Panther Post
Pikesville High School Newsletter |April 2018
From Principal Reid's Desk
Greetings Pikesville High Family,
Wow, what an exciting and eventful three quarters of a year PHS has had!
VISITATIONS ABOUND
Our school continues to showcase a wide array of instructional programming as a model to others both in and out of the state of Maryland. Recently, we hosted a delegation of principals and other academic leaders, including a Superintendent, from NYC to view our Lighthouse School. Additionally, our school, staff, and students, were recently highlighted by academicians who came to view our CTE and blended instructional programming. Needless to say, they shared their excitement about all of the innovative practices that are transpiring here at PHS.
TESTING SEASON
We had a VERY successful administration of the SAT for our Juniors, while our freshmen and sophomores engaged in a Mock SAT that afforded them exposure to prototype questions for this important and gateway assessment. We are currently preparing for the PARCC exam that commences the week of April 23rd. Still further, during this very busy testing season, we are doing the same as students have a myriad of upcoming assessments including the HSA, AP, MISA, and final exams, as appropriate. Thank you for the continued home support you are providing.
GRADE REPORTING
Thank you for your active involvement in devising/executing plans of action to sustain and/or enhance your child’s academic performance for the duration of this year. Third quarter report cards were recently distributed and we will honor our students who have exhibited the greatest improvement in their academic standing on Friday, April 27th. Please also note that fourth quarter interims are being distributed on Tuesday, May 8th during homeroom, so please review it with your child prior to that, it is my hope that you are consistently keeping abreast of your child's academic performance/attendance, as well as maintaining contact with teachers through BCPSONE. School counselors and administrators are also available to respond to any questions or concerns that you may still have regarding grades and academic progress.
CLIMATE CULTIVATION
We work arduously to create a positive learning environment. We are well aware of its importance in allowing students to feel safe and secure as they gain exposure to new and positive experiences that will enrich their lives and promote their productivity and talents. It has been a pleasure to behold our students having the opportunity to engage in “KNOW YOUR TEACHER” throughout this past month(s). This was created by our Climate Committee to allow students to better understand our staff's interests when they were high school students.
Our Multiculturally Rising Above Cultural Differences (MRAD) Club has celebrated African American History Month, Woman's History Month, the contributions of Native Americans and shown their altruism by partnering with Chick Fil-A in promoting Casey Cares PJs for terminally ill children. Thank you to the many who are supporting the various fundraising efforts and who have participated in our numerous outreach endeavors. Our most recent was well attended and sponsored by SADD and Future Nurses of America, under the direction of our Nurse Merani, on drug use/abuse. As we continue our efforts to "educate the whole child", Shock Trauma presented to our 11th and 12th graders on distracted driving and its ramifications. We appreciate the concerted effort and programming to keep our students safe and thriving.
CELEBRATION TIME
Our budding engineers won 1st place along with a sizable $1,250 grant at our first Northrop Grumman STEM Innovation Challenge hosted by National Electronic Museum under the able tutelage of Mr. Knipscher, our STEM DC.
For the first time in PHS history, four of our very own Pikesville Panthers will be travelling to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete at the International Career Development Conference for DECA against over 10,000 other students. https://www.deca.org/high-school-programs/high-school-educational-conferences/international-career-development-conference-hs/
Our staff has organized very successful trips to Mt. St. Mary, Annapolis, as well as Shakespearean field trips for our students.
PHS recently hosted SPARKS of Change in an effort to bridge the cultural divide.
National Walk Out Day- was an organized and dignified expression of our students' rights!
Congrats to our very own Coach Michael Dukes who is the Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year!!
Our Panthers were exposed to the BGE Demonstration Mobile in order to see and experience authentic learning in action.
PHS recently acquired a Z-Space interactive apparatus-one of the first in any BCPS schoolhouse, in partnership with CHAI: Comprehensive Housing Assistance, INC.
Congratulations to Erin Haroth, PHS’ Teacher of the Year, who was officially named as an AP Capstone reader and Jen Meltzer, our media specialist, who was specifically hand-selected to exhibit her “Media Specialist Genius” skills at the recent Texas Library Association Conference.
