Ashland Public Schools

We are dedicated to meeting each of our student's needs through a personalized education journey rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Every school year, the Ashland Special Education Advisory Council seeks nominations from parents to recognize staff and faculty members who go above and beyond this calling. On Tuesday, ASHPAC honored the 2023–2024 “Lighting the Way for Excellence” award recipients at a presentation held at the Ashland High School library. Thank you to ASHPAC for this great event, and congratulations to our award recipients!

Are you a school psychologist looking for a new opportunity in Massachusetts? Located approximately 30 miles from Boston and near an MBTA station, we're #hiring a dedicated individual to join us as our next Ashland Middle School Psychologist to help support our grade 6-8 students. Interested? Apply today!

The LAUNCH program held an open house on Sept. 27. The recently renovated space is fully equipped to help differently-abled 18-to 22-year-old students learn life and workforce skills, such as stocking the shelves and cooking. Guests toured the space as they enjoyed light refreshments prepared and served by our program participants. For more information about supporting the LAUNCH program, interested businesses may contact Colleen Brewer in the Office of Student Services at (508) 881-0155.

New school year, new you! We have a wide range of roles and many employee benefits available in our district. We're currently #hiring for a: ? Speech and language pathologist ? Nutrition services staff member ? Night custodian Visit ashland.k12.ma.us/careers to view all open positions and apply today.

Director of Student Services Brittany Hawkins has been working to support individuals with disabilities for 15 years, including working at a non-profit organization where she supports an adult with multiple disabilities. Seeing the positive impact of this mentorship and the right community connections, Hawkins was inspired to establish a program at Ashland Public Schools for differently-abled 18-22-year-old students to provide them with these opportunities. With the support of the Ashland School Committee, Ashland Special Education Parent Advisory Council and district administration, the Learning and Understanding Next CHapters program welcomed its first group of students in July. Young adults in the LAUNCH program, housed at Ashland Middle School, have since been busy gaining hands-on experience by working at different businesses across Ashland, including Ashland Nutrition, Dr. Greens Indoor Golf, Putts & More and the Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester ReStore. Lead Teacher Cassia?Ashman states, “We plan to continue building relationships and making connections with various businesses to support our mission of preparing these students as they transition into adulthood.” For more information about supporting this program, interested businesses in Ashland may contact Colleen Brewer at (508) 881-0155.

As we begin the #LaborDay recess, we celebrate our employees who are integral to our district's success. We hope our hardworking staff, faculty, students and families take this four-day weekend to relax and refresh. We'll be ready to restart classes for all grade levels and regular business hours when we return Sept. 3.

Our faculty and staff was all smiles on the first day of school — whether their very first or last one — on Aug. 28 as we welcomed our grade 1–12 students back into our buildings. We look forward to having our youngest learners, our PreK and Kindergarten students, join us on Sept. 3.

Our support staff did an outstanding job this summer, allowing us to host our #OpeningDay ceremony on Monday. New and returning faculty and staff members eagerly reconnected as they participated in professional development sessions and prepared their classrooms to ensure we have a smooth start to the school year for our students.

The 2023-2024 school year was a great success for our students, faculty, and staff. We're looking for dedicated educators to help us continue building on that success. Here are a few opportunities for you to join our team: ? Middle school French teacher ? Middle school Spanish teacher ? Special education teacher Apply today and view all open positions at ashland.k12.ma.us/careers.

We're proud to share our annual report to reflect on positive outcomes from the 2023-2024 school year and show our progress towards our strategic goals. Here are a few highlights: ? 379 full-time employees ? 92.3% teacher retention rate ? 1,528 work orders completed by the Facilities Department ? 13 retirees with a combined 340 years of service Read the entire report at https://lnkd.in/eZ67Rkby to see how our staff and faculty committed to helping our students succeed this previous school year.