ESSEX AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL

   ADMISSIONS POLICY AND PROCEDURES

Eligibility. Any student whose parents or guardians are residents of Massachusetts is eligible to apply to Essex Agricultural and Technical High School for admission. Actual acceptance is contingent upon successful completion of grade eight and promotion to grade nine. Applications accepted for grades ten and eleven will be based on program openings and the student’s ability to profit from the vocational program.

Equal Education Opportunity – Essex Agricultural and Technical High School admits students and makes available to them its advantages, privileges, and courses of study without regard to sex, race, religion, color, national origins, special needs, sexual orientation, or handicap.

Admissions Policy – Essex Agricultural and Technical High School is an independent regional vocational school specializing in agricultural education. It serves all towns of Massachusetts. Transportation will be provided to students from communities within a 20 mile radius of the school. . Presently, there is no quota system for any community. Vocational transfer students will be accepted on a space available basis.

Recruitment Visits – All eighth grade students attending school within a 20 mile radius attend an information slide presentation at their respective public, private, or parochial middle schools during October through January each year. 

Brochure -For  an  color  brochure detailing information about admissions, the vocational and academic programs, please contact Admissions Coordinator, Ronald Vercellone 

Application Deadline- Page one of the application is to be filled out by the student and signed by the parent/guardian and returned to the guidance counselor or other designated school official who will complete pages two and three of the application which includes achievement in grades seven and the first two terms of grade eight, attendance, work habits, school behavior, medical information, and signature of sending school representative. It is the responsibility of the sending school guidance counselors to forward these applications to the Coordinator of Admissions at Essex Agricultural & Technical High School prior to MARCH 1st.

Open House- All applicants and their parents/guardians are encouraged to attend the annual Open House which is held in the fall and announced on this website on the calendar schedule page. Throughout the day, prospective students and their parents are invited to tour the campus and learn more about our unique programs.   

Foreign language version- Essex Agricultural and Technical High School is making every effort to meet the needs of limited English speaking students by providing these applicants with the Program of Studies booklet, the application, and web-site information in other languages. A Spanish version and a Portuguese version are available from this site. For other language translations, please copy and paste the English text to be translated into Alta Vista translation software. 

Composite scoring- Completed applications are processed by the Admissions Committee using the weighted admissions criteria. Each applicant will be assigned a score derived from the sum of the sub scores .

Vacancies shall be filled from the existing waiting lists. This list will be in existence for one year. Grade 9 students will be accepted from this list. Late applicants will be evaluated in the same manner, but their composite score will be integrated in rank order into previously established waiting list

Transfer Applications- Transfer applicants for Grade 10 and 11 will be based upon program offerings and the students’ ability to profit from the program. All transfer students must attend a school interview. If the students and parents cannot provide transportation, an official from Essex Agricultural High School will go to the sending school to interview the candidate.

Notification- By mid-May all applicants are notified via letter whether they have been accepted or on a waiting list. A master list of each applicant’s status is furnished to the sending school for the applicants from their respective schools.

Exploratory Program- Once accepted, all Grade 9 students participate in a year long exploratory program. This  program is the same for all students and consists of introductory courses in Animal, Plant, and Environmental Science

SCHOOL TOURS are available for prospective students and their parents.

Interested students and their parents who are considering enrollment at Essex Aggie are encouraged to attend a SCHOOL TOUR. The free tours last about 2 hours, start at 9AM ,and will provide  you a complete view of our campus programs. Please wear comfortable shoes! Call ahead to reserve a space to Ronald Vercellone, the admissions coordinator at 978-774-0050 ext. 210, or email him at ronvercellone@agtech.org.

Application for Admission -The application form used by Essex Agricultural and Technical High School, reflective of the school policies and procedures described above. The application is in Microsoft Word format. Please print out the form, complete all information, and mail or FAX  to: 

Essex Agricultural & Technical High School
ATTN: Ronald Vercellone, Admissions Coordinator
562 Maple St., P.O.Box 362,
 Hathorne, Massachusetts 01937
Phone (978) 774-0050 ext. 210
FAX (978) 774-2834
email:ronvercellone@agtech.org