AP Student Meeting

On Monday, March 30 we held a student meeting for those students enrolled in Advanced Placement classes. Given some of the changes, we presented some updates to the students and opened up the floor to some questions. We appreciate the thoughtfulness of many of the students and likewise were so happy to see many of their faces!

Below is the presentation, some questions and answers that came up from the meeting, and a video of the meeting.


AP Student Q&A

Q: A lot of other schools are getting set schedules. Are we also getting one for when classes actually start?

A: We will be publishing a class schedule sometime this week.

Q: Do we have possible dates for the exams? or a range?

A: It is likely that AP testings will begin May 4 and continue until May 22. We will be working with teachers to ensure that the two dates for each test that we provide will be opportune for our students.

Q: Can we take the test whenever we want or does the whole class have to take it together?

A: Students will be provided a day, and our understanding is that there will be a 45-minute window for the student to take the test on that specific day. We will get more specific information about testing windows in the coming weeks.

Q: Is work being graded normally or completion wise. and are these assignments going to be due daily or weekly? Will grading vary by teacher?

A: We will be publishing guidance for all classes, and this information will be standardized to avoid significant variation between classes. Most classes will have work assigned on Monday, with a Friday due date.

Q: What do we do if we have overlapping virtual classes?

A: We have come up with a solution that will prevent that from happening, and all teachers will have two or three days of open office hours for students to schedule individual or small group appointments, beyond virtual class time.

Q: Will classes be recorded/lists of information provided for access?

A: We will be trying our best to provide access to information if a student is unable to make the set class time.

Video of Meeting Below

Weekly News and Notes

Good afternoon,

A bit of a different format for the Weekly News and Notes this week, but wanted to reach out with some guidance from where we are right now.

We know that right now there are many questions, and, at this point, the number of questions probably outnumber the answers. At the same time, we realize that we have a good number of people who are possibly overwhelmed by the daily news bulletins, which is why we at UHS have, at times, been focusing on maintaining connections. The Commissioner put out some guidance on Thursday from which we are adjusting that will move from mere connections to learning to actual learning and holding students more accountable, and we will be releasing our plans for that next week. Rest assured, the high school staff and faculty has been buzzing in identifying ways to connect to students over the next month, and to also provide assignments and a schedule that will give more structure to that learning. We anticipate being able to release more of that next week.

There are some other questions, however, for which we have some very specific answers. Given the extension of the closure to May 4, our junior-senior prom, which was initially scheduled for May 1, has been postponed. We will be meeting next week with the senior class officers and potentially the senior class as a whole to determine next steps, and our advisors have been working with the venue on identifying an alternate date, so that we can hopefully move forward with the event, should we return after May 4. We are also renewing our commitment to providing the Class of 2020 has many of its regular events as possible, with the guidance of Public Health and the Governor, as we share in the deep sorrow that this was not the type of spring or culminating semester that any of the students had in mind. Our goal - again - will be try and postpone as many events as possible to dates later in the year or even into the summer before getting to outright cancellation.

With the transition to distance learning, many of our students have taken advantage of online class meetings that teachers have scheduled, have looked at our resources, emailed, or communicated with support staff. Most of those conversations have built connections during otherwise isolated times. However, there are some students who have used these online chats as an opportunity to violate some of our core values, with vulgar, bigoted, or disrespectful language. Some norms for online/virtual classes to which we expect students to adhere:

1. Students must have the video enabled.
2. Students must have their full name as they sign in and be prepared as they would for a regular class at school.
3. If a teacher or class moderator sees either of those standards not met, the student will be removed from the online chat.
4. All classroom expectations for physical class remain in effect.

If students do not follow these guidelines, the teachers have been instructed to remove them from the room. A separate message has been posted to this blog from Mr. DiMeglio to the students regarding their expectations in terms of virtual learning spaces.

We also have an update from athletics, in that spring sports will now be delayed until May 4. We have made a commitment as a Southern Worcester County League to continue adjusting our plans for an abbreviated spring season, though it would appear that all post-season tournaments sponsored by the MIAA have been canceled. We will certainly provide updates as they come.

In terms of meetings, we right now have one meeting scheduled with all students who take an AP class for Monday at 1:30 p.m. We will be reaching out early next week about a time for a Parent Town Hall meeting, as well as another full school Town Hall for all students. We hope to do so following the release of our Distance Learning guidelines.

