November 4, 2018

Good evening-

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.  It was a great weekend at AHS with a fabulous performance by the AHSTS (kudos David!), the come from behind win by the football team (kudos Andrew and all!), and a fun-filled Robot Rodeo (kudos Chad!).  We have some many wonderful, diverse things going on at AHS.  

Thursday is our November faculty meeting.  Members of Decisions at Every Turn will join us at the beginning of the meeting to present the results of the Positive Community Norms survey which students took back in the spring.  Following their presentation members of the Innovation Team will move to the AIC to meet.  The remainder of the meeting will be EdCamp style.  Please complete the attached form to suggest ideas or topics.

We continue to see disturbing and troubling events happen in our World far too often.  The shooting at the Pittsburgh synagogue last week was another example of the hate our students are faced with every day. Please review these resources from the ADL and see if you can fit them into your classroom instruction. Remember, our students look to use for guidance and to feel safe during troubling times.  

• Consult our resources, including an array of resources for educators and families trying to find ways to discuss what happened and how to respond. Our resources for K-12 educators on issues of hate crimes and mass shootings are being shared with nearly 50,000 teachers who participate in our network.

We are implementing new procedures for staff who are leaving or entering the building during the school day. You are expected to still use the front entrance when coming and going but please save this GoogleDoc and use it if it is easier.
           Faculty sign-out: Sign-out GoogleDoc.


I will be out of the building on Friday at the Modern Learners Lab being held at Holliston High.  I am looking forward to working with colleagues from AHS as well as many others from around the state to discuss strategies and potential for modern learning.  I leave with the Make-A-Wish Club for the annual Give Kids the World trip on Friday afternoon and will be out of the building next Tuesday and Wednesday.

AHS Blood drive and ECG screenings
On Monday, November 19 we will have a "health day" at AHS where students and community members can get their heart health checked and then give the gift of potential health to someone by donating blood.  

Ashland HS is pleased to announce a heart screening program being offered on Monday, November 19th during the school day.
The program will be provided by Mass HeartBeat, a local organization that specializes in ECG

heart screening. Mass Heartbeat brings their state-of-the-art ECG technology directly to the
school to provide an optional, non-invasive, and affordable screening that can help detect
underlying issues in the heart. The ECG tracings are interpreted by an experienced cardiologist
and the results will be returned within 5 business days.

Students who are interested must sign up for a time slot and register:

https://www.familyid.com/mass-heartbeat/mass-heartbeat-screening-ashland-high-school

Teachers are welcome to be screened as well!

Check out this videos for more information:

https://vimeo.com/265481925

https://vimeo.com/264268081

To find out more about the program, see the Heart Screening Guide attached.

Red Cross Blood Drive

We will also be participating in a blood drive through the American Red Cross on November 19 from 12-5pm. Students will have the opportunity to donate from 12-3pm then we will open to the public from 3-5pm.  We need you to make this another great community event!

The public can visit RedCrossBlood.org and use Sponsor Code AshlandHigh65 to sign themselves up from 3p-5p.  All presenting donors will receive a T-Shirt!

Teachers are welcome to sign up during the 12-3pm window. Students will be organizing the
sign-up's for next week.

Have a fantastic week!!



 A reminder regarding doors: All doors in a school are fire rated doors and must be maintained as part of the schools Life Safety systems. Door chocks or holding fire doors open is a violation of NFPA Code 80 and NFPA Code 101 (Life Safety Code). While we see them all the time door chocks should be removed from all buildings. "How Does a Fire Rated Door Affect Me? Fire rated doors must always be in the closed position or be able to automatically close in case of a fire in accordance with Local and State statutes. This means that wood wedges or other means used to prop open a fire rated door are not code compliant and can be dangerous in the event of a fire. The only code compliant means that may be used to prop open a fire rated door are electronic devices that are connected to the fire alarm system that will allow the door to close upon activation of the fire alarm system."    

Please see the exciting opportunity below from Sutton High School.  It is our hope that a group of students from our GSA and other groups that address issues of bias will attend but I wanted to extend the invitation to present if anyone is interested.

Sutton High School is excited to announce that we will be holding our first annual "Connections Conference" on March 14th 2019. The Connections Conference is a social justice workshop for students, teachers, and administrators where we will talk about issues of bias, privilege and discrimination and how we can work together to make our communities a better place for everyone. Participants will walk away with ideas and practices that they can implement at their schools.

Specifics:
Date/Time: March 14, 2019 10:30-2:00
Cost: Free (Lunch provided)
Number of attendees per school: 10-12 students, 1-3 adults 
Total number of expected participants: 200+

In addition to sending a group of students & teachers, we are asking that principals share this email with their faculty who may be interested in presenting a 1 hr workshop on these issues (racism, homophobia, sexism, trans issues, etc) to groups of students or adults (or both). Any interested staff can email me (mccarthyt@suttonschools.net)for more specifics. If you are interested in sending a group from your school - just let me know and we will reserve a spot for your group. We already have 12 schools from Central/Western Mass who have committed groups for the day.

If there are any questions - please let us know. Our goal is to make this an annual event - we are modeling it on the GLSEN Conferences that many of our GSAs attend and the Inspired Learning Conference that Nipmuc holds each year. More info can be found on our website - http://suttonhsconnections.weebly.com/program-of-events.html

Thanks in advance for helping our kids and teachers wrestle with an learn more about this important topic. If you have any questions - please feel free to give me a call (508 581 1640 x1104)

Thanks -

Ted McCarthy - Sutton High School (Sutton)


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