Student & Family Update
April 29, 2022
Good morning everyone,
Apologies for the delay in getting the newsletter out. The last one of the academic year will be this Friday then we will take a break and start back up again in mid-August!
This week, 10-14th we have:
- Grade 7 and 10 Field Trips
- Grade 8 Civic Action Project presentations
- Early release on Wednesday 12th
- 11:30am dismissal on Friday 14th
Please read on to see what has been going on in our school this week!
If you are reading this newsletter on a phone or laptop, don't forget to click on "read entire message" in order to see the complete newsletter.
Finally, we do our best to convey information to our community from a variety of sources, lots of them community rather than school based organizations. Unfortunately we are not able to share images and posters with live links through Smore but always ensure there is an email for inquiries. If you would like an e-copy of a poster with live links, please feel free to reach out to the office directly.
Best wishes
Chris
Upcoming dates
June 12: Chromebook return: Grade 9 &10
June 13th: Chromebook return: Grade 11 & 8
- June 14th: Last day for students: 11:30 dismissal for MS and HS
August 28th: First day of school for students
September 25th: Grade 7 Open House
October 30th: SLC for Grade 8-12 & Mary Lyon Resource Fair
November 14th: Grades 5-8 STEAM Fair
April 2nd: SLC for grades 7,8,9,10,11,12
May 29th: Senior Awards
May 30th: Class of 2025 Graduation
District Calendar for 2023/24: Link (Calendar for 24/25)
MTRS MCAS and AP testing schedule
Quarter 4 40 Days (5 fewer days due to Q2)
First Day: Monday April 8, 2024
Last Day: Monday, June 10, 2024
Q4 progress report grades close on: Friday, May 10, 2024
Q4 progress report grading window: Thursday, May 9 - Thursday, May 16 at 11:59pm
Q4 progress reports will be available in Aspen: Friday, May 17, 2024
Q4 grading window: May 31st - June 14th
Q4 report cards available in Aspen: June 17th
Graduation and Awards photos - Families and Class of 2024, access them now before your MTRS access expires!
To access the portraits of the Class of 2024 graduates captured just after receiving their diplomas, as well as photos from the awards evening, visit this link to download your graduate’s photo before June 30. Thanks to Otis at Falls Cable, the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2024 may be accessed on YouTube here.
In Advisory on Thursday and Friday of last week, students in grades 8-11 received hard copies of their schedules for the 2024-2025 school year. Students can make changes through the end of this school year.
To make a change or ask questions, students can meet with Ms Cairney, the high school counselor :
- Students can see Ms Ruggeri and she will help them make an appointment
- Students can use this link to book an appointment: https://acairney.youcanbook.me/.
Ms Cairney and Ms Ruggeri have been working with students on the scheduling process since March:
- March 13: Presentation by Guidance Counselors to review online course selection process and speak about courses (materials attached)
- March 13 - 18: Students enter course requests into Aspen
- March/April: Counselors meet with students 1:1 to verify course requests and answer any questions
- June students receive schedules
Link to 24-25 Course Catalog
PLEASE PARTICIPATE IN OUR COMMUNITY & FAMILY/CAREGIVER SURVEY
The Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont School Districts have engaged Berkshire Educational Resources K12 (BERK12) to complete a thorough sustainability study that ultimately will present the Districts, their member towns, and their communities with ideas about the educational, financial, and operational future of the Districts. For this work to be successful, we need your help!
Please fill out a survey and let us know your thoughts for the Mohawk Trail and Hawlemont Regional School Districts by clicking on the link below, or entering in your web browser. Thank you!
Carol Foote, Communications and Outreach Coordinator, cfoote@mtrsd.org
Getting Lost in STEM Projects (photos)
On Friday, May 31 Jay Mankita of Amherst visited Colrain Central with his traveling makerspace, Playful Engineers, and led students of all ages to design, build, test, and play with engineering concepts. This program is supported in part by a grant from the Colrain Cultural Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
In the energy- and people-packed room, one can sense the imaginary lightbulbs brightening over each student’s head. The simple supplies - large Popsicle sticks, brads, pencils, tape, rubber bands - gave way to a flapping dragonfly, a scissoring human, a tiny vacuum, and more creations. Jay was very encouraging of the designs and work. Each student was so well engaged and demonstrated their unwitting ability to be playful engineers. Teachers were also surprised by their own investment in the tasks. One even exclaimed, “We've almost used an hour already?”
As an “all in” activity, students and teachers alike were fashioning, folding, collapsing, spinning, and becoming. In those moments, they believed in themselves and their creation based in engineering. Thanks to Jay, and the cultural councils, for offering the opportunity to get lost in STEM-based projects.
Hawlemont Students Plants Trees for Shade, Fruit and to Enhance the Soil
On Tuesday, June 4, students, teachers, and volunteers at Hawlemont Elementary School planted about 25 trees that included fruit trees, shade trees in the pasture for the school’s animals, and other native trees that are good for the soil.
Kate Conlin from the Woodlands Partnership of Northwest Massachusetts led the effort that is part of a grant-funded tree planting riparian restoration initiative through US Forest Service funding. Charlemont and Hawley are members of the partnership established in 2018 as state law called the Mohawk Trail Woodlands Partnership.
Also underway is an additional grant application for an initiative that aims to support the removal of Japanese Knotweed that has grown up in the Hawlemont outdoor classroom.
Published Poets in our Midst
Students in Sanderson’s fourth grade class have become published authors following a labor of love led by Mrs. Upright and Mrs. Lagoy.
Mrs. Upright kicked off the poetry unit by reading Love that Dog to the students, in which the character Jack reads poetry and writes his own, just like Ms. Upright and Mrs. Lagoy asked of their students.
