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).

February 26, 2021

Good afternoon-

The iParent recommendation window is now open for parents to approve teacher recommendations for core courses as well as student choices for electives.

The Parent's Quick Start Guide for Student Course Recommendations. 

Any parent wishing to override the teacher recommendation must follow the process outlined here: 

AHS Override Process-grades 9-11

The window will remain open until Friday, March 5 at 3pm. Please reach out to your student's teacher or counselor with any questions about recommendations.

Attendance:

Attendance at school is required unless your student is staying home for quarantine reasons or another reason approved by administration. Students can not choose to live stream their classes long term. Please reach out if you have questions.

AHSTS Presents

Five Radio Plays from the Vintage Radio Show

SUSPENSE!

Tales of Fear and Trembling

Performances will be video/audio-on-demand, available starting Friday, March 5, 2021 and ending on Sunday, March 14, 2021.

For more information, visit www.ahsts.com. To purchase tickets visit: https://www.showtix4u.com/events/ahsts. Tickets are $10.

Patrons who purchase access have 48 hours to watch/listen to the content from the first time they start watching, up to 11:45 PM Sunday, March 14th.  After this time patrons can no longer view or listen to the content.

AHSTS is proud to support the MetroWest Humane Society with half the proceeds from this production, including any donations made while purchasing tickets.

For more information on MetroWest Humane Society, see below or visit: https://metrowesthumanesociety.org/index.html

Student Council News!

The Student Council is planning a "virtual spring pep rally" and we need your help to participate in some of the rally activities!

If you are interested in participating, please go to: https://forms.gle/ZvqwCCAYvNfmzkZA6  to learn about the activities and to sign-up for an opportunity to participate!

Sign-ups will close on Friday, March 5th.  Any questions?  Contact the Student Council at STUCO.ashland@ashland.k12.ma.us

News from the Class of 2024

The class of 2024 will be running a cookie dough fundraiser beginning on Monday March 1 and ending on March 15.  The fundraiser is completely virtual.  Each freshman will be given a link to the online store to share with family and friends.  All proceeds will go towards decreasing the individual ticket price to both prom and senior week.  These are expensive events!  Senior week tickets can range from $78 to $125 depending on how committed each class is to fundraising.  Due to the cancellation and refund of the 8th grade Washington DC trip, the class of 2024 entered high school with an account below zero!  We have a lot of money to raise for everyone to have an awesome prom and senior week.  Please throw your support behind this fundraiser!  Ask your freshman for the link to the online store starting Monday March 1.  And who doesn't love cookie dough?

February 12, 2021

Good afternoon

Happy February vacation! I know the COVID fatigue has been real for many of our students. The addition of increased live streaming expectations as well as internet connectivity issues has made the past couple of weeks a challenge. I am proud of our students and staff for continuing to be flexible and creative. Despite the technology challenges I continue to see students engaged and learning. I hope this week brings a much needed break for the screen.

AHS teachers have done a variety of activities and lessons to celebrate Black History Month, which we think of as a continuation of our ongoing equity work this year. We believe that learning about and celebrating the accomplishments of people of color should be woven into our curriculum throughout the year but teachers have done some more focused work this month. Our CARES (Clockers Against Racism & for Equity & Social Justice) team has been working on a slide presentation, Black Joy & Excellence, that we look forward to sharing with the AHS community at the end of the month. We are excited for the team to bring artwork and posters to the halls of AHS to help educate students about a variety of important people of color. 

In the classroom, English and reading classes have read and discussed works from black writers and articles on important people of color. Music classes are creating biographies of important black pianists. Some history classes have added exploration of lesser known black historical figures to their study of more well know 19th century history. Spanish students explored the accomplishments of famous Afrolatinos. In computer classes students have explored the dearth of black leadership in big tech and the impact of those who have had success. Our SADD club was excited to connect with AREA (Ashland Residents for Equity and Action). There is always so much more we can be doing but we are excited about the lessons and activities that have been happening so far this year and month.  

Due to the remote day earlier this week Picture retakes for A cohort is now February 23!

Students are reminded to log in ASAP to their iStudent account to approve their teacher recommendations and choose their electives for 2021-2022. The iParent portal to for course recommendations will open on Monday, February 22.

Travel Policies

A reminder that families who are planning to travel to high risk states as deemed by the State of Massachusetts are required to fill out the APS Travel Form. I have included the links for each building below.  

Ashland High School

Travel Policy

Important Town of Ashland Information on COVID-19

Town COVID-19 Website
Town COVID-19 Hotline 508-532-7900

Please read my AHS Family SEL Newsletter with a focus on the amazing counseling department we are so lucky to have at Ashland High School. 

The video replays of the February 8th POWER series webinar Surviving to Thriving: Supporting your Family's Stress, Sadness, and Loss through Mindfulness featuring Linda Price are now available.

In both sessions, Linda begins by discussing ambiguous loss, anticipatory anxiety, and the brain's role in stress & the stress response. Understanding these concepts is important to our own adult health, as well as the health of our children & teens. She then walks us through a series of simple body, visualization, art-based, and breathing strategies that we can use to reduce stress and anxiety through mindfulness. Both webinars cover the same material, with the evening session having a slightly longer focus on breathing strategies. We welcome you to share with others who may be interested.

Morning webinar: https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/230/09285cx7tmmc31c2
Evening webinar: https://event.webinarjam.com/go/replay/231/q7m5rs3zux0frzak

 

February 5, 2021

Good afternoon-

Class meetings were held this Wednesday to discuss the course recommendation process. The Google Slides from the meeting can be found here: 2021 Course Selection 101

Please encourage your student to review the slides. They must go to iStudent prior to Friday, February 12 to approve teacher recommendations and choose their electives. 

Report cards will be available on Tuesday, February 9 after 3pm.

Picture retake day for Cohort A is on Tuesday, February 9. Any student who would like a retake or did not get their picture taken in November should plan to get their picture taken, at minimum for ID purposes.

Please enjoy the January edition of our student newspaper, The Union Street Journal

Have a wonderful weekend.