Happy Holidays, Exceptional Students, and Other Important Information!

It is hard to believe that 2023 is coming to an end. This is a perfect time for reflection as we start to think ahead and set intentions for 2024. It has been a wonderful year filled with many wins- a new bell schedule, the addition of flex block, new faculty members to our community, and so much more. We are grateful for the support of our students, families, and faculty as we lead as Co-Principals of CCHS. We are proud of the progress we have made towards many of our school and district-wide goals and will continue to push that work forward. We also feel like school spirit among students at CCHS has improved greatly this year and we hope this trend continues in 2024. We hope you all have a peaceful and restorative break filled with lots of love, laughs, good food, and rest. We can’t wait to see what 2024 brings!

With gratitude,

Katie and Brian

 

4th Annual Holiday Huddle-A message from Mr. Reed

I am very grateful to let you know the 4th Annual Holiday Huddle was a huge success.  The CC Football family, CCHS, Alcott, and Willard Elementary schools donated over 300 gifts for the Concord Fire Toy Drive. Concord’s Assistant Fire Chief Latta talked to the players about the impact the donated gifts would make on local families.  He discussed how the toys are distributed to families and the big need for the toys this season.  It was a special moment for the players to hear the difference they made during the holiday season. 

Thank you for your continued support, and I wish you health and happiness this holiday season!

With Patriot Pride,

- Josh Reed, Varsity Head Football Coach, Unified Track Coach

Minding Your Mind - January 5

On Friday, January 5th, a young adult speaker from Minding Your Mind will present to 10th & 11th graders at CCHS as part of their “Changing Minds: Stories over Stigma” program.  Our students will hear from Mallory G (you can read more about her story here), who will share a story of hope and recovery, and how she successfully and productively coped with her own mental health challenges.  The presentation will also include a discussion about the signs and symptoms of mental health conditions, positive versus negative coping skills, and how to ask for help.  

Cartwheel Care Reminder

This is a reminder for families that CCHS is partnered with the organization Cartwheel Care. Cartwheel Care is a community-based mental health partner for the Concord-Carlisle school community. The program delivers virtual therapy, psychiatry, and parent guidance with no waitlists and works with all families regardless of insurance. Students in grades 9-12 are eligible to participate. We are thrilled about this partnership and believe it will be extremely effective and beneficial to our students who participate. Here are a couple of resources about the organization:

NPR article + radio clip highlighting their program

ABC News TV clip on Cartwheel's partnership with Salem Public Schools

Advanced Placement Honor Roll Recognition

Please see the following Announcement from College Board:

Concord-Carlisle High School has earned a place on the AP® School Honor Roll for the 2022-23 school year! On behalf of everyone in the AP community, congratulations to you and your colleagues. The AP School Honor Roll recognizes schools that have done outstanding work to welcome more students into AP courses and support them on the path to college success.

College Board’s Advanced Placement® Program (AP®) enables students to pursue college-level studies—with the opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both—while still in high school. Through AP courses in 38 subjects, each culminating in a challenging exam, students learn to think critically, construct solid arguments, and see many sides of an issue—skills that prepare them for college and beyond.

Commonwealth Ballet Nutcracker

Congratulations to CCHS seniors: Marina Ricker, Livvy Capello, Maddie Smith, Elle Ricker, Nahia Saenz de Viguera Washa, and Christina Drake who dance for the Commonwealth Ballet Company. This past weekend was their final performance of The Nutcracker having performed in 9 shows this season. It is so great to see and celebrate the successes our students have outside of CCHS.

These seniors spend months rehearsing and have a tough schedule on top of school work, with many dancing 5-6 days a week. Last Sunday was a sold-out show and their last Nutcracker performance at the Casey Theater, Regis College, in Weston as they graduate the company next year. Again, congratulations to Marina, Livvy, Maddie, Elle, Nahia, and Christina for this extraordinary accomplishment! 

Debate Team News

On Saturday, December 16, ten members of the CCHS Debate Team attended the annual Natick High School Holly Festival Speech and Debate tournament, while Felicity Zhang attended the Blake School competition in Minneapolis, MN.

