Student and Family Update
3/26/21
Dear Students and Families,
As this week comes to a close, we are approaching the end of Trimester 2 for high school students. Trimester 3 begins on Monday, April 5. In preparation for this, any student in grades 9 - 12 doing remote learning, must come to school on Thursday, April 1st between 3:30-5:00 for materials distribution. If a student is coming in for hybrid learning, they can get their materials from their teachers.
In preparation for our next phase of the Return to Learn plan for full in-person learning at MTRS slated to begin after April break, we will be hosting a virtual town hall on Thursday, April 8 at 6:30 p.m. via our @mohawktrailregional Facebook page and simulcasting on our district’s Vimeo channel (www.vimeo.com/mtrsd). During this town hall, we’ll share our school’s safety protocols, daily schedule, and answer questions (stay tuned for our advance question form!). We’ll also share information for those families with students that will remain remote for the remainder of the year. We look forward to seeing you at the town hall!
Wednesday, March 24 is a full day of school. Below is the schedule:
Trailblazer Model Spotlight
The Mohawk Trail Regional School's Trailblazer Model has several key areas which impact student experiences both directly and indirectly--from innovative, hands-on collaborative learning; co-teaching and our advisory program; to putting our educators in the driver's seat for decision-making at the school through a distributive leadership model!
What is distributive leadership?
It's a fundamental shift in how we think about leading change in our school--allowing our educators the space to create change; lead; and collaboratively have their voices heard regarding school policies, programs, and initiatives.
As a result, the school has several working groups that oversee key pieces of the Trailblazer model including an advisory task force, equity task force, instructional leadership team, portfolio task force, and Mass IDEAS team. In addition to these internal work-groups, the school offers several workgroup opportunities for school staff, students, families, and community member involvement including a community equity group, principal's advisory cabinet, schedule committee, and trailblazer community group.
What do staff think about distributive leadership?
Recent staff surveys at MTRS indicated that approximately 87% of respondents felt the distributive leadership model helped educators to feel "empowered to make changes at our school."
"I feel a strong sense of ownership over what's happening at the school and I believe that many of my colleagues are equal contributors to the school that we're trying to create."
--Classroom teacher & task force participant
How does this impact MTRS students?
Providing our educators, students, and community with the opportunity to create change is powerful! And listening to our educators and students' needs is important. The distributive leadership model allows MTRS to deliver instruction and programming that is valuable and relevant. Our students directly benefit from the collaborative efforts by our stakeholders who continually push our school forward. Listening to our workgroups, programs like the new advisory model at MTRS this year are a direct result of initiatives that are put forward, thoughtfully planned, and implemented to benefit our students.
Last fall, MTRS was showcased by Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) for our distributive leadership work. Read the article HERE. The MTRS Mass IDEAS team also led a virtual convening last month for the other Mass IDEAS grant recipients across the state focused specifically on distributive leadership. The school has been highlighted for their work with distributive leadership and its impact on school culture.
Nurse’s Office Update
Please click here for information on BinaxNOW COVID-19 antigen testing in school.
This testing will provide our students, staff, and schools with an additional layer of safety during the pandemic. BinaxNOW testing is an opt-in program which allows school nurses to conduct on-site rapid COVID-19 testing on students or staff who become symptomatic while at school. It's a quick, easy way for staff to determine if they are handling a COVID-19 case OR a routine cold/allergy/illness/etc. Important to note: If your child is NOT feeling well, please do not send them to school for testing. As part of our FAB FOUR, you know that staying home when you are unwell is one of our major mitigation strategies in keeping our school community healthy and safe. Additionally, BinaxNOW testing is reserved only for those who become ill while at school.
Youth Baseball Information For Middle School Students
The West County Mantle and Koufax baseball summer leagues are looking for players! If you are interested in playing this summer, please email Bob Hinds: rohinds@rcn.com The league coaches are trying to get an idea as to numbers and how they can coordinate with the Little League players/coaches. Thank you for reaching out to Bob!
Library News
Click here for the March edition of the Student Newsletter!
International Student Trip to Spain and Italy - Summer 2023
Have you ever wanted to travel abroad? Interested in seeing Spain and Italy? Mrs. Camarda will be hosting a student trip to Spain and Italy in June of 2023! Please read this flyer for more information and contact Mrs. Camarda at lcamarda@mtrsd.org with any questions.
Athletics Update
The Fall II sports season is underway. Congrats to our Volleyball team picking up wins in their first two games of the season this past week! We will be live streaming our next home game Wednesday March 31 vs Athol at 4:00 PM. Please click this link to our VIMEO page for access! This coming week our indoor track teams will travel to Hampshire Regional for their first meet of the Fall II season, and our soccer team will open its season as well with games scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday!
Tonight our coop football team with Greenfield High School will travel to Mahar for a 6:00 Game Time. Follow this link to check out the live stream! http://www.aotv13.org/on-air-schedule/
Please be on the lookout...in next week's newsletter we will be posting a link to register for Spring Sports which are scheduled to begin on April 26! For more information reach out to Athletic Director Vouros gvouros@mtrsd.org
Yearbook
Yearbooks are a very special way to hold on to your high school memories for the rest of your life. Visit MTRS's yearbook page for more information on how to order your 2020-2021 yearbook. Seniors: Please be sure to send your senior photo and at least 3 other photos to ewillis@mtrsd.org. For more information for seniors, go here.
District Updates
A reminder as we continue to move through these next phases in the district’s Return to Learn plans (full in-person return), if you have not yet indicated how your child/ren will attend school for the remainder of the year (in-person or remote), please be in touch with your principal immediately. It’s important for us to have an accurate count for our full in-person return planning.
Please also remember you can find regular updates, including our weekly COVID-19 data dashboard, on our district’s COVID-19 Information page, www.mtrsd.org/covid-19-information. Visit the district’s website for links to the superintendent’s newsletters (released each Friday), recent press releases, and more!
Marisa