Hello everyone!

I hope everyone is ready for a 4-day weekend (and by everyone, I mean students, because Monday and Tuesday are professional development days)!

We had a great week here at Anderson (I say that a lot, but it's also TRUE a lot). There's a lot to go over this week, so let me just get straight to it!

(Oh yeah, and in case I wasn't clear enough - No school for students on Monday and Tuesday, we will see them again on Wednesday, 9/24. Am I overusing parentheses?)

Every year, 50,000 students across the country are given awards by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation based on their scores on the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), which in 11th grade is also called the National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The top 16,000 of those scores are National Merit Semi-Finalists, who can continue in the process to apply for a finalist position. The remaining 34,000 students are known as National Merit Commended Scholars. All 50,000 students have earned a huge honor and have been recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

At Anderson, we had 2 students named as National Merit Semi-finalists, and 14(!!!) commended scholars! Congratulations to these students!

Semi-Finalists (in alphabetical order): Parker Benko and Leila Schuneman

Commended Scholars (in alphabetical order): Saaya Accapadi, Wilson Adkins, Julia Bailey, Lucy Gibson, Andrew Gilley, Noemi Greiner-Guzman, Audrey Grossman, Sydney Jordan, Duong Nguyen, Tyler Samman, Rosemary Spindler, Alaric Staecker, Joshua Westbrook, and Audrey Wilson

Pass/Fail forms are now available in the counselor's office. Students may choose to take a course on a pass/fail basis provided the course is not a graduation requirement. 

Forms must include signatures from the student, a parent, and the teacher or coach of the class they wish to pass/fail.  Completed forms are due to the counselor’s office by Tuesday, October 15th at 4:00pm.  

Gifted and Talented (GT) Services offer specialized support for children who perform or show the potential to perform at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age, experience, or environment.

Some characteristics of GT students are students who seem to learn earlier or faster than peers, have an interest in problem-solving, display persistent curiosity, have deep, intense feelings or reactions, have diverse of unique interests, or seem highly creative or energetic.

If you would like your child to be assessed for GT Services, please fill out the GT Referral Form. Student screening will begin in October and parents/caregivers will be notified with the results. GT Services will begin in January for newly-identified GT students.

If you're looking for a quiet place to study and receive help on academic work, you have access to free tutoring from Anderson teachers and NHS tutors TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS in the library from 4:45 to 6:00.

After tutoring, there is a late bus that will take students home. Students MUST be in the tutoring center in order to ride the late bus home. Bus stops for the late bus are listed below.

• Monday, September 22

  • District Staff Development / Student Holiday

  Tuesday, September 23

  • Campus Staff Development / Student Holiday

  • Varsity Tennis @ Vista Ridge

  • Volleyball vs Ann Richards

    • 9A — 5:30 PM

    • JV — 5:30 PM

    • Varsity — 6:30 PM

  Wednesday, September 24

  • CAC Meeting — 4:45 PM, Library

  Thursday, September 25

  • JV Tennis vs LASA — 4:45 PM

  • Sub Varsity Football vs A&M Consolidated

    • Freshman @ A&M Consolidated — 5:30 PM

    • JV @ Anderson — 5:30 PM

  Friday, September 26

  • Varsity Football @ A&M Consolidated — 7:00 PM

  • Volleyball @ Bastrop

    • 9A — 6:00 PM

    • JV — 6:00 PM

    • Varsity — 7:00 PM

  Saturday, September 27

  • Saturday School — Library, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM

  • Band @ Capital City Marching Festival — Burger Activity Center

Yearbook editor Cohen Peterson is a national finalist for his Sports Game/Action Photo for the National Scholastic Press Association! 

He's up against 9 other great sports action photos from across the country and will find out if he wins when yearbook attend the Nashville journalism conference in November. Great job Cohen!