Good Evening Caregivers & Students:
It was fantastic to welcome our students to full in-person learning this week. After so many months, it is great to see our students working and learning all across our campus. It has been a very busy week! In addition to welcoming our students back on Wednesday, spring athletics began, and Chris Herren was at school to speak to students in Grade 10 and 12 about the dangers of addiction. We also celebrated our bus drivers with a breakfast, had a signing day for a student-athlete, several students participated in the SkillsUSA state competition, two FFA members became state officers, and we hosted a visit from Governor Baker, Lt. Governor Polito, and several members of the Governor’s cabinet. Governor Baker toured Essex Tech before announcing that he has allocated $2.1 million to expand career and technical education opportunities at 10 vocational schools, including ours.
Here is a quick preview of the schedule for this coming week.
| Monday, May 3 | Day 9: Green |
| Tuesday, May 4 | Day 10: Green |
| Wednesday, May 5 | Day 1: Blue
8:45 am Late Start for Students |
| Thursday, May 6 | Day 2: Blue |
| Friday, May 7 | Day 3: Blue |
MCAS Update for the Class of 2022
On May 19th, 20th, 21st, juniors interested in qualifying for the Adams Scholarship will take the Legacy MCAS English Language Arts Test. On May 26th and 27th, juniors will take the Legacy MCAS Mathematics Test. Both tests are computer-based. Please note that these MCAS tests are optional for juniors who do not need to pass the MCAS test to receive their high school diploma. We ask that juniors who wish to take the MCAS test this May, please complete this Class of 2022 MCAS registration form. This form was sent directly to caregivers last week. Any junior who is not registered by Monday, May 3rd, will not be able to take the MCAS this spring. Juniors, who do not test this spring, but still want to be considered for the Adams Scholarship will have the option to take the MCAS test in the fall of 2021. If you have already completed the registration form, there is no need to do it again. Keep in mind that juniors are only allowed one opportunity to take the MCAS tests to qualify for the Adams Scholarship.
2021-2022 Calendar
Here is the DRAFT calendar for the 2021-2022 school year. This calendar is going to the School Committee at the next meeting for approval and will then be available on the website. We did want to share it now, as many families have asked about the start of the 2021-22 school year.
Class of 2021
We ask for your patience as we try to determine the best options for Senior Week activities. Our goal is to have a memorable week to celebrate with seniors, while keeping everyone safe. Given the changes to some of the COVID restrictions that were released this week, we will meet with the Class of 2021 advisors again, to review our plans for Graduation and Senior Week. Please keep in mind that changes happen rapidly. You typically find out at the same time we do. It is important that you trust us to do what is in the best interest of our kids and learning community.
Lunches
Now that we have phased in the full return of students to in-person learning, we are experiencing some growing pains with lunch. At the start of the year, students were assigned to a particular lunch room and a particular seat. Many students were unhappy about this and asked us to revise this assigned seating process. In response to this, we have placed a QR code on each lunch desk or table, and have asked students to scan the code to record where they are seated. In addition, we are allowing students to choose the dining location of their choice. We have 6 locations available for lunch: Main Cafeteria, East dining, West dining, the gymnasium, outdoor tents, and the Media Center, this final location for lunches 1-3. Over the last few days, students have not been in appropriate areas and during lunch and many are not scanning the QR codes. We ask that all students remain in one of the 6 designated lunch areas. Students should not be visiting shops, classrooms, or any other areas of the building. We appreciate your cooperation.
Spring Integration Academy
We are super excited to announce our final Integration Academy for this school year. We are looking for students from any grade level to join our final Spring Integration Academy where students will work in teams to complete a SURVIVOR-like activity This will involve the Ropes Course on our South Campus that is behind Alumni Hall.
Time commitment for participating in the Spring Integration Academy requires students to meet in person after school and on Saturdays and we begin next week. Here are the dates and times: Tuesday, May 4th, Thursday, May 6th, Tuesday, Mary 11th, and Thursday, May 13th from 2:45-4:00 pm (the Late Bus is available for any student needing transportation). In addition, students will work in teams on Saturday, May 8th and May 15th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm with bus transportation available for any student to and from home.
If your student is interested, please complete the following Spring Integration Academy FORM by Tuesday, May 4th.
Social Media Presence
Over the past three years, we have worked to include all of the great work our students and staff are doing through a social media presence. Our pages on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are intended to bring positive messages. We have observed some negative comments, inappropriate messages from students, and even fake accounts. As a vocational school, we are preparing our students for high-paying career pathways. This includes how they behave and conduct themselves as representatives of our school community as well as on social media. While we recognize there are posts or messages that you/they may not agree with, we ask all students to conduct themselves in a professional manner. We teach our students that “you never know who is watching.” Also, there have been some fake accounts using our name or logo. If you come across this, we ask that you send them to us directly. We have started an investigation into who these individuals are and, if determined, we will be working with the Danvers Police Department on the next steps.
Fake Instagram Account Special Note:
There is one particular post on an Instagram page related to senior superlatives that is extremely concerning. We will not tolerate behaviors that are not reflective of our mission or that will hurt our students. Your kids are our kids. We are in this together, and we cannot allow a small group of individuals who think this may be funny or a joke to harm others and impact them for a lifetime. We appreciate any assistance you can provide us in determining who created the account or is managing the account. We did report it to Instagram.
COVID Dashboard
Here is the link to the ENSATS COVID Dashboard. This is updated at the close of every week. You can also find it on the Families page of our website in the COVID-19 section.
Activities: Week of May 3, 2021
Please review the following information about activities for the Week of May 3, 2021.
Sincerely,
Heidi T. Riccio, Ed.D., Superintendent-Director
Shannon B. Donnelly, M.A.T., Principal
Thomas O’Toole, Ed.D., Assistant Superintendent
Essex North Shore Agricultural & Technical School
565 Maple Street | Hathorne, MA 01937
(978) 304-4700 | EssexNorthShore.org
Find us on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Create | Encourage | Promote | Develop
Picture of the Week
Grade 9 Plumbing student, Victoria, from Gloucester with Lt. Governor Polito during the visit to the Plumbing program.
