Good morning,
Each year, we know we have many seniors who have given back to the community over the course of their time as students at UHS. Three years ago, we designed "Community Service Distinction" as a way to recognize students for their outstanding service to community, be it through school, other civic organizations, or religious institutions. All types of community service are eligible.
If a student has accrued more than 100 hours over the course of his or her time at UHS, that student will be eligible for a service distinction cord and designation in the graduation program.
Students have been asked to fill out the form below, but we acknowledge that students will frequently forget unless parents remind them - which is why we are sending this email!
Thank you for the support,
Mike Rubin, Principal
Monday, April 29, 2019
Friday, April 26, 2019
Weekly News and Notes
A few announcements from UHS this week:
Career Fair
On Friday, we hosted a Career Fair for students in grades 8 and 10, at which students heard from representatives from five companies and the MassHire Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board. Our goal is to help students identify career and post-secondary decisions that impact them more completely and relevantly, and also to learn that companies in the region, across the many fields that they have interest in, have a number of opportunities. Counselors polled students and had companies join us with positions in the highest interest, including medical, business, law enforcement, engineering, and human services. In sum, the event was very successful, and we look forward to the feedback of our students!
Grade 2 at UHS
On Thursday, we hosted all six classes of second graders at UHS for a day of preparation for the annual Taft International Fair. Students went through classes in fine art, physical education, family and consumer science, and world language. The activities were robust, the partnerships in learning truly excellent, and, perhaps most importantly, the enthusiasm was palpable. We are so proud of the work of so many teachers to make the day possible, coordinated by Ms. Dzivasen and with help from Ms. Hill, Mr. Berkowicz, Ms. Ahern, Mr. Catalano, Ms. Hendrickx, Ms. Drakulich, Ms. Gaudet, Mr. Barros, Ms. Munley, and Ms. Struppa. We look forward to even more partnership with our youngest Spartans in the future!
NEASC Report
The reaccreditation report from UHS will be released soon. After months of waiting for our visiting committee chair and directors from NEASC to finalize their edits, we are looking forward to seeing the findings and using them as levers for more improvements to our school!
Follow-Up
Some parents have been asking about follow-up to the letter we sent last month, where we identified some challenges to the emotional safety of some students at UHS on the basis of some bigoted statements. We have already conducted some workshops and trainings with our staff, are attending more training in the coming month, and integrated a new reporting feature to our website. We are also planning some workshops on leadership for some student leaders that we will be hosting in early May, and in the process of planning some more concrete lessons to engage the rest of the student body in the coming weeks and months.
To everyone who has offered support, questions, curiosity, or ideas, we appreciate the sentiments. Know that we still believe our school to be safe, and we are doing all we can to ensure that challenges to that safety are prevented and/or addressed as needed.
Week That Was
Here's a look back at the Week that Was at UHS:
Have a great weekend!
Career Fair
On Friday, we hosted a Career Fair for students in grades 8 and 10, at which students heard from representatives from five companies and the MassHire Central Massachusetts Workforce Investment Board. Our goal is to help students identify career and post-secondary decisions that impact them more completely and relevantly, and also to learn that companies in the region, across the many fields that they have interest in, have a number of opportunities. Counselors polled students and had companies join us with positions in the highest interest, including medical, business, law enforcement, engineering, and human services. In sum, the event was very successful, and we look forward to the feedback of our students!
Grade 2 at UHS
On Thursday, we hosted all six classes of second graders at UHS for a day of preparation for the annual Taft International Fair. Students went through classes in fine art, physical education, family and consumer science, and world language. The activities were robust, the partnerships in learning truly excellent, and, perhaps most importantly, the enthusiasm was palpable. We are so proud of the work of so many teachers to make the day possible, coordinated by Ms. Dzivasen and with help from Ms. Hill, Mr. Berkowicz, Ms. Ahern, Mr. Catalano, Ms. Hendrickx, Ms. Drakulich, Ms. Gaudet, Mr. Barros, Ms. Munley, and Ms. Struppa. We look forward to even more partnership with our youngest Spartans in the future!
