Principal's Blog for the Week of March 23rd - 27th

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Tiger Jam
Please plan to join us for the 2015 edition of Tiger Jam.  The concert is this Saturday night  at 6:30 in the HS Auditorium.  Admission is $10 and all proceeds go to benefit the Music Department Scholarships.  It is always a great night, showcasing our talented students and of course our world renowned house band "The Horton's". Don't miss it. It is going to be awesome.  
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The March Newsletter is posted on the 

High School Webpage. It will provide 
additional details on events, activities, 

photos and calendar reminders.
http://www.douglasps.net/files/filesystem/March%20Newsletter1.pdf

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Winter Blues!   

The Winter of 2015 keeps on giving. Not only are the temperatures below normal but there is still a foot of snow on our fields and our track forcing our Spring teams indoor for the past two weeks.  It looks like we will be indoors for the better part of next week. The following schedule will most likely have cancellations on it. 

  

DOUGLAS TIGERS ATHLETIC SCHEDULE                            Week of March 30th, 2015                                                         

                                                                                                

Monday, March 30^th         Boys Volleyball Home vs Valley Tech @ 3:30

Tuesday, March 31^st         Varsity Boys Baseball @ Assabet @ 3:30                

                                          JV Boys Baseball Home vs Assabet @ 3:30

Wednesday, April 1^st        Boys Volleyball Home vs North @ 3:30   

Thursday, April 2^nd          Track and Field Home vs Nipmuc @ 3:30

                                          Varsity softball Home vs St. Bernard's @ 3:30

                                         Varsity baseball Home vs St. Bernard's @ 3:30            

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2015 MCAS Testing Schedule

The MCAS testing season is here.  Please review the following schedule for upcoming exams.

Grade 10 Math

Tuesday, May 12 (Session 1)

Wednesday, May 13 (Session 2)

Make-up Exams:  Thursday, May 14

Biology/Science Tech

Tuesday, June 2 (Session 1)

Wednesday, June 3 (Session 2)

Make-up Exams: Thursday, June 4

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Important Dates 

*March 28th - Tiger Jam 

@6:30 pm in the High School Auditorium 

*April 3rd - Good Friday - No School

*April 10th - Drama Club Play 

@ 6:00 pm in the High School Auditorium

*April 15th - Mr. DHS

*April 20th - 24th - Spring Recess

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Important Notice to Parents

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Announcements

*Help out Matthew Desilets Senior Project by bringing in food donations to help Kylee’s Care Kits for Kidz. See posters around the school for more possible donations.

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 *Help out Clarissa Morin’s Senior Project by writing an anonymous secret and then place it in the “Post Secret” box located in the library. Later, come see them on the windows for everyone to read!! Secrets must be made presentable and school appropriate.

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*The 2015 Nursing Schools EXPO will be held Monday, April 6 from 4:00 to 7:30 at UMASS Medical School in Worcester. If you would like more information about nursing as a career, this is a great opportunity!!  Please see guidance for more information.

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Help out Matthew Desilets Senior Project by bringing in food donations to help Kylee’s Care Kits for Kidz. Donation items can include: one hundred percent juice boxes, boxes of macaroni and cheese, Spaghetti O’s and more. See posters around the school for more possible donations. Anything that can be brought in is much appreciated by kids who need it in Leominster. There is a box for donations outside the school office and collections of donations will run through the month of April. Thank you for your participation.

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Dear DHS Parents and Guardians,

Our names are Allie Leach and Caroline Forest, we are students at Douglas High School. For our senior project, we are designing this year’s yearbook. Our role as business managers for the yearbook is to help defray the cost of our yearbook so they will be affordable for everyone in the class.

It is our responsibility to include any pictures that you as parents would like to incorporate in the yearbook for your children. The cost of these advertisements varies depending on the size of the message/picture you wish to leave for that senior.

If you are interested in submitting a parent ad, please visit www.yearbooksforever.com then search Douglas High School, Douglas MA. From here you have three options for your ad: our staff can design it based on photos and text you submit, you can create an ad in another processor and then upload, or you can design your ad yourself online.  You can also purchase yearbooks on this website.  Please submit your ad by April 17th, 2015.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our yearbook advisor, Dylan Nauss at dnauss@douglasps.net

Thank you!

