Raider Nation News

Week of May 4, 2020

Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week!

It's All About the Seniors!

Dear Atholton Families,

Welcome to May! Traditionally, this is the time we begin celebrating our seniors. Therefore, this newsletter is all about celebrating our SENIORS -- Class of 2020!

For the first time since our “last” day on March 13, I had the opportunity to see many of our teachers and some of our students (seniors)! Yesterday, about fifty staff members and the administration delivered yard signs to our seniors. As staff members pulled up to Atholton and we loaded the signs in their vehicles, it was so nice to see their mask-covered faces! Moreover, as we set out to deliver signs, what a joy to see our seniors! We miss them (and all our students) sooo much! While we didn’t get to see everyone when we dropped of signs, below is a collage of some of the pictures from our visits. ENJOY!

By now, it is no secret that every high school will hold a virtual graduation. All high school principals are engaged in meetings with HCPSS to determine what this will look like. I ask for your patience as the twelve of us (high school principals) work to create a memorable experience for our seniors. What I can share is that IT WILL involve our cap and gown! We are also in the process of finalizing a calendar of senior events. Every senior was sent a google slide to decorate “a star” to be displayed on our webpage. Please check with your senior to make sure they have received it and that it is turned in for our webpage to Ms. Meledick (dana_meledick@hcpss.org) in Student Services. Additionally, we have begun to recognize our senior spring sport athletes on our Twitter page. You can find the posts below. This week girls lacrosse and boys and girls tennis are highlighted. Seniors Madison Garrigues and Isha Santhosh put together this awesome video for the track team. Lastly, congratulations to senior wrestler David Panda who was selected to the 2nd team MSWA All State Academic Wrestling Team.

The senior events planning committee is in the process of organizing a virtual spirit week, putting together our senior awards virtual presentation, and I am most excited about our senior breakfast car parade that we are hoping to pull off -- stay tuned!

Believe it or not, Advanced Placement exams are just around the corner (next week)! As we rapidly approach the first week of spring AP testing, we wanted to check in and make sure that you are starting to prepare for your at home exam administrations. A few reminders:

Check the schedule on the AP Coronavirus page to make sure that you know when your test is scheduled. You will need to login 30 minutes before the exam begins. Please prepare to sit for the May dates. The June window is in place to provide options for technical difficulties or scheduling conflicts.
Get your device ready and make sure it can run Chrome™, Firefox® , Safari, or Edge to deliver the exam questions. Internet Explorer cannot be used. If you have the Grammarly plug-in on your computer, you'll need to remove it to test. You can be sure your browser works by accessing the AP Exam Demo.

Note: AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish Language will require the use of mobile device or tablet to run the AP World Languages Exam App - available the week of May 11th. More information on World Languages administration. The Music Theory exam does not require an app, but a mobile device or tablet is recommended.

Read over pages 21-33 in the College Board AP Testing Guide for detailed information about preparing for the exams.

Thank you for taking the time to prepare for your AP exams. We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge without technical complications. Please visit the HCPSS Grades and Testing FAQ for additional resources. More information is below.

I want to celebrate Atholoton’s recognition as a Project Lead the Way Distinguished School. There were only 143 awarded this distinction in the nation! We are so proud of the teachers in our department -- Ms. Fregeau, Mr. Lidard, and Mr. Cramer. We are truly paving the path for our future engineers! You can read about Atholton’s distinction here.

If you are finding that you need assistance with school supplies at home, please see information below on how to get help with supplies.

Finally, this coming week is Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week! I am so fortunate to have such dedicated and talented individuals as my colleagues. They make me better! If you get the chance, please send a teacher or two a nice note recognizing them this week!

Wishing you all a fantastic week. Stay healthy and safe!

Warmly,

Robert A. Motley

Principal

Schedule for Distance Learning

By 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, teachers will have posted assignments in Canvas. Students will submit work through Canvas by 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 1, 2020. Regular class check-ins will follow the schedule below. Teachers will share the meeting time with students via Canvas notification

Monday

Log on for weekly assignments (9:00 a.m.)
Period 4A Google Meet Check-In: 1:00-1:45 p.m. OR 2:00-2:45 p.m.