At the Natick HS Holly Festival, all 6 of our Public Forum debaters stepped up to varsity and two teams earned qualifications for the Massachusetts State Championships on March 29 & 30, 2024! The teams were Caroline Haskell & Wren Worobey, Aashir Rana & Evan Moffitt, and Henry Gaasch & Max Klimashov. At the John Edie Debates at the Blake School in Minneapolis MN, Felicity Zhang continued her success in the national level Lincoln-Douglas Debate by clearing to elimination debates and adding to her team leading 1052 NSDA points. 

Congratulations, Debate Team for your continued success!

PRISM23

Congratulations CCHS Band, Choir, and Orchestra for their outstanding PRISM23 performances on Friday, December 15th, and Saturday, December 16th. This one-of-a-kind performance is a non-stop musical kaleidoscope presented in surround sound by dozens of student-led ensembles. Bravo, Band, Choir, Orchestra, Chris Noce (Director of Bands and Orchestras), Sarah Grina (Choral Director), staff, sound support, and everyone involved who put in countless hours of preparation for these amazing performances! We can’t wait for PRISM24!

Midyear Exam Schedule

You can also access the Midyear Exam Schedule here. 

Upcoming Dates

Day	Date	Time	Event
Mon-Fri	Dec 18 - 22	All Day	Coordinated Assessment Days: December Break
Friday	Dec 22	11:15 AM	Early Dismissal Schedule
Friday	Dec 22	All Day	No Homework Night: December Break
Sun-Sat	Dec 24-30	All Day	December Break

Quote of the Week:

“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.”

― Mary Anne Radmacher

Seal of Biliteracy, Updated Academic Policy, Fun Friday, and more!

Welcome to December! How did that happen so fast? We hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving holiday with their loved ones.  Things here at CCHS are moving along. December can be a very busy month both at school and at home for both faculty and students. Please make sure your student is taking care of themselves. Please remind them to slow down on all fronts and to get enough sleep (easier said than done, we know!). Hopefully, if we all communicate the same message to the students it will serve as a helpful reminder. We have another “Fun Friday” coming up at the end of the week. These lunch blocks have gone well and will hopefully bring a nice break with a bit of fun to your student's day. Please see a few pics below from our November Fun Friday. Whether it is decorating cookies, playing giant Connect Four or Jenga or cornhole,  painting rocks, or blowing bubbles, our Fun Fridays have not disappointed. 

Seal of Biliteracy - Deadline to Apply is December 15

This school year, 2023/24, Concord-Carlisle High School participates in the Massachusetts State Seal of Biliteracy program. The State Seal of Biliteracy is an award that recognizes high school graduates who attain high functional and academic proficiency levels in English AND a World Language by high school graduation. 

The purpose of the State Seal of Biliteracy is to: 

• Encourage students to study and master languages

• Certify attainment of biliteracy skills

• Recognize the value of language diversity

• Provide employers with a means of identifying people with language and biliteracy skills

• Provide universities with a method to recognize and give credit to applicants 

• Promote skills that will benefit them in the labor market and the global world

• Strengthen intergroup communication and honor the multiple cultures and languages in a community.

CCHS Students enrolled in 4H, AP, or C&C/level 5 (Chinese, French, Latin, Spanish), courses as well as Heritage speakers (any language) and English Learners, are encouraged to take the test. 

The State Seal of Biliteracy’s criteria are: 

• Meet or exceed the proficiency threshold of the ELA MCAS of grade 10 or WIDA ACCESS

• Attain a score or level at the Intermediate-High level of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines (4H, AP, or C&C).

CCHS will administer a nationality-recognized assessment taken online in early March 2024 during school. All four skills will be assessed: writing, reading, listening, and speaking—for Latin, reading skills. For languages that do not have a state-approved assessment, a portfolio option may be available. 

All applicants must fill out this form by Dec.15th, 2023, Seal_sign_up_2023/24

Seniors who earn the Seal will have the Massachusetts Seal of Biliteracy insignia affixed to their Concord-Carlisle High School transcripts and diplomas. 