It goes without saying that we wish we were sending this from the school and with the teeming excitement that the turn from March to April and the planning for our typical spring would bring. However, while the circumstances have been challenging for us all, we hope and trust that this message finds everyone continuing to practice social distancing, finding ways to connect with each other and others despite those guidelines, and, most importantly, in good health and safety.

Have a great weekend.

Sincerely yours,

Michael Rubin Principal Uxbridge High School

March 27 Podcast

Here's a look at our March 27 Podcast:

Digital Learning Expectations

Hello Everyone, I wanted to take a minute to reach out to everyone through these unprecedented, challenging times that we have been facing because of Covid-19. It is safe to say that everyone's lives have been disrupted, turned upside down and if that’s not enough, we have been asked to limit our social activities, which puts an entirely different twist on things. We are also asking that you stay connected to your teachers, guidance counselors, and administration. With that said, hopefully you have begun to see an increase in the learning resources your teachers have posted in Google Classroom, as well as on the district website. As you begin to navigate through the various electronic learning platforms, such as Google Hangouts and Zoom conferencing it will also be necessary to maintain respectful behavior and be mindful of your actions even though you are not in our building. Uxbridge High School students are held to a high expectation whether at school or at home, we want you to uphold being a responsible Digital Citizen when communicating in a virtual environment. Here are a few norms that we will be asking everyone to adhere to. These norms will also be shared in a separate document:

1. Students must have the video enabled.
2. Students must have their full name as they sign in and be ready for class as if it were being held in school.
3. If a teacher or class moderator sees either of those standards not met, the student will be removed from the online chat.
4. All classroom expectations for physical class remain in effect. Some standard norms from teachers will be something like this: Our class will meet through the Zoom (or Google Meet) online conference system. We will adopt the same rules and norms as in a physical classroom (take notes; participate by asking and answering questions; wear classroom-ready clothing). For everyone’s benefit, join the course in a quiet place. Turn on your video. Mute your microphone unless you are speaking. Close browser tabs not required for participating in class. This form of learning will be somewhat new to all of us, and success will depend on the same commitment we all bring to the physical classroom. Students who attempt to violate these norms will be held accountable, which may not occur until the physical school reopens, but we trust that the vast majority of our students will behave appropriately and understand that this form of learning is new to us all.

Thank you for your continued support and be safe.

Michael DiMeglio
Assistant Principal

UHS Town Hall, March 24

Below is the video stream from our Town Hall for March 24. Thanks to all who offered some great questions.

The audio/podcast is also linked here:

UHS: Learning Resources

Good morning,

Over the next few hours, students (and parents) may start seeing Google classroom sites and email inboxes populate with resources for learning. Our teachers have been working diligently on a number of resources that will help our students stay connected to different content areas, to each other, and to our staff, and most of these resources can be accomplished at home with some teacher support. Teachers will be available via email, and even Google Hangout is a way for teachers and students to communicate.

These are trying times, so please know that, at this point, none of the resources provided are to be graded and collected, but are intended to connect students to learning, provide continuity, and prevent regression.

The link to the website will be published around 3:00 p.m. this afternoon. That link can be found on the district website, by following the link at the top of the page labeled "Students and Families," and then following to "Remote Learning": https://www.uxbridgeschools.com/Page/627

We hope that everyone is weathering the school closure well, and you are staying safe and healthy.

Sincerely,

Michael Rubin
Principal
Uxbridge High School

A Way To Connect

I'm sharing this below as an opportunity for our students to connect with administration and UHS during this unique period of closure. Think of it as a virtual office hours for administration, or a parking lot of ideas that you can share with us.

The students have been emailed password to this site as a way to engage with our administration. We hope they will send us their thoughts, ideas, sentiments, questions, etc.!

Information Regarding Social Distancing

Greetings, students,



(In case you would rather listen to this as a podcast, it's available here).



As our staff is working diligently on providing resources for students to stay connected to learning while home, I want to reiterate and underscore the message that students and families have heard articulated by Public Health officials, state government, and the federal government: it is critical that each of us does his or her part to slow the spread of COVID-19 by limiting - or eliminating altogether - social interactions.



