Monthly Message from Mr. Geoghegan

NOVEMBER MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  I hope all a relaxing, restful time with family and friends.

The other night showed me all that I should be thankful for.  On Friday, November 16, the NMS PTSA hosted a “Fun Night” for all of our sixth through eighth grade students.  It was a tremendous night of basketball, dancing, ‘Minute to Win It’ games, and delicious baked goods.  The kids were just being kids, and it was wonderful to see.  When people ask me, why middle school?  Nights like that prove it in spades for me.

With that, I must thank the PTSA and the parent-volunteers for hosting and chaperoning this incredible event.  It took a lot of planning and a Friday night out, but I know the students appreciated it greatly. 

I also want to thank all the teachers, who came in and participated with the students:  Ms. Kelly Rich, Mr. Tommy Thompson, Ms. Cortney Kelly, Mr. Tim McLaughlin, Ms. Amy Anderson, Ms. Beth Evans, and Ms. MaryAnne Fisher.  It was a fun night for everyone.

We are already done with one-quarter of the school year; it is truly hard to believe.  Last Friday, you received your child’s 1^st Quarter Report Card.  Parent-Teacher Conferences are on Thursday, November 29, evening, 6-8:30 PM, and Tuesday, December 4, afternoon/evening, 4-6:30 PM.  These conferences are only five minutes in duration and may not be enough time for a complete discussion regarding your child’s progress or lack of it.  If you feel that more time is needed, use your appointment to reschedule a time that would offer both you and the teacher enough time to adequately discuss your child’s present situation.  This will open the door and begin the communication that is necessary to bring all of us to the same page on your child’s educational growth.  I will repeat something I mentioned from the progress reports, the marks that you have found on the report card should never be a surprise to either you or the student.  An article by the NEA which I feel can help with conferences: “How To Make Parent-Teacher Conferences Work for Your Child” I have cut down to some helpful hints is as follows:

“You've been asked to attend a regularly scheduled ‘report card’ conference with your child's teacher.  Teachers like to meet with parents from time to time to discuss how to help students do their best in school.  All children learn in different ways.  They have their own individual personalities and their own work habits.  To help their students learn new knowledge and skills, teachers must know as much as they can about each child.  No one knows more about and has more influence over your children than you.  That's why teachers need your help to do a first-class job.  Working together, you and the teacher can help your child have a successful school year.

Here are some things to keep in mind before the conference:

• Start the conference right:  plan not to run over the amount of time that has been set aside.


• The best conferences are those in which both teachers and parents stay calm and try hard to work together for one purpose and one purpose only:  to help your child do well.  Arguing, or blaming each other for problems your child is having, helps no one.

For getting ready for the conference, each teacher will probably come prepared with knowledge or samples of your children’s work and with ideas to help them do even better in school.  You should get ready for each conference, too.  Talk to your children before the conference.  Find out how and maybe why your child is doing well or not so.  Also, ask your children if there is anything they would like you to talk about with their teachers.  

 

Before you go to the school, write notes to yourself about:

• things about your child's home life you feel it’s important for the teacher to know


• questions about your child’s progress


• how you and the school can work together to help your child

During the conference, some good questions to ask are these:

• Is my child working up to his or her ability?


• Does my child participate in class discussions and activities?


• Has my child missed any assignments?


• Have you noticed any sudden changes in the way my child acts?


• What kinds of things should I do to help my child's progress (especially in terms of Homework, studying for tests/quizzes, writing assignments, etc.)?

It’s a good idea to ask your most important questions first, just in case time runs out before you and the teacher have a chance to discuss them all.  Be sure to ask the teacher for specific suggestions on ways to help your child do better.  This is the most important part of the meeting.  It will become your action plan.  If the teacher says something you don't quite understand, don't be shy about asking for an explanation.  It's a good idea to end the conference by summing up decisions you've made together.  If needed, ask to meet again.

After the conference, one should start immediately on the action plan you and the teacher worked out together.  Discuss the plan with your child.  Make sure he or she knows that you and the teacher care.  To see if the action plan is working, watch your child's behavior and check your child's class work and homework.  Stay in regular touch with the teacher to discuss the progress your child is making.  Meeting with your child's teachers should help build strong parent-teacher partnerships—partnerships that are needed if you and your child's teachers are to reach your common goal of helping your child get the best education possible.”  The National PTA, National Education Association of the United States

The Nichols Middle School faculty, staff and I wish all of our parents and guardians the happiest and healthiest of Thanksgivings.  Enjoy the special time that a holiday like this creates among our families.

