The Big Blue Blast
The Official Newsletter of Swampscott High School
February 13, 2020
NEASC Update
The NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) has shared its Collaborative Conference report with us. While the report is currently "private" (it will be public soon) I am allowed to share that there were no surprises in the report. We are encouraged by many of our school's strengths highlighted by NEASC and also excited to work toward their recommendations. We know that we need to develop a Vision of our Graduate and finish writing our curriculum maps. Therefore, NEASC's recommendations line up with our plans for the school. I'm looking forward to sharing the full report with the SHS community soon.
Black History Month
SHS will be celebrating Black History Month by sharing daily biographies of famous figures from our history on the morning announcements along with a trivia night on February 27.
Tech Ninjas hit the Road
Our Tech Ninjas presented at The Learn Launch 20 conference on January 31 at the Hynes Convention Center. They shared the details of their program with hundreds of educators, students, and tech entrepreneurs.
Scholastic Art Awards
11 Students received Scholastic Art Awards from the state of Massachusetts. Students received awards for work in drawing & illustration, mixed media, photography, and painting. Receiving a Scholastic Art Award is a tremendous honor as it is the highest award granted to high school artists in the state of Massachusetts. Below you will find a list of the specific awards received by students:
Silver Key:
- Benjamin Armour, photography, '20
- Benjamin Armour, photography, '20
- Maggie Conner, painting, '20
- Aidan McMaster, photography, '21
- Maria Swanson, photography, '22
Honorable Mentions:
- Benjamin Armour, photography, '20
- Maggie Conner, painting, '20
- Diana Ishutina, mixed media, '21
- Aidan McMaster, drawing & illustration, '21
- Lily Raymond, painting, '22
- Maria Swanson, photography, '22
Please join us in congratulating these deserving artists!
Congratulations
Congratulations to Seniors Conor Donovan and Drew Olivieri for notching 100 career points as members of the Big Blue Ice Hockey team. Only 11 players in our history have scored more than 100 points in their careers. Well done!
Family Rounds at North Shore Medical Center
Please click the following link for a listing of resources for families from North Shore Medical Center https://nsmc.partners.org/pediatrics/family_resource_center/family_rounds
Important Upcoming Dates:
February 17-21: Winter Break
Guidance Department Update
Upcoming events:
2/12/20: 6PM Sophomore Parent Night at SHS in the auditorium (this event is scheduled to be filmed by our TV crew)
2/26/20: 815AM- ASVAB test in the School Counseling suite
Please stay tuned from us regarding additional resources for GAP year programs and educational programs focused on trades. We are working to put together some events and resources for students and families.
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CLASS 2021 UPDATE
The last few weeks have been busy! The counselors just wrapped up seeing all of the junior students in their English classes and discussed a variety of post-secondary planning thoughts, ideas, and timelines. Please do think of this as an exciting journey; it’s truly an experience in self discovery as students explore, refine, revise, and evolve their dreams and goals. Our conversations with students focused pretty heavily on the the college application process, the importance of course selection and transcript, GPA, extracurricular activities and the Common App college essay. Much of the application process is tedious--it’s an application after all--but one of our jobs is to help students become three-dimensional through their writing and positioning of their application. As in years past, we will be offering opportunities for students to spend more time with counselors to work on the Common App in real time. Stay tuned for more info over the next few months.
Students- Many of you completed our mini exit survey following the seminar. We are hoping to get some more information about what you want to learn more about and what’s keeping you up at night. Please complete this super brief form so we can help develop more targeted programming.
If you were absent the day we came to your English class, please do check out the YouTube video below of our parent event. Much of the conversation covers the same topics.
Here are some links to our presentations, videos, and helpful resources:
YouTube Video of 1/16/20 Junior Parent Night with COUNSELORS (Thanks TV crew!)
STANDARDIZED TESTING YOUTUBE video summary of Summit Educational Group’s January, 2020 presentation.Understanding PSAT scores and planning the standardized test schedule.
Junior PARENT Presentation- google slides
Junior STUDENT Presentation-google slides
Link to our website which includes a host of resources, including parent night videos, college admissions testing presentation video, and how college admissions works video.
Essays “that worked” Johns Hopkins link. Hamilton link
Keep up the great work. It all comes together; we promise. :)
Thank you!!!
SHS Counselors
Rachel Sturma: A-G (sturma@swampscott.k12.ma.us)
Emily Zotto-Barnum: H-M (zotto@swampscott.k12.ma.us)
Julie Mazzola: N-Z (mazzola@swampscott.k12.ma.us)
Football Celebration
Thank You
Black History Month
Follow us on Twitter
Principal Dennis Kohut: @swampkohut
Assistant Principal Colleen Cull-Finn @cullfinnshs
Dean of Students Chris Norkun @cnorkunshs
Swampscott High School Guidance Department @SHSguidancedpt
Swampscott High School Athletics @sportsbigblue
Superintendent Pamela Angelakis @sps01907