Chrismtas Tournament

Our basketball teams have been busy during the Christmas Vacation time and have played several games. Our teams have done great and are ready for "crunch time" as the County Tournament and Area Tournament on the horizon. Our teams play December 29, 2009 at Richland with our girls getting started at 11:30 and our boys following at 3:00 p.m.

Merry Christmas

This is "The most wonderful time of the year" in many ways. Everyone is excited about getting out of school to refresh minds and body and Christmas is right around the corner. From the faculty and staff of Ardmore High School I would like to wish all of the Ardmore family and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Exams

Students will take exams in periods 4, 5, 6, & 7 today and periods 1, 2, & 3 on Friday. Students that exempted all exams are out of school until January 6, 2010.

Exemption/Check-out

Exemption procedures are many times confusing to parents, teachers, students, (and administrators). We want to make sure everyone is aware of the procedures we use here at Ardmore High School. Students may exempt their semester exams in accordance with the policy listed in the student handbook. Students that are exempt are not required to attend on the day the exam is given. Students that exempt all exams will not be required to attend school Thursday and Friday of this week.

Teachers will be handing out exemption forms on Tuesday and your student should bring this form home to be signed and return the form on Wednesday. This form will serve as the check-in/out form in case your child doesn’t exempt all their exams. This will let you know when they are expected to be at school and will give us permission to dismiss them when they do not have an exam. Students will not be required to go through the office when leaving so you can make arrangements with your child as to the location you will pick them up. In order to cut down on confusion students may only check-in/out one time during exemption days.

If your student should decide to check-out on Friday after the exam they must bring a note from you on Friday giving them permission to check-out. We can not allow a student to check out from a phone call so please send a note or physically come to the school to pick up your child. We hope everyone enjoys the break and has a Merry Christmas.

Exemption Procedures

Exemption Procedures
1. Exemption forms will be passed out on Tuesday, December 15.
2. Students will take the form around Tuesday to be signed by the
appropriate teachers.
3. Students must turn in their exemption sheet to their 1st period teachers
Wednesday, December 16. Late arrival students that don’t have a first
period teacher will turn the form in to the first teacher they have for
class.
4. 2nd Nine weeks tests will be cumulative and cover material from the
beginning of the first semester.
5. The semester average will be used to determine exemptions.
6. Absences will count for the entire semester to determine exemptions.
7. Students exempt from Friday exams are not required to be present on
Thursday for the reviews (one time check in/out rule still applies).
8. The last day students exempting ALL exams are required to attend is
Wednesday, December 16. Wednesday, December 16, WILL count
toward the determination of exemptions! Signed forms are pending
attendance on December 16.
9. Students may leave without checking in/out through the office for
classes they are exempt.
10. Students may only check in/out one time during the day.
11. Students NOT exempt and absent will receive an unexcused absence.
If they leave campus w/o permission disciplinary action will be taken.

Hunter's Highlights

The end of the first semester is quickly approaching. Students and teachers will be preparing for nine weeks test which are a major part of the semester grade. Students have been taking the Alabama High School Graduation Exam this week and we want to thank everyone for their cooperation. A special thanks to Ms. Kirk and the teachers and staff administering and proctoring the test.

Our Award Winning Tiger Band once again put on a great show at their annual Christmas concert. The concert helped raise money and canned food for local charities once again showing the heart of the Ardmore school and community. Mr. Nelson and the entire band is to be congratulated for such a wonderful show and having such a quality band.

Basketball season is in full swing and our teams are doing wonderfully. All six of our teams are doing great and we know the trend will continue. All of the coaches, players, and cheerleaders are to be commended for their performance at all of our games.

Miss Gina Hobbs has been selected to be Miss Merry Christmas for the 2010 Senior Class. Gina will be honored at a ceremony Tuesday hosted by the Athens Chamber of Commerce. Gina is a very deserving student and has represented Ardmore wonderfully.

Our math and science teachers continue to work with our students using hands-on activities provided by AMSTI. Our students are getting to partake in hands-on experiences that improve their comprehension in the areas of math and science. Our teachers are doing a great job and although the approach may be a little different; in the end our students will benefit.

January 7th Basketball Game

The MS basketball game originally scheduled for January 7th, 2010 at 6:00 at East Limestone has been changed to 3:30. There seems to be another event scheduled for that afternoon that could be a conflict.

Hunter's Highlights

This has been an incredibly busy week at Ardmore High School. The first semester is winding down and Christmas vacation and semester exams are on the minds of students and teachers. Nine Weeks Exams count 20% of a student’s final grade so these exams are extremely important. Parents please help us make this a priority for the students so they can reach their fullest potential. In order to encourage good attendance Limestone County Schools allow students to exempt their 2nd Nine Weeks exams if they meet the criteria listed in the handbook. Please keep an eye on our website to read the exemption policy.

Basketball season is in full swing and our teams are performing wonderfully. Our boy’s varsity team is currently undefeated in area play and this puts them in a great place in terms of the area tournament. Of course, I know Coach Sanderson would point out, it isn’t a time to let down. Please continue to come out and support our basketball program. We have great coaches, players and fans which makes the games fun.

Mr. Brad Lewis sponsors our “We the People” Team which is an academic competition related to US History. Mr. Lewis does an outstanding job preparing our students and at the recent competition our students performed wonderfully. The students seemed to enjoy the experience and I believe the educational value of this endeavor is very positive. Mr. Lewis is also our Sr. Beta Club sponsor this year and the Induction Ceremony is Monday, December 7, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in the school cafeteria.

Our teachers have a lot of wonderful things taking place in the classrooms as they continue to provide a world-class education to the students at Ardmore. It is exciting to walk into the classrooms as our teachers use the most current teaching methods to reach our students. Our motto is, “When we cease getting better, we stop being good” so we continue to look for ways to improve.

Athens Christmas Parade

Our Award Winning Tiger Band will be performing in the annual Athens Christmas Parade Thursday night. We hope everyone can come out and support all of our students participating in the parade.

We the People

Mr. Brad Lewis teaches Government/Economics at Ardmore High School and leads a team of students that compete in a competition called, "We the People." These students have worked extremely hard and competed in Hunstville today in a competition. They did wonderfully and represented Ardmore High School wonderfully. We know they will continue to improve. A special thanks to Mr. Lewis for his hard work and dedication and for going above and beyond the call of duty to provide learning opportunities to our students.