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September 30, 2018

Good morning-
I hope you all enjoyed the beautiful weekend,

Educator evaluation updates:
Thank you to everyone who shared your self-assessment and goals with us on Friday.  Please do not sign any documents until you have had your meeting with your evaluator.  Documents will need to be recreated if you have signed them and changes need to be made.  All teachers should schedule a meeting with your evaluator in order to discuss goals and your plan for the year.  These meetings must take place prior to October 12.  Let us know if you have any questions.

MCAS:
MCAS scores will be mailed home to families this week.  I've shared the press release that went out regarding the scores and the new accountability system here.
MCAS press release

This coming weekend is our first Family Reconnect Weekend of the year.  Please review the guidelines/expectations. 
Teachers will follow the guidelines set below:
1. Ensuring that long-term assignments are not due on the Monday or Tuesday following the
Reconnect Weekend.
2. Educators will NOT increase student workload leading up to the reconnect weekend.
Teachers will adequately plan their lessons and assessments around these weekends.
3. Educators will not assign any schoolwork over the weekend.
4. Educators will not schedule full period exams or quizzes on the Monday and Tuesday
following the Reconnect Weekend. While teachers may be inclined to give an exam or quiz
on the return date following the Reconnect Weekend, it is advisable to communicate with
colleagues to ensure not too many exams are given on the same day.

APS Limited Homework and Athletic/Activities Vacations
We are well aware that school vacations are a perfect time for families to reconnect with one another after long and stressful periods of schoolwork, athletics, and other co-curricular activities. Here at APS we believe that family, mental, and physical wellbeing is paramount to the success of our students. To this end, APS teachers and administrators will seek every opportunity to limit the amount of games, athletic practices, and homework over vacations and will not have long-term projects or exams due the first day back from a vacation.

At AHS, Advanced Placement students, however, can expect to have readings and limited daily work, as time is critical in reaching curriculum deadlines before AP Exams in May. Students should remember AP courses are college level and need to consider this before embarking on the AP journey. In addition, AHS does typically have mid-term exams the week after the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend, which is a family Reconnect Weekend. The high school is looking to make modifications beginning with the 2019-20 school year so there are no conflicts.

In case you haven't seen the email from Josh yet:
if you are a club advisor and would like to have someone from your group give an update at the rally (to highlight what you've already done this year, upcoming events, etc.), please add this into the google sheet online at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dw2axzir4d3TapZpdwuuETJ-4ZJfMSbGG29w-LNaE4Q/edit?usp=sharing

Announcements should be about 3-5 sentences long.  
I would like all this information by Tuesday, October 9th.

In addition, I'm still looking for several more chaperones for the dance on Saturday, October 13th (from 7pm - 9:30pm).  If you have been asked and said "maybe" and that's now a "yes" or if the students haven't managed to hunt you down yet and you are willing to help, please let me know!

Thanks,
Josh Wiczer


Food for Thought....
10 Core Values for Education

Teaching Students to Avoid Plagiarism

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