News From the Nest!

Dear Ashley High School Families,

Great things are going on at Ashley High School! We've nominated our Teacher of the Year, Ms. Penegar, who teaches our 3D Modeling, Animation, Game Art and Design, as well as a plethora of other responsibilities. Thank you, Ms. Penegar, for representing our school with our district. She and other amazing teachers may be available during our upcoming Rising Freshman Night.

Aside from our teachers, we also have the best counselors in the county, who are working hard on schedules for students, including registration for next year (see the notes below about that). Please join me in thanking and celebrating our incredible School Counselors this week for National School Counselors Week!

Our athletic teams are in full force and we would love more folks to come out and support our final games for our Basketball teams, which conclude this week.

Congratulations to our awesome Wrestling Team and the AHS Swim Team as they finish out their season! The Swim Team Men finished 3rd and Women finished in 8th place at their Regional Swim Meet this past weekend!! Gooooo Eagles!! Good luck as they travel to the State Competition Meet this week!

As always, if you need anything, give us a shout!

Wings Up, Go Eagles!

Michael Perez, principal

MONDAY-3: AHS Booster Club Meeting 6pm

TUESDAY-4: Basketball at West Brunswick

WEDNESDAY-5: 2025-2026 Course Registration Begins

Basketball Home vs North Brunswick (5, 6, 7pm)

Rising Freshman Night 5:30-7pm (current 8th graders)

THURSDAY-6: School Improvement Team Meeting 3:45pm

State Swim at Cary, NC 9am

National Honor Society Inductions 6pm MEAC

Senior Class Final Semester Bonfire 7-8:30pm (scoreboard end of stadium)

FRIDAY-7: Basketball at Hoggard

SATURDAY-8: Region Women’s Wrestling at Havelock

Looking ahead: February 10-February 14

MONDAY-10: Teacher Workday. No School for Students.

TUESDAY-11: Ashley elective visit to Myrtle Grove MS

Basketball (Home) vs Topsail 4p, 5p, 6:15p 7:30p

PTSA webinar (see below)

WEDNESDAY-12: PTSA Board Meeting 5:30pm

THURSDAY-13: Basketball at North Brunswick

FRIDAY-14: Happy Valentines Day

(Please do not have items delivered to school as we do not have the personnel nor space to accommodate deliveries for students).

2025-26 Course Registration begins this week! 9th-11th grade students were given a yellow information sheet about course registration for the 2025-26 school year this week during homeroom. The same sheet is attached here in case you haven't seen it yet, and it will be posted on the Student Services website under Course Registration as well. It's important that students choose their courses carefully so that we build a master schedule that best allows us to provide what they want. This helps minimize holes in schedules and the need for schedule changes, which cause stress and disruption to students and staff alike. Please look at your child's Xello Course Planner with them, use the resources provided in that program and on our website, and meet with their counselor if you have questions or want further advisement.

Check out what is happening each week in AHS Sports: https://ashley.nhcs.net/athletics/weekly-game-plan

Rising Freshman Night is coming up! Any family attending (with their current 8th grader) will also receive ONE FREE admission (one person) to enter the basketball game Vs. North Brunswick. This event starts at 5:30pm

Senior Ad deadline has been extended to January 31st-- if parents didn't get their ads for yearbook, they have until the end of the month to make, purchase and submit their ad through Jostens. Yearbooks are still available for purchase as well. All relevant links can be found on the yearbook homepage: https://sites.google.com/nhcs.net/ahsyearbook/home

Graduation is scheduled for June 7 at 9am in the Ashley High School Stadium.

ATTENDANCE MATTERS AND HAS A MAJOR IMPACT ON STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT.

CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM MAY RESULT IN LOSS OF CREDIT FOR COURSES.

PLEASE REVIEW THE NHCS BOARD POLICY 4400 REGARDING ATTENDANCE.

ADDITIONALLY, NCHSAA REGULATIONS STATE THAT STUDENTS WILL BE INELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN SPORTS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES IF THEY MISS MORE THAN 10 DAYS OF SCHOOL.

https://boardpolicyonline.com/bl/?b=hanover_county_new#&&hs=1046470

NC LABOR LAWS PROHIBIT EMPLOYERS FROM SCHEDULING STUDENTS TO WORK DURING SCHOOL HOURS. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BE CHECKED OUT EARLY FOR WORK.

