ASRHS Drama Club Getting Ready for Their November Production

ASRHS Students Prepare for Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” at Ayer Shirley Regional

AYER/SHIRLEY, MA: ASRHS Drama Club’s next production is a well-loved chestnut – Noel Coward’s ‘haunting’ comedy “Blithe Spirit,” sponsored by Worker’s Credit Union.  In “Blithe Spirit,” Charles Condomine, a successful novelist, wishes to learn about the occult for a novel he is writing, and he arranges for an eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to hold a séance at his house. At the séance, she inadvertently summons Charles's first wife, Elvira, who has been dead for seven years. Only Charles can see or hear Elvira, and his second wife, Ruth, does not believe that Elvira exists until a floating vase is handed to her out of thin air. The ghostly Elvira makes continued, and increasingly desperate, efforts to disrupt Charles's current marriage until ultimately she sabotages his car in the hope of killing him so that he will join her in the spirit world.  Unfortunately, her plan backfires and it is Ruth who suffers her wrath. Now Charles is haunted by BOTH of his wives, so he calls on Madame Arcati again to exorcise both of the spirits… he thinks.

Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” will play November 22 and 23 at 7pm; and November 23 at 2pm in the Laura S. Leavitt Auditorium at Ayer Shirley Regional High School, 141 Washington Street in Ayer.  Tickets reservations can be placed by phone, or tickets will be available at the door and in advance at the Hazen Memorial Library in Shirley.  They are $10 general admission; $5 for students and senior citizens, and as a special bonus, buy two get one free!  For more information about “Blithe Spirit” or the ASRHS Drama Club or to reserve tickets ahead of time, call (978) 772-2545 or visit ASRHS Drama online at www.jacneed.com/ASYD/AyerShirleyDrama.htm.

Worker’s Credit Union, sponsor of this production, is a state-chartered credit union headquartered in Fitchburg. WCU was established in 1914, has more than $1.7 billion in assets, over 100,000 members, and operates sixteen full-service branches located in Fitchburg, Chelmsford, Gardner, Groton, Lancaster, Leominster, Lunenburg, Orange, Westford and Townsend.  Visit them online at www.wcu.com.

 Julia Alo & Katie Kilcommins are dueling wives in ASRHS’ production of Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit.”

Chris Govang and Deran Quinty are two Seniors celebrating their final Fall play in Noel Coward’s “Blithe Spirit” at ASRHS.

Deran Quinty & Roz Lupaczyk in rehearsal for ASRHS’ “Blithe Spirit”

Communication to Parents/Guardians on Attendance Matters

Dear Parent/Guardian,

I hope this finds you well and hope you and your child’s school experience to date has been positive and rewarding. I see many bright smiles and happy students daily!

We are in the 10th week of school! Term 1 for middle and high schoolers closes today. It is hard to fathom we have completed ¼ of the school year, which brings me to the topic for which I write to you, Attendance Matters. Good attendance predicts success for students. Good attendance requires students to also attend school on time; a late start to the day is a setback and can cause undue stress to your child.

Naturally a child should be kept home if they are ill. A parent/guardian may question what constitutes whether a child be kept at home. Please see helpful guidance from Nurse Leader, Mrs. Rene Paine, Letter from Nurse Leader.

We in the district are focused on good attendance this year as every year. We do have grave concerns on our students who are frequently absent. We worry first on their health, and we also worry they are not attending school because they do not feel connected or happy at school. Why is that? Why does a child not feel connected or dislikes school? We want to know if your child feels this way so we can intervene and work with your child to feel connected and happy while at school. We are here to support families, and we strongly encourage our families to  reach out to us. Please see guidance here from School Counselor & Curriculum Leader, Ms. Cynthia Esielionis, which outlines the support and resources available to you.

Additionally, please refer to these handy tips and resources for parents provided by attendanceworks.org.

Preschool	Elementary	Middle School High School
English	English	English
Spanish	Spanish	Spanish
	Portuguese

The Massachusetts Department of Education (DESE) tracks chronic absenteeism in all districts; it is one of the indicators on the MCAS. Chronic absenteeism is when a student in Grades 1 through 12 misses 10% or more of his/her membership in any school year and this includes excused and unexcused absences. For example, our school year is 181 days and a student who misses 18 or more days is identified as being chronically absent.
What is important to us is why a student misses 10% or more of his/her school year. We understand that some students have a chronic illness. We are concerned about the students who just are not coming to school.