They learned that poetry may take many forms, and that the content may be silly, contemplative, can rhyme or tell a story. The book that was published with all of their works, demonstrates the breadth, depth, and commitment to this unit. It will also stand as a physical representation of the work they did together and the growth they experienced as writers.
Once the book was ready for distribution, the students hosted a Book Launch and Poetry Slam gathering in which each student shared a thoughtful message for Mrs. Upright who inspired much of their creativity and works. Guests were invited to attend, and were served homemade refreshments, listened to the students read their favorite poems, and could have their copy of the book of poems signed by the fourth grade authors.
Mrs. Lagoy gives credit to Mrs. Upright for bringing out the best in their students in this project. It is one no one will soon forget - especially having finished the unit with a book to walk away that enables them to revisit the strong connections they made.
Many other schools in the region have looked at a program like Yondr as a solution to combat excessive phone use in schools. As an alternative, we developed our own pilot program earlier this year which intends to support students with appropriate phone use during the school day.
As a result of the pilot which has been in place in grades 7 and 8 during S2, we have seen a reduction in behavior referrals and issues between Middle school students in school in relation to social media usage. Consequently, for the school year 24/25, we are going to extend this pilot into high school in order to maximize student and staff time on learning, free of digital distraction.
We hope that this pilot provides a supported approach for grades 7-12 to use their phones in a responsible way whilst also removing technological distraction from the learning environment.
We will include a specific section on the phone pilot as part of the student, staff and family feedback surveys during 2024/25.
Short version
- Phones and earbuds should be off and away from 7:45-2:20 each day for all students in grades 7-12
- Grades 9-12 will be allowed to use phones at lunch time only. Grade 7 and 8 will remain unable to use phones during breaks or lunch
- No phone use will be permitted during transitions
- Caregivers can communicate with their student by calling the office. Students are permitted to call home by using the phone in the front office.
Progressive discipline
- All students will be provided a verbal warning about having a phone and earbuds out at the start of the school year.
- Phone out second time - Teacher to take the phone for the remainder of the lesson. Phone is returned at the end of the class. Teacher makes a behavior referral, "phone infraction."
- Phone out third time, administration is called and the student phone is kept at the front office until the end of the day. The student can collect the phone at the end of the day and the parent/ caregiver is notified.
- A further infraction will result in the phone being taken to the office and the parent/ caregiver being required to come into school to speak with admin and pick up the phone. The student will go onto a phone plan for 10 school days; dropping off their phone in the front office at the start of the day and collecting it from the office at the end of the day.
- An additional infraction after successfully completing a phone plan will result in the student being unable to have a phone in their possession for the remainder of the current grading period.
Student Services Update
Also don't forget to be checking the Senior Scholarship Bulletin.
Students and parents, please reach out with any specific questions - happy to help! Mrs. Cairney acariney@mtrsd.org Students to book an appt visit: https://acairney.youcanbook.me/
Bus Schedules and Questions
Please make sure that you check the Bus routes on district site. Care providers can call Dawn at the bus company on 413-489-3195 at ext 3304 or call the school and ask to speak to Robin Pease.
We want to hear your voice!
Local Education Council (LEC)
This meets virtually every second Wednesday of the month between 3:45 and 4:30pm. More information can be found here. The next meeting will take place on June 12th.
The virtual joining information is as follows:
Meeting ID
Phone Numbers
(US)+1 813-435-9650
PIN: 741 012 215#
Special Education Updates
Mohawk Trail SEPAC Member and Parent
Join us for the Caregiver Workshop to:
* understand DESE's new IEP Process
* become familiar with the new forms
* learn to navigate the new processes
Follow the link to the virtual session on May 20 here:
https://collaborative.zoom.us/j/84763305906#success
Do you have a question about your child, their services, or resources specific to your needs? If you or someone you know would like to be added to the private list and receive emails and event notifications, please send an email to: MOHAWKSEPAC@gmail.com Please indicate your email, title (such as parent of a student with IEP/504), District, Interested Party or other)
Disclosure: SEPAC maintains the list of contacts and keeps the information private. This email is maintained by a parent and volunteer. Our goal is to respond in a timely manner. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
Special Education Contact Information
Person
Role
Contact Information
Leann Loomis
Director of Pupil Personnel Services
413-625-0192 x1025
Melissa Plesnar
Assistant to Director of Pupil Personnel Services
413-625-0192 x1015
Erin Beaudet
7-12 Liaison
413-625-9811 x1314
Carolyn Goodnow
1-6 Liaison
Mohawk Trail District
413-625-2521
Kate Dwyer
1-6 Liaison
Hawlemont District
413-339-8316
Amy Socquet
Early Childhood Coordinator and Liaison
413-625-6194
About Mohawk Trail SEPAC
The Special Education Parent Advisory Council is an advisory group led by parents within our community. We are looking to support each other and help the school district to better serve its students. The SEPAC is open to all caregivers within the district with an IEP or 504 plan, and to interested members of the community. Please reach out to us to learn more!
SEPAC meetings
We meet monthly via Zoom.
We welcome caregivers, staff, and interested members of the community to learn about SEPAC and meet local families. The public meeting will be followed by a private caregiver support discussion.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81146390541?pwd=cGVyR0hFelYrTWhTZ2pzK0kwWnBWQT09
Meeting ID: 811 4639 0541
Passcode: 453118
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,81146390541# US (Chicago)
+16468769923,,81146390541# US (New York)
Email us to learn more: mohawksepac@gmail.com
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MohawktrailSEPAC
Chris Buckland
Email: cbuckland@mtrsd.org
Website: www.mtrs.mohawktrailschools.org
Phone: 413-625-9811
Facebook: facebook.com/mohawktrailregional