Early Fall Update 2015

August and September brought a very successful start to the school year with a positive energy flowing through the building.  Our athletic teams are off to strong starts and Girls Soccer remains undefeated.  Once again we had two very successful community nights under the lights with players form the town’s youth program sharing the spotlight. 

We also had another successful year with the folks from Adventure In Adventure out working with the freshmen on the “You Belong Program”.  This program is supported in part by a grant from the Monson Cultural Council a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.  Thanks also to the Monson Schools PTSA for their continued support of the program.

Our first new look monthly assemblies began last Friday with Jill Foulis coordinating a faculty “flash mob” We also congratulated our September student of the month, Andrea Proietti.  Andrea was nominated by Jeff Sitnik for his outstanding work in his computer networking course.

While the attendance at our Open House was not as a high as hoped the families that joined us for the evening were positive on the outlook for the upcoming school year and were very complimentary of the faculty at the high school, thank you for coming!

The new gym floor has of course been a big hit with the students and the community alike and I look forward to basketball season for our players to enjoy it.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to remind all of you that we will have parent conferences on Tuesday October 20th and if you are interested in meeting with your child's teachers you can contact Mrs. Sheila Mahoney in the MHS Main Office at (413) 267-4589 or by email at mahoneys@monsonschools.com.

August 2015

Summer has gone by in the blink of an eye and yet I feel it has been far to long since I last checked in to the blog.  Between the birth of my daughter Violet on Graduation Day and the unfortunate passing of my younger brother two weeks later, I was never able to publicly congratulate the class of 2015.  I know graduation was a special ceremony on a beautiful day, and I want to thank all of the folks from the staff that helped make it special day for our graduated seniors  The class of 2015 will always have a special place in my heart and I wish them all well in future endeavors.

However, now it is time to turn the focus to the excitement of the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year here at Monson High School.  The building looks great and I am excited to open the doors to our students next Thursday morning.  It has been fun seeing some of the kids coming in to check on schedules or holding captain’s practice here at the school over the last few weeks, I can’t wait for school to start!

The summer has been a busy one here at Monson High School and I wanted to share a few updates that I also mentioned in the letter I recently sent home to all families.  Over the summer and with the help of the Town of Monson, we were able to completely remodel the gym floor and it looks great!

This fall will also see the return of the Music Program here at Monson High School.  Ms. Chelsea Miller, our new music teacher is excited to get the halls here at MHS filled with the sounds of music again after five years!  Also joining the staff this fall are Ms. Katherine Sama in ELA, Mr. Animesh Bose in Math, and Ms. Jaime Hageman in Foods and Consumer Science.

Well, I’m off to the new student orientation and barbecue, enjoy the final days of summer and

I look forward to checking in again real soon!

Early Spring 2015

We had a great March here at Monson High School.  When I last checked in with the blog our Boys and Girls basketball teams were headed to the post season.  As many of you already know both teams made it all the way to the Western Mass Championships!  Unfortunatley, both teams fell short in the games, but they had wonderful seasons and I was so full of pride sitting in the stands at UMass watching our kids play there hearts out with the full support of the community behind them.  On a final athletic note Connor Pennington is the State Diving Champion for the second year in a row!  We are so proud.

I am also happy to announce that Mr. Jason Roebuck has been awarded the Dr. Harold Grinspoon award for excellence in teaching.  His students were thrilled to learn of this honor and it was a great day letting him know he had received this honor.  I look forward to watching him receive this award this May.

Speaking of awards, I had the honor of attending the Pathfinder Superintendent's award banquet with Mrs. Clarke and this years Monson winner Gabrielle Longe.  Gabby is number one in her class and plans to study Forensic Psychology in college.  We are very proud of Gabby and her many academic achievements.

Now that the snow had finally melted I look forward to spending some time with the Seniors out in the courtyard for lunch and to seeing all of you on the sidelines of our spring sports!

February 2015

So much has happened since I last checked in with the blog!  Both of our basketball teams have received post season berths with home games for the Girls on Tuesday night and the Boys on Thursday night; both begin at 7:00 pm.  I'm also thriled to congratulate Connor Pennington and Justin Moloney on their respective 1st and 11th place finishes at the State Diving Championships.  It is hard to believe with so much snow on the ground that we will soon be turning the page on the winter athtletic season.

