Skip to main content

December 2, 2018

Good evening-

It's hard to believe we have already reached December.  I hope to see many of you at Owen O'Leary's this Friday at 4pm.  We look forward to saying thank you for the great work you do each and every day. 

I want to make you aware of some faculty changes & updates.
We are very pleased to welcome two new teachers to the World Language department.

Velma Flores joins us as a 0.8 Spanish teacher taking over in the position that was vacated about a month ago. Our students have been very patient during this time and we look forward to getting them back on track.

Bart Franta is joining us on Monday, December 3 as Lauren Wolfe's long-term substitute for the remainder of the school year.  We wish her all the best welcoming her new baby!

Lisa Dunn and Emily Kulik will share the role of World Language department liaison during Ms. Wolfe's absence.

Matt Messer, one of our Wellness teachers, is on leave for the remainder of the calendar year.  John Ciampaglia will be covering for him. Mr. Messer will be back in January.

Brian Garrigan will also be on leave once he and Ms. Wolfe welcome baby Garrigan.  I will share more information on coverage for his caseload while he is out in the next week or so.

Upcoming events in December:
Please consider joining the Superintendent's Zoom session on Thursday, December 6.
from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm.  We will discuss a variety of topics such as the David Mindess School Building Project, the Blueprint for Continuous Student Improvement process, the 2019-20 APS Budget, as well as other topics of interest, and all of this can be done in the comfort of your home.

Join Zoom Meeting


12/13/18- Minding Your Mind presentation-We will host two student presentations during day and invite the entire Ashland community to join us for a presentation in evening. 
11th & 12th - F block

9th & 10th - G block
This presentation is "an interactive presentation on mental health, designed to train both adults and youth on how to recognize the warning signs of stress, anxiety, depression, and crisis. Just Talk About It will educate parents, adolescents, and the adults who support them to look beyond stigma and notice warning signs in themselves and their peers... participants will come to understand ways to assist others, how to cultivate positive coping skills, and ways to ask for help."

                              
12/18/18- visit from South African students through Hammer & Chisel. We are once again excited to welcome  22 students and 2 teachers from South Africa for the school day.  Students will spend the day shadowing our AHS students. 

Food for thought....
We had a great discussion around our level system and overall equity issues at our Lead Learner meeting last Tuesday.  I was so pleased to see other educators, who I know feel passionate about equity, join us.  I hope more of you will consider joining these discussions as well as the innovation team meetings as we move forward in our goal of always doing whats best for students.
This article was timely given our discussion.  10 Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity

Reclaiming Our Calling; The New Book from Brad Gustafson

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

August 22, 2025

Good afternoon- Thanks to everyone who helped to make New Student Orientation a success last night. It was great to see so many students and staff in the building. I am looking forward to seeing you all on Monday. We start at 8AM in the auditorium. There will be some members of the Class of 2026 painting their parking spots on Monday afternoon. Please try to park in the faculty parking lot or in the back of the building if you usually park in the student section.  New staff, please join the staff  Google Classroom . All information sent to faculty/staff will be housed here. The  class code is a5ca6a4. The custodians have been working hard to make sure each classroom has the correct number of desks (minus study halls). There may be a few classrooms off a desk or two based on student moves at the end of this week. If anyone has furniture in their rooms that is not being used, please let me know. We are short some L-shaped desks, under-desk file cabinets, and bookcases....

May 12, 2025

Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms & mother figures out there- Best of luck to the special athletes competing in the 5-Town Special Olympics today!  I apologize for the late notice, but we will do a class meeting with the juniors/prom attendees on Tuesday, May 13, and the seniors on Wednesday, May 14, during x-block. Please send your second block seniors to the auditorium, as we are not able to make announcements on 5/14.  Art Saves Ashland, which includes the student art show, as well as the Spring Choral Concert, are happening back to back on Thursday, May 15, starting at 4pm.  The concert is at 7pm in the auditorium. These events showcase the amazing talent of many of our students.  Here is the Early Release schedule for Friday, May 16. You can also find it linked on the school calendar. Departments will continue work on curriculum mapping for the afternoon.  Grand March will begin at 4:30pm in the gym if you are planning to stick around to see our p...

March 10, 2025

Good morning- I hope the adjustment to the clocks springing forward hasn't thrown you off too much. I love that it means more light in the afternoon/evening.  On Thursday, March 13 year 2/3 teachers from Milford and Nipmuc High Schools will be here for learning walks. I have shared a schedule with impacted teachers but it may change over the next few days. Thank you for your flexibility and willingness to welcome new educators.  I am sure you saw Jim's message that the School Committee will hear our proposal on Competency Determination for the Class of 2025 at their meeting on Wednesday, March 12. I hope to share an update at our faculty meeting on Thursday, March 13, after school in the library . The meeting will involve MCAS training. As you are aware, the state has moved to a new portal so it will be important information for everyone to hear. Training for staff that do not attend faculty meetings will be scheduled at another time. Following the training, we will be walking...