This week's Masked Announcer was Ms. Arsenault! Congratulations to Gabriela Ramos-Rivera for correctly guessing our special guest! Thank you to all who participated! Keep up the awesome school spirit and good luck next week! Remember to send in your guesses via email to Ms. Smalarz (bsmalarz@webster-schools.org) immediately following the announcements on Friday morning to enter into the contest!

As a student, if you are arriving to school late, you MUST report to the office first. They will give you a paper pass to class if you are tardy to school. Without this BLUE pass, you will not be allowed into the classroom, you will be instructed to report to the office first. This goes for students who have classes in not only the main building but in the mobiles as well.

The bathrooms will continue to stay monitored this week. As previously explained, this change is due to the obvious vaping in the bathrooms. No student is to use a staff bathroom, to include the guidance area. All students must fill out a pass when needing to use the bathroom. Ms. Ludwig will accept all of the passes when space is available in the order that they come in. If there is an emergency, and a student needs to go sooner, they can continue to use the nurse's bathroom via a nurse's pass.

Saturday School will be held this Saturday the 25th from 8am-12pm at Webster Middle School. If you feel that it is best that a student attends on a regular basis, either the student or their family should complete the appropriate google form below, either the "Student Interest" or the "Parent/Guardian Interest" form. Teachers can also complete a "Teacher Recommendation" form for those students they believe would benefit from attending. Those students that lose points due to attendance in Quarter 2 will be given invitations to attend Saturday School when report cards go out later this week. Saturday school may also be used as alternatives to suspension in the future.

Upcoming Saturday School Dates:

January - 25

February - 1, 8

March - 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

April - 5, 12

May - 3, 10, 17, and possibly 31

We are still looking for members of our school council. This advisory committee will meet once a month once all members have been identified. The council will be comprised of the principal, parents of students attending the school, teachers, students, and "other persons drawn from such groups or entities as municipal government, business and labor organizations, institutions of higher education, human service agencies or other interested groups, including those from school-age child care programs.". The role of the school council is to assist the principal in adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards, identifying the educational needs of students attending the school, reviewing the annual school building budget, formulating a school improvement plan, and reviewing the student handbook each spring to consider changes in disciplinary policy to take effect for the following school year. The make up of the council encourages diverse perspectives in the formulation of a consensus plan. Please email gnieves@webster-schools.org if you are interested in being elected as a representative of the school council.

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5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Northbridge High School at St Josephs School

630pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Northbridge High School at St Josephs School

ACCESS Testing for EL students will occur throughout the day

StudySync Benchmark 1 Testing will occur in Semester 2 ONLY English classes

StudySync Benchmark 2 Testing will occur in Full Year English classes

6:45am - DECA Club Meeting in B107

2:15pm - Art Club Meeting in A228

2:15pm - LGBTQ Meeting in Mobile 1

2:15pm - Junior Class Officer Meeting in Mobile 8

5:30pm - Boys/Girls Track teams travel to Tantasqua High School to take on Quaboag, Leicester, and Uxbridge

ACCESS Testing for EL students will occur throughout the day

StudySync Benchmark 1 Testing will occur in Semester 2 ONLY English classes

StudySync Benchmark 2 Testing will occur in Full Year English classes

2:15pm - Senior Class Officer Meeting in B214

2:15pm - Sophomore Class Officer Meeting in Mobile 8

5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Oxford High School at St Josephs School

630pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Oxford High School at St Josephs School

ACCESS Testing for EL students will occur throughout the day

StudySync Benchmark 1 Testing will occur in Semester 2 ONLY English classes

StudySync Benchmark 2 Testing will occur in Full Year English classes

MIAA Student Ambassador's Field Trip to Franklin, MA

1:50pm - PBIS Raffle Drawing

5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Southbridge High School at St Josephs School

6:30pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Southbridge High School at St Josephs School

Tuesday 1/21

5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Northbridge @ St Josephs School

6:30pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Northbridge @ St Josephs School

Wednesday 1/22

5:30pm - Track teams travel to Tantasqua to take on Quaboag, Leicester, & Uxbridge

Thursday 1/23

5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Oxford @ St Josephs School

6:30pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Oxford @ St Josephs School

Saturday 1/25

5:00pm - JV Basketball hosts Southbridge @ St Josephs School

6:30pm - Varsity Basketball hosts Southbridge @ St Josephs School

Telegram's Player of the Week:

One of our very own, Junior Kenny Arpin, was nominated for the Central Mass Boys' Basketball Player of the Week! Please make sure to click on the link below and vote to help Kenny take the top spot this week!

https://www.telegram.com/story/sports/high-school/2025/01/20/poll-vote-for-the-hometeam-central-mass-boys-basketball-player-of-the-week/77836365007/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook#

Purpose of Scholarship:

In accordance with National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association’s (NIAAA) purpose to promote, facilitate, and increase the knowledge and understanding of the vital role of interscholastic athletics in the educational system, this scholarship program will foster and acknowledge the partnership between the NIAAA and secondary education.

