Milton High School Weekly Updates

IMPORTANT DATES

• Jan 21 MMEA All-State Auditions
• Jan 25 SEPAC Meeting
• Jan 25 School Committee Forum on Equity
• Jan 30 Term 2 Ends
• Feb 1 Early Release Day
• Feb 20 - Feb 24 February Recess

MHS Sophomore Reilly Bergin along with Senior Hokulani Panerio-Langer

and Pierce Middle School 8th grader and Project 351 Ambassador Adam Adam, attended the Project 351 Launch Day at Faneuil Hall. Project 351 is an independent nonprofit organization that builds a movement of youth-led service by engaging an unsung hero from each of Massachusetts' 351 cities and towns. United for a year of leadership and service, Ambassadors transform communities, elevate kindness, advance social justice, and gain the courage, compassion, and capabilities to lead change.

The launch day kicked off with a panel and then ambassadors from all 351 cities and towns in MA worked tirelessly to make hygiene and mental health kits, tie fleece blankets to keep the unhoused warm, and package food for the Pine Street Inn with their efforts impacting (a calculated) 6,152 lives on just the first day alone! We are very proud and thankful of Adam, Hoku, and Reilly for representing MPS!

ONE LAST PLUG for The Pierce Players!

Get your tickets to State Fair for Friday, January 20 at 7pm and Saturday, January 21 at 2pm in the Pierce auditorium. Tickets are on sale at this link.

Students from The Calculus Project spent the day at Northeastern University learning about STEM majors, exploring laboratories, and participating in activities related to engineering. Students enjoyed spending time on a college campus and working collaboratively with their peers.

MMEA Eastern Senior District Festival:

The MHS Music Department has been busy the past few weeks with workshops, festivals and preparing for auditions! On Friday January 6th and Saturday, January 7th, we had 10 MHS Music Students participate in the MMEA Eastern District Senior Festival at Boston Latin School. Students spent the entire day Friday and the morning on Saturday in rehearsals with renowned conductors preparing music for a concert Saturday afternoon. Students had the opportunity to work with students from over 30 other communities to prepare for this concert. Students selected to represent Milton High School were: Carle Bleau, Owen Creamer, Atticus D'Alessandro, Tim Fay, Isabelle Feloney, Lucy Hollingsworth-Hays, Lily Lane, Angel Leggett, Claudia O'Neill, and Julien Roberson. Congratulations to these students for their tremendous work preparing for this festival! A special shoutout to MHS Choral Director, Ms. Hanna, who served on the Eastern District Senior Festival committee as Chorus Manager!

All State Auditions:

Good Luck to our four MHS Music students who will be traveling to Shrewsbury High School this weekend to audition for the MMEA All State Festival Ensembles! MHS Students who have advanced to this round of auditions are: Atticus D'Alessandro, Tim Fay, Lucy Hollingsworth-Hays and Claudia O'Neill.

New England Brass Band Clinic:

Before Winter break, the MHS Concert Band was treated to a clinic with members of the New England Brass Band. This workshop included a performance from our very own MHS Brass Quintet where they received valuable feedback from Boston University Trumpet Professor and Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra member Terry Everson. Members of the NEBB demonstrated traditional brass instruments for students and held a robust question and answer session. The clinic culminated in a session with Alexis Smith from S.E. Shires, a brass instrument manufacturer that builds custom instruments. Ms. Smith took students through the fascinating process of how instruments are built and tailored to individual player's needs. Students were then able to test a variety of Shires instruments. This clinic was made possible through our Applied Lesson Program trumpet instructor Dr. Andrew Harms, who through his work with New England Brass Band, was able to secure a grant for this event. We are grateful to him for his work and bringing this outstanding experience to the MHS Band Students.

MHS School Counselor Scott Devlin recently arranged for a visit from Universal Technical Institute, a trade school with campuses all over the country. The UTI representative presented to Mr. Merkle’s Consumer Car Care and Auto Maintenance classes. In addition to sharing information about his program, the presentation included career planning information and the importance of self-discovery between ages 18-24.

During the week of February 28, 2023, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Milton Public Schools. The office of Public School Monitoring visits each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations.

• Areas of review related to special education include student assessments, determination of eligibility, the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Team Process, and IEP development and implementation.
• Areas of review related to civil rights include bullying, student discipline, physical restraint and equal access to school programs for all students.

All details on the visit, community feedback, and public access to the reports can be found here.

At the School Committee meeting on Wednesday night, Chair Ada Rosmarin shared plans for the MPS leadership transition stating it had reached a tentative agreement with Dr. Peter Burrows to become the next Superintendent of MPS with plans to his contract at the January 23rd meeting at 7 am. Dr. Burrows will begin in his new role on July 1, 2023.

