National PTA Parent Involvement School of Excellence

In Spring 2005, OMHS was named a National PTA Parent Involvement School of Excellence, making us one of only two high schools in Maryland to have earned this certification. Since 2001, more than 500 schools nationwide have earned the Certification of Excellence for having the highest standards in parent involvement. This includes 26 schools in Maryland, but we’re the only high school in Baltimore County. Read more about it here.


Calendar | Officers | Minutes | Join E-Mail List | Resources for Parents | Add to Our Site

Welcome to our web site, where you can:

What we do:

  • Raise money Most of the money we raise each year goes directly to the school's wish list and items you and your students really use, like Naviance. We hold one major fundraising event each year: Basket Bingo. The rest of the money comes from membership and donations. So please send in your dues!
  • Support a range of activities to benefit our children's education For an idea of what those are, read the Minutes or see our Resources for Parents.
  • Help parents get involved: To volunteer to help our PTSA in some way, whether for a couple of hours once in a while or as a regular committee member, contact us!

What's New:

Next Monthly Meeting: The next meeting will be on Wednesday, November 5th, sign-in at 7:15 p.m.; meeting starts at 7:30. Meetings are a great way to keep current with what's going on at school and connect with other parents and school staff about issues of concern. Read past minutes of recent meetings online.

Downloads Available: Visit our Downloads page for membership forms to the Booster groups, and other useful forms and information.

Volunteers Needed: We need some helpers for this year: an assistant membership chair to help our chair Sulena Long, someone to do the paperwork for the PTA School of Excellence certification, and a Vice President for Fundraising, whose responsibility will be to organize our only major fundraiser, Basket Bingo. We also need a co-chair for Project SAFE. Contact us if you can help!

Join Project SAFE -- the After-Prom Party: Of particular interest to parents of seniors, as Project SAFE is the popular after-prom party that keeps the students occupied and entertained all night in a safe environment. More volunteers are needed to help out at the event. If you can help, contact Faith Gershowitz or Karen Levy.

Join the PTSA: Send in your envelope that came with the first print newsletter, or bring it with you to Back to School Night! Your financial support helps us fund services and equipment not provided by the county. For example, OMHS is one of two Baltimore County high schools with the Naviance software, which all our students applying to college and technical schools have come to rely on to help them with every aspect of the process. This web site, Project SAFE, and health and wellness speakers and activities, and building beautification all receive funding from the PTSA, and we provide significant support to the teachers' wish list for items that your students will be using. We also give out $600 worth of higher education scholarships each spring, but you must be a member for your student to be eligible. It's only $10 for an individual membership, $15 for a family, and additional donations are also welcome!

Sports Boosters: Visit the Sports Boosters web site where you can find out about their activities in support of OMHS athletics, and download forms required for participation on school athletic teams.

Safe Homes - Addressing Alcohol Use Among Teens: The Safe Homes Committee asks parents to fill out an online survey here to tell us what kind of programming you are most interested in for the 2008-09 year.

In a program hosted by the OMHS PTSA in Spring 2007 and co-sponsored by the Franklin, Pikesville and New Town PTSAs, parents heard from teens at these schools who indicated that drinking at gatherings of teens is prevalent among high school students of all ages and ethnic groups, from public and private schools, and at all levels of income and academic performance. In response, the OMHS PTSA formed the Safe Homes Parent Pledge Committee, which met over the summer to plan the promotion and distribution of a pledge whereby parents in our community can create an alternative to the drinking culture, including the publication of a directory of parents who have signed it. For more background on what the teens told us, and how to sign the pledge, read a detailed account here.

College Center at the JCC -- A Resource for All: The Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills has opened the College Center, a resource center to help high school students applying to college and technical or vocational training. You don't have to be Jewish or a JCC member to use their services. Some are free, and some have a fee. Ask about their "College Caravans" (for which there is a fee) -- bus trips for juniors and seniors (and their parents, if they wish to come along) to visit colleges. For more information visit the web site at www.jcc.org or call 410-356-5200, x612.

