January 27, 2012

 

Good Afternoon,

 

Here are the weekly updates from the middle school:

 

Athletic Participation Packets: For those students interested in participating in a spring sport, the deadline for submitting the athletic participation packet is February 2. The spring sports are softball, baseball, lacrosse, and track and field. Copies of the participation packet can be found attached to this e-mail, on the district website, and in the main office.

 

Tonight’s Dance: For those students attending the dance, the doors will open at 7:30 pm. Students should have tickets and their student ID for admission. All ticket sales were in advance and no tickets will be available at the door. The dance will end at 10:00 pm and rides should be there promptly. To reduce traffic congestion, student pick up will be divided with the seventh graders being picked up in the bus parking lot accessible via Island Road and the eighth graders being picked up in the staff parking lot accessible via Mansfield Road East.

 

Geese Suppression: In recent years, the migration patterns of Canadian Geese have resulted in the presence of more and more geese on the NBC campus. Currently, there are close to 400 Canadian Geese occupying our school district’s athletic fields and drainage detention basins. This flock of geese expands each year as does the nuisance of their grass grazing and excrement activities. Subsequently, a company has been contracted to suppress the geese population. Please note that over the next several weeks, geese suppression activities will be underway. The company will use dogs to chase the geese and make the environment inhospitable to the geese so that they move elsewhere. This is an interesting and humane concept as the dogs do not make contact with the geese and, as a result, no geese are injured. Moreover, this method has been used by many local municipalities and country clubs. Furthermore, this method to chase and repel the geese meets all applicable NJ Department of Environmental Protection and US EPA regulations. Finally, it is anticipated that the activity will take place with no disruption to the school day.

 

Course Selection Process: An element of the course selection process is to determine students’ placement in academic skills courses. As included in the Program of Studies for the 2012-2013 school year, placement in Math and English Language Arts Skills courses for next year is determined by multiple indicators including students’ performance on state and local assessments. Over the next few weeks, all students in grades 7 through 10 will participate in locally designed diagnostic assessments in Mathematics and English Language Arts. The results of these assessments will be combined with other indicators to determine placement in skills courses. Counselors will communicate the placement determination during the students’ scheduling meeting and the course(s) will be indicated on the Course Selection Sheet for parent signature.

 

Middle School Play: The middle school play is scheduled for February 3 and 4. This year’s production is titled the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and will provide a middle school take on the Washington Irving tale. Show times are 7:30 pm for both evenings and the play will be held in the middle school cafetorium. Parents, students, and other members of the community are invited to come out to see the middle school thespians perform. Tickets will be sold at the door: $5.00 adults and $3 students/seniors.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Andrew Kearns, Ed. D.

Principal