Ethics Award recipient E. Fine was honored by the Board of Education and Interim Superintendent Verletta White for his noteworthy work in promoting PHS as a united and compassionate School of Excellence.
Congratulations to M. Suchin, PHS' Carson Scholar, for her magnanimous and thoughtful endeavors towards her immediate and surrounding community.
Our talented athletes under the able direction of Coaches Hrinda and Molyneaux as PHS hosted the Track Classic .
Our talented Engineers experienced a CLEAN SWEEP of both the preliminaries and final Shark Tank contest. Our successful school and students competed with many others across the state and were the UNDISPUTED CHAMPIONS who dominated this competition and showcased our product design prowess!
NEW PHONE SYSTEM
Our new PHS phones are now in full use. Note our new numbers at the bottom of this newsletter.
“The time is always right to do what is right” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you for always doing “the right thing” by your child and our school. We benefit greatly from your active involvement and encouragement of the many student achievement programs at PHS- HOME OF PANTHER PRIDE HONOR AND SUCCESS.”
Yours in Education,
Sandra Reid
Panther Pride
Important Testing Dates
The end of the April brings with it the start of testing season here at Pikesville High School. In an effort to keep all parents informed, below is the testing schedule for this spring.
English 10 PARCC Testing: April 24th – April 30th
Math PARCC Testing: May 3rd – May 9th
Government H.S.A. Testing: May 11th – May 18th
HS – MISA Testing: May 21st – May 28th
Students will receive passes that indicate the test date, location and time of testing. Should a student be absent from testing, arrangements will be made for make-up opportunities.
Graduation Requirements:
Students in Grades 9, 10 and 11 are required to pass the English 10 PARCC test in order to meet graduation requirements (test is taken at the completion of the 10th grade year). The passing score is 725. Students who do not meet the score requirement will continue to test until eligibility for completion of the bridge plan is met. Students who successfully complete the bridge plan and who have tested at least twice will meet graduation requirements.
Students currently in grades 9 and 10 are required to pass the Algebra 1 PARCC test in order to meet graduation requirements. MSDE indicates that students must participate in PARCC testing for mathematics in high school starting with students in the class of 2021 cohort (those who are 9th graders in 2017-2018). The passing score for the Algebra 1 PARCC Is 725.
If this requirement was met in middle school, then students in Grade 9 are required to participate in high school PARCC testing for math in either Geometry or Algebra 2 (dependent upon 9th grade math course enrollment).
If students in grades 9 or 10 did NOT pass the Algebra 1 PARCC test in middle school, they will continue to test in high school and once passed, they will have met the graduation requirement.
Requirements for students currently in grade 11 vary depending upon the school year in which the student first took the assessment.
All students are required to take and pass the Government H.S.A. Passing score is 394. Should a student not meet the passing score after two attempts of testing, he/she may be eligible to begin bridge plans. Students, in an effort to reach the passing score, will continue to test through the end of the 11th grade as bridge plan work will not begin until the summer of senior year. Once a passing score is achieved or bridge plans are accepted, students will meet graduation requirements.
Current 9th graders are required to participate in the HS-MISA test this spring. This is a new state science assessment which is replacing the old Biology H.S.A. For the 2017-2018 school year, students will just need to participate in testing in order to meet graduation requirements.
Should you have questions about testing requirements, please feel free to reach out to your child’s school counselor or our School Testing Coordinator, Mrs. Allison Seymour (ashinners@bcps.org).
News from the English Department
The English Department has been working diligently to support students in improving their reading, writing, critical thinking, and presentation skills. Grade 10 teachers have been working hard to prepare students for the upcoming PARCC exam and AP teachers are supporting students to meet with success on the AP Language and AP Literature exams. This quarter, students are reading "A Doll's House", Romeo and Juliet, Enrique's Journey, and various other texts. If you would like to obtain a copy of the unit text to read at home with your child, please email Erin Haroth, English Department Chair at eharoth@bcps.org.
Social Studies
9th grade American Government State Exam- Graduation requirement
9th grade, state mandatory, graduation requirement, the H.S.A. Government exam will start on May 16th and run until all students have tested. As always, being present with a charged device are essential for students to test. Students are encouraged to receive and complete review materials from their teachers- Mr. Lambert or Mrs. Mondell. Additionally, a letter will be sent home to parents and students of dates for review sessions. Please be on the look out!
