MST Back To School Update

Good afternoon to all of our MST family members.

Welcome to all of our new families who have 9th graders attending MST this fall. This is the first update of the 2023-24 school year. You will be receiving an MST Weekly Update on Fridays during the school year starting on September 8th.

As hard as it is to believe, summer is quickly coming to an end and the start of school is right around the corner. This Back To School Update will provide you with some information as we plan for the new year.

The school year starts on Tuesday September 5th. All students will report to MST by 7:50 and will be directed to their advisory to get their printed schedules. At approximately 8:00 AM, all 10th, 11th and 12th grade students will be sent to their classes. The first day of school will be a Blue Day. At MST, we alternate Blue (B) and White (W) days. The alternation continues throughout the year. If a Friday is a White day, Monday will be a Blue day. If the day before a holiday, snow day, etc. is a Blue day, we will return to school on a White day no matter how many days were missed. Please keep this in mind as unexpected days off will shift the Blue/White pattern. This prevents us from missing too many of the same day.

We are not requiring 9th grade students to attend an orientation day in August. On the first day of school, all new 9th grade students will be brought to the Brennan Center, and we will have a 90-minute orientation session for them.

Lunches are scheduled during periods B3, C1 and C2. Students may bring their own lunch or purchase lunch from the lunch program. Students are NOT ALLOWED to leave school to get lunch, and food deliveries are not allowed from any vendor or person.

Our bell schedule is shown below.

Student schedules are available in Aspen. Please note that these are not the necessarily the final schedules. We are still missing several teachers so schedules may need to be rearranged and some classes that are not graduation requirements may be cut. If a student is missing a class or has been placed into a class that they have already passed, they can request a schedule change by filling out this schedule change request form: https://forms.gle/4V8pg5zV5CiYTr2B9 A counselor will contact the student to arrange a meeting time either next week, or during the first week of school. Schedules will not be changed to accommodate wanting a different lunch, late arrival, early release or being with friends in class.

All students should have a minimum of 5 credits in their schedule. Early college classes taken at the community college do count towards the five credits needed.

Grade levels are assigned based upon completed credits. To be promoted to 10th grade, a student must have completed 4 credits (this will be 5 for incoming freshman). To be promoted to 11th grade, a student must complete 9 credits and to be promoted to 12th grade, a student must complete 15 credits.

Many 11th grade students are starting the year with more than 15 credits and may be able to graduate a year early if they have a post-secondary plan in place. More information will be given to those students.

Students come from all over the city to attend MST. Some live close enough to walk. Others are driven to school, or they may drive themselves (parking permits will be required to park a car at MST). Many will take a bus.

Bus transportation to MST depends upon where you live in the city. If you live in the Central High or West High districts, a free shuttle bus will transport students from those schools to MST every morning. Bus routes are also available to take some students to those schools, or your child will need to walk or be driven to Central or West before the shuttle bus departs for MST. Last year that was approximately 7:10 AM. At the end of the day, a shuttle bus will transport students back to Central and West, and they will get home from there by bus, by car or by walking.

If you live in the Memorial district, a bus will take you to Memorial in the morning and you will walk across the street to MST. At the end of the day, students walk to Memorial at 2:45 and will take a bus from there to home.

School bus routes should be finalized this week and will be available to view at the Manchester School District website: Transportation | MANCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT (mansd.org)

Many have asked about our supply list. Unlike elementary and middle schools, we do not have a supply list for MST. At MST, students will do much of their work on Chromebooks which are supplied in each class as needed. Students should not bring their own electronics devices to school (Laptops, tablets, etc.) as they are not allowed on our Wi-Fi network.

Common items that a high school student would have include a backpack, a notebook for writing assignments and appointments, and some pens and pencils. All 9th graders will be provided with an MST Planner to keep track of daily assignments.

MST-HS will be implementing a new electronic hall pass system this year. This will allow administration, teachers and parents to more effectively monitor the use of hall passes by our students. The system will also include an electronic student planner which will interface with Google Classroom.

More information will be provided as soon as we begin using the system.

Student picture day is scheduled for Wednesday, September 27th. Geskus Studios will be taking the pictures of all MST High School students. You may select a photo package if you wish to purchase one.

Our MST Website (Manchester School of Technology | Home (mansd.org)) was redesigned last year and is constantly being updated. Please bookmark this site and visit often to receive up to date information including recent news from the school and the district, CTE information, staff contact info, necessary forms, etc.

The website for the Manchester School District website (MANCHESTER SCHOOL DISTRICT | Home (mansd.org)) was also redesigned is a great source for information about what is going on throughout the district.

Tuesday, September 5th-First Day of School

Tuesday, September 19th-No School for Students, Election Day

Wednesday, September 27th-Student Picture Day-Geskus Photography

Wednesday, October 4th-Open House from 6:00-8:00 PM

Friday, October 6th-No School for Students, Teacher Workshop Day

Monday, October 9th-No School for Students, Columbus Day

Tuesday, November 7th-No School for Students, Election Day

Thursday, November 9th-End of Quarter 1

Friday, November 11th-No School for Students, Veterans' Day Observed

We look forward to seeing everyone on September 5th

Timothy Otis-Principal

Email: mst@mansd.org
Website: mst.mansd.org
Location: 100 Gerald Connors Circle, Manchester, NH, USA
Phone: 603-624-6490
Facebook: facebook.com/manchesterschooloftechnology

The mission of the Manchester School of Technology is to foster a safe and respectful learning environment while cultivating academic and technical competency, career success, and social awareness.