During the first year, students explore all of Assabet's seventeen technical areas for two hours over the first two weeks of school, called the Mini-Exploratory. Upon completion of the Mini-Exploratory, students select six technical areas to explore further for one week, called First Year Exploratory. Following the completion of the First-Year Exploratory, students choose the three technical programs they would most desire for permanent technical program placement. Each student is notified of their placement in the beginning of January and will remain in that technical area for the remaining 3½ school years of technical program training.
Exploratory Schedule
Please see below for important dates regarding the Exploratory Schedule.
- 1st Exploratory: Week of September 17th
- 2nd Exploratory: Week of October 1st
- 3rd Exploratory: Week of October 15th
- 4th Exploratory: Week of October 29th
- 5th Exploratory: Week of November 13th
- 6th Exploratory: Week of December 3rd
- 1st Day in Technical Program: Monday, December 17th
Required Technical Program Attire
Please make sure to review the REQUIRED TECHNICAL PROGRAM ATTIRE. Safety is our number one priority and it is critical that students dress appropriately in order to prevent injury.
Selection of a Career Major
Prerequisite: A student must earn a 'C' or better in a shop exploratory in order to qualify for acceptance into that shop at the end of the Exploratory Program.
Procedure: Students indicate their first, second and third choices for shop placement. They are ranked for assignment to their choices based upon the following factors:
-
Grade earned in the shop of choice, as evaluated by the shop teachers
-
Grade average in all subjects and exploratories
-
Attendance record
It is important that all parents/guardians and students understand that because each shop is limited in the number of students it can take, admission to some shops can be competitive. Some students may be offered assignment to a shop which is not their first choice. To be sure that each student has a chance to compete on the same basis for the shop of their choice, we evaluate the factors listed above. Grade average in all subjects and exploratories (25%), attendance (25%) and shop performance in the shop of choice (50%).