Raider Nation Staff Newsletter
Week of January 13, 2020
Happy Belated New Year!
Hello Raider Nation,
It has been a few weeks since my last newsletter. A lot has transpired since then. First and foremost, I have not had the opportunity to wish you all a very Happy New Year! I hope that your 2020 is off to a great start. As for me, the results of the Raven game last night is not what I would consider a great start :-( We have seen our first early closing and first delayed opening this past week due to snow and this weekend we enjoyed temperatures in the 70s. Nothing like a Maryland winter! :-)
Jumping into a freezing body of water in the middle of winter may seem like a crazy idea, but two Atholton High School students – Jackson Balda and Makenna Hammill- will be doing just that on January 17/18 for Special Olympics Maryland Polar Bear Plunge – Super Plunge. Let’s support Jackson and Makenna in their quest to meet their goal of raising $15,000. Donations can be made directly to their Fundraising link: https://support.somd.org/team/268845 . Special Olympics gives athletes with disabilities a world of opportunities without limitations. Your support will make a significant impact in their lives!
Atholton hosted its second annual Stemapalooza event on the 3rd. Over 250 middle school students from our feeder schools participated in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities designed by our own students. Major KUDOS to Jean Fregeau for spearheading this event and everyone who pitched in with coverage, giving up space, and enduring all of the young ones in the building (Lol). Our students did an outstanding job leading the middle schoolers in activities. I am already looking forward to next year’s event!
Yesterday evening was the opening night of the AHS Dance Concert. What a fantastic job by our sturents. Kudos to Heather Haffey for her stellar vision and teaching. Both Broadway pieces from A Chorus Line and 42nd Street were truly worthy of being on Broadway. Additionally, this morning, I had the pleasure of attending a Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast where the greater Howard County community recognized and embraced our Alpha Achievers from all twelve HCPSS high schools.
We all know that it takes a village. Thank you to those who have volunteered to help with supervision of our Robotics Team. However, we need more volunteers. If you need some time to catch up on grading and staying late at school, please consider supervising the team. We just need a staff member with the group. You can sign-up via this link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080e44aaa92fa6f85-robotics1. Please see Charlie Lidard if you have any questions.
This Tuesday is an admin PIP which will focus on your responsibilities and accountability around IEP data collection and your role in this process. Quite often the information provided does not match what is needed. This informative PIP will walk through how input forms need to be completed and what work samples qualify as exemplar samples. Please plan to attend during one of your planning periods. A huge thank you to Michelle Mercier for taking the lead on this needed professional development.
A couple of very important events are coming up in the next few weeks. First, I have included the midterm exam schedule below if you did not see it in previous communications. Second, this Tuesday evening (1/14) is our Academic Programs and Scheduling Night. Thank you to everyone who is participating. This will be an opportunity to reach parents and students regarding course registration. Please see Adrienne Nasir if you have any questions or would like to participate. Lastly, On January 28th at 7pm we are holding a special Scheduling Night / Orientation for our new students and families coming to us from Oakland Mills HS (current 9th graders). Mr. Lathroum’s class is in the process of creating a video we will use to welcome them. He and his students will be coming around filming and may ask you to participate.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone for your patience and understanding as I caught up on the numerous emails I received during my family’s trip to Cote d’Ivoire. As I mentioned in my auto-reply, we were truly without access to email. It took my daughter a while to detach from technology but she quickly learned to appreciate the culture in which we were immersed. Once again, thank you!
See you tomorrow!
Robert
Important Information
Student Support Team Information
If you have concerns about a student, please reach out to the various supports we have in place to assist. See below how to access information to support students in need of assistance:
Link for Tier 1 Interventions Document.
This can be found on the Atholton High School Canvas Page. Click on 'Student Support'. Link located under 'Student Support Team'
THIS WEEK
Meetings
Monday -- ITL Meeting (6th period)
Monday -- Department Meetings
Monday -- Attendance Team
Tuesday -- Admin PIP
Wednesday -- Admin / Student Services
Wednesday -- Ninth Grade Team
Thursday -- ITL Meeting (6th period)
Thursday -- TDL / Teacher Meeting
Mark Your Calendar
January 14— Scheduling Night (6:30pm)
January 20 -- MLK Holiday -- SCHOOL CLOSED
January 22 - 24 -- MIDTERM EXAMS
January 27 -- Professional Work Day -- No Students
January 28 -- New Student/Parent Orientation (7pm)
Atholton High School
Email: rmotley@hcpss.org
Website: ahs.hcpss.org
Location: 6520 Freetown Road, Columbia, MD, USA
Phone: 4103137065