Good afternoon Woolie families,

Welcome to Summer vacation! I hope that the start of the summer has been a smooth transition for you and your families! I can share that as we officially close out the 2023-2024 school year, we already have our eyes set on the start of the 2024-2025 school year and are eager to have our students and staff back in the half of the junior-senior high school!

As with the previous first of the summer community newsletters, please find some of the pertinent logistics to help with the transition to our summer months! As the summer progresses, you can expect additional newsletters that will provide an overview of all that is to come as we continue preparations for the upcoming school year!

Again, as I have said in the past, we genuinely cannot thank you all enough for your continued support of all that we are doing here at the Junior-Senior High School. We pride ourselves on continuing to have so many amazing things taking place for our students and families.

Sincerely,

Chris Lowe

• Student Spotlight
• Campus Update
• Housekeeping/Reminders
• From the School Counseling Department
• Our Schedule for the Month
• Previously Shared
  
• Looking Ahead
• Woolie Gear

Congratulations to the Class of 2024

As always, I would like to share an image of our most current Graduates.

This image defines success, dedication, and hard work. It symbolizes the collaborative efforts of so many individuals that have come together to ensure that our students, your children, achieve the goal that they set out to accomplish on their first day of kindergarten. It motivates me as an educator to provide the necessary supports and structures so that all of our students get to experience what graduation looks and feels like, as it is an experience that they will carry with themselves for the rest of their lives.

Congratulations to the Class of 2024 on their success and thank you to everyone that supported making their dream a reality!

It is with great enthusiasm that I get to send out our first summer update for the 2024-2025 school year to our Woolie families and community members.

This school year kicks off on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, and the planning, excitement, and anticipation for the upcoming school year is in full effect within the walls of Millbury Memorial Junior-Senior High School (MMJSHS). We pride ourselves on our Woolie students being provided with an environment that promotes inclusivity and active participation through a variety of co-curricular activities and leadership opportunities throughout the school year.

We feel as though these opportunities, in addition to the rigorous and robust academic selection that we offer, creates the foundation for our students to grow socially, academically, and emotionally. At MMJSHS we are rooted in our core values and beliefs: Academic Curiosity and Growth, Citizenship, Independent, Lifelong Learners, and Respect and Responsibility. These core values and beliefs, in addition to Woolie Pride, are embedded in our day-to-day activities throughout the school and are at the forefront when making decisions that impact student success.

Please do not hesitate to contact the administration, a counselor, or our teachers with questions, comments, or concerns. Two-way communication is crucially important to the success of our students.

In closing, I look forward to an amazing school year that is filled with memories that will last a lifetime.

Warm regards,

Chris Lowe

For our newest members of the Woolie community at the Junior-Senior High School, we would like to welcome you all. As with all buildings within our District, we pride ourselves on our Woolie students being provided with an environment that promotes equity, inclusivity, and active participation through a variety of co-curricular activities and leadership opportunities throughout the school year. We feel as though these opportunities, in addition to the rigorous and robust academic selection that we offer, create the foundation for our students to grow socially, academically, and emotionally.

At MMJSHS we are rooted in our core values and beliefs: Academic Curiosity and Growth, Citizenship, Independent, Lifelong Learners, and Respect and Responsibility. These core values and beliefs, in addition to Woolie Pride, are embedded in our day-to-day activities throughout the school and are at the forefront when making decisions that impact student success.

Please do not hesitate to contact the administration, a counselor, or our teachers with questions, comments, or concerns. Two-way communication is crucially important to the success of our students.

We welcome several new faces to our Jr./Sr. High School staff. Please join me in welcoming the following individuals:

Christian Santana - World Language Teacher (Spanish)

Jill Petkewich - School Psychologist

Victor Colon - Student Engagement Coordinator

TBD - Science Teacher (Junior High)

Additionally, some of our current Woolie staff have changed roles for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year:

Brea Dell'Aquila - SHINE Program Coordinator - Former ABA/RBT Tech within the STAR/SHINE program

Below you will find the visual for our Master Schedule for the 2024-2025 school year.

Below are the additional schedules that we use:

Below you will find the most recent version of the 2024-2025 school year calendar.

Hello from the Guidance Department,

We hope you have been enjoying your summer! For our newest students and families, students will meet 6 periods a day and 1 class is dropped. If your child is a current student of Millbury Memorial Jr./Sr. High School, they should be able to use their Aspen login to access their schedule. If your child is new to MMJSHS (including 7th-grade students), please request a Parent login through Brittany Quinones in the guidance office by using the Google form on the Student and Families tab on the High School website. Students will get their Aspen login as well as other important school-specific information in the first week of school.

Students will be able to request changes via email or they can make an appointment starting the week of August 19, 2024, with their individual counselor, our guidance department administrative assistant, when guidance counselors return to school. Per usual, we will not be making appointments on Monday, the 19th, as it is our first day back and we have pre-scheduled meetings for the duration of the day. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will be prioritizing any student who has an empty spot in their schedule, as well as students that are new to the district.