 

Thank you,

M. R. Geoghegan

1st Quarter Report Cards Distributed 11/16

First Quarter Report Cards

Good morning.  

This afternoon all Nichols Middle School contacts will be receiving an AlertNow message on the distribution of first quarter report cards, which were issued today, Friday, November 16.  They will go home with your child with a small sheet saying you received and saw the Report Card, which will need to be signed and returned to your child’s homeroom teacher on Monday, November 19.  

I have said before that communication is a powerful tool in closing the gap between home and school and ensuring success for all of our children.  The marks that you have found on this report card should never be a surprise to either you or your child.  If you feel that discussion regarding your child’s progress or lack of it is needed, please make an appointment to schedule a time that would offer both you and the teacher enough time to adequately discuss your child's present situation.  Please remember that Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for November 29 and December 4.  

Again, first quarter report cards went home today, please sign the sheet saying you saw your child's report card and have the receipt brought back to school on Monday.  

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.  Thank you and have a great weekend.

Message from the NMS PTSA -- Fall Frenzy Friday, 11/16

Fall Frenzy

NMS students come and hang out with your friends!

 

We have an exciting event coming to the NMS. Come hang out at the NMS Fall Frenzy.

Friday November 16, 2012
6PM-9PM
Cost $5 per person
Activities include: 3 on 3 basketball tournament, music and dancing, "Minute to Win It" challenges, crafts, face painting by "Art on the Spot", make your own commercials with "Burt Woods School of Performing Arts- Lorna Brunelle, learn new line dances, and board games.

We will be selling food as well. Our selections will include pizza, hotdogs, popcorn, baked goods, and water.

Spirtwear order forms will be available.

Tickets will be on sale at school during Lunch.

We hope to see you there! It should be a fantastic night!

All the proceeds will be used for enrichment opportunities for our students.

Great StuCo Happenings at NMS

NMS Student Council Leading the Giving

We are pleased to share that the Student Council Penny drive for the victims of Hurricane Sandy raised $560.00!  The money was donated to the American Red Cross.  Thank you to all those who contributed!!

 

The Student Council is sponsoring a canned food drive from Nov. 9-16.  All donations will be given to the local St. Vincent de Paul Society.   Please help NMS show the community that we care and help make everyone’s holiday season a bright one!!!

Nichols Middle School NCLB 2012 Report Card

NCLB 2012 Report Card

Dear Nichols Middle School Parent or Guardian:

I am pleased to direct you to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Click Here for the Nichols Middle School NCLB Report Card) to access our school “report card.”  It contains information about student enrollment, teacher qualifications, student achievement, accountability, how our school is performing relative to other schools, and the progress our school is making toward narrowing proficiency gaps for different groups of students.

Part I: Student Enrollment and Teacher Qualifications

The first section of the report card provides information about the students and teachers in our school as com‐pared to the district and the state.  If your child attends a school that receives federal Title I funds, you also have the right to request the following information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers:

                        Whether your child’s teacher is licensed in the grade levels and subject areas they teach

                        Whether your child’s teacher is teaching under an emergency license or waiver

                        The college degree and major of your child’s teacher

                        Whether your child is provided services by paraprofessionals and, if so, their qualifications

Part II: Student Achievement

The second section of the report card shows how Massachusetts’s students are performing on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a test that allows you to compare the performance of Massachusetts’s students to students across the nation or in other states.  You can also see how our school performed on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests as compared to the district and the state.

Part III: Accountability

The third section of the report card contains three important pieces of information:

                        Accountability and Assistance Levels: Schools and districts are placed into one of five accountability and assistance levels (1‐5), with the highest performing in Level 1 and lowest performing in Level 5.  Our school has been placed into Level 2 because we did not meet all gap narrowing goals set by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

                        School Percentiles:  A school percentile between 1 and 99 is reported for most schools.  This number shows the overall performance of our school relative to other schools that serve the same or similar grades.

                        Progress and Performance Index (PPI):  The PPI is a number that indicates our school’s progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, or, in other words, helping all students reach proficiency and be prepared for success after high school.  Massachusetts has set a goal of reducing proficiency gaps by half between the years 2011 and 2017.  For a group of students to be considered to be making sufficient progress toward narrowing proficiency gaps, its cumulative PPI must be 75 or higher.

