Weekly Update

• Monday, September 4: No school - Labor Day Holiday
• Thursday, September 21: Two-hour early dismissal
• Friday, September 22: No school for students

Check out the Career Center Information below to see dates for upcoming college visits!

All SMAC regular season and playoff tickets will be sold online using Go Fan. Create a free account to make purchasing tickets throughout the school year quicker. NO CASH will be accepted at the door.

Using the link below, review the SMCPS Acceptable Usage Policy and the SMCPS Online Platform Permission information for the 2023-2024 school year. THIS FORM must be completed for each student in SMCPS no later than October 1, 2023. Students must complete this form to get access to Google Apps for Education and for Schoology.

Students, please make sure your laptop is charged each day. Bring your charger to school in case your battery runs out.

Need to purchase a laptop charger?

You can do one of two things:

1. Go the the Media Center in your School. They can assess you a fine so that you can pay using My School Bucks.

OR

2. Go directly to the DELL store. You can purchase directly from their website and have it shipped to your home.

Ensure one of these links are being used:

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps (click Shop Recommended Solutions to get to the discounted power cords)

www.dell.com/mpp/smcps-chargers (leads directly to the purchasing portal)

More helpful links for technology can be found at the bottom of the newsletter!

If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook, please visit the Jostens site. We have tiered pricing, so order before September 22 before the price goes up! Orders placed by September 22 will receive four free icons with the purchase of personalization.

Fall Team Sports Pictures

Fall team sports pictures will take place on Thursday, August 31. Fall athletes, please check with your coach regarding your team's portrait time.

2022-2023 Yearbooks

The 2023 yearbooks are here! Students may pick up their yearbooks in the main office during regular school hours (8:00-2:45).

Checking In/Arriving Late

• In order for your students' late arrival to be lawful they must have a note with a valid reason, have a parent/guardian bring them into the building with a valid reason, or have a parent/guardian call/email the attendance office with a valid reason.

• All students must sign in on one of the computers in the main office.

• If a student does not have valid or lawful reason, the tardy will be considered unlawful and the tardy policy will be followed.
  
  

Checking Out/Leaving Early

• Anyone checking out a student MUST show a photo ID to the Security Officer at the Vestibule (everytime); no exceptions!

• You must be listed as a parent/guardian or emergency contact to check out a student.

• If you need someone to check out a student that is not listed, only a parent/guardian may contact the attendance office to approve this request.

• Students who are 18+ still need parent/guardian permission to check themselves out.

• A note or phone call/email to the attendance office from a parent/guardian is required for Student Drivers to check themselves out.

• If you need to pick up your student at the end of the day we highly recommend making every effort to do so prior to 2:30 p.m. The office is very busy at the end of the day and depending on where your student’s classroom is located it can take several minutes for them to get to the main office. If you must pick up your student between 2:30-2:45 p.m. please send a note with them or call/email the attendance office earlier in the day so we can give them a pass to report to the main office at the time you wish to pick them up.

• Please be patient if checking out a student during one lunch (12:07-1:07PM). Students choose where they spend the lunch hour and it can be difficult to hear announcements during this time of day, especially in the cafeteria. We make every attempt to locate them as quickly as possible however sometimes it can take several minutes.

• In order to help with congestion in the Vestibule, after you’ve shown your photo ID to the Security Officer please wait for your student outside or in your vehicle.

• All students must sign out on one of the computers in the main office.

Attendance Office: 301-475-0200 x27104, eadornisch@smcps.org

School Year Meal Benefit forms for SY 2023-2024 are now available online!

Easily fill out your new meal benefit form by visiting https://www.myschoolapps.com/Application on the www.smcps.org website.

Families can request more information by contacting SMCPS' Food and Nutrition Services Office at 301.475.4256, Option 5, or via email at foodservice@smcps.org.

Need additional help with the form? Utilize one of the following resources: Quick Start Guide to Meal Benefit Forms or Detailed Instructions on Filling Out Meal Benefit Forms.

The physical education department is requiring all students to wear tennis shoes/sneakers

for class--no exceptions. That means no Crocs, Hey Dudes, Sperrys, slides, boots, etc.

Jostens will be at school for a Class Ring Presentation on September 20th during 1st period. Please report to your 1st period BEFORE coming to the auditorium. AM Tech Center students, please report directly to the LHS Auditorium in the morning.

Ring orders will take place in the front lobby during lunch on September 25th.

Do you have an idea, an opinion, belief you really care about? The St. Mary’s County Fair Speech Contest gives students a chance to make their voices heard, giving students a chance to present their ideas to an audience and a panel of coaches on Fair Day, Friday September 22. A school-level contest will take place in the Media Center on Wednesday, September 13 to determine which student will represent LHS. Depending on the number of participating schools, runners up may be invited to participate as well.

Go to https://forms.gle/2eLxDjGwjsgaVj8M6 to register for the LHS contest.

Registration is due by Monday, September 11.

