The Raider Nation Newsletter

Absences, Tardies, Oh My!

Dear Raider Nation,

We started week 3 today and are already starting to see some concerning patterns forming for attendance and lateness to school/class. Daily tardy check-in happens from 7:50-8:00am using the attendance kiosks in the front lobby. Students can receive detention if they are consistently late to school. Thanks for making sure your student is in 1st period by 7:50am. In addition, we have already conducted five tardy sweeps to make sure students are on time and ready to learn for each class. We will do this frequently throughout the year to keep an emphasis on being on time and maximizing time in class. Just think that if a student is 1 minute late every day, they will miss more than 3 classes worth of time over the year; 3 minutes late means more than 10 classes missed; and 5 minutes late equates to 18 classes. For important info on absences, late arrivals, and early dismissals, please refer to this letter. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Nick Novak

Principal

Parking Permits

Atttention Jrs and Srs--If you are parking on the school parking lot HCPSS requires that you have a student parking permit. Please go to the website and log into On line Payments to register for a parking pass. Please make sure you pay AND complete the attached form. You can pick up your parking pass from Ms Rey in the Reception Area.

HCPSS Policy 9400 Notification

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is committed to providing a safe, engaging, and supportive school environment that fosters the social and emotional safety, dignity, and well-being of all students. HCPSS acknowledges the need for employees

to use an array of research-based positive behavior interventions, strategies, and a tiered system of supports to address student behaviors and keep students safe and free of harm
to minimize the practice of exclusion from the classroom environment
to minimize the use of physical restraint (which may only be used when necessary to protect a student or other person from imminent, serious, physical harm and only after other less intrusive, nonphysical interventions have failed or been determined inappropriate).

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It is the expectation of the Board that HCPSS employees will be knowledgeable of and implement proactive positive behavior interventions in an effort to reduce the need for exclusion or physical restraint.

Additional information can be found at HCPSS Policy 9400 - Student Behavior Intervention. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please contact a school administrator.

Student Drop-Off

Just a reminder that we have two drop-off areas. If your student is entering the front lobby area, you should use the drop off area along the fence. If your student is entering the auditorium lobby, you should use the drop off area closest to Grassroots. Please do not drop off on the corner near the handicapped spaces. This clogs up the traffic flow in the parking lot. Thanks.

Lunch and Other Parent Deliveries

As you have seen if you have been at the school recently, the new "reception area" is up and running and Ms. Masters and Ms. Rey are checking in visitor's directly from the vestibule. This office relocation, coupled with the reduction in staffing from 3 teacher secretaries to 2, have forced us to change some of our daily procedures. To that end, we have placed a cart in the vestibule for families to drof off belongings such as lunch or items needed for after-school activities. Please label items with your student's full first and last name. You can send a message to your student via Canvas to communicate drop off. If you want to hand it to them directly, we will need to call them out of class and bring them down to the reception area.

Chromebooks

Our media specialists are focusing only on getting devices to students new to HCPSS devices these first few days. Then they will move on to broken/missing devices...and finally, the dissemination of new 9th grade devices once the county sends us a spreadsheet of eligible students (based on year of issue). Students should go to the media center before school, after school, during lunch, or between classes.

Schedule Changes

Schedule changes will occur in phases starting the first day of school. Students can pick up schedule change request forms in student services. Please note, schedule changes for elective courses may not be granted. All students have had the opportunity to review course selections with their counselors on several occasions since January. The Master schedule was built based on these choices.

Phase 1 - August 25th - August 29th

Holes in schedule
Missing a graduation requirement
Dropping your ARL classes
Error in schedule (already taken class, wrong placement)
Aiding and release time (Aiding can only occur during the same period as the dropped course.) - Aiding is for seniors only.

Phase 2 - September 2nd - September 12th

All Phase 1 reasons
Elective Changes - May only occur if the new desired course falls in the same period as the dropped course.
Student and teacher driven Level changes (Paper forms are available in Student Services)

Phase 3 - September 15th - September 19th

There will be no more elective changes.
Student and teacher driven Level changes (Paper forms are available in Student Services) What process do we want to use? Paper form, fillable form, Google form?)
Aiding and release time (Aiding can only occur during the same period as the dropped course.) - Aiding is for seniors only.

Annual Bullying Notification

The Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) is committed to providing a safe and nurturing environment for all students. Preventing bullying is an important part of this goal. HCPSS Policy 9460 states that bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and intimidation are prohibited in HCPSS. Our administration and staff have been trained and made aware of this policy as well as preventative and responsive measures.

We know how important your role is in not only supporting your children, but also reporting possible incidents as you become aware of them. The Bullying, Cyberbullying, Harassment and Intimidation (BCHI Reporting Form should be used to report all alleged incidents of bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and intimidation that occur at school or have a connection back to the school setting that create a risk of harm to other students while they are at school, or interfere with the educational environment. An online version is available and can easily and confidentially be used by students, staff, and family members. Hard copies of this form are available in the main office, staff workroom, school counseling office, media center, and health services office. If you believe your child has been bullied, please complete and submit this form as soon as possible and/or assist your child in doing so.

Once the form is submitted, school administrators will ensure the parent/guardian of both the alleged target and alleged offender are aware of the report and will begin an investigation within two school days of receiving the report. Parents/guardians can expect a school administrator to reach out to them during the investigation. Once the investigation is completed, parents/guardians will be provided written notice of the outcome of the investigation within fifteen days of receiving the compaint, excluding extenuating circumstances.

There are times when incidents of peer conflict or code of conduct offenses may occur that may not be bullying, but may need follow up action. If you become aware of something that falls under conflict and/or a code of conduct offense, please notify a school administrator via email or phone call so that they can become aware and follow up as needed.

Lastly, I want to take a moment to specifically lift up cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying using electronic media like computers, cell phones, and game systems. Our digital interconnectedness makes bullying different and more damaging than it’s ever been before. It allows hatred and publicly humiliating gossip or photos to be instantly far-reaching and inescapable as electronic media is everywhere. It can NOT simply be ignored. In October 2013, the State of Maryland enacted Grace’s Law, making misuse of interactive computer services a criminal offense. Its purpose is to prohibit anyone from using electronic media (computers, tablets, phones, etc.) to maliciously engage in conduct that inflicts serious emotional distress on a minor and/or places that minor in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury. A person who is found guilty of violating this law is subject to imprisonment and/or fines.

While all of this information will be reviewed with students at school, we are asking you to do the same at home. Thank you for your partnership in ensuring all of our students feel a sense of safety and belonging in their school communities! More information can be found on the HCPSS Stop Bullying website. If you have any questions regarding this policy or its implementation, please contact a school administrator.