Class of 2028 Orientation by Powell, Brian K

Objectives

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Students will have an opportunity to meet each of their teachers and visit each of their classrooms.
Students will meet Mrs. Anderson, the admin team, school counseling team, and participate in a discussion.
Students will become acquainted with ETHS lunch procedures.
Students will become acquainted with BCPS/ETHS transportation procedures and protocol.

Schedule

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1A - Talking Points

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School pride is an important aspect of the positive culture at Eastern Tech. The students, teachers, parents, and staff feel it is a privilege to teach or attend this school. That means with everything we do, we do with excellence in mind.
Our motto for the 2024-2025 school year is, “We Can. We Will. No Excuses.” This does not mean, "Be quiet and stop complaining!" This means we will help you remove any obstacles in your way. You have access to school counselors, teachers, advisors, administrators, and more. The Eastern Tech family will help you be the best that you can be!
The Magnet Office received around 2000 applications to attend Eastern Tech. Only 340 were fortunate to be placed in the Class of 2028. Be proud of your placement at Eastern Tech and take advantage of this opportunity.
Our students strive to be the best in academics, athletics, extracurricular activities, and social interactions. The teachers and staff work diligently to provide the best education possible to students.
Collectively, we have become a highly ranked and highly sought-after school that is currently considered the best in Baltimore County, #1 in Maryland, and #123 in the entire nation (24,000+ high schools).
We hope that as a freshman class, you will continue to carry on the tradition. Treat our school with respect, wear your school colors with pride, and always do your best in everything!
Welcome to the Eastern Tech family!

2A - Talking Points

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Students will begin using the MAVTime app on Monday, September 09.
Students are required to complete their daily schedule with one 30-minute lunch period and one 30-minute activity period using the MAVTime website.
Please share the following examples of activities students can participate in and a sample list of our clubs.
1. Study/Review Sessions; Participating in an additional class meeting (common with AP courses); Re-doing a formative assessment; Quiet study hall; Tutoring Sessions or Teacher Office Hours; Honor Societies; Detention; Lunch with Principal; Athletic Events; etc.
Most students do well with the increased freedom to plan and choose MAVTime events. However, consequences result for those who do not fulfill their obligations.
Please cover these basic requirements:
1. All students must select two activities every day; one activity can/should be lunch
2. Students may sign up for two activities
3. Students may never sign up for two lunch periods
4. Parents will be contacted if students repeatedly fail to select daily activities
5. After-school detention will be assigned for students who repeatedly fail to select two activities every day

For the first two weeks of school, you will be assigned to a lunch period by grade level
1. 9th Grade - MAV 1 - Lunch; MAV 2 - 1A Teacher
2. 10th Grade - MAV 1 - 1A Teacher; MAV 2 - Lunch
3. 11th Grade - MAV 1 - Lunch; MAV 2 - 1A Teacher
4. 12th Grade - MAV 1 - 1A Teacher; MAV 2 - Lunch
  1. Half-day seniors are permitted to leave after 2nd period
Students will begin selecting their lunch and activity of choice on Monday, September 09

Ask students to stay tuned for activity schedules and an introduction to using MAVTime.

3A - Talking Points

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Your desire to learn should drive your education. Students who do not prepare and complete their own work do not learn.
Copying your homework from a peer will no longer produce results because your report card will reflect performance on tests. Students will not receive credit for merely completing an assignment but will be required to demonstrate mastery of a subject.
Violations of the academic integrity policy may include but are not limited to copying an assignment from a peer, looking at a peer’s test, plagiarism, taking pictures of a test or removing a test from the classroom without the teacher’s knowledge, and the use of technology without the consent of the teacher.
Consequences for violating the integrity policy may include parent contact, detention, inability to join an honor society, Saturday detention, and/or suspension from school.

4A - Talking Points

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Daily Procedures

All students should exit the building via the front doors during the school day, with permission, unless there is an emergency drill or event.
Students moving through the hallways during classes must have a hall pass. Students should report directly to the designated location. Students leaving class must sign in and out.
All visitors to the building must report to the front office after being admitted via the intercom bell system. Students should refrain from opening the doors to visitors during the school day, even though they are trying to be helpful.
Students should keep their belongings secure throughout the day. Lockers can be requested in the Main Office.
Eastern Tech will not accept food deliveries for students. Under no circumstance are you to place an order for delivery to the School.

Emergency Procedures (VERY brief overview)

Evacuation Drills Fire Drill/500 Foot

Quickly and quietly move with your class to a teacher-directed location
Move to the Upper field, Lower field, or parking lot locations assigned to your class’s room number.

