Raider Nation Newsletter

Week of March 8, 2021

Happy Women's History Month

Dear Atholton Families,

We have concluded our first week with students back in the building! It would seem that our students (both in-person and virtual) are still adjusting to our new schedule and its earlier start time. In my conversations with students, the earlier start time, coupled with the removal of mid-day breaks has made the transition a little difficult. On a lighter note, it was so nice to dust off my rolling desk and begin roaming the hallways and interacting with students and staff. Although we have just a very small number back, I cannot wait to welcome back our 9th and 12th graders on March 29th. As a reminder, if you wish to make a change in your student’s designation (go from virtual to hybrid or hybrid to virtual) see the information below.

As we prepare to welcome back more and more students in our hybrid model, I hope you received my email regarding student Group A and Group B designations. If you are still unsure of whether your student is in Group A (Mondays and Tuesdays in-person) or Group B (Thursdays and Fridays in-person), you may verify in HCPSS Connect. Parents/guardians may view your child’s group designation at any time by taking the following steps:

Log in to HCPSS Connect Synergy (Links to an external site.) using parent/guardian credentials
Select Student Info from the left panel
Scroll down to the Other Data section to see the Student group for the attendance field.

If after logging in you do not see the options, please confirm you are logged in with your credentials and not as your child. If you need additional assistance, please contact our front office at 410-313-7065.

Our students continue to impress me, even in this virtual environment. I received an email from the Clarksville Youth Care Group (CYCG) regarding a project for our teachers. “CYCG is a student-run, non-profit organization based in Clarksville while serving the whole county and beyond, focusing on youth community service.” The group includes senior Stone Li, junior Steven Tzeng, and sophomores Rebecca Wu and Anna Tzeng. To quote Rebecca, “After realizing the hard work our teachers have put into making virtual and hybrid classes filled with positivity and engagement, we wanted to show our appreciation for their effort and dedication. Thus, CYCG initiated our COVID Teacher Care Kits project in order to show our support to amazing teachers.” The kits are amazing! The staff can’t stop raving about them. Thank you CYCG for recognizing all of the hard work of our teachers.

Congratulations to junior Nicholas Taber who was recently named a 2021 Carson’s Scholar! This highly selective award is given to students who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities. Also, while I traditionally do not recognize scholarships in the newsletter (there are just too many!), I cannot ignore that Alexander Nguyen, Sonia Albert, Ryan Hernandez, and Angela Voo all received $10,000 scholarships from AFCEA Central Maryland. Congratulations to all and to all of our outstanding students and their achievements.

Please be sure to read the important information below regarding Advanced Placement (AP) Testing and parking information for those students returning to the building and plan on driving to school. Students must submit a PARKING APPLICATION (found below).

Lastly, March is Women’s History Month. I think former President Jimmy Carter said it best:

“From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women worked together to build this nation. Too often, the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”

Enjoy the beautiful weather predicted for this week!

Robert A. Motley

Principal

Changing from Virtual to Hybrid or Hybrid to Virtual?

The selection process to return to in-person instruction has officially ended. We are now in the process of reviewing all of the data to determine how many of our students have elected to return to a hybrid model and how many have elected to remain in a fully virtual model. As we prepare for the safe return of students, we will use the data to determine how many students we can accommodate and make any necessary adjustments in our classroom and cafeteria set-up. For this and other logistical reasons, we cannot accommodate any changes that add to our in-person learning model. If for some reason you would like to move from the fully virtual model to the in-person hybrid model, you will need to go on a waitlist. We need to determine if we will be able to accommodate additional students in the building. You may access the waitlist here: Atholton High School Hybrid Learning Waitlist.

Advanced Placement (AP) Exam Registration

AP Exam Registration – The deadline to register for an AP Exam for a semester 2 course in the College Board AP Portal is March 12th. Once you register in the AP Portal at College Board, if you plan to take the AP exam, please complete the AHS AP Registration Form,

College Board will not be charging cancellation fees, however, they will be charging a late fee of $40.00 per exam, for students who register after the deadlines. Invoices will be sent out via email later in March, and payment will be due for all exams by April 16, 2021.

If you have any questions, please contact Nina Dix, Nina_Dix@hcpss.org or Deborah Sauers, Deborah_Sauers@hcpss.org

Student Parking @ AHS for Hybrid Students

Parking on campus at Atholton is a privilege, not a right, that the school provides to students. These policies are in place to help keep the parking lot safe and provide the opportunity for students to drive to school. These policies have been modified for the 2020-2021 school year.

All permitted drivers must possess a valid Maryland driver’s license
Vehicles must be tagged and registered
Vehicles may only be parked in one of the student parking areas
Vehicles may not be parked along curbs, in the grass, reserved or teacher spaces, bus lane, or visitor spaces
Students may not go to the student parking lot or to their cars without administrative permission.

Ability to park on campus may be revoked temporarily or permanently for the following:

Parking in unauthorized areas (see above)
Unsafe driving or violating traffic laws while on school property or entering school property
Having items in a vehicle that violate HCPSS drug, alcohol, and/or weapons policies
Other violations of HCPSS or Atholton regulations

HCPSS Parking Policies:

Howard County Public Schools is not responsible for vehicles or contents of vehicles while parked on school property
Student vehicles parked on school grounds may be subject to search per HCPSS and Howard County Police Department policies and procedures