A Time for Thanks

When I was a teacher, coach, and assistant principal at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, I had the privilege of working with a social studies teacher and football coach, Hall of Famer Dave Driscoll, who would be charged with concluding our annual Thanksgiving pep rally with a rousing cheer for our school, reminding everyone that Thanksgiving is the "best day of the year." There were many reasons why I agreed with his sentiments - be it the football, the food, or the family, there were so many aspects of the day that resonated personally with many of us in the room (for some of us, it was all three).

Thanksgiving has always been about family and gratitude to me - even in the days when I was a small kid being hauled off to the Malden-Medford football game, rooting against the Mustangs as a tiny Golden Tornado, wearing our gold and blue, and then heading home for a great meal, time with the family, and, of course, a nap. Not much changed for most of us in the stands, and these were traditions that united generations, whether it was my late grandfather telling his annual story of getting into the Thanksgiving game between Chelsea and Everett in 1943 and promptly fumbling a kickoff, to the shoulder-to-shoulder packing of the stands to accommodate thousands at Pearl Street or Hormel Stadium in what always seemed to be the coldest day of the season. People walked around wishing each other a "Happy Thanksgiving," and, inevitably, people would share stories of their families, happy times over the past year, and what was happening at college, for those more recent alumni. Those who weren't at a game were home or traveling to family - there was a connectedness of family that seemed to transcend the result. In fact, though I went to every game for about 20 years, I can barely remember who won most of them.

As I've gotten older, and my tradition has moved from the gold and blue of MHS to green and gold to blue and white and now to black and orange, the themes of the day have not changed, nor has the message of gratitude escaped me.

We spend a lot of time at UHS asking of our students, our staff, our parents, and our community. We try to extend our appreciation in different ways, knowing full well that whenever the next time for a request comes up, people step up. In times of need, people help each other out - it's just what we do and how we do. We use words like "thank you" an awful lot, and we use them as words not just to say, but as part of the fiber of our core values.

So as we face successes and victories, uncertainty and disagreement, I am thankful for the conversations, the dialogue, and the open-mindedness with which most people approach our unique circumstances. I am appreciative of a hard-working, committed, and genuine faculty and staff that focuses daily on the best interests of students;  administrator colleagues who help guide through challenges and provide regular counsel through the not-so-easy times; the students and parents who push me to act in the best interests of school and community every single day - even when they don't necessarily think that is the goal and when things seem to be running counter to their individual wants; and, finally, a family that tolerates the long hours of the schedule that we put in to make sure that UHS runs smoothly and that the ship is always on course.

From our entire UHS family, we wish everyone a happy, healthy Thanksgiving holiday. May we all reflect with gratitude on the opportunities we have behind us, within us, and before us.

November Interview

Here's this month's Spartan Showcase, with Joey DuBois chatting with Mr. Rubin!

November Newsletter

Our November newsletter is below:

Weekly News and Notes

As we turn the corner into November, we thank everyone for their patience this week, having already experienced a weather cancellation and a disruption to our normal routine! We do have a few updates this week with some happenings from UHS.

GUIDANCE

Thanks to everyone who attended the Financial Aid Night on Wednesday. If families were unable to attend, we did send resources and the presentation home earlier this week, and we hope that parents will take an opportunity to contact Mr. Barry or Ms. Smith if questions arise.

Speaking of Ms. Smith, she will be with us until the holiday break in December, as Ms. Hampton remains out on her maternity leave. We mention counselors at the start of this update, as we head to the end of the first quarter and families will no doubt be looking for support in terms of college applications, post-secondary planning, or fixing any grading concerns that come up at the end of a quarter.

Finally, the next several weeks will see our counselors working in class with underclassmen, so be on the lookout for some of those resources and updates.

ACADEMICS

First quarter grades do close on Monday, and report cards will be posted. In addition to grades, teachers will report on student progress toward meeting schoolwide learning expectations. Those rubrics can be found online, and they are frequently measured against specific assignments by teachers. If parents see that students are “not yet meeting” or are “approaching” these standards, these become good conversation starters with teachers, as “meeting” and “exceeding” standards within the context of the class or department are measured backwards from the ideal traits of our graduates. We hope that these comments provide you with more context about the habits of learning than the “old” report card comments, of which many of you are familiar (i.e. “prepared well for class,” “cooperative,” and “could improve with more effort”).

ATHLETICS

Congratulations to our field hockey and cheerleading teams, which concluded their “competition” seasons this past week, the field hockey team taking Lunenburg to double overtime before falling 1-0 and the cheerleading team having a strong showing at the SWCL championships last weekend. Our boys soccer team advanced past Montachuset Regional Tech with a 2-1 win on Friday and will face Holy Name on Monday at 2:00; the girls soccer team visits Tahanto on Tuesday at 2:30. Finally, our football team narrowly missed the playoff round of Division 5 based on power rankings, but improved to 6-3 with a win over a very strong Oxford team on Friday. A reminder that we do host Northbridge in the annual Thanksgiving rivalry game, and information about ticket sales will be forthcoming. Finally, our cross country teams will compete in the divisional championship this week, having captured championships at the SWCL meet last year - the boys capping an undefeated season, and the girls surging past Grafton!

Winter registration has opened. Please make sure that student-athletes are registered through FamilyID.

Unfortunately, girls basketball coach Ed Healey had to resign this week due to family reasons. We thank Coach Healey for his hard work with our Spartans over the past two seasons, and an immediate search for his replacement has commenced. Interested candidates can forward cover letter, resume, and references to Mr. Calarese.

MCAS, AP, SAT Results

We recently posted and sent MCAS results to parents of students who took the MCAS last year. We are pleased with many of our MCAS results, and we have seen significant growth in some areas of the SAT. In the coming weeks, we will be articulating plans for the integration of additional college-level courses at UHS, and we are also researching ways that we can expand innovation andcareer pathways, based on the work that our school team completed on our recent trip to Nashville Public Schools, while working with the One8 Foundation and our higher education partners.

Finally, we thank you for patience with Monday’s cancellation. We know that cancellations and delays can wreak havoc with family schedules. In that spirit, just remember that there is no school on Friday, November 10 in observance of Veterans’ Day.

Have a great weekend,

Michael Rubin, Principal