Severe Weather Safe Area

Move quickly and quietly to designated locations (get away from windows and unsecured locations). Drop, cover, and hold.

Shelter in Place

Halt instruction. The teacher checks the halls, closes windows, secures the door(s), turns off the lights, and moves to cover. Secure your location. No one is permitted to enter or leave the building other than first responders.

Drop/Cover/Hold

For use in an earthquake or other imminent danger to building/surroundings.
Get low, cover your eyes, and hold on to a table or desk legs to help maintain your location.

Lockdown/Lockout

Absolute silence is required; no teaching, or talking, and all cell phones must be OFF. Students move to locations in classrooms away from doors and windows.
Secure your location. No one is permitted to enter or leave the building other than first responders.
Wait until the end of the drill is announced to verify attendance.
During LOCKOUT, regular instruction can occur within the building, but entry into and out of the building is restricted.

ALICE Protocol

Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate. This non-sequential process of responding to an emergency will be reviewed in detail.

Alternate Staging Locations

Quickly and quietly leave the building through the door CLOSEST to where you are when the alert is given.
If leaving campus is the appropriate decision, move to the alternate staging area closest to you (safely cross Mace Avenue, report to Church of the Harbor or Holy Trinity, whichever is closer.) Mention that if you cross Mace Avenue from Eastern Tech, these are the first churches you will encounter (left or right).

1B - Talking Points

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Students are permitted to attend Eastern Tech after being admitted by the Magnet Office and signing the Magnet Contract and the Special Permission Transfer agreement documents.
These documents list the requirements to keep your seat at Eastern Tech. They are:
Maintain a GPA of 2.0 (C average)
- Maintain a 94% attendance rate or higher; average no more than three absences per quarter
- Must not exceed 6% tardy (late to school); average no more than three late arrivals per quarter
- Must pass your magnet course
- Must not have more than one failure in any course at the end of the year
- Must abide by the BCPS Student Code of Conduct and not have repeated discipline issues
The administration frequently monitors student grades, attendance, and behavior. Students who are falling short on their agreement will receive support such as mentoring, Saturday school, parent contact and meetings, meetings with school counselors, meetings with administrators, warning letters, and more
This does not happen often, but we need to be clear, if you fail to abide by the Magnet Contract and the Special Permission Transfer agreement, you could be asked to return to your zone high school.
Your teachers, school counselors, staff, and administrators will do everything we can to help you stay at Eastern Tech.
If you are struggling academically, socially, and/or personally, you must speak up and seek assistance. We are here to help and will support you in being your best “You!”

We Can. We Will. No Excuses!

2B - Talking Points

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All students received a copy of the Eastern Tech Dress Code found in the Back-to-School guide. Students with questions that classroom teachers cannot answer should see an administrator during lunchtime today or early next week.

LANGUAGE TO USE WITH STUDENTS IN SPEAKING ABOUT THE DRESS CODE.
1. Use the exact language of the Dress Code. The Eastern Tech dress code can be located in the Back to School mailing on page 20.
2. Our dress code ensures that we as a school community are professional, special, and different. Clothing must demonstrate respect for our school community. Eastern Tech raises the bar in every area, including how we dress.
When a student violates the Dress Code, the violation is documented and students will be required to change before attending class. Students may be required to arrange for replacement clothing from their parents/guardians.
If students are asked to make a clothing change, they should do so willingly and without argument.
Suggest to students in doubt about their clothing choice to bring something to change into to avoid calling a parent to bring additional clothing. Given that a student is compliant and does not repeat the violation, no contact with the office is necessary.
Torn pants are torn pants. They are NOT permitted, whether or not there is something underneath them.
Note that the only dress code change that occurs on Friday is that students may wear shorts that are palm length or “cropped” pants.

4B - Transportation Talking Points

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Materials: Copy of Eastern Tech bus loop diagram, Copy of Eastern Tech bus names, numbers, and stop times.
Please use the 15 minutes you have with your students to make sure students know the NAME OF THEIR BUS (rather than the bus number or the bus stop or their neighborhood).
Share with students the bus loop diagram and let them know that unless a bus is VERY late, the bus will be in the same place on the bus loop every day at dismissal.
Tell students that when the dismissal bell rings to end the school day, students must move immediately to the bus loop. There is no time for socializing or retrieving a misplaced item. Our buses leave shortly after the bell rings at 2:15; you have approximately 7 minutes to get to your bus.
Students who are picked up by parents or are walkers need to follow all traffic rules. Use crosswalks to cross Mace Avenue. DO NOT CROSS MACE AVENUE outside of the crosswalk.
Questions regarding transportation can be directed to Mr. Powell, Assistant Principal, through Schoology or email at bpowell6@bcps.org.