Any student who has a full schedule but would like to change their courses can make appointments for Thursday and Friday. Please do not come to the school without an appointment, as our space and availability will be extremely limited.

Please see the chart below to see who your child’s counselor is for the school year.

The direct line to the Guidance Department is (508) 865-5843. Counselor emails addresses are:

Ashlee Cabral - acabral@millburyschools.org

Taryn Holman - tholman@millburyschools.org

Maryellen Courtney - mcourtney@millburyschools.org

Heidi Desautels - hdesautels@millburyschools.org

Stephanie DeLucia - sdelucia@millburyschools.org

Luis Gomba - lgomba@millburyschools.org

Karen Ciullo - kciullo@millburyschools.org

Brittany Quinones- bquinones@millburyschools.org

We will work to return calls and emails as efficiently as possible. As always, thank you so much for your understanding. We can’t wait to see you!

The Guidance Department

Please see the school counselor caseload document for the upcoming school year:

Final Report Cards for the 2023-2024 school year were mailed the week of June 17.

Honor Roll for the 4th quarter was shared with the Millbury Sutton Chronicle the week of June 17. They tend to post honor roll shortly after receiving our information. Please be on the lookout for that information.

Mrs. Brittany Quinones, our guidance office administrative assistant, will be available on the following Mondays during the summer months to assist with guidance-related requests:

• July 1
• July 15
• July 29
• August 12

If you have questions, please email her directly at bquinones@millburyschools.org

Guidance Staff Returns the week of August 19

Students can schedule appointments with their counselors starting on August 19 - August 23.

Mrs. Mulligan, our school registrar, will be handling registrations and withdrawals on Wednesdays during the summer months.

The Add/Drop period for First Semester ends on September 6. Any student looking to adjust their schedule must do so prior to the end of the day on September 6.

**Please note that this does not apply to any AP course, as our students were provided with a separate add/drop window for these courses. This AP window expires on July 10th, 2024. This information was shared out prior to the conclusion of the 2024-2025 school year and was specifically referenced in our AP contracts which students and parents/guardians signed to allow access to the courses.

Our AP summer coursework has been shared with all of our AP students prior to the conclusion of the 2023-2024 school year.

All AP summer work should be completed prior to the 2024-2025 school year.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our AP Coordinator, Mrs. Sarah Comeau, at scomeau@millburyschools.org.

As outlined in the AP Contract that was signed by students and families, any student looking to drop an AP course that they are currently registered for must do so in writing to our AP Coordinator, Mrs. Sarah Comeau, by July 10.

No AP courses will be able to be dropped after this date. For more information, please view a copy of your AP contract or reach out to Mrs. Comeau directly at scomeau@millburyschools.org.

Please see the information related to our Summer Reading for the 2024-2025 school year.

Our freshmen orientation will be taking place on August 5. In the upcoming days/weeks, our freshmen class advisors will be connecting with the class via student email to present more information regarding the event.

Students who have their license and car registration may purchase a parking sticker with Mrs. McGilloway in the main office beginning at 8:00 am and ending at 11:00 am on August 12 - August 16.

Cash or check payable to Millbury High School is accepted. The cost of a parking sticker is $100.00 for the year. Students must bring their ID and Registration to complete the parking permit process.

Students must have an MHS parking permit to park on school grounds. Please see the student handbook for information regarding student parking at MMJSHS. These permits must be visible on either their front or rear windshields.

Students who park on campus without a permit, will face a loss of social privilege as a disciplinary measure.

Our annual Band Camp will be taking place August 12 - 16 on Campus at Millbury Junior-Senior High School.

Should you have any questions, please reach out to our Band Director, Mr. Jesse Dooley directly at jdooley@millburyschools.org.

Our annual student leadership conference will be taking place on August 21 @ 9:00 am. Participating students and their advisors will be emailed more information in the upcoming weeks.

The first day of school for Millbury Jr./Sr. High School students is Monday, August 28, 2024. Start time is 7:40 am at the Jr./Sr. High School. Students will be allowed access to the building at 7:20.

Upon entering the building, students should go directly to their first-period class for that specific day.

Students will be considered late for school if not in their first-period class by 7:40 am.

Our school photos will be taking place during the first week of school as done previously. We will be sharing out the finalized schedule in our next mailing.

Our Parent Conferences will be held from 6:00 - 8:00 pm on the following dates via Google Meet:

October 17, 2024

March 13, 2025

The dates for these events are selected in order to provide first and second-semester teachers an opportunity to meet with parents/guardians to allow for more in-depth conversations with teachers. More information on how to schedule a conference will be provided closer to the conference dates.

We will be sharing out additional information regarding these events as the dates approach.

