MST Weekly Update

Good afternoon to all of our MST family members.

As we enter the month of February, we are now into the second half of the school year. Today, Punxsutawney Phil the groundhog did not see his shadow. According to the legend, if he does not see his shadow, we can expect an early spring. We shall see!

We had a busy week here at MST. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we hosted over 300 students from Central, Memorial, West, Bedford, Goffstown, Londonderry and Kreiva Academy who came to tour our CTE center to decide if they want to come here for a CTE program next year. Thank you to all of our CTE teachers who opened up their classrooms for the tours and thank you to our many student ambassadors who guided the tours. It went very well, and we heard many positive comments from those who attended.

Next week will also be busy with report cards being distributed, an open house Thursday night for 8th graders and for prospective CTE students, and three informational sessions about the Manchester School District Course Catalog. More information about these events is detailed below.

From February 12th-16th, all 9th, 10th and 11th grade students will be selecting their classes for next year. Teachers will be making recommendations next week to help guide their course selections. All 9th graders will be selecting the Career and Technology Education (CTE) program that they wish to be in for the next two years. A student must successfully complete 9th grade to be enrolled in a CTE.

Here is the 2024-25 Course Catalog for the Manchester School District. All CTE classes are listed under Career and Technical Education (pages 33-41) and MST High School courses are on pages 106-119.

If you have any questions about the course catalog, there will be three informational sessions next week.

Tuesday February 6th at 3:00 PM. This will be an online session. CLICK HERE to join.

Thursday February 8th at 10:00 AM. This will be an online session. CLICK HERE to join.

Thursday February 8th at 6:45 PM. This meeting will be in the Brennan Center following the presentation for incoming 9th grade students.

The report cards for quarter 2 are now available in Aspen. We are planning to print them on Monday and give them to students on Tuesday. You should be seeing progress at this time. At least some of the competencies in every class should be at a 2 or better. (See example below of a report showing progress). You also must pay attention to the comment. If it says something like "on track to meet competency in this class", that is good. If it says, "behind pace" or "owes several assignments", the student needs to spend time getting caught up. Every subject has after school makeup days when teachers are available to assist students.

Recently, Mr. Lord’s Video and Digital Media students got a chance to tour one of the premier production studios in New England at StudioLab in Derry. Students visited the podcast studio, recording studio, the surround sound mixing studio, and the XR virtual reality studio. They got to talk to professionals as they demonstrated the latest technologies in live production and studio production. Students got to ask questions and learn about job shadowing and internship opportunities. They even got to learn about how AI is beginning to interact with technology and creation in this field.

On Thursday February 8th, we will holding our annual open house for any 8th grade student, and their parents/guardians, who is interested in attending MST High School next year.

This evening is also the open house to come and visit our Career and Technology Education (CTE) programs. The event is for any 9th or 10th grade student from any Manchester high school as well as Bedford, Goffstown and Londonderry. It is an opportunity for students to see the classrooms, meet the teachers and ask questions that will help them to decide which 2-year program is best for them.

The open house will be from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM. We hope to see many of you there.

On Thursday, February 22nd, Granite Edvance will be at MST to assist students with filling out their FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid.) Filling out the FAFSA is a graduation requirement so this is a great chance to work with someone who is a FAFSA expert. They will be here from 9am to 1pm.

Please see Ms. Wheeler or Mrs. Tetu if you would like to sign up and schedule a time to meet with Granite Advance.

Please Note: You need to complete your FAFSA ID prior to filling out the FAFSA. If you do not know how till fill out the FAFSA ID please see myself or Mrs. Tetu for instructions. Parents or Guardians: There is a parent section of the FAFSA in addition to the student section. If you would like to come in and work with Granite Edvance while your student is working with them, you are welcome to come in and do so. Please let Ms. Wheeler or Mrs. Tetu know if you would like to join. Their contact information is below:

Mrs. Tetu - jtetu@mansd.org 603-624-6490 ext. 2124

Ms. Wheeler - mwheeler@mansd.org 603-624-6490 ext. 5121

In addition to the event taking place at MST, the community colleges are also offering several opportunities for families to receive help filling out the FASFA. Please feel free to attend any one of these events if you would like to receive some assistance. Registration is now open for time slots between 2:00 and 8:00pm. As always, this is a no-cost event. Families will need to register for a time slot and read the confirmation email closely to be prepared to file.

REGISTRATION LINK: https://graniteedvance.org/find-your-direction/upcoming-events/

FAFSA Open House, NHTI

Wednesday, January 31, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm

FAFSA Open House, Great Bay Community College

Wednesday, January 31, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm

FAFSA Open House, Lakes Region Community College

Wednesday, February 7, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm

FAFSA Open House, White Mountains Community College – Berlin

Wednesday, February 14, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm

FAFSA Open House, White Mountains Community College – Littleton

Thursday, February 15, 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm

FAFSA Open House, Nashua Community College

Wednesday, February 21 at 4:00 pm

Online Yearbook Sales have begun! All yearbook purchases will occur through Jostens directly. Additionally, there are customizable advertisements for our seniors, please be sure to take a look at this memorable option. https://www.jostens.com/apps/jcom/router.mvc?affiliateId=2304923

Weekly School Menu

Thursday February 8-CTE/8th Grade Open House from 5:30 PM-7:30 PM.

Monday February 19-Presidents' Day-No School

Wednesday February 21, 2024-College Fair at MST

Thursday February 22-FAFSA Completion Workshop Day

Monday February 26-Friday March 1-February Vacation

And looking way ahead....

Friday, May 10-Prom from 6:30 PM-10:00 PM at the The Farmhouse at Candia Woods

Saturday, June 15-Graduation from 8:00AM to 9:00 AM at the SNHU Arena. No tickets required.

That's all for this week! Have a great weekend.

Timothy Otis-Principal

All past issues of the weekly update for can be found on our website at mst.mansd.org

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.