To improve student achievement in our school, we are working on many new initiatives, including:

• Studying the school’s schedule;
• Working with our Math teachers on Number Sense with Teachers21 Consulting;
• Establishing school data teams;
• Continuing to unpack and integrate the 2011 MA State Curriculum Frameworks for English Language Arts and Literacy and Mathematics while preparing for the 2014 Science standards;
• Providing research based professional development opportunities to all faculty and staff; and
• Implementing systems and structures that positively impact teaching and learning.

I encourage you to become involved in helping us improve our school.  Some of the ways you can become involved are:

• Encouraging your child’s learning at home;
• Attending parent‐teacher meetings and other special meetings;
• Serving as a volunteer in our school or district; and
• Encouraging other parents to become involved.

For more information about what we are doing to improve student achievement or to request information about the qualifications of your child’s classroom teachers, please feel free to contact me at (508) 946-2020.

Sincerely,

Martin R. Geoghegan

John T. Nichols, Jr. Middle School Principal

Student Work Example

Personal Essay Example from the 8th Grade Comets Team

I have asked the teachers to send me examples of work the students are doing so I could post them here on the NMS blog to show off the great work we are doing here at Nichols.

Ms. Tricia Flaherty from the 8th Grade Comets Team has taken me up on this offer.  Please check out the description from Ms. Flaherty and then the essay itself; it is exactly what we are looking for at NMS to speak to student success.  Thanks.

This year the PTSA brought the Anne Frank traveling exhibit to NMS.   Students were chosen to be docents and trained to conduct tours throughout the school day.  One student, Hannah McCarthy, had the pleasure of touring to Holocaust survivors through the museum.  This experience touched her and she chose chose to write her first English essay about it.  Hannah's essay is a personal narrative, which is a narrative that tells the story of an experience significant to the writer.  Hannah captured this moment and tells a truly touching and heartfelt story.

                                       
Hannah McCarthy

October 25, 2012

Period 1 / 2

Forever Imprinted

Each of us walks through life with a memory looming deeply within our consciousness, dictating the actions that identify us as individuals. I would finally be defined by a brief moment of life. A moment caged between walls lined with jet lockers, protected by the grasps of shining metal. A moment that I would morally cling to each day.

I paced across the shaggy, grey carpet, enclosed in a maze of canvas panels, dotted with colorless pictures. Hastily, I scanned the florescent walls, a neon poster reflecting in two vast pools of hazel. "NMS Anne Frank Exhibit," it read. The crooked line then continued, "Student Docents Available." I had once been eager to spread the information I had acquired, but today my spine quivered in fear. Clumsily, I fumbled index cards through my fingers, straining to remember the tedious notes I had taken days before-hand. I am only (1 child, I thought. How could I be expected to recite these notes to a pair of Holocaust survivors? They will surely know when I mess up!

My thoughts were interrupted by a velvety voice, "Hello," it beckoned. The Nathansen's... here, already, even the voice inside my head failed to keep a steady tone. Anxiously, I made my way across the exhibit to find a. man and a woman, the crooks of their elbows linked together. Both wore warm smiles, framed with creases of age. Their brilliant smiles eased the tension in my nerves and I stuffed the written notes into the depths of my denim pocket, my confidence growing.

I smiled gently, leading the pair through the hall; a weaving tunnel of linoleum. A dim light overhead spread across the guest book, patiently awaiting recognition. Mrs. Nathansen reached for the pen, signing her name in neat cursive. I studied her signature, harrowing memories leaking from behind the careful print. The name’s symbolism sent an icy chill down the length of my spine, as the images of the Holocaust flashed before my eyes. I had been fascinated by the Holocaust, devoting a greater portion of my day to research, mostly because I could not wrap my mind around the realism of the genocide. But, those words held a significant meaning. The name was a window into the unfathomable pain endured in one lifetime, the grueling torture plaguing a past, but yet, the hope of tomorrow.

A swirl of thoughts circled my pounding head, and with multiple hasty blinks of my eyes, I became aware of my surroundings. I had noticed the tone in the silent stricken room, and immediately began to recite the exhibit’s purpose, emphasizing the enthusiasm in my voice. A dainty hand cupped over my shoulder as I turned to find carmine lips, curled into a faint smile. "If you’re going to be my tour guide, we have to do this right," Mrs. Nathansen voiced memories of pain buried beneath the gentle expression she wore. Gingerly, she tugged on the sleeves of her sable jacket, revealing a small series of numbers, crawling diagonally up the inside of her arm. The sight burned a hole into my heart, and my vision blurred, as salty tears created glue holding my eyelashes in thick spikes. Slowly, I raised my head, my eyes locking into the pale blue orbs of Mrs- Nathansen's eyes, and we both nodded as if we had not just met today. And the tattoo was once again disguised under the layer of corduroy.

