Friday, May 29, 2020

May 29, 2020

Good afternoon-

Today I had the pleasure of watching a few of our students record their graduation speeches for WACA-TV. It's hard to believe that this should have been the last day of exams for seniors. I am thinking of them all and hoping they know how impressed we all are with them.

It was nice to see many of you picking up belongings, rings, and caps & gowns this week. We still have a lot of locker materials left. Our hope is to put these bags, as well as unidentified materials from gym lockers, out when we return items to the building. Anyone missing items could check then.

Class of 2020 Graduation parade: Sunday, June 7 at 11am
Please come out, in a socially distant manner, and cheer on the class. Seniors will be in cars following the attached route passing by each APS school and through the center of town. Teachers will be at each school to cheer on and congratulate the class! Teachers are looking forward to the chance to say farewell to the graduates!
The parade starts and finishes at AHS.
Parade route

Grading and awarding credits for 2019-2020:
Now that we are getting close to the end of the school year we have re-evaluated our grade proposal. In talking with our student information system and other districts, as well as with our faculty, we have decided to adjust the weight of the midterm exams. They will remain at 10% of the student grade.
Student transcripts for the classes of 2020-2023 will reflect the closure average or grade for Semester 1. Each term will be weighted at 45% and the midterm will be weighted at 10%. Our review of data shows that for the majority of students term grades and exam grades remain fairly consistent. All transcripts for these classes will have a note to reflect that the grade is reflective of the first semester but full credit is reflective of the student continuing to engage in learning during the pandemic.

Please enjoy the last edition of the AHS school newspaper:
The Union Street Journal 

Kudos to the Make a Wish Club who donated a whopping $15000+ to the Make a Wish organization today. I am so impressed with their commitment.

Family SEL Newsletter

Enjoy the weekend!


Friday, May 22, 2020

May 22, 2020

Good afternoon families-

I hope you are looking forward to the long weekend as much as I am. Even if it's from our backyards. We look forward to seeing many of you next Tuesday and Wednesday as we get belongings back to students.

Please review the times for distribution here:
AHS Distribution of Belongings
Cars should drive to the back of the school to collect materials. Staff members will be lining the sidewalk near the student parking lot to run bags out to cars. No one should get out of the car.

Members of the Class of 2022 who purchased class rings, you may come any time on Tuesday, May 26 between 3-5pm.

Members of the Class of 2020 will receive their caps, gowns, and stoles during this time as well. We look forward to seeing them wear them during the parade celebrating them on June 7. We will send the parade route out early next week and plan to start around 1pm.

Many students, both seniors and others, have ordered yearbooks. The factory that publishes our yearbook was closed for a significant amount of time. We believe they have reopened and started printing but do not have an update yet on when the yearbooks will be ready.  We hope to get them as soon as possible!

Supporting Emotional Well Being During the Pandemic

Friday, May 15, 2020

May 15, 2020

Good afternoon families-

I hope you are all well and are finding time to enjoy the beautiful weather. 
Teachers have been in the building all week cleaning out classrooms in preparation for the ed of year clean. If you student left something in a classroom please have them let the teacher know. We will be bagging all student belongings and more information about pick-up times will be forthcoming.

We anticipate distributing caps & gowns to the Class of 2020 and class rings to the Class of 2022 in the next few weeks. We will send specific times once they have been identified.

I know there has been a lot of social media discussion about graduation plans. The Governor has said he will speak about graduations on Monday. We will adjust our plan if he gives us reason to do so. What I ask families to consider is how the students who are leaving on July 1 for the military and other opportunities will feel about knowing they can not participate. 

See below for a note from the athletic department:
LOCKER ROOM BELONGINGS:
In our efforts to both return items to their owners and clear out the locker rooms to be cleaned appropriately, we have bagged up items that were left in lockers. Please ask your child if they have items that they want/need in their athletic locker and then contact me (Mr. Marks) so we can have that bag ready and available for pick up. Times for pick-up will be shared soon by the Superintendent. Any items not claimed that day will be donated unless you reach . 

The larger boys team room that is shared by a number of teams/students seems to have items in lockers that may have old name labels on them. If your child knows what locker they were using that will also help us identify which bag to return to its rightful owner. 

I can be reached at smarks@ashland.k12.ma.us with any questions. 

Sending my best to all of Clocker Nation and hope to see everyone soon. GO CLOCKERS!

Stephen Marks

Athletic Director

News from Student Council:
Students have one more week to sign-up to run for a class officer position. 

Anyone interested in running for a class officer position (which includes the elected Student Council Representative positions) should read through all of the information carefully on the following Google Doc.