Please take a few minutes to reflect on the following:

Has my child(ren) attended school every day this year?
The day(s) my child was absent was due to an illness.
My child was absent on a particular day because he/she did not want to go to school.
My child refuses to attend school.

If upon reflection, you answer yes to statements 3 and/or 4, please contact your child’s counselor as soon as possible so we can partner with you get to the root cause.

We have set a goal that all students will achieve an attendance rate of 95% or higher this school year. Let’s work together to reach this goal. We can do it!  Each week in the Weekly Update beginning the week of November 11, we will report our attendance rate for the prior week at each school.

We are most pleased to report attendance rates to date, Friday, November 1, 2019.

HS - 96.90%
MS - 96.35%
PH - 97.19%
LAW - 98.59%

These are excellent rates and please work with us to continue good attendance all year.

Remember the school day starts the night before with a good night’s sleep. Attendance matters and we want your child in school every day learning away.

Most sincerely,
Dr. Malone
Superintendent

Picture of the Week

The ASRSD Unified basketball team had their first home opener against Lunenburg this past Tuesday. One of the largest crowd of spectators! We were able to squeak out the win and our players were so good, and most importantly had the time of their lives. One of the best days ever!

STEM Video of the Week

We had a very successful STEM week! We accomplished our goals of stimulating interest, awareness, and ability for our learners to see themselves in STEM. We encourage parents/guardians to have a discussion with their child(ren) on their experiences and interest in pursuing STEM related careers.  ASRSD ROCKS! We are PANTHER NATION STRONG! Thank you to all.

This little guy in Mrs. Rock's kindergarten class sees himself in STEM!

STEM Week 2019

STEM Week is a statewide effort to stimulate interest, awareness, and ability for all learners to envision themselves in STEM Education and employment opportunities. The theme for the second annual statewide STEM Week is "See Yourself in STEM". Each school planned project-based interdisciplinary STEM activities. #MASTEMWeek

A very big thank you to the administrators, teachers, and students for their commitment to STEM Week and engagement in deeper learning. A Grade 8 student was asked today, "Do you see yourself in STEM?" He answered. "Yes, I see myself in biology".

STEM themes in our schools:

High School
Robotics demonstration, STEM activities during Panther Block, CSI

Middle School
6th Grade: Building a Lunar Colony
7th Grade: Ecosystems
8th Grade: Surgical Techniques

Page Hilltop
Grades K & 1 - Innovation Labs; Grade 2- Recycling; Grade 3-Playground Design; Grade 4-Recycling; Grade 5- Starbase Academy

All PH Families:  Home project focusing on energy waste & energy consumption.

LAW
2D and 3D shapes, building a roller coaster, and the Puff Mobile where students will make a car out of the materials supplied.

Preschool
Incorporate the study of nature and age appropriate environmental education concepts into four existing preschool curriculum units.

                                          Grade 6: Building A Lunar Colony

                                     

                                          Grade 7:  Ecosystem Challenge

                                                    Grade 8: Bone Marrow Biopsy

                       

                                                   CSI at the High School, Thank you Detective
                                                   Barhight.

                                         SRO Bigelow showing HS students police work.

Picture of the Week

Old-fashioned fall fun! Preschoolers in Mrs. Rice’s class had fun today frolicking in the leaves!

Attention All Parents/Guardians: Ayer Shirley SEPAC Presents “Basic Rights: Evaluation and Eligibility”

Ayer Shirley SEPAC

Presents

“Basic Rights:  Evaluation and Eligibility”

Free to both parents and professionals

Speaker:  Cheryl Hollocher, 

Federation for Children with Special Needs

(FCSN)  www.fcsn.org

This informative workshop will provide an introduction of the complex special education laws and procedures:  Topics covered include: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Massachusetts Laws, Evaluations and Referrals, The Team Meeting, Individualized Education Program (IEP) and 504 Plans, Effective Progress, Transition, Review of Important Timelines, Strategies for Success and more!

Thursday, November 7th, 2019  

7:00 p.m.  - 9:00 p.m.

Ayer Shirley Middle School – Library

(School Entrance & Parking along side of the school)

1 Hospital Road

Shirley MA 01464

Free Babysitting Available!

Please RSVP for Babysitting.

Contact, Bette Surette, bette_bob@comcast.net with any questions.