Raider Nation Newsletter

Week of March 15, 2021

Dear Atholton Families,

Athletics are back! This past week saw the almost return to normalcy as our outside campus was filled with student-athletes engaged in competition and/or practice. It is so nice to see students and their families in-person cheering on Raider Nation! I wish all of our fall athletes the best of luck! In case you missed the atmosphere of our home JV Football game, Mr. Brian Jamison, parent, was gracious enough to share the link to all of the photos. You can view them here. If you have a link to any sports photos, please feel free to share!

Believe it or not, summer school options are just around the corner. Online enrollment requests for currently enrolled HCPSS students will open at 6:00 p.m., Monday, March 15, for BSAP Summer Institute, Gifted and Talented Summer Institutes for Talent Development, Innovative Pathways High School (Math and Science only), and STARTALK Chinese Language Summer Camp. Please reference the HCPSS News posting. Families can find up-to-date course information and enrollment directions on the Summer Programs web page (https://www.hcpss.org/summer-programs/). Please contact the summer program lead with additional questions.

At last week’s Board of Education meeting, Dr. Martirano emphasized the school system's interest in holding in-person graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2021 at Merriweather Post Pavilion if at all possible. The current graduation window is May 24 - June 11. Based on this information, Friday, May 28, should be used as the expected last student day for seniors.

I am thrilled to add Xander Hartgrove and Georgia Martin to the list of Atholton students recognized as Carson Scholars. As I mentioned last week, this highly selective award is given to students who excel academically and are dedicated to serving their communities. CONGRATULATIONS!

Wishing everyone a fantastic 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