Mamaroneck Schools

Welcome to Mamaroneck High School!

August, 2019

Dear Parents and Students:

This past July, like many of you, I was transfixed with the coverage of the 50th Anniversary of the landing on the moon. In the midst of the celebration I  came across a very extensive interview that Historians, Douglas Brinkley and Stephen Ambrose, had conducted with Neil Armstrong in 2001.  What is so extraordinary about this interview is Armstrong’s modesty and conviction that the landing of Apollo 11 could never have happened without the commitment of 1000s of workers who believed,  "If anything goes wrong here, it's not going to be my fault, because my part is going to be better than I have to make it."  Today, more than ever we understand that one of our most important missions at Mamaroneck High School is to prepare our students for the next  “Apollo 11” and to provide them with the skills to work in a team to actively seek out solutions to many of the pressing challenges of our day. To that end, our teachers are always looking for new opportunities to strengthen their teaching practices and to make learning relevant.  This summer teachers participated in a range of  professional development opportunities including in these topics:

• How to use podcasts in the classroom. (Led by our own Mike Sammartano and Evan Madin)
• How to understand the complexity of our contemporary food system. (Held at Stone Barns Center)
• How to make Shakespeare come alive. (Led by the Royal Shakespeare Company)
• How to use heart monitors to track personal fitness goals.
• How to empower students to make moral choices. (Led by Facing History and Ourselves)
• How to make sense of geographic and environmental themes playing out in Iceland. (Led by the GeoCamp Iceland Institute)

We know that as the adults in the building it is critical that we remain curious, engaged and lifelong learners in order to ensure that our students are appropriately challenged and stimulated.  Students, we have spent the summer preparing for your arrival and we are excited to welcome you to the 2019-20 school year!

The first day of school for all students will be Wednesday, September 4th. We will stagger our start times on opening day in order to accommodate our Ninth Grade Orientation.   All incoming 9th grade students are invited to report to McLain auditorium at 8:00 a.m. and will be dismissed at 2:42 p.m.  (9th grade students should print out their schedule and bring it to school on day one.)   10th, 11th and 12th grade students should report at 10:45 a.m. to their first period class.   Students will spend 20 minutes in every class and will have a short lunch break.  All students should bring their lunch to school, the cafeteria will not be open.  A  copy of the schedule for September 4th appears as a pop-up on the homepage of the MHS website.

Please note that there are a number of documents that you need to access and/or sign in order to begin the school year. Use the list below to make sure you have read and filled out all necessary paperwork: 

• MHS is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) school and we rely upon students having their devices in order for instruction to take place.  The only devices that can be used are laptops, chromebooks, tablets and iPads.  If a student wants to borrow an iPad from MHS they can do so in the library starting the first day of school. 
• All students regardless of the device they use must fill in the AUP Form in order to access MHS network accounts. AUP forms will be collected in English classes the first week of school. 
• For those students borrowing the iPads, the cost for insuring the iPad is $27 and insurance is mandatory.  Please write checks to the Mamaroneck School District and have your child bring the check in an envelope to the library during lunch starting the first day of school. 
• Students’ assigned lockers and combinations can be found on the schedule tab in the portal.  
• All students can gain access to their schedules through the parent portal after 3:00 p.m.  this  afternoon.  Should there be an issue with the schedule please contact your child’s counselor directly.  All students should bring their schedule to school on September 4th.
• Parents, please review the Mamaroneck High School Code of Conduct with your children.  At our opening assemblies this year we will review the Code of Conduct and discuss the values that we cherish at MHS. 
• The schedule for day rotations and the bell schedule are on our website.   Freshmen do not  panic in trying to understand the schedule, we will cover this in orientation!

An overview of Mamaroneck High School’s safety protocols can be found linked to this document, this information will be communicated to all students within the first week of school through their science classes. 

9th grade parents and students -  for the first time at MHS the National Honor Society will be offering tours of the High School to 9th graders who would like to visit their classrooms before September 4th.  The tours will leave on the hour from the main entrance on Boston Post Road starting at 9:00 a.m.and running until 3:00 p.m.  The dates for the tours are August 28th, 29th and 30th, no sign up is required. 

Back to School night is Thursday, September 26th at 7 p.m., in the meantime should your child need any assistance in transitioning to the next step in their high school career, please do not hesitate to contact a guidance counselor or any administrator.  Enjoy Labor Day Weekend and we look forward to welcoming all students on September 4th. 
 
Sincerely,
 
Elizabeth Clain
Principal