
CLARKSBURG High School
Weekly Message 1/2/23
A message from Principal Edward Owusu
Clarksburg High School Students, Staff, and Families,
Happy New Year! If you made any new year resolutions it's my hope that you are well on your way to a positive start, and if not there is always a fresh start every day! Students and staff return to school on Tuesday to begin a 4 day week of instruction. There are 4 weeks left in the marking period. This Thursday we welcome all incoming grade 9 parents and guardians (Class of 2027) to an informational meeting to learn about the registration process and their new high school for the next few years. Spread the word and read the latest information. (Please click this link to see our weekly newsletter.)
CHS has begun the registration process for students to enroll in courses for the 2023-2024 academic year. This Thursday, from 6:30 to 7:30 pm, we welcome all incoming grade 9 parents and guardians (Class of 2027) to an informational meeting to learn about the registration process and their new high school for the next few years. The meeting will be held in person in the CHS auditorium. We have reached out to our middle school partners of Rocky Hill and Hallie Wells as well as other middle schools in MCPS to share the date and time of the meeting. Please help spread the word if you know of a family that will have a student attending high school at CHS.
The registration process for our current students also begin this week. Grade 9 students will receive course registration information this week in English classes.
Senior students and parents - The TENTATIVE Date for our CHS Commencement Ceremony in June 5, 2023 at 10 am at Mount Saint Mary's College. We look forward to celebrating our Class of 2023 graduates in June!
As we return to school here is an important message from the MCPS School System Medical Officer. This message outlines efforts in reducing the potential impact of respiratory illnesses on the school system, in line with our commitment to wellbeing and learning. These efforts focus on reducing respiratory virus transmission, continuing COVID-19 mitigation to reduce spread in schools, and minimizing interruptions to learning.
As an athletics reminder CHS Basketball games have moved to Tier 1. This means student school identification cards are required for students, and only students at participating event schools may attend games alone. Students under age 18 may attend games with an adult if they attend another non participating school. Adult must stay for duration of the game.
Did you happen to see the updated Advanced Placement information for families in the last message? Here's the link. This version includes:
- Information for late registration
- Updated late fees of $43
- Updated final payment date of March 1, 2023
The Clarksburg High School College/Career Center provides in-person services daily from 7:15 am through 3:30 pm. Visit the Career Center website and Career Center on Twitter: @Cburg_Readiness. Join the Career Center Canvas page. If you have questions, contact Mrs. Somerville. Check out the Campus Visits Calendar (Class of 2023 and 2024)
The Campus Visit’s Calendar is located on your Naviance homepage. Juniors and seniors must register online in Naviance to attend all campus visits. Please see the link for instructions. The Admission Representatives visiting CHS would like to meet you! Check out more information in this newsletter.
In this weekly message you will find information about upcoming visits from higher education representatives in our College & Career Center, athletics schedules, and more.
As always, thank you for your continued support and trust.
And remember, together we are ONE Clarksburg!
C'BURG UPCOMING EVENTS:
Monday, January 2 - Winter Break - School Closed for staff and students
Tuesday, January 3 - Regular Day Bell Schedule; Counseling Registration Meetings begin; Boys Basketball- Clarksburg at Gaithersburg JV 5:30 / V 7:15pm; Girls Basketball - Gaithersburg at Clarksburg JV 5:30 / V 7:15pm
Wednesday, January 4 - Regular Day Bell Schedule; Wrestling - Whitman at Clarksburg V 6:15 / JV 7:15pm;
Thursday, January 5 - Advisory Day Bell Schedule; Incoming Grade 9 Parent Information Night - 6:30-7:30 pm at CHS in-person;
Friday, January 6 - Regular Day Bell Schedule; Indoor Track - Invitational at Penn State; Girls Basketball - Clarksburg at Quince Orchard JV 5:30 / V 7:15pm; Boys Basketball - Quince Orchard at Clarksburg JV 5:30 / V 7:15pm
Saturday, January 7 - Indoor Track Invitational at Penn State; Pompons - Springbrook Blue Devil Invitational 10am; Wrestling - Clarksburg and Springbrook at Damascus 1pm;
Swim & Dive - CL and DA at Gaithersburg AC 2:30pm
The weeks ahead:
January 16-20 - Martin Luther King Jr. Week of Service
January 16 - Holiday - School Closed
January 26 - End of Marking Period 2
January 27 - Professional Day for Staff; No School for Students
Updated AP Letter for Families
Hello 2022-2023 AP Students and Caregivers,
Congratulations on taking an AP course this year! We applaud your commitment to challenging yourself with college-level learning. The opportunity to earn college credit in an AP course is acquired by taking the AP Exam associated with the course and is dependent on the AP exam score and specific college requirements. Exams for the AP courses are scheduled to be administered in schools via pencil and paper and held during the first two weeks in May. Please see below for details about registering.
