March 26, 2021

Good afternoon-

It was so nice to enjoy the nice weather with lunch outside this week and lots of chatter about the full return of students. We are so excited to welcome everyone back but we are also working to remind students that our COVID expectations remain in place. Please continue to enforce with your student that masks and social distancing are expectations when in school. 

Tips for Managing Emotions During Times of Transition

https://www.smore.com/95tmw

MCAS updates

While there has been a push across the Commonwealth to hold of on MCAS this year, at this time we are planning as if it will occur.

Currently, all members of the Class of 2022 and 2023 will test in English and Math, most likely in the middle of May. The science assessment for these students has been waived as a graduation requirement. Any member of the Class of 2024 currently taking Biology will take the Biology assessment in June. 

We will share more specific details as they become available. 

Financial Reality Fair

The Student Council is looking for a few more parent volunteers to help out at our Financial Reality 

Fair for seniors, to be held on Friday, May 28th (from 7:45am - 2pm.)  Students will receive a 

paycheck and work their way through various booths to figure out a plan for housing, transportation, 

food, etc. while staying within their budget.  We are looking for a few more volunteers to help staff the 

booths.  For more information and to register to volunteer, please go to: 

https://sites.google.com/ashland.k12.ma.us/stucoashland/major-events-2020/reality-fair    

Any questions?  Contact Kaitlin Merson, Student Council President (MersonKai@ashland.k12.ma.us) 

or Josh Wiczer, Student Council Advisor (jwiczer@ashland.k12.ma.us)

Clocker Club news: The 2020-2021 school year has seen its challenges, it has been a tough year, and 

we are ready for some fun! Please join us for our Spring Clocker Club Golf Tournament! Your support 

will help us offset the fundraising opportunities we were not able to offer over the past year or so due to 

COVID.

The Tournament will be held at the Blackstone National Golf Club in Sutton on Thursday, May 20 

with check-in at 9am. Visit the registration page to register as an individual, a foursome, or select 

any of our sponsorship opportunities to help support our athletic programs. Following golf, a 

luncheon will follow with awards and business sponsorship recognition.

We're also looking for day-of-event volunteers to keep the Tournament running smoothly. If 

you're interested, please send us a message from the Contact Us page of the registration site.

The Clocker Club is dedicated to the support and advancement of all the athletic programs at 

Ashland High School and Middle School by promoting the purpose, pride, and performance of 

all student-athletes. We provide support through financial and volunteer assistance to the 

athletic programs, coaches, and student-athletes. 

Green Up Ashland

Attachments area

March 19, 2021

Good afternoon-

We are excited to welcome all students back to the building on Monday, April 12. Below is the Google slides presentation from the full in person webinar held on Tuesday, March 16:

AHS Back to Full in person learning

You can also find a copy of the webinar on the AHS webpage.

AHS COVID pool testing is starting on Monday morning. Thank you to all of the families who elected to have their students tested. Testing will occur in the classroom next door to the nurse's office. Students in cohort A who are being tested received an email today with information (cohort B will receive their email early next week). If you signed your student up for testing please remind them to go to the nurse's office as soon as they arrive in school or when they are called down by grade. If you are have questions about pool testing please consider attending the Superintendent's webinar on Monday, March 22nd. 

Over the course of the past week we have dealt with a few issues of hate speech that have been upsetting to some members of our school community. I have attached the letter sent to the student body here: AHS incidents  Please don't hesitate to ask if you have questions.

Clocker Idol:

The Student Council is excited to be presenting Season Seven of "The Clocker Idol" to the Ashland Community!  Join us on Wednesday, March 24th at 7pm either tuning in on WACA-TV, YouTube, or Facebook.  Our contestants this year are: Annalyn Blanchard, Sarah Chappelle, Justin Galang, Katarina Gertje, Brady McGuire, Nathan Noel, Priscilla Oluokun, and Emma Pawl.  For more information, and to check out our promotional videos, check out our website at: https://sites.google.com/ashland.k12.ma.us/stucoashland/major-events-2020/clocker-idol

March 14, 2021

It's hard to believe one year ago on March 12 we dismissed school early and did not return for the remainder of the school year. It is exciting to be planning for the full in-person return for Term 4. Please take a moment to review the emails from the Superintendent sent this weekend.