Advanced Placement (AP) EXAMS
A.P. Psychology- 5/7 @ 12:00 pm
A.P. Government- 5/10 @ 8:00 am
A.P. U.S. History- 5/11 @ 8:00 am
A.P. Economics- 5/16 @ 12:00 pm
A.P. World History- 5/17 @ 8:00 am
A.P. Economics- 5/18 @ 8:00 am
A.P. Human Geography- 5/18 @ 8:00 am
Teacher Notes:
Mr. Parsons will be holding AP review sessions after school on Tuesdays, or by appointments.
Mr. Babcock will have coach class every Tuesday from 2:30-3:30 and open coach class every morning from 7:00-7:30 in order to help students review for the AP Psychology exam on May 7.
Mr. Ethan Goodman will be holding after school AP Macroeconomics and AP Microeconomics Exam Review Sessions on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays through May 18. The sessions will be held in room 207 from 2:15-3:15. Cancellation for unforeseen circumstances will be announced ahead of time.
Mrs. Johnson wants to remind everyone that the APUSH Test is May 11. Students should have already registered. Review for the exam will begin in class at the end of April and after school study sessions will be held every Tuesday and Thursday beginning May 1.
Mrs. Talbot reminds students that she has coach class on Wednesday or by appointment for her U.S. History, Abnormal Psychology and Films and History courses.
Class of 2019 News
The Class of 2019 Jr. Prom, "A Night Under the Big Top", will be held at PHS on April 28th, from 7-10 pm. If you have any questions about the event, please contact Mr. Ethan Goodman (egoodman@bcps.org) or Mr. Doug Kotula (dkotula@bcps.org).
Anyone who is interested in purchasing advertisement space for his/her company or business in the "Senior Edition" of the school's newspaper can contact Mr. Ethan Goodman (egoodman@bcps.org)
Spanish & French Honors Societies
National Spanish Honor Society
Recently Spanish Honor Society held a successful Carnival celebration, shared with French Honor Society’s Mardi Gras festival. The largest event sponsored by the chapter so far, the celebration featured plenty of food and crafts, like the Mardi Gras King Cake in which two lucky participants found the special charm in their slices, rendering them royalty for the day. Aside from the French crowns and beads, all students were able to design creative masks from colorful sequins and feathers as Spanish music played in the background, building the fun energy that defines traditional Carnival celebrations. It was a fantastic first event for our new members, who were inducted just two weeks earlier in a significant ceremony that more than doubled the size of the Spanish Honor Society chapter. This growth in interest fuels anticipation for the expansion of knowledge in the Spanish language and culture among the students. "¡Todos a una!”
National French Honor Society
In January and February of this year the National French Honor Society of PHS has inducted a new group of students and hosted a Mardi Gras celebration in conjunction with the National Spanish Honor Society. We celebrated in the Learning Commons, where we introduced French/Cajun culture to various newcomers. We had two traditional cakes known as King Cake. The person who gets a piece of the cake that contains a bean is crowned king or queen for the day. We crowned two girls, Emily DeLeon and Jaysa Henson-Green. We also ate jambalaya and made Mardi Gras masks. The holiday was lots of fun and everyone had the Mardi-Gras spirit. From Vice Presidents, Kimani Pope and Anna Tuvelman, we are proud to share this insight into our National French Honor society program.
The Health Suite by Nurse Merani
On Thursday, April 12th, many parents and students came out to learn about the latest trends in drug use and hear a wonderful story about addiction and healing. Unfortunately, vaping is now the second most popular drug among teens and health experts are getting very concerned.
Please review the information below on VAPING and the RISKS OF E-CIGARETTES
An e-cigarette, looking much like a pen or a flash drive, is a device containing a heating element that converts liquid into a vapor, which a person then inhales. The liquid that is used is very concentrated and could contain a variety of harmful substances including nicotine, heavy metals, and flavoring linked to lung disease, as well as THC/CBD.
