Monthly Parent Newsletter

As many of you know, NMRHS is an inclusive high school where all are accepted. I would like to take a moment and discuss with you the importance of NM students being kind and respectful to their classmates, faculty, staff and to our building. Last month I asked all of you to speak with your student regarding being kind and respectful to our beautiful building. The NMRHS Faculty and Staff would like to say thank you to all of the parents/guardians who spoke with their students regarding picking up after themselves. We have noticed a considerable difference in both the bathrooms and cafeteria these last few weeks.

Unfortunately we have recently noticed students not being kind or respectful to their classmates and/or faculty and staff. The choice of language being used whether it is swearing, derogatory comments towards others, not respecting others uniqueness, invading peoples personal space, using social media to belittle others, just being mean or not thinking before speaking or acting, is becoming a concern at NM. While not everyone is partaking in this, everyone can hear or see what is going on and is affected by others words and actions. While we at NM take this seriously, we can only do so much and we are asking for assistance at home.

Please talk with your student about being kind and respectful to others. Being kind can trigger the reward system in our brain releasing chemicals that can produce positive feelings and can amplify your positive mood and help others to feel and be positive. Treating someone with respect means showing regard for their abilities and worth, valuing their feelings and their views, even if you don't necessarily agree with them, and accepting them on an equal basis and giving them the same consideration you would expect for yourself. At NM, we expect everyone to be kind and respect others and we will continue to model and reinforce our expectations for our students. We are just asking that parents and guardians remind your student also of being kind and respectful to others.

Lastly, there are many different holidays celebrated in December and whatever holiday you celebrate please know that NMRHS wishes you a happy and safe holiday season!

Sincerely,

Laurie Smith, Interim Principal

A note from Kristi Montolio - Special Education Department Chair

In the world of Special Education it's been a busy athletic season! Unified Basketball ended their Fall season on Tuesday, November 19th at the final district Jamboree hosted by Fitchburg High School. NMRHS had a great season playing against Groton-Dunstable, Ayer-Shirley and Littleton in our regular season play. Student athletes had a total of four home games with NM hosting the regional jamboree at NM on Tuesday, November 12th. All around these athletes had a great basketball season and some were learning the game for the very first time!

Looking ahead, winter registration is open for winter sports and Unified has the first ever option of Strength and Conditioning. https://students.arbitersports.com/programs/2024-2025-winter-athletic-registration-17. Use this link to sign up and be a part of the unified community. This will be an opportunity for athletes to learn their way around a gym and utilize the district's athletic facilities with guidance from coaching staff and peer partners. The Unified athletic programs are open to athletes and partners and generally practice twice a week. Spread the word!

A note from Christy Kervin - Science Department Chair

Science News from Mrs. Mrakovich in 145!

AP Environmental Science

We are learning a lot in APES and are about to complete Unit 3: Populations - which is all about determining how societies grow, decline, and stay stable. As well as some of the factors that influence this, from food sources, socioeconomic status, education/job opportunities, and how societies can change over time. It also covers differences between K-selected and r-selected species, generalists vs specialists, and the different types of reproductive strategies that can occur within different species or during different times.

We have also completed our first APES test (both the MCQ and FRQ sections) which will serve as a baseline for improvement for the AP test on May 13th!

Animal Behavior

We just had a quiz on the history of animal behavior - important figures in moving our knowledge about how animals think, react, and behave forward. We are currently waiting for ducks to hatch *knocks on wood* and have 4 which have started to pip (first initial break of the shell). Hopefully they will all successfully hatch by the end of the week. I will be holding a special FLEX block again on Dec 4th to open up any of the unhatched duck eggs. This is a completely optional FLEX opportunity and is only for enrichment purposes. The chickens that we hatched early in the year have all been adopted out to current students and they seem to be doing really well.

A note from Jeff Waldron - Physical Education/Wellness Department Chair

In the pictures, you will see students participating in Yoga as well as their Personal Fitness Programs. Students are 4 weeks into their Personal Fitness Programs and progress is being made for certain! In Lifetime Fitness as well as Mind Body Fitness, students will be participating in Pilates after Thanksgiving Recess!!

