Natick Redhawks

Hello Natick High School Caregivers!

It was so wonderful to meet and connect with so many of you at Open House on Wednesday night. I heard from many of you how upbeat the school felt and how excited you were about the instruction your students were receiving. This is what we strive for each and every day at Natick High School, and I was thrilled to hear the positive stories about how your students are experiencing their education.

I also wanted to share that, as the violence continues in the Middle East, I have been proud of our students' response. While many of them have questions and some are strongly impacted personally, they have treated each other with dignity and respect. As a school, this civil discourse is what we hope to see, and it allows us to support each student with what they need. As always, please reach out to your student's dean/vice-principal and/or guidance counselor if you have concerns about your student.

Lastly, as we embark on the last week of the term, I encourage you to review each class in PowerSchool with your student. Are there tests that your student could retake to show increased mastery? Are there assignments that are missing, but could still be counted for a grade? Are there assessments that your student still has questions about? The end of the term provides an opportunity for students to pause and reflect on their work and efforts so far. We are encouraging all of them to finish strong!

I appreciate your partnership and wish you a great weekend.

All My Best,

Josepha Blocker

Principal, Natick High School

As is tradition the Senior Class is welcome to dress up this Halloween, (and for the other grades to come in regular dress.) Please see this letter that was emailed to everyone last week with reminders of the expectations for the day.

On November 6th & 7th, students in grades 9-12 will be taking an online survey. Here is the letter that was sent out last Friday with more information.

Each week our Guidance Department updates their page with important grade-specific information, including:

• Information for all grades on College and Career Readiness
• Information on specifics for post-secondary planning and other school details.

We recommend that you attend this session if you have a student who may apply for financial aid for college during the 2024-2025 school year, even if you have been through the college financial aid process before. There will be significant differences in the FAFSA process beginning in the 2024-2025 cycle, the next academic year. These changes also extend to the formula for determining financial aid eligibility. We recommend that all families embarking on the financial aid process attend the first portion of this session to be prepared for the changes ahead. The first portion of the presentation will contain information on the aforementioned changes. The second portion of the presentation will explain the types of funding available, how eligibility is determined, and how to think about which college is offering the most affordable option. So, any families who have been through the process before may find the first portion to be new and the second portion to be a review.

The NHS Math Team placed 2nd out of 35 school teams in the 23rd Annual WPI Invitational Mathematics Meet. What an awesome achievement for our team and those who participated, including Seniors Liam Quilty, Ryan Fernandes and Rahul Tacke, and Sophomore Grace Zhang. In particular, Rahul Tacke distinguished himself as the participant with the 2nd highest individual score our of more than 140 students who competed.

Congratulations to Liam, Ryan, Rahul and Grace, and to Coaches Jay Pillai and Ratty Amaravadi!

Congratulations to the five Natick High School singers who have been accepted to the All-Eastern Honor Choirs! These students were selected from a competitive pool of the top singers from across the Eastern United States. They will represent NHS at the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Conference in Providence in late February.

Joshvin Thomas '27

Sammy Rennie '25

Evan Hyman '25

Sofia Zay '24

Shannon Flynn '24

Image/Text Description: National Drug Take Back Initiative on 10/28 at the Natick Police Department (rear of the building) from 10am-2pm.

Event link: https://www.dea.gov/takebackday

Food delivery to students from outside private vendors during school hours or during school sponsored after-school activities will not be permitted on school grounds. Please note that this does not apply to faculty/staff ordering food for teams/clubs after school for students. Only faculty/staff members will be allowed to interact with delivery personnel.

Fall Sports Schedule: https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=15622

2023-2024 Winter Sports Registration. Registration is now open!!

Deadline for Registration is November 13th, 2023. Payment deadline is November 14th, 2023. If payment is made after Nov. 14th a $25 late will be added.

Check out our clubs list! Students are invited to speak to their guidance counselors if they aren't sure which clubs they want to try. There is something for everyone.

The class advisors and class officers are busy planning important events for your class. However, in order to begin securing locations and vendors, we need each student to pay their class dues. Class dues are a $100 payment that each student is required to pay before they graduate. These dues help cover expenses and lower the cost of admission for events such as the Senior Prom.

Students should bring a check, made out to the Class of (the year they are expected to graduate), for $100 and deliver it to one of their class advisors. Class Advisors are:

Class of 2024: Anthony Cuoco - ancuoco@natickps.org & Danny Joseph - djoseph@natickps.org

Class of 2025: Neil Donohue - ndonohue@natickps.org & Brenna Keefe - bkeefe@natickps.org

Class of 2026: Emily Cunningham - ecunningham@natickps.org & Becky Tramontozzi - rtramontozzi@natickps.org

Class of 2027: Deanne Kanavas-DeRocher - dkanavas-derocher@natickps.org & Jim Brosnihan - jbrosnihan@natickps.org

Financial support is available for those who qualify. Please reach out to your class advisor with any questions.