AP Exam Enrollment - First, you need to have a College Board (CB) Account! With this, students can access PSAT, SAT, and AP scores online and have them sent to colleges. Some students may already be registered.
If you already have one, please do not create a 2nd account. Your same CB account login is used for PSAT, SAT and AP, so if you have ever created an account for one of these, you’ve done step one!
If you are new to AP and CB, you can create your account at https://myap.collegeboard.org/login.
Once students have an account, they will be given a “join code” from their AP teachers where they can join their teacher’s AP Classroom. Once a student enters the join code, they are automatically registered for that AP exam. CLICK HERE for step-by-step instructions on how to login. CLICK HERE for instructions on how to register for the exam.
AP Exam Fees
Each exam costs $101.00.
If you provided a $40 deposit per exam by Monday, November 14, 2022, the remaining balance of $61 must be paid by Wednesday, March 1, 2023.
College Board LATE FEE for any exam ordered after November 14: $43 (in addition to $101)
CANCELLATION FEE after November 14: $43 (money paid above the $43 will be refunded)
Students that do not pay the $40 exam deposit by November 14th will have their registration canceled and an exam will not be ordered for them.
Late Registration and Fees
The late registration window opens in December and will remain open until March 1, 2023.
Each exam will incur a $43 late fee in addition to the exam cost.
The process for late registration is as follows:
Please email or see Ms. Calarusse in Room 157 (Samantha_Calarusse@mcpsmd.org) now through March 1, 2023 to inform her of your intent to take the exams.
Please share all of the information below:
Name of Student and ID Number
Name of Exam(s)
Teacher(s) and Class Period(s)
Method of Payment you will use - (Cash, Check, or Online through SCO).
Once you have communicated with Ms. Calarusse, she will add the exams to your SCO (school cash online) account.
Please pay for your exams as soon as possible. Once you have paid, Ms. Calarusse will share join codes to register for the exams and order the exams.
Reduced fees are available to families with financial need. Families requesting financial assistance with exam fees must fill out the Fee Waiver request form. The reduced fee is $16.00. If families do not meet the criteria but do still need financial assistance from MCPS for exam fees, please email Samantha_Calarusse@mcpsmd.org.
Payments
All payments can be made by either cash, check, money order, or by credit card using the School Cash Online (SCO). Please refer to these directions HERE for help with SCO; if you need assistance obtaining the “PIN” number to log into SCO, please email Tara_K_Owens@mcpsmd.org, School Financial Specialist. If sending in a check/money order, please make your check/money order payable to “Clarksburg High School.” Address your payment envelopes to Samantha Calarusse. Students may also deliver payments to Room 157 during lunch.
Should you have any questions, please reach out to Samantha_Calarusse@mcpsmd.org, the AP Coordinator.Schedule Changes Process of 2nd Semester
Message for Seniors:
Seniors who are requesting an adjusted partial day schedule for the Spring semester of 2023 should complete the CHS Partial Day Schedule Request form. This should be done as soon as possible to meet the January 18th deadline. Please make sure to complete all requirements on the form prior to submitting it to your counselor.
Mensaje Para Estudiantes Graduandos:
Estudiantes del grado 12 que deseen solicitar un horario parcial tienen que llenar esta forma CHS Partial Day Schedule Request. Deben completarla lo antes posible ya que la fecha límite es el 18 de enero. Asegúrense de completar todos los requisitos antes de entregar la forma a su consejero(a).
CHS Student Schedule Change Request for second semester
The schedule change request window for semester two changes is now open and will close January 18th. Students who wish to change their course requests now for the second semester must contact their school counselor no later than January 18th, 2023 and fill out the schedule change request form. Please see here for counselor assignments.
Solicitud Para Cambio de Horario/Clase del Segundo Semestre
La ventana para pedir cambio de clase para el segundo semestre está abierta desde ahora y cierra el 18 de enero. Todo estudiante que desee cambiar alguna clase del segundo semestre debe comunicarse con su consejero(a) no mas tardar del 19 de enero y llenar la forma apropiada. Favor de ver el listado de consejeros(as) here.
CHS Student Schedule Change Process (Once the second semester starts)
Second semester starts January 30th.The schedule change request window will open back up and will run from February 10th to February 17th. Students can pick up schedule change request forms from their counselor in the counseling office starting February 9th before school starts, during lunch or after school. No schedule change requests will be considered after the February 17th deadline. Students should return their completed schedule change request form to their counselor. Once students submit their request, it will be evaluated by their teacher, counselor, and administrator. The student and family will then be notified of the final decision and, if approved, a schedule change will be made. Please see here for counselor assignments.
