The Week Ahead 10/20

This past week we celebrated Homecoming Week!

The week started off with a Kick-Off Pep Rally and ended with the Homecoming Dance!

In between we had Spirit Dress Up Days, multiple home sport games, with our Varsity Football Team winning their game against Worcester Tech securing the CMAC Championship!

Are you interested in participating? See Barbara Smalarz or Tony Paranto for more information!

Congratulations to this week's winner, Graedy McDevitt!

If you would like your student to stay after for extra help please make sure that they go directly to the cafeteria after school (no Tuesdays). Remind them to bring their work with them, as well as their charged chromebook! Even if their teacher is not available, someone will be available to help each day.

Here is the link to this year's handbook. Please make sure to review this book with your student(s).

Saturday School continues this week! Phone calls and emails will go out this week with notifications regarding students that are expected to be at Saturday School on October 25th!

Just as last year, the program will serve several purposes throughout the year. Students may access Saturday sessions for extra academic assistance. The program may also be assigned as a consequence by administration if in school behavior warrants it. At times it may being given as an alternative to suspension. The high school's attendance policy will also be tied to Saturday School. If students lose academic points due to their daily attendance, student's will be able to earn these points back by attending a specific number of sessions. Students and families will have meetings with guidance if there is a need for this. These notifications will begin this week.

It is highly recommended that all students who continue to have a failing grade in at least one or more courses attend Saturday School. Please keep an eye on your student's PowerSchool to see their most current grades. If you would like your student to attend this week, please reach out to your student's guidance counselor and they will add your student's name to the list.

Saturday School will be held at the Webster Middle School. It will run from 8am-12pm, and students must stay the entire time. Breakfast and a snack will be provided to those that attend. Students will need to bring their work with them, as teachers will not be able to provide it to individual students while at the middle school. They should also come with a fully charged chromebook and charger, as there will not be any loaners available. There will be no cell phones allowed out from 8am-12pm. There is no bus provided to or from Saturday School.

If you have any questions, please reach out to guidance or administration.

The Basement in C Section is considered to be an Unauthorized Area at all times, unless you are directly with a staff member. If a student is found in the basement, a consequence of a Saturday School will be assigned immediately.

If you play a sport and need to access the basement to drop off athletic equipment, the only available time to do so is before school starts from 7:10am - 7:20am. If you do not make it between that time, you will be responsible for carrying your own equipment with you throughout the school day.

Students in the cafeteria during lunch block are not allowed upstairs. If they do go upstairs, they are in an unauthorized area. If a student is found in the upstairs without permission, a consequence of a Saturday School will be assigned immediately.

Regular Schedule

School Guidelines

If a student is going to be absent, tardy, or dismissed on any given school day, the parent/guardian must call the main office at 508-943-8552 to report it. When calling, please state:

• Your student’s name

• Reason for absence/tardiness

• Phone number where you can be reached during the day in case a return call is necessary

A note documenting the reason for the absence, tardy, or dismissal must be sent into the main office within two (2) days of the conclusion of the absence or tardiness. However, please note that a phone call and/or note only verifies the student's absence; it does not excuse the absence. When an absence, tardiness, or dismissal can be anticipated, advance notice is requested.

Absent

From School

• If a parent/guardian has notified the school of their student’s absence, the student will be coded as “Absent” in PowerSchool

• Students who are absent from school on any given day are not permitted to participate in any school or extracurricular activities on that day.

From Class

• On the 5th+ absence from class, the teacher will engage in two-way communication with the parent/guardian to develop a plan to make-up academic deficits resulting from absences

• All missed assignments due to absences (not truancies) will be graded as a “0” (with the icons “missing” and “absent” both highlighted in Powerschool) until the assignment has been completed and submitted

• Students are required to make-up all missed assignments due to any absence (not truancy)

Truant

• Students who are absent from school without a documented reason (ex. doctor note, call from parent/guardian) will be considered truant

• Missed assignments due to truancy will receive a grade of zero (0) without the ability to make it up

Tardy

To School

• Tardiness will be excused only if you have a note of acceptable explanation, such as a dentist or doctor appointment. Extenuating circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Tardiness to school is counted as time lost within the provisions of the Attendance Policy.