The vibrant marketing signs, harmless-seeming flavors, and sleek devices make e-cigarrettes a popular trend among middle and high school students. According to the Surgeon General, “youth nicotine use in any form is unsafe” and the fact that e-cigarettes are too new for researchers to understand the long-term health effects make today’s youth what public health experts call a “guinea pig generation.”
I recommend that you engage your child in conversations about healthy choices and decision making and utilize the resources included below to help you learn more about the dangers of e-cigarettes.
While our children are vulnerable to outside influences, teens face many challenges to fit in and to self–medicate to handle stress. Together we will protect, educate, and guide them toward a life of good health and safe choices. Learn more about e-cigarettes HERE.
Yearbook News
Attention Parents of Seniors
Consider recognizing your graduating senior with a recognition (baby) ad in the 2018 yearbook. Order forms were mailed to all senior households during September. If you did not receive a form in the mail, there is a link to download a form on the parent page of the pikesvillehs.bcps.org website. If you own a local business, consider placing an ad in our yearbook.Order Your 2018 Yearbook Now:
- Order Online at jostensyearbooks.com. Search for Pikesville High School.
- Order by phone: 1-877-767-5217.
- Order by check for $68.90 to Mrs. Leiby in Room 128.
If you would like to purchase or have questions about the 2017 yearbook, please contact Rita Leiby at rleiby@bpcs.org.
Attention Parents of Seniors
Consider recognizing your graduating senior with a recognition (baby) ad in the 2018 yearbook. Order forms were mailed to all senior households during September. If you did not receive a form in the mail, there is a link to download a form on the parent page of the pikesvillehs.bcps.org website. If you own local business, consider placing an ad in our yearbook.
Mental Health Resources at PHS
An important part of helping students meet their goals at Pikesville High School is connecting them with the best professionals on every step of their high school journey. While only a small percentage of our students receive social work services for school-related concerns, many of our students can benefit from outside counseling.
Outside providers focus on helping students to cope with the stressors of adolescence, so that adolescents can achieve their goals and learn various coping strategies. We are pleased to partner with three local Community Mental Health Providers: Main Street Mental Health, Thrive Behavioral Health, and now Innovative Therapeutic Services.
Each of these providers offers mental health counseling within and outside of the school setting. Students with medical assistance, as well as most private insurance plans, have access to a variety of therapists who are specialists in the field of adolescent mental health.
Students who are seen by any one of our community partners allows our school staff to have a unique team approach to help your child, both in and outside of school. Providers can continue sessions throughout summer months, help with medication management, and also provide family therapy, if necessary. All of these services are offered without the added stress of driving your child to their appointments.
Please contact Ms. Chase, Pikesville’s School Social Worker, to find out which of these providers is the right choice for your child.
Community Partners & Programs
Baltimore Shakespeare Factory | Summer Programs for Teens
Students will participate in acting activities that will cover a wide variety of skill development and will also rehearse a one-hour version of a Shakespearian play (play depends on session) that they will perform for parents on the last day of camp. Take a whole session on stage combat! Or sign up for As You Like It, Hamlet, and/or The Comedy of Errors.
https://www.baltimoreshakespearefactory.org/summer-with-shakespeare
Pikesville High School Vision
Pikesville High, the heartbeat of our culturally-diverse community, is where pride in our work, and honor for ourselves and others, combine to ensure success in cultivating our globally-competitive students.
About Us
Assistant Principals
Grade 10 and P-Z grade 9 Mr. Robinson, probinson@bcps.org
Grade 11 and A-F grade 9, Mrs. Seymour ashinners@bcps.org
Grade 12 and G-O grade 9, Mr. Carney acarney@bcps.org
Other Important Numbers
Main Number: 443-809-1217
Fax: 443-809-3009
Cafeteria: 443-809-1223
Guidance: 443-809-1219
Nurse: 410-484-4795
Library: 443-809-1231
Athletic Director: 410-887-1257
Email: pmichalski@bcps.org
Website: http://pikesvillehs.bcps.org/
Location: 7621 Labyrinth Road, Pikesville, MD 21208, United States
Phone: 443-809-1217
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pikesvillehighschool/
Twitter: @PikesvilleHS