Report Cards

Good afternoon BHS parents,

We are writing to make you aware that all students received Term 1 report cards in homeroom this afternoon. Please make sure to look these over with your child this evening.  A reminder that Term 2 has now begun, and teachers will continue to make grades available via the Aspen X2 grading portal, which can be accessed at the following web address: https://ma-braintree.myfollett.com/.

Term 2 progress grades will be posted and up to date no later than December 9th.  

Financial Aid Night

This is a reminder to senior parents that the Guidance Department will be hosting our annual Financial Aid Night on Thursday November 14^th at 7:00 PM, in the auditorium.  Parents of students who will be applying for financial aid are strongly encouraged to attend.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me before Thursday.

Thank you,

Anthony Garofalo

Director of Guidance

Braintree Public Schools

(781)848-4000, Ext. 2277

Parent Teacher Conferences

Our parent-teacher conference sign up is now available on our website at http://www.gpvillage.com/bhs/home. Through this link, you can select a conference time with individual teachers on either Nov. 21^st @ 6:30-9:00pm or Nov. 25^th @ 4:00-6:30pm.

As always, you can access your child's current performance in individual classes through the Aspen portal. Grades close this Thursday and report cards will be issued shortly afterwards.  Conferences this year are not being done by alphabet, and parents are free to sign up for the date which works better for their schedules.

Thank you,
Jim Lee
Headmaster

Flu Vaccine

Dear Parents/Guardians,

The Nursing Department in collaboration with the Braintree Board of Health will again be offering free Seasonal Influenza (Flu) vaccination to students in grades 6-12.  The High School Seasonal Influenza Vaccination clinic will be held during school on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m.

Only students with written parental permission will be allowed to receive the vaccine.  If you are interested in having your child participate in the School Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Program, please complete the consent form and have your child return it their homeroom teacher by Friday, October 18, 2013.   If you have any questions please contact Rosemary Donoghue RN or Frances Barron RN at 781-848-4000 x 2256 or 2286.

The consent form and vaccine information sheet will be available in the school nursing office and on the Braintree High School website if you experience any difficulty while downloading the forms-  http://www.gpvillage.com/bhs  

 

Sincerely,

Paula Dowd RN, BSN, M.Ed.

Coordinator of School Nursing Services

Braintree Public Schools

128 Town Street

PTO Post

Parents and Guardians,
The annual PTO Yankee Candle Fundraiser is now in progress. If you are
interested in placing an order and have not received an order form, they
sent home with students, there are order forms at BHS or you can let me
know and I will see that you get one. The sale. ends 10/15

Thank you to all who sent in Membership donations and Stop and Shop
card #'s. We are still collecting both if you haven't sent them in.
To date we received 140 memberships and 75 Stop and Shop card #'s.

The Stop and Shop A+ program starts today. Stop and Shop, starting today
keeps track of total purchases on the registered card #'s. At the end of the
program we get a check based on the number of registered card and total
spent.
Card # can be registered any time at www.stopandshop.com/aplus
or dial 1-877-275-2758. If you prefer you can send me your #.
Thank you,
Jean McDonald

Progress Reports

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As you are aware, paper progress reports will no longer be distributed at the midway point of each marking term.  Instead, current term averages will be available through the Aspen X2 grading portal. Teachers will provide an updated average on the portal beginning Monday, October 7 through Friday, October 11.  Please select your student’s individual classes to view updated grades for each class. You may access the portal through the BHS GP Village website (http://www.gpvillage.com/bhs) or by visiting the Aspen  X2 grading portal link: https://ma-braintree.myfollett.com.  The GP Village website also has general instructions available for accessing the grading portal.

Should you have questions regarding the Aspen X2 grading portal, please e-mail bhsaspen@braintreema.govwith a brief description of your problem or your question. Should you have questions regarding your child’s grade, please e-mail the appropriate classroom teacher.  If you would like to receive a hard copy progress report, please contact your child’s house office. 

We look forward to continuing our work with you and to promoting further academic progress at BHS.

....and so it begins

On Wednesday, September 4^th, the class of 2017 will arrive at BHS to participate in freshmen orientation.  When the remaining students join them on Thursday, September 5^th, BHS will collectively begin the 2013-2014 school year.  We trust that families have had an enjoyable summer vacation and, like us, are looking forward to the excitement and challenges that wait at school.  Over the summer, BHS has welcomed a number of new staff members, and added a couple of new teaching positions due to the largesse of the town and the school committee.  We particularly thank Mayor Joseph Sullivan for the ongoing commitment and resources that he has helped secure for the education of Braintree’s students.

In terms of staffing, this year we will be joined by alumnus Stephanie O’Brien, who will teach biology in the science department.  Melissa Heller will join our foreign language team and Steve Trocki will teach in our special education program.  Courtney Wheeler from the middle school will find herself in front of much larger English pupils as she joins our staff, as will Bryan Graveling, who will teach in physical education.  Kristen Owens and Matthew Babbitt will serve in long-term substitute positions in physical education and math respectively.  We have also had some internal moves which will see Heather Tomassian working with our pre-school, Megan Peterson teaching health, and Laura Lebo transitioning into our special education department.  Finally, Lisa Murphy will be returning to the school to continue her work with the English department.  We continue to work on filling some last-minute vacancies, but feel confident we will have everyone in place for the start of the new year.

Parents will again be able to follow their child’s academic progress through the use of the parent portal, and information will be coming home to families early this year explaining how to access your child’s account.   Progress reports this year will be done through the portal, and we will be communicating with parents further as to this process.   The school’s handbook is also available through our school website at http://www.gpvillage.com/bhs/home, as we modernize our communication systems and save countless trees.  Parents without adequate access can receive a hard-copy of the handbook through their house office.   We will also be starting the New England Association of Schools & Colleges accreditation process, which will involve a survey done by Endicott College of all BHS families, focused on your experiences with Braintree High School.  The fall will also see improvements being made to our gymnasium, as new bleachers are to be installed in time for the winter sports season.

We begin the new year with excitement and promise.  As the evenings grow noticeably brisker and the sun sets inexorably earlier, the call of the school year is unmistakable.  Welcome back to BHS to all of our families.  Enjoy the long weekend before you.