Nissitissit News

October 4, 2024

Hello NMS Families,

We are already halfway through the first trimester, and the workload is beginning to increase as we approach Progress Reports. These will be sent home next Friday and will also be available for download in Aspen after 3:00 PM that day. Please take a moment to check in with your student and ask if they are staying up to date with their assignments. As we often remind them, "It's easier to keep up than to catch up."

This week marked the kickoff of all CLASP Clubs! Students had a fantastic time participating in activities such as manicures, working in our state-of-the-art TV studio, playing chess, and more. We’ll be sharing some pictures next week to capture the excitement.

School Pictures will be taken next Wednesday, October 9. For our Grade 8 families, please see the information below regarding the NMRHS Showcase, the Washington D.C. trip, and the field trip to Nashoba Valley Technical School.

Just a friendly reminder: if you need to dismiss your student early, please send a note with them in the morning. This allows us to have your child ready when you arrive, without needing to interrupt the classroom. Thank you for helping us minimize disruptions to learning!

Warm regards,

Lauren Young and Evan Worth

Important Dates

October 8- Nashoba Valley Technical School Presentation for grade 8 during the school day

October 9- School Picture Day

October 14- No School

October 23- Flu Shot Clinic 3:00-6:00

October 24- NMRHS Showcase 6:00-8:00

October 28- Grade 8 tours Nashoba Valley Technical School

October 31- Early Release at 11:05

New Mural

Every year, our talented art teacher, Mrs. Gosselin, kicks off the school year with an exciting collaborative mural project. This year, each student contributed by designing a unique zentangle square featuring a tissue paper heart. The result is a stunning mural made up of over 500 one-of-a-kind pieces of art, showcasing the creativity of our entire school community!

Drum Circle

Our 6th graders are exploring different cultures around the world through an exciting community-building activity called circle drumming! In a drum circle, there’s usually a leader who sets the beat and patterns. As a music class, students had a great time practicing by following the drum leader, matching their speed, rhythm, and volume using both bass and tone drum strokes.

NMRHS Showcase

Do you want to know more about what NMRHS has to offer? Then, the NM Showcase is for you and your student! Please join us on Thursday, October 24 from 6:00-8:00. Administration and department chairs will be meeting at 6pm and 7pm to give an overview of the curriculum and course offerings for each department.

Throughout the evening (6-8pm) teachers and students will be in classrooms demonstrating what they are learning and will be available to answer questions. There will also be an activities and athletics fair in the gymnasium. Our NM Ambassadors will be available to give tours of NM. We look forward to seeing all prospective NMRHS students and parents!

Nashoba Valley Technical High School

We have now officially begun the transition process from middle school to high school. All students in our school district have the opportunity to apply and attend Nashoba Valley Technical School in Westford. All eighth grade students will attend a presentation given by the admissions counselor from Nashoba on Tuesday, October 8. This presentation will provide students with a complete overview of the technical school.

On Monday, October 28, students will have the opportunity to go on a visit and tour of the school. Students will leave NMS at 8:15 and travel to Westford on a bus. They will tour the school and spend time investigating various technical areas. Students will return to NMS by 12:00. Mrs. Rollins and other staff members will be chaperoning the trip.

There is no cost to go on the tour.

Contact our School Counselor, Mrs. Rollins with any questions or concerns.

The permission slip can found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MRmNmaKHQ3gRT0F5y5zNM8EpMNll5Owe/view?usp=sharing

Grade 8 Washington DC Parent Night

If you missed the Washington, DC Parent Meeting, the information shared can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1icfViAgzxG65YyYekYH9XVRcdDqST8v7/view?usp=sharing. Email Mrs. Walmsley with any questions, cwalmsley@nmrsd.org.

It's Scarecrow Season!

Our main office usually sees drop-offs of binders, lunches, and sneakers during the day—but not this week! Instead, we've been receiving bundles of pool noodles, bales of hay, giant carrots, and even skulls. What's going on, you ask? It's scarecrow season! Our students are showing off their creativity as they build unique scarecrows in advisory. And rumor has it, one of them might just look a lot like Mr. Worth! Stay tuned to find out!

Information Custody Information

NMS is requesting that every family fill out a short Google Form regarding the custody status of all students in our school. Whether there are or are not any issues with custody, it is crucial for us, as a school, to have the most updated information on file. We know that things may change each year and that is why we are stressing how important it is that all families provide us this information. Your child’s safety is our number one priority and by providing this information, will only increase the safety of our students each year.

This will help us, as a school, to have an accurate understanding of parent/guardian responsibility for educational decisions, and for the dissemination of information with respect to students and their school programs. So that we at NMS are best able to abide by the Massachusetts State Law and assure the protection of all students and their parents/guardians, we are asking that you provide us with the most clarifying and current custody information.

Please be sure to review any custody information that you may have and please understand that if it is expired, we are not allowed to follow the guidance of that order. For example, if there is a restraining order on a parent and it expires in August of 2024, and we do not have anything updated from them, we cannot stop that parent from dismissing their student or contacting the school.

Kindly review the form that is attached below and fill it out as soon as possible. Please note, we are requesting this information from ALL families, whether there is a custody agreement or not. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to me at any time, arollins@nmrsd.org or call me at 978-433-0114 x4451.

Click here to fill out the form!

Department of Disability Services' Info Session

This time of transition can be overwhelming for those of us with students who have disabilities. On Monday, October 21st NMRSD will be hosting a team from the Department of Disability Services' Fitchburg office. There will be a short (10-15 minute) presentation about DDS and various services available to our students. DDS team members will be available to discuss concerns and questions you might have, and will also have applications for services on hand. Students and caregivers are all welcome and urged to join us for this information session.

Where: North Middlesex Regional High School, Large Group Instruction room (LGI)

Date: Monday, October 21, 2024

Time: 6pm - 7pm

Snacks/drinks will be available!

See you there!

SEPAC Meeting

We invite you to join the SEPAC for our next meeting on October 4th at 6:30 PM in the Large Group Instruction Room at North Middlesex Regional High School. This is a great opportunity for parents to meet our new Director of Special Education, Erin Upton, and our new Evaluation Team Leader, Shannon Cole. You'll also learn about the new IEP document and gain insights into the updated IEP meeting format.

Interpreter Services

We are committed to ensuring clear and effective communication with all our families. If you require interpreter services to communicate with the school, please don't hesitate to contact Amy Redder at aredder@nmrsd.org. We are here to support you and ensure that all your questions and concerns are understood.