• Students are considered tardy if they are not in their 1st block classroom by 7:25am (Please note: Being in the school building by that time is not the same as being in class by that time)

• Tardy students are required to report to check in with the main office upon arrival

• Tardy students will be required to dispose of any purchased coffee/morning beverages upon arrival. If a student refuses to dispose of their beverage immediately, they will be issued a Saturday School

• Students that are chronically tardy to school (more than 3 times in a quarter) will be subject to progressive disciplinary action

To Class

• Promptness to class is as important as promptness to your job when you go to work. Good school citizens are never tardy to class because that interferes with their own education and disrupts the whole class. You have five minutes to pass between classes, and during that time you can reach any place in the school from any other place.

• If you are with a staff member or doing an errand that cannot be done at some other time, and if this results in your being late to class, please be sure that you get a pass from the staff member in charge before leaving that staff member. It is YOUR responsibility to get a pass whenever you are going to be late to class.

• Students who are not inside of the classroom when the bell rings are considered “tardy” to class.

Dismissal

• There are times when illness or personal family business of a serious nature occurs and you need to miss part of the school day. At that time, you may request an early dismissal. To obtain an early dismissal, bring a written request from your parent/guardian to the main office as soon as you arrive at school. All notes should include the first and last name of the student, phone numbers where the parent/guardian signing the note can be reached, time to be excused, reason for the request, and first and last name of the parent/guardian signing the note. Eighteen year olds must also have a pre-approved note from a parent/guardian. BHS reserves the right to verify all parent/guardian notes prior to approving student dismissals.

• Students will be called to the main office when being dismissed

• All students, who are dismissed for any reason, must sign the dismissal log before leaving school

• ALL individuals dismissing students will be expected to come into the building and present a valid picture ID before any student will be released from the school

• Students must be in school for 4 hours from the start of the school day to be considered present for the day. Students attending school for less than four hours will be considered “absent” from school that day.

• Students dismissed from school are ineligible to participate in athletics or extra-curricular activities on that day or the ensuing weekend should it occur on the day before a weekend.

• For eligibility purposes, with respect to athletics or extra-curricular activities, students dismissed for medical, dental, legal appointments, etc., must have the appointment verification documentation turned in to the office or to the coach or activity advisor upon their return to be eligible to participate (parental/guardian notes will not suffice)

• Any student clinically dismissed by the nurse due to illness may not return to school and is ineligible to participate in athletics or school activities

• If/when a student returns to school from a dismissal, they must sign back in on the dismissal log in the main office and produce their documentation for the time out of the building

• No student, except in emergencies, will be signed out after 1:30 pm

This past Thursday, the Nichols Leadership Academy had their first visit of the year to the Nichols College Campus. They were greeted by one of our former NLA students and Nichols College Alumni, Ryan Spitz.

We are pleased to inform you of Bartlett High School’s participation in the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy for the 2025-2026 School Year. The Seal of Biliteracy is an honor offered to any student who demonstrates proficiency in English and any other language, whether they speak or sign the language other than English at home or learned it at school or in the community.

The State Seal of Biliteracy aims to:

1. Encourage students to study and master languages;

2. Certify attainment of biliteracy skills;

3. Recognize the value of language diversity;

4. Provide employers with a method of identifying people with language and biliteracy skills;

5. Provide universities with a method to recognize and give credit to applicants for attainment of high-level skills in languages;

6. Prepare students with skills that will benefit them in the labor market and the global society; and

7. Strengthen intergroup communication and honor the multiple cultures and languages in a community.

In order to earn the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy, students must:

1. Demonstrate a high level of proficiency in English by earning a score of 472 or higher on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS,

2. Demonstrate a high level of proficiency in a world language by attaining a minimum score equivalent to Intermediate-High on an assessment approved by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and

3. Satisfy all other graduation requirements.

The Seal of Biliteracy with Distinction is available to students who:

1. Earn a score of 501 or higher on the Grade 10 ELA MCAS

2. Demonstrate a proficiency level of Advanced Low or higher on a Department-approved assessment, and

3. Satisfy all other graduation requirements.

The ELA MCAS Retests will take place on Nov 5 & 6, 2025 and again on March 3 & 4, 2026; Grade 10 ELA tests will take place on March 24 & 25, 2026. We will be administering Proficiency Assessments of Approved Language Other than English as soon as we know which assessments our students are interested in taking. More information to come…

We look forward to honoring the language expertise and diversity in our district through this initiative. If you have any further questions, please contact Seal of Biliteracy Coordinator, Dr. Patricia Mackay, pmackay@webster-schools.org 508-943-0104, x. 40030.

