October 23, 2020

News from the Principal's Desk

Dear Tuscarora Families,

Next week brings the opportunity for members of the Class of 2021 to take the SAT, most of them for the first time. With COVID-19, this group of seniors has not had the opportunity to demonstrate their ability on this important college qualification exam, so we wish them great luck and skill on Tuesday. Please read the important instructions for this day one more time in the School News section below. It includes opportunities for how to do some final preparation, as well as the do's and don't on this day. As with the PSAT, we are looking forward to safely bringing this large group of students back into the building, many for the first time since March 13th. We'll see you on Tuesday!

Today also kicked off the SGA sponsored Halloween Spirit Week, which will include themed day throughout next week with the opportunity for students to show off their costumes and decorated backgrounds in their virtual setting. In this time where students are separated, it's the chance for Titans to have a little fun, and do the things that we would normally be doing this time of year. Here are the themes for the week:

Have a wonderful weekend, Titans!

Christopher Berry, Principal

Looking Ahead - The Weekly Calendar

See the FCPS calendar.

*Dates and times are subject to change

Keeping You Informed - School News

School-Day SAT Information

 Test Date:  Tuesday, October 27

Arrival Time:  7:15-7:30 AM

 Bring the following: Face mask, 2+ sharpened pencils with erasers, Calculator (with fresh batteries)

 Do NOT bring the following: Any electronic device other than a cellphone*, Smartwatches or fitness trackers, Backpacks, Any noise-making device, Pens, highlighters, mechanical pencils, colored pencils, Books or references of any kind, Compasses, rules, protractors, or cutting devices, Papers of any kind, including scratch paper

 Cellphones*: Must be powered off completely and handed in, May not be accessed at any time during testing, including during breaks, A phone or other prohibited device that makes noise is grounds for score cancellation, Some alarms are set to sound even when the device is turned off

If a prohibited device makes noise or creates a disturbance (i.e., flashing light) while in a student's possession, or if a student is seen with a prohibited device, the student will be dismissed from testing!

Dismissal Time: Students who drive or have other transportation may leave once they have finished taking the test and are dismissed.  Estimated dismissal time is 11:30 AM but is dependent upon multiple factors.  Students using bus transportation will be picked up at 12:30 PM Students with a CollegeBoard-approved accommodation for extended time will finish at approximately 1:15 PM

Grab-and-Go Breakfast and Lunch are available at no cost.

Safety Procedures: Wear masks upon entering the building and throughout testing, Use hand sanitizer upon entering the building, Maintain social distancing guidelines, especially while eating

Stay home and skip testing if you are symptomatic or have had contact with someone with Covid

 Preparing for Testing, You wouldn't walk into an English or math test without preparing for it. 

You shouldn't walk into the SAT without doing some prep work. 

Here are some resources.

Read the SAT School Day Student Guide: 

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/pdf/sat-school-day-student-guide.pdf

Review the SAT Study Guide for Students: 

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/inside-the-test/study-guide-students

Take a full-length practice SAT: 

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice/full-length-practice-tests

Access free, personalized practice from Khan Academy: 

khanacademy.org/sa

Senior Portrait News

If you missed the senior portrait sessions held over the summer or just this past week, we have two more dates for senior sittings scheduled: Monday, November 23 and Tuesday, November 24 are our last scheduled senior sittings on site at Tuscarora. Scheduling for these dates will open the first week of November. If you were scheduled and missed your original date you will automatically be rescheduled.

If, however, you have not been receiving communications from Lifetouch/Prestige Portraits, you will want to make sure they have you scheduled and you should pencil in the first week of November to reach out to the company to get scheduled. We will send out a reminder in two weeks that scheduling is open for the last senior sittings, but if you would like to get some information in the meantime, please contact Lifetouch/Prestige School Portraits at:

1-800-445-1191

As always, if you have questions, please contact Mr. Hartman at:

Richard.hartman@fcps.org

THS Necktie Club

On Friday, October 30, 2020 from 11:30 AM -12:00 PM, we will host our final interest meeting for The Necktie Club for Tuscarora High School.  The club is sponsored by the Frederick (MD) Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., is a predominately Black Greek Fraternity founded on the campus of Indiana University in 1911. 

