Dear Walkersville community,

It was a great week at WHS as we returned from spring break. Congrats to our Unified Track Team for hosting a great meet on Wednesday afternoon. The athletes did a great job! I hope everyone gets the chance to come out and see our spring musical, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," this weekend. We have prom right around the corner, and tickets go on sale next week. Students in 11th and 12th grade, who meet the requirements for attendance and behavior, can purchase them at lunch beginning the 16th. Students with obligations will need to clear those prior to purchasing a ticket, and permission slips are needed. Students can pick one up in the main office if needed. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Sincerely,

Dr. Stephanie Ware

Principal

Questions? Contact Lion Jennifer Smith at 301-788-0526 or jcswhycomply@gmail.com

Please reach out directly to Bettina at whslionsptsafundraising@gmail.com to pick up a sign before they're gone!

Application window: February 15 – April 15

The Community Foundation of Frederick County administers scholarships primarily for the benefit of Frederick County, Maryland residents who are pursuing post-secondary education, including undergraduate and graduate degrees, or certifications.

Approximately 60% of our available scholarships consider an applicant’s and/or their family’s financial need. To be eligible for financial need-based scholarships through the Community Foundation, you must be eligible to complete the FAFSA or for tuition reduction under the Maryland Dream Act as an undocumented student. Additionally, applicants must complete an essay in the scholarship application regarding their need for financial assistance.

Applicants must also upload a PDF of their transcript into the application. Walkersville High students: you must e-mail our registrar, Ms. Deanna Meyer, at deanna.meyer@fcps.org to receive the updated PDF of your transcript, which reflects grades/GPA/rank through first semester of your senior year.

The online Scholarship Application for the 2024-2025 academic year must be submitted before 11:59 p.m. on April 15, 2024. After an application is submitted, it is screened to see if it fits the requirements for more than 250 different scholarships. If the application qualifies for any of these scholarships, the application will automatically be placed into consideration for those scholarships.

Please note: You will not be able to apply until February 15th and you can do so by clicking this link: https://cffredco.scholarships.ngwebsolutions.com/scholarx_studentportal.aspx

The WHS PTSA is excited to offer families an opportunity to be a part of Prom 2024, which will be held at Walker's Overlook on Friday, April 26. The theme is "Under the Stars" and we need some fancy (and fun!) treats for our students to enjoy. Please review the available slots in this Sign Up Genius, decide what you can contribute, and sign up!

PROM DONATIONS 2024

All donations may be dropped off to Cara Boledovic on Wednesday, 4/24 or Thursday, 4/25 (239 Braeburn Drive, 21793). If you need to make special arrangements, please email Cara at whslionsptsapresident@gmail.com. Thank you for helping to make this a wonderful night for our kids!

It’s that time of year when we begin the process to elect new PTSA officers. Each officer is elected to a one-year term, beginning July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. Positions are President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. If you would like to nominate someone or if you would like to run for one of the four officer positions, please contact Shannon Kelley (shannon.m.kelley@gmail.com). Elections will be held at the PTSA general membership meeting on Wednesday, May 8, 2023 at 5:30pm. Feel free to contact Shannon with questions about the PTSA officer positions.

https://safeandsoundwhs.memberhub.com/store?limit=21&live=true

Senior year is busy – let us help you stay on track!

• Senior class reminders will be posted on Schoology in the WHS Senior Class of 2024 group. Students in the senior class have been automatically added to this group. Parents who want to join can follow these instructions:

• Click Groups at the top of Schoology.
• Select My Groups.
• Click Join Group on the right.
• Enter the Group Access Code: F48P-4VV6-QWSQS
• Click JOIN

• Please review the Senior Timeline for all important dates throughout the year
• Students: please let us know how to correctly pronounce your name for senior events (Awards & Graduation, etc.): Senior Name Survey

• Registration Information can be found on the FCVS website: https://edu.fcps.org/fcvs/suprograms
• Registration Packets are available in the Counseling Office
• Register for courses ASAP by turning in the completed pre-registration sheet to the Counseling Office
• Classes fill up quickly!
• Your pre-registration sheet is due by June 7th at the latest

The application is available here: FCC Foundation Scholarship Application Portal. Applicants will need a FCC student ID number, FCC email address, and password to apply.