Student schedules will be available to view on the Portal shortly. In addition to the portal availability, students will be receiving a copy of their schedule in the mail, as well as a copy on opening day. Student schedules are not available for viewing yet. We will send out a notice when the schedules go live.

Please contact your child’s guidance counselor with scheduling questions or concerns. Counselors will be in the office starting August 16th for the scheduling of appointments.

Stephanie DeLucia (Guidance Director) x6023 - sdelucia@millburyschools.org

Luis Gomba x6102 - lgomba@millburyschools.org

Heidi Desautels x6103 - hdesautels@millburyschools.org

MaryEllen Courtney (Jr. High) x5114 - mcourtney@millburyschools.org

Ashlee Cabral x6101 - acabral@millburyschools.org

Taryn Holman x6201 - tholman@millburyschools.org

Karen Ciullo x3102 - kortega@millburyschools.org

Brittany Quinones(Guidance Secretary) x6104 - bquinones@millburyschools.org

School progress reports and report cards during the year will be available to view on the parent portal. A hard copy of the report cards will be mailed home at the end of the school year. If you would like a hard copy of either report please contact Nikol Mulligan via phone or email (nmulligan@millburyschools.org). Your initial request will be in effect for the year.

Below you will find a brief overview of what the School Council is and represents. I encourage all stakeholders to participate in the School Council as it offers multiple perspectives into the happenings of a school building and community as well as shared responsibilities in progressing the school forward. If you are interested in participating on the school council, please send a letter of intent email to my administrative assistant, Mrs. Nikol Mulligan, at nmulligan@millburyschools.org.

School Council Overview

The Law:

A school council is a representative; school building-based committee composed of the principal, parents, teachers, community members and, at the secondary level, students, required to be established by each school pursuant to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71, Section 59C.

Council Membership:

The principal is responsible for establishing the membership of the School Council “pursuant to a representative process approved by the superintendent and school committee,” and to define the size and composition of the council. The following stipulations were considered when the junior-senior high school council was established:

1. Parents “have parity with professional personnel on the school councils.”

2. “Not more than 50% percent of the council shall be non-school members.” Non-school members” are defined as members who are “other than parents, teachers, students, and staff at the school.”

3. The membership of the school councils “should be broadly representative of the school building and community.”

As with each year, our school council works to make adjustments and modifications to the student handbook here at MMJSHS. Attached you will find a link to the 2024 - 2025 Student Handbook. This will be available on the school website as well.

As part of our opening week packet for students, there is an online sign-off sheet that is required to be signed by all parents/students.

• Opening Week Schedule
  
• Annual Sign-Off Documents
• School Photo Schedule
• Meet the Coaches Night Information
• 7th-Grade Supply List
• Class Advisors
• Bus Routes
• New Course Additions

During the 2021-2022 school year, we were fortunate to announce that the District would be outfitting all students at the Jr./Sr. High school with a school-issued Chromebook, officially making us a 1:1 school! This had been a process that we had been working towards throughout my tenure in the Millbury Public Schools. We were so happy to provide this opportunity to our students.

This addition of technology will help us shape our classrooms to become technology-enhanced and allow us to use a blended-learning approach that supports 21st-century learning expectations and styles.

Students are expected to bring their devices with them daily to the school. Devices must be charged and ready to use at the request of the classroom teacher. Each classroom will be outfitted with charging stations, so students should keep their individual chargers home as to not potentially lose it during the day.

Students who choose to use a non-school-issued device will still need to use the school-issued device for days in which they are participating in the Statewide MCAS testing.

It is important to take care of this device and treat it in the same manner that you would a textbook as these devices will be turned back into the District at the completion of your child's senior year.

With the addition of this technology upgrade, we have outlined our new Responsible Use Policy (RUP) in our student handbook (page 7). This RUP is aligned district-wide and is differentiated to support the needs at each of the three buildings in district.

As part of our core values and beliefs, we feel as though the RUP supports our efforts to promote digital citizenship as a primary responsibility of what we do here at MMJSHS.

PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW OUR ATHLETICS CALENDAR.

Check out the link to our online store where you can get some great Woolie Gear. This store is open 24/7!

Be on the lookout for more gear that will be available during the year through fundraisers and extra-curriculars!

Email: clowe@millburyschools.org
Website: https://hs.millburyschools.org
Location: 12 Martin Street, Millbury, MA, USA
Phone: 508.865.5841
Facebook: facebook.com/mjshswoolies
Twitter: @clowe_millbury

The Millbury Public Schools ensures equal employment and educational opportunities for its employees and students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex or sexual orientation, gender identity (M.G.L. c. 151B and 151C, Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX), or on the basis of disability (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973/ADA) or homelessness. In addition, the Millbury Public Schools does not discriminate against its employees on the basis of age (M.G.L. 151B/ADEA) on the basis of veteran's status, or genetic information.