Bartlett High School's Innovation Career Pathways & Internship Program is proud to partner with Our Bright Future!

Online post from Our Bright Future's Facebook Page:

"This fall, we’ve had the pleasure of working with two amazing interns, Nathan and Dhyey, who have been a huge help in our STEAM programs. From keeping our Bambu Lab 3D printers running smoothly to now teaching our students coding with our brand-new VEX Robotics EXP kits, they’ve truly gone above and beyond.

We’re so thankful for their dedication, creativity, and leadership — the future is definitely bright with students like them!"

Great job boys!

This week, our Introduction to Engineering and Design class has been tackling the common hassle of juggling food at carnivals and theme parks by designing a reusable, one-handed souvenir food and drink carrier. After progressing from initial research and sketches to 3D models and blueprints, the students were in the full swing of building their prototypes from foam board and cardboard. During this construction phase, we were visited by Superintendent Pierangeli, Head of the BHS Pathway Program Ms. Bigelow, and Ms. Berti with her 7th-grade class from Webster Middle School, who all chatted with the groups and provided feedback on their innovative designs. The project is set to conclude next week, as students will present their final creations to a panel of educators, community members, and manufacturing industry professionals on Thursday, October 23rd.

Please join us as we host our first Bartlett Craft Fair. All money raised with table rentals will go to the senior class to help offset the cost of all senior week activities.

The fair will be held on Saturday, December 13th from 8am until 1pm. Whether you join us as a vendor or a visitor to the event, make sure to come and check it out! Please share the flyer to help get the word out! More details to follow soon, to include a vendor list!

Congratulations to the following students have won a raffle for completing the Exit Tickets for the PBIS Lesson Plans!!

Pedro Pagan

Angela Sarfo

Andrith Ramirez

Brayden Greene

Maya Wetherbee

Ms McGrillen was our teacher raffle winner!!!

This year's Trunk or Treat was a HUGE success, raising over $500 for positive incentives for our students! Thank you to all who joined us! We had some really great trunks!! The first three pictures are our winners this year!! Your prizes are on their way!

Coming in November!! Bartlett High School's 1st Meat Raffle to help raise money for our school's PBIS team (for positive rewards for all students)! November 22nd at 1PM at Webster Fish and Game! More information to come!

Coming in December! Breakfast with Santa and the Grinch! Saturday, December 13th at 8am-10am at Bartlett High School! $5.00 for ages 3 and up. More information to come!

Looking for a way to spend those Bartlett Bucks?

Welcome to the PBIS School Store! It will be open all year long. Please see the items available to purchase with your Bartlett Bucks!

Orders placed by Wednesday at 2:00pm will be delivered by Friday of that week. Items placed Thursday and Friday will be delivered the following week. (Some items may be delayed based on stock availability - you will be notified by email of any items that we are unable to deliver by Friday)

You will need to pay for the items with Bartlett Bucks when they are delivered. If you do not have enough Bartlett Bucks on you at the time of delivery you will not receive the item.

Starting this Monday, football home game tickets will be available for purchase in the main office.

• Tickets purchased with Bartlett Bucks must be bought in advance at the main office — Bartlett Bucks will no longer be accepted at the gate!

• Tickets purchased at the gate will be cash only!

All teams MUST enter and exit through the back of the gym after school, this includes all coaches and athletes. There should be absolutely no entry in or out of the C section hallway that is labeled as "Gym" on the outside door. Parents, please pick up your athletes at the back entrance to the gym after practices or games, not at the entrance closest to the BHS basketball courts.

Athletes MUST be supervised at all times when in the locker room hallway. If there is not a coach with them, then they will need to wait to go downstairs. All BHS athletes must use the bathrooms in the basement hallway, not the ones in the main part of the building once games and practices begin after school each day.

Date/Time: Wednesday, October 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM

Location: School Committee Conference Room, 77 Poland Street

Topic: Basic Rights Part 2 - Understanding the IEP and what is a 504 and how it differs from an IEP