LHS News and Updates
Raider News
Marking Period 2 Quarter Recovery Quarter Recovery Application
Edgenuity Quarter Recovery for Marking period 2 will start Thursday, February 6th – Friday, March 6th. Students will participate in Edgenuity Quarter Recovery during their lunch period. Participation during the school day is mandatory, and if a student misses two sessions, the student may be removed from the program. Students who receive 3 tardies will meet with their grade level Administrator and have the potential to be removed from the program as well. Students MUST return the completed registration to Mrs. Abell in Guidance no later than Tuesday, February 4th. Classes begin on Thursday, February 6th If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Mrs. Marino at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mr. Readyhough at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or Mrs. Schrader at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Leonardtown Athletic Department Mulch Sale *orders due Feb 28
From the Counselor's Office...
We would like to invite parents to Returning Raider Parent Night February 11, 2020 regarding our registration process, Naviance and AP courses.
We will open up the evening at 6:30 in the Auditorium for a brief overview of the evening, and then offer each of the following sessions at three times, so parents can attend multiple sessions of interest. Our sessions will include;
Naviance for 9th and 10th graders: what Naviance is, how we are using it with our students, the graduation requirements associated with Naviance, and how you can further explore careers and colleges with your student from home.
Naviance for 11th graders: using the Naviance functions for college exploration and college applications, and dual enrollment opportunities.
Registration at LHS: courses available, how students are recommended for courses, graduation requirements, Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center opportunities, and the application process and timeline.
AP Teacher Panel: AP teachers from various subject disciplines sharing expectations, level of content rigor, and skills presumed when taking AP Courses.
Marking period 2 came to a close on January 17th, 2020, and report cards will be published on January 29th.
One Lunch Tutoring Opportunities & Club offerings.
PSAT Score Release: All SMCPS students in grades 9-11 were provided an opportunity to take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®). The PSAT allows students not only to practice for the SAT, but also qualify for National Merit Scholarships. The PSAT also identifies specific Advanced Placement courses in which a student should consider enrolling. Student test results for the PSAT/NMSQT will be released to students' College Board accounts on December 11, 2019. Students are encouraged to log in to their College Board account or create an account HERE to view their PSAT results. Here is a link to our presentation we shared this week PSAT Score Report Presentation 2019
"If you are interested in applying to the Forrest Career & Technology Center applications are now OPEN!
The online application will be available to students on Friday, January 17th and are due for first round selections by Friday, February 14th. After first round selections, applications will continue to be accepted on a first come, first served basis until seats are filled." If your student is unable to attend they can sign up with Ms. Sanders or Mrs. Neitz in the Guidance office to attend the make-up visit on Thursday, February 4th during the school day.
Clever Access - As of January 27th, students in Grade 6 -12 will no longer be able to log in to Clever using their student ID as their password. Instead, students will need to select the Log in with Google button then enter the credentials for their SMCPS email account. A video demonstrating the Clever access process can be viewed here. This change is being made in the interest of protecting assessment information in Naviance which is accessible through Clever.
Naviance with 9th graders. This past week counselors went into all of Mr. Engel's 9th grade English classes and shared a presentation on Naviance. You can view the presentation here if you missed it :Welcome to Naviance From this platform students completed a career interest profiler. We will be going into Mrs. Tettimer's class next week and Mrs. Page's on January 27th. We hope you explore this presentation with your student.
GRIEF COUNSELING INFORMATION
Hospice of St. Mary’s County offers FREE one-on-one counseling for adults and kids at Hospice in Callaway on a short-term basis (6 sessions). If interested, they can be reached at 301-994-3023.
It also has a FREE grief camp every summer that runs from Friday night, all day Saturday, and in the morning on Sunday. It’s tentatively scheduled for the first weekend in June. If interested, they can be reached at 301-994-3023.
Sherry Urtz is a grief counselor who takes Medicaid and private insurance; she is in Leonardtown and can be reached at 240-434-0589.