NEASC Report
The reaccreditation report from UHS will be released soon. After months of waiting for our visiting committee chair and directors from NEASC to finalize their edits, we are looking forward to seeing the findings and using them as levers for more improvements to our school!
Follow-Up
Some parents have been asking about follow-up to the letter we sent last month, where we identified some challenges to the emotional safety of some students at UHS on the basis of some bigoted statements. We have already conducted some workshops and trainings with our staff, are attending more training in the coming month, and integrated a new reporting feature to our website. We are also planning some workshops on leadership for some student leaders that we will be hosting in early May, and in the process of planning some more concrete lessons to engage the rest of the student body in the coming weeks and months.
To everyone who has offered support, questions, curiosity, or ideas, we appreciate the sentiments. Know that we still believe our school to be safe, and we are doing all we can to ensure that challenges to that safety are prevented and/or addressed as needed.
Week That Was
Here's a look back at the Week that Was at UHS:
Have a great weekend!
Friday, April 12, 2019
Weekly News and Notes
Good afternoon,
We only have a couple of updates from UHS this week:
Innovation Pathway
Uxbridge High School has earned distinction for two additional Innovation Pathway programs, with programs in Biomedical Science and Digital Media/Information Science being recognized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Launched last year, Innovation Pathways are designed to create strong partnerships with employers in order to expose students to career options and help them develop knowledge and skills related to their chosen field of study before they graduate high school. For Uxbridge High School and its partners, these pathways will enable students to complete a course sequence in the content area and have access to college-level courses while still in high school, with families and students alike supported by a comprehensive guidance model. The information science and biomedical pathways join the manufacturing engineering pathway as programs at UHS, which makes Uxbridge High School one of only two schools in the Commonwealth with multiple pathways approved in the same school.
Week That Was
Here's a look back at the Week That Was at UHS:
New Website
Please take a minute and peek at our new website! The district team and our school have been hard at work moving content and trying to make things more functional. We are hoping you will like the new format, and that information will be more easily found/accessible. Visit us at www.uxbridgeschools.com.
There will be no updates next week due to the school vacation week. We hope everyone enjoys some warmer weather!
Mike Rubin
Principal
We only have a couple of updates from UHS this week:
Innovation Pathway
Uxbridge High School has earned distinction for two additional Innovation Pathway programs, with programs in Biomedical Science and Digital Media/Information Science being recognized by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Launched last year, Innovation Pathways are designed to create strong partnerships with employers in order to expose students to career options and help them develop knowledge and skills related to their chosen field of study before they graduate high school. For Uxbridge High School and its partners, these pathways will enable students to complete a course sequence in the content area and have access to college-level courses while still in high school, with families and students alike supported by a comprehensive guidance model. The information science and biomedical pathways join the manufacturing engineering pathway as programs at UHS, which makes Uxbridge High School one of only two schools in the Commonwealth with multiple pathways approved in the same school.
Week That Was
Here's a look back at the Week That Was at UHS:
New Website
Please take a minute and peek at our new website! The district team and our school have been hard at work moving content and trying to make things more functional. We are hoping you will like the new format, and that information will be more easily found/accessible. Visit us at www.uxbridgeschools.com.
There will be no updates next week due to the school vacation week. We hope everyone enjoys some warmer weather!
Mike Rubin
Principal
Friday, April 5, 2019
Weekly News and Notes
Greetings,
A few updates from UHS this week:
Follow-up From Community Letter
Some folks have reached out asking what sort of steps we are taking at UHS to combat various forms of bigotry. Last week, this was a topic of conversation at our School Council meeting, and we also addressed some strategies at this week's faculty meeting. The challenge is not unlike a "chicken or egg" question - do we start with staff, or do we start with students. Our viewpoint is that we want to ensure that we are appropriately responsive, but also strategic in our approach, which means not simply having assemblies without giving the tools.
One step that will occur almost immediately, with the forthcoming redesign of our district and school websites, will be a tool for students or families to report incidents anonymously. All too often we are learning that, in the culture we live in, students hesitate to report for fear of being labeled.
Additionally, we have reached out to some resources both regionally and nationally to consider steps for working with students, including trainings that will occur in small groups.