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Principal's Blog for the week of March 16th-20th

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The March Newsletter is posted on the 

High School Webpage. It will provide 
additional details on events, activities, 

photos and calendar reminders.
http://www.douglasps.net/files/filesystem/March%20Newsletter1.pdf

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2015 MCAS Testing Schedule

The MCAS testing season is here.  Please review the following schedule for upcoming exams.

Grade 10 ELA

Tuesday, March 24 (Composition)

Wednesday, March 25 (Sessions 1 & 2)

Thursday, March 26 (Session 3)

Make-up Exams:  Friday, March 27 and Thursday, April 2 (Composition only)

Grade 10 Math

Tuesday, May 12 (Session 1)

Wednesday, May 13 (Session 2)

Make-up Exams:  Thursday, May 14

Biology/Science Tech

Tuesday, June 2 (Session 1)

Wednesday, June 3 (Session 2)

Make-up Exams: Thursday, June 4

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Junior Job Shadow

On Tuesday, March 17th, 60 juniors participated in our annual job shadow day program that is organized through the Guidance Department.  This program allows students to observe the skills and knowledge required to be successful on the job. Students who participated had many positive things to say about their day.  Some of the placements include Douglas Police Department, Milford Hospital, WJAR (Channel10) in RI, Blackstone Valley Physical Therapy, and Waters Corporation.

Jeremy Yeomans at his job shadow experience which took place at WJAR TV in Providence.

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Social Host Law

As we approach the season for major events like Prom and Graduation we want to remind everyone of the importance of following the State's Social Host Law. 

We have attached for parents and students to reference with regards to the legal impacts of violating the Social Host Law.  

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College Admissions Seminar

     On Wednesday night, March 18^th students and parents gathered in the auditorium to hear Erin Baffuto, a representative from Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority, speak about the college admissions process and financial aid.  Erin presented many thoughtful ideas on creating college lists, importance of college visits and completing college applications, etc.  Information from the seminar and the college process is available by contacting Mrs. Stack or Mrs. Carpenter in the guidance office or accessing the MEFA website at MEFA.org.

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St. Patrick's Day Parade

The Douglas High School Marching Band participated in the South Boston Street St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday March 15th.

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Announcements

*The mandatory Disney meeting will be held on March 24^th from 6-7pm. 

There will be a notary and important paperwork there. All students going to Disney MUST ATTEND!

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*Help out Matthew Desilets Senior Project by bringing in food donations to help Kylee’s Care Kits for Kidz. See posters around the school for more possible donations.

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*Don’t forget that during all lunches this week Jordan Marcustry will be selling cupcakes for her senior project Cupcakes for Cancer! Prices range from 50 cents to $1.50. All proceeds will be donated to The American Cancer Society. All orders will be delivered next week.

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 *Help out Clarissa Morin’s Senior Project by writing an anonymous secret and then place it in the “Post Secret” box located in the library. Later, come see them on the windows for everyone to read!! Secrets must be made presentable and school appropriate.

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*The 2015 Nursing Schools EXPO will be held Monday, April 6 from 4:00 to 7:30 at UMASS Medical School in Worcester. If you would like more information about nursing as a career, this is a great opportunity!!  Please see guidance for more information.

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Help out Matthew Desilets Senior Project by bringing in food donations to help Kylee’s Care Kits for Kidz. Donation items can include: one hundred percent juice boxes, boxes of macaroni and cheese, Spaghetti O’s and more. See posters around the school for more possible donations. Anything that can be brought in is much appreciated by kids who need it in Leominster. There is a box for donations outside the school office and collections of donations will run through the month of April. Thank you for your participation.

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Dear DHS Parents and Guardians,

Our names are Allie Leach and Caroline Forest, we are students at Douglas High School. For our senior project, we are designing this year’s yearbook. Our role as business managers for the yearbook is to help defray the cost of our yearbook so they will be affordable for everyone in the class.

It is our responsibility to include any pictures that you as parents would like to incorporate in the yearbook for your children. The cost of these advertisements varies depending on the size of the message/picture you wish to leave for that senior.

