From the desk of the Principal, Mark
Open House: A personal thanks to everyone for their great efforts on Saturday. From the banner signs, bulletin boards, display cases, and the shine on the floors the school looked excellent. I chose to greet as many students and parents as possible at the front door and speak to them again as they left. The students and parents once again proved what we already know, if we can get people into our building, who we are and what we do wows them every time. Numerous folks spoke of our students, their skills, and passion for their programs. They further commented on the public speaking ability of the students. I thanked the students in the morning announcements, but this afternoon I am thanking you because without all your hard work on their hard and soft skills, self-confidence and presentation abilities they would not be the ambassadors they are for us.
Open House by Town
Faculty Meeting: A reminder that there is a faculty meeting tomorrow after at 2:30 in the Lecture Hall. Among the topics included will be iVisions, Pineapple Charting, Parent-Teacher Conferences, NEASC, Advisory & SkillsUSA. Please be prompt.
NEASC General Committees
Craft Fair: A reminder that the Parent's Association will be here on Friday night setting up and throughout the day on Saturday hosting their annual craft fair. This is a large fundraiser for the Association. The funds collected go to support our students through scholarships, field trips, and other student needs. Please take some time on Saturday between 10 - 2 PM and support the students through their parents.
9th Period Electronic Passes: Thank you to Joe E. and a number of the staff who were our beta group for this roll out. We now have an electronic version of requesting students from one 9th period to another.A couple of highlights:
- You must put your request in during the class, not 9th period.
- The teacher who has the student for 9th period has the right of first refusal.
- The student will report to you at the start of 9th period. If they do not show please check with their assigned 9th Period Teacher and then the main office.
- You must keep the student for the entire 9th period. There should be no additional foot traffic due to this process.
- Please see the instructions below:
From the desk of the IT Director, Crystal
We are excited to announce the availability of a new application that will allow you to do many functions that before now you'd have to walk to the business office, fill out a form, wait days, etc. in order to accomplish. This new system will allow you view your available time off (sick time, personal days, vacation time), view your pay stub and perform other important payroll / human resource functions.
We will be staggering the roll out of the various features of this software in 3 phases:
Phase 1 - Everyone will be expected to log onto the system and verify that they know how to view their time off and view their pay stub. The attached instructions and screen cast will walk you through how to do this.
Phase 2 - Will be training on how to request your time off (personal days, sick days, etc) using this new system. This training will take place during the faculty meeting tomorrow. Be sure you have logged into the portal prior to tomorrow's meeting and feel free to bring a computer/tablet if you'd like (net necessary)!
The advantages of using this system will be flexibility in planning your leave requests and transparency in knowing when your request has been approved or, if it hasn't been approved, where the request is held up. it will also keep a documented, running tally of all your leave so you will never have to call Holly to see how many sick days you have or how many personal days you've used. You'll be able to log in and see all of this information 24/7!
Phase 3 - will allow department heads and cost center supervisors to submit their requisitions through this system. This training will occur individually with each dept head. I will be reaching out to each dept. head to schedule training. As with the leave requests, you'll be able to see the progression of your requisition as it moves from 1 approver to the next, you'll be able to check the status of each of your budget lines to see how much money you have available, and you'll be able to run your own reports to see a list of all items you have purchased.
Thanks! Please email or come see me with any questions you may have.
Thanks! Please email or come see me with any questions you may have.
Crystal
From the desk of the Special Education Director, Katie
We are all a bit tired today due to all the positive conversations and smiles we shared with the community on Saturday! Happiness and pride was in the air and it was nice to feel the excitement of who we are and what we do within our building. Open House 2018 = success! Thank you!
As you know, Parent-Teacher Conferences are around the corner! Are you ready to talk about accommodations? Use this tool to support you:
MCAS 2.0: Next Generation (computer based test) is here for English and math. Check out how students will access the test here:
Katie
From the desk of the Vocational Coord. (Bob / Keith)
Recycle Program Reminders:
Academic teachers please continue to place your blue recycle containers in the hallway for afternoon pick up after 2:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Vocational teachers please continue to have your students empty the recycle bins as needed as part of shop clean up. Please continue to encourage students to recycle and place items in the correct bins/dumpsters.
SkillsUSA Local Shop Competitions:
Should be taking place; please see Lisa Bellantoni for more information
This is your local competition, we are excited for you and your students
There will be online assessments available to assist the students preparing for districts