Solicitud Para Cambio de Horario/Clase (Ya comenzado el segundo semestre)
El segundo semestre comienza el 30 de enero. La ventana para pedir cambios se abrirá de nuevo del 10 al 17 de febrero. Los estudiantes podrán obtener la forma para solicitar cambio visitando a su consejero(a) comenzando el 9 de febrero antes del comienzo del día escolar, durante la hora de almuerzo o al finalizar el día escolar. No se considerarán cambios después de la fecha límite del 17 de febrero. Los estudiantes deberán regresar sus formas completamente llenas a su consejero(a). Una vez haya sido sometida, será evaluada por el maestro, consejero y administrador. Luego el estudiante y familia serán notificados de la decisión final, y si está aprobado, se hará el cambio del horario/clase. Favor de ver el listado de consejeros(as) here.
College/Career Center Update
Clarksburg High School
College/Career Center Update
Tuesday, January 3, 2023 to Friday, January 6, 2023
The Clarksburg High School College/Career Center offers in-person services daily from 7:15 am to 3:30 pm. Learn more about the Career Center at the Career Center website and on the Career Center Canvas page. Contact Mrs. Somerville for more information.
SENIORS - Congratulations on your acceptance of colleges and scholarships.
*CHS Senior Packet & Required Process for College/Vocational School
For seniors attending 2-year colleges, only the Transcript Release Form needs to be filled out.
The following deadlines are approaching:
January 8, 2023, is the Montgomery Scholars Honors Scholarship deadline.
January 23, 2023, is the Macklin Business Institute Honors Scholarships deadline.
Every week, new scholarship opportunities are added.
This document was prepared by CHS CCIC, Mrs. Cintonya Somerville.
Tutoring Services at CHS and More!!!!
Clarksburg High School is able to offer FREE tutoring from our own students and staff. Please click HERE to learn about CHS Tutoring available for all students.
All MCPS students have access to free, virtual tutoring services through FEV Tutor and Tutor Me Education.
Both companies offer two services:
Free on-demand tutoring for homework help, no scheduling needed
Free, scheduled tutoring for on-going support, scheduling required
Both companies record sessions, take session notes, and communicate directly with families
The difference between the two companies:
FEV Tutor - no camera for tutor or student - ideal for grades 3-12 students for whom the camera is a barrier to learning
Tutor Me Education - camera for tutor and student
Students access tutoring through using their MCPS Clever account.
For families who would like to set up scheduled, on-going sessions:
To set up tutoring sessions with FEV Tutor:
To set up tutoring sessions with Tutor Me Education:
MCPS@tutormeeducation.com or 240-618-2549 OR
Fill out their request form ** best way
Here is more FEV information:
Here is more Tutor Me information:
The County Executive’s proposed budget, released in March 2022, included funds for 1 Full time Mental Health Specialist and 1 Full time Care Manager at 10 priority High Schools (without Wellness Centers).
County Council expanded the support to all High Schools and added funding for a Positive Youth Development position at each school and additional PYD-SON staff to support each school (SON - Street Outreach Network).
The appropriation of these funds was approved in late May 2022
DHHS expanded the scope of the existing School and Community Youth Services (SCYS) contract to add these additional services and schools
SCYS contractors EveryMind, Sheppard Pratt, and YMCA-Youth & Family Services had already been providing therapy and mental health promotion and prevention services in some of the High Schools under the existing contract
Final approval for this expansion was received on August 4, 2022
HHS PYD expanded current Youth Opportunity Contracts (managed by Identity) to expand PYD services in the following schools:
BCC, Clarksburg, Einstein, Magruder, Springbrook, Quince Orchard, Richard Montgomery, and Rockville
All Identity PYD staff are hired for each school (Youth Development Specialist)
DHHS expanded the scope of the existing Youth Opportunity Center contract with Identity for the Youth Development Specialist positions at 8 of the High Schools
SON continues to provide Crisis Intervention services at request of MCPS in the aftermath of acts of violence either in the community or the school community.
All of SON services will utilize the shared PYD space at every school it currently provides services as well at the upcoming school sites once new staff are hired.
HHS PYD staff will provide ongoing inservice training to all PYD Providers to include the following: Joven Noble Curriculum in December, HHS PYD a youth engagement training, and Professional Community Intervention Training Institute.
MySchoolBucks for School Meals
Families new to MCPS are encouraged to sign up for a ParentVUE account at the beginning of the school year. ParentVUE is the online parent portal that serves as the primary communication vehicle for schools to share information regarding grades, attendance, scheduling, access to myMCPS Classroom and more.
ParentVUE provides a way to view school-related information and data for students. Register for athletics, special programs, communicate with teachers and verify your student information annually.
