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Principal’s Message - March 2010
Joan McQuade
I hope all of you had a relaxing and safe February vacation. As always, March signals activity for the current school year and planning begins for the 2010-2011 school year. March 1st begins the first day of our annual Middle School Week. Our student council has dress up days planned to promote school spirit. The book fair runs daily, and students will be going in their ELA class. March 3rd is the NAMS family night from 5:30-7:30. This gives the NAMS faculty an opportunity to interact with students and their families in a different setting than the classroom. By design, the evening highlights related arts programs. The academic areas are closed in order for teachers to participate and assist in the planned activities. There is a detailed program on our website. Pizza and ice cream will be available for purchase sponsored by the NAMS PTAC. Yearly, it continues to be a successful opportunity for parents, students, and teachers to have fun. I anticipate the same success this year. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Our 6th grade is sponsoring an evening for parents and students to experience the Earth Balloon together on March 11th from 5:30-7:30. This is a 26-foot inflatable Earth view balloon that students can actually walk around. There will be several other geography related activities as well. I want to thank Mr. Poirier who is coordinating the event, and the NAMS teachers who are assisting him.
We continue to implement RAISE into the daily life at NAMS. During middle school week teachers will be recognizing students who demonstrate RAISE values through their behavior with coupons for the school store. Many of our teams are involved in service learning activities. For example: Team 6F (the Falcons) is involved in the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots Program; a program which promotes social consciousness through creating global awareness. Through the Roots & Shoots Partnership in Understanding Program, the students of 6F have been paired with a group of Swiss students as pen pals. This connection has allowed the students to share community service project ideas while learning about a foreign culture. Our successful partnership is currently featured on the Roots & Shoots website. (http://janegoodall.ca/roots-shoots-partnerships.php)
Transition between 5th to 6th and 8th to 9th is another big part of the spring at NAMS. To date, our 8th graders have met with Steve Nugent, the NAHS guidance department head, this week and brought home information for course selection. In addition, Steve will be attending the March 10th PTAC meeting to answer any questions.
For our 5th graders I have visited all elementary schools with the NAMS music teachers and guidance counselor to welcome them to NAMS and discuss music or band options for next year. Please hand in the selection sheet to your child’s 5th grade teacher by March 5th. If you have any questions, please contact Chris Nelson at NAMS. I also had an informal coffee on February 25th for 5th grade parents. We had a solid turnout, and I hope my faculty was able to ease some of the typical fears parents have when their children transition to the middle school. We also plan to bring some of our current 6th graders to their respective elementary school with Officer Tracy Castiglione to have conversations about bullyism. In April our 5th graders will be invited to see our play during the day, and our traditional move up day is planned for June 15th with an evening program for parents.
Over the past few months North Andover has been teaming together with surrounding districts in an attempt to bring STEM experiences to our students. To start the process, team 6E (the Eagles) enjoyed a visit from STEM Ambassador, Zoltan Poleretsky. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The STEM Alliance sent us Zoltan Poleretsky, a science and technology professional, to increase student interest in STEM careers! The Eagles were very interested to learn about the exciting jobs available in the math and science realms. Architects, doctors, engineers, and even video game creators were only some of the many exciting careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics areas!
MCAS is also this month for all grade levels in English language arts beginning March 22nd. Please check our website for a detailed schedule.
As always, please contact your child’s teacher(s), guidance counselor or administration with comments or concerns.
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