Proud
to be a Mustang… Choosing Excellence in All that We Do!
January
19, 2009
We are at the midpoint in the year and it
has been another good one! The great
majority of our students are “choosing excellence” in and out of the
classroom. Mid-term exams are
being taken each day this week. Please
reinforce with your sons and daughters that they need to approach these
assessments as they would any other test.
Mid-term exam grades are listed as separate marks on student report
cards and, in many cases, count for county quarterly assessment standards. Quarterly assessment information is used to
evaluate the level of progress achieved by our students each quarter in
comparison to county standards.
A few more notes about Mid-Term week … the
student day starts at the regular time (7:25 AM … DO NOT BE LATE!) and ends at
the regular time on Tuesday. For
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, the day starts at 7:25 and ends at 11:10
AM. Students must leave the building at
that time so that teachers can grade tests and prepare grade reports. Teams will have abbreviated practices. Please, please remind your sons and daughters
to use this time wisely so that they are ready to take their exams and so that
no student gets hurt or has to deal with the consequences of making a bad
decision.
If the weather is bad and we have to delay
our opening on any day this week, students will still take exams, but we will
hold school until the normal dismissal time of 2:10 PM. If school has to be canceled, we will make
sure to send out updated information about exam schedules.
Please help us to make sure that all
students are in school each day this week and on time. In addition, students should make sure that
they get plenty of rest and eat a good breakfast … all students need to start
exams as prepared as possible.
As soon as we come back from Mid-Term
Week, we begin Third Quarter and the scheduling process for 2009-10. Please be on the lookout for the course
registration paperwork … make sure that registration forms are completed
accurately and legibly. Students only
have until February 3 to complete this process so please stress the importance
of doing this as soon as possible. Our
staffing is based on the courses that students register for so we must ensure
that we get it right. Thank you for your
assistance … much appreciated!
Some great things have occurred over the
past few weeks or will occur in the very near future. Take a few minutes on this cold, snowy day to
enjoy some of the highlights …
· An instructional highlight for me
this past week was attending a workshop on acting that I participated in with
our Drama students and our incredible Drama teacher, Ms. Sally Livingston. Students attended an all day field trip at
· The Marriotts Ridge Science Fair
will be held on Wednesday, January 28.
We have enjoyed viewing some of the projects and listening to student
presentations in class as they prepare for the upcoming fair. Our students have done very well at the
county and state level over the past few years … county and regional winners …
and I am sure that they will once again represent our community very well. Thanks to Dan Sageman, Science Instructional
Team Leader, and the rest of the Science Team for their efforts in sponsoring
this effort … special thanks to Amy Harich, Science Instructional Assistant,
for all of her efforts behind the scenes!
· Marriotts Ridge has also been chosen as
one of the featured schools this year to host the Maryland BioLab, a
traveling science lab program. This will
be the second time that our science students will participate in this very
special program, bringing in some very “high tech” lab equipment that we would
never be able to experience without this initiative.
· We want to commend our Family and
Community Partnerships Council for all that they are trying to do this year
to work with all of our school and community groups to support safe driving
initiatives and programs to offer positive “free time” activities as
alternatives to making bad decisions. In
addition to our efforts to get the speed reduced in front of the school and to
alter the start time for the two schools on our campus, the council, in
particular our SGA, is promoting a “Movie Night” at the school on a Friday
night in the next few weeks. Our SGA,
PTSA, and Boosters will be looking for volunteers to help chaperone this
event. Please do whatever you can to
help … what a great way to show our kids that we care about them!
· On a related note, we will have a school
dance on Friday, February 13 from 8-11 PM.
Please take just five minutes to talk about smart decision making
regarding alcohol and drug use before and after school events. In addition, please reinforce proper dress
and positive behavior on the dance floor … we do our best to provide a fun,
spirited place for students to get together, but we need everyone to understand
that these events are school sponsored and therefore all rules must be
followed. Outfits and dancing must be
appropriate for school … this is not MTV.
· The PTSA has joined with the school in
sponsoring “An Evening with Dr. Spevak” on February 4 at 7 PM. Dr. Spevak is a well known speaker on working
with unmotivated, underachieving students.
He worked with our staff in November and we were very impressed by his
“common sense” approach … the information and advice presented was very useful. “Dinner with the Administration” will
take place from 6-7 PM on the 4th … please join us!
· Several students from Marriotts Ridge were
featured in The Business Monthly, the business newspaper for
Howard and
· Congratulations to all of our Winter
Sports teams on some big wins in the first half of the season. The Boys Varsity Basketball Team scored a big
win this past Friday night over River Hill.
The Girls Varsity Basketball Team won a big game in the Springbrook
Tournament and has played some very close games against some very good
teams. Both our JV Basketball teams have
posted winning records. We loved
watching the Wrestling Team pull off a “come from behind” victory over PG
County powerhouse Eleanor Roosevelt earlier in the season. The Indoor Track Teams have been very
impressive in earlier meets and are gearing up for the Howard County
Championships this Friday afternoon.
Finally, our Cheerleaders have done a great job of supporting our teams
with their spirit and are practicing hard every day in preparation for their
upcoming championships. Best Wishes to
all of our teams and their coaches.
Thanks also to our fans for coming out to support our teams with their
great spirit and positive sportsmanship!
· Congratulations also to the MRHS Poms
Team on their
· More big news just in ….~ Marriotts Ridge has received four PTSA
Reflections awards at the County level. All will advance to the State
contest next month. Congratulations to …
~ Film:
Award of Merit
~ Literature:
Outstanding Interpretation of Theme Molly
Malarkey
~ Dance:
Outstanding Interpretation of Theme Malena
Silva
~~~~ Dance:
Award of Merit Rebeca
Rehaut
~
The County
Awards Ceremony will be at the
As I draw this bulletin to a close, I want
to highlight the special holiday celebrated today and the Presidential
Inauguration tomorrow. Today we honor the life and legacy of Martin
Luther King, Jr. In
We look forward to seeing you at upcoming
events. Go Mustangs!
Pat Saunderson, James LeMon, Cara Moulds, Rosalie Bowen, and Gene Brown