Monthly Parent Newsletter

On January 22nd, semester 2 started at NMRHS and Q2 report cards were published on 1/30/25 to the ASPEN portal. At this time I decided to remind students at our recent class meetings about our cell phone policy and I thought I would also remind our caregivers. All students are required to put their cell phones in the cell phone holders in each class upon arrival to class. They are not allowed to get their cell phones until the end of class where they can use them in the hallway between passing time. Students are allowed to use their cell phones during their 30 minutes of lunch. In case of an emergency, a caregiver can reach their student by calling the main office for assistance. In regards to head phones/ear buds, students are not allowed to use these during the day except for their 30 minutes during lunch. For more information please click on 24-25 Student Handbook.

During the same class meetings, we handed out 54 Patriot PRIDE cards to our students (grade 9 -17, grade 10 -12, grade 11 - 11, grade 12 - 12). PRIDE cards - which stands for P - Positivity, R- Respect, I- Integrity, D- Determination, E- Effort are for students that demonstrate one of these qualities in the hallways, lunch room, classroom or events. A teacher fills out the card and each quarter at our class meetings we acknowledge the student in front of their class. If a student earns all letters at the end of the year, then they will be acknowledged at the academic awards night. This is our first year doing this and so far it has been met with a lot of excitement from our student body. It is great to see classmates cheering and clapping for students who are caught demonstrating a positive quality at NM.

In January we also handed out the John & Abigail Adams scholarships to our seniors and we had 52 recipients this year! The John & Abigail Adams scholarships is a merit- based program that provides a credit toward tuition for up to eight semester of undergraduate education at a Massachusetts state college or university. For this scholarship, merit is based on student scores on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test. Congratulations!

Sincerely,

Laurie Smith, Principal

A note from Kristi Montolio - Special Education Department Chair

The Special Education Department is excited to announce our newest course offerings in our Program of Studies. Take a peek and see what's in store in our "UNIFIED. Learn. Practice. Play." physical education course, offering the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of a healthy lifestyle including self-defense, fitness, nutrition, humanity and leadership in a unified class bringing together students with neurological disabilities and those enrolled in the general education setting. Or if fitness isn't something you enjoy, consider enrolling in our "UNIFIED into the Future" course found under English electives. This elective will help students of all abilities learn financial awareness, digital citizenship, communication skills and leadership development to better prepare you for your post graduate life! Both elective courses allow students to work together in a best buddies approach pairing differently abled students together to bring out the best in one another! Add these electives to your 2025-2026 schedule if you are in your Junior or Senior year and enjoy all the joys of being UNIFIED.

A note from Christy Kervin - Science Department Chair

Students in Anatomy and Physiology have been diving into the complexities of the nervous system through engaging activities and labs. Highlights include modeling action potentials with chalk markers and candy, dissecting a sheep brain and cow eye, and conducting a lab to compare response times between reactions and reflexes. They also applied their knowledge of the nervous system to diagnose a patient’s disease and presented their case findings to the class.

In Medical Interventions, students have been exploring how we screen for genetic traits and treat genetic disorders. They completed a lab to determine their genotype for tasting PTC and studied groundbreaking advancements in gene therapy for inherited conditions.

Biomedical Innovations students recently connected via Zoom with Kristen Hopson, Senior Vice President of Translational Sciences at a pharmaceutical company in Cambridge, MA, who will mentor them as they begin their senior capstone projects. Students will work on their capstone projects, on a topic of their choosing, throughout the second semester and will travel to Boston in May to present their work to industry professionals. They also recently visited the Tewksbury Public Health Museum, where they examined how medical and vaccine advancements have shaped public health over the past century.

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

Semester 2 has just started and all of the Physical Education/Wellness classes have new students in them.

In Team Sports the students are learning a new game called Speedball. In the Fundamentals of Fitness class the students are learning how to properly workout in our fitness center.

A note from Becky Jackson - Social Studies Department Chair

Becky Jackson, Social Studies Department Chair, recently presented at the annual conference of the National Council for the Social Studies, alongside a California based organization, Teach Democracy. With over 4,000 attendees at the conference, this three day long event showcased some of the nation’s leading historians such as Doris Kearns Goodwin and filmmaker Ken Burns! Becky’s session focused on the critical importance of youth voice in civic action, highlighting inspiring student projects from the past few years. She was able to showcase the incredible work North Middlesex students have done as part of their 11th grade civic action projects. Her presentation not only demonstrated our students' commitment to making a difference but also reinforced the value of giving young people a platform to lead and engage in meaningful community change.

The Intro to Psychology and Sociology Prison Field Trip will take place in March 2025. Come stop by room 265 to see our Social Stanley's in Intro to Psychology and Sociology where students showcase five statuses they have and their roles.

