Blue Hills News

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is observed on Monday, January 15, 2024. There will be no school that day. There are many great resources about Dr. King and his legacy - one is the King Center, founded in 1968 by Dr. King's wife, Coretta Scott King.

Congratulations to our Students of the Month for November and December, Geovanni and Sofia. Congratulations to our COOP Student of the Month, James.

Grade 10 students and families: Please check out information below on the MCAS After-School Program, starting very soon.

Check out the Senior Trip Fundraiser, below - "Knot a Regular Fundraiser" - to support Class of 2024 members travelling abroad in April.

Lots of new information and news below, including basketball, Booster Club updates, and Exploratory/final vocational placement.

Congratulations to our "Hashtag for Luca" contest winner, Caitlin Dennehy, Grade 11. The new hashtag for Luca will be #livelaughluca. Luca is Blue Hills' therapy/comfort dog

Caitlin Dennehy, Grade 11, with Luca - #livelaughluca

Next week, January 14 - 19, is the last Exploratory for the year! Final placement will be made for January 29. We will do everything in our power to place students in one of their top three choices. If your child is going to be absent on Friday, January 19, please email Ms. Titus what your top 5 choices are. Her email: stitus@bluehills.org. Students should bring their chromebooks on Friday so they can fill out their top choices using a Google Form. Students may only choose a program that they have explored and received an exploratory grade. Here is a copy and paste from the exploratory guide (Page 7) describing how final placement is done:

Final Vocational Placement

When students have finished exploring the 9 programs, they will be given a form that asks them to rank their top three choices for final placement. Students should spend time discussing this choice with their parents/guardians. Think back to how the student did in the exploratory and ask some questions.

1. Can I see myself doing this for 3.5 more years? Or perhaps as a career?

2. Was I good at this? Did I get a good grade?

3. Did this career choice match my personal needs/preferences (sitting down a lot, on your feet a lot, working outside in hot or cold weather, sight of needles/blood, lifting heavy things, etc.)

4. Did I like the teacher? Did I like the upperclassmen?

Students are placed in their first choice based on the grade that they got in that program. For instance – if the student chooses Culinary as their first choice, there are only 22 freshmen admitted to Culinary. The students who received the top 22 grades during their Culinary exploratory, and chose it as their first choice, will get those spots. In the event of a tie, we look to the overall average of all exploratory grades to help break the tie. It is crucial, for this reason, that students do well in all of their exploratory programs because very often, the final placement depends on the overall average!

We admit students solely based on numbers. We do not admit based on whether or not family members have gone through the program, letters of recommendation, family business, etc. Each vocational program has a capacity of students allowed based on the size of the program, teacher/student ratio, and other factors in accordance with state guidelines.

The students who may have wanted Culinary, but had the 23rd lowest grade and beyond are now considered to be placed into their second choice program. Again, we will look at the grade received in that second choice program and place appropriately.

Should a student not get into their first, second or third choice, the guidance counselor will discuss options, and those students will be put on the waitlist for all three of their choices. Placement will be made after counseling and relaying to the student where there are openings.

If a student did not get their first choice but got into their second or third choice, they are automatically placed on the waiting list for the first choice only.

On Friday, January 5, the Girls Basketball Team honored a number of teachers from Blue Hills who have had a major positive impact on them. Each player chose one teacher to honor. The honorees were:

Ms. Kiefer

Ms. Braga

Mr. Fitzmaurice

Ms. Taksar

Ms. Lovell

Ms. Adams

Mr. Arnstein

Ms. Mietz

Ms. Joyce-Grikis

Ms. Hedges

Ms. Fiascone

Click the link below for a larger copy!

1. Next meeting will be the FIRST Wed of Feb @ 7, in the school restaurant

2. Fundraiser @ Jake & Joes: Tues 1/23 in Norwood and 2/29 in Braintree
3. We will be setting up an online store for a trial run, more details to come.

4. Boosters Fundraiser Raffle - click here

January 11 - In-Service Late Arrival 10:40 a.m.

January 15 - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - NO SCHOOL

January 26 - Term 2 Ends

Thank you to the many of you that have completed this already on PowerSchool. In order to provide any medications (even over the counter) to your student, we must have parental authorization. Log into PowerSchool and complete the Health Authorization Form.