A note from Becky Jackson - Social Studies Department Chair

On October 11th, Mandy Connor and Jess Boccelli were invited by Special Olympics of Massachusetts to be a presenter at their annual coaches conference. They were asked to present on the success of the first ever Mobile Polar Plunge that they brought to NM in the Spring of 2024. Through their efforts and a former colleague, Gerin Murphy, they helped raise close to $12,000 for the Special Olympics of MA. In so doing, they themselves helped raise $250 for our Unified programs in our district with the food trucks they had as well. This was a huge hit last year. They have our date set for March 7th this year with a check-in time of 3pm and a jump time at 3:30 pm. They are trying to make it a whole district wide event.

Officer Tucker visited the sophomore classes to talk to them and answer questions about student Constitutional rights at the high school after learning about the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and Supreme Court cases dealing with students.

Veterans Day breakfast and ceremony hosted by Student Council and Rho Kappa Social Studies Honor Society Thursday 11/7/24

The Social Studies Department also hosted a School-wide Mock Election Monday 11/4.

A note from Anissa Plante - Visual Art Department Chair

In Ceramics 3 class with Ms. Plante, students started off the year by making a series of forms thrown on the pottery wheel, then researched various surface techniques to use as decoration. These works by Bella J. display a botanical theme: the green bowl was designed using a sgraffito technique, in which colored slip is applied then carved away to reveal a contrasting clay color; and the white and blue bowl was glazed using inspiration from antique Dutch Delftware pottery.

A note from Mike Chew- World Language Department Chair

Sra. LeGrand's Spanish 2 class has been learning about Diego Velazquez’s famous painting "Las Meninas" and students will be coloring their own interpretations of the piece (as homework). They analyzed the piece through questions and a Spanish infographic poster along with virtually visiting the painting using the El Prado Museum site. Students also created comic strips to finish the clothing unit. In her Spanish 1 class, students are getting into describing oneself and others. They created some Nubes de Palabras ("word clouds") using a Spanish word cloud site. French 1 students just read their first story in French and have been gaining confidence in their speaking skills as they discuss the story. Most recently, they concluded their Francophone Culture project at the library.

A note from Ed Logiudice - Math & Business Department Chair

The wheels of education continue to roll in the Mathematics and Business Department.

• In Grade 9 math courses, the students are working on examining exponential and linear equations. Students are delving into the similarities and differences between the graphical representations of these functions. The Grade 9 math students will also be introduced to exponents that are fractions and what this means. If your student is in a Grade 9 math course, they might be a little dismayed to learn that we can put fractions into the exponent of a number.

• In Grade 10 math courses, the students are learning about Similar Triangles and how the idea of Similarity applies in the modern world. Maybe when they zoom in or out of a picture on their social media platforms, they will be thinking about why the pictures don’t get distorted and how the concept of Similarity plays into this. From there, they will extend their knowledge of Similar Triangles as they dive into Right Triangle Similarity. Very soon, our Grade 10 students will enter the world of SOH-CAH-TOA.

• In Grade 11 math courses, the students have been introduced to logarithms and seen how logarithms fit into the worlds of both Mathematics and Science. Through the course of working with logarithms, students have used logarithms to model and solve problems involving calculating interest accrued in a savings account, the half-life of a chemical, the spread of disease, and how fast it takes for a slice of pizza to cool down (and why, we never wait that full time and burn the roofs of our mouths anyways). After dealing with logarithms, Grade 11 students will start the Trigonometry portion of their courses.

• In our Grade 12 Calculus courses, students have been dealing with the Derivative and what Derivatives can do. Whether it is finding the equation of a tangent line, finding tough to calculate values without using a calculator, or finding the solution to an Optimization problem, our Calculus students are using their knowledge of Derivatives to problem solve various scenarios.

• In our Statistics courses, students are doing what every good statistician does: collect data. Students have examined the many different ways statisticians can collect data. Along the way, students have been introduced to how different methods of collection of data points can lead to a biased data set. Like, if you only asked math teachers if they like the idea of fractions being in the exponent of a number. You might get a biased response with that data set.

• Lastly, in our Business Department, students are looking into the various forms of Business Ownership and the roles of these forms of Business Ownership in the United States today.

A note from Katie Maly - English Department Chair

The English department would like to feature Dr. Joy's English 12 classes who just finished reading and analyzing Shakspeare's Hamlet. Each group was assigned an act, including all of its scenes to map out both visually and with the text. Each map needed to include plot development, description of characters, motives, language, emotions and enemies along with important quotes relevant to the specific assigned scene. The work exceeded all of Dr. Joy's expectations and we are thrilled to share some samples with you!

A note from Beth Romano - Counseling Department Chair

The FAFSA application for the 2025-26 year should be opening on December 1, 2024 for all students. Please use this FAFSA presentation as a reference and contact your child's school counselor with any questions.

