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January 15, 2018

Good afternoon and Happy Monday!  

I hope you have all enjoyed the Family Reconnect Weekend.  We are lucky to enjoy today off to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. but this day does remind me of how much still needs to be done.  I can truly say that the students at AHS are the kindest I have ever worked with, yet we continue to deal with an increasing amount of incidents of discrimination and behaviors that cause hurt to groups that are different, whether it be because of their skin color, religion, sexual or gender identity, and a host of other reasons.  I believe it is because students are becoming more willing to report incidents, but it is really hard to say that definitively.  Please keep doing what you are doing to encourage positive, kind, respectful behavior in the classroom and other educational spaces where we find ourselves working with students.  We have always taken behaviors that hurt other students with the utmost seriousness but continue to be confronted with community members who may think we take things too seriously and the belief that kids are just fooling around.  As we move into 2018 we will continue to find ways to educate students on how to treat all members of the AHS community with respect and kindness. Thank you for being a part of that work.  I fear we still have such a long way to go to achieve MLK Jr.'s dreams, but my hope is that AHS students can make a positive impact on the world as we work to build a community of respect.  

I hope you have a fantastic last week of Semester 1.  I can not believe we are here already.  Thank you for your hard work on NEASC and the Curriculum Review during our meeting times last week! The department liaisons will meeting On January 23rd to discuss where we are and vote on the standards.  Then we'll be able to start the report writing process.  We have received the completed survey results from NEASC and those reports can be found with the NEASC information in Important Memos & Information.  It is useful information for reviewing the perception of us as a whole, as well as students and parents on how we are doing with each Standard.  

I will be out of the building at regional principal's meetings on Tuesday from 9:30-12:15 and on Friday until about 10:30.  As always you can reach me by email or phone if needed.

For your planning purposes, we will be having Dana Farber's Jimmy Clinic present to the sophomore and senior classes on February 8 during D block.  Jake Silver, a member of the Class of 2018, is currently fighting a relapsed Osteosacrcoma.  His sister, Halle, is a sophomore.  Jake is facing intensive treatment and will be missing a considerable amount of the rest of the school year.  Dana Farber recommends speaking to students about what is happening and what Jake is facing and we have welcomed the idea.  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will confirm date, time, and who will attend as we get closer.  

Mid-term exams:
Mid-terms are at the end of the month: here is the mid-term exam schedule . A reminder that exams must be given during the scheduled time. 


Reminders for 2nd semester:
If you are teaching semester long courses please remind students to check their 2nd semester schedules in iStudent right away to make certain that 2nd semester half year classes are in order.  Students should see their counselor immediately, and no later than January 19th if they need to discuss a change.

Have a wonderful week!

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