Natick Redhawks
Your Weekly Update from Natick High School
Dear Natick High School Families,
Over the past two weeks, I have had the pleasure of meeting with our School Council for the first time this year. The NHS School Council is an important group in our school community. It is comprised of educators, parents and students, who come together to discuss important issues at NHS, and to engage in some essential business of running our school. One important job of School Council is approving the School Handbook. As such, we used our first meeting to discuss notable portions of the Handbook and voted to adopt it for the current year. Next, the Handbook will move on to School Committee for formal adoption.
Over the last two weeks, our staff also began a year-long journey of professional learning in small groups.This year, our central question will be: "How can we help our students be the best versions of themselves?" We will be exploring this question from a variety of perspectives, including honing the teaching strategies that are most universally successful with students, developing a clearer understanding of the role of AI in secondary teaching and learning, creating a plan for helping students set short and long term academic goals, and planning for purposeful teaching of social-emotional learning standards. Our faculty have cited these as areas that are key to supporting our students' growth, and we are diving into the work together.
Looking forward to the next two weeks, as you will see in the list of dates below, there are a lot of upcoming deadlines, especially for seniors. Please make sure that you review those with your student. We are also heading into the last few weeks of term 1. I encourage you to look at Powerschool with your NHS student to see how things are going, and to reach out to your students' teachers and/or guidance counselor if you have questions.
I also hope that all of you have a great long weekend in honor of Columbus/Indigenous People's Day, and if you celebrate Yom Kippur, I hope that you have an easy fast.
Kind Regards,
Josepha Blocker
Principal, Natick High School
10/14 - No School - Indigenous Peoples' Day/Columbus Day
10/16 - 10/17 - Grade 10, Hearing and Vision Screenings by the Nurses
10/20 - Deadline for Military Opt-Out (See below.)
10/21 - 10/31 - Grade 10, Height and Weight Screenings by the Nurses
10/23 - Deadline to register for the ASVAB
10/23 - Early Release @ 11:00 AM
10/23 - Flu Shots at NHS, 12 pm - 3 pm
10/23 - MEFA Financial Aid Night @ NHS, 7 pm
10/26 - PSATs, 7:30 AM to approximately 11:30 AM
10/31 - Last day of Term 1
11/1 - No School - Diwali
11/1 - Deadline for Seniors to order caps and gowns
11/4 - Deadline to register for APs to avoid late fees
11/4 - ASVAB Testing for 11th and 12th graders who register
11/5 - Election Day - No School for Students/Educator Professional Development
The Guidance Department maintains a website full of useful information geared towards each grade. It changes regularly, and highlights some of the information that is shared with students during their guidance seminar. Parents and guardians are encouraged to bookmark the site and review it regularly. Below are some highlights.
Natick High School will be hosting the ASVAB Exam, or Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for any JUNIORS AND SENIORS that are interested in taking the exam. This test is optional, free, and administered during the school day to students who register for it. The ASVAB test is coordinated by College and Career Counselor, Jon Nardi, and administered by local military representatives. It is an excellent way to learn how your skills may be used in the workforce and to learn which careers best match your skills and interests.
Test Date and Time: Monday, November 4, 2024 from 8:10am - 11:10am
Test Location: Natick High School
If you would like to register for the exam, please follow this link to sign up by Wednesday, October 23rd: https://forms.gle/WZSRCA7ZaosE8GsX7
Please note that this is a hard deadline for all who would like to test. The ASVAB will not be administered to those who do not register and complete the requisite waivers.
To learn more about the test and see practice questions, please check out the test's official website:
https://www.officialasvab.com/
The ASVAB Career Exploration Website (test takers are given access after they finish the test):
If you have any questions about the test or registration process, please reach out to Mr. Nardi in Guidance: jnardi@natickps.org
A provision of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a federal law, requires secondary schools, upon a receipt of a request, to release the names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers of students attending the high school to United States military recruiters. If you wish to have your student’s name removed from this reporting list, please fill out the Military Exempt Form by October 20, 2024 and return it to Mrs. Slattery in the NHS Guidance Office via email at dslattery@natickps.org.