If you are interested in submitting a parent ad, please visit www.yearbooksforever.com then search Douglas High School, Douglas MA. From here you have three options for your ad: our staff can design it based on photos and text you submit, you can create an ad in another processor and then upload, or you can design your ad yourself online.  You can also purchase yearbooks on this website.  Please submit your ad by April 17th, 2015.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our yearbook advisor, Dylan Nauss at dnauss@douglasps.net

Thank you!
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Principals Blog for the week of March 9th-13th

The March Newsletter is posted on the 

High School Webpage. It will provide 
additional details on events, activities, 

photos and calendar reminders.
http://www.douglasps.net/files/filesystem/March%20Newsletter1.pdf

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Student Council attends State Conference:

7 members of the DHS Student Council attended the Massachusetts State Conference in Hyannis this week.  A highlight was their participation in the Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics.  They took the plunge into Craigville Beach with other students. Mr. Nauss and Ms. Smith, advisors to Student Council, also took the plunge in support of Special Olympics.  We are proud of them for their participation in this event.  They arrived back to the school this afternoon and they indicated that they had a terrific time and found the conference to be both informative and inspirations.  Attending the conference were: Cassidy Chapman, Monique Levesque, Liam Madden, Briona Brito, Colleen Chapman, Shannon Powell and Connor Gauthier. 

We hope to have a few photos for next week's blog.

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Winter Sports Awards

On Wednesday night we held the Winter Sports Awards in recognition of the successful sports season that our teams enjoyed.  We recognized the 12-9 Girls Basketball team which earned a berth in the MIAA Tournament. We also recognized the Boys Basketball team that finished 11-10 and advanced to the Regional Semi-Finals of the MIAA Tournament. Our Indoor Track teams which saw the girls program finish at 5-2 and the boys ended at 4-3.  Both teams had members advance into the Regional, State Divisional and All-State Championships. Lastly, we recognized the Cheerleading Program for their great tournament season highlighted by their claim of the DVC Championship.  They built upon the DVC title with the Central Mass Regional Championship and their qualification for the State MSSAA Championships held at Wachusett Regional where they placed fifth. 

It was an exciting Winter Season and we express our appreciation to all our Student-Athletes, coaches, fans and the DHS Athletic Boosters organization. 

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College Admissions Seminar

For Students and Parents

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

6:30 p.m.

DHS Auditorium 

Presented by a representative from MEFA –

Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority

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What is Job Shadowing?

Job shadowing is part of the overall college and career program designed to assist Douglas students to better understand their talents, abilities and desires for fulfilling their plans for their lives in the workplace.

In a Job Shadow experience the student goes to the workplace to observe first hand the skills and knowledge required to be successful on the job.  The experience allows the students to explore a career area and to get a “real life” exposure to a particular field, reaffirm an interest a student may have in a particular field and to narrow down career options.

Job Shadowing provides the student with:

·        A meaningful introduction to the world of work

·        A better understanding of the connection between school and work

·        An opportunity to explore various careers and the opportunities within them.

The Job Shadow program is meant to help the student in the process of making future plans.  In the years ahead, whether in continued education or in the workplace, it is likely that your desires and career plans will change.  Each opportunity you have will help you to see and learn more about yourself, and others.

Juniors can either shadow a relative or friend of the family or guidance will make attempts to arrange for a placement.  Job shadow is optional but recommended. 

This year’s date for Job Shadowing Day is Tuesday, March 17^th.

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MIAA Student-Athlete of the Month Award 

 Makenzie Cyr has been selected as the recipient of the “MIAA Student-Athlete of the Month Award" for January 2015. 

As a member of the varsity cross country, indoor and outdoor track teams, Makenzie will have participated in sixteen varsity seasons at Douglas High School by the time of her graduation. She has earned fourteen Dual Valley Conference All-Star honors as of the fall season. This past season, Makenzie led the cross country team to consecutive league championships as well as a second place team finish and a third place individual finish in the MIAA Division 2 Central Massachusetts Cross Country Championship. The following week, she placed fourth overall in the MIAA Division 2 All State Meet. 

