)

Personal Growth

Middle schoolers are in a transitional period. "It's this balance between gaining individual responsibilities of keeping your classes on track," said Stokes. "I firmly believe that in middle school, students are coming into their own, becoming young adults and starting to express themselves. They've got a chance to be more independent and to experiment with the classes that they may want to take in high school."