Central Office to plan for the period of time between now and July 1. Interim Superintendent Janet Sheehan leaves on February 3, and we are pleased to share that Assistant Superintendent Garth McKinney has agreed to serve as Interim Superintendent between February 6 and July 1, 2023.

We are very appreciative of Dr. McKinney’s willingness to step up and lead during this period. We are working out additional details, but at our next regular meeting on February 1, we will take a vote on Dr. McKinney’s appointment and give our thanks to Janet Sheehan for all she’s done this year and throughout her career at MPS. Dr. McKinney, along with Assistant Superintendent for Business, Dr. Pavlicek, our Central Office team, and our strong district Leadership Team, will continue to provide stability, leadership, and a smooth transition for the district.

We are excited about the future of MPS under the leadership of our incoming Superintendent, Dr. Peter Burrows. We are very thankful for the hard work and dedication to the success of all our students by our MPS staff. And we are grateful for the continued goodwill of the entire MPS community during this 5 month transition period before Dr. Burrows steps into his new leadership role.

During the week of February 28, 2023, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focusing Monitoring Review of Milton Public Schools. The office of Public School Monitoring visits each district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations.

• Areas of review related to special education include student assessments, determination of eligibility, the Individualized Education Program (IEP), Team Process, and IEP development and implementation.
• Areas of review related to civil rights include bullying, student discipline, physical restraint and equal access to school programs for all students.

All details on the visit, community feedback and public access to the reports can be found here.

Please see below from MPS AD Ryan Madden.

The latest issue of the MIAA Power Rankings can be found here. Two of our Winter Teams are currently in position to secure tournament berths, while Boys Hockey is just outside, but looking in.

• #15 Girls Hockey 7-1-1
• #29 Girls Basketball 6-5
• #32 Boys Hockey 4-5-1

The Girls Basketball Team has played well to start the season, and earned their first win on home court since 2019 in dramatic fashion over Fontbonne last Thursday! After trailing 32-12 after the first quarter, the Girls outscored Fontbonne 38-17 over the next three quarters, holding the Ducks to just 6 points in quarters 2 and 3. There was a great article by Eric McHugh in the Patriot Ledger, found here!

Our Wrestling Team fell to Weymouth last night but enjoyed a great weekend at Oliver Ames High School! The Team went 3-0-1 on the day with 5 wrestlers going 4-0! Will Doyle, Kenny Heraldo, Luis Bitencourt, Alex Alexis, and Mason Pellegri all won their matches on the day! In just a month’s time, Milton High School will host the Division II State Tournament. Mason Pellegri will have the chance to win back-to-back State Titles for the first time since Joe Sidoti in 1963-64, and he’ll get the chance in his own gym!

What an exciting night it was last Thursday at the BSC #4 meet where the Track Teams took on the Wildcats of Weymouth. Both teams came up huge against Weymouth at the Reggie!

The Girls were victorious 61-39 while the Boys win came down to both relays, and the Wildcats of Milton had to win both the 4×200 and 4×400 relay in order to secure the victory. We did and the final score was 57-43.

“MHS Coaches credited the depth of our team for these big wins. There were a bunch of strong second and third place finishes that made the biggest difference in the boys and girls wins. We picked up some valuable points in events that we were not expected to score in such as the girls hurdles, where Donna and Elana went one, two. Niamh and Gretel also went one, two in the high jump. Gretel stepped up big, competing in an event for the first time this season. The girls also went one, two in the 600 and 1000 with Mia taking the 600, Captain Zoe finishing second, Gretel won the 1000, with Captain Marilyn coming in second. Other winners on the girls side included Victoria in the 300, Katie in the Mile (qualifying with a SuperMax time for the All-State Championships in February), and the Girls 4×400 relay of Zoe, Gretel, Kai and Katie. Sarah Grace picked up a valuable three points with her second place and new PR of 12:11 in the two mile.

The boys team swept both the 300 and the 600m in dramatic fashion. Fabrice, Aiden and Ferris went one, two, three in the 300. Luka, Joseph and Colin all looked impressive as they went one, two, three in the 600. Also impressive was Karim moving up from his usual short sprints to run an impressive 1:36.32, just four-hundredths of a second behind Colin who placed third. In fact, the Wildcats took the top five spots in the 600! The Wildcat duo of Abdallah and Shane placed first and second in the 55m. Other than the relays, the strength of our Wildcats was all of the second and third place finishes we had. In the boys 1000m Moses and Eliot ran 2:50 and 2:59. That was Moses’ first time running the 1000m. MJ and Haydyn placed second and third in the high jump. Abdullan and MJ also placed second and third in the long jump. Abdallan came back once again, to partner up with Tyler to place second and third in the 55m hurdles. And finally, Malcolm and Emerson placed second and third in the two mile, both running personal bests in the process. Both boys relay teams looked impressive. The 4×200 featured Captain Shane, Freshman Miles Fergus, Farris and Fabrice. They cruised to victory in a season’s best time of 1:37. The 4x400m squad of Luka, Aidan, Colin and Moses had no problem with Weymouth’s squad, winning by over 30 seconds.” – Coach Jordan.