Tuesday

Period 1 Google Meet Check-in: 8:00-8:45 a.m. OR 9:00-9:45 a.m.
Period 4B Google Meet Check-in: 1:00-1:45 p.m. OR 2:00-2:45 p.m.

Wednesday

Period 2 Google Meet Check-in: 8:00-8:45 a.m. OR 9:00-9:45 a.m.
Period 5 Google Meet Check-in: 1:00-1:45 p.m. OR 2:00-2:45 p.m.

Thursday

Period 3 Google Meet Check-in: 8:00-8:45 a.m. OR 9:00-9:45 a.m.
Period 6 Google Meet Check-in: 1:00-1:45 p.m. OR 2:00-2:45 p.m.

Friday

Submit assignments by 10:00 a.m.

Important Information

AP Exam Updates

The College Board has released some new AP Exam resources:

AP Exam Day Checklist: Your child should complete this checklist (.pdf/513.39 KB) (Links to an external site.) for each AP Exam they'll be taking this year, and keep it next to them on test day.

Explainer Videos: New videos are available (Links to an external site.) to give your child quick, easily accessible information about the test day experience and what they need to do to prepare. Additional videos will be posted to this playlist soon.

Accommodations details (Links to an external site.) for the exams are also available now.

HCPSS teachers will continue to work with students to share resources and course specific exam information in preparation for testing. Please visit the HCPSS Grades and Testing FAQ (Links to an external site.) for more information.

In addition, AP Coordinators will be sharing the message below with AP Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish Language teachers. The teachers will be messaging their students to notify them of the required devices.

The AP language exam will require the use of a smartphone or tablet to deliver the assessment. College Board will be releasing a new AP World Languages Exam App in the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store during the week of May 11th. This free app is required to take the assessment. Only language exams will require this specialized app.

If you do not have a smartphone/tablet available that can access the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store, please fill out this survey (Links to an external site.) as soon as possible:

https://education.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4MhXLaT0hcd3j8N?SFMC (Links to an external site.)

The College Board will provide additional support depending on device and internet needs.

A video walk-through of the test-taking experience will be available the week of May 4.

Assistance with School Supplies

HCPSS has partnered with the Bright Minds Foundation to provide school supplies to students who lack internet access and are unable to participate in online distance learning. The packs include a single subject notebook, pencils and/or pens, crayons or colored pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, and highlighter.

School supplies will be distributed at the HCPSS Grab-N-Go meal sites (Links to an external site.) on Friday, May 8, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. A student or family member may pick up supplies for their family. One or two packs will be provided to each family depending on the number of students.

HCPSS is accepting donations of new school supplies and families and organizations may donate to the Bright Minds Foundation Access to Learning Fund (Links to an external site.) to help provide access and resources for students. Families who have new school supplies to donate should contact partnerships@hcpss.org.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you have any questions about needing school supplies or other needs your child may have while learning from home.

PTSA Above and Beyond Awards

Nominate Faculty & Staff Members for Above and Beyond Awards: Parents & Students, although we are not in the school building, the PTSA would still like to recognize faculty & staff members who have made a real difference and have gone “Above and Beyond” the normal call of duty this school year. Every year the PTSA presents “Above and Beyond Awards” to staff/faculty members who go out of their way and make the extra effort to support students. Staff members are recognized in three categories: Academic, Extracurricular, and Student Services/Support (e.g., office staff, Student Services, custodians). You can nominate one staff member in each category.

To submit your nomination(s):

Send an email to Michelle Maslan (amaslan@comcast.net) indicating:

Name of staff member you are nominating

The category for the nomination (Academic, Extracurricular or Student Services/Support), and

A few sentences explaining/supporting the nomination

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, May 15, 2020 and the winners will be announced at the staff meeting on Monday, June 8, 2020.