Once students are on the site,

1. Click "Sign In" in the upper right-hand corner of your screen to begin.

2. Login with your FCC student ID number, FCC email address, and password.

3. Complete and submit the General Application. (Did you know that completing the General Application may qualify you for multiple scholarships?)

4. You can also click on and complete any Special Scholarship Applications not covered by the General Application.

PLEASE NOTE: Not all scholarships have an "Apply" button. Most scholarships are "Auto Match", meaning the system will automatically match and apply you to the scholarships you are eligible for based on your PeopleSoft information (i.e. major, GPA, FAFSA, etc.) and your responses on the General Application. The scholarships listed with an "Apply" button require additional information that is not included on the General Application. Scholarships require a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.0 unless you are a new student to FCC.

Students that will be enrolled in any FCC Dual Enrollment Program (Early College, Open Campus, or High School-Based) for the Fall 2024 Semester, are not eligible for scholarships offered by the FCC Foundation.

Spring Open House

Saturday, April 20, 2024

9:00 am - 12 pm

Athletics Center

RSVP: https://enroll.frederick.edu/register/SpringOpenHouse2024

This event is for all prospective students interested in learning more about FCC. The event includes a campus resource fair, guided campus tour, student panel, and career exploration workshop. This is a great event to see campus and have all of your questions answered!

Monroe Center Open House

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

5:30 - 7:00 pm

Monroe Center

RSVP will be created soon

This event is for all prospective students interested in continuing education and workforce development. During the event you will be able to interact with program managers, tour the Monroe Center, and learn about financial assistance opportunities.

https://forms.gle/eEnVHdaQQ26crHz86

As you have heard, the 2024-25 FAFSA is being updated and as a result its opening will be delayed. The form, which usually becomes available October 1st each year, will not open until December of 2023. Because of the delay, the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) is also delaying its statewide outreach activities. However, the agency wants to share the following information with its statewide partners as we all wait for the 2024-25 FAFSA to open.

MHEC wants to inform you about an important step that students, parents, and school counselors can take to help our students be prepared when the FAFSA opens. High school students and parents should go to studentaid.gov and click on Create an Account.

You can use that account for:

• Filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form when it opens in December
• Signing your Master Promissory Note (MPN)
• Applying for repayment plans
• Completing loan counseling
• Using the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Help Tool

You will need:

• Social Security number
• Your own mobile phone number and/or email address

The Maryland Higher Education Commission recently hosted a two-hour virtual financial aid open house discussing how to navigate the Maryland financial aid process. The live broadcast includes answers to numerous questions that were pre-submitted by stakeholders, as well as live questions from the audience.

To view the program, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYsSghnY-Uo and please fast forward the video 30 minutes to get to the start of the presentation.

Please also see the list of the frequently asked questions https://mhec.maryland.gov/Pages/FAQ-from-MHEC%27s-Virtual-Financial-Aid-Open-House.aspx

If you have specific financial aid questions, please email osfamail.mhec@maryland.gov. Also, if you have any questions related to the Maryland State Financial Aid Application (MSFAA), submit your question here. You will receive a response within three business days.

Counseling Department Information – 2023-24

• Schoology: General reminders for students in all grades will be posted on Schoology in the WHS Counseling Office group. Students and parents who want to join can follow these instructions:

• Click Groups at the top of Schoology.
• Select My Groups.
• Click Join Group on the right.
• Enter the Group Access Code: KCCM-CPHP-HGP93
• Click JOIN

• Please review the Counseling Office Newsletter for updates

This is a reminder that while we love to see our whole community supporting our Lions, children are not permitted to be unsupervised during events. We want our events to be safe, orderly, and allow everyone to focus on cheering our students on. Please ensure that younger children are with adults at all times when visiting WHS. Thank you.