Registration Deadline: November 22nd 2024 @ 12pm
Payment Deadline*: November 22nd 2024 @ 12pm
* Payment made after 11/22 at noon will incur a $25 late fee.
To register, each student athlete will need:
- A Completion of Course certificate from the two required online courses for student athletes
- A copy of the student athlete's up-to-date physical
- The athletics fee
First Day of the MIAA Winter Season: December 2, 2024
The MIAA allows winter athletics to begin as of this date. More information will be shared from the Athletics Department in the coming weeks on specific first-day details for each team, including sites and times.
All student athletes from MIAA schools, including NHS, MUST complete two free NFHS (National Federation of High Schools) courses before registering for a sport: one general course and one concussion course. These courses are available at the links below.
After completing a course, a student athlete will earn a Completion of Course certificate, which the athlete will need to upload as a part of the registration process.
A few details for multi-sport athletes:
- A multi-sport athlete must only complete the courses one time during the academic year.
- If an athlete has already completed the course after May 2024 the course completion certificate should already populate into the registration and/or the athlete should use their previous course completion certificate to proceed with the registration process.
Your student's physical must have taken place within 13 months to suffice for athletics registration. If you need a new physical, and cannot get an appointment with your child's physician, you may need to consider going to an Urgent Care or Minute Clinic OR have your doctor write a note stating the date of your child's upcoming physical and that your child is "healthy and able to participate in sports". A current physical or doctor's note is necessary to participate in sports. Please note that you must submit a physical, not the summary.
We continue to work with Natick Central School Administration, The Natick Health Department, and The Natick School Committee to ensure that we are up to date with Health Metrics and Guidance.
AP® (Advanced Placement ) Exam Registration Now Open
Register before November 4th to avoid late fees.
Here is the link to the 2024-2025 AP Exam Registration Site
Note: These exams are intended for students who are currently enrolled in an AP course at Natick High School or have prepared for exams independently.
- Student parking
- School buses
- Food services, including how to order lunch ahead of time
- Purchasing a Yearbook
- Annual notifications from our nurses
- How to find out about, and purchase tickets for, athletic events
- Junior and senior "priv"
- Our cell phone use practices
- How to call your student in absent
- CORI checks for parent volunteers
- Joining the PTSO
Each year the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) honors individual students for their exceptional scholastic potential, as determined by their scores on the PSAT. Last year, there were over 1.3 million juniors that entered the 2025 National Merit Scholarship Program. Of those students, some 16,000 of the highest performers have been designated Semifinalists on a state representational basis. Another 34,000 high performers are named as Commended Students.
We are so proud to announce that this year, there were three semi finalists and eleven commended students in our senior class.
The Natick High School students who received commendation on their scores as a part of the National Merit qualifying process are: Nikita Akhonen, Jackson Barbin, Ryan Eigenmann, Zachary Freedman, Milo Giordano, Hannah Mevorach, Aaron Wasielewski, Julien Williams, Aaron Wolff, David Xie, and Allison Yang.
The Natick High School students who are National Merit semifinalists are:
Nathan Moldover, Liliana Temper, and Benjamin Vose.
Lives Worth Living: The Great Fight for Disability Rights, a FREE Community Event sponsored by SPARK Kindness, Natick Commission on Disability, Natick Is United, and MassNAELA, taking place on
Thursday, 10/24 at 6:30PM at Natick High School (Auditorium).
How can we make our communities more welcoming and accessible for people with disabilities? Join us for a special screening of "Lives Worth Living," a documentary film that highlights the story of activists fighting for equal access and opportunity for people with disabilities, which culminated in the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The program will feature:
The film's director and a panel of local disability rights leaders who will share resources and reflections on how to get involved to promote inclusion for ALL people.
An opportunity to connect with community organizations before and after the screening (organizations include: Easterseals MA, Mass Cultural Council, Mass NAELA, NAMI MA, Natick Commission on Disability, Natick Is United, Natick SEPAC, Natick Veterans Services, SPARK Kindness, #TeachDisabilityHistory, Understanding Our Differences).
Registration Link: https://naticklivesworthliving.eventbrite.com
