The Raider Nation Newsletter

Dear Atholton Community,

I'm including this important message from HCPSS at the top of my newsletter in the hope that it gets some more attention. Thanks for providing your feedback through the survey.

As you may be aware, RTI International, a Board of Education-approved consultant, is leading a review of the HCPSS special education program in an effort to highlight strong programming currently in place, find opportunities for growth, and develop suggestions for future, high-quality services and programs. As part of this effort, they developed a survey to get feedback to inform their recommendations.

If you haven’t already, please take a few minutes to complete an online survey by Friday, March 28Links to an external site.. This survey asks for information about your experiences regarding the district’s implementation of special education services for students with disabilities from your perspective. All survey responses will be kept anonymous.

Thank you for making time to provide feedback which will help us learn what is going well and what can be improved so that we can best serve our students who require special education services.

Sincerely,

Nick Novak

Principal

Did you know that buying pants second hand instead of new and wearing them 10 times saves the equivalent of:

• 245 glasses of drinking water

• 132 hours of an LED light bulb and

• 0.8 miles of driving emissions

The Youth Climate Institute is collecting gently used clothes items for our 1st annual “Shop N’ Swap”. Please bring your lightly used items and place them in the collection bins around the school. We will be collecting items from Wednesday, March 12 thru Wednesday, April 2nd.

Our food pantry will be open Wednesday March 19th from 3-4pm.
This is a drive thru food pantry, first come first served.

Are you looking for a prom dress? Or a new pair of heels? Becca’s Closet has hundreds of FREE dresses to give away! Come to Atholton’s cafeteria on Saturday, March 29th from 9am to 2pm to get your FREE prom dress and accessories!

AHS Drama would like to thank you all for attending their Spring Production 'Spongebob the Musical'! A special shoutout to the cast, crew, and pit for all of thier hardwork and for 3 standing ovations and 2 sold out performances! Bravo!

One Night Only Submissions ARE NOW OPEN! Applicants will submit their director's proposals and scripts for thier One-Act to be produced and performed in AHS Drama's final production of the year, 'One Night Only', Thursday April 24 @6pm. Fill out the form by THIS FRIDAY @11:59pm to submit your proposal! Applicants will be selected and emailed over the weekend.

Please stop by B120 or message Ms. Adler to request a proposal form!

Auditions for One Night Only will take place Tuesday, March 25th from 2:45-5:00pm.

Atholton is hosting a College Info Night for juniors on April 8th. Check out the flyer below for more details.

Volleyballers! There will be an interest meeting for all student athletes planning to play volleyball on Thursday March 27, 2:45 in the senior cafeteria. This meeting is mandatory for all returning team members as well.

Help the Boosters plan for next school year- please send us your Board nominations- they can be a current Board member, yourself, or someone else! If you know a great person who likes to get things done for the good of the community, please send them our way! AHS Boosters Board Nominations

Free Parenting/Grandparenting Classes - Open to parents, guardians and grandparents residing in Howard County or with school-age children/grandchildren residing in the County. Evidence-based, interactive prevention program that provides families with the skills and knowledge to reduce the risk that their children will use drugs and alcohol or engage in other dangerous behaviors. The curriculum was written for families with children 9-14 years olds, but we believe it is appropriate for K-12 families. Class dates: March 18, 21, 25, 28 and April 1 from Noon to 1:30 p.m. on Zoom. Visit HC DrugFree’s website for more information and register at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Spring2025GGC

Drive-Thru Medication and Sharps Disposal – Saturday, April 26 in the Wilde Lake Village Center Parking Lot near the Swim Center from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Safely dispose of prescription and over-the-counter medication, EpiPens and other sharps, vitamins, pet meds, vape devices, inhalers, and more! Need student, adult, and medically-trained adult volunteers. Giving away 100 medication lockboxes.

For more information: https://hcdrugfree.org/drug-take-back-day-1/

To sign up to volunteer: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4-26-25TakeBack

Teen Advisory Council - Open to Howard County students in grades 8-12. Earn Community Service Hours and make meaningful contributions to the community. Next meeting: Monday May 19, 2025, from 5:30-7:00pm on Zoom. For more information, visit: https://hcdrugfree.org/teen-advisory-council/

I'm sure you saw the information HCPSS shared about adjustments to the school calendar, but just in case you missed it, here are the main points:

• March 31st is now a full day of school for students
• The staff workday that was on 3/31 is now a telework day on 4/14
• The end of the third marking period has been moved from 3/28 to 4/4
• The last day of school (pending additional inclement weather) is 6/18
• The last three days of school (6/16-6/18) are half days

If you are a rising junior or have a rising junior at home, check out the flyer below for more information about the Leadership U program. This is a great opportunity to build leadership skills in a community service context.

3/17 PTSA Meeting

3/18 Driver's Ed Permit Testing

3/19 Baseball/Softball Ledo Pizza Fundraiser

3/22 Class of 2025 Chipotle Fundraiser

Atholton PTSA

Atholton PBSA

Atholton Boosters

Atholton Drama Boosters

Atholton JROTC Boosters

Atholton Music Boosters

Atholton Robotics Boosters