Please use this First Student provided app to track your bus route. It updates frequently, and is a tool to help provide real-time (or close to it) information.

The student attendance guidelines are contained within the Parent-Student Handbook. Please be advised:

A student will be required to attend summer school upon the accumulation of sixteen (16) absences in order to fulfill BHR attendance requirements. An additional course will be required for every five (5) absences accumulated after (16). All such courses must be taken at the Blue Hills Regional Summer School. All course subjects must be approved by the (ARB) Academic Review Board. If a student is absent on consecutive days it will be counted as one day’s absence if accompanied by a doctor’s note. Notes must be provided within one week of the student’s return to school. All notes must be originals with an authorized signature and date(s) on the doctor’s office stationary. The student’s home phone number and homeroom must be on all doctors’ notes. Absences on special days, assemblies, etc. will be counted as a full day’s absence. A student must be in attendance for at least half the school day to be counted present. Half the school day means being in school from 7:47 am to 11:00 am or 11:00 am to 2:20 pm.

All out-of-school suspensions will be counted day for day towards a student’s maximum number of absences.

If you are not in class or homeroom by 7:48 AM, you are considered absent from school. You must sign in at Student Affairs Office and receive an admittance pass in order to attend class. If you arrive late for school, you are considered tardy and you must report to the Main Office prior to admission.

On the 4th tardy per term and every 4 tardies thereafter, you will be subject to Saturday detention. You and your parent/guardian may be required to meet with the Principal. Parking privileges may be suspended or revoked. Continued tardies may result in more severe penalties being assigned.

• PowerSchool & Attendance note:

  We have had some questions from parents about attendance on PowerSchool, particularly around "class attendance." Please note: we do not track class attendance for students, and PowerSchool is not set up to keep this accurately. Therefore, particularly in vocational programs, the system may significantly overstate the number of absences your student does have. The best way to look at your student's actual attendance is to click on "Grades and Attendance" - this will show you a daily attendance list at the bottom with attendance for the year.

• Lunch is free, but students who wish to have a second lunch or snacks must still purchase these. You can add money to your child's myschoolbucks account to enable them to purchase additional meals and food in the cafeteria.
• Pickup and Dropoff - Please DO NOT use the main entrance/driveway to drop off or pick up students. This is causing a logjam at the entrance/exit to the building. Please enter through the East entrance, closest to Massasoit, and proceed toward the main entrance/exit.
• If your student is out, please email attendance@bluehills.org to report them absent. You can also call 781-828-5800 x 2250 - leave a message if it goes to voicemail.
• Athletic Schedules Available Here!

• Emergency Contact Information

• Please, if you have not signed up for a parent account on PowerSchool, do so now! Please complete all required forms as soon as you can. Grade 9 students may not receive a Chromebook until permissions/agreements are completed!
• NEW - If you are calling your student in sick, please call the attendance line (781 828 5800 x 2250) OR email attendance@bluehills.org.
• Thank you for bearing with us as we work to safely navigate drop-off and pick-up times. Please enter the entrance closest to Massasoit and proceed along the front of the gymnasium to the main entrance/exit.
• Please be reminded: Earpods/headphones may not be worn during the school day except with the explicit permission of the teacher. This includes breakfast, lunch, and passing times. Earpods will be confiscated if seen, and consequences assigned.

Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s mission is to continue its history of academic achievement, technical training and character development through a curriculum which emphasizes the integration of cutting-edge technical programs and challenging academic courses, enabling its students to become competent, caring and productive people in a diverse and changing world.

Core Values:

Community, Opportunity, Relevance, Employability

Website: www.bluehills.org
Location: 800 Randolph Street, Canton, MA, USA
Phone: 781 828 5800

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The Blue Hills Regional Technical School District is an equal opportunity educational institution. All programs, courses of study and activities are open to all students without regard to race, color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin or disability. The School District is in full compliance with Massachusetts Law, Chapter 622 of the Acts of 1971, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (U.S. Code), and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Individuals may make inquiries relative to Chapter 622 and Title IX from the coordinator, at the school address or by phoning 781-828-5800.