Serenity Place has amazing therapists. They can be reached at 301-690-8008.
Yearbook Information
Order a Yearbook
If you are interested in purchasing a yearbook, please visit josten's yearbook page.
Grad Ads
Senior parents interested in creating a grad ad for the yearbook can do so through the Tribute Ads website. The deadline for the ads is January 31, 2020. Please visit tribute ads to create an ad honoring your senior.
Spirit Day Senior Panoramic
If you are interested in purchasing the senior panoramic taken on Spirit Day, please visit life touch's web page..
Pictures Needed
We are in need of pictures for some of our spreads! Please send all pictures to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please do not submit screenshots of pictures, selfies, or pictures with filters. Please make sure all students featured in the pictures are identified with first and last name and grade level.
Pets:
If you have a picture with your pet, we’d love to use it on our pets spread.
Outside Activities:
If you went somewhere interesting on vacation or you participate in an activity outside of school, please send us your pictures!
Outdoor Activities:
Do you love St. Mary’s County and participate in activities that represent our county? If you are a hunter, fisherman, farmer, or firefighter, we’d like to include you in the yearbook. Please make sure no weapons are visible in the pictures.
Foreign Exchange:
If you are a foreign exchange student, we’d like to include pictures of you and some of the things you’ve done while in the US.
Fast Food Policy
Reminder- LHS strongly encourage students to either bring a lunch to school or to purchase one from our cafeteria. We prefer parents not bring lunches to students during the school day. Also, it is not appropriate to have a birthday celebration during the school day. Group pizza, balloons, cakes, for example, should be provided to celebrate or recognize a student after the school day. Our office is a very busy place and is simply not staffed to accommodate parents routinely requesting deliveries to students. If you choose to bring food to your student during one lunch there is a possibility that it will not be delivered.
BECA
The St. Mary's BECA Common Scholarship Application is now open. Some important things to note:
- Transcript request forms for the BECA Common Scholarship are available in the Career Center
- Deadline to turn in hard copies of BECA paperwork to the Career Center is Feb. 12th to allow time for any errors to be corrected
- BECA official online deadline is Feb. 18th
- BECA Scholarship Fair is Tuesday, Jan. 21st from 4-6:30 at the Tech Center
Here is the link for the BECA Common Scholarship Application:
* Seniors can log onto Naviance and click Colleges> Scholarships and Money> Scholarship List for all district scholarships.*
Literacy
Why Vocabulary Instruction Matters
Recently, beginner’s reading instruction has made the news, but much of the attention has been focused on elementary students and phonics instruction. However, there is a lot of research out there on helping upper-level students with reading. Even students in AP courses struggle when faced with challenging texts. In a recent podcast interview with literacy expert Timothy Shanahan, he listed some of the strategies teachers (and parents!) can use to support older students with literacy. Direct vocabulary instruction is one of those strategies. Here are some tips for encouraging vocabulary learning at home:
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Membean - The words students learn in Membean are intended to be broadly applicable to a wide range of content areas, not just English. Ask them about their words and encourage consistent use. In an upcoming post, I’ll go into more detail about effective use of Membean.
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Model - When you’re reading and you don’t know a word, show your child what you do. Do you look it up? Use the general meaning of the passage to figure it out?
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Practice - Research also shows that students need to interact with a word at least 7 times before they know it. If they have terms they need to learn for a class, help them review. It can be as simple as just asking them what it means, an example of the word, or the opposite of a word.
SAT Info - 11th Grade Students and Parents
- Leonardtown High School will be administering the SAT to all 11th grade students this spring during the normal school day.
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The SAT will take place on Wednesday, March 25th periods 1-5 at Leonardtown High School.
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If your student has an IEP or a 504 plan and you would like to request accommodations for the SAT, please fill out this form and send it to Ms. Mackin - Assistant Principal (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) ASAP.
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If you have questions about this specific SAT testing opportunity, please contact Ms. Katie Kortokrax - Assistant Principal (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).