The second marking term ended today. All students will receive their Semester 2 class schedules on Monday during Advisory. We will start the school day with Advisory and then follow with a Day 1 schedule as listed below.

Advisory

7:50AM - 8:14AM

1st Period-A

8:18AM - 9:15AM

2nd Period-B

9:19AM - 10:16AM

3rd Period-C

10:20AM - 11:17AM

4th Period-D

11:21AM-1:18 PM

5th Period-E

1:22PM-2:19PM

Report cards will be posted to Plus Portals by Monday, January 31st.

As we start second semester, I want to remind all families that ALL students must be in their first period class by 7:50AM or they are marked TARDY. We will be mailing out letters on Monday to all students who have had 8 or more tardies during Term 2.

On Monday and Tuesday, we will also be sending out attendance letters for any students who have missed more than 5 days of school (not including quarantine due to Covid-19). Milton High School's expectation is that all students attend school each day they are well so that they can be in class and maximize learning opportunities.

For any family that has concerns about their student's attendance please don't hesitate to contact me, Brian Mackinaw or Ben Kelly.

Mme Lidell’s French Immersion students recently looked at a passage of MLK’s speech translated in French and held a discussion on our thoughts on segregation today. Is it taking place? Where? Why? The class concluded with students thinking about how they can be the face of change. Students were then tasked to be inspired by MLK and add their own dream for the world to one of the three murals throughout MHS.

Just a reminder for all students and families driving on the MHS campus:

In the morning if you are dropping off in front of the building please pull your car all the way to the front of the circle to allow more cars off the main road and more students to get into school on time. If the front of the building is too busy you can also drop off at the Field House entrance or side entrance near the baseball fields. ALL students are expected to be seated in their 1st period class at 7:50AM or they will be marked tardy. Students can be dropped off starting at 7:15AM so please consider dropping your students off prior to 7:45AM.

Superintendent Jette also shared the following reminders that MUST be universally adhered to ensure student and staff safety.

• If a school bus or a school pupil transport vehicle (van) has its red lights flashing and a stop sign extended, you must come to a complete stop as this is warning to motorists that buses are picking up and dropping off children. It does not matter which side the bus/van is on, motorists should come to a complete stop.
• Please reduce your speed to a minimum once on or near the school campuses and follow all traffic signs.
• Please stop at all crosswalks on school grounds and within the community to allow for students/pedestrians to cross safely. Please do not stop/park on the crosswalk when waiting to pick up your student.

Thank you for your renewed attention to traffic safety.

Milton High School will not automatically send your first semester (mid-year) grades to colleges. IF any of your colleges are asking you to send them, you must request these from your Guidance Counselor. Send your counselor an email, asking them to send your first semester transcript, and tell them which college requires it.

Thank you!

The Milton High Guidance Counselors

The Equity Steering Committee spoke at School Committee this week and gave a short background of the Committee’s work since being formed in July 2021. The presentation focused on the Steering Committee’s definition of Equity, which they are currently sharing with all stakeholders. A major recommendation from the Quality Review was that the district develop a common understanding and definition of Equity. We are seeking the community’s feedback on our definition to ensure the definition resonates for as many people as possible. We are asking caregivers and community members to provide us with that feedback in a 2 question survey linked here. The link for the survey will be available for response until February 6th.

Calling all juniors and seniors....

The prom will be held on April 29, 2022 in Foxboro at Gillette Stadium from 7-11 PM.

Cost- $75/person

Tickets will be on sale after February break.

Watch for more information to come from your class advisors.

First and foremost, MHS Athletics wants to thank George Holland and his work to help commemorate Francis J. “Buck” Finerty III. Buck was a hockey player and class leader who had a positive impact on the class of 1960, not only when they graduated but in years to come. The class of 1960 very generously funded the purchase of new flooring for the Ulin Rink and we had a wonderful ceremony last week with over 25 members of the class of 1960 and their families in honor of Buck.

The Boys Hockey Team strung together back-to-back wins to improve to 6-5 on the season. They were down 3-1 to Newburyport on Saturday Night with 8 minutes left in the third period. Goals from Kevin McManus and Eoin Faherty forced overtime, and then James Fallon scored just 13 seconds into the extra period to seal the comeback in style! They carried the momentum through the weekend, beating Norwood 6-1 on Monday.

The Boys Basketball Team held on for a great win over Archies on Sunday. They will host Framingham today.

Track heads to the Reggie Lewis Center tomorrow for the Division III Relays!

The Ski Team will race at Blue Hills next Thursday.

Our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be taking over the Girls Basketball Game next Friday! The Girls take on Brookline and the student-run committee will have raffles, prizes, half-time contests and more. Be sure to come support the Wildcats on the 28th! 6:30pm tip.

Boosters Membership Reminder: Connie Henry is the winner of the first raffle basket of goodies from the Boosters for her family’s membership. Don’t miss out on your chance by joining the Boosters today. Next drawing will be the end of the winter season. Join the Boosters at this link today! All details on the Boosters can be found on their website linked here.

Are you looking for community service opportunities? Throughout the year you will be able to access any community service opportunities here. There are already several opportunities available for students to volunteer. Get involved now!

Advocate/Participate/Educate & SAVE THE DATE!

NEW INSIGHTS INTO TOURETTE SYNDROME 01/26/2022 at 7:00 pm EST

This informative and interactive workshop is open to any interested families in our community as well as all educators district wide (Educators who participate in this workshop WILL receive professional development credit for attending this workshop. Please reach out to Susan Maselli for special education credit information) Register to Receive Google Link * All registrations received by Tuesday, January 25 will receive a google link by the 25th. After that, please email SEPAC Board member Darcy Maksou

For a full description of the event please go here.