Students can choose any topic considered interesting and appropriate to our family audience. Speeches are expected to be original – written by the contestant – although teachers/advisors/parents may offer suggestions. Speeches need to be between three and five minutes long, and speech coaches at the contest will comment on and consider content, organization, and delivery. At the end, first-, second-, and third-place awards are given for each division.

Student volunteers are also needed:

Door Greeters/Watchers: two teams of two students each needed to put out “No Entrance, Speech Contest in process” signs and control entry during speeches.

Student scorekeepers: four students who are accurate and organized, needs a teacher’s recommendation, will be busy during students’ speeches.

Student judges must be high school students who participated in a previous St. Mary’s County Fair Speech Contest (jr. or sr). For more information or to volunteer contact Mrs. John by email (aljohn@smcps.org).

Check out the pictures of our LHS Journalism students working on a compass point personality activity to help them all work collaboratively as a great news team this year. Make sure to check out LTV for all your school news and Raider events and sports updates! LTV will air beginning the week of September 11.

Our Freshman Advisory upperclassmen mentors are helping our freshman feel welcome and giving them guidance each day. Freshman Advisory will run through this week and then just Mondays until homecoming.

Should students need to request a change in your schedule, you need to go into the guidance office and fill out a course change form. We cannot accommodate requests for specific teachers. Schedule changes will end on September 15, 2023. Please ensure your student checks Home Access Center when changes are made to their schedules.

Students who want to drop an AP course, now need approval from their grade level administrator in addition to completing the course change request form.

Transcripts will not be available for us to send to colleges until September 25, 2023.

If you need a letter of recommendation from your school counselor, please make sure to let them know as early as possible and make sure to submit the Letter of Recommendation Request form (which is available in Guidance).

For this upcoming school year we are re-shifting the alphabet split by counselor. Please carefully review the changes below so you know who your counselor is this year.

Make sure to know your counselor!

• Hensel: A-Da - jahensel@smcps.org

• Wolcott: De-Ha & GIS - rrwolcott@smcps.org

• Neitz: He-Mc - lkneitz@smcps.org

• Guidry: Me-Se- lcguidry@smcps.org

• Sawyer: Sh-Z -- wnsawyer@smcps.org

Attention SENIORS taking classes at CSM (College of Southern Maryland) to fulfill your Math and/or English requirements, please make sure you send a copy of receipt of courses you have registered for to your counselor. Counselors will keep you enrolled in a math and/or english class at LHS until this is received.

ATTENTION Seniors: the Common Application is now open!

Common Application

The Common Application, which is accepted by more than 900 schools, helps streamline an essential part of the admissions process for students. Through the platform, first-time applicants can apply to multiple colleges at once. Students will only have to fill out details that most schools require, including name, address and extracurricular activities, one time. Click here for the Common Application Link

If you are applying to colleges via Common App, please do not request any documents from your teachers/counselors via Common App. All document requests must go through Naviance.

Scholarships Now Open (For Seniors)

2023 St. Mary's County Queen of Tolerance, Deadline Sept. 8th

Coca Cola Scholarship 2024, Deadline October 2, 2023

To view all scholarships, login to Naviance via Clever. Click Colleges >> Scholarship Search.

College VisitsColleges will begin visiting LHS in mid-September. Juniors and Seniors are invited to attend. Link to register for College Visits The following schools have signed up for September:

UMBC, Sept. 19th @ 8:55 AM

Salisbury University, Sept. 25th @ 10:30 AM

Savannah College of Art & Design- SCAD @ 10:30 AM

University of Maryland-College Park, Sept. 28th @ 8:55 AM

SEAP (Science and Engineering Apprenticeship Program)

Applications are now open. SEAP Is providing competitive research internships to high school students again this year. Participating students spend eight weeks during the summer doing research at DoN laboratories. Students are invited to attend a virtual information night on Thursday, Sept. 28th at 6 PM.

NEED RAIDER GEAR?

Spirit items are available on MySchoolBucks. Please make sure that your student is added into your profile and click on the School Store link. You will want to Browse all Items.

Items can be purchased and then picked up in the School Bank or during Open House. Items will also be available for purchase, in person, during open house.

Check out www.MySchoolBucks.com Go to "My School Store" and hit "Browse".

Learn how to create a MySchoolBucks account: click here.

• Here Comes the bus
• Bus Routes
• Bus Stop change-request form
• Transportation Forms

Bus passes should only be requested when students have a change in physical address or when there is an emergency situation and a student needs to ride a different bus or get off at a different stop. Bus passes will not be granted for students simply wanting to go visit with a friend.

Need to obtain a bus pass?

Visit this site to submit a request electronically, or parents can write a note or send an email to Ms. Revis at btrevis@smcps.org. All relevant information must be included in the written request.

Bus Information includes: Student name, address, parent phone number, existing bus stop to be used, bus #, date, medical concerns, destination address, destination phone # and reason for the pass.

We are Raider Strong!

Website: https://schools.smcps.org/lhs/
Location: 23995 Point Lookout Rd, Leonardtown, MD 20650, USA
Phone: 301-475-0200
Twitter: @LHS_SMCPS