Weekly News and Notes

We have several updates from UHS this week.

Program of Studies Revisions Approved

At this week's School Committee meeting, our revisions to the Program of Studies were approved. Accessible on our school website, we are providing the link below so that families can get a sense of the full gamut of course available. Additionally, there are some summaries to the changes that are available via the school website. Most of the documents regarding course selection for 2020-21 will be updated in the next week or so, and we plan on holding assemblies with students and evening events with families in the couple of weeks.

The Program of Studies is accessible here.

Scheduling Nights

We will have the following evenings established as nights to discuss planning for the 2020-21 school year:
Grade 11 (current juniors, rising seniors): February 5, 2020: 6-8 p.m.
Grades 8-10 (current grade 8, freshmen, sophomores): February 13, 2020: 6:30 p.m.
Grade 7 (rising grade 8): Tentatively scheduled for February 25, 2020, 6-8 p.m. or March 2. We will send out final details next week.

Our students will make course selections and discuss future planning the week following February break, and we intent to meet with the students February 12-13 as well.

Second Semester

Second semester starts on Monday, which means, for many students, some schedule changes. We are asking students to follow schedules that are provided them - even if there may be something desired or needed as a change. If there is a mistake or problem with the schedule, the student should initiate a conversation with the counselor or reach out to the teacher of the class (for example, occasionally a student will be placed in a more advanced elective without having taken the foundational course).

We will also be holding a half-day in late February for parent-teacher conferences, which will be available only in the afternoon.

Cobot Program at WPI

A number of our 7th and 8th graders joined two of our teachers this week for the first day of a six-week course at WPI, in which our students are going to use industry-standard technology, robotics, etc. Unfortunately, we were only able to offer the program to nine total students, and we had more than 30 indicate interest! However, we are hoping to continue to add these programs in the coming years to improve access and provide more students with these opportunities.

Grant Resources for Learning Opportunities

We also have had the good fortune of earning a couple of grants that will support classroom instruction and curricular adaptations. Through our Innovation Pathway partnerships, a number of our teachers will be spending time during school vacations and weekends shadowing some of our local industry professionals and adapting learning to fit those skills. Additionally, we have the opportunity to provide some unique professional development opportunities for our teachers, including some training on motion capture technology, laser engraving, and unmanned aircraft licensure. Moving forward, all of these will become opportunities for our students as well, and we actually have some students in the first cohort of "drone pilot" licensure this spring!

Communication Survey

Last week, the superintendent shared a communication survey. If you have not shared your feedback, please consider doing so - it is very brief! It can be accessed here.

Have a great weekend!

Michael Rubin, Principal
Uxbridge High School