As inconvenient as it may be, please take seriously your role in keeping the most vulnerable members of our community healthy, by not spreading COVID-19 in your social circles, among your teammates, friends, neighbors, etc. There is not a person among us who does not know someone who could be in very real danger if exposed to this nefarious virus, and so following guidelines is very real and very important.



We have been working since Friday on developing resources to help students stay intellectually engaged in the coming weeks, with opportunities that will help us stay connected to each other and to school. In the meantime, please find ways to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy, while also keeping those around you safe as well. Some things to avoid:

• Avoid gathering in groups
• Maintain distance (approximately 6 feet) from others whenever possible
• Avoid trips to the store unless absolutely necessary
• No hugs, handshakes, high-fives
• Wash your hands (a lot!)
• Cough or sneeze into your elbow

There are still lots of things that you can do, like:

• Go outside: walk the dog, go for a hike, take a bike ride, etc.
• Check in with your friends using digital means
• Keep a journal of this time at home
• Listen to or make your own music
• Read a book
• Create something artistic
• Learn a new language
• Take a free online course
• Binge watch something new

There are many, many ways for you to find out more about the importance of social distancing, but this is one that, I think, does the best job of illustrating the point. For more information, check out “What Is Social Distancing and How Can It Slow the Spread of COVID-19” or  This is Not a Snow Day.



We are experiencing a generational challenge that impacts each one of us. How each of us responds will dictate how many of our friends and neighbors are impacted by the virus - or not, which is the ultimate goal. And it is definitely a unique challenge - try to stay connected to people, your friends, and each other - but do so without being physically in the same space.



As situations evolve - often times by the day - we will do our best to stay in touch with everyone. We will have learning resources posted by Thursday afternoon. Feel free to reach out to counselors, teachers, support personnel, administrators - we are all here for you. And remember, we are stronger together.




Thanks in advance for taking this responsibility seriously as the young adults that you are, for doing your part, and for helping us get past this situation as quickly as we humanly can.



Stay safe and healthy,



Mr. Rubin

Parent Letter re: COVID-19

March 17, 2020
Dear Uxbridge High School Families:

Over the past several days, there have been many messages updating families and staff with respect to the evolving situation and COVID-19. We know that, as we move into uncharted territory with school closed for the next three weeks, this can feel overwhelming. We hope that the detailed information below will help students and parents navigate the next couple of weeks and reduce those feelings of anxiety.

Before we get to the Learning Continuity Opportunities(below), please note a few basics that will remain true throughout this process:

1. We know that none of our emails or documents can answer all questions.  Students and parents can email teachers, counselors, other professional staff, and administrators  as usual.  We will all work even more diligently during this unusual time to be available and helpful.
2. There are likely answers or situations that will be frustrating -  for all of us. Two-way patience needs to be a watchword for our whole community.  Let’s all work together and patiently to get to the best possible though not necessarily perfect solutions for the students. Likewise, situations change more fluidly than normal, so what is shared today may change by tomorrow.
3. If students or families need direction/support from our school nurse, Ms. Schiller,  our school counseling team, special education supports, or our administration: please reach out to them via email. 
4. Please continue to practice social distancing. 

At UHS, teachers manage the online portion of their classrooms primarily through the Uxbridge Public Schools website and Google Classroom. All resources will be distributed and submitted through Google Classroom. All teachers will have Classrooms, and students can see what is available via https://www.uxbridgeschools.com/Page/627.

As some initial direction:

1. Students should check their school email accounts daily.
2. Students should check Google Classrooms twice daily: In the morning before noon, and in the evening by 6 p.m.
3. Students who turn on notifications for Google Classroom will receive these on iPads and via email.

Remote Learning Continuity Opportunities Guidelines

1. Teachers will post a variety of resources that intend to keep students engaged in learning. These resources intend to keep students from regressing, while understanding that they do not, in any way, take the place of daily classroom instruction - face-to-face time with our teachers is far too valuable.
2. Teachers will post and conduct “office hours” regularly.   During these hours, teachers will log on to Google Classroom to check email, post resources, and answer student questions, as well as potentially set up Zoom meetings or Google hangout sessions.  Teachers will communicate these hours individually to their own classes.
3. Learning resources will vary in length.  These resources may be long term projects, practice questions, videos and reflections, lecture notes, reading, activities- all intending to keep students connected to the given content area.
4. Open communication is the key. If there is any issue with understanding any of the learning resources that are provided, students should communicate using any of a variety of virtual means, which will be specified by teachers.
5. We anticipate these distance learning resources being posted by Thursday morning, March 19.

