Dear NHS Community,
Fall has arrived but it still feels rather summer-like here in North Hampton. As a person who loves the beach and being on the water, I am quite pleased that the warm weather is hanging on. We have been fortunate to be able to be outdoors with students just about every day so far this school year!
I’d like to thank our teachers for their efforts in putting together informative and interesting presentations for parents at our Curriculum Night. I can see how much families value our strong teaching staff. It was a pleasure to see so many of you that evening. A big shout out to the Winnacunnet Girls’ Soccer team, who provided childcare in our gym as a fundraiser.
NHS School-wide Expectations
The first few weeks of school are a time when teachers get to know students, students get to know or get acquainted with one another, and effective classroom routines are set. These things take time and set a positive tone for learning. We asked each classroom teacher to go through a process of asking students about their hopes and goals for the school year. They then discussed what their classroom needed to look like and sound like in order for each person to be able to achieve success. They generated classroom rules or expectations. We then invited one representative from each classroom to come to a Rues/Expectations Congress to share 2 of their classroom rules. This group sorted the expectations into categories for 1) taking care of the school, 2) taking care of each other, 3)expectations of themselves, and 4)safety. They synthesized all the ideas into a set of school-wide expectations:
NHS Expectations
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Be safe.
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Be kind and take care of each other.
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Be respectful, responsible, and positive.
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Take care of our school.
While these expectations seem general in nature, each class discussed how that plays out at their grade level. Each classroom received a poster of these rules to display in the room. Student volunteers from the Congress presented the expectations at a Community Meeting. They also presented some real life scenarios and presented how to handle them and which NHS Expectation they covered. Our Jaguar mascot was there to help too! We realized that the Jaguar does not have a name, so we have a suggestion box in the lobby and hope to come up with a great name for our Jaguar! Lastly, we challenged NHS students to take the “Choose to be Nice” Pledge:
“I promise to help spread kindness wherever and whenever possible. And to the very best of my ability, I'll be nice to those with whom I come into contact on a daily basis.”
Elementary students will receive an “I Made the Choose to be Nice Pledge” bracelet this week.
Instrumental Music
Instrumental music lessons began this week. Thanks to Mr. Singer for arranging the lessons. Mr. Singer is due back teaching on Oct. 7th. He will be back half days to begin with. We are very excited for his return and thank Ellen Sofronas for filling in. As a reminder, here is the schedule by grade level:
Tuesdays: 7:40am-8:20am- Grade 5
Wednesdays: 7:40am-8:20am- Grade 6
Thursdays: 7:40am-8:20am- Grades 7&8
The UNH Instructors are:
Carla Boyle-Wright-Flute-T,W,Th Place: Practice room in band room
Cam Cawley Trombone and Low Brass-T,W,Th Place- Chorus room (will move to computer lab on 10/8)
Jacob Pierson-Clarinet-T,W,Th Place: Library
Matt Bruneau- Percussion-T,W,Th Place: Band room
Devin DiBernardo-Trumpet-T,W,Th Place: Art Room
Emma Eafranti- Sax- T,Th Place: Cafeteria
Brendan McWalter-Sax- W Place: Cafeteria
Green Team
The Green Team will begin to meet again soon! NHS Parent Erin Stanton and NHS Teacher Anna Spalding will facilitate the group meetings. Please see the attached flyer:
GREEN TEAM _ Welcome Back 2019.pdf
Athletics
Please see the weekly schedule below. Last week and this week, both the 8th grade and the 6 & 7th CoEd Soccer teams won! Speaking of Soccer, we are grateful of the NHYA donation of soccer jerseys for our teams.
Dates to remember
Sept. 27: Lions Club Vision Screening
Oct. 2: Early Release Day--12:00 dismissal; lunch will be served
Oct. 3: NHS Board Meeting at 6:30 PM
Oct. 14: Columbus Day--No school
Oct. 25: Halloween Howl sponsored by PAL (5-8 PM)