Week of 3/7/16

Good evening-

I hope you are all enjoying this truly beautiful week!

Just a reminder that the iParent portal for course recommendations will close tomorrow evening.  Please take time to review your student's teacher recommendations and elective choices and click to approve them.  If your child did not make elective choices please have a conversation with him/her and make the selections for them.

Overrides- While we strongly discouraged not following the teacher recommendation we do know that sometimes interest and motivation changes and students may want to challenge themselves.  If you are choosing to override a class you and your student need to contact the recommending teacher to have a conversation.  It is important to us that you fully understand the teacher thought process in their recommendation. They can provide you with the override paperwork if you decide to move forward.  We ask that all overrides are returned to the guidance counselor by April 12.


Please make sure to review the information here as well as in the Parent Flyer's section!


The Ashland High School Student Council is getting ready for its 8th annual Bingo night (to be held on Wednesday, April 13th, at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria.)  Members of the Student Council have been working on getting donations (usually in the form of a gift card or gift certificate) from local businesses and restaurants.  If your business has not yet been approached by a member of the Student Council and you would be interested in donating to our fundraising efforts, please contact Josh Wiczer, advisor to the Student Council, at jwiczer@ashland.k12.ma.us.  All businesses that donate will be recognized in the program handed out at the event and listed on our website (https://sites.google.com/site/stucoashland/bingo); they will also receive a letter in April (as a receipt of their donation, for tax purposes.)

Ashland Raises Healthy & Happy Kids: Cyber Safety

A very useful and eye-opening presentation on cyber safety was presented at AMS last week, both for the students during the day and for parents in the evening. For those who could not attend, below are some tips to help keep your kids safe on-line.

1. Use privacy settings on apps and social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.).
2. Turn off location services on phone cameras and social media apps. Predators can find out where your child is by location information embedded in photos.
3. Do not allow kids to have phones and tablets in their room when they go to bed at night. This will also help them get better sleep!
4. Remind kids only to accept “friends” or “followers” they know. A person claiming to be their best friend’s camp friend could very well be a predator.
5. Tell your children to never give out their last name, address, age, or any other personal information on-line.
6. Repeatedly remind your children that any photos they post or anything they say on-line is out there FOREVER. Colleges and future employers can find these.

Please join ASHPAC this Monday night for their next workshop entitled: Ten Traits of Effective Parents: Navigating the Special Education Process, with Attorney Jeffrey M. Sankey from Braintree, MA.

With his background and focus in Special Education Law, Attorney Sankey will discuss key special education rules and regulations, the importance of maintaining accurate and complete education records, hiring qualified experts, and maintaining productive relationships with school staff. Attorney Sankey will also allow time for questions and answers you may have about parental rights and special education laws.

This workshop will be held this Monday night, March 14^th at 7:00 PM in the Ashland Middle School Activity Room.  Thank you.