Everything we are encouraging is about experience: authentic learning that will help students stay connected, or content that is being reviewed in advance of our return to school. None of these learning resources are mandatory, none of them will be graded, and none of them are covering new content - these are meant as opportunities for our students to stay connected remotely to our educators and learning, to promote continuity, and to prevent regression.

Also, for families who may have need, Charter is offering free Spectrum broadband and Wi-Fi for 60 days to households with K-12 and/or college students who do not already have a Spectrum broadband subscription. To enroll, call 1-844-488-8395, and install fees will be waived for new student households. Wifi hotspots across the footprint will be opened for public use. This will help students learn remotely through many of our digital means.

We are all dealing with these challenging times in different ways. In that spirit, we encourage you to be patient, to make the best of these times of social distancing, and to engage in different forms of learning in these unique circumstances. The resources our teachers post are but one way to do so, but there are many ways for families to share in learning during this time - watching documentaries, going for a walk, video chatting with friends or family from afar.

As always, we thank you for the support. Together, we are stronger.

Stay safe.

Sincerely yours,



Michael Rubin
Principal

Guidance Newsletter

Our guidance newsletter for the spring is below:

Start of Spring Sports Delayed

Good evening,

After much discussion, the MIAA Board of Directors met today and their decision is to delay the start of the 2020 spring season to March 30, 2020.  Respecting the fluidity of this situation, this decision will be revisited prior to March 30th. This decision is based on available information from numerous health agencies and is made in the best interest of our student-athletes, schools and communities.

This will have an impact on the start dates of scheduled games, which we will be working to revise in the coming weeks and based on guidance from the state association. During the next two weeks, out-of-season coaching and practices are not permitted, and all MIAA out-of-season rules remain in effect. Please understand that we will keep you all updated as new information comes in. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact the athletic director or school administartion directly. Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Sincerely,

Michael Rubin, UHS Principal
Leanne DeMarco, Whitin Intermediate School Principal
Chris Carbone, Athletic Director

Covid-19

Dear Students and Families,

It goes without saying that these are trying and challenging times for everyone, as we are dealing with an unprecedented and unique situation. I appreciate those of you who have reached out to me directly sharing your concerns, as they are completely warranted.

We are, at this point, taking all of our direction from the local Board of Health, state officials, and federal agencies. Right now, we can share with you that there is exactly one presumptive case of Covid-19 in all of Worcester County - and that includes all 74 communities. According to our local Board of Health, there are no suspected or confirmed cases in Uxbridge, even though the number of diagnosed cases around the state has continued to rise. The steps being taken in our building, including increased cleaning of high contact areas and added sanitation, will hopefully continue that progression. 

On Tuesday, the Governor declared a state of emergency, which has led us to cancel or postpone any large-scale community events. That begins with the postponement of this weekend's musical performance and the cancellation of the SAT for Saturday morning. 

While we have been in constant contact with the Department of Public Health, and our own Commissioner is conducting a conference call tomorrow with school administrators and superintendents across the state to receive further guidance. In the meantime, please resist the urge to spread rumors, besiege teachers and school staff, and ask questions for which we may not have answers. We will do our best to communicate with you, families, and the community at large as best we can.

In the meantime, stay safe, remember to follow proper guidelines, check the Board of Health's dedicated page to Covid-19, and take care of those who need more assistance in our community.

Best,

Mr. Rubin

Non-emergency Lockdown at UHS

Good afternoon,

This message is to inform out that a non-emergency lockdown was called shortly after 1:00 at Uxbridge High School. We called the lockdown in order to provide some confidentiality for an individual who needed medical attention. In dealing with any kind of medical situation, we take the responsibility of maintaining confidentiality extremely seriously, so clearing hallways and eliminating witnesses protects everyone involved.

As we expected, our students were incredibly compliant and respectful of direction, and our educators were able to quickly redirect students back to task. Once again, we had an opportunity to see how our community models so many of our core values!

We reiterate that there was no threat of any kind, which can sometimes be misconstrued when people hear the word "lockdown." Thank you, and enjoy the rest of the day. 

Sincerely,

Michael Rubin, Principal

Uxbridge High School

March Newsletter

Our March Newsletter is linked below.