Please know that we are not turning a blind eye to anything. Unfortunately, though our responses come swift, they also work in accordance with law, policy, and handbook, which means that the optics of consequences may not always be visible, and we always respect confidentiality. Your understanding toward those ends is appreciated.
Spring Sports
Though we have had a decent first week in terms of weather, game time changes, reschedules, postponements, and cancellations tend to happen frequently in the spring. Please make sure to subscribe to updates from our school athletic website.
Scholarships
Information regarding local scholarships for the Class of 2019 were sent home earlier this week. There is also information available in the counseling office.
Congratulations
Congratulations are in order for Mr. Chris Barry and Ms. Amber Hampton, our dynamic guidance team, for their award earned this week from the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation. The UHS team, which has completely reimagined guidance services as delivered in our school, was recognized for being consistently forward-thinking and innovative in their approaches to post-secondary planning and guidance programming for students not just at UHS, but serving as a model for schools across the Commonwealth.
Week That Was
Our weekly video is posted below:
Have a great weekend!
A few updates from UHS this week:
Follow-up From Community Letter
Some folks have reached out asking what sort of steps we are taking at UHS to combat various forms of bigotry. Last week, this was a topic of conversation at our School Council meeting, and we also addressed some strategies at this week's faculty meeting. The challenge is not unlike a "chicken or egg" question - do we start with staff, or do we start with students. Our viewpoint is that we want to ensure that we are appropriately responsive, but also strategic in our approach, which means not simply having assemblies without giving the tools.
One step that will occur almost immediately, with the forthcoming redesign of our district and school websites, will be a tool for students or families to report incidents anonymously. All too often we are learning that, in the culture we live in, students hesitate to report for fear of being labeled.
Additionally, we have reached out to some resources both regionally and nationally to consider steps for working with students, including trainings that will occur in small groups.
Please know that we are not turning a blind eye to anything. Unfortunately, though our responses come swift, they also work in accordance with law, policy, and handbook, which means that the optics of consequences may not always be visible, and we always respect confidentiality. Your understanding toward those ends is appreciated.
Spring Sports
Though we have had a decent first week in terms of weather, game time changes, reschedules, postponements, and cancellations tend to happen frequently in the spring. Please make sure to subscribe to updates from our school athletic website.
Scholarships
Information regarding local scholarships for the Class of 2019 were sent home earlier this week. There is also information available in the counseling office.
Congratulations
Congratulations are in order for Mr. Chris Barry and Ms. Amber Hampton, our dynamic guidance team, for their award earned this week from the Blackstone Valley Education Foundation. The UHS team, which has completely reimagined guidance services as delivered in our school, was recognized for being consistently forward-thinking and innovative in their approaches to post-secondary planning and guidance programming for students not just at UHS, but serving as a model for schools across the Commonwealth.
Week That Was
Our weekly video is posted below:
Have a great weekend!
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Grade 8 MCAS Advice
Good afternoon!
We are proud of the effort and focus that our grade 8 students brought to MCAS this morning. Talking with some students after, there were some recommendations from students that we thought we would share.
First, make sure iPads are charged tonight. That reduces the worry of losing power mid-test. Also, students felt that sometimes the "clicking" of some fingers against keyboards could be distracting, so wearing earbuds or headphones, even without any music or sound coming from them, may help muffle that sound and mitigate the distraction.
The students seemed very focused and did a great job of taking their time and following instructions. We certainly hope that their efforts will be rewarded!
Thank you!
Michael Rubin, Principal
We are proud of the effort and focus that our grade 8 students brought to MCAS this morning. Talking with some students after, there were some recommendations from students that we thought we would share.
First, make sure iPads are charged tonight. That reduces the worry of losing power mid-test. Also, students felt that sometimes the "clicking" of some fingers against keyboards could be distracting, so wearing earbuds or headphones, even without any music or sound coming from them, may help muffle that sound and mitigate the distraction.
The students seemed very focused and did a great job of taking their time and following instructions. We certainly hope that their efforts will be rewarded!
Thank you!
Michael Rubin, Principal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)