Welcome to the Minuteman Parents Association
Welcome to the start of the 2024 - 2025 school year!
If you are the parent or guardian of a Minuteman High School student, you are already a member of the Minuteman Parent Association. Read on to learn more about who we are, what we do and how you can get involved!
If you are the parent or guardian of a Minuteman High School student, you are already a member of the Minuteman Parent Association. Read on to learn more about who we are, what we do and how you can get involved!
The MPA has two main goals:
1) Raise money, primarily for scholarships. See the Scholarships page for last year's recipients. The MPA also organizes and funds Teacher Appreciation Week each spring.
2) Foster connections amongst parents and build community between the parent and school community.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, April 16 - MPA meeting via Zoom. Register here. Principal D'Alleva will be our guest speaker giving the MPA a mid-year update!
Submit questions in advance to MPA-president@minutemanpa.org
Tuesday April 15 - MPA Brunch, District Cafe - Register here by April 11.
Join the MPA for a delicious brunch cooked by the culinary students.
News
Massachusetts vocational-technical and agricultural school admissions proposed regulations
The Healey-Driscoll Administration have proposed regulation changes for career technical education (CTE) programs across Massachusetts.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
The proposed regulations include changing the term that defines our school from “vocational technical” to “career technical”
This change implies a negative bias towards the term “vocational” which is antiquated and shows a lack of appreciation for the mission of these schools.
The proposed regulations are intended to address bias in admissions that leads to disproportionate enrollment. Minuteman and most other vocational districts are NOT negatively disproportionate. In fact, the Minuteman student body has roughly twice the proportion of special education and low income students as those of their sending towns.
This one size fits all regulation usurps local control from the School Committees who historically work with sending districts to ensure that the admission policy makes sense for their particular region's needs and forces all vocational technical schools to have the same process, policies and timelines.
The random nature of a lottery cannot take into account student interest in vocational education. This may result in students being admitted who are not committed to a vocational education, to the exclusion of a student who really wants to be there. This could have unintended consequences on enrollment, local assessments, quality programming, and ultimately the Massachusetts workforce.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Complete the online form here by April 18, 2025. Guildelines for how to fill out the form can be found on page 2 of this PDF below.
Public Comment Guidance - Proposed admissions lottery - Google Docs.pdfTeacher Appreciation Week!
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 5-9. Each year, we take the time to express our gratitude for the time, effort and dedication our Minuteman teachers and staff show our students. This year, we will be “stocking the staff room” with chips, snacks and essentials from the Amazon wishlist as well as hosting a catered lunch. Please click the Amazon link below to purchase items from the list. Click that the order is a gift, put your name in the gift message (so we can track the orders to make sure they arrive) and click the gift registry shipping address during checkout (Minuteman Teacher Appreciation, Acton, MA). The items will be delivered to a committee member’s house and we will bring the treats all week long. Prices range from $5-$35. Thank you for your support!
The teachers and staff at Minuteman go above and beyond for our students. Let’s show our thanks by sharing positive messages of appreciation and support. You can thank an individual teacher, a department or share a general message for all teachers and staff. The messages will be displayed on school wide monitors during Teacher Appreciation Week (May 5-9). You can include your name or be anonymous. Thank you for helping to recognize Minuteman Teachers!
Minuteman Teacher Appreciation Week Shout Outs!
Current Volunteer Needs
If you have any fundraising experience (as a volunteer or professionally), we'd love some help in this area. Please contact MPA President, Courtney Hadly Zwirn.
How to get involved
1. Join our monthly meetings (first Tuesday of every month) to find out what we are working on and how you might help.
2024-2025 meeting schedule (Register here in advance)
September 18
October 16
November 20
December 18
January 15
February 26 (moved to the 4th week to avoid Feb break)
March 19
April 16
May 21
June 18
2. Donate here, participate in our fundraisers or shop the SpiritWear site!
3. Sign up for the private MPA Facebook page * for current parents/guardians of MMHS students.
*Please answer three questions to be admitted to the group.
See our Fundraising Page for all the ways you can support the MPA!
MPA Leadership for 2024-2025
President - Courtney Hadly Zwirn
Vice President - Shelley Scruggs
Treasurer - Silvia Dominguez-Bodie
Secretary - Will Barker
Communications (Website, Facebook Group & Daily Announcements) - Claudia Donnet, Erin Palmer & Tammy Garrity
Spirit Wear On-line Store - Michelle Dowds
Scholarship Committee - Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba
Teacher Appreciation Week - Michele Abroff
Parent Outreach - Minakshi Singal
Please feel free to reach out to the MPA Leadership via email at
mpa-president@minutemanpa.org
Reminder!
All the information you need about school issues - bus schedules, lunches, school schedules, etc. can be found on the Minuteman website.
For an overview of Minuteman communications and how to locate various information on the website, please see the slide deck below.
2022-23 Comms Guide for Parents.pptxThe MPA Mission
The Minuteman Parent Association Inc. seeks to promote the intellectual, social, and physical well-being of high school students of Minuteman High School by supporting the philosophy of technical and vocational education; fundraising to benefit students and faculty; and promoting cooperation and communication among the school, parents, and the community.
The Minuteman Parent Association Inc. is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Contact us at MPA-president@MinutemanPA.org