NAMS Soar & Achieve Newsletter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It's currently registration season, and we are making preparations for the 2024-25 academic year. In this edition of our newsletter, our focus is on the upcoming registration events which are scheduled for the next few weeks. Additionally, we are excitedly preparing for our cultural celebration in February, which is dedicated to Black History Month. Please read below about our cultural events which we will be highlighting. We are also getting ready for our second round of parent-teacher conferences, which will take place on February 8th and 13th. Thank you for your continuous support of New Albany Middle School. Without your support, we would not be able to achieve all that we do.

Mr. Kevin L. Freeman Sr.

Principal

New Albany Middle School

Middle school scheduling for next year is right around the corner and we want to share information about the scheduling process!

Evening presentations for parents/guardians will take place on Wednesday, January 31st, and Thursday, February 1st at 6:00pm. Our presentation for January 31st will be virtual and you can access the meeting by clicking here. Please know that this meeting will be directed towards our current 7th grade families, but current 6th grade families are more than welcome to attend. The presentation on February 1st will be in-person and will take place in the Middle School Cafeteria. The February 1st meeting will target our current 6th grade parents. Both presentations have a start time of 6:00pm. We will also hold a daytime in-person presentation on Monday, February 5th at 10:30am in the Middle School Library.

Your seventh grade student will learn about the scheduling process and how to select their courses for next school year during their Social Studies class on February 1st. All 7th graders will submit their course requests online via PowerSchool, which will go live on Monday, February 5th. Course submissions are due on Friday, February 16th. See the attachment below for more details.

During the 2023-24 school year, we will recognize various cultural and commemorative dates. Our Building an Inclusive Campus Culture (BICC) committee will develop activities and/or displays as appropriate for our middle school students. Our focus will be on highlighting the significant contributions that these diverse groups of people have made to our world while further strengthening our culture of kindness, dignity, and respect.

The following cultural and commemorative dates & individuals will be recognized this year:

September/October: Hispanic Heritage Month
October: LGBTQ+ History Month
November: Native American History Month
February: Black History Month
March: Disability Awareness Month/Women's History Month
April: Asian American Pacific Islander Month
May: Mental Health Awareness Month

How we will recognize each month:

• A digital bulletin board will be displayed in the main office and will rotate among our other digital displays.

• Friday short video announcement highlighting the contributions of people who are being recognized during the month.

• These announcements will be curated by our BICC team and presented by a mix of staff and students.

• These announcements will take place during our study center periods on each Friday of the month.

Before each month, parents will receive information on how these dates will be recognized and a preview of the materials/information that will be shared with our students. This information will include the individuals being recognized as part of the Famous Friday announcements and the biographical information that will be shared. Click here to view the individuals that will be highlighted for Famous Fridays during February.

Opt-Out

Parents can opt their student(s) out of these brief announcements. When opted out, students will report to the library for study center to view our normally scheduled announcements. Opt-Out Form

Congratulations to both the Girls' and Boys' Swim Teams who each took first 1st place at the Middle School League Swim Championships on Sunday.

The girls were led by first place finishes in both the medley and freestyle relays by the team of Izzy Williams-Zaccardi, Khloe Norman, Caitlin Foley, and Carley Griffin.

The boys team also had a dominating performance by winning both relays with the team of Max Gao, Quinn Phillips, Max White, and Griffin Comerford. Max Gao set three (3!) new league records in the 50 Free, 100 Free, and 200 Freestyle. Other swimmers placing top-three on the podium in their individual events included Jolie Parmentar, Lily Clark, Jude Drakulich, Thomas Turner, Andrew Stinnett, and Reed Morgan. Many swimmers got their personal best times yesterday! Congrats to all the swimmers and divers on a great season!!

Please mark your calendars for the Middle School Spring Athletic Meet and Greet on Monday, February 12th at 6:30 pm. in the middle school cafeteria. This meeting will include the introduction of spring coaches and sharing important spring sports information to student-athletes and their parents. Spring sports offered at the Middle School are baseball, softball, boys and girls lacrosse, boys volleyball, boys tennis and boy and girls track and field. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Miller at miller.122@napls.us

NAMS students have been busy continuing to read. To date students have read a total of 414,051 pages. Please remind your child to keep reading and recording their progress, as we appreciate your support in fostering a culture of reading at NAMS.

Hospitality Board: Marcie Brickner & Kristen Pietro

We Love our Teachers and love to help our Hospitality Team restock supplies for our MS classrooms. Here are the stats of the registry:

Total items - 350

Average cost/item - $18

Total cost of registry - $4,930

If 350 people each buy one item, the registry is closed.

Amazon Gift List:

https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/6YND8SPZOFHB

Fundraising Board: Amy Wenker

PLEASE JOIN US FOR: Restaurant Night Benefitting New Albany Middle School PTO!

Wednesday, January 31st

If you need a night off from cooking and would like to check out an area restaurant please join us for a restaurant night at Barrel and Boar, 121 Mill Street, Creekside in Gahanna on Wednesday January 31st. Just mention this message and 20% of proceeds will be donated back to the NAMS PTO.

Membership Board: Jen Fuller

There are multiple levels of membership. We still have incentive cards for joining at the $50 level, which offers discounts at various businesses around town. Find out more here: NAMS Membership site

President: Coleen Barber

Our librarian, Ms. Kellett along with Mr. Freeman have been hard at work on a reading contest between the 7th and 8th graders. Each week they check in and Ms. Kellett awards certain readers from each grade level a prize. Her current stash is running low and we would love your help. All you have to do is click this amazon link and the candy will be shipped directly to the NAMS library. Simple and easy. Who doesn't want to reward our kids for reading? I know I do.

Spring Dance: our next dance will be Friday, April 12th! More details will follow soon.

Thank you and have a great day,

Coleen Barber

PTO President

Early Dismissal Form

Pre Planned Absence Form

Lunch Menu

Final Forms

Pay Schools Central

NAMS Yearbook Sales - Balfour

• January 24 - Substance Abuse Student Survey
• January 31 - NAMS Virtual Parent Scheduling Meeting
• February 1 - In Person NAMS Parent Scheduling Meeting
• February 12 - MS Sports Meet & Greet
• February 21 - Parent Meeting - Washington DC Class Trip 2024

Email: news@napls.us
Website: www.napls.us/ms
Location: 6600 Dublin Granville Road, New Albany, Ohio 43054
Phone: 614-413-8500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewAlbanyMS/
Twitter: @napls_ms