The Necktie Club will provide opportunities for male youth leadership at schools, especially African-American males. ( Language taken from the partnership agreement between Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and Frederick County Public Schools.

The Necktie Club Objectives:

• To teach young men how to dress for success

• To teach young men how to conduct a meeting consistent with Robert's Rules of Order

• To provide contacts with successful role models

• To provide motivation to pursue education beyond high school

Please stay tuned for more details to come regarding this exciting meeting!!!

This meeting will be facilitated using a virtual platform. 

THS Student Government Serves the Community

The Tuscarora High School Student Government Association (SGA) in partnership with the THS Local Love Club will be holding a toiletries drive on Friday, November 6.The non-contact drive through drop-off times on this day are 1:00-2:00 PM and 3:00-4:00 PM. In particular please consider donating any of the following items (for both men and women): shampoo, conditioner, hair care products, deodorant, lotion, soap, body wash and toothpaste. The drive will benefit both Tuscarora students and local Frederick community organizations.

NEW VIRTUAL FORMAT FOR TITANS ON THE RUN 5K

CALLING ALL RUNNERS, WALKERS, ATHLETES, COACHES, BAND AND ORCHESTRA MEMBERS,
FACULTY, STAFF AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS!

SUNDAY NOV. 1ST - 15TH

The Tuscarora Athletic Boosters, in association with the THS Instrumental Music Boosters present our first ever Titans on the Run 5K!  This event will be held anywhere you like to run or walk that has a 5K or 3.1 mile distance from Sunday, November 1 - Sunday, November 15, 2020.  This is a fantastic way to show our THS community spirit and raise much needed funds for these amazing programs that are facing a financial shortfall due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. So grab your family, put your mask on, find your favorite place to run or walk and join us for this great community event. Registration will be open from Thursday, October 15 - Friday, October 30 at the price of $25 per person.
With your registration for the event, you will also be entered into our Special Raffles donated by some fantastic local businesses and receive our race T-shirt.

To register, go to: https://runsignup.com/Race?raceId=83768

All proceeds will go directly to purchase sports equipment and programs and instruments for our Titan athletes and musicians!!

THS Key Club is Partnering with Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Donations of new twin sheet set and pillows are being accepted in the THS student parking lot on Saturday, November 7 from 12 - 4 PM. Please see the photo below for more details about what Sleep in Heavenly Peace does for our community!

Important Yearbook Information

From Mr. Hartman, Yearbook Advisor:

A number of folks have asked for some clarification about the yearbook so I wanted to follow up and give you a little more insight into what we are doing and, more importantly, how you can help. The first question I want to answer is about school pictures and their inclusion in the book this year. The answer is yes, school pictures will be in the book. Seniors are already being photographed and underclass portraits are scheduled for February 4 and 5 with a make up day in mid-March.

The second question I would like to address is, what exactly we are making a yearbook about. This is a fair question. My staff and I have decided to do a chronological yearbook this year. We are going to literally tell the story of this year from month to month all the way until early May. My job, as the yearbook adviser, every year, is to make a book that tells the story of the year and is worth the money spent on it. This year is no different in that respect, but to do it right and to do it well, we are going to need some community buy in.

In other words, we need help from students, from teachers and from parents. My staff and I have been working on getting some exciting things set up to make it as easy as possible for students and parents to participate in our publication this year. We are using a central site to easily link you to all of our google forms:

https://linktr.ee/THStitanyearbook

There are two options for parents, if you have a gmail account use the link for those. If you don’t have a gmail account, use the link for ‘non gmail accounts’. Each week we will be posting new google forms asking for new pictures and different themes, so stay tuned and get involved. If you have any ideas or suggestions, we’d love to hear those as well. This is going to be a community effort this year and we encourage any and all participation and/or suggestions. This week we are starting off with:

First Day of School pictures

and

Titan Essential Workers

As always, if you have any questions please contact Mr. Hartman at:

Richard.hartman@fcps.org

Interim Progress Report Not So Good? Titan Tutoring is Here for You!

