Hello Gators,
I hope you and your family are enjoying the summer. After the rapid shift to a virtual platform for continuity of learning in the spring, everyone was ready for a summer break. As you may already know, our school system has spent these months in workgroups to address what school will look like for the school year 2020-21.
First, please make sure you have noted the school system calendar changes. School begins for students on September 8, 2020. The adjusted calendar is definitely an important bookmark for families.
Schools will operate virtually for Semester 1. The student schedule incorporates a 4x4 semester schedule, which allows students to take 8 courses, instead of the 7-course model that we have traditionally followed. To complete students’ schedules, the scheduling program pulled students’ 8th course from the alternate courses students selected last winter. Once the scheduling process is completed, HCPSS will release student schedules and there will be a DROP/ADD time frame during which students can work with counselors to make adjustments. At this time, I do not have that date to announce. However, I do want to share that our schedule has added additional sections for some of our highly popular electives, which allowed students who had been on waiting lists to be scheduled into these courses (to include additional AP courses, performing arts courses, computer science courses, PLTW courses, tech ed courses, and several others)..
The additional class available in the 4x4 schedule also created the opportunity to expand the elective selections at RHS to include the following:
African American Literature
African-American Studies
AP Art History
Psychology (½ credit)
Sociology (½ credit)
Career and Research Development
Discrete Math
Environmental Science AP
Human Geography AP
For those students who would like to have scheduled time for study and work completion, high schools will offer an Academic Seminar study course and an AP Test Prep course second semester. These two course offerings are non-weighted, although attendance and grades will count. Students who might select one of these courses should be able to work independently in a structured setting. Additional tutorials and math/language arts seminars are provided for goal/content specific needs and students can register for these courses in consultation with a counselor; these courses are helpful for students who may need continuous math or English Language Arts instruction for a full-year.
If you are interested in any of these courses, please contact your school counselor. Our counselors are working diligently in a very short time frame to ensure that students have a complete and appropriate schedule.
Who is my counselor for 2020-2021?
Mrs. Packman: A-B Grades 9-11 A-B Grade 12 linda_packman@hcpss.org
Mrs. Thurmon: C-Fe Grades 9-11 C-Gl Grade 12 stephanie_thurmon@hcpss.org
Mr. Drnec: Fg-Ja Grades 9-11 Gm-K Grade 12 brian_drnec@hcpss.org
Ms. Bauer: Jb-Mb Grades 9-11 So-T Grade 12 meredith_bauer@hcpss.org
Mrs. Beil Mc-Pav Grades 9-11 L-O Grade 12 lindsay_beil@hcpss.org
Ms. Altshuler: Paw-Sop Grades 9-11 P-Sm Grade 12 jill_altshuler@hcpss.org
Mrs. Mauser: Soq-Z Grades 9-11 V-Z Grade 12 ellen_mauser@hcpss.org
Many of you have asked about athletics. HCPSS has announced a postponement of the fall season while awaiting guidance from MPSSAA or MSDE. We are awaiting guidance from HCPSS regarding other extra-curricular activities and the SAT administration scheduled for August. At this time, HCPSS is hoping to make these decisions shortly. We also do not have an update for the format, but please mark your calendars for New Student Orientation on Thursday, Sept 3rd at 9 a.m. and Back-to-School Night will be Thursday, Sept 10th at 6 p.m.
I hope you are enjoying your summer, stay safe, and healthy and I’m excited to see everyone virtually in September.
Take care,
Karim Shortridge, Ed.D.
Principal