Week 2
Dear Atholton Families,
By now you have heard that the State Superintendent of Schools has ordered Maryland schools closed until May 15. This means will continue with our Continuity of Learning Plan.
We had a moderately successful foray into distance learning this past week. It was so nice to have my virtual desk and zoom the web visiting many virtual classrooms! I had the pleasure of hearing teachers explain how to find assignments on Canvas, review expectations for the virtual classroom, and even begin to review some of the material that was assigned for the week. Unfortunately, we did have a few students (mostly from other schools) enter our virtual classrooms and disrupt the teacher. We were able to track down these students and alert their respective schools. Some of our students engaged in similar activities at other schools and the behavior was addressed. Please review the following information with your student(s):
Misuse of technology, inappropriate/offensive/threatening comments, misrepresentation of identity, and/or disruptive participants (invited or uninvited) in virtual class sessions will not be tolerated.
Disciplinary referrals are being shared immediately with administrators and consequences will result in loss of technology access, which will also result in a student's inability to participate in virtual learning activities; assignments will be provided to parents and the student will be expected to complete the school work outside of the school week (Saturday-Sunday).
Further incidents may result in a school suspension.
Some students are sharing log-in information, which violates the confidentiality rights of every student in Atholton High School and places them at risk of having to witness disruptive behaviors from students who do not attend AHS.
We have high expectations at Atholton for each and every one of our students. Now that we have addressed these behaviors as first offenses, we expect that we will move forward with a safe online school community.
I want to commend the MAJORITY of students who are engaged and fully participating in the virtual learning environment. We are all operating under a new norm and I am so thrilled how well our students have adapted.
As we finish out the third quarter this week, teachers sent an email to their students indicating that if they wanted to improve their grade to reach out to them to work out a plan to do so. All work to improve a third quarter grade must be submitted THIS WEEK. I know that many parents have reached out to teachers regarding this, but we are asking for students to take ownership of this opportunity and teachers are expecting to hear from their students.
I hope you had an opportunity to review the parameters sent out from the superintendent regarding fourth quarter grading. Below is a synopsis:
Fourth quarter begins April 27. The Board of Education on April 16 unanimously approved recommendations for fourth quarter grading for the 2019-2020 school year. Students will earn a grade of Pass or Incomplete for each graded subject or course.
A Pass is earned for completing at least 50% of Quarter 4 assignments and will count as an A (4.0 points) for the purposes of final grade, GPA calculations, and high school athletic eligibility.
An Incomplete is earned for completing less than 50% of quarter 4 assignments. Students will have until the 15th day of the following marking period (or September 15, 2020) to complete missing assignments.
Athletic eligibility will be determined based on Quarter 4 grades, with one exception: for students with Incomplete grade codes for fourth quarter, eligibility will be determined using third quarter grades. Complete details on fourth quarter grading are available online.
Two parents, Ms. Wang and Ms. Li, were generous enough to offer personal protective equipment (PPE’s) to Atholton teachers. They were able to distribute over 85 masks to staff members and their families. Thank you so much to Ms. Wang and Ms. Li for their concern for our teachers and providing them with PPEs.
I know our seniors and their families are getting anxious as the month of May is fast approaching. I, along with Mr. Senisi, met with all of our Boosters to discuss what we can do to honor our seniors. I appreciate those parents that have reached out to me. Stay tuned as we continue to brainstorm and inform our community how we make the most of this situation by providing an indelible memory for our seniors.
Below is the schedule for this week and more information on AP exams.
Wishing you all a fantastic week. Stay healthy and safe!
Warmly,
Robert A. Motley
Principal
Atholton High School
Click Below for Boosters' Organization News
Email: Robert_Motley@hcpss.org
Website: www.ahs.hcpss.org
Location: 6520 Freetown Road, Columbia, MD, USA
Phone: (410) 313-7065