The Raider Nation Newsletter

Dear Atholton Families,

Well, we almost got our Homecoming in! After a great week of spirit days, hallway decorating, and pep rally, Tropical Storm Ophelia put a stop to all the fun we had planned for Saturday. Thanks to the Boosters for salvaging the breakfast in the best way they could given the late notice. As for our football game and dance, the Varsity team is playing Centennial on Tuesday at 6pm and the Howard game is now on Saturday at 1pm while the dance has been rescheduled for Friday September 29th. We hope that folks will be able to make the rescheduled dates and times.

In the last couple of weeks, we had a chance to celebrate two groups of students: 1) Three National Merit Semifinalists, who will be moving on in the scholarship competition and 2) Ten Commended Students, who were in the top 50,000 nationally, but are not moving on in the competition. Congratulations to all of these students and their families. It is quite an achievement to be a commended student and a semifinalist!

Commended Students

Maria Bebu Ian Martinson

Naomi Belay Tyler Ostrowski

Dustin Flaker Micah Rao

Nidhin Gangisetty Josh Varghese

Eleanor Holmes Katherine Wood

National Merit Semifinalists

Naomi McKenna

Ishaan Punnackal

Livia Zhao

Read more about the National Merit Scholarship program here. Juniors with a high GPA and strong performance on the PSAT this October may qualify for recognition.

If you're looking to boost your performance on the SAT, consider registering for the Answer class offered in partnership with our PTSA (we actually get a donation based on AHS student registrations). The details appear below.

Sincerely,

Nick Novak

Principal

Atholton HS now has all routes serving students and the first three days with the new bell schedule were the best three days of the school year for on-time service to and from school and between AHS and the ARL. We hope that this level of service continues. If/when there are issues or concerns to report, you are welcome to share the information with the school. If we are unable to resolve your problem, we ask that you use the following form:

HCPSS Office of Student Transportation Contact Form

HCPSS Office of Student Transportation Contact Form - Spanish

This form will serve as a single location to gather feedback and information for the Transportation Office. The form will be available for input in other languages shortly.

HCPSS and The Council of Elders of the Black Community of Howard County (TCOE) have partnered to sponsor the following parent workshops series:

• October 14: Navigating the Howard County Public School System
• December 16: Social Emotional Well-Being and Substance Abuse
• January 27: Processes for Parent Empowerment
• March 9: Healthy and Unhealthy Relationships

Each engaging session is held virtually on Saturdays from 9-10:30 a.m. Please see the save the date flyer for more information.

HCPSS’ Multilingual Parent Leadership Program will begin on October 5. The six-week program is designed to help multilingual parents navigate the school system and develop the confidence to serve as advocates for their children. The program also provides training for multilingual parents to assume leadership roles in schools and the community. The program is held on Thursdays on the dates listed below and runs from 9:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Participants must attend all sessions.

• October 5
• October 12
• October 20
• October 26
• November 2
• November 9

Interested participants must complete an application by September 28. Completed applications must be returned to:

Office of Multilingual Family Services
Old Cedar Lane
5451 Beaverkill Road
Columbia, MD 21044

Free Parenting Classes - As educators, we are well aware of the ever-increasing pressures placed on students. The academic demands, social challenges, and rapidly changing world can be overwhelming. Our Guiding Good Choices parenting classes can equip parents and/or grandparents with the knowledge and skills to reduce the risk that their children will use drugs and alcohol or engage in other dangerous behaviors. These classes are for families with children 9 - 14 yrs. old and held over Zoom.

Medication and Sharps Disposal Take Back Day - October 28 in the Wilde Lake Village Center Parking Lot from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Safely dispose of prescription medication, over-the-counter meds, sharps, vitamins, pet meds, vape devices, inhalers, and more! Also, 100 medication lockboxes purchased by HCPSS will be given away for FREE!

Atholton will be hosting a "Career Fair" during the half-day on November 20. This event will be an opportunity for all students to explore various careers they may be interested in. We are in the process of identifying speakers to talk with our students that day. If you would like to participate by sharing your profession with our AHS students, please complete this form. As we get presenters and as we approach November, more information will be shared with families.

Attention senior families! You can begin ordering your caps and gowns! To do so, go to this website, where you will see the various packages that are offered through Jostens. If you do not want to order a package, please scroll down to cap and gown and purchase the cap and gown unit. All cap and gown units include a tassel to be worn on graduation day. If your graduate will be wearing a siblings cap and gown, please order a tassel and complete this form indicating your intentions. If you have any questions, please contact our graduation coordinator: Krista Bopst, Krista_Bopst@hcpss.org

The pandemic brought to light (and in many cases exacerbated) the food insecurities many of our families face. Atholton HS has always been committed to supporting families in need and we're making sure that we can serve our community right here at school. You'll hear more about when we'll be able to host distribution events and who can get food, but for now our priority is to establish our inventory. There are two ways you can help out: 1) From the comfort of your own home, you can shop online from our Amazon Wishlist and have the items delivered directly to the school or 2) you can drop off non-perishable items in our front office. Suggested items appear below:

You may have noticed that we now have a yellow Planet Aid donation box in the front parking lot. This is another way we are supporting those in need. Your donations of new or gently used clothing will go to people in need AND Atholton HS will get money throughout the year based on how much clothing is donated. The more you donate, the more we get. The funds we receive will go in our Student Support account and will be accessed to help Atholton students and families in need. Check out the flyer below and start dropping off your donations!

9/26 Centennial Football game rescheduled for 6pm

9/29 Homecoming Dance rescheduled for 7:30-10:30pm

9/30 Howard Football game now the "Homecoming game" at 1pm

10/6 ASVAB Opportunity for 11th & 12th Grade Students

10/9 No School for Students

10/11 PSAT for Grade 10 Students

10/18 PSAT for Grade 11 Students

10/20 No School for Students

I've been looking at a lot of school data lately and thought you'd enjoy seeing some of these data points about our school.

Atholton PTSA

Atholton Boosters

Atholton Drama Boosters

Atholton JROTC Boosters

Atholton Music Boosters

Atholton Robotics Boosters