The scholarships will recognize the distinguished scholastic, leadership, and citizenship attributes of high school student athletes, and the importance of high school athletics in each student’s life.

Criteria:

1. Applicant must be a Senior

2. Applicant must have achieved at least two (2) of the following:

a. minimum of B+ average;

b. Ranked in the top 25% of class;

c. ACT score of 24 or an SAT score of 1100 (Math and Reading)

3. Applicant must have participated in two sports for at least two years in each sport

4. Applicant must have earned at least one varsity letter in each of two sports

5. Applicant must complete attached scholar/essay application

6. Applicant must have a letter of recommendation from the high school athletic administrator/director

7. School athletic director must be an NIAAA member and a member of their respective state athletic administrators association

8. The principal or athletic director must sign the application to insure that the academic information submitted is accurate

9. Due Date: February 10, 2025. All applications MUST be submitted through FinalForms (see attached instructions).

MSSADA will award $500 to the two Massachusetts winners.

ACCESS Testing for EL students continues this week. This testing will take place daily until mid February. Students will continue to be pulled from classes to take these tests, please make sure to allow for makeup time, or give an exemption if you feel it is best, for the work that is missed during the time they are out of your classroom due to this testing.

Wednesday 1/22, Thursday 1/23, and Friday 1/24

Benchmark 1 Testing - All students who are in a Semester 2 only ELA class that utilizes the StudySync curriculum will take the StudySync Benchmark 1 during their English class. This pertains only to the classes that begin on January 22nd.

Benchmark 2 Testing - All students who are in a Full Year ELA class that utilizes the StudySync curriculum will take the StudySync Benchmark 2 during their English class. This pertains only to the classes that run all year.

Science MCAS Extra Help with Ms. O'Connell is in full swing! It is held on Thursdays from 2:15pm - 3:15pm now through January 30th! Students that will need to take the Biology Retake Test in February have received invitations and all are welcome to attend. Please encourage your students to take advantage of these sessions to get some extra help before the test!

Due to a recent change in state law, students who have already taken, but have not passed, the February MCAS test are no longer required to take the retake test in order to graduate. However, if these students chose not to retake the test, they will still need to meet local competency requirements which are currently being developed.

Please check out our brochures to see what the Pathways have to offer!

The students took part in two different hands-on activities this week! First they worked on making Models of the Brain and then they dissected a Cow Elbow.

Bartlett will offer the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy exam on March 3 and 4 for seniors who qualify. This prestigious award recognizes students who speak, listen, read, and write fluently in both English and another language. Recipients receive special honors at graduation, a seal marking this distinction on their transcript, and the possibilities of college credit and improved standing in the workforce as a bilingual employee.

Students spent the 2nd quarter learning about poetry, studying and writing original poetry works, and presenting (performing) their works to an audience of their peers during our Poetry Coffeehouse Open Mic on Wednesday, January 15th. This was their culminating activity for the Quarter.

Students said:

"This provided me with my 5 minutes to shine." Nadia Oliver

"Can we do this again?" Anthony Gonzalez

"This provided us with a chance to get to know our classmates.", and "Every student in this class participated!" Xavier Butler

Remember to layer up this week, its another week of cold temperatures!

Grab your friends and get ready for a night of fun at the Valentine’s Day Dance on Friday, February 14th from 4-6 PM!

The Class of 2025 will be selling pizza, chips, and drinks (cash only)
The cost is $20 (cash or Bartlett Bucks, Mix and Match)

Tickets on sale from 2/3 to 2/12 during lunch.

Reminder: All class dues must be paid in full to purchase a ticket.

Don't miss out –Whether you’re looking to show off your best moves or just have fun with friends, this is the place to be!

Every week in the month of January, you have the chance to win exciting prizes just by putting your Bartlett Bucks into the green PBIS raffle box at the main office, Monday through Friday.
Drawings will be held every Friday at 1:50 PM!

Here’s what you could win:
Week 1: $10 Dunkin' Donuts Gift Card - WINNER - Caden Case
Week 2: Yeti Tumbler - WINNER - Odelis Valentin
Week 3: Stanley
Week 4: Surprise Gift Card
Don’t miss your chance to win—make sure to enter each week!

Welcome to the PBIS School Store! It will be open all year long. Please see the items available to purchase with your Bartlett Bucks!

All orders must be submitted through the online school store link; in-person orders will not be accepted.

Orders placed by Wednesday at 2:00pm will be delivered by Friday of that week. Items placed Thursday and Friday will be delivered the following week.

Start saving those Bartlett Bucks!

Link to the store: https://forms.gle/6oS5avHhJ3z2TJZBA

Attention Class of 2025 Parent/Guardians: Help us Plan the Senior Overnight!

We’re excited to announce the upcoming Senior Overnight, on Friday, May 30th. This memorable event will celebrate our students’ achievements and mark the end of their high school journey. But we need YOUR help to make it a success! We are forming a Senior Overnight Planning Committee, and we invite parents/guardians to join us in organizing this unforgettable event. Whether you have event planning experience or simply want to get involved, we welcome your ideas, enthusiasm, and support.

