January 12, 2021

Dear Grade 8 Families,

I am writing to provide some additional information to those families with students who may be interested in attending a vocational technical high school next year.

As you may have already learned, because of a change in state regulations, vocational technical high schools must give preference to students who live within their member district communities for admission, and the admission process must be by lottery for students who meet basic standards.  Because the Town of Shrewsbury does not belong to the Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School’s member communities, our students attend Assabet (or any other vocational technical high school) as a “non-resident” student.  Unfortunately, because of the changes in regulations, we expect that there will be very few seats, and possibly no seats, for Shrewsbury students at Assabet next year.  For details on this, you can watch our presentation to the School Committee last month here or read this report.  Even though the odds are much lower than past years, we still encourage families who want to potentially have their child attend Assabet to apply by their priority deadline of January 15, as seats may open up in late spring or over the summer that Shrewsbury students may be able to access from the non-resident waiting list.  

Just click here to apply to Assabet by the deadline of January 15.  Please note, Assabet has informed us that the recommendation form from a counselor, teacher, advisor, coach, family member, or community member can be submitted in person when an Assabet representative comes to Oak Middle School on January 27 to interview students who have applied.  Please click the link at the bottom of this message to download the recommendation form to be completed.   If you have questions about the application, please email Assabet Admissions Director, Lauren Gonzalez, at lgonzalez@assabet.org or 508-485-9430 Ext.1250.

We have also been reaching out to other vocational technical high schools to see if any of them believe they may have seats for students from Shrewsbury.  While most of these schools believe that they will fill all their seats with their member communities’ students, Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School in Franklin indicates they may have some seats available for out-of-district students.  While we realize that a bus commute both ways to Franklin would involve a very long commute, we know some families very much want their child to attend a vocational technical high school and may want to consider this, and applications can be done online here.   Under the law, our district would pay for both the tuition and bus transportation for any student who attends a vocational technical high school, regardless of which one.  Students may apply to multiple vocational technical high schools.

I am sorry that the new state regulation makes it more difficult for Shrewsbury students who are interested in vocational technical high school to enroll in one.  While we cannot possibly replicate the kind of intensive programming found in a vocational technical high school, please know that if your child ultimately attends Shrewsbury High School they will have access to opportunities for hands-on learning experiences, such as through our Project Lead the Way engineering and science classes, through options for course credit for outside employment, and through a new emphasis on workplace internships that we are undertaking.  

Respectfully,

Joe Sawyer
Superintendent of Schools

Link to Download Assabet Required Student Recommendation Form