NMS Weekly Update

As we approach the end of the academic year, the staff at NMS has been working diligently to create a quick and efficient way for families to acquire student belongings from hallway & gym lockers and the school to collect district materials (SSR novels, books, Chromebooks, etc.). Please take note of the following details.

• The middle school will be open for pick-up on Tuesday, May 26 thru Friday, May 29 from 2-6PM, in the following manner:

• Tuesday, May 26 - Students whose last names begin with A-E

• Wednesday, May 27 - Students whose last names begin with F-L

• Thursday, May 28 - Students whose last names begin with M-R

• Friday, May 29 - Students whose last names begin with S-Z

• Anyone not able to report on your assigned day, pick-up will be Monday, June 1 from 10AM-2PM. After the June 1st date, arrangements can be made for locker cleanout through our email addresses located at the bottom of this page.

• Please only report on your assigned day.

• When at the Middle School, you will enter through the main school entrance, at the glass doors. One parent member will be admitted with one student. Students will not be admitted by themselves. As you enter the building, you will be provided with Purell and a face covering. As you enter the building the clinic will be open if you need to pick up medication. There will be a table where report cards will be available, where Chromebooks will be collected and where art projects may be picked up. Next, move to the student’s hallway locker and stop at each classroom to drop textbooks or SSR books. Collection bins can be found immediately outside of each classroom. Please make sure you use a sticky note so that your name is on the book. If your child has a gym or sports locker, please move to the gym and clean out that locker.

• You will exit the building via the brown doors by the gym. Please remain six feet apart from each other while moving through the hallways. Drinking fountains cannot be used at this time. Staff members will be stationed throughout the building to keep people moving. We will limit people in the building depending on the size of the crowd. We are hoping people chose a variety of times to arrive, so we will not have to limit crowd size. Please be patient with the process as we are working to keep our students, families, and staff healthy at this unprecedented time.

We have multiple jobs available for each of the locker clean out dates. Please sign up for a shift at the following link.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tfpcCR4TiZOjXOCJZjjWIXJ29IbM_cX7zRi9COAAqvQ/edit?usp=sharing

One of the biggest challenges for schools during remote learning is the ability to assess accurately student’s learning and to calculate accurate grades. With many families using hard copy packets, limitations to technology, facing family illness and abiding by safety restrictions we have decided on the following grading plan for the fourth quarter:

All students will receive a grade of PASS or INCOMPLETE in the areas associated with math, science, social studies and language arts. If a teacher determines that a student has engaged in the majority of assignments while at home, the student will receive a grade of PASS.

If a teacher does not have evidence that a student participated in assignments during the remote learning time or the work turned in was incomplete the student will receive a grade of incomplete.

We understand that with nearly 800 students there is a wide range of student engagement. Teachers have attempted through phone calls, text apps, google classroom, online meetings, home visits and other methods to engage families. We need to have evidence that learning occurred during these 9 weeks. After the May 22 due date, work may still be completed for a grade adjustment, but those adjustments will be made in August. Students who complete assignments during June, July and August may turn them in for credit and an adjustment will be made to your child’s report card/school transcript in August.

8th grade students taking HS Algebra and HS Health will receive letter grades for these two classes.

Grades for art, music, and physical education will not be provided for the 4th quarter.

We have been asked to have more video interaction with our students during these last few weeks. Our thought was to use Flip Grid, pose a question to the staff and have you respond using the video portion of Flip Grid. We thought it would be an easy way to up our staffs' visibility, without adding additional stress. We tried a dry run on Thursday, it was not successful (thanks to those teachers who responded). If you are a flip grid aficionado, please help us!!!!! If you can suggest another platform we are willing to learn!

The district has moved up the roofing project for our gym due to students not being in the building. The gym may be off limits during the day, but if so it will be clearly marked. Also some of our parking spots will be used for staging of equipment and supplies. If parking is needed you can always opt for Primary's parking lot.

Despite the aggravation, disappointment, exhaustion and stress, we share "Our Kids" with their parents. It is a special gift of our profession. To all our Faculty thank you for being the motherly wisdom and guidance that so many of our students crave. Enjoy your day!