Wednesday, October 31 is an A-Day Rotation

Good afternoon -

I hope everyone is doing okay after Sandy.

I have received phone calls and emails inquiring about the day rotation for tomorrow, Wednesday, October 31. 

It will be an A-Day rotation, as it was originally scheduled.

Again, enjoy the day, and we will see you tomorrow.

Thanks,
Mr. G

Message from the PTSA

KIDSTUFF Coupon Books

Parents, Teachers, and Students,

We need your help. We are looking to finish up the Kid Stuff Coupon Book fundraiser. Please return any books that you did not sell and any money from books you did sell. We don't want to have to pay for any outstanding books.

If you did not purchase a book and would like to; Maria's Hallmark Store and Lakeville Card and Gifts are helping us sell them in their stores. You can also contact me at govonik@comcast.net if you would like to purchase any books. They make great presents. You can earn your money back very quickly by using just a couple of the coupons! The price is $25 a book.

Please help support our kids and buy a book. They money made goes directly back to the students for enrichment programs and fun activities to make their learning experiences better.

Also, there is a link to the PTSA blog at the right for you to click at any time to get to the new PTSA blog.

 

Thank you for helping us.

A Message from Mr. Geoghegan

October is the Month of the Young Adolescent

October is the Month of the Young Adolescent, an annual international collaborative effort of education, health, and youth-oriented organizations.  Initiated by National Middle School Association (NMSA, now the AMLE -- Association for Middle Level Education), the Month of the Young Adolescent brings together a wide range of organizations to focus on the needs of this important age range, ages 10 to 15.  The key messages for the celebration are:  1) The importance of parents being knowledgeable about young adolescents and being actively involved in their lives; 2) The understanding that healthy bodies plus healthy minds equal healthy young adolescents; 3) The realization that the education young adolescents experience during this formative period of life will, in large measure, determine the future for all citizens; and 4) The knowledge that every young adolescent should have the opportunity to pursue his or her dreams and aspirations, and post-secondary education should be a possibility for all.

For the most part, the general public has lacked an adequate understanding of youth in the transition period between childhood and adolescence.  As a result, young adolescents often have been "growing up forgotten."  The English language contains no single word for this life stage, having only the terms infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood to designate periods of life.  Yet it is during the period of early adolescence, generally between the ages of 10 and 15, when young people leave childhood and move toward full adolescence that they make major decisions about their values, standards, attitudes, and personal beliefs.  Many of these decisions direct their behavior throughout their lives.

Working together, we can highlight the need for strong educational partnerships among the school, parents, students, and community members so that every 10- to 15-year-old will have the opportunity to become all he or she can and should become.  That’s why October has been declared Month of the Young Adolescent, and why everyone in a community should ask, “How can I help a young adolescent reach his or her potential?”  This collaborative approach continues to be important to the success of this initiative because it will take all of us working together to make a real difference in the lives of 10- to 15-year-olds.  We invite you to join with us in this important initiative.  The young adolescents with whom we work and live on a daily basis deserve our best efforts if each is to have the chance to become all he or she can and should be.  Together, we can make a difference ... to insure a bright future for all young adolescents.

Most of the ideas above emphasize the thought that we are a team:  parents, community, and school.  We have to work together in order to insure all students succeed; it is an essential key to that success.  One which will reap major rewards for all constituents:  parents, school, community, and especially, the students themselves.

 

This blog isn’t much from me, but I am a person who feels that there are many times when people can say it better than I can.  In that vein, I will finish with an article excerpt from Richard W. Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education.  It is worth noting because it discusses the role of adult figures in the ever changing lives of middle school aged children.  The complete article and many others can be found at the website of the Association for Middle Level Education, http://www.amle.org/ .

 

“Pay Attention to Our Adolescents”

“Young people grow up fast these days and adolescents are making critical choices about their lives and what they hope to become.  The gawky eighth grader who is struggling to define who he or she wants to be may decide to be a high school dropout by the tenth grade or may realize that going on to college is much more rewarding.  If ever there was a time to pay attention to our children, it is in these middle years.  For that reason, I believe it is absolutely essential that every student have a parent, a counselor, or a caring adult mentor who can help guide them as they make important choices about their present and their future.  Growing up is full of pushes and pulls, stops and starts, and detours along the way.  The middle school years are the starting point for this unique phase of our children’s lives.  Kids try out new versions of themselves, experiment, stop, start and go in other directions, and certainly test boundaries.  Adults have an important role to play during this intense period when growing up takes place in so many different ways.  We need to ‘hang in there,’ despite all the ups and downs and trials and tribulations that occur during the adolescent years.  Parents who have attended countless PTO meetings during the elementary years have a tendency to cut back when students get to those middle years.  The truth of the matter is that parents need to be just as much of an active presence in the lives of their children during these transition years and stay involved in school activities.  Above all, parents, educators, and other adults need to help children develop a value system that allows them to make healthy and smart choices about who they are and what they hope to become.”

