THE COUGAR CONNECTION

The Catoctin High School Newsletter • January 9, 2023

https://edu.fcps.org/chs/

CHS Supports Homeless Students

The FCCLA Club supported the Student Homeless Initiative Project (SHIP) from November 10th through December 22nd. Joining the SHIP's Homeless for the Holidays campaign, CHS was the community drop off location for personal hygiene products. Guest speaker, Hannah Bollack, SHIP's Youth Engagement Coordinator, attended the November club meeting and stirred members to action. During the drive, our school and community worked hard to donate a car full of products for the pre-holiday collection, along with a generous $150.00 check as a result of the Lady Cougar basketball efforts. At the close of the drive, a total of 579 personal hygiene products were generously donated! Thank you Catoctin for caring and sharing!

CHS King Award Recipient

Cat Estelle was the Catoctin High School award recipient at the 33rd Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. Students were selected by their school based on their demonstration of positive leadership qualities, characteristic of Dr. King and of the Character Counts Pillars: Responsibility, Caring, Fairness, Trustworthiness, Citizenship and Respect. Congratulations Cat!

CHS Students Inducted into the CTC NTHS

Three Catoctin High School Students were inducted into the Career and Technology Center (CTC) National Technical Honor Society (NTHS) on December 16th. Congratulations to Meghan Gray, Annalise Abruzzese and Noah Delcid.

Catoctin High School Counseling Office Updates

The start of the spring semester is quickly approaching and we are excited for all the possibilities that it brings. Please make note of the following important dates/events:

  • January 9: Spring semester course schedules are accessible to students and parents in Schoology. FCPS is also planning to send an email to each parent with student schedule information around January 5.

  • January 12-19: Schedule change window for spring semester classes. Please follow refer to this document for more information: Schedule Change Process.

  • January 17 - February 3: Registration timeframe for school year 2023-24 course selection.

  • January 26, 5:00 - 6:30 pm: Registration Information Night at CHS. Learn more about course offerings and special programs available for students at this program.

  • February 3: Last day to complete and submit registration (course selection) for school year 2023-24 in Schoology "Class 202#" group.

Mark Your Calendar!

  • January 11 - Schools Closed, Teacher Work Day

  • January 12 - Semester 2 Begins

  • January 16 - Schools Closed, Dr. Martin Luther King , Jr.'s Birthday

  • January 26 - Registration Information Night, 6:30 pm

  • February 15 - 2-Hour Early Dismissal, Mid-Term

  • February 20 - Schools Closed, Presidents Day

  • March 1 - School Day SAT Test - All Juniors

FCPS Support Staff Employee of the Year Nominations Open

Has an FCPS support employee gone beyond the call of duty to help you? Have you observed a support staff member excelling in their day-to-day activities? Have they done something particularly noteworthy? There are so many reasons to nominate someone for the FCPS Support Staff Employee of the Year Award!

This award recognizes support staff employees whose contributions to Frederick County Public Schools exemplify the highest attributes of service and excellence. It recognizes outstanding members of the FCPS support staff from eight broad job categories. Of the eight, one central office and one school-based employee will receive the Support Employee of the Year award.

Central Office

    • Business Support (includes Food Service and Transportation office/garage employees, Technology Services, Interpreters, etc.)

    • Custodian/Maintenance/Warehouse

    • Secretary

School-based

    • Bus Driver/Bus Assistant

    • Custodian

    • Food Service

    • Instructional/Special Education Assistant/Community Liaison/User Support Specialist

    • Secretary/Registrar

An FCPS support employee may be nominated for this award by anyone in our community, including FCPS employees, students or former students, and parents. A panel of FCPS judges will screen the nominations and select finalists. Finalists will be recognized and presented with awards at the Board of Education meeting on April 19, 2023.

Complete eligibility, nomination criteria, process and selection guidelines are located online at www.fcps.org/awards. The deadline for nominations is Friday, January 27, 2023. Please contact Wanda.Ford@fcps.org or 301-696-6900 with any questions.

FCPS-FCC Early College INFORMATION NIGHTS

9th and 10th Grade Students!

FCC invites you to register for one of the following Early College Information Nights to learn about the FCPS-FCC Early College program:

  • Thursday, February 15, 2023, 7:00 - 8:00 pm (virtual)

The FCC Early College program is a way to earn an associate degree and high school diploma simultaneously by attending FCC full-time during your junior and senior years. The program was created to increase participation and completion for students from populations historically underrepresented in higher education and is open to all FCPS high school students. FCPS students apply to Early College during their sophomore year.

Members of the Dual Enrollment Team will go through the details of the Early College program and acceptance process, and they will answer questions from interested students and families.

Register to attend www.tinyurl.com/EarlyCollegeInformationNight. If you register for a virtual date then you will receive the link to the Google Meet session in your registration confirmation email.

Visit www.tinyurl.com/FCCDualEnrollment to register for a Dual Enrollment Virtual Open House to learn about all DE opportunities. For more information, contact the DE Office at DualEnrollment@frederick.edu, 301-624-2893, or www.frederick.edu/de

School Improvement Plan

Every year we set school-wide goals that we use as one means to measure our success in our work with students. We can only achieve these goals through the partnership with our parent/guardian community and the engagement of our students. Please take a few minutes to review each document (Parents and Students) and reflect on how your efforts support these goals.

Go Cougars!