4B - Miscellaneous Talking Points

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Resolve any remaining transportation concerns and send students to the front lobby with their things if you are unable to.
Review the daily schedule so that students know that they will attend their A-Day classes when they return on August 26.
Remind them that all mandatory forms (mailed home) should be returned ASAP to avoid their exclusion from extra-curricular activities (including homecoming, athletic practices, and games).
Share that August 26 will be a hectic day, but there will be friendly adults throughout the building to assist. Tell them if they have their schedule out as they walk in the hall, adults can help more quickly.
Share that each of them earned their placement at Eastern Tech by getting good grades in middle school, meeting the high standards to enter the lottery, and were excepted from a list of thousands of applicants, and we are glad they are Mavericks!
Students who have not yet received a laptop should see Mr. Powell in the CAFETERIA.
Escort students to the cafeteria at 10:15am for an administration presentation and lunch.
Ask if everyone knows how they are getting home today. Those with questions should report to Mr. Powell at lunch.

US News High School Ranking

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MSDE Report Card

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MAVTime Link - BOOKMARK THIS!

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Back-to-School - Page 18

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Back-to-School - Page 10

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Back-to-School - Page 14

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Back-to-School - Page 6

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Back-to-School - Page 29

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Back-to-School - Page 4

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Back-to-School - Page 36

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Back-to-School Guide - Page 19

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Back-to-School Guide - Page 13

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Who's Who - Contact Information

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School Counseling

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Student Supports

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Back-to-School Guide - Page 9

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22-23 Bus Loading Stations

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lduval33 — 2023-08-16 16:13:09 UTC

3B Talking Points

Time management

1. Prioritize what has to be done. Then what matters most to you. Then the stuff you WANT to do but may not be necessary to do.

2. Avoid multitasking early on.

a. It was easier to do in Middle School to try to do a bunch of stuff at once, but HERE—to start your year, you can’t do it!

b. Budget your time to knock out tasks one-at-a-time.

3. Eliminate distractions when you are doing your work.

a. If your phone is a distraction, it should not be anywhere near you when doing homework.

b. Adopt the mindset that the work in front of you is your JOB. Finish your job, then move on to the next thing.

c. Find the space that works best for you.

4. Set boundaries for yourself, plan for breaks, hydrate and have a snack, you’re not a machine.

5. You are going to have work to do OUT OF SCHOOL. That’s not a maybe and it’s definitely not like Middle School. Think about your day-to-day schedule:

a. It’s helpful to think about it as in-school/out-of-school

b. What does your available OUT-OF-SCHOOL time look like? What needs to be altered (and when) for you to carve out time for school work?

6. Sleep 6-8 hours at night! You will have to set and stick to a schedule to make this happen and you might have to put some things off until the weekend, but not getting enough sleep will definitely catch up with you fast.

7. Use MavTime to get ahead of and catch up on work. (HOW…what would that look like?)

8. If you have additional time in the morning (say your bus gets to school early), you have space in the lobby and cafeteria that you can get some work/studying done—but do not RELY on this time.

Organization

1. How will you organize/track your calendar?

a. Electronic: Google calendar, reminders and alerts on your phone, Schoology calendar, other apps…

b. Physical: Sticky note reminder (everywhere), maintaining a physical planner (we give you one), WHEN you write stuff down you’ll hold yourself more accountable.

c. Find what works for you. If nothing is working, talk to Mr. Du Val or your counselor about getting some support for organization.

Extracurriculars/sports

1. Whether you do an activity or not, you are going to have less free time than you did in Middle School. How will you fill that time and get involved?

2. If you are planning to join (or did join) an athletic team:

a. Look ahead to see when you have games or events, those should be “budgeted” into your schedule.

b. Look ahead to see what OTHER CONTESTS you may want to attend as a SPECTATOR.

3. Freshman year is a good time to explore your interests:

a. ASK. Talk to the older students about club and activities they are in. Not sure who to ask…ask a teacher.

b. Explore them all, but focus on a few.

4. Prepare for events to go over the time that they’re planned for. Just because a game is “supposed to” end at 4:30, doesn’t mean that it will.

5. Prepared to be tired after events, try to do work before them.

a. Especially if it’s a long event or a physically demanding game; you may not have the time, energy, or mental stamina to complete your work. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NOW?!

b. Staying hydrated, properly nourished, and physically fit can help reduce that fatigue, but even the most properly conditioned and fueled person is going to get tired.

6. Again, use any downtime to get things done. If you have school stuff that needs to be done, then you don’t technically have any “free time”. You’re pushing off responsibility to do something else. Get the work done first. Anytime left after that is yours.