Academically, Makenzie has earned a 97.2 grade point average while also being enrolled in three advanced placement courses. She is a member of the National Honor Society and also serves as Vice President of the organization. She has played a leadership role on the Douglas High School Student Council for four years, participating in state conferences, community service activities such as the Walk for Hunger and the formal planning of school activities which include the Winter Carnival and Homecoming Weekend. In addition, Makenzie has been an active member of the Peer Leaders. She has participated in several outreach initiatives within the community including a Thanksgiving Food Drive, The 12 Days of Christmas collection for families in need and additional activities such as hat, glove and coat drives. 

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Eagle Scout Nick Daly

Nicholas Daly has been a member of Boy Scout Troop 173 in Webster, Massachusetts, for the past seven years, and has recently achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, Scouting's highest rank.

 Nicholas's Eagle Service Project involved the construction of new wooden booths used by St. Joseph's Basilica during their annual parish festival. The original booths were over 30 years old and in desperate need of an update. The new booths were constructed of lasting material and made for easy assembly.

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Congratulations to the Varsity Cheerleaders on placing 5th in the Division 4 State Championship! 

The team performed a flawless routine to end their season! The coaches and parents are very proud of their accomplishments this season! A team dinner/celebration was held immediately following the competition with the cheerleaders, parents, and families!

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St. Patrick's Day Parade

The Band had two successful performances last weekend. On Sunday March 8th, they marched in the Worcester St. Patrick's parade which was a competition. The DHS Band won first place in the large band division. Other groups competing included South High Community School Band (Worcester) and Narragansett Regional. Tantasqua Regional High School won the small band division.

On Sunday, March 15th, the band will perform in the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade and on Saturday, March 21 they will march in the Providence St. Patrick's Day parade.

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Announcements

   

    Help out Matthew Desilets Senior Project by bringing in food donations to help Kylee’s Care Kits for Kidz. Donation items can include: one hundred percent juice boxes, boxes of macaroni and cheese, Spagettio’s and more. See posters around the school for more possible donations. Anything that can be brought in is much appreciated by kids who need it in Leominster. There is a box for donations outside the school office and collections of donations will run through the month of April. Thank you for your participation.

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Dear DHS Parents and Guardians,

Our names are Allie Leach and Caroline Forest, we are students at Douglas High School. For our senior project, we are designing this year’s yearbook. Our role as business managers for the yearbook is to help defray the cost of our yearbook so they will be affordable for everyone in the class.

It is our responsibility to include any pictures that you as parents would like to incorporate in the yearbook for your children. The cost of these advertisements varies depending on the size of the message/picture you wish to leave for that senior.

If you are interested in submitting a parent ad, please visit www.yearbooksforever.com then search Douglas High School, Douglas MA. From here you have three options for your ad: our staff can design it based on photos and text you submit, you can create an ad in another processor and then upload, or you can design your ad yourself online.  You can also purchase yearbooks on this website.  Please submit your ad by April 17.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our yearbook advisor, Dylan Nauss at dnauss@douglasps.net

Thank you!

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Principal's Blog for the Week of March 2nd-3rd

Note to parents:

Third Quarter Progress Reports have been posted in IPASS. Please review your students performance for the first half of Third Quarter.  

The March Newsletter will be posted on the 

High School Webpage shortly. It will provide 
additional details on events, activities, 

photos and calendar reminders.

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Sports Information and Award Night 

will take place on Wednesday March 11th 

Spring Sports Information at 6:00

Despite the snow cover and snow banks; it is time for the Spring Sports Season to get underway.  The season begins on the 16th of March for Baseball, Softball, Boys Volleyball and Outdoor Track.  The coaches for these sports will meet with prospective players and a parent to discuss their programs and their participation expectations along with establishing contact links.  Baseball is coached by Mr. LaChapelle and Mr. McGrath and Mr. Ginisi. Softball is coached by  Mr. Furno and Mr. Quinn. Volleyball is coached this year by Mrs. Farese and our track teams are coached by Mr. Dugan and Ms. Harrington.  The 

Winter Sports Awards at 7:00

Also on the 11th of March we will be celebrating the soon to be concluded Winter Season.  The Sports Awards Night affords us with the opportunity to recognize our winter sport student-athletes along with their coaches.  We thank Mr. Doyon for his preparation for this evening.  We also want to thank in advance Ms. Tibbetts for her help with the program and certificates.  The inside word is that the Winter Sports Video is as spectacular as the Fall edition.  We thank Mrs. Hippert for her work on this and we are eager with anticipation for this culminating piece of the Award Night. 

