Good evening RAMFAM! This is your proud Parkside principal, Brian Briggs.
I am thrilled to welcome you to what promises to be a truly special year at Parkside High School, the beginning of our 50th anniversary celebration. As we mark five decades of tradition, pride, and excellence, we are more excited than ever to welcome our students back and begin another incredible school year together.
We’ve had a great week here at Parkside and here are just a few highlights:
· Our new Parkside CTE teachers started their official school year on Tuesday with a wonderful breakfast from the Wicomico County Public School food services team as well as getting to meet and listen to our superintendent Dr. Stauffer and his words of encouragement for the upcoming school year.
· Our Parkside CTE teachers returned on Thursday and started to get their classrooms ready for the upcoming school year. They will continue to work in their rooms this coming week while also receiving PD on how they can be the best teachers possible for the RAMFAM.
· Congratulations, Andre Carter, on being named as a 2025 inductee into the Salisbury University Athletics Hall of Fame! We here at Parkside were extremely fortunate to have Andre join us in 2023 as a physical education teacher, and he also now serves as our Parkside Girls Basketball coach. We even got lucky enough to have his amazing wife Addie join the RAMFAM as an art teacher! Congratulations, Coach Carter, on this remarkable achievement!
· Our Parkside Marching RAMS continued their hard work and dedication to being the best that they can be with additional practices in anticipation of their first performance on Friday, September 12th! Their families also held a successful chicken BBQ as well!
· Our PHS Athletics teams continued their practices and scrimmages as they continue to prepare for their upcoming seasons. Some of our football moms got to take out their aggression on their football playing sons by tackling them Friday night at the Parkside Football Family BBQ. Feel free to look at our social media for pictures from that!
· Our roofing project is starting to wrap up and Mr. Shrieves and his team have worked tirelessly to make sure our school looks as clean as possible!
I am a big believer in communication and making sure that everyone knows what is happening here at Parkside, home of the RAMS. See below for important updates/reminders and dates over the next few months.
Important dates upcoming:
· August 25th – Laptop pickup for 10th-12th grade students begins (from 10 AM till 1 PM). Freshmen will receive their laptops on Freshman Transition Day, September 2nd.
· August 26th – Laptop pickup for 10th-12th grade students continues (8 AM till 12 Noon).
· August 27th – Student schedules will be available in X2 Family Portal
· August 27th – Parkside Back to School Night – Parkside’s Back-to-School Night will be Wednesday, Aug. 27 at the school from 5-7 p.m., with an open house and classroom visitation for all students and their families to kick off what will be an amazing year for the RAMFAM. Students will be able to pick up their schedules that evening with a completed Student Personal Data & Enrollment Information Form.
· September 2nd – Freshman Transition Day – Only the Parkside High Class of 2029 will be present this day as we welcome them all officially to the RAMFAM.
· September 3rd – All students return
· September 3rd – 6:30 AM Senior Sunrise on the PHS Track…see social media for more information
· September 25th – Homecoming Football Game
· September 26th – Senior Portraits in Auditorium
· September 27th – Homecoming Dance
· October 17th – MSEA Convention – Schools Closed (school office open)
· October 30th – End of 1st marking term
· October 31st – PD day for staff, schools closed for students
Updates/Reminders:
· This Wednesday, August 27th we will hold our Parkside High School Back to School Night from 5 till 7 PM. This is a great opportunity for you to come out to school, get your schedule, and meet your teachers. Here is some important information concerning our 2025-2026 Parkside Back to School Night:
1. LOTS of people come that evening and we typically don’t have enough parking spaces so it is HIGHLY SUGGESTED that you carpool (this includes students, student athletes who are driving to practice that night, teachers, families, etc…) if you can.
2. Portions of the CTE Student Parking Lot will still be closed due to construction, however, we have received the OK to use the Ward Museum/New Wicomico County Public Library parking lot just across the street on Schumaker Drive.
3. If you are coming from a different Open House (like Pittsville Middle School/BMS/SMS/Wi Middle) and are worried about being late…DON’T be worried. This is an open house where you can just come, get your schedule, and find your classrooms. You can get here at 6:30 PM and still have time to do all of that!
4. We will have a food truck and a shaved ice truck here in the Schumaker Drive Bus Parking Lot, so feel free to stop by either before or after and pick up dinner or just a shaved ice to cool down.
5. We will have community partners/teams/organizations/clubs all set up with tables throughout the building and even some set up outside. This will be an opportunity for you to find out about lots of great things that are taking place both inside and outside of Parkside CTE.
