Above and Beyond Nomination Form 2012

Included in the packet are these valuable coupons!

The Howard County Film Festival is an annual event for high school students to create a film and compete for recognition. The 2012 festival included 40 films, with Javier finishing in the top 5.

Grading Policy

The grading system consists of letter grades:

Year Course Exams

At the end of the 2nd and 4th marking periods, students will take mid-term and final exams. Each examination will assess learning for that semester. Together, the two examinations will constitute a grade that will equal 1/5 of the final grade for the course.

No student is exempt from these examinations. These examinations must be taken in order to qualify for the awarding of course credit.

Semester Course Exams

At the end of the semester, students will take a final exam. The examination grade will constitute a grade that will equal 1/5 of the final grade for the course.

No student is exempt from this examination.  This examination must be taken in order to qualify for the awarding of course credit.

Grade Promotion

To be promoted to Grade 10, a student must have:

• Completed 5 credits, including 1 English

To be promoted to Grade 11, a student must have:

• Completed 10 credits, including 2 English classes

To be promoted to Grade 12, a student must have:

• Completed 14 credits, including 2 English classes

In order to pass a class, the following criteria must be met:

1. Student must earn at least four points in the class for the school year. (For quarter grades, A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, E=0.  For exam grades, A=2, B=1.5, C=1, D=0.5, E=0)
2. Student must pass at least two of the four quarters.
3. Students must pass at least one of the last two quarters.
4. Students must be present in class at least 95% of the time.

Grade Point Average

Each grade (A, B, C, D, E) that students receive is assigned quality points.  Quality points are assigned as follows:

To calculate the GPA, divide the total number of quality points earned by the number of classes taken.

Here’s an example of a Report Card:

Divide the Quality Points (21) by the number of classes taken (7).  21 divided by 7 = 3.  In this example above, the student’s GPA is 3.0.

For Seniors, keep in mind that the 4^th quarter is very short and thus every assignment is important.  We now know our Graduation details (Wednesday, May 30 at 12:00 pm) and thus our sights are set on this day; we look forward to congratulating all of our Seniors as they take the rite of passage across the stage at Merrriweather.  It is important, however, that our Seniors do not let “Senioritis” kick in – we hope and expect all of our students display commitment to their education all the way to their final day of high school!

Grades are important; they reflect student learning and achievement.  It is also important, however, that students feel positive about their learning experience and that they have set and achieved purposeful goals.  Having both reflective and planning conversations can help students achieve all of this.

As always, thanks for your collaboration in supporting the success of our students!  Please let us know if you have any questions or need additional information.  We look forward to a strong finish of an awesome year!

GO RAIDERS!

Hibah Askari, Hayley Brittingham, London Cooper-Troendle, Philip Garrison, Mahum Hussain, Sri Kankanahalli, Tahsin Khan, Scott Lee, Asmi Panigrahi, Michael Sklar, Joey Thometz and Alex Wollack.These students spent their Saturday from 9-4 p.m. at Towson University with judges, from many science disciplines, to receive feedback about their project.  Special congratulations to the following students:

HAYLEY BRITTINGHAM:

      The American Society for Quality for the use of Statistical Methods in a Science Fair Project and $50

LONDON COOPER-TROENDLE:

National Space Society Certificate of Merit

PHILIP GARRISON:

National Security Agency Mathematics Education Partnership Program for Outstanding Use of Mathematics

SRI KANKANAHALLI:

AIAA Outstanding High School Aerospace Exhibit

      ACM Outstanding Achievement in Computer Science Award

      Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award:  $200

      National Space Society Certificate of Merit Raytheon Solipsys: 1st Place

      US Army Public Health Command Award of Merit        

TAHSIN KHAN:

      The American Society for Quality for the use of Statistical Methods in a Science Fair Project

MICHAEL SKLAR:

Armed Forces Communications Electronics Association for Mathematics

JOEY THOMETZ:

Honorable Mention in Physical Sciences:  Overall Accomplishment for the Fair

      The American Society for Quality for the use of Statistical Methods in a Science Fair Project

Commissioned Officers Association of the United States Public Health Service for clearly and thoroughly demonstrating creative ability, scientific thought, and independent skill to address issues relevant to public health.

United States Air Force for an Outstanding Science or Engineering Fair Project

ALEX WOLLACK:

National Space Society Certificate of Merit

Special thanks to all the parents, teachers, and mentors who have worked with these students to help them with their success.

Keynote Speaker: Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D.
Co-director of the Cyberbullying Research Center
Florida Atlantic University

HCPSS Presentation: Rosanne C. Wilson
Specialist for Positive Behavior Supports
Student Services-ARL

Visit the following Community Resource Tables:

• Howard County Choose Civility
• Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
• Howard County Public School System
• Howard County Police Department – Student Resource Officer Unit
• Domestic Violence Center of Howard County

Attendees will gain knowledge of HCPSS anti-bullying policy and procedures and provided with resources available in the county. This presentation will also provide a broad overview of adolescent technological concerns, including cyberbullying and social networking sites. Foundational information on the way adolescents use the Internet and cell phones is first provided before examining cyberbullying, sexting, and unwise social networking in detail. Strategies for identification, prevention, and response are then discussed in a conversational format to allow for input and Q&A from the audience. Attendees will leave equipped with an increased ability to promote safe and responsible participation in cyberspace among the youth they care for, and with numerous resources to assist them towards those ends.

To Register: http://antibullyingseminarptachc.eventbrite.com

For more information please contact Carletta Sweeney at safety@ptachc.org

Rachel Knobel’s 2^nd place winning paper was titled:  Frances Perkins:  The Modest Revolutionary Advocates Reform

Excellent job to them both as they represented Atholton High School in the competition!

AHS PTSA “Above and Beyond” Award Nomination Instructions

Please nominate/vote for one person in each category below. Please send your nominations/votes via e-mail to:president@atholtonptsa.org.  Nominations will be accepted until May 15 and the winners will be announced in June. Include the name of the nominee, and you may optionally include a paragraph about how this person went Above and Beyond.

Academic (Teacher who went “above and beyond” to help your student and or others academically)
Extracurricular (Teacher who went “above and beyond” to provide extracurricular guidance to your student or others)
Student Services and Support Staff (Office, Student Services, Custodial, etc. staff member who went “above and beyond” to help a student, parent or others)