ParentVUE also allows access to Canvas/MyMCPSClassroom, a digital learning platform. Parents and guardians can view instructional information and resources, and get alerts about assignments and grades.
Dress Code? Yeah, we've got that!
Saturday School at CHS
The George B. Thomas Sr. Learning Academy, Inc. is pleased to offer options for parents and students interested in additional academic support and/or acceleration on the 6th day of learning (Saturday mornings). Please allow our certified teachers to support our Clarksburg cluster students (elementary through high school).
The fee for the entire year of Saturday School remains the same at $40 for FARMS students and $85 for all others.
Each Saturday morning, there are motivational sessions that focus on mindfulness and wellness within each center. In addition, students will have two additional hours with the MCPS curriculum (Benchmarks and Eureka) for additional support or acceleration. Each center serves the entire cluster of schools, but students have the capability of attending the center of their choice or participating virtually.
2022-2023 PROGRAMS - SATURDAYS / 8:30 - 11:00 AM
- Opening Ceremonies, Registration and Orientation: September 24
- Closing Ceremonies: May 6
Courses are available on the following Saturdays:
- January 28;
- February 4, 11, 25;
- March 4, 11, 18, 25;
- April 15, 22, 29
Parent Workshops: March 4
Center Locations – High Schools: Clarksburg, Einstein, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Blair, Northwest, Paint Branch, Springbrook, and Wheaton. Virtual options for all grades.
TO REGISTER Please go to our website saturdayschool.org.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Khadija_F_Barkley@mcpsmd.org or 301-287-8980.
Join the CHS Athletics Booster Club
Exciting Opportunities! CHS Boosters Membership and Bricks for Coyote Canyon!
*Join the CHS Athletic Boosters Today at chscoyotes.memberhub.com
It only takes a minute and every donation supports our athletic program! Thank you!
*Leave your mark by purchasing a personalized commemorative brick to be installed in the Coyote Canyon! Order online at www.bricksrus.com/donorsite/clarksburghs
This opportunity is only offered every few years, so get yours today! See attached flyer for more information..
NFHS Network and GoFan
Dear Coyote fans,
As we kick-off the upcoming school year, we wanted to tell you that through our official partners, NFHS Network and GoFan, you can easily buy tickets for games and subscribe to watch live games online for when you can’t get there in-person.
Click this link to visit our school homepage, where you can:
- Click “Follow” to get alerts on our upcoming events.
- Click “Buy Tickets” to get tickets to upcoming events.
- Click “Subscribe” to watch live broadcasts of upcoming events (a portion of the proceeds are shared back with our school!).
C'BURG Attendance Policy
Academic success begins with excellent attendance. Therefore, special attention will be paid to the issue of attendance and punctuality. We expect every student to be in school every day except for the legitimate reasons defined by Maryland State law and listed below:
Death in the immediate family
Certified illness of the student
Court summons
Work or activity accepted by school authorities
Observance of religious holiday
Quarantine
Physical and mental incapacity
Violent storms
State emergency
As we prepare for the start of school, we wanted to share some important information and updates on attendance procedures. This year we will be providing an online option for reporting student absences. Parents and/or Caregivers of students will use a google form to report a student absence and submit attendances notes. Upon completion of this form, the attendance secretary will review each submission and will follow up to confirm absence. The form can be located here as well as on the Clarksburg High School Website under Attendance Procedures.
Please reference the following resources for our attendance policies:
- Clarksburg High School Attendance Policy: attendance policy
- Montgomery County Attendance Regulations can be found here: county regulations
This year we are focusing on Be Present 182, a charge to have all students in all classes on time every day.
If you have any questions please reach out to Ms. Lindsay Cao, Assistant Principal or Ms. Elida Pineda, Attendance Secretary.
Operational Information 2022-2023
Guide to Rights and Responsibilities
In order to ensure a safe, productive, and positive learning environment, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) publishes two documents that help students, parents, and staff and understand school rules and regulations; the expectations for student conduct; and the possible consequences for violating the rules.
A Student’s Guide to Rights and Responsibilities is an overview of the rights and responsibilities students enjoy in MCPS and a summary of the laws and regulations that affect students.
The MCPS Student Code of Conduct provides an overview of discipline procedures and protocols and the range of consequences students could face for violating various policies, regulations, and rules. The guide also discusses the MCPS philosophy to discipline and defines the various disciplinary responses.
Read more HERE.
Clarksburg High School
Email: Edward_K_Owusu@mcpsmd.org
Website: https://www2.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/schools/clarksburghs/
Location: 22500 Wims Road, Clarksburg, MD, USA
Phone: (240)740-6000
Facebook: facebook.com/clarksburghighschool
Twitter: @Cburg_Coyotes