For additional information, here is a FAQs document here, or please contact;

Sue O’Connor, English Learners teacher, soconnor@concordcarlisle.org

Florence Roussel-Ehrenthal, WL Department Chair; frousselehrenthal@concordcarlisle.org

Changes to Food App Deliveries to CCHS

Please see an email that was sent to the student body this evening regarding changes to ordering food delivery to the school from various food applications. We would appreciate your support on this. Thank you!

Good evening students.

We wanted to let you know about some changes we have made to food delivery to the school through Apps like Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc.

Starting tomorrow, any food that is ordered needs to be delivered to the back of the school by the amphitheater. We will have a table outside for deliveries to be dropped off at. Delivery people are not allowed to enter the building. You will need to pick your food up from the table set up out back. No exceptions.

Please remember that you are not allowed to leave class, at any time, to order or pick up food. You are only allowed to order food to be delivered during your free blocks or lunch. Our reason for doing this is to make sure that the building is as secure as possible. Your safety and the safety of our entire community are of the utmost importance and we do not want delivery people coming in and out of the building. Please also remember that you should never open any door that leads to the outside of the building to visitors. All visitors must be buzzed in through an adult in the main office.

Thank you for your cooperation. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Ms. Stahl, Co-Principal

Updated Academic Integrity Policy

In response to the quickly evolving information environment, Concord Carlisle has been engaged in updating the Academic Integrity Policy currently found in the CCHS Handbook. The updated policy will include language that addresses new trends in academic behaviors related to the use of artificial intelligence platforms, such as ChatGPT. The new language specifically states that such behaviors violate our school’s academic integrity expectations based on this definition of use:

• Use of artificial intelligence applications to generate work or to enhance it to the point that the work does not reflect the student’s original work. Assistance from an AI system is too much when it interferes with the educational objectives or the assessment of a submitted work.

This updated policy will tentatively replace the current policy in the CCHS Handbook on January 19, 2024. Teachers will be sharing this update with students, answering clarifying questions about expectations around the appropriate use of artificial intelligence in their classrooms and the consequences of violating the updated policy.

To further inform this work, we will be conducting a survey of students to gain a better understanding of current behaviors and strategies students are employing to complete their academic work. The survey will be anonymous, with no collection of email addresses. CCHS will also provide several student focus groups over the coming weeks to hear directly from students about the updated policy and their thoughts, questions, or concerns.

To opt your student out of this survey, please email Assistant Principal, Dr. Darius Green (dgreen@concordcarlisle.org).

FAFSA Support

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has partnered with the nonprofit uAspire to provide free support to students and school staff to help seniors complete their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
 
uAspire will offer a FAFSA webinar for students three times: 4:00-5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 3; 5:00-6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 30; and 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 27. Registration is open online. In addition, FAQs are available in English and Spanish, and more resources are posted on uAspire.org/resources, uaspire.org/Checklist, and uaspire.org/FSAID.

Careers in Sustainability Field Trip

At Walden Pond, left to right: Daniel Simmons, Laz Keita, Alexia Brunius, Debra Jemison, METCO Director, Elyjah Ramos, Cesar Hernandez, Ndungu Muiruri, and Jermaine Fernandez.

On November 14 after school, CCHS students interested in the STEM field met with the Green Engineer group (based in Concord) to explore careers in sustainability. The students walked to Walden Pond and met with staff from the Green Engineer and the Walden Visitor Center to see firsthand the impact of addressing sustainability and social equity in the built environment.  The visitor center is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold-Certified building. The Green Engineer group was a consultant in the design and construction of this center made from locally harvested wood and triple-paned glass.  The center is sunlit and energy efficient, powered by nearby solar arrays on a parking lot canopy.  Additionally, students enjoyed visiting the replica of Henry David Thoreau’s “simple house”, a clear example of earlier sustainable practices.  After walking back to school, students participated in an informative Q & A session with Green Engineer partners and a college intern to explore the many ways to prepare for work in the fast-growing field of sustainability that advances healthy built and outdoor environments for all.

Important Dates

Day	Date	Time	Event
Mon-Fri	Dec 18 - 22	All Day	Coordinated Assessment Days: December Break
Friday	Dec 22	11:15 AM	Early Dismissal Schedule
Friday	Dec 22	All Day	No Homework Night: December Break
Sun-Sat	Dec 24-30	All Day	December Break