Back to School Night was a great success.  We would like to thank our outstanding PTSA for sponsoring this very important event in the life of a school.  We also want to thank our fantastic staff members for being here that night to discuss our goals and plans for the year.  Finally, we want to thank the 1,000+ family members who came that night … what unity … what power!

We have enjoyed seeing all of our students at the Club Fair that we held yesterday and during Jukebox and play auditions this week.  We are also excited about the start of the Fall Athletic Season this evening. Reflecting on the first two weeks, I am very proud to be a part of something special… the school and community of Marriotts Ridge.

As I talked about at Back to School Night, I would like to share with you again what has been accomplished at our school over the past three years, tell you a little bit about where we stand today, and how you can join us in partnership to help our kids succeed.  For those of you who were here the other night, just look at this as another opportunity to cheer along with me and reflect on what we still want to accomplish.

Looking back, we begin with our attendance as it is so important to be here every day… … For the past three years, we have had the highest high school attendance rate in Howard County …. the only county high school to achieve the excellence mark on the state department of education report card for that time period … I believe that our attendance shows that our students want to be here and it shows how much our families support education … let’s keep it going!

…93% of our students are academically eligible each quarter … almost 65% of our students earn academic honor roll and over 11% of our students achieve 4.0 status every quarter!

…Reviewing High School Assessment data, our students achieved the second highest percentage in the state two years ago in Algebra, the #1 percentage in Howard County last year in Government, and 97% of our Seniors have already passed all of the HSA tests in preparation for graduation.

 … Looking at our AP scores, 82 % of our student scores were at least 3 on the 1-5 scale, allowing our students to possibly earn college credits.  Over 25% of the scores received by our students were 5s … the highest possible score …

… Our kids did equally well on the SATs …. We had four National Merit Finalists last year and I was just informed this week that we have 4 semifinalists this year….

…Going beyond the classroom, over 500 students participate in our Fine Arts programs.  Our Drama Programs were nominated for the highest numbers of Cappies in the region last year.  Our Choir, Orchestra, Band, Dance, and Art all won awards within the county, state, and beyond.  In fact, one of our dance students was chosen as a state winner in the Maryland PTSA Reflections Program.

…On the athletic fields, over 40% of our school population has participated in one sport or more.  Our Regional Championship baseball team made it all the way to the state finals last year, highlighting great seasons by all of our teams.

…We also have our phenomenal Student Government Association and over 30 clubs, ranging from Jewelry Making to Model United Nations and our Future Business Leaders of America and Computer Science Clubs that have qualified for national competitions. 

…Our first Senior Class was accepted into over 180 post high school programs and were offered just a shade under $7,000,000 in scholarships.

…Talking about our staff, we have achieved the following distinctions in just a very short period of time … Career Educator of the Year in Art, Howard County Technology Educator of the Year, Howard County First Year Teacher of the Year, Howard County Board of Education Volunteer of the Year, and finally Howard County Educator of the Year. 

…Pretty Good Stuff for a school that is just getting started … give yourselves a round of applause!

Looking at our Mission Statement … Working together, the students, staff, families, and community of Marriotts Ridge High School promote a safe and nurturing environment for educational excellence and lifelong learning …I want to take just another minute to tell you where we are today … I believe that this statement can be boiled down to three words … Relationships, Rigor, and Relevance.  We have worked very hard at building strong relationships with our students and families.  We have set rigorous standards for our students in and out of the classroom and the vast majority of them have responded.  This year we want to work even harder in making what we do here relevant for all of our students, even those who don’t always connect … just a couple of examples are our Mentoring Program and our Leadership Academy to assist any students who could use a little extra help. 

Looking forward, I want to finish my remarks by talking about how we can work together.  For you veteran high school parents and for those new to our community, high school is definitely a little different from earlier experiences.  Kids are becoming more independent … which can be a good thing and a bad thing…. it can lead to great success and also to a lot of frustration.  As a parent of three, I can’t wait …

Continuing to build the positive partnership that we have started over our time together at Marriotts Ridge …

1) Make Learning a priority … talk with your students about classes every day if at all possible, establish goals, establish a time and place for homework, stress attendance!

2) Get Involved … join our fantastic PTSA, Boosters, Music Foundation … become an officer or just volunteer some time in the School Store or the Concession Stand.  If you have served as an officer or volunteer with any of our parent groups here, we applaud you!  Special Thanks again to the PTSA for sponsoring this very important night!

3) Establish Communication with your student’s teachers early and in a positive way … this can become a real issue if it is left until there is a problem.  As I always remind myself, always take a minute before sending that heated email off to decide whether I could really approach it another way.  Sometimes a phone call really does get the job done in a better way.  We are all here working together … we don’t really solve the problems we need to when we get bogged down in negativity.

4) Work Together with us to find positive solutions to some of the things that teenagers deal with every day … let’s not point fingers at each other, our neighbors, the people down the street … “It’s not my kid” … instead let’s join hands and come up with some good ideas to address teen drinking and drug abuse, unsafe driving, cyberbullying, and other issues.  Our newly formed Family and Community Partnerships Council will be a huge asset as we tackle these concerns.

As I just said, let’s join hands in working together … with unity comes power … looking forward to a great year … the best ever at Marriotts Ridge!

If you ever have a question or we can be of assistance to you in some way, please feel free to call us at 410-313-5568 or send us an email at patrick_saunderson@hcpss.org.

See you all at the games … Go Mustangs!

Pat Saunderson, James LeMon, Cara Moulds, Rosalie Bowen, and Gene Brown