I will host a webinar to discuss plans and answer questions on Tuesday, March 16 at 7pm. Superintendent Adams sent the registration in a previous email. 

Have a wonderful week and please enjoy the latest addition of the Union St Journal- February edition.

March 5, 2021

 Good afternoon-

A reminder that iParent access to course recommendation approval will close later today. Please check your student's course requests and submit your approval ASAP. Thank you!

A friendly reminder for grade 10 families from the school nurses:

As noted in a letter we sent home in December, Massachusetts state law mandates that every 10th grade student has a recent physical exam on file in the school health office. An exam done after 9/1/2019 will meet the requirement. As of today, we are still missing exam forms for a large number of students! 

If your child had a physical exam on or after 9/1/2019, please forward a copy of the exam form to our office as soon as possible. If your child has not had an exam recently, please arrange to have this done now. Documentation can be sent to the health office via mail, fax (508-881-0187), or email (AHS_Nurses@ashland.k12.ma.us).

Kindly note that students without this documentation will not be allowed to begin 11th grade classes in the fall. Thank you!

Feeling thirsty? Come join the NHS for our Ashland Nutrition fundraiser this weekend! Located at 61 Pond Street in Ashland, there is a great variety of refreshing teas and smoothies to try, especially all the fun candy flavors! With every purchase made from Saturday, March 6 to Sunday, March 7 with the mention of "Ashland NHS," there will be a donation made to ACLU MA. Come support!

News from Student Council
Clocker Idol:

The Student Council is excited to be presenting Season Seven of "The Clocker Idol" to the Ashland Community!  Join us on Wednesday, March 17th at 7pm either tuning in on WACA-TV, YouTube, or Facebook.  Our contestants this year are: Annalyn Blanchard, Sarah Chappelle, Justin Galang, Katarina Gertje, Brady McGuire, Nathan Noel, Priscilla Oluokun, and Emma Pawl.  For more information, and to check out our promotional videos, check out our website at: https://sites.google.com/ashland.k12.ma.us/stucoashland/major-events-2020/clocker-idol

Financial Reality Fair

The AHS Student Council is working to put together our second annual "Financial Reality Fair" for the graduating seniors.  This event will be held on Friday, May 28th in-person at the high school, with all participants wearing masks and Covid-precautions followed.

Each senior will receive a paycheck and credit score and will need to navigate various booths where they will have to make financial decisions (renting an apartment, getting a car, getting insurance, etc.)  The event in 2019 was a huge success -- 92% of the students who participated in the event and completed the post-event survey said that they found the fair very informative and that they learned something that they will use in their lives.  

To run this event successfully we need help from the community.  We are looking for professionals who can work with the students to help them make financial decisions and help guide them along the way.  Specifically, we are looking for anyone with a background in housing (realtors), furniture, food, insurance (renter's insurance and auto insurance), clothing, transportation, charity/community service, education (paying for college), luxuries (vacation, entertainment, pets), utilities (internet / phone / cable / gas / electricity), personal savings, retirement savings, or budgeting.  In addition, we are also looking for anyone who is willing to help out as a "general volunteer."  These "general volunteers" will be trained by the professionals at their booth and will then be able to engage in financial conversations with students, helping them make decisions.

For more information (including a video from the 2019 event and photos and to sign-up to volunteer, visit our website at: https://sites.google.com/ashland.k12.ma.us/stucoashland/major-events-2020/reality-fair

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Kaitlin Merson at MersonKai@ashland.k12.ma.us (Student Council President) or Josh Wiczer at jwiczer@ashland.k12.ma.us (Student Council Advisor).