Thank you,

M. R. Geoghegan

NMS Music Department Is On Twitter

  FOLLOW US ON TWITTER  @tigermusicNMS

·        The NMS Music Department is now on twitter!

·        Our twitter account will be used for reminders, updates and other music department related information.

·        Families and Students can follow us on twitter:   @tigermusicNMS

·        There is no obligation to join or follow twitter, but we hope you will join us so we can all benefit from more frequent communication.

·        Remember “tweets” are public, so student specific information should not be tweeted. Ms. Burnham & Mrs. Young are both available by phone and email.

·        eburnham@middleboro.k12.ma.us, byoung@middleboro.k12.ma.us

·        Music Office 508-946-2020 x. 125

NMS School Council

John T. Nichols Middle School Council

Are you interested in getting involved with your child’s education in another way?  If you are, then think about whether you would be interested in joining the Nichols Middle School Council (also called a School Improvement Council).  By law, every school in the country has to have a School Council.  The law outlines four major areas of responsibility for councils.  School councils are to assist principals in:  1. Adopting educational goals for the school that are consistent with local educational policies and statewide student performance standards; 2. Identifying the educational needs of students attending the school; 3. Reviewing the annual school building budget; and 4. Formulating a school improvement plan.

We meet once a month on the 3^rd Wednesday of each month, except where specified below – starting Wednesday, October 17, for about an hour, starting at 3:00 PM and ending around 4 PM, to discuss such items as our School Improvement Plan, parent involvement, how we are working with MCAS data, what we are doing to improve teaching and learning, etc.  In all, the group is not like “PTSA”; it is more a group of people who are looking into school improvement and how we can get the improvement we are looking for.

The group is made up of parents, teachers, and at least one community member.  If you are interested or would just like to come and check it out, please come to the first meeting, Wednesday, October 17, at 3 PM, in the Media Center at NMS. If you have any questions, please let us know.  Thank you.

2012-2013 NMS School Council Meeting Dates

October 17, 2012

November 28, 2012*

December 19, 2012

January 16, 2013

February 27, 2013*

March 20, 2013

April 24, 2013*

May 15, 2013

June 19, 2013

*All dates are the 3rd Wednesday of each month - except where specified.

NMS Art Club

NMS ART CLUB

Art Club will meet on most Mondays and Wednesdays starting October 10. Students must choose either Monday or Wednesday to attend as space is limited.  Students will sign up in the art room on the day that they arrive and will be given a handout that explains Art Club and the schedule.

All are welcome to join.

Mrs. Tucker

First Quarter Progress Reports Issued

First Quarter Progress Reports

Progress Reports for Quarter 1 were issued this afternoon, Friday, October 5, and the way I think of it, the new school year is no longer just an idea; it is truly underway.  Your child will be coming home with the Progress Report as well as a receipt that needs to be signed and returned to school on Tuesday, October 9.

 
The marks that you have found on this progress report should never be a surprise to either you or the student.  Please make sure you check out the grades as well as the scores for Conduct and Effort.  If you feel that discussion regarding your child’s progress or lack of it in any of these categories 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.  We need to make sure there is an open door of communication between school and home that is necessary to bring both the teacher and you to the same page in this educational journey.  As for the progress report, it is just that:  progress.  Students should understand that the marks that are present at the halfway point of a term can change easily in either direction.  Students should recognize that they can very simply transform those grades, again, in either direction.  So if the grades were high-quality, students need to continue with the work habits they have displayed in the first month or so, and if the grades were not where they should have or could have been then that student needs to understand that a change in work habits is needed.  Remember also, please keep up with checking your child's agenda book on a nightly basis, for this will help in keeping track as to where your child's grades stand as they progress through the rest of the quarter.

Also a reminder, if you haven’t done so yet, please enter your email, to the right, so you can receive updates on any and all important information about what’s happening or will happen at school.  There is a calendar at the bottom of this page, please check it out to stay updated.

Reminder from the PTSA, please return your Coupon books if you have not done so already. This fundraiser will help in making NMS even better for all of our students.
 
Thank you and have a great, long weekend.