THE many sIDES OF MARCH!
Weather: As we know being New Englanders, the weather changes frequently in March and April. Please continue to pay attention inclement weather reports for breaks and airflow within your classrooms and buses.
Parent's Association Recognition: The Parent's Association, as a way to show their appreciation for all the hard work everyone is putting in, will be sponsoring a breakfast in the Brass Lantern later in the month. However, until then they will be sponsoring our "coffee and hot chocolate bar" every other Wednesday starting this week. Please remember them the next time they have a raffle or when they can begin to hold their fundraising events.
Senior Block 4 In-Person Classes - Shops/Civics/Wellness classes will be in the same locations as B cycle for this week's A cycle schedule. Please pay attention to the 12th grade seating charts for clustering as you build your own seating charts. If everyone could please share your seating charts from both cycles with Mark for contact tracing. Thank you.
3:30 PM Bus - Beginning Monday we will be running a 3:30 pm bus run for students who stay after for extra help and those who may be in clubs. If you are a club advisor please let Ruth Drake know which of your students will be requiring a ride home at least the day before so we can plan the best bus route possible. We will be utilizing the pink bus passes for the 3:30 run.
Senior Prom Type Event - As of Monday the 15th, there is 3 months left of the 2020-2021 school year. However, please do not run off after June 15th. the school, along with the students and parents, are developing a plan for an outdoor semi-formal dance for seniors to be held on Friday, June 18th at SST. Please mark your calendars.
Hoods and Hats - Starting April 1st, students will not be allowed to wear hoods or hats in the halls, cafe and in the classrooms. In the shop, hoods are not allowed, and hats are allowed only with the instructor's approval. To support the transition, students will be issued a warning until Spring Break.
On or after April 26th, students will be issued a detention when they are wearing a hat in the hall, the classroom, or the shop (unless approved). As in the past, students may have a hat upon arrival to school. They may wear them until they reach their destination. They must be removed by the start of the school day. Hoods are not permitted at any time.
Attendance - We continue to be concerned about student remote attendance. There is a rise (particularly in the senior class) with students coming for daily attendance, then skipping classes later in the day. Any student who has missed 3 remote classes unexcused since March 1st will be invited to Saturday School on March 27th, or will be scheduled to come into school on their remote days for the number of remote days equivalent to their absences. Students who fail to attend either Saturday School or their scheduled in-person remote days will be subject to further discipline. Students who have a parking pass should expect to lose it.
Cell Phones - Over the past few weeks we have been noticing students making and receiving calls during the day. I want to remind everyone that even though teachers are not collecting the phones, they should be out of sight, on “silent mode”, or turned off. If you need to make a phone call you can do so by asking to go to the student services suite. We ask that parents help play a part in this and do not call or text your child during class time. Moving forward we will be issuing more detentions for cell phone violations. The only exception to cell phone use (minus phone calls) is during lunch or a mask break.
From the Vocational Office:
Projects of the Week
This week our HVAC students along with Mr. Mulkern have not only been changing out the filters in our HVAC systems, they have also been cleaning them with special formula to remove any contaminants that may have made their way past the filter and onto the condensing fins. The filters they use are specifically designed to catch all the bacteria floating around in the air. These filters are conveniently called Catechin Air Filters. Thank you for helping to keep us all safe.
The signs of spring/fall have begun to emerge after a long covid winter's nap. Thank you to HLC and the Maintenance team for great turf, a renovated track and a freshly stripped field to play on!
IRC Data in PowerSchool
Please make sure your student IRC data is current as of this Friday, March 19th. We plan to pull a report for advisors for the meeting on March 31st. If you're not sure how to upload IRCs into PowerSchool please view the instructions here. They can also be found on the intranet.
End of Day
At the end of the day, please make sure only students driving, being picked up by parents or taking out of district transportation leave early. Students who are staying after school or taking in district transportation should wait for the regular dismissal time.
Study Island
Just a friendly reminder to have your underclassman continue to work on Study Island. All the students currently have an account and password from the summer. If you have any questions or need help setting it up please see Lisa Bellantoni or send her an email at lbellantoni@ssvotech.org.
Vocational Program Summer "Bridge Learning"
We are in the beginning stages of planning summer remediation for vocational students in need. We are looking to see if vocational staff are interested in working on campus/shop curriculum projects with students. Please fill out this survey by Friday, March 19th, indicating whether or not you are interested in working with select students from your shop in the months of June, July or August. Scheduling will be based on availability and need. For those interested, further discussion will take place in the upcoming weeks.