AP Psychology is about to venture out of Unit 6: Developmental Psychology and into Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion and Personality.

A note from Anissa Plante - Visual Art Department Chair

Foundations of Graphic Design has begun for semester 2 with students learning new Adobe software and the beginnings of the elements of art and shapes.

A note from Mike Chew- World Language Department Chair

French 1 learned winter vocabulary and showed their understanding by drawing a dictated snowman.

French 2 students wrote to their pen pals in France, in French and in English English, to give the students in France the chance to practice their English comprehension.

Spanish 1 students in Profe Chew's class are continuing in their novel and will finish Chapter 1 this week! We've taken it very slow to make sure everyone is getting it, but the pace will pick up soon.

Spanish 3 students are taking their listening and reading assessments for the city unit this week.

International Club Update -

Recently the club met and made crepes. What a great time we all had!

A note from Ed Logiudice - Math & Business Department Chair

As we approach the end of January, NMRHS turns its attention to our Course Selection process for the 2025-2026 school year. I figured I would take this opportunity to explain the choices available to our students as they look forward to next year. For the first three years of high school, the majority of our students need to decide if they want the College Prep or Accelerated version of the course that is offered:

• Current 8th Grade Students/Next Year’s Freshman Class:

For their freshman year, students will choose between College Prep Algebra 1/Geometry or Accelerated Algebra 1/Geometry

• Current 9th Grade Students/Next Year’s Sophomore Class:

For their sophomore year, students will choose between College Prep Algebra 2/Geometry or Accelerated Algebra 2/Geometry

• Current 10th Grade Students/Next Year’s Junior Class:

For their junior year, students will choose between College Prep PreCalculus & Trigonometry or Accelerated PreCalculus & Trigonometry

Now, you may be asking what is the difference between the College Prep and Accelerated courses? The College Prep level is the standard version of each course. During the course of each year, students will be introduced to a plethora of topics at a level that will be accessible to the majority of our students as well as problems that are challenging at times. The Accelerated level actually means what it says: it is accelerated. The Accelerated level has a faster pace than the College Prep level. This means that students who sign up for the Accelerated level will be introduced to more topics than students in the College Prep level. Additionally, students in the Accelerated classes should expect to dive deeper into the topics as well as be challenged with more difficult problems.

Senior year is when the students have choices. Basically, you have 2 options:

• Calculus

• Statistics

Of course, each choice has 3 levels:

• Advanced Placement

• Accelerated

• College Prep

Let’s talk Calculus vs Statistics:

I would suggest that you take Calculus if you are planning on majoring in a Math intensive field like engineering in College. Success in Calculus really depends on your Algebra abilities. So, that is something to consider as well.

Most college majors do require Statistics. Statistics is a different type of math course that requires very little Algebra. But, there is typically more writing in this course. In a Statistics course, students will be looking at data, how we can collect data, how we interpret data, and how we present that data.

A good idea when making your choice might be to talk to your current math teacher as well as your guidance counselor about your plans for college. Discussing what you are thinking about majoring will definitely help both your teacher and your guidance counselor to point you in the right direction. Also, you can do some research about your college plans on your own. You should definitely be able to google what courses students take based on their intended college majors.

In terms of level, the new level for seniors is Advanced Placement. Advanced Placement courses are courses that can lead to college credit. Students registering for an AP course should expect a college-level course experience. Each AP course has a test, administered by the College Board, in May. Students scoring well on these tests typically receive college credit for that course. Since each college treats how they give credit on AP tests differently, it is a good idea to check with your prospective colleges on how they determine whether or not a student will receive AP credit.

One last thing about AP courses. There are two versions of AP Calculus. The first is AP Calculus AB and the second is AP Calculus BC. AP Calculus AB covers the curriculum of what is typically taught in the first 2 semesters of a college Calculus course. Students can receive credit for the first semester of a college Calculus course if they score well on the AP test. AP Calculus BC covers the curriculum of what is typically taught in the first 3 semesters of a college Calculus course. Students can receive credit for the first two semesters of a college Calculus course if they score well on the AP test. Since both courses are taught in one school year, expect the BC course to go much faster than the AB course.

The Math Department is also offering a few elective courses this year. This includes: Personal Finance, The Mathematical World of Art, Unleashing the Power of Data Science, Understanding Strategy through Game Theory, and Topics in Graphing. Please see the description for all of these courses in the 2025-2026 Program of Studies. If any of those courses pique your interests, then definitely register for these electives. As we say in the math department: you can never really have enough math!

The Business section of our department also offers a selection of interesting and very useful choices. One of the more popular choices is Accounting, which is a full year course offered to all students in grades 9 - 12. For those students who have already taken this course, the Business department is offering a semester of Advanced Accounting. Business Management is an elective that is available for all students in grades 9 - 12. The remaining options for our students are offered to grades 11 and 12. These courses are Business Ethics, International Business, and Marketing. It is a great idea for students to have taken Business Management first before moving on to these more advanced courses.

