Dear Shawsheen Students, Parents/Guardians, and Colleagues,
I hope you and your loved ones have been able to enjoy the summer break and are ready to return in less than two weeks for the start of the 2025-2026 school year! New students will report for New Student Orientation on Tuesday, September 2nd, and all students (including seniors on co-op) will return to a Week 1 schedule on Wednesday, September 3. Senior co-op (for eligible students) will begin on Thursday, September 4. Please read this message carefully to ensure you don't miss any important back-to-school information.
Student Handbook Acknowledgement & Back-to-School Registration in Aspen
Parents/guardians and students of Grades 10-12 are expected to acknowledge they have read the 2025-2026 SVTHS Student Handbook by Wednesday, September 3, 2025. To do so:
Log into the Parent/Guardian Shawsheen Tech Aspen account
Select the 'Initiate' button under the 'Back to School Verification' banner that falls under the 'RETURNING STUDENTS' banner when you log into Aspen (see photo below).
Complete this process for each student you have attending Shawsheen.
ONSITE Aspen Support for Parents/Guardians of New and Returning Students
We are offering in-person support to parents/guardians requiring assistance logging into Aspen. This includes password resets.
A representative from the Ed Tech Department will be available on August 26, 2025, from 11:30 to 1:30 PM. Please Park in the rear parking lot and enter through the café doors.
**Please note: NEW Students will receive username/passwords when they start in September.**
If you cannot attend the in-person support date, please use the following link for Aspen support and follow the instructions below: https://shawsheentech.sherpadesk.com/portal/
Click on the green 'Submit a Ticket' button.
Use parent email to log into the ticket system.
LOCATION: select: _Home
FIRST NAME: Parent first name
LAST NAME: Parent last name
CLASS: _PARENT ASPEN LOGIN ISSUES
SUBJECT: Student’s name
DETAILS: Be as specific as possible of the issues you are encountering.
Screenshots are helpful.
Student Schedules
Student schedules will be posted in Aspen by early next week. We will notify you once those are available to view in Aspen.
Important Documents for the 2025-2026 School Year
The following documents (and more) can be found by clicking the 'Important Resources' link button located on the 'Principal's Office' page on the SVTHS website.
2025-2026 SVTHS School Improvement Plan
Shawsheen Civil Rights Procedures for all non-Title IX Claims
Reminder: Student Handbook Changes for the 2025-2026 School Year
In June 2025, I wrote to the school community about important changes to the 2025-2026 SVTHS Student Handbook. The full list of changes to the handbook can be viewed at the following link: Memo providing overview of all changes to the 2025-2026 SVTHS Student Handbook, as presented to the School Committee. You can view the details of the changes referenced in the memo by clicking on the links below. In each document, all new language is in red text, existing language is in black text, and removed language is in strikethrough text.
The most significant area of change to note and prepare for is the Student Attendance Policy. Some important changes from that section are outlined below – but please read the entire Changes to Student Attendance Policy document to review all attendance-related changes.
Excessive Absence:
A student will fail all academic and vocational courses for the year if they have more than 12 unexcused absences for the school year.
A student will fail all academic and vocational courses for the quarter if they have more than 4 unexcused absences in that quarter.
Students can have a maximum of 12 unexcused absences for the school year, or a maximum of 4 unexcused absences in a quarter.
Individual Course Attendance:
If a student has more than 12 unexcused absences for the year in an academic or vocational course they will fail that course for the year.
If a student has more than 4 unexcused absences for the quarter in an academic or vocational course they will fail that course for that quarter.
Consequences for excessive absences also apply when students have excessive absences in individual courses. A student will be considered as unexcused absent from a course if they miss that course due to an unexcused tardy, an unexcused dismissal, or an unexcused absence from school.
Attendance Make-up Days:
Students will be limited to 2 attendance make-up days per quarter, and no more than 6 attendance make-up days per school year.
Attendance make-up days will be offered on designated Saturdays and designated week-days over school vacation weeks throughout the year for students who exceed more than 4 unexcused absences for a quarter or more than 12 unexcused absences for the school year .
Appealing Unexcused Absences:
If a student exceeds the allowable amount of unexcused absences, they can appeal to the Principal. Each student can access this appeal process 1 time over their four years at SVTHS.
2025-2026 SVTHS Bus Routes
2025-2026 Bus Route information can be viewed at the following link: 2025-2026 Bus Route Information.
Reminders re: School Routines
Student Drop-off & Morning Entry
Students can begin to enter the building at 7:00am, and must remain in one of the following supervised locations until the homeroom bell rings at 7:25am: cafeteria, auditorium, library, or assigned classrooms.
During this time, students may only enter the building from two locations: the main entrance, and the entrance next to the student cafeteria (in the rear of the building).
Staff members will be assigned to these locations in the morning to direct and supervise students.
When dropping off students at the main entrance or by the cafeteria, please do not park in the fire lanes or in lanes of traffic between parking spaces, or allow students to sit and wait in the vehicle until the bell rings, as this creates traffic concerns in the parking lot and out on the street. If everyone drops students off as soon as they arrive, we can keep traffic moving and avoid back-ups.
School Start Time & Homeroom
Students may not bring coffee, food, or drinks (other than water) to homeroom.
Students must report to their homerooms by 7:30am or they will be marked tardy.
Students who arrive late may enter the building through the main entrance or the entrance by the cafeteria. Students entering by the cafeteria after 7:47am should ring the buzzer to gain access to the building.
Refer to pages 21-23 of the 2025-2026 SVTHS Student Handbook for detailed information about school rules regarding attendance and tardiness.
Student Pick-up & Afternoon Dismissal
Student dismissal is at 2:04pm for all students.
We encourage students to take the bus to reduce the number of cars entering and exiting the parking lot at dismissal time.
Please avoid using the front parking lot for student pick-up until after 2:10pm. Cars that arrive early block fire lanes and prevent efficient pick-up of students who have mobility issues.
Between 1:45pm and 2:15pm cars may only enter the rear parking lot through the entrance on Alexander Road. Buses and cars use both lanes of the entrance on Cook Street to exit the rear parking lot after student dismissal.
Student Laptops
New students will receive their school-issued laptops during Orientation on Tuesday, September 2. All returning students are reminded to bring their fully-charged laptops and power cords to school with them when they return on Wednesday, September 3.
School Photos
SmilePro will be sending information directly to families interested in purchasing school photo packages. All students will have photos taken for their school-issued ID cards. Photos will be taken on the following dates:
Grades 9 & 11 = Friday, September 5
Grades 10 & 12 = Tuesday, September 9
Sincerely,
Jessica Cook
(she/her)
Principal