Cut It Out: Questions have arisen about whether it is permissible to cut classes on the day before a school vacation begins, on the theory that no meaningful instruction is occurring. Our principal assures us the answer is no. If a day is designated as a school day on the Baltimore County calendar, students are expected to attend. There are no officially sanctioned "senior cut days." These are considered unexcused absences.

Owings Mills High on the Web : There are a variety of other sites to complement this one--the school's offical web site, the sports calendar, student activities calendar, and e-mail lists you can join to get regular bulletins, including our PTSA monthly eNews. Find them here.

Read more about what's going on at OMHS here and in our Executive Board minutes.

2008-09 Academic Year Calendar

Note: Calendar is subject to change. Check here for updates.

Key:
Red: PTSA Monthly Meetings
Green: Items added or changed after August 25
Purple: School closings

October
Oct 1 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
Oct 3-4 (F-S) Thespian Reader’s Theater, 7:00 p.m.
Oct 4 (S) SAT Testing
Oct 6 (M) Arts Boosters Fuddruckers Night, 5:00–8:00 p.m.
Oct 6-10 High School Assessments
Oct 7 (T) Powder Puff Game, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Oct 9 (Th) School Closed—Yom Kippur
Oct 10 (F) Homecoming Game
Oct 11 (S) Homecoming Dance, 8:00 p.m.
Oct 14 (T) High School Assessment Make-up Day • Arts Boosters Meeting, 6:00 p.m • Fall Concert 7:00 p.m.
Oct 15 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m. • PSAT Testing
Oct 16 (Th) Parent/Teacher Conferences, 4:30–6:30 p.m. • AVID Parent Night
Oct 17 (F) Rock Band Showcase, 7:00 p.m.
Oct. 17 (F) School Closed - Professional Day
Oct 21 (T) Marching Band Showcase at Towson University
Oct 22 (W) NAHS Fall Induction, 6:00 p.m.
Oct 24 (F) Underclass Portraits • Fall Haunted Play, 7:00 p.m.
Oct 25 (S) ACT Testing 
Oct 27 (M) Senior Portraits
Oct 31 (F) Marking Period Ends

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November 
Nov 1 (S) SAT Testing
Nov 3 (M) School Closed—Professional Development Day
Nov 4 (T) Election Day – Schools Closed
Nov 5 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m
Nov 6 (Th) IHOP night for Arts Boosters, 4:00 p.m. til closing
Nov 10-14 Traffic Safety Week
Nov 11 (T) Junior Ring Ceremony, 7:00 p.m. • Arts Boosters Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Nov 12 (W) FEA – Shadow Day
Nov 13 (Th) GT Music/Tri-M Recital, 7:00 p.m.
Nov 14 (F) Sports Boosters Bull Roast
Nov 17-21 (M-F) American Education Week
Nov 17 (M) Distribution of Report Cards  • Fall Sports Awards, 6:30 p.m.
Nov 19 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Nov 21 (F) Fall Play, 7:00 p.m. • NAHS Art Auction at the Fall Play
Nov 22 (S) Fall Play, 7:00 p.m.
Nov 23 (Su) Fall Play, 2:00 p.m.
Nov 27-28 (Th-F) School Closed - Thanksgiving

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December
Dec 1 (F) AIDS Awareness Day
Dec 1-19 SADD Adopt-a-Family Month
Dec 3 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
Dec 6 (S) SAT Testing
Dec 9 (T) Arts Boosters Meeting, 6:00 p.m. • Winter Concert, 7:00 p.m. 
Dec 11 (Th) Parent-Teacher Conference Night, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
Dec 13 (S) ACT Testing
Dec 16 (T) SADD Adopt-a-Family Wrapping Night
Dec 18 (Th) SADD Delivery of Gifts
Dec 24-Jan 4 School Closed – Winter Vacation
Dec 29-30 (M-T) Holiday Basketball Tournament

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January
Jan 5 (M) School Reopens
Jan 12-15 High School Assessment Week
Jan 13 (T) Arts Boosters Meeting 7:00 p.m.
Jan 19 (M) School Closed - Martin Luther King Day
Jan 20-23 High School Assessment Make-Up Week
Jan 21 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Jan 23 (F) Second Marking Period ends
Jan 26 (M) Professional Development Day - Schools Closed
Jan 28 (W) Financial Aid Night – Guidance, 6:30 p.m. 

