Principal's Update 9/22/23
Open House
The LHS Open House is on Tuesday September 26th from 5:30 to 7:30. Please get your student’s schedule form them or from Aspen so you can find their classes!
We will start the evening with a very short presentation in the auditorium and then set you loose on the school to meet teachers.
Message from FEMA:
Are you a resident or business that has damage due to the flooding on September 11, 2023? Please fill out the form at the link below.
This information will be used to determine if the county is eligible for federal programs like FEMA and Small Business Administration. This data will be shared with the city administration so they are aware of the damages in Leominster. Submissions are being accepted until September 29, 2023.
Paper copies of the form are also available at City Hall if someone you know was impacted and does not have internet accessibility.
https://www.leominster-ma.gov/101/Flood-Relief?fbclid=IwAR1Xj0HYa0HUbOY5efohw-L65aVI3_B7Ub-nGUehoRig-S4XwsL8MwOUhmg
Lockdown Drill
Unfortunately preparing students to react to an assault on the school is a way of life now. On Wednesday September 27th we will do a very low-intensity lockdown drill. I will announce that we are doing a drill, put the school in lockdown, and teachers will talk through with students what they should do, how to evacuate the building in the event of a real incident, and what to do if they are in the halls or bathroom and a lockdown starts.
I know that these drills can be anxiety triggers but it is absolutely essential that your student try to be here for this information. We will not be evacuating the building, there will be no role-players or loud noises, and the entire drill is designed to make sure everyone knows what to do in a real event.
We will follow this up with another drill in October where students will evacuate and the admin team will practice our command and control procedures if there was a real event with the Leominster Police Department and Office of Emergency Management helping to evaluate and correct any gaps in our plans. There will still be no use of blank rounds or role-players, but students will evacuate and we try to get them to think about alternate routes to what they use in a fire drill to help make sure they are able to think critically in a real event.
While we are on the subject of safety, here are two reminders:
· If you hear about a threat to the schools call the Leominster Police ASAP. We would rather screen out a false alarm than not have information about a threat that ends up being real.
· If there is a lockdown please do not call or come to the school. We need to leave the phone lines and through ways open for emergency response personnel. The district will send out information as soon as we have it.
The safety of our students is paramount to what we do and I appreciate your support in these efforts to keep the school safe.
Biology and Substitute Teachers
LHS has need of a few people with a lot of patience and savviness to help us out as substitute teachers.
We also need a Biology Teacher. If you or someone you know is interested you can email me.
Both of these positions are also on the school website Human Resources page here
School Calendar
The district has a new website that includes a calendar that I have been rapidly filling with info on early release days, days off, report cards and progress report dates. I think it defaults to a list of events, but you can change it to a more traditional calendar by clicking the Graphical View button.
Reminders:
Calling in a student absent
If your student is going to be absent please call the school at 978-534-7715. The absence line is option 1.
If you get an auto-call that your student is marked as absent and you think they are at school, don’t panic. Sometimes they accidentally get marked absent (especially with a sub) and sometimes they do cut class. Call the school and we will confirm they are not here.
Student Dismissals
If you need to dismiss your student you can simply send them to school with a note that they should bring to the office when they get to school. Your student will receive a pass to be dismissed and can just check out at the office when it is time for them to go. You won’t need to come into the school and it is much faster than coming in to dismiss your student.
School Instagram
I’m not great with social media but I do keep an Instagram account with pictures of our students doing great things. It’s at lhsbluedevilnation
College Affordable
The LHS & CTEi School Counseling Department is pleased to announce our continued partnership with College Affordable (formerly Campus Bound) to provide all our families with free comprehensive support navigating the financial aid process for college. College Affordable is a non-profit built to help families reduce the cost of college, minimize debt, and increase higher education choices. They have helped families reduce their costs by over $100K in multiple cases. This year, you can easily register for all webinars at the start of the academic year with one click by completing the Family Registration Form on the program's landing page. This landing page serves as your family’s center for accessing free support and tools of the program.
School Schedule next week: Shop Week A
Monday Day 2
Tuesday: Day 3
Wednesday: Day 4
Thursday: Day 5
Friday: Day 6
Next Week’s Athletic Schedule
https://arbiterlive.com/Teams?entityId=12673
Joshua Romano
Principal