Per New Hanover County Schools and Ashley High School policy, students may not leave campus during the day, including FLEX and lunch times, unless they attend CFCC, have a modified schedule, or are withdrawn by a parent. Ashley High School is not an open campus. Thank you for your attention to this important safety issue.

Please call or email our attendance clerk (lynda.williams@nhcs.net) if you need to verify attendance or provide written absence verification documentation.

Students who are in violation of the attendance policy, having accrued more than 10 unexcused absences, will be required to fill out an attendance review form. Once the review form is received and approved, grades /credits will be awarded. If the review form is not completed or is denied, additional steps will need to be taken to achieve course credit. If this is the case, one of our School Social Workers will be in touch with Students and Parents/guardians.

Classes begin promptly at 8:30 am daily. Please encourage students to be on time by being in class by 8:30 am. All of our school buses typically arrive by 8:25 am so the school bus is a great option to ensure timely arrival. Additionally, if a bus is late the tardy is excused.

As I stated in my letter above, and as per Dr. Barnes, the 2 snow days on 1/23 and 1/24 do not have to be made up due to time built into the schedule. Thank you for those extra 10 minutes we added to the end of the school day!

Ashley will continue to offer CFCC dual enrollment courses on our campus next year, including Small Motors/Outboard Systems (Fall), Electrical Apprenticeship (Year-long), and Aviation Ground School (Spring). Students must be current juniors or seniors in good standing to participate in dual enrollment. Students interested in these course should sign up using Xello during the registration period. Mrs. Pridgen, Career Development Coordinator, will send the next steps to apply/register in March. To learn more about these Programs, please follow these links:

Small Motors/Outboard Systems - 2 Credits, Fall

Electrical Apprenticeship - 2 Credits, Yearlong

Aviation Ground School - 1 Credit, Spring

Any additional questions, email Emilie Pridgen (emilie.pridgen@nhcs.net)

Follow this link https://linktr.ee/ashleyhighschoolptsa for all PTSA information. To become a PTSA member follow the link below to our Linktree page and click on "Memberships." Thank you for supporting your Ashley PTSA! Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram @ashleyhighptsa

Save the date!

It is critical to stay on top of what your kids are doing online and understand the risks they face. Join us on Tuesday, February 11th at 7pm for Family Tech Talk, a FREE ZOOM webinar and Q&A presented by an Internet safety expert from global cybersecurity leader Trend Micro. You’ll learn about the latest online scams targeting kids and teens, how AI is making these scams more convincing, tips to safeguard your family, and more. Also!! Be sure to sign in during the webinar for your chance to win a $50 Amazon gift card from Trend Micro. Eight attendees will win!

Zoom link to join: Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting

Need Ashley gear? Please see this link to order your customized Ashley High School Screaming Eagle attire!

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/north_carolina/wilmington/ashley-high-school

Device Care and Use.pdf

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ysdIc-nM9RvT1KOGQDlg7gCTChLscrCFo8Fo5s7SqDA/edit?usp=sharing

The 2025 Yearbook is active. All relevant links are on our yearbook landing page on the AHS website. Additionally, we have finally received extra copies of the 2024 yearbook. Please see our Treasurer if you would like a 2024 yearbook.

Click here for all the updates in the world of Academically and Intelligently Gifted:

https://secure.smore.com/n/1uq3n-ashley-high-school-aig-update?ref=email

Check out the https://ashley.nhcs.net/parents page for all things in school resources for parents. February 5th will be the day to sign up for Spring Driver's Ed classes and...we could use your holiday help! Look on the parents resource page for more info on that!

Please use this link to connect to the New Hanover County Schools Parents Bill of Rights: https://www.nhcs.net/parents/parent-bill-of-rights

Website: https://ashley.nhcs.net/

Location:555 Halyburton Memorial Parkway, Wilmington, NC 28412
Phone: (910) 790-2360