Please see the Program of Studies for descriptions of all the Business and Math offerings. If you have any questions, please reach out to any of the members of our department as well as your guidance counselor.

A note from Katie Maly - English Department Chair

After reading The Way to Rainy Mountain, a memoir in three voices by Kiowa Native American poet N. Scott Momaday, Dr. Chappell's college prep junior English classes wrote creative nonfiction. Students shared stories of their own people and personal reminiscences, mirroring, as Momaday puts it, "a turning and returning of myth, history, and memoir, a narrative wheel that is as sacred as language itself." In the same unit, synthesized multiple contemporary multimedia texts and wrote essays analyzing the experiences of Native American youth in the 20th and 21st centuries.

Dr. Chappell's 11th grade English classes wrapped up 2024 with persuasive speeches arguing in favor of celebrating obscure holidays. Students researched lesser-known holidays and crafted impassioned orations on festivities such as National Rubber Duckie Day (January 13th), Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), and National Rock-Paper-Scissors Day (August 27th). Students applied skills in research and citations, structure of argument, and rhetorical appeals, while incorporating festive facts like the fascinating history of Elm Farm Ollie (aka Nellie Jay), the bovine inspiration for Milk a Cow on an Airplane Day (February 18th).

A note from Beth Romano - Counseling Department Chair

Course Selection information for 2025-2026 school year for current grades 9-11 -

There is a new process for filling our your course selection sheets this year. We will not be using google sheets anymore. We will be utilizing ASPEN to do course selection this year. Please see the links below for instructions. Remember only students can fill out their course selections in ASPEN, but that doesn't mean caregivers should note be involved.

Here is the course selection information.

Program of Studies

25-26 Course Selection Directions

Fact Sheet - 25-26 Course Selection

A note from Katie Simko and Tom Souza

The NM Music Department hosted the Central Senior District rehearsals on Wednesday January 15th and 17th. Approximately 400 high school band, orchestra, choir and jazz students accompanied by music educators from our region participated including our own Kate Babine, Savannah Cummings, Brienna Duteau, Vivian Henry, Adam Manni, Colin Miranda, Keira Murray and Liberty Nemeth. Out of these students five qualified to audition for All-State and Brienna Duteau, Vivian Henry, Colin Miranda and Liberty Nemeth will be representing NM at the annual Music Educators National All-State Festival in Worcester on March 29th and will perform at Boston’s Symphony Hall the following day. Congratulations to them!

Special thanks to the Band and Choir Boosters for all their invaluable help setting up, ordering food, selling concessions and transporting many percussion instruments to Mechanics Hall for the Performance. On February 1st, freshmen Oliver Dewey and Michael Newman will be auditioning for the Central Junior District Festival. Best of luck to them.

Winter Percussion and Winter Guard rehearsals are in full swing and preparing for their upcoming competitions. The Winter Percussion show is entitled “Macabre.” We wish them luck in their season. Chamber Choir, Treble Choir and Wind Symphony have started their preparation for the annual MICCA competition on April 5th. You can see them perform their competition repertoire at the Spring Concert on March 6 at 7:00pm.

Auditions for The Little Mermaid will be held on Tuesday, February 11th from 2:00-4:00pm in the PAC and we’ll have an info meeting on Thursday, February 6th from 2:00-2:30 in the PAC. Auditions are open for all, students should stop by room 110 and speak with Mrs. Simko to make sure they have the materials they need.

The Tri-M Music Honor Society of NM will hold their annual Benefit Concert on Wednesday, February 12th at 6:00-8:30 pm. Come and support the cause of fighting food insecurity - all proceeds from this concert will raise funds for Greater Boston Food Bank and TEO Food Bank.

A note from Jim Landry - Department Chair

Principle of Engineering students have started a unit in electricity. They will be

build circuits and measuring circuit values to prove Ohm’s Law. The CAD class has

returned to the text learning more advanced modeling features such as sweep,

loft, circular and rectangular patterning. The Civil and Architecture class has just

finished the site plan for their affordable house project. They have previously

completed a floor plan, electrical plan, elevations and schedules for their project.

The Drafting class is starting at the beginning with lettering and ruler

measurements. The Engineering Design class is learning about reverse

engineering. They are taking apart devices, listing, classifying and rating the

components for form, fit and function. The Cybersecurity class is hard at work

monitoring network traffic for abnormalities or possible breeches.

* February 17th - 21st - FEBRUARY RECESS - NO SCHOOL

* Friday, February 28th - Q3 Progress Reports Close

* Thursday, March 6th - Q3 Progress Reports Issued

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 the first Friday of every month 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