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Cheerleaders

The tournament season for our cheerleading squad has been very exciting and they have meet with a great deal of success.  They are now recognized as the Dual Valley Conference Champions and as the Central Massachusetts Regional Champions.  As a result of these strong placements they will compete Sunday morning in the MSSAA State Cheerleading Championships as 1 of 7 finalist teams in their division.  We wish the 12 team members and Coach Ursch and Coach Socha the best of luck in this competition.  There is much to be proud of as the photo below indicates.  Great job everyone.

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Basketball Season draws to a close:

The winter season saw our Boys and Girls Hoop teams generate a great deal of excitement with seasons that went into post season play.  The girls team finished with a 12-8 regular season mark and a trip to second seeded Greater Lowell Tech H.S. . They battled hard and were able to erase a 17 point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to close to within 2 points.  They ran out of time to complete the comeback.  Our seniors: Megan Hayes, Shannon Powell, Elissa Piwowarski and Ashley Gresian, have enjoyed success with this program.  This is the fourth consecutive year that they have qualified for MIAA Tournament play.  Congratulations to the team and Coach Quinn and Coach Farese.

The Boys Basketball team has finished their season.  The finish with an overall record of  12-11.  They qualified for the Clark tournament for consecutive seasons and as well as qualifying for the MIAA Tournament also for consecutive seasons.  Their post season play was very exciting.  The upset Maynard High   School (17-3) in the first round and followed it up with an upset victory over Worcester Technical HS (16-4). Both of these upsets were on the home courts of their opponents.  They moved on to the District Semi-Final game versus league rival Hopedale HS (21-1) which was played at Clark University. It was an exciting night, with great fan support who were rallied by our outstanding cheerleading team.  Douglas held a five point lead a few minutes into the fourth quarter and we looked like we may pull off the biggest upset of the post-season by defeating the number 1 seed.  We were just not able to maintain the lead as Hopedale hit three consecutive three point field goals to take a 3 point lead and continued on to defeat our team who had played their hearts out in front of a proud group of fans.  We congratulate our seniors: Tyler Barsamian, Mat Fausch, Teddy George, Johnny Gonzalez, Jesse Mosczynski and Cam Saster and Coach Ryan and Coach Hill for an exciting season.  

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Tiger TV

You are getting a first look at the new anchor desk for Tiger TV News.  This impressive work is the product of Joshua Richard's Senior Project.  I'm sure you'll agree that Josh did a terrific job on this desk.  It is inclusive of lighting and a logo plate.  We will soon unveil the desk in the upcoming March edition of Tiger TV News.  Great job Josh and thanks to his mentor Mr. Gionet.  
 

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Upcoming Dates

March 6th - 3rd Quarter Progress Reports Issued

March 20th - Professional Development Day

April 8th - Senior Citizens Breakfast

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Announcements

Dear DHS Parents and Guardians,

Our names are Allie Leach and Caroline Forest, we are students at Douglas High School. For our senior project, we are designing this year’s yearbook. Our role as business managers for the yearbook is to help defray the cost of our yearbook so they will be affordable for everyone in the class.

It is our responsibility to include any pictures that you as parents would like to incorporate in the yearbook for your children. The cost of these advertisements varies depending on the size of the message/picture you wish to leave for that senior.

If you are interested in submitting a parent ad, please visit www.yearbooksforever.com then search Douglas High School, Douglas MA. From here you have three options for your ad: our staff can design it based on photos and text you submit, you can create an ad in another processor and then upload, or you can design your ad yourself online.  You can also purchase yearbooks on this website.  Please submit your ad by April 17.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our yearbook advisor, Dylan Nauss at dnauss@douglasps.net

Thank you!

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Seniors - Reminder that the deadline for applying for scholarships through the Greater Worcester Community Foundation including the Wagner Scholarship is Monday, March 9th.

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Reminder

Chorus members attending the Philadelphia trip are reminded that final trip payments are due.  

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