Raider Nation News

Week of November 4, 2019

Second Marking Period Begins!

Dear Atholton Families,

This week marks the beginning of the second marking period. In a couple of weeks, parent conferences are approaching and will be an excellent opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress thus far. Please note that the link to register for parent conferences will open on November 11. More information regarding the registration process will be forthcoming.

This past week marked the introduction of two new initiatives at Atholton. The first is the revival of our Student of the Month program. To help promote our school values of Relationships, Achievement, Integrity, and Diversity, teachers are being asked to identify students that exemplify these qualities. For October, our focus was relationships -- those students who go above and beyond in building positive relationships in the classroom with their peers and teachers. Each teacher nominated a student. Below are the Student of the Month awardees for October. However, our recognition does not stop there! For those students receiving MULTIPLE nominations, we honor them as our RAIDER OF THE MONTH. We have seven students in this category. Please join me in congratulating:

Kelis Baker, Sooin Cho, Paige Cohen, Erin Edwards, Sophia Leshchyshyn, Toran Toot, and Vincent Zepf.

Each of our Raiders of the Month will receive an item of their choice from the school store and a gift card.

The second initiative this year is the Raider Review Video Magazine. During RaiderTime this past week, students watched a fifteen minute video production prepared by our journalism students. Student watched vignettes which included interviews of students in the hallway a la Jimmy Fallon, recognition of our Raiders of the Month, and even a segment entitled the MOTLEY MINUTE. The Raider Review Video Magazine will be a monthly feature during RaiderTime. We are working to get it uploaded for parents to see. Stay tuned!

As the fall sports season comes to an end, I want to remind everyone that students staying after school MUST be under the supervision of an adult. We cannot have students wandering the building without supervision. If your child does not walk or ride a bus, please make arrangements to have them picked up at dismissal if they are not being supervised by an adult.

Last week, I mentioned the upcoming information sessions at ARL on the HCPSS Career and Technology Education Career Academies. Interested parties need to only attend one session. The sessions will be held on November 13 and December 10 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at ARL. Additional information can be found here. New this week are shadows days being offered for interested students. If your child is interested in enrolling in a Career Academy for coursework that meets at the Applied Research Laboratory (ARL) next school year, students may sign up to participate in an ARL Shadow Day. Permission slips may be picked up in Student Services. They are due back to Mrs. Beneski in Student Services by November 8, 2019. More information about HCPSS and the Career Academy programs may be found in the HCPSS course catalog and on their website. More information may be found below.

Lastly, just a reminder that the AP registration deadline is fast approaching -- November 8. Students may register for AP exams online through November 8 using the College Board AP Classroom Portal, https://account.collegeboard.org. The $94 cost for each exam is due upon registration via our school online payment service. For specific payment instructions, contact Ms. Nina Dix at Nina_Dix@hcpss.org or Ms. Deborah Sauers at Deborah_Sauers@hcpss.org. After November 8, paper registration forms and checks payable to Atholton High School must be submitted to Ms. Dix or Ms. Sauers in Student Services. College Board will assess a late fee of $40 for registration after November 15. Students who receive Free and Reduced Meals (FARMs) qualify for AP exam fee reductions.

Have a terrific week!

Warmest Regards,

Robert Motley, Principal