AHS Faculty/staff news

 Good evening- Of course we are kicking off Term 3, our first day of bringing the cohorts together, with an early release. I don't think we can expect anything different from the 2020-2021 school year. Thank you for once again being amazing and flexible.  The schedule for tomorrow is attached here:  Early Release Schedule 2/1/21 I have dropped D block so I apologize to those of you who were meant to meet a D block class for the first time tomorrow. I would plan for a remote day Tuesday if you are thinking about what to bring home when you leave Monday. As you know, the grading window will remain open until Friday, February 5 at 3pm. Please let us know if you have any questions or issues.  You also have until the end of the week to complete your course recommendations. There have been some crazy glitches in the system this year. Please let me know if you are still have issues in any of your classes. Please remember to remind students of the expectation to log-in live ...

Good evening all- Thank you for your patience with course recommendations. I hope to talk to iPass tomorrow to fix whatever the issue is.  As you know, we are working towards both live streaming as well as increasing time on Wednesday. We will be reaching out to students to remind them of these changes and encourage you to do so as well. Here is a proposed schedule for Wednesday's during Term 3 & 4: C Period 8:35-9:20 E Period 9:25-10:10 10 Minute Break F Period 10:20-11:05 D Period 11:10-11:55 At the School Committee meeting this past Thursday it was approved to allow clubs and activities approved to meet outside of school hours following COVID guidelines. If you have a group that can meet with less than 15 students in a room and maintain social distance, please feel free to do so. In person meetings should be based on your comfort level. There is no pressure or expectation to do this. Please also keep in mind club members that do not have transportation and consider a virtual...

Good evening- I look forward to seeing you all tomorrow. Thank you for all you have done during this remote period.  The course recommendation window will open this afternoon for teachers.  Here is the timeline: Course Registration timeline for teachers: SY 2021-2022  I imagine students may need some reminders tomorrow of expectations. Below are some reminders I sent to the student body this evening. If you could assist with reminders for hallway directions, use of eHallPass, etc. we would appreciate it.  Reminders to students: Make sure you have your well-fitting masks ready to go as we head back to the building. We have some extras in the office if you need one. Students who do not wear their mask properly will be sent home.  The district has a travel policy. If you traveled out of state or country with your family this break please make sure you are following the expectations to stay home until you are tested 5 days after your return or you have qua...

 Good morning- Thank you for your time and participation in the Equity in AHS PD. Here are the links to the documents we used. Please feel free to add to the Jamboards throughout the rest of the afternoon. As I said at the close of the session, I agree that hiring a more diverse staff is a priority. The focus of this activity is to think equity interventions we, as a faculty, can focus on. We will continue this discussion at the February 11 Faculty meeting. Equity in Ashland PD slides Future areas of equity intervention Building Critical Consciousness Timeline A Look at AHS Data Timeline Reflection Jam board Timeline Reflection questions Please take a moment to add to the exit ticket this afternoon. Look for today's date: 1/15/21 Exit Ticket Thanks to all of you who attended the Live Stream training. Teacher accounts for Peardeck are available through the district. Let me know if you want access now! I hope you all have some opportunity for downtime this weekend. I look forward to ...

 Good evening- Thank you for your thoughts and questions about tomorrow. It is not too late to register to be tested if you would like to. You do not need to take attendance tomorrow. Linda is able to mark all students remote present. Thank you Linda for all of the attendance headaches you have dealt with this year. Hoping tomorrow can be an easy day! You can (and should) be on for class check-in's with students and to provide clarification needed for asynchronous assignments. I just ask that you are not providing direct instruction that students would miss.  Friday I sent an email to students and families reminding them of their responsibility to school as their first priority: " Teachers are expressing increasing concerns with students not engaging or letting them know about other commitments during the school day. Please remind your student that they should be committed to school from 8:30am-2:55pm. We know remote learning is hard. Students are required to log-in to each cl...

Good afternoon- By now I expect many of you have seen we will be offering testing to everyone in the AHS community on Monday. I know this news comes with little time for you to communicate with your classes but I ask that you all abide by the expectations below and communicate this to your classes.  Please provide students with asynchronous work on Monday. It is important that all students feel they have the opportunity to test and worrying about missing instruction can not be a barrier. There is no penalty for missing class on Monday.  Providing asynchronous work will also give you an opportunity to be tested if you choose to. I encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity.  Please let me know if you have questions. Have a wonderful weekend and thank you for all that you are doing. I know it's been a hard week.

Happy New Year and welcome back! I hope you had time to rest and regenerate over the break. I look forward to seeing you all in person. I know you also most likely did a lot of work.  As we return to the building please let me know if there is anything I can do to support you. We have had many families complete the out of state/country student travel form. Those students will be out of school until they have a negative PCR test or quarantine for 14 days. Hopefully the students are letting you know the dates they are out as well. They should work with you to either join the class remotely if you livestream or to otherwise make up their work. If you hear of students who have recently traveled please let us know so we can make sure the policy is being followed.   If you are an advisor for a club or activity please complete the attached In-person club/activity information form. Athletics are starting indoors Monday and we will explore the option of other groups meeting in the...