In addition, we are also electing a 5-person School Committee Advisory Council.  This group meets once every other month with the School Committee to update them on things going on at the high school and offer feedback on their policies.  One member of this group will serve as the student-representative on the school committee.  Anyone interested in running for one of these positions should read through all of the information on the following Google Doc.
The timeline for the election process is:
  • All nominations are due to Mr. Wiczer by Friday, May 22nd at 5pm.
  • All administrative endorsements must be requested by Friday, May 22nd at 5pm.
  • All supporting materials (photos, videos, and paragraphs) must be submitted to Mr. Wiczer by Friday, May 29th at 5pm.
  • Election info will go out to all students on Monday, June 1st
  • Voting will take place from Tuesday, June 2nd through Friday, June 5th, closing at 2pm sharp.
  • Results will be announced by email at some point after the close of the polls.
After reading through the Google Doc describing the process in detail, please email Mr. Wiczer (jwiczer@ashland.k12.ma.us) if you have any questions.

Friday, May 8, 2020

May 8, 2020

Good afternoon all-
Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there. Have a wonderful weekend.

Information regarding graduation exercises for the Class of 2020 was shared with students and families today. I hope that once we have a full schedule to share it with the community so all can celebrate the seniors on June 7, 2020.

Please see the attached letter from the APS nursing staff: regarding medications still at the school:
PRN Medications retention

From the Director of Counseling & Social-Emotional Learning
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and this year's theme is Tools 2 Thrive. Please watch the brief video below with your children for an introduction to mental health and an invitation to participate in the APS SEL Challenge beginning on Sunday, May 10. All ages welcome to participate! 
APS SEL Challenge: Take the APS SEL Challenge


Information regarding Student Government for the 2020-2021 school year:
Hi all,

It's time to start up the election process for the 2020-2021 school year.  Anyone interested in running for a class officer position (which includes the elected Student Council Representative positions) should read through all of the information carefully on the following Google Doc.


In addition, we are also electing a 5-person School Committee Advisory Council.  This group meets once every other month with the School Committee to update them on things going on at the high school and offer feedback on their policies.  One member of this group will serve as the student-representative on the school committee.  Anyone interested in running for one of these positions should read through all of the information on the following Google Doc.
The timeline for the election process is:
  • All nominations are due to Mr. Wiczer by Friday, May 22nd at 5pm.
  • All administrative endorsements must be requested by Friday, May 22nd at 5pm.
  • All supporting materials (photos, videos, and paragraphs) must be submitted to Mr. Wiczer by Friday, May 29th at 5pm.
  • Election info will go out to all students on Monday, June 1st
  • Voting will take place from Tuesday, June 2nd through Friday, June 5th, closing at 2pm sharp.
  • Results will be announced by email at some point after the close of the polls.
After reading through the Google Doc describing the process in detail, please email Mr. Wiczer (jwiczer@ashland.k12.ma.us) if you have any questions.

Thank you!
Mr. Wiczer

Friday, May 1, 2020

May 1, 2020

Good evening parents:

I am finishing this up as I listen to the sophomores play Jeopardy. Their answers are priceless and I can't stop crying laughing. Last night was so much fun at watching Student Council BINGO. I am so proud of these students for continuing to create activities to stay connected. 
 
Remote learning assessment
Today I shared the following information will all students so wanted to pass it along to you along to you. At the high school we operate on credits as way to assess student ability to move forward in a class. Our goal is to help all AHS students earn the credit they need to progress forward in high school during this challenging time. We encourage you to review this document and ask questions. Teachers will continue to work to engage students with content and more importantly to check in on their social-emotional well-being. 
First, the document below details some information about expectations for remote learning at the high school for students. 
I will include a few key bullets below:
Remote learning/assessment expectations
1. In order to earn credit for courses during this time you should engage in remote learning activities. Please do not assume that if you were passing at the time we left you will automatically pass the course. You must continue to engage, to the best of your ability, to earn the credit. Earning credit is necessary to move on to the next course. 
2. If you are struggling with these expectations, please reach out to your teacher or counselor. We are ready to support students in any way they need. 
3. All GPA's will remain as they were at the end of Semester 1. 
The key takeaway here is that we need students to engage in classes to earn the credit. Please respond to your teachers and work to turn some assignments in. Let someone know if you can not do this for any reason.

Senior parents-
Thank you for the great feedback on the 2020 Graduation Plan survey sent out this week. 
We will be meeting with town and safety officials early next week and hope to have some more information for you at the end of the week. A few have asked and I wanted to assure that seniors will definitely receive their caps and gowns prior to June 7. 

Have a wonderful weekend!