The Raider Nation Newsletter

Dear Raider Nation,

Congrats once again to the Class of 2024! Graduation last week was a tremendous success and it was so wonderful to see and hear our student speakers and performers and celebrate the achievements and bright futures of all the graduates. It's always so interesting to me how just one week after we say goodbye to our seniors, we welcome our incoming freshmen. Tomorrow is the middle school visit and we will have students from Clarksville MS, Hammond MS, Lake Elkhorn MS, Murray Hill MS, and Wilde Lake MS joining together for the first time as RAIDERS! It is definitely an exciting time.

It is crazy to think how quickly the year has gone by! Weren't we just welcoming 9th graders to new student orientation? Welcoming everyone back for Back to School Night? Celebrating Fall traditions with Homecoming? Well, it won't be long before we get to do it all again...but let's make it better than this past year. If you haven't had a chance to complete the "Start, Stop, Continue" survey, please take some time to share your thoughts. We appreciate the feedback as we plan for the coming year.

9 more wake ups for school days. 5 more full days of school. 4 more half days. 1 more newsletter for the year after today. You can do it!

Sincerely,

Nick Novak

Principal

Great news Class of 2025-- Atholton HS has a new photography vendor (Legacy Studios) and we are pleased to announce our first round of senior portrait sessions will be after school on June 12th, 13th, and 14th. The senior portrait scheduling page is now active and open for you to select your June appointment dates and times. The link to schedule appointments is below. https://seniors.legacystudios.com/atholton-hs-columbia-md/ Once these dates fill up, Legacy Studios will open the next set of dates. Or, if they don’t fill, they will open the next set of dates shortly after these have passed. The additional dates we have scheduled (and will be open for sign up as the dates approach) are: Monday July 29th Tuesday July 30th Monday August 19th Tuesday August 20th Friday October 18th (No school for students)

HCPSS has extended the deadline to register for bus service for the 2024-2025 school year to June 5th. We are sending out the reminder through multiple platforms to ensure people sign up. Only 40% of our families eligible for transportation have signed up as of today.

Please visit the HCPSS website to register before June 5th:

https://news.hcpss.org/news-posts/2024/05/bus-service-registration-deadline-extended-to-june-5-2024/

Each graduation was streamed live online. The archived video is available by clicking on this link to the HCPSS graduation webpage. Videos will be available on the HCPSS YouTube channel in the coming weeks and HCPSS also will rebroadcast the graduations on Howard County cable channels 42 (Verizon) and 95 (Comcast). Please note, rebroadcast schedules are subject to change.

The Class of 2024 Awards Ceremony was held on Monday 5/20. In case you missed the program, check out the award winners in the presentation below. Congratulations to all of these outstanding students as well as the entire graduating class!

Juneteenth – Lakefront Live Concert

Columbia Lakefront

Wednesday, June 19th

Volunteer time 5:30pm – 8:30 pm

(15-20) volunteers needed

July 4th Lakefront Celebration & Fireworks

Columbia Lakefront

Thursday, July 4th

Volunteer time 2:45pm – 10:30pm

(40-50) volunteers needed

Registration info below.

The Christian Student Union is hosting a drive this week for the Columbia Pregnancy Center. The Columbia Pregnancy Center is a non-profit that helps and provides for hundreds of expecting and current mothers in need. These mothers urgently need lotion, soaps, diapers, and baby wipes. Please donate by putting these items in the boxes in the front lobby and auditorium entrance. Thank you for your support!

If you have a rising 5th-9th grader at home, make sure you register them for one of the fantastic camps happening this summer. Check out the info on the Boosters website and register today!

In partnership with Backpack Healthcare and Congruent Counseling/Integrative Counseling, HCPSS presents a spring/summer series of "Wellness Workshops and Support for Parents". All HCPSS parents are invited to attend any or all of these free, virtual evening workshops. Sessions are from 6-7 p.m. on a variety of dates. Wellness Workshops and Supports for Parents Flier

Attention LGBTQ+ students!!! Buy a ticket to the HCPSS Pride Prom on June 8th at the Harriet Tubman Cultural Center! Tickets are only $30 and include your entry, food, games, and more! Reach out to Ms. Lee with any questions

Ms. Lee is giving away an iPad, a Nintendo Switch, and a digital camera to four lucky students this Pride month! Submit an essay, poetry, magazine design, or trifold project by June 3rd for a chance to win! Follow the contest Instagram @blackstripe2024 for more details and tips along the way!

As we wrap up the school year, I wanted to share a couple of reminders since we've had some recurring issues lately with these two things:

2) After School Expectations-if students are not involved in a supervised activity after school, they should head home as soon as possible after the end of the school day. Students may wait a short time in the lobby for a ride after school, but if their behavior (wandering around the school, goofing off, etc) becomes an issue, we may revoke after school privileges.

Affordable & Convenient Summer SAT & ACT Prep, College Essay Writing Workshops & Admissions Crash Courses in Partnership with Howard County High Schools

Both in-person and live, virtual, eight-hour summer college prep classes are being offered in partnership with Atholton, Centennial, Hammond, Howard, Marriotts Ridge, Mt. Hebron, Reservoir, and Wilde Lake High Schools and are open to students from all high schools.

Virtual ACT Prep: Sun., June 30 & Sun., July 7 from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm

SAT Prep at Atholton HS: M/W July 8 & 10 from 5 pm - 9 pm

College Essay Writing Workshop at Atholton HS: W/Th July 17 & 18 from 5 pm - 9 pm

These workshops are designed to affordably help students craft their Common App personal essay from idea generation, to outline, to the completion of a first draft.

Virtual College Admissions Crash Course: Aug. 5, 7, 12, 14 from 7 pm - 9 pm

Each college prep class is only $199,* or choose a College Prep Premium Bundle and save up to $300! AHS students can register for any Answer Class, at any location or online, – and 20% of tuition will be donated to AHS PTSA! Visit www.theanswerclass.com to view the full class schedule and to register your student.

6/3 Incoming 9th Grade Sports & Activities Info Night

6/4 Incoming 9th Grade School Visit

6/5 Underclassmen Awards/11:35am Dismissal

6/11 Final Exam-Period 1 (2:35pm Dismissal)

6/12 Final Exams- Periods 2 & 3 (11:35am Dismissal)

6/13 Final Exams- Periods 4A & 5 (11:35am Dismissal)

6/14 Final Exams-Periods 4B & 6 (11:35am Dismissal)

Atholton PTSA

Atholton PBSA-New Website!!!

Atholton Boosters

Atholton Drama Boosters

Atholton JROTC Boosters

Atholton Music Boosters

Atholton Robotics Boosters