Milton Minds Matter is having their January meeting on January 25th. Join them to discuss the impact this time of year has on outlook and motivation and make personal vision boards. More information on the meeting is available here.

As we continue to prioritize in-person learning and maintaining a healthy and safe teaching and learning environment, we will continue with our current mitigating strategies: mask wearing, and encouraging vaccination and testing.

On Tuesday, January 18th Governor Baker, along with Commissioner Riley and MA Department of Public Health announced the State’s new testing option for schools. In this new option, districts will provide students and staff with at-home Rapid Antigen Tests on a weekly basis. Milton Public Schools will participate in this new State Testing opportunity and I want to share some relevant information about the program. More details will come in a separate standalone communication.

• DESE and DPH recommend that districts and schools select this new option, and if they choose to implement it, they must notify their local boards of health.
• Districts and schools participating in symptomatic and/or pooled testing must continue those testing strategies and discontinue contact tracing and Test and Stay. Milton will continue with Symptomatic Testing and suspend Test and Stay once the new program is up and running.
• Under this new Testing Initiative, all contact tracing will be discontinued. However, school health professionals have permission to use their discretion if specific situations warrant contact tracing.
• Districts were told that the at-home test for participating students will be shipped out the week of January 31st. MPS will continue Test and Stay until at home testing begins.
• This new testing initiative requires an opt-in vs. consent. Considering there is no third party involved and MPS is not sharing personal information, consent is not needed.
• All staff and students are eligible to participate regardless of vaccination status.
• The tests will be shipped to the district for internal distribution, and they are packaged in kits containing two tests per kit.
• Participating staff and students will receive one kit (containing 2 tests) every two weeks so that they can test themselves weekly. The first kit should be distributed the week of 1/31.
• Districts and schools should maximize the utility of the at-home tests by determining which day of the week they recommend participating staff and students take the tests.
• When an individual tests positive on an at-home antigen test, they will be asked to inform their school nurse/administration of the positive result.
• MPS is not required to report the results of at-home tests to DPH, but MPS will continue to include positive at-home tests in their weekly testing reports to DESE.
• DESE and DPH will soon update their “Protocols for Responding to COVID-19 Scenarios” guidance to reflect these changes.

As this new initiative was just announced 48 hours ago, we have to work out some of the logistics related to test kit distribution, day of distribution, opt in letters, etc. We will send a standalone communication in the coming day as these details are resolved.

Our Milton High Library is open by 7am every morning so students can access all the amazing resources the library has to offer! Librarian J Troy is always on hand to help guide students in the right direction!

Throughout the school year, members of our MPS community celebrate and observe various religious holidays. We adjust homework expectations as needed as you can see in the document linked here. If there is a religious holiday that we have missed, please email Superintendent James Jette or Senior Director of Education Equity Somaly Prak-Martins.

MPS School Calendar

(Revised 10/27/21- due to storm closure the last day of school is now June 22nd)

For Family Technology Support click HERE

Chromebook Troubleshooting

Is your family having internet issues or need assistance to access the internet in your home? Please go here for more information.

As discussed at a recent School Committee meeting, the Milton Public Schools has updated our school incident reporting forms so people can specify incidents on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion and more. The Milton High School incident form can be found here and each school has a form linked on the front of their school’s website and they are also linked on the front of the MPS website, the MPS Education Equity page and MPS Anti-Bullying page.

Substitute Teaching: Several members of our community have reached out about being a substitute teacher during this school year. On call daily substitute teachers are needed for all levels and the rate is $90 per day. We welcome all qualified applicants and encourage you to apply at the Apply for a Job at MPS link found on the front of the MPS website. Substitute teachers must have experience and enjoy working with children, the minimum requirement is a Bachelors degree for substitute teachers and an Associates degree for a substitute paraprofessional. Citizenship, residency or work VISA in United States is required. If you have any questions about the requirements, and how they pertain to you, please email MPS Human Resources Specialist Laurie Dunn at ldunn@miltonps.org.

The Milton Community Food Pantry located in the Parkway Methodist Church, 158 Blue Hills Parkway, has published their hours of operation for the remainder of the 2021-2022 School Year. The pantry is open from 9:15 – 11:15am with pre-bagged food ready to go on the following dates: January 8, January 22, February 5, February 19, March 5, March 19, April 2, April 23, May 7, May 21, June 4, June 18.

The food pantry is currently not accepting food donations but monetary contributions can be made online at their website or mailed to Milton Community Food Pantry, 158 Blue Hills Parkway, Milton, MA 02186.

MPS knows that families may sometimes need resources for their children and family beyond the classroom. In addition to the Family Resource Newsletter please visit Milton Public School Resource Guide. If you need additional assistance please don’t hesitate to reach out to Marti O’Keefe McKenna, MPS Family Outreach Liaison at 617-980-7343 or by email at mmckenna@miltonps.org. All calls and emails are confidential.

The William James INTERFACE Referral Service is a mental health resource and referral Helpline available Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm. It assists Milton residents and/or public school students to access outpatient mental health services. What makes INTERFACE unique is that we do not provide merely a list of providers, but rather matched referrals to mental health professionals and practices who best meet the caller’s needs, insurance or fee requirement, specialty request, location, and availability. The Helpline is staffed by mental health professionals, as well as graduate level students from William James College. For more information about INTERFACE, please visit their website.

All MHS students and families are required to read our MHS Student and Family Handbook and required to digitally sign a verification form acknowledging reading and understanding the rules and policies for Milton High School. If you have not signed and submitted the verification form that was sent to you by No-Reply@miltonps.org, please do so as soon as possible. Feel free to reach out to the Main Office with any questions.