Speaking of winter...I have lived through my first MHS winter carnival- what an experience! Mustang pride was in full effect for a week of school spirit culminating in Friday's inter class competition and the dance on Saturday night.  While the Sophomore class gave the Seniors a run for their money; ultimately, the Class of 2015 carried the day.  Below are some photos from the week.

I was also able to enjoy the MHS Drama Club's first performance with new club Advisor Mr. Adam Bouvier.  "How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse" was highly entertaining and had Mrs. Clarke and I laughing out loud on several occasions over the course of the evening.  The kids did a great job and I eagerly await the spring production.

January 11, 2015

The new year is off to a great start at Monson High School.  The Boy's Basketball Team currently enjoys a 6-0 record after recently posting impressive victories against South Hadley and Renaissance Charter School.  Read about their recent succes here and here.  With continued demonstration of this hard work, this season has chance to be a very special one for our young men.

In the Arts, I am looking foraward to the Monson High School's Drama Club production of How to Survive the Zombie Appocalypse this Friday Night at 7:00 pm at GVMS.  I hope to see you there!  I know how hard our students have been working on the production and it looks great.

Last Thursday we hosted the Science Exploration night in the high school cafeteria.  We had a wonderful turnout from the community and our students did a phenomenal job researching and showcasing a number of innovative topics.  It was great to walk around and talk with the kids about their projects and how they got interested in the topics they researched.  Below are some photos I took of the event.  As you can see, our students worked very hard on this.

In closing, I want to remind everyone that the semester is ending next week with half days scheduled for final exams on January 22nd and 23rd.  I also have determined that the high school graduation will be on Friday night June 5th, so stay tuned for more details this spring!

December 26th

As the clock winds down on the year 2014 we had another great month here at Monson High School. After a very powerful night with Chris Herren, we were fortunate enough to host an evening for Veterans and thier families to work on financial literacy skills thorugh the generous support of Monson Savings Bank.  We are so forutnate to benefit frequently from their support, they are wonderful neighbors.

My wife and I had a great morning with our children at the Monson Athleric Booster annual breakfast with Santa.  It was nice to see so many of our student athletes volunteering thier time for the young children in the community.

Our students got in to the spirit of the holidays by participating in the annual SAP wreath decorating contest.  They also took the time to send holiday cards to the troops in addition to many of them contributing gifts for the children of Monson in need.  Spirits were high as the student council handed out candy canes as the school emptied for the start of the holiday break.

As we look forward to the new year and to the second half of the 2014-2015 school year I ask for your help in thinking about the future.  At the high school over the next year we are going to take a look at our block scheduling format and make a determination as a community about if it should be changed or remain the same.  I am looking for volunteers to join a committee I will be forming in the New Year to begin that process.  Please take a moment to answer two questions on the topic here.  If you are interested in being a part of this process please contact the main office.  I want ot be clear that the schedule will be no different in the 2015-2016 school year.  In closing I wish you and your familes a happy and healthy new year!

December 8th 2014

Last week was one filled with excitement here at the high school.  Our winter athletic season is officially under way as are play rehersals.  Some of our seniors are begining to hear back from colleges.  We are all wearing a few extra layers as winter descends upon our school and we look exctiedly toward the holiday season.

On Thursday night we had the extremely fortunate opportunity to host an evening with former NBA player and Boston Celtic Chris Herren.  For an hour and a half more than 400 people in the gymnasium hung on his every word as he encouraged the community to learn from some of his mistakes and to make responsible choices in an effort to avoid the perils of alcholism and addicition.

His remarks made quite an impact on the communtiy and resonated with many of our students.  This was an incredible event and we hope to have Mr. Herren back some time in the future to address the entire student body.  Special thanks goes to Monson HEARS, The Monson Athletic Boosters, and Country Bank for making this event possible.

I am delighted to announce we will be hosting another communtiy event tomorrow night December 9th for Veterans.  Monson Savings bank will be hosting a free financial literacy event from 5:30-7:30.  Their will be free childcare and refreshments will be served, I hope to see you there!