Mission
Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School is a dynamic and supportive school system that prepares students to meet the challenges of the future by providing a rigorous and relevant education in a safe and secure environment resulting in academic, career and technical proficiency.
What We Believe
Education is shaped by society to satisfy certain needs, both general and specific, current and anticipated and should be a composite of vocational, technical, and academic courses.
Vocational/Technical education is an integral part of education and is designed primarily to prepare students to enter the work force with marketable occupational skills upon leaving high school. Such an education must include an academic base, which will support and enhance vocational/technical skills as well as prepare students for life in a pluralistic society.
High school graduation marks the beginning of a lifelong need for new learning, skill enhancement, and personal fulfillment. Flexible opportunities and varied programs for adults enrich the educational experience of all students.
Essential to all education is the development of a safe, positive, and caring atmosphere, which allows professional staff, students, and all parties involved to progress. The individual students, whose talents, interests, and needs are recognized as unique, must be the focus in the development of curriculum which remains flexible and encourages each person to develop to the level of his/her capacity.
Aware of its growing responsibilities, the educational staff of Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School accepts with confidence the task of preparing our students realistically for the world of work and for a productive life.
School Profile
Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School is the flagship of a school district that provides the tools and opportunities for career and academic success to thousands of learners each year. In addition to high school enrollment, which averages above 1000, post graduates participate in adult day and evening programs, and students of all ages benefit from the evening programs offered by Assabet After Dark.
The Assabet Valley community straddles the unofficial socioeconomic border of Eastern and Central Massachusetts, also known as the Route 495 corridor. The towns of Berlin, Hudson, Maynard, Northborough, Southborough, and Westborough join the city of Marlborough in comprising the school district. Neighboring communities send students to Assabet on a tuition basis.
The school's campus is set among trees and athletic fields in the city of Marlborough, bordering Hudson and proximal to Northborough. Major routes 495 and 290 intersect two miles away, providing access to Worcester (20 minutes) and Boston (50 minutes). The campus is bordered by residential and commercial properties.
Assabet students choose a technical program in which to specialize after completing exploratory experiences in a variety of areas. Time in school is divided between the technical programs and a rigorous academic schedule. Required academics at Assabet include four years of core subjects (English, mathematics, science, and social studies), two years of physical education and health, and electives in art, business, music, world languages, and the core areas.
In their after school hours, students participate in homework coaching, extracurriculars related to almost all academic and technical areas and student interests, and a thriving community of interscholastic and intramural athletics.
Graduates can receive an academic diploma and a certificate of proficiency in their career and technical areas. Assabet graduates enjoy both college and career placement services, including a co-op program that allows highly qualified students to begin their careers during the technical program time of their senior year.
As stated by Albert Mlawsky, the district's first superintendent, "The curriculum is strictly taken from the community. It is what they need and want. Vocational education trains youth for what the employers need." Since the school opened in September 1973, this guiding principle has not changed. However, with the contributions of community industry leaders and craftspersons as program advisory committee members, the school's programs have changed significantly over the years. Vocational education has become career and technical education, and throughout Massachusetts Assabet is known as a leader in this right.
AVRTHS is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC).