Good Afternoon, this is Steve Mares, principal of Athens Drive Magnet High School with announcements for the upcoming week. A copy of these announcements will be posted on our school website and e-mailed to the Athens Drive PTSA email group.
What a great day to be a JAG yesterday at our Freshman Camp! There was such a positive spirit, and it was outstanding to see our “house” come back to life with students and families as we look to start our school year! We had almost 400 new Jaguars in our school and many family members here to begin the transition to high school. I was thankful for the outstanding efforts of our staff, PTSA leaders, Student Government, Band, Club representatives, coaches, student athletes, and everyone who helped contribute to a fantastic kick-off for our students and families. Another big welcome to the Class of 2022 and please know what an honor and pleasure it is for us to serve your family! We are DRIVEN to have another great year of teaching and learning!
Just a reminder that our First Day of School is on Monday, August 27th! Students, please know that we will start the first day of school in our Homeroom class, known as Drive Time, beginning at 7:25 a.m.
We will have the same start and end time for school again for the 2018 – 2019 school year. School will start at 7:25 a.m. every morning and end at 2:18 p.m. Please know that First Period begins promptly at 7:25 a.m. and students are expected to be in class, ready to learn at 7:25 a.m. each day. For the first 10 days of school, students will have a Drive Time Class so that we can share important information and begin the year on a positive note. After those first 10 days, students will only attend their Drive Time Class once a week and for a few consecutive days when Report Cards come out.
I know there are many questions about our Bell Schedule for the year, and particularly our lunch schedule. Due to some changes we are making to our previous SMART Lunch schedule, I have waited on sharing our new schedule until I have met with my entire staff to ensure our staff understands our new schedule. We will be meeting on Monday, and then I will be sharing the schedule with our entire school family. Please be looking out for information to come from me, and information posted on our website (https://www.wcpss.net/athensdrivehs), by Tuesday, August 21st regarding our Bell Schedule and Lunch Schedule. We will be answering questions and helping our students transition to our new Bell Schedule during those first 10 days of school as we operate on our Drive Time Schedule. Thank you for your understanding of our efforts to continue to find ways to support teaching and learning and help each of our students reach his/her ultimate potential!
I am sure that everybody has now either seen or picked up a copy of their 2018 – 2019 schedule that was posted to PowerSchool. Please understand that while the vast majority of students’ schedule will not change, some schedules may see a change as we continue to enroll a large number of students. These are not major changes, but we do work to try to balance class size and also try to meet the needs of our students and what they registered for. Students will receive their official schedule in their Drive Time Class on Monday, August 27th. If your student did submit a Schedule Change Request form, please know that we are working our way through those requests and we will make the changes we can and need to make to support our students. Thank you for your continued support as we work to create a Master Schedule that serves our students’ needs.
To help our students feel prepared for their first day of school, we will have the building open for students and their families to “walk their schedule” on Tuesday, August 21st, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Please understand that many of our teachers will be on-or-off campus in County-wide meetings or working on preparing for the start of the school year, so this will not be an opportunity to meet with individual teachers. However, we will have some of our Peer Ambassadors available on Tuesday to provide tours and assist with finding rooms for students that are new to Athens Drive. Please go to the Main Office to find a Peer Ambassador for the tour. Please also be assured that we will have students and staff in the hallways the first few days of school to help students find their classrooms!
If your student will be riding the bus to school, students and families that have transportation eligible bus riders can find our new bus routes for the 2018 – 2019 school year posted online at http://www.wcpss.net/routes. Look for Athens Drive High School on this page and click the link to find our bus routes. Please find the intersection nearest your residence and that will be your bus stop. Please be familiar with your bus route and plan to get to your bus stop at least 10 minutes early. Wake County Public School System will also share your student’s transportation route, stop, and estimated bus arrival time on-line in PowerSchool. Families can also check bus routes at school if you need too. There are many changes at the start of the new school year as new students begin riding the bus, new bus routes are created, and new drivers are trained. I would ask that you please be patient and understanding with transportation for the first few days of school. Thank you for your support.
Seniors and our families, just another reminder that our Graduation date and time for our Class of 2019 has been finalized! Our Seniors will be Graduating on Wednesday, June 12th, 2019 at 8:00 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center. Please be sure to save this date and time to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2019! In addition, Seniors need to also be sure they attend the mandatory Graduation Rehearsal on Monday, June 3rd, 2019 from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center.
As we begin a new school year, I would like to remind all our students and families to be respectful of our Athens Drive neighbors. Please remind your students to park legally, drive in a safe manner, throw trash away properly in trash cans, and use appropriate language as they walk, drive, and move around our school campus. We want to be responsible and respectful neighbors, and I ask that we all represent The Drive in only the highest manner. Thanks for helping to carry on our 40-year tradition of excellence both inside and outside of the classroom!
Parents, I would like to enlist your support in helping us maintain appropriate dress at school. Please be sure that students do not wear strapless shirts and dresses, thin-strapped shirts, tank-tops, short-shorts, clothing that reveals undergarments, and other clothing that violates the dress code. Hats will also not be allowed to be worn on school grounds. I would ask that we work together to be sure our students dress appropriately and focus on learning. We will be focusing on our dress code for the first few weeks of school and I thank you for your support!
As I mentioned last week, if you are interested in supporting Athens Drive Magnet High School in a tangible manner, the PTSA could use your help. With the Graduation of many of our PTSA Board members’ students, the PTSA has many opportunities for our new families to be a part of the PTSA and make a significant difference in the teaching and learning at The Drive. If you are interested in serving in any capacity, please email our PTSA President, Lysa Fulbright, at president@athensdriveptsa.com. Thank you for considering serving in this manner to support our students, families, and school!
Please remember that if you would like to volunteer in any Wake County Public School System school you must register or reactivate prior to helping with any tutoring, office support, PTSA, sports, band, or club activity this school year. Thank you for helping us maintain a safe school climate conducive to learning.
Please put down on your calendar that our Fall Meet the Teacher Night will be held on Thursday, September 13th, beginning at 6:00 p.m. At 5:30 p.m., prior to our Meet the Teacher Night, we will be holding a Senior Parent Meeting. In addition, also at 5:30 p.m., our PTSA will be providing information on how to support our school through volunteering and donating to our PTSA. Last week in my weekly message I had mistakenly written Wednesday, September 13th, instead of the correct day and date of Thursday, September 13th. I apologize about any confusion that I created. Thank you for saving this night to engage with our faculty and connect to the school.
Our Fall athletic season has already started, and we have had a solid opening with great sportsmanship, fun, and results! We have our first home Varsity football game this evening, Friday, August 17th, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in our stadium. Please come out to support our student athletes and our band and be a part of the Athens Drive family! Please know that tonight’s game is a North Carolina High School Athletic Association Endowment game and our Athens Drive Sports Passes will not be accepted. Please also remember that we have another home football game next Friday night, August 24th, against Broughton High School. Please check out the Athens Drive Athletic website (http://www.wakecountyathletics.com/athensdrivehs) for all our game dates and times of all our Fall sports. Attending these events is a great way to meet other students and support our school.
Those are all the announcements for this week. Please continue to check the Athens Drive website (www.wcpss.net/athensdrivehs) for general information and to help you stay informed. Please have a safe, enjoyable weekend, and I hope you have a fantastic last week of summer. Go JAGS and please take care.