All Natick High School students have access Paper Tutoring, which offers 24-hour online support to students in the form of live, one-to-one sessions with knowledgeable tutors. Paper also offers feedback on written submissions. Students can log in to paper using at app.paper.co/login/students. There are also online info sessions available for parents and guardians if you would like to learn more.

Parents/Guardians of Grade 9 and Grade 10 Students: Please read the Mandated Screening Letter. This is important to read, as there is an opt out date to respond by if you don't want your student(s) to participate.

Parents/Guardians of Grade 11 and Grade 12 Students: if your student is age 16 or over, per Massachusetts State requirements, the Health Office must have documentation of your student's Meningococcal Conjugate (MenACWY) vaccination on file. If you have already provided documentation (i.e. included in a recent physical), please disregard. This documentation may be emailed to highschoolnurses@natickps.org or faxed to 508-651-7167.

Additionally we would like to stress the importance of completing the online PowerSchool Emergency Forms for your student(s). These must be completed each school year. The nurses use these forms to access important health information and contact numbers. These forms also include permission to administer Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen; please note that these medications will not be given without a signature from a parent/guardian.

Thank you,

Your NHS Nurses,

Nicole Marcinkiewicz, RN, Carrie Harding, RN, Kelly Keene, RN

Juniors and Seniors are permitted to park on campus, with a parking permit decal displayed on their vehicles, in the following locations:

• Seniors are permitted to park in the Memorial Football Lot or the Mahan Baseball Field Lot.
• Juniors are permitted to park only in the Mahan Baseball Field lot.
• No students are permitted to park in the Faculty or Visitor lots without individual approval from administration.
• Students may NOT make their own spots by parking in unlined areas. This creates potential safety issues.
• Students who do not abide by the school parking rules risk disciplinary action including detention, loss of priv. and/or loss of parking privileges.

Obtaining a Parking Permit

To obtain a parking permit, students must register their cars. Students may also obtain a parking permit in the Main Office during school hours.

Students must bring photocopies of the following to obtain a permit:

• A copy of their driver's license*
• A copy of the car's registration*
• This form filled out an signed by a parent/guardian and the student
• $200 - Cash or check accepted. (Checks should be made out to Natick Public Schools.)

* Please note that we will be KEEPING these photocopies for our records.

Parking permits are distributed on a first-come-first-served basis.

SECTION 8025 OF THE EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT (ESSA), a federal law, permits parents to submit a written request to the school and/or school district prohibiting the disclosure of their child's information, including their child's name, address, and telephone number, to any United States military recruiter without prior written consent. A child's name can be removed from these lists by filling out the Military Exempt Form and returning it to the Guidance Department.

Governor Maura Healy's Office decided to institute free breakfast and lunch for all pubic school students in Massachusetts.

In the NHS Dining Hall, you can pre-order your lunch so it is waiting for you when you arrive!

With Nutrislice, students can pre-order their lunches, so they are ready when they get to lunch. Just order through this link by 9:30 a.m. each day, and lunch will be ready to pick up in the far left line near the salad and sandwich area. Students' names will be on the receipt attached to their orders. Just grab and go!

The Yearbook would like to share some information with you here. On their site, you can:

• Purchase a Yearbook
• Find information on Senior Photos and Senior Quotes.
• Buy an ad in this Yearbook and more!
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For all questions on Yearbooks and ordering school pictures, please email the Yearbook at nhsyearbook@natickps.org or contact Jonathan Fleming at jfleming@natickps.org, the staff Yearbook Advisor.

If your NHS student will be absent, please call the absence line at 508-647-6601 before 10 am on the day of your student's absence. Please note that if we do not receive the necessary call from you, you will receive a call from us! Please see the handbook for other attendance related information regarding excused absences.

Thank you to our PTSO for their ongoing support to our students and faculty. Our PTSO is looking for more volunteers to assist them with their work for the school year. You can learn more about the NHS PTSO, and how to get involved by visiting their website. Thank you in advance for your help!

You can subscribe to their monthly newsletter at the top of their webpage.

PTSO Website and Information

Reminder If you want to volunteer in schools, you must have a CORI check conducted and you must go into the building with identification (drivers license or passport) to do this. Click here for description of what a CORI check is and does. Without a CORI check, you cannot volunteer in the school. Here is the form to fill out for a CORI.

Natick Public Schools does not discriminate in employment nor its educational programs, services, and activities based on race, creed, color, age, sex, gender identity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, physical and intellectual differences, immigration status, homeless status, or any other basis prohibited by law. Please be aware all electronic communication to and from Natick Public Schools is public record and subject to public disclosure per Massachusetts General Law Chapter 66, Section 10.

• Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990
• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
• MGL, Ch.76, Section 5: Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 76, Section 5