Tuscarora has opening the Titan Tutoring/Extended Learning Opportunities. For the first term, we will have regular tutoring support for Math, English, Social Studies, Science, World Languages, Health/Physical Education, and Career & technology education! Supports starts at 4 PM, Monday through Friday, and goes until 8 PM, with support for most subjects daily. Students will be asked to sign in whenever they visit a class, and all school virtual learning policies still apply whenever students are in a Google Meet with teachers. Click the image below to go to the schedule:

Titan Athletes!  Are You Ready For WINTER SPORTS? REGISTRATION IS OPEN!!!

We enjoyed the fall and spring sport seasons so much, we are now getting excited for the upcoming WINTER Skill-Based Coaching Season, which begins Monday, October 26, however, there are some very specific regulations that must be followed.  Please read through the following highlights and make sure to read the full document at: Voluntary 1st Semester Conditioning and Skill-Based Coaching Seasons - this new document has links to all 3 required forms for every participant.  (listed below as well)

• Contact your team/program's Head Coach for more specific info and schedules as they are finalized later this week.

• All participants MUST turn in a new FCPS Sport's Physical dated after 4.1.2020.  Page 2 (History Form) AND page 3 (Physical Exam with Doctor's signature) MUST both be submitted to the head coach (no more electronic submissions!)

  • If you participated in a fall/spring season - we have your physical, you simply NEED to let your coach know what sport!

• All participants MUST do Online Registration BEFORE the first day (Winter athletes, please register by Friday 10/23 at the latest - so coaches can plan PODS).  If you registered for fall or spring, you must login to your account and start a NEW registration.  Do NOT create a new account!

• All participants MUST also print and submit the FCPS COVID-19 Parent-Student-Athlete Participation Acknowledgement Statement form

  • again, we have these forms from fall and spring athletes - simply let your coach know so s/he can get it from us.

• No Athletic Fees will be charged or collected for Semester 1.

• No Tryouts will occur - workouts are open to all students, however space MAY be limited!

For more information, contact your Head Coach or the Athletic Director, Coach Putterman

2021 Yearbook Sales Get Underway

 Attention Titan Nation! Sales are officially open for the 2021 yearbook! We are running an early bird special from now through Sunday, November 15. 

During this time, the books will be sold for $65.00. Don’t miss the opportunity to purchase your book at this low cost and order your copy soon!

The books can be ordered at:

https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/

our school code is:  14640

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Hartman at:   Richard.hartman@fcps.org

 A Message for Senior Parents 

 The Remember the Titans yearbook would like to invite you to recognize your graduating senior in our senior recognition section of this year’s book.

 We have reduced ad pricing this year in an effort to make our ad space more affordable. We are also hoping that the reduced price-points will encourage your participation. And, being perfectly honest here folks, we have a lot of extra space in the book this year. With so many things being cancelled we have a unique opportunity to expand our ads section.

This is a senior year unlike any other that has come before. Our Titan Seniors deserve, now more than ever, to be recognized for their commitment, their perseverance, their resilience, and their grit. So please consider purchasing some space in our book to recognize your graduate. You can purchase and then create your own ad using our yearbook ordering center:

https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/

our school code is:  14640

If you have any questions, please contact:   Richard.hartman@fcps.org

Titan Assistance with Technology and Schoology
 

Virtual Learning can be a challenge, especially when technology or a Schoology question slows you down, or brings you to a stop.  The solution for nearly every single Google issue in Schoology was found in the FCPS Troubleshooting Guide. For fast answers to your questions before calling the school or asking for assistance, this is a user-friendly guide. Please go to the link below, and bookmark it, or add the link to your toolbar.  

Schoology Troubleshooting: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OJWzxwXeSumMlev5Ac8_-B0aaKhW5_ofMvuRO3a1pws/edit

For general assistance with chromebooks and internet use, don't forget students and families have access to our Technology Help Page (found on our THS Website Home Page)

https://sites.google.com/fcps.org/ths-tech-news/home

Student Attendance Notes

If your child will be unable to attend Virtual School due to illness, doctor's appointments, or for any other reason, please communicate with THS via email:

THS.Attendance@fcps.org

Please include your child's name, grade, reason for absence and a phone number where the parent can be reached. Paper communication is ALSO acceptable if email is not an option. Call 240-236-6400 with any questions.