6. Our CTE teachers already have many evening events during the school year so they will not be in attendance. However, you will absolutely be able to walk around the school and find all your classrooms, including CTE.
7. Make sure you are returning your Student Data form that was mailed to you last week. We mail you your copy that has all your data from last year, so if everything is still correct, simply sign the form on the back saying that it is correct. We can’t accept them unless they are signed on the back. This information is vital so that we can reach you in the event of an emergency.
8. We will be distributing laptops that evening in the Media Center for 10th-12th grade students. 9th grade students will receive their laptop on Freshman Transition Day, September 2nd.
9. We will have a one page document that night that will help direct you (along with maps that we will have), and it will also contain QR codes that can take you to multiple sources of information including: Bus Serving Lists, Travel forms for upperclassmen, schedule changes (only in the event that a mistake was made with your schedule), parking passes, etc…
· Want to stay connected? Here are some easy ways to keep up with the RAMFAM:
Parkside School phone: 410-677-5143
Parkside School email: parkside@mywcps.org
Parkside Web page: https://phs.wicomicoschools.org/
Parkside Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wcboephs
Parkside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parksidehighrams/
Parkside Facebook, Parkside High Sports: https://www.facebook.com/ParksideHighSports
CTE phone: 410-677-5144
CTE email: CTEparkside@mywcps.org
CTE web page: https://cte.wicomicoschools.org/o/cte
CTE SkillsUSA Wicomico Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/cteskillsusawicomico
· If you are a senior and need to have your senior portraits done, Lifetouch will have a session here at Parkside on September 26th. See flyer below for more information.
· There have been changes with regards to dance criteria, with the newest change regarding attendance. Please look over the new dance criteria for high school.
HIGH SCHOOL DANCE CRITERIA
Wicomico County Public Schools
The following criteria apply to all high school students attending school dances:
1. GPA
o Students must have a minimum GPA of 2.0, as required by county policy.
2. Conduct
o Students must not have served any Out-of-School Suspensions (OSS) during the current semester.
o Any student excluded based on cumulative OSS days per county policy will not be eligible to attend.
3. Attendance
o Students must have no more than 2 unexcused absences in the 45 days leading up to the dance.
o For the first dance of the school year, attendance is evaluated from the first day of school.
4. Guests
o Guests must be under the age of 21.
o Guests must be in good standing with their current school or employer.
o A guest form, to be used by all schools, will be required for verification.
· Dress Code reminders for the upcoming school year.
· Looking for some Parkside gear and apparel? Here is a store that stays open all year and allows you to pick your design and from multiple brands. The prices are not cheap (they usually give you 20% as a discount that helps) but if you want to start stocking up on RAMFAM gear, check this out.
https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/maryland/salisbury/parkside-high-school
· Our Parkside Girls Soccer team also has a team store open if you would like to purchase Parkside gear from there. Here is the link:
· Parkside CTE believes strongly in the safety and security of its students and staff. Here are some important reminders concerning firearms, weapons, cell phones, and social media.
Firearms and Weapons
Possession of any firearm, other weapon, or look-like weapons (e.g., pellet guns, BB guns, water guns, water pellet guns) by a student on school property, including in vehicles parked on school property, is strictly forbidden.
The school system’s prohibition on carrying or possessing a weapon on school property applies to loaded and unloaded weapons. This prohibition applies to weapons contained within automobiles.
It is a serious offense for students to possess any rifle, gun, knife, or deadly weapon of any kind on any school property in Maryland. Offenders face criminal penalties and severe consequences up to and including expulsion. The Code of Conduct will be applied in all situations involving violations.
Cell Phones and Social Media
Students may not use their cell phone during class without teacher permission. Phones shall be turned off during class time unless the student is given specific permission to use it by the teacher of the class of which it is being used.
Restrictions on cell phone usage: Students are prohibited from using their cell phone to cheat or plagiarize, to bully or haze others, to disrupt the learning environment, the view pornographic, vulgar, or inappropriate content, to post derogatory content on social media sites, to make video recordings at school, without teacher permission or school authorization; or take unsolicited or unwelcome photographs of students, staff, or facilities.
Students who inappropriately use their cell phone at school will be subject to discipline as stipulated in the Student Code of Conduct. Additionally, students may lose their privilege of using their cell phone at school for a length of time to be determined by the school administrators.
Thank you again RAMFAM for all you do! I am so proud to work with so many great students, families, and staff.
Thanks,
Brian