How You Can Help:
Organize activities and entertainment
Coordinate food and refreshments
Help with logistics
Contribute to decorations and theme planning
Assist with fundraising efforts

If you're interested in joining the committee, please sign up by January 31st by contacting Ms. Bigelow at mbigelow@webster-schools.org. Together, we can make this event truly special!

Add/ Drop period will be held for 5 days beginning Wednesday, January 22nd and concluding on Tuesday, January 28th. Add/ Drop forms will be available in both the Main Office and in the Guidance Office. Parent/Guardian signatures are required on all forms. Once completed, forms can be dropped off in Guidance to Ms. Grzembski.

Important reminder: Course changes will only be made for elective courses. Full-year classes are not able to changed. Counselors will do their best to accommodate all requests, but changes are not always possible.

Scholarship season is here! All active scholarships have been posted on the Guidance Department's Google Classroom for the Class of 2025. As new scholarships come in the list will be updated. Scholarship info can also be found in both Naviance and in the Guidance Office. Please take advantage of these wonderful scholarship opportunities, and if you have any scholarship related questions please ask Mrs. Granger, Scholarship Coordinator, kgranger@webster-schools.org. The list of all active scholarships are listed in the link below.

The attendance committee will be meeting this week to look at the adjustments that need to be made for Quarter 2 grades due to absences from school. Notices will be sent home to parents/guardians with the Quarter 2 report cards along with Saturday School Invitations to any student that receives either a loss of points or an attendance failure in any class so that they can be made up if the student chooses.

If your student is absent from school, a doctor's note that states, "the parent contacted our office to inform us their child was ill and did not attend school" is not accepted as an excused absences. These notes, however, will be considered when coding your student as "not truant". If a note has more information such as "based on the symptoms the child is presenting, our office has determined that it can be managed at home and should return to school on______", then the note will be reviewed and most likely be accepted as excused. Any further questions regarding doctor notes should be asked of the nurses' office, kpepin@webster-schools.org.

Loss of Points/Credit due to absences -

5-9 unexcused absences from a class will lose 10 points from their grade in that class for that quarter.

Grade/Credit Recovery Process:

Process 1 - Students can recover those lost points in the following quarter, if and only if, they have no more than 2 unexcused absences from that class during that quarter.

Process 2 (if last quarter of the course) - Students can work to recover lost points as soon as they reach their 5th unexcused absence by attending a 1.5 hour administrative detention session (one missed class per session). Students may attend multiple sessions to recover for multiple courses if needed. Students opting for these administrative detention sessions (ADPs) must designate which course they are attending for.

10 or more unexcused absences from a class will result in an automatic attendance failure for the quarter and receive a grade of a 40 (District Minimum Grade).

Grade/Credit Recovery Process:

Students may earn credit back by attending a 1.5 hour administrative detention session (one missed class per session). Students may attend multiple sessions to recover for multiple courses if needed. Students opting for these administrative detention sessions (ADPs) must designate which course they are attending for. They must attend enough ADP sessions to bring absences below 10 at which point the 10 point deduction will be enforced as noted above.

Attendance Matters! Here is a look at this past week's attendance percentage for each day that school was in session!

Monday 1/13 - 92%

Tuesday 1/14 - 88%

Wednesday 1/15 - 90%

Thursday 1/16 - 91%

Friday 1/17 - 89%

Attendance Matters! Our daily attendance went up each day compared to the week before, but we can still do BETTER! See you all on Wednesday morning at 7:30am!

A public school district may excuse up to 7-day sessions or 14-half day sessions in any period of six months.

Based on this law, students may be approved for up to 7 excused absences in a 6 month period. Excused absences are defined as follows: Illness with medical documentation, A medical appointment that must be made during the school day, Observing a recognized religious holiday when the observance is during school, A family emergency, A planned absence for a personal or educational purpose that has been approved by the school, Educational disruption caused by a student's homelessness, unplanned hospitalization, or placement in foster care or a youth development center, Dismissal by the school nurse for illness.

**Note: Vacations will not be considered excused and should be avoided during days school is in session.

If you are ever in need of something, please come by the Trading Post to see what we have to offer. There are lots of clothing items!

This Week's Hours - Available during both lunches and after school. Just see a guidance counselor or an administrator for some help!

Join us in showing your off Bartlett Pride! Get your new BHS swag here! Remember, if you wear your Bartlett Gear on Fridays, you can wear your jeans!!

Bartlett – Family & Friends – Signature Ink

This Friday Jan 24th will be switched to pulled pork sandwiches

If you are still hungry after finishing your lunch, you are always welcome to PURCHASE another lunch. There is always extra fruit available as well, you just need to ask a cafeteria staff.

There has also been an increase in the mess left at the salad bar after the students go through the line. Please be more careful when taking what you want from the counter to help avoid cross contamination. If the mess continues, we may need to go back to pre-packaged salads.

The gate into the kitchen area will continue to be closed toward the end of the lunch block, as the number of students entering this area during this time was unmanageable. All lunches need to be purchased at the beginning of the lunch block, students cannot wait until the end of the period to get a lunch from the kitchen.