Hawk News from the Principal

Week of December 4, 2023

Dear River Hill Families,

I want to congratulate all of the new inductees into the National Honor Society (NHS). The induction ceremony was held last Tuesday evening and our inductees were fortunate enough to have Ms. Aman Dhanda, Chief Engagement Officer from the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) as the guest speaker. NASSP is the parent organization of the National Honor Society and having someone from the national office at our ceremony was truly an honor. Once again, congratulations to all of our new inductees. As expected, it was nice to see all of the parents out to support their students. However, I was impressed by the number of current NHS members who showed up to support their newly inducted peers.

On Wednesday, River Hill had the pleasure of welcoming Howard County Councilmember Deb Jung to our school. She spent about an hour visiting classrooms, speaking with teachers and students. Her visit was well-timed as during HawkTime, our seniors were meeting to get information about ordering their cap and gown for graduation. Ms. Jung had the opportunity to address our seniors and noted she will see them all again at Merriweather in mid to late May. It was a great visit!

As mentioned earlier, preparations for the Class of 2024 are underway. The graduation window has officially been announced – May 20 - May 31. Historically, specific graduation dates and times have been released near spring break (late March, early April). As soon as I have the date and time, I will send it to families. Cap and gown information along with graduation announcements can be found here. Please get those orders in early! Please see information below on purchasing space in our yearbook.

Please join Clarksville Elementary School (CES) and the RHHS PTSA in providing gift cards to families with children at CES who need a little extra support this holiday season. CES is collecting gift cards to be provided to these families! There are three ways to help: (1) you can purchase plastic gift cards from either Target, Walmart, Amazon, Giant, Uber or Safeway, write the amount on the card, and send them in with your student or drop them off at the CES or RHHS front offices (please no gift cards in denominations larger than $50); or (2) you can make a monetary donation via Clarksville School Counselor Jennifer Palich’s Venmo account (@Jennifer-Palich) - please note “holiday gift cards” in your transaction. Donations must be received by 2:00 p.m., Friday, December 8th. Thank you!

Lastly, this week is the official start of winter athletics! On Tuesday, our wrestling team will travel to Glenelg to compete against the Gladiators and Long Reach. On Wednesday, girls and boys basketball teams will open against Howard – boys home and girls away. Also, I hope you can come out to support our dance program as their winter dance concert is this Thursday and Friday!

Have a great week!

Warmest regards,

Robert A. Motley

Principal

SEMESTER EXAM SCHEDULE

January Semester Exam Schedule

Tuesday, January 16, 2024 (A Day)

Period 1 Exam; Bell Schedule #1 (below)
Full day of school
No extracurricular activities, including practices, rehearsals, events, etc.
AM & PM ARL Classes in Session

Wednesday, January 17, 2024 (B Day)

Periods 2 & 3 Exams; Bell Schedule #2 (below)

All schools close 3 hours early
No extracurricular activities, other than 90 minute conditioning practices which may begin at 3:05 PM
No PM ARL Students

Thursday, January 18, 2024 (A Day)

Periods 4A & 5 Exams; Bell Schedule #2

High schools close 3 hours early
No extracurricular activities, other than 90 minute conditioning practices which may begin at 3:05 PM
No AM/PM ARL Students

Friday, January 19, 2024 (B Day)

Periods 4B & 6 Exams; Bell Schedule #2

High schools close 3 hours early
All extracurricular activities resume at 3:05 PM
No AM ARL Students

Special Notes

NO EXAMS MAY BE GIVEN PRIOR TO THE SCHEDULED EXAM DATE.

G/T Research Virtual Information Session

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RHHS G/T Research Program Information Session

December 7, 2023 on GoogleMeet ~ 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM

The RHHS GT Research program invites you to join us for a Parent Information Night. Current students will share information about the course curriculum for the two classes that make up the Gifted and Talented Research Program: Independent Research and Intern/Mentor. Hosted by Ms. Janine Sharbaugh, our GT Research teacher, the session will cover the program’s research tasks and objectives, the various opportunities for off-site learning and internships, and the incredible contributions to our world made by former students in the program.

In order to attend this GoogleMeet, you must register using this form.

Please email Ms. Sharbaugh with any questions: Janine_Sharbaugh@hcpss.org

Students can take two courses in the GT Research program:

Independent Research: students self-select topics, design thesis statements, cultivate sources, collect and interpret original data, and share the conclusions in a paper, presentation, and product. The application opens on December 1 on the RHHS website. It's due on January 26, 2024.

Intern/Mentor - for upperclassmen only: students pair the research course curriculum (students self-select topics, design thesis statements, cultivate sources, collect and interpret original data, and share the conclusions in a paper, presentation, and product) with an internship which offers a chance to work side-by-side with a professional in the field. The application opens on December 1 on the RHHS website. It's due on January 26, 2024.