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February 
Feb 4 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
Feb 7 (S) PTSA Basket Bingo Fundraiser • ACT Testing
Feb 9 (M) Distribution of Report Cards
Feb 10 (T) Arts Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Feb 14 (S) Snowball Dance
Feb 16 (M) School Closed – Presidents Day
Feb 18 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Feb 19 (Th) GT Music/Tri-M Recital, 7:00 p.m.
Feb 27 (F) Rock Band Showcase, 7:00 p.m.

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March
Mar 2 (M) Faculty Basketball Game • Youth Art Month Exhibition • Interim Reports Distributed
Mar 4 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
Mar 5 (Th) Parent-Teacher Conference Night, 4:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Mar 9 (M) Winter Sports Awards Banquet, 6:30 p.m.
Mar 9-13 Drug Awareness Week
Mar 10 (T) Arts Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Mar 12 (Th) Meet the Coaches Night, 6:30 p.m.
Mar 14 (S) SAT Testing
Mar 16-20 Music in the Schools Week
Mar 18 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Mar 20 (F) International Dinner, 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Mar 27-29 Spring Musical, (F&S) 7:00 p.m.; (Su) 2:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m. •  Arts Boosters Arts Festival Weekend

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April
Apr 1 (W) Red Cross Blood Drive, 7:00 a.m. –2:00 p.m.
Apr 1 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
Apr 3 (F) Third Marking Period Ends
April 4 (S) ACT Testing
Apr 6-13 School Closed – Spring Vacation
Apr 14 (T) School Re-opens • Arts Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Apr 15 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
Apr 18 (S) Jazz Band Concert (Under the Stars), 7:00 p.m.
Apr 20 -24 High School Assessment –Special Seniors Assessment
Apr 25 (S) Junior Prom, 8:00 p.m.
Apr 27 (M) Distribution of Report Cards

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May
May 1 (F) Guitar Show, 7:00 p.m.
May 2 (S) SAT Testing
May 5 (T) Spring Choral and Jazz Concert, 7:00 p.m.
May 6 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
May 7 (Th) Spring Band/Orchestra Concert, 7:00 p.m.
May 11 (M) Interim Reports Distributed
May 12 (T) NAHS Spring Induction, 6:00 p.m.• Arts Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
May 13 (W) NHS Induction Ceremony, 7:00 p.m.
May 14 (Th) Parent Teacher Conference Night, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
May 18 (M) Spring Sports Banquet, 6:30 p.m.
May 18-21 High School Assessments, Week 1
May 20 (W) Sports Boosters Meeting, 7:00 p.m.
May 21 (Th) Tri-M National Honor Society Induction, 7:00 p.m.
May 22 (F) Last Day for Seniors • Senior Awards Assembly, 8:00 a.m.
May 22 (F) AVID Picnic, 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.  
May 23 (S) Senior Prom, 8:00 p.m. • After Prom Party (Project SAFE), 12:00 a.m.
May 25 (M) School Closed - Memorial Day
May 26 – 29 High School Assessment Make-Up Week - 1
May 26 (T) Graduation, McDaniel College, 7:00 p.m.

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June
June 2 (T) Underclass Awards, 7:00 p.m.
June 2-5 High School Assessment Week – 2
June 3 (W) PTSA Meeting, 7:15 p.m.
June 4 Th) AVID Recognition Night, 5:30 – 9:00 p.m.
June 6 (S) SAT Testing 
June 10-12 (W-F) Commedia Del Arte, 7:00 p.m.
June 16 (T) Sports Boosters Meeting, 6:30 p.m.

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