Helpful links -

FAFSA Guide by Sallie

FAFSA quick start sheet

MEFA - FAFSA Festival

Assumption University - NEW Scholarship Opportunity

Assumption University is excited to announce the launch of their Civic Friendship Scholars Program, a unique scholarship and leadership initiative designed for students who are committed to promoting mutual respect, constructive dialogue, and active engagement in the common good within communities.

Applications for the inaugural cohort of Civic Friendship Scholars will open on December 15, 2024, for admitted students entering the Fall 2025 semester.

The Civic Friendship Scholars Program offers selected students a $10,000 housing scholarship and a $500 book stipend per year, renewable annually for up to four years. Beyond financial support, the Civic Friendship Scholars will have the freedom to contribute to fostering a community of respect, attentiveness, and civic mindedness in the tradition of Assumption's Catholic liberal education. Through a series of engaging workshops, events, activities, and other initiatives, students in this program will develop their capacity to facilitate respectful discourse, negotiate diverse perspectives, and become thoughtful citizens as they work to strengthen civil society.

For more information on eligibility, requirements, and the application process, please click on the hyperlink above.

-NMRHS Counseling Department

A note from Katie Simko and Tom Souza

North Middlesex Performs Strong at Central District Senior Festival

Congratulations to the many talented musicians from North Middlesex High School who auditioned for the Senior Central District Music Festival this past Saturday, November 16th. After months of dedicated preparation, we are pleased to announce that nine of our students have been selected for this exceptional ensemble and will perform at the beautiful Mechanics Hall in Worcester, MA on January 18th. Additionally, five of these students have qualified to audition for the All-State Festival in January. We are thrilled to share that Kate B., Hailey L., Vivian H.* and Liberty N.* will perform with the choir while Savannah C. (Snare Drum), Adam M.* (Principal Tenor Saxophone), Colin M.* (Clarinet), and Keira M. (Trumpet) will perform with the concert band and Brienna D.* (Principal Flute) will perform with the orchestra.

What an incredible achievement for our students! We are incredibly proud of their hard work and dedication, and we wish them the best of luck as they continue their musical journey!

———

Winter Concert

The NMRHS Wind Symphony and Choirs are proud to present their Winter Concert on December 12th at 7:00pm. The evening will be full of festive music - the perfect way to usher in the holiday season. Doors open at 6:30pm. We look forward to seeing you there!

A note from Jim Landry - Department Chair

The students in the Principles of

Engineering course are in a unit on

Robotics and Automation. One of

the activities was competition for

the slowest robot. The students used

their knowledge of gears and gear

ratios to create the slowest possible

car. The race winning time was .01

inches per minute.

Engineering Concepts students finished a project to design and build a portable Emergency Disaster kit. Students researched what the contents should be, and design an organized portable package to contain all the necessary items.

* Friday, December 6th - Quarter 2 Progress Report Grades Close

* Thursday, December 12th - Quarter 2 Progress Reports Issued - via Aspen

* Saturday, December 7th - Winter Craft Fair - 10-2pm - NMRHS Commons

* Thursday, December 12th - Winter Band and Choral Concert - 7pm PAC

* December 23rd, 2024 - January 1st, 2025 - WINTER RECESS - No School

Please see our new K-12 Student handbook for the 2024-2025 school year.

Click on the link below to read.

https://nmrhs.nmrsd.org/for-families/student-handbook

Looking to support NM and get your own NM patriots gear, here is your opportunity!

The NM School store will now be open every Friday during lunches for students to purchase NM gear!

Cash or check only (made out to NMRHS)

If your student will be tardy or absent from school, please contact NMRHS on the absence phone line at 978-597-8721 or email at hsattendance@nmrsd.org. Please make every effort to notify NMRHS of your student being tardy or absent from school.

To contact your students school counselor, please call the counseling department at 978-597-8196 to speak with the counseling secretary, Mrs. Tiana Babin or contact your students counselor directly.

School Counselors

A - F - Mrs. Julia Mancini - jmancini@nmrsd.org X2453

G - M - Ms. Beth Romano - bromano@nmrsd.org X2454

N - Z - Mr. Tim Robertson - trobertson@nmrsd.org X2452

• Email: nmrhs@nmrsd.org
• Website: https://www.nmrsd.org/Page/9
• Location: 19 Main St. Townsend, MA 01469
• Phone: 978-597-8721
• Fax: 978-597-3180