From that day forward I continued my life as if a tattoo was burned into the pale skin of my forearm. The fact that human beings, just as myself, had created the hate that was responsible for murders that would plague generations to come, was despicable. However, I felt empowered, I could be the change that ceases the present world's malevolence. And just like the ink crawling down Mrs. Nathansen's arm, I was permanently changed.

NMS Spelling Team

Can You Spell C-O-M-P-E-T-E-S!

Our newly formed NMS Spelling Team competed in its first official competition last Friday, November 2, in Swansea. 

Our team was led by our two fabulous co-advisors, Ms. Andrea Borges and Ms. Wendy Conant.  They both expressed how well the team did, and how they truly exhibited everything we would have wanted for exemplary students.

The team is made from 7th and 8th graders:

Grade 8

Jack Knowlton B202
Logan Teceno B104
Matt Lamoureaux B102
Meghan Boucher B104
Rebecca Lamoureaux  B104
Sarah Cote B102
Hannah McCarthy B106

Grade 7

Shannon Lawler C204
Sarah Stearns C204
Daebreon Henry C206
Olivia Shaw C203
Timothy Powers C206

Excellent job, Team and Ms. Borges and Ms. Conant!  That's how we spell G-R-E-A-T!

Message from Mr. Geoghegan

1st Quarter Ends on Thursday, November 8

It is unbelievable to think that one-quarter of the school year is almost over.  It really, truly does fly by. 

I feel like I was just having "meet and greets" for Mr. McLaughlin and myself with you.

With the first quarter coming to an end, I just have a short piece that I found on the Association for Middle Level Educator's website.

It is very quick but gives some helpful advice, which I have individualized for NMS.

There may be something you may find helpful.  Check it out if you get a chance.

Five Ways to Help Your Young Adolescent Be Successful in Middle School

·         Plan now for the rest of the year, including MCAS time. Don't wait for things to go wrong. The first few weeks are the honeymoon period of every new school year when good intentions are uppermost with students, parents, and teachers. This is the time to talk honestly with your young adolescents about what worked last year: studying after school and not after supper; eating breakfast; keeping an assignment notebook; and checking their Agenda and their homework nightly. Talk about what did not work: staying up too late on school nights; procrastinating on long-term projects; trying to participate in too many activities, etc.

·         Know what your young adolescent is doing by talking to him/her every day. Don't grill him/her, but find a time when you can sit down and really talk about his/her day. Many families still make it a priority to sit down for dinner most nights where they can talk about the events of the day in a calm and unhurried manner. If dinnertime doesn't work for your family, perhaps a short walk in the evening or a time before bed when you can connect and talk about what is important.

·         Stay in touch with the school. Middle schools are generally organized by teams, so the team should be your contact. Make sure you know your child's teachers and stay in contact. Schools allow you to phone in to hear about assignments; other schools have Web sites with lots of information about the school; or just email or call. It doesn't take long to stay in touch so you know what is going on.

·         Encourage your young adolescent to become an active citizen this year. Have your child practice doing for others. Visiting a special senior citizen; helping with community clean-up; or becoming an advocate for recycling, literacy, or kindness to animals will help your young adolescent be an involved member of society and maintain that balance between caring for others and attending to her own needs.

·         Remember that middle school is a time for students to explore new opportunities. Doing well on tests and learning are critical, of course, but students are also learning a great deal about themselves. So, think carefully about what being successful really means. Is it more than receiving all As? Is it learning to be a self-starter? Is it learning to follow through on commitments?

Have a great weekend.  Thank you for your commitment to your child's education,

M R Geoghegan

Message from the NMS Media Center

Fall Scholastic Book Fair

I would like to inform parents about the upcoming Fall Scholastic Bookfair.   The fair
will begin on Nov. 29 and run through Dec. 7th.  I am planning on having the family event
during parent/teacher conferences Nov. 29, 6-8pm, and Tues. Dec 4, 4-6:30.   Students will
be visiting with their homeroom teacher during SSR.

You may visit our Book Fair website at:  http://bookfairs.scholastic.com/homepage/nicholsms

Anyone wishing to volunteer to work during the book fair or any questions, please contact me.

Hope to see you there; thanks,
Ms. Walgreen
508-946-2020 x205