State of the School Podcast

We are happy to share our second annual "State of the School" podcast and the return of our Spartan Podcast series. We apologize for the delay on recording this year's podcast series!

Weekly News and Notes

Greetings,

We have a few updates from UHS this week.

Course Selections for 2020-21

Our counselors completed course input this week with the current grade 8 students, and they will be working in the next few days to determine class selections with students in grades 9-11. We have also had our seventh graders in the building, and they will be working through their course selections by the end of the month at all.
Our goal, as always, is to provide students with their courses as scheduled - but not necessarily teacher assignments - by the end of this school year. There are a number of variables that play into that process, so we appreciate in advance your patience!

Early College Expansion

We are working closely with a number of our colleagues from the region to support the potential for additional Early College classes being offered this summer. We hope to build a cohort of students including our friends and peers at Douglas, Northbridge, Shepherd Hill Regional, and Hopedale High Schools, which will enable us to improve offerings for our students as well. A survey for students in indicate interest was emailed to all juniors on Friday. We hope they take some time to answer.

Feedback Opportunities

As we consider different ways to incorporate student voice, we are implementing a number of different opportunities. We had more than 30 students indicate an interest in participating in a Principals Advisory Council, which will meet a couple of times a month over lunch and enable students to provide feedback on some processes and plans for UHS. We are also in the process of starting a Captains Council to advise the athletic director, and, finally, we will be sending feedback surveys to help our athletic department improve the experience of student-athletes. We encourage you to have students get involved with any of these!

Spring Sports

For those who did not attend the spring sports information night on March 3, this is a reminder that spring sports begin on March 16. Please make sure all registration information is updated on FamilyID.

Week that Was

Here's a look at our Week That Was video:



There will be no Weekly News and Notes next Friday.

Have a great weekend,

Michael Rubin, Principal
Uxbridge High School

Grade 7-8 Scheduling Clarifications

Thank you again for the insight, feedback, and comments that we heard over the past couple of days. We are grateful for your support of our school and hope to continue to provide relevant communication as needed.

A couple of pieces that we wanted to highlight following last night, based on some universal feedback from families and students, are listed below.

Q: What is the "Pathways Exploration" Course?

A: We are determining if we have the latitude in our schedule to offer grade 8 students an experience that would allow them to spend the full year exploring all three of our pathways: a third of the year in digital media, a third of the year in engineering, and a third of the year in biomedical science. We are, however, asking students to register for electives now, and if we have the ability to register into a grade 8 exploratory, that will take the place of some of the electives and allow students to make better decisions on a Pathway experience come grade 9. This will also keep grade 8 students together in their elective courses.

We will not know if we can run that course until we get a sense of what our course selections look like at the high school level.

So what should students do now? Select electives that are most interesting, and we will communicate with them and you should there be an adaptations needed.

Q: How many Pathways does UHS offer? And are there planned expansion?

A: Right now, we have defined Pathways in Engineering/Manufacturing, Biomedical Science, and Digital Media. We plan on expanding into Hospitality and Business, as well as Computer Science, in the next two years.


We also have posted the presentation on proficiency-based grading in Spanish to the World Language department page on the website and linked it here as well.

If you have not already filled out our survey, please take a minute and do so - it will literally take 2-3 minutes.

Have a great week!

Mike Rubin, Principal

Grade 7 Open House Feedback

Greetings!


For those of you who were able to attend, thank you for taking the time to learn about UHS and the opportunities we have. We felt like the night went quickly, and the initial feedback that we received from families upon their leaving was that the information was helpful. If you were unable to join us tonight, please know that we will support your students and you however we can, and we are ready to answer any questions that you may have. 

If you could provide us some feedback on the night, it would be most appreciated. A quick survey can be found here or by pasting this link: https://forms.gle/Yu8jMJYPfauQdSRb9. The survey is also embedded below.

Also, the link to all our scheduling information, including tonight's presentation, can be found here: https://www.uxbridgeschools.com/Page/450. We can also be followed on Twitter, and we post all our updates from UHS both on our homepage (https://www.uxbridgeschools.com/uhs) and uhsprincipal.blogspot.com. In short, there is a lot of information out there about UHS!

We look forward to meeting, supporting, and partnering with you in the coming years!

Warmly,

Michael Rubin, Principal
Michael DiMeglio, Assistant Principal
Uxbridge High School