Coaching Announcements

We are excited to announce Kevin Gorham as the new Varsity Girls Soccer Coach. Originally from Ireland, Gorham has lived in Milton for the past 12 years. He has spent the last few years working with the Boston Bolts but has also played an active role in Milton Youth Soccer and local youth soccer development. He holds a USSF D License and an Advanced National Diploma in Coaching. He has coached at all levels of the game and brings a wealth of experience to the position. We are excited for him to take over a very young program looking to get back to the tournament!

We are also excited to announce that Christopher Chin will lead our Boys Volleyball Program in its inaugural season this Spring! Chris played high school volleyball at Brockton High School from 2004-2008, captaining the 2008 team. He went on to play at Newbury College, which was ranked nationally at the time, winning 2 NECC championships along with 2010-11 ECAC championship and serving as a captain his senior season.

After graduating, Chris returned to Newbury College as an Assistant for the Men’s and Women’s Programs. He currently coaches the Girls JV Basketball Team and has experience coaching AAU basketball, as well as working numerous skill camps and club volleyball teams. “I am super excited to start a brand new volleyball program and give back to the game that gave me so much in my life.” – Coach Chin

The Milton SEPAC shares the following updates.

SEPAC sponsored Federation for Children with Special Needs workshops have been scheduled and are awaiting final confirmation – but pencil these in! These are excellent workshops – Eligibility on February 16 in the evening and Understanding the 504: March 7 in the evening – are free and offered virtually.

We welcome you to join us at our next meeting (January 25, 2023, from 6:30-8:30, via Zoom – link to follow.) Did you know you have a SEPAC school rep who meets monthly with your school principal to discuss staffing, programming, and issues of inclusion? Find your school rep here. Please visit the SEPAC website for updates, information, and links to resources.

The The MHS Senior Class is hosting the Harlem Wizards at MHS on March 8, 2023 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets are available now at harlemwizards.com. on March 8, 2023 at 7pm. Doors open at 6pm. Tickets are available now at harlemwizards.com.

Breaking News! The Milton Foundation for Education is excited to announce that this years’ Celebration for Education will be held at The Beat on Saturday, May 6, 2023. The Beat is a fun, new event space located just 5 miles from Milton on Morrissey Boulevard, in Boston’s historic former headquarters of the Boston Globe. Save the date to join the fun!

While we have your attention, please consider supporting the Milton Foundation for Education. MFE has donated over $4 million to our schools, students, and educators with fundraising efforts assisting with wireless access in all schools, support for STEM programs, science programs, teacher grants, student scholarships, parent speaker series, Wildcat Wellness Center, and lots more! Every dollar donated to the MFE helps spark innovation and energizes the learning experience for students and educators in Milton. For the love of education, our teachers, and students, please consider making a gift today at this link.

988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.

When people call, text, or chat 988 (www.988lifeline.org to chat) they will be connected to trained counselors that are part of the existing Lifeline network. These trained counselors will listen, understand how their problems are affecting them, provide support, and connect them to resources if necessary.

Please visit the MPS Community News & Events page for information about community events.

At Milton High, we have a variety of clubs that our students are actively engaged in.
A complete listing of Clubs and Organizations for the 2022-2-23 School year is listed here.

Students are encouraged to get involved in the many offerings provided by Milton High School.

However as stated in our Student Handbook there is an annual $25 club/activity fee for joining any of the clubs or participating in other student activities with a $50 maximum fee per student per year limit. Furthermore, students who wish to start a new club/activity may do so at the discretion of the Principal. A listing of clubs is here and all students are invited to join clubs at any time.

If you are involved in a club at MHS please go to the MPS Online Payment Center, on the MPS Homepage, select HS Student Activities and follow instructions for payment.

If you have any questions please reach out to Karen Cahill (kcahill@miltonps.org) or Tyler Urso, Administrative Assistant Milton High School (turso@miltonps.org).

This week's Family Resource Newsletter contains information about two local food resources for families. If you need additional assistance, please reach out to Marti O’Keefe McKenna, MPS Family Outreach Liaison at 617-980-7343 or mmckenna@miltonps.org. All calls and emails are confidential.

Email: kcahill@miltonps.org
Website: https://www.miltonps.org/mhs/
Location: 25 Gile Road, Milton, MA, USA
Phone: (617)-696-4470