For detailed information: TutorMe

MESSAGE FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

Dear Catoctin Community,

Happy New Year! I hope this letter finds you rejuvenated after Winter Break and excited for the year ahead. For our Seniors, we have officially turned the calendar pages to the year of your Graduation! For everyone else, we are almost to the halfway point of another year, which puts you another semester closer to graduation. Regardless of where you are currently in your high school journey, the finish line of graduation will come quickly; be sure that you are taking advantage of the opportunities and education that are presented to you every day.

We sent out a Find-Out-First message earlier this week from our counseling department with lots of important information; those highlights are also included in this newsletter. Please take note of the important dates and information related to our new semester (which begins on January 12) and the course registration process (which we begin on January 17). While we are just beginning our second semester, it is also an important time in our planning for next year. There are many opportunities for students and parents to become well-informed about course and program offerings in order to make purposeful selections for your courses next year. Your thoughtful course selections now ensure that we know and can meet the needs of our students, for whom we want to offer challenging and engaging learning opportunities. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of the counseling department if you have questions.

New courses in a new semester and course registration for next year are both very important events in our school year. We look forward to supporting and collaborating with students and families as we purposefully navigate them both.

Go Cougars!

Jen Clements

Principal

Official CHS Cougars Spiritwear

Click on the photo below to view the wide variety of options available!

Don't Miss a Game!

GO COUGARS!

Up-to-date CHS game schedules for all sports: https://www.frederickcountycmc.org/public/genie/312/school/6/

Watch games via live-streaming on www.nfhsnetwork.com/

Online game tickets, season passes: Go Fan-CHS

Join CHS Sports Boosters to support Catoctin Athletics!

resources for families

Catoctin High School Pantry

Local Food Banks

    • Thurmont Food Bank, 10 Frederick Road, Thurmont. For more information call 240-288-1865.

    • Emmitsburg Food Bank, 130 S. Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg. For more information call 717-642-6963.

FCPS Meal Benefits

  • All FCPS students can apply for free or reduced-price meal benefits by online at: Meal Benefits. Paper copies are availablYou must reapply every year for benefits.

NEED HELP?

Child Protective Services (CPS): 301-600-2464

    • To get help for physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect.

Crisis Services: Dial 211

    • To get help when you feel really anxious or really depressed and need someone to talk with so that you can stay safe.

Maryland Anonymous Tip Line: 1-833-632-7233

    • To report threats or situations that put your safety or others’ safety at risk.

Suicide Prevention Hotline: 988

    • To get help if you are thinking about suicide.

catoctin Safe and Sane 2023

Catoctin High School Committee for a Safe and Sane Graduation Inc. is not sponsored by Catoctin High School

Safe and Sane is a non-profit, parent-run, tax-exempt corporation established to address the very serious issues of youth drinking, drug use and driving behavior during one of the highest risk social events of their lives. This will be our 32st year of providing an alternative way for graduates to celebrate and “JUST SAY NO” to drugs and alcohol!

Want to get involved? Follow us on https://www.facebook.com/groups/catoctinsafeandsane. This is the best way for you and your Senior to stay up-to-date on events.

Safe and Sane Fundraising Events: Event Calendar

The Safe and Sane Committee would love to have donations for the St. Patty's Day Bash on March 18th at the American Legion. If you would like to send green plates, cups, napkins, and plasticware to CHS we would be happy to pick up donations. Our next meeting date has been changed to Monday, January 9th and February 13th, 6:15 at the American Legion. We would be happy to collect donations then. Help is needed the evening of the dance. Please see the sign up genius for contributions: Sign Up Genius

For more information please text, Kim Seiss at 240-367-6266.

cATOCTIN SPORTS BOOSTERS

Catoctin High School Sports Boosters supports all CHS sports teams and coaches, all money raised goes to the athletic programs. We raise money through fundraisers, sponsorship, concession sales and membership.

For more information on CHS Sports Boosters or to make a donation, please visit our website!

ptsa news

CHS PTSA – A PARTNERSHIP IN EDUCATION

We need your help! The CHS Parent Teacher Student Association exists to help support all of our kids and the professional staff that works so hard on their behalf. We want to continue that level of support and we are looking for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering you can send an email to CatoctinPTSA@gmail.com. For more information visit: https://edu.fcps.org/chs/ptsa

PTSA General Meetings - Come Join the Fun!

CHS PTSA meetings will be held at 7:00 pm. via Zoom Meeting from your home. All are welcome to attend! For more information, email CatoctinPTSA@gmail.com or contact:

Traci Tatum (President) / tracitatum41@gmail.com

Vacant (Vice President) / WE NEED YOU!

Peggy Davis (Secretary) / cowgirlproud@aol.com

Vacant (Treasurer) / WE NEED YOU!

community flyers

These flyers have been approved for electronic distribution by FCPS:

    • Student performers are needed for the 2023 Seed to Roots live show at the Weinberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 20. All performances must be inspired by, and focused within the theme of Black History and/or culture. All submissions will be juried before final selection. Deadline to apply is January 20. For more information see this flyer.

    • Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP) is an all-volunteer 501(C)(3) non-profit that builds twin beds, and delivers them, FREE of CHARGE, to families in Frederick Co Maryland whose kids, ages 4-17, are sleeping on the floor, a couch, or with their parents or siblings.

    • Foundations of Internet Safety is a live 90-minute session on how to protect yourself online on January 22, 6:00 pm. Free event, registration required.