The most wonderful time of the year is upon us. Students are
excited about Christmas and completing the first semester of school. Semester
exams are a part of the end of a semester experience and they always bring many
questions. In just a few days the exemptions procedures will be posted on our
website and we ask students, and parents to please read these carefully to
avoid confusion. Teachers will be going over these in class as well but if you
have any questions please ask.
One of the most common misconceptions about exemptions
pertains to absences. Some think that
because an absence is excused, it doesn’t count toward exemptions. All absences
count toward exemptions regardless of whether or not they are excused. School
events such as field trips do not count, but any non-school sponsored absence
counts as an absence and therefore must be considered for exemption purposes.
We remind everyone that exemptions exist to entice students to have good
attendance and reward students who do not miss school. Many times students are
unfortunate and get sick and have unavoidable absences, so exemptions are a
combination of hard work, diligence and a little good fortune.
Basketball season is in full swing. All of our teams are
working hard and representing Ardmore in an exemplary manner. Since we are a
6-12 school we have many different basketball teams and cheerleader groups so
we have many students who participate on these nights which is a wonderful
thing. Schools offer extracurricular activities to teach lessons and to give
students something to look forward to and enjoy the school experience.
Our annual band Christmas Concert is drawing near and this
year we have an added bonus for our students. Students were able to see the
concert during school hours for a small admission price of $2. Proceeds went
help support our band program. We have in-school ball games to help support our
sports teams and this year we have started an in-school band concert. This not
only served as a fundraiser but gave all of our student body an opportunity to
see what great concerts our band puts on every year. Our band did a great job
during the in-school concert and we hope everyone can come out and see the
concert on Saturday night, December 14, 2013.
Hopefully within a month or two you will see a new sign in
front of the school that will serve as another way for parents and the community
to keep up with what is happening at AHS. Thanks to the fundraising efforts of
Mr. James Shannon and the generous gifts from First National Bank, Butler Realty,
Senator Bill Holtzclaw, and Representative Dan Williams we have been able to
purchase a sign for the front of the school. The sign is currently being bid
through our central office in accordance with the state bid law. The great
thing about the sign is that we do not have to spend any local school